I am a Christian Scientist who wears glasses. You may think this is a contradiction. Why hasn't that been healed? Fair question. Why does one situation persist while another, also dealing with my eyes, as is the case with this posting, is healed quickly and completely? Another fair question.
First, I don't believe there is any condition which the presence of omnipotent Mind cannot bring into perfect harmony, the realm of the real. Mrs. Eddy asks in Science and Health "What cannot God do?"(135:20) Jesus made repeated encouraging statements about his followers' ability to replicate his healing power. Most notably, for me, is, "I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also." (John 14: 12) There are also several instances where he healed blindness.
Speaking for myself only, I think the difference lies in dedication and focus. A problem of seeming urgency gets my full attention while something less dramatic tends to be tolerated or accommodated. Rather than focus on what I have yet to demonstrate, I choose to express my genuine gratitude for the healings that I have experienced.
Last summer, during a routine eye exam, my optometrist became very concerned that the internal pressure in one eye was much lower than it should be and wanted me to be examined by a specialist. I put it off for several weeks, all the time praying specifically about my vision, knowing that it was a spiritual quality and not a material condition. When he asked me about the results and I hadn't even made an appointment, I knew I needed to do this in order to calm his concerns.
No mention of decreased pressure was made at the initial examination. However, another situation presented itself. Both eyes had a number of open sores on the irises. After warning me of the potential for total blindness, the examining physician wrote several prescriptions for antibiotics and eye drops. It surprised her, and not in a good way, when I said that I would address the situation differently. I did not say "prayerfully" and I should have.
Her response was, "Well, you can't just wish this away." I had no intention of trying to do that. She insisted on a follow-up exam within a week.
At that exam there had been sufficient progress that she no longer pressed for the drops and ointment. Instead, she noted healing was taking place when she said, "Whatever you're doing -- keep doing it." Another exam was scheduled.
At this third exam she declared all the sores had healed. There was a big BUT. The "but" was that the healing process had left scars where each sore had been. She told me that I was very lucky that the sores had not been over the pupils because the obstruction resulting form the scars would have left permanent blind spots.
God doesn't lead us part way. Omnipotence doesn't provide partial victories. There was still work to do. There was no compromising with this error. I continued my prayers, seeing myself as God sees me, perfect.
A subsequent exam with my regular optometrist revealed that neither problem existed or left any evidence of ever having existed. Pressure was normal. There were no scars.
I'm a Christian Scientist who still wears glasses, but with a clearer sense of vision.
Thursday, July 07, 2011
Monday, June 13, 2011
Takin' it to the Streets!
Watermelon Festival!!
Picture a townhouse-style Reading Room tucked between two buildings that carry facades to the sidewalk. Painted a lively yellow with a bright blue awning, adorned with a perky flower bed awash with color, the Reading Room has perched in its niche on Cary Street for years. Doing okay. Hanging in there.
Now imagine a street festival that attracts approximately a 140-150,000 people meandering the closed streets on a hot August day, right in front of the Reading Room. For one Sunday a year, the Carytown Watermelon Festival converts Cary Street in Richmond,Virginia, into a big party. A street party. Music, food vendors, families with strollers and dogs on leashes. What does the Reading Room do?
First, we open our doors for a few hours on that Sunday afternoon. Nothing happens. Our light is definitely not shining. The Reading Room tries a few years of putting out a table with Reading Room stock in front, manned by a couple of volunteers. No one is too excited about the effort. They offer free cups of water to the hot and thirsty. Almost no one stops by to chat or survey the Reading Room wares. Just too hard a job, some felt. Too difficult to share Christian Science is such a hurly-burly atmosphere.
Does the church give up and go back to closing up for the festival?
No way. The church has learned its lesson. Hiding a light under a bushel is a bummer. The next year, a generous budget is set. The church rents two spaces in the middle of the street, sets up tents and chairs, sponsors a Christian Science lecture for the middle of the festival day, and orders extras of everything. A couple hundred copies of Science and Health in bright blue paperback. A couple hundred blue Bibles. People who never heard of Christian Science sit in the lawn chairs under the tent and hear a great lecture. Several stay and ask questions of the speaker, Sarah Hyatt. Passers-by hear a phrase, stop dead in their tracks and listen from the street. The Reading Room is involved and part of the festival.
Yet somehow that pesky bushel gets popped over the Reading Room’s candle once more. Several lean years follow, but the church is praying its way to the street once more.
Another group gathers to try a tent in the street. This time, many candles will be lit. Pretty green T-shirts with “God Heals, ask me how” printed on the back, and the Cross and Crown symbol on the front shoulder in vivid pink are worn by church members. Monitors are rolled and tied with pink and green ribbons attached to equally festive helium balloons emblazoned with “Christian Science Reading Room, 3431 West Cary Street,” and handed out to passers-by. Hundreds of free Sentinels are accepted by the curious. Festival-goers stop in the tent and chat, maybe to escape the August heat, but also out of curiosity. They ask if the tent belongs to Scientology (which has a new building a block down the street). What fun to explain we’re not. Tent workers get tons of chances to talk about Christian Science and share healings they’ve experienced in their own lives.
The next year, the church orders even more Monitors, more Sentinels for giveaways. And they’re accepted by the passers-by. With each year, and increased orders for periodicals, the volunteers find they’re able to hand out all of them. Each gift to a festival-goer opens a door to a conversation, a chance to talk about God and Christian Science, and spiritual healing.
People head inside to the Reading Room proper, where volunteers answer more questions. The Reading Room stock inside grows depleted. The day is alight with candles without bushels.
More visitors, simple seekers of Truth, visit after the Festival than ever before. The Reading Room has taken it to the streets, and the streets have found the Reading Room. How very grateful the church is for this tangible evidence of the efficacy of prayer.
Picture a townhouse-style Reading Room tucked between two buildings that carry facades to the sidewalk. Painted a lively yellow with a bright blue awning, adorned with a perky flower bed awash with color, the Reading Room has perched in its niche on Cary Street for years. Doing okay. Hanging in there.
Now imagine a street festival that attracts approximately a 140-150,000 people meandering the closed streets on a hot August day, right in front of the Reading Room. For one Sunday a year, the Carytown Watermelon Festival converts Cary Street in Richmond,Virginia, into a big party. A street party. Music, food vendors, families with strollers and dogs on leashes. What does the Reading Room do?
First, we open our doors for a few hours on that Sunday afternoon. Nothing happens. Our light is definitely not shining. The Reading Room tries a few years of putting out a table with Reading Room stock in front, manned by a couple of volunteers. No one is too excited about the effort. They offer free cups of water to the hot and thirsty. Almost no one stops by to chat or survey the Reading Room wares. Just too hard a job, some felt. Too difficult to share Christian Science is such a hurly-burly atmosphere.
Does the church give up and go back to closing up for the festival?
No way. The church has learned its lesson. Hiding a light under a bushel is a bummer. The next year, a generous budget is set. The church rents two spaces in the middle of the street, sets up tents and chairs, sponsors a Christian Science lecture for the middle of the festival day, and orders extras of everything. A couple hundred copies of Science and Health in bright blue paperback. A couple hundred blue Bibles. People who never heard of Christian Science sit in the lawn chairs under the tent and hear a great lecture. Several stay and ask questions of the speaker, Sarah Hyatt. Passers-by hear a phrase, stop dead in their tracks and listen from the street. The Reading Room is involved and part of the festival.
Yet somehow that pesky bushel gets popped over the Reading Room’s candle once more. Several lean years follow, but the church is praying its way to the street once more.
Another group gathers to try a tent in the street. This time, many candles will be lit. Pretty green T-shirts with “God Heals, ask me how” printed on the back, and the Cross and Crown symbol on the front shoulder in vivid pink are worn by church members. Monitors are rolled and tied with pink and green ribbons attached to equally festive helium balloons emblazoned with “Christian Science Reading Room, 3431 West Cary Street,” and handed out to passers-by. Hundreds of free Sentinels are accepted by the curious. Festival-goers stop in the tent and chat, maybe to escape the August heat, but also out of curiosity. They ask if the tent belongs to Scientology (which has a new building a block down the street). What fun to explain we’re not. Tent workers get tons of chances to talk about Christian Science and share healings they’ve experienced in their own lives.
The next year, the church orders even more Monitors, more Sentinels for giveaways. And they’re accepted by the passers-by. With each year, and increased orders for periodicals, the volunteers find they’re able to hand out all of them. Each gift to a festival-goer opens a door to a conversation, a chance to talk about God and Christian Science, and spiritual healing.
People head inside to the Reading Room proper, where volunteers answer more questions. The Reading Room stock inside grows depleted. The day is alight with candles without bushels.
More visitors, simple seekers of Truth, visit after the Festival than ever before. The Reading Room has taken it to the streets, and the streets have found the Reading Room. How very grateful the church is for this tangible evidence of the efficacy of prayer.
Wednesday, June 08, 2011
Masks
Masks. Halloween stores are filled with them. Did you see the TV show FACE OFF? Over its course, makeup artists competed to see who could create the most effective masks from makeup and prostheses. The results were astounding; aliens, men into women, animals, and even plants who were, underneath it all, just people.
We all wear them. Sometimes it involves makeup, sometimes it's an expression. Smiling when inside, we're screaming. A serious expression when we really want to laugh. Are we ever without a mask? Yes.
When we're living with prayer. Living the life God has given us. When we walk with God, there's no need to hide behind a mask of any sort. We're free to express all the God-like qualities with which we are, every one of us, endowed.
Error wears a mask, too. Error is another name for anything God didn't make. And if God didn't make it, we can't have it. Sometimes error wears a charming mask, trying to lead us into the temptation of falling into what it wants us to do. And it's nothing that's good for us, that's for sure.
How can we see through the masks? See things as God sees them. If you look with the eyes of Love reflecting Love, you'll never be fooled. Seeing the real man and woman as God created them, perfect, complete, and loving, is my daily goal.
We all wear them. Sometimes it involves makeup, sometimes it's an expression. Smiling when inside, we're screaming. A serious expression when we really want to laugh. Are we ever without a mask? Yes.
When we're living with prayer. Living the life God has given us. When we walk with God, there's no need to hide behind a mask of any sort. We're free to express all the God-like qualities with which we are, every one of us, endowed.
Error wears a mask, too. Error is another name for anything God didn't make. And if God didn't make it, we can't have it. Sometimes error wears a charming mask, trying to lead us into the temptation of falling into what it wants us to do. And it's nothing that's good for us, that's for sure.
How can we see through the masks? See things as God sees them. If you look with the eyes of Love reflecting Love, you'll never be fooled. Seeing the real man and woman as God created them, perfect, complete, and loving, is my daily goal.
Monday, June 06, 2011
The Prayerful Mechanic
I was cutting grass with a three-blade, 48 inch deck walk behind mower when a bungee cord hanging from a bracket came loose, dropped onto the deck, and wedged itself into the blade driver. Then it twisted itself and threw the drive belt off, halting the mower and my day.
I'm not a mechanic by nature. Something either works, or it doesn't. The mower clearly wasn't working, and even th ugh I was able to pull the bungee cord out, it left a twisted drive belt on the mower's deck. I couldn't figure out how to put the belt back on. Every attempt resulted in several feet of slack belt and an inoperable mower.
Having exhausted every idea I had, I felt I had no option but to load up the mower and take it to a mechanic. I then realized I could pray about this problem. As a Christian Scientist, I understand God to be Mind, the source of all ideas. Mary Baker Eddy begins the definition of God as "The Great I AM: The all-knowing..." I reasoned that the solution to this mechanical problem was known to God, and that there could never be a problem beyond God's control. Made as the reflection of this Mind, I had the solution already. I knew the communication was always from God to Man.
Just that quickly, what needed to be done became apparent. I took the belt completely off, straightened out the twists, and began with a different sequence to reattach it. Immediately, the damage was repaired.
Before returning to work, I finished this "healing" by expressing gratitude for the immediate availability of God's help and support.
I'm not a mechanic by nature. Something either works, or it doesn't. The mower clearly wasn't working, and even th ugh I was able to pull the bungee cord out, it left a twisted drive belt on the mower's deck. I couldn't figure out how to put the belt back on. Every attempt resulted in several feet of slack belt and an inoperable mower.
Having exhausted every idea I had, I felt I had no option but to load up the mower and take it to a mechanic. I then realized I could pray about this problem. As a Christian Scientist, I understand God to be Mind, the source of all ideas. Mary Baker Eddy begins the definition of God as "The Great I AM: The all-knowing..." I reasoned that the solution to this mechanical problem was known to God, and that there could never be a problem beyond God's control. Made as the reflection of this Mind, I had the solution already. I knew the communication was always from God to Man.
Just that quickly, what needed to be done became apparent. I took the belt completely off, straightened out the twists, and began with a different sequence to reattach it. Immediately, the damage was repaired.
Before returning to work, I finished this "healing" by expressing gratitude for the immediate availability of God's help and support.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Angry Birds
Have you played the game Angry Birds? It's filled with different situations where graphic birds try to blow up green pigs. Silly, I know, but it lead me to think about how we can pray.
The targeted pigs appear to be protected by glass, wood, and stone fortresses, often very difficult for the little birds to penetrate. While playing the game with an eight year old little boy, we discussed the tactics he should take when launching the attacking "angry birds," in order take out the fortresses and earn points by blowing up the taunting pigs. We came up with specific ideas and they worked!
It came to me that this was a good example of how to pray about taking out the green pigs of mortal mind. We don't need to start praying in a massive launch of scattered prayer, but instead, we can be lead to pray logically and thoughtfully about how to counter any entrenched, stubborn, or lingering lie about ourselves or anyone else. The right idea will come to us through focused, specific prayer, because we can see any dire situation as God sees it. Untrue. Not impenetrable. There is no power apart from God, and that power is laser-like and swift to reveal the nothingness of mortal mind, error. The birds of our prayer can easily and successfully blow up those unreal green pigs.
The targeted pigs appear to be protected by glass, wood, and stone fortresses, often very difficult for the little birds to penetrate. While playing the game with an eight year old little boy, we discussed the tactics he should take when launching the attacking "angry birds," in order take out the fortresses and earn points by blowing up the taunting pigs. We came up with specific ideas and they worked!
It came to me that this was a good example of how to pray about taking out the green pigs of mortal mind. We don't need to start praying in a massive launch of scattered prayer, but instead, we can be lead to pray logically and thoughtfully about how to counter any entrenched, stubborn, or lingering lie about ourselves or anyone else. The right idea will come to us through focused, specific prayer, because we can see any dire situation as God sees it. Untrue. Not impenetrable. There is no power apart from God, and that power is laser-like and swift to reveal the nothingness of mortal mind, error. The birds of our prayer can easily and successfully blow up those unreal green pigs.
Tuesday, May 03, 2011
Our Dear Dog
Was clearly not feeling well. She hadn't been eating normally, but she was still her loving self. We put her to bed, knowing the Truth about her, that she was a beloved creature, a pure expression of Love. About one in the morning, I awoke and went to her room downstairs to check on her. The picture was alarming. I tried to make her comfortable, and then I began to pray big time. I began by seeing her as God sees her, perfect, complete, and a delightful expression of joy. The love she expresses for everyone couldn't be dimmed or taken from her. Her real identity is spiritual, untouched by the picture before my eyes. I prayed until I felt calmer, then I went back to my bed to pray some more. Every time I awoke, which was often, I returned to my prayers, knowing God was in control, until I was able to feel calm again. Fear tried often to creep into my consciousness, but I refused to succumb. The evidence was false, and I wasn't going to buy into an untrue picture.
The next morning, she greeted us with her normal happy demeanor,and the ugly physical picture disappeared. She was completely happy and well.
The next morning, she greeted us with her normal happy demeanor,and the ugly physical picture disappeared. She was completely happy and well.
The Child of God
The newspapers the past few days have featured the photograph of a well-known "terrorist" who was killed in a US military maneuver.
This individual clearly saw himself as outside the law and, as is the case with all sin, this carried with it its own punishment. Sin and punishment always travel together, you can't one without the other. There are many different definitons of the concept "sin". One is: to miss the mark. Another is: to break the First Commandment. When we miss the mark, aren't we letting something else beside Love, Truth, Principle, guide our actions and therefore, be god to us?
However, it is important to remember that what we accept as true about a man becomes our reality. Jesus never called a man by a false, sinful name. He knew the shortcomings of the prostitute, the tax collector, the doubters.
When a leper stood in front of him asking for a healing, although everyone around him knew and saw a man that was a leper, Jesus clearly was seeing only the dearly loved son of God. This view of him, healed him so everyone around could also see God's pure man.
We must not be fooled into believing false lables under anyone's picture. God never made any such man. It is a picture of a counterfeit, a distortion of God's creation. We see what we believe. And we get what we see.
This individual clearly saw himself as outside the law and, as is the case with all sin, this carried with it its own punishment. Sin and punishment always travel together, you can't one without the other. There are many different definitons of the concept "sin". One is: to miss the mark. Another is: to break the First Commandment. When we miss the mark, aren't we letting something else beside Love, Truth, Principle, guide our actions and therefore, be god to us?
However, it is important to remember that what we accept as true about a man becomes our reality. Jesus never called a man by a false, sinful name. He knew the shortcomings of the prostitute, the tax collector, the doubters.
When a leper stood in front of him asking for a healing, although everyone around him knew and saw a man that was a leper, Jesus clearly was seeing only the dearly loved son of God. This view of him, healed him so everyone around could also see God's pure man.
We must not be fooled into believing false lables under anyone's picture. God never made any such man. It is a picture of a counterfeit, a distortion of God's creation. We see what we believe. And we get what we see.
PROGRESS
In a sermon titled "THE PEOPLE'S IDEA OF GOD", Mary Baker Eddy wrote, "Every step of progress is a step more spiritual."
Sometimes we worry that we are making a wrong decision. A Sunday School student recently asked me, "How do you know you are obeying what God wants you to do, instead of willfully deciding to do what YOU think you want to do?
Prayer for me means lots of listening. God knows what we need and what will be best for our progress. He is always guiding us and if we get quiet with our questions, we will be able to discern His guidance. The Bible tells us, "Be still and know that I am God." (And you are not! LET God show you the way.)
I love the advice I find in Science and Health, with Key to the Scriptures, the Christian Scientist's textbook. When faced with two decisions, neither of which seems the absolute perfect choice, just always choose the better one. This way you work your way up to a perfect solution a step at a time. If we mistake our way and make a decision that we think, looking back, may have been a mistake, trust that God is opening the way for us to be in our right place. Sometimes there is something to learn on the way!
Sometimes we worry that we are making a wrong decision. A Sunday School student recently asked me, "How do you know you are obeying what God wants you to do, instead of willfully deciding to do what YOU think you want to do?
Prayer for me means lots of listening. God knows what we need and what will be best for our progress. He is always guiding us and if we get quiet with our questions, we will be able to discern His guidance. The Bible tells us, "Be still and know that I am God." (And you are not! LET God show you the way.)
I love the advice I find in Science and Health, with Key to the Scriptures, the Christian Scientist's textbook. When faced with two decisions, neither of which seems the absolute perfect choice, just always choose the better one. This way you work your way up to a perfect solution a step at a time. If we mistake our way and make a decision that we think, looking back, may have been a mistake, trust that God is opening the way for us to be in our right place. Sometimes there is something to learn on the way!
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Grief and Loss Healed
A few years ago just after my grandfather passed away, my sister and I went to visit our dad in another state. During our visit we went hiking in a rural mountain area. At one of the places we stopped to view the scenery, we left our cellphones and several other items in my dad's truck. While we were away from the truck someone broke in and stole several things including our cellphones and even tried to set the truck on fire. After making this discovery and overcoming the initial shock, we drove to the local police station. A report was filed, but there seemed little that could be done. While we were at the police station waiting for someone to take our statement, I was affirming that God's man does not steal.
That night the weekly Wednesday evening testimony meeting was held at the local Christian Science Society. During this meeting I stood up and gave gratitude for God's protection that day. Even though things had been stolen from my dad's truck, no one had harmed us, and the attempt to burn my dad's truck was unsuccessful. As soon as I stood up to give this testimony, the feelings of fear from that day dissolved.
I called a Christian Science practitioner to help pray with me. She said that we needed to work on a sense of loss relating to the passing away of my grandfather and the things that were stolen.
A few weeks later, it was determined that the person responsible for the theft was from a prominent and well to do family in that area and that he had become involved with illegal drugs. As a result of this his family had disowned him. It became clear to me that what this person needed was love. At that moment I forgave this person and asked God to let him know that he is loved.
After this I felt a sense of peace and any fear or sense of being violated went away. Most everything that was taken from the truck was recovered and those things that were not were easily replaced or let go of.
I am grateful for this opportunity to learn more about God's love for his children.
That night the weekly Wednesday evening testimony meeting was held at the local Christian Science Society. During this meeting I stood up and gave gratitude for God's protection that day. Even though things had been stolen from my dad's truck, no one had harmed us, and the attempt to burn my dad's truck was unsuccessful. As soon as I stood up to give this testimony, the feelings of fear from that day dissolved.
I called a Christian Science practitioner to help pray with me. She said that we needed to work on a sense of loss relating to the passing away of my grandfather and the things that were stolen.
A few weeks later, it was determined that the person responsible for the theft was from a prominent and well to do family in that area and that he had become involved with illegal drugs. As a result of this his family had disowned him. It became clear to me that what this person needed was love. At that moment I forgave this person and asked God to let him know that he is loved.
After this I felt a sense of peace and any fear or sense of being violated went away. Most everything that was taken from the truck was recovered and those things that were not were easily replaced or let go of.
I am grateful for this opportunity to learn more about God's love for his children.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Quarterly Business Meeting
Members are reminded that our quarterly business meeting will be held on April 21 at 7 p.m.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Prayer for Childen
From Matthew 19:13
Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them.
14 But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.
We feel very fortunate to have Christian Science while raising our children. Every need has been met quickly and with success, from bloody noses to bullying. Fevers, colds, school problems, every single little (and seemingly big) thing has been resolved through prayer. A child-like thought, innocent and pure, can be found in everyone, from an infant to seeming senior citizens. This purity of thought can't help but respond to the Truth, and it does.
Every child deserves to be loved, cared for, and protected, and who better to do this than our Heavenly Father-Mother, God? By knowing that God is always our children's parent, we've been able to let go of false responsibilities and see through the clouds of the human picture. God is always with them, guarding, guiding, and protecting them. Doing so always has, and always will, enable our children to live, free and pure, untouched by anything that would try to taint them.
Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them.
14 But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.
We feel very fortunate to have Christian Science while raising our children. Every need has been met quickly and with success, from bloody noses to bullying. Fevers, colds, school problems, every single little (and seemingly big) thing has been resolved through prayer. A child-like thought, innocent and pure, can be found in everyone, from an infant to seeming senior citizens. This purity of thought can't help but respond to the Truth, and it does.
Every child deserves to be loved, cared for, and protected, and who better to do this than our Heavenly Father-Mother, God? By knowing that God is always our children's parent, we've been able to let go of false responsibilities and see through the clouds of the human picture. God is always with them, guarding, guiding, and protecting them. Doing so always has, and always will, enable our children to live, free and pure, untouched by anything that would try to taint them.
Monday, April 04, 2011
Sudden Healing
Saturday, as I was getting dressed for work, my chest began to ache. I hurt from armpit to armpit, neck to waist.
My first thoughts were neither metaphysical nor spiritual. I thought, "I must have pulled something. It'll go away." I know better. To look for a cause for a problem is to deny that God, good, is the only cause. To believe that a problem has a cause and is real is to believe that God can be absent from His creation, that man is not the reflection of God, the image and likeness of God as Genesis puts it. These ideas came to me later.
The pain persisted. As I was leaving the house I began to wonder what it was. Was it serious. What if...
Suddenly the first lines of one of my favorite hymns (342) filled my thought.
This is the day the Lord hath made.
Be glad, give thanks, rejoice.
Stand in His presence, unafraid.
In praise lift up your voice.
By the time I reached the word "unafraid" the pain vanished. So did the fear, the What if's. I took the time, right there, standing in my driveway to thank God for being there and for the realization that I was in His presence. I was grateful to recognize that my day was made by God and He was in total control.
It was a productive, happy day.
My first thoughts were neither metaphysical nor spiritual. I thought, "I must have pulled something. It'll go away." I know better. To look for a cause for a problem is to deny that God, good, is the only cause. To believe that a problem has a cause and is real is to believe that God can be absent from His creation, that man is not the reflection of God, the image and likeness of God as Genesis puts it. These ideas came to me later.
The pain persisted. As I was leaving the house I began to wonder what it was. Was it serious. What if...
Suddenly the first lines of one of my favorite hymns (342) filled my thought.
This is the day the Lord hath made.
Be glad, give thanks, rejoice.
Stand in His presence, unafraid.
In praise lift up your voice.
By the time I reached the word "unafraid" the pain vanished. So did the fear, the What if's. I took the time, right there, standing in my driveway to thank God for being there and for the realization that I was in His presence. I was grateful to recognize that my day was made by God and He was in total control.
It was a productive, happy day.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
The Angels of His Presence
“For he shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways.” (Ps 91: 11)
Throughout the Bible, when angels are identified as such, they are often portrayed as men. Lot protected the two strangers from the townspeople in Sodom. Jacob wrestled with a “man” at Peniel. (Remember, he was left alone.) In the New Testament there is the familiar story of (male) Gabriel visiting Mary and Joseph, telling them the nature and role of their son to be, Jesus. An angel appeared to the shepherds which prompted them to go to Bethlehem (Luke2: 8-15) And “angels came and ministered” unto Jesus when he overcame temptation in the wilderness. Angels also play a significant role supporting and protecting Paul’s establishment of the early churches, opening prison gates, loosening chains, and leading him safely out of town when needed. Finally, in Revelation, Michael is portrayed as a warrior leading a host of “his angels” in the final conflict with the Great Red Dragon. Throughout the Bible, God’s everpresence is exemplified by angels. They inspire, comfort, protect, and guide.
Over the centuries angels have been depicted in art as winged and female. Are they male or female or something else entirely?
Mrs. Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science focuses on the spiritual nature of angels. In the Glossary of Science and Health, part of the definition of angels is, “God’s thoughts passing to man; spiritual intuitions, pure and perfect;” (S+H 581: 4-5) Elsewhere she states, “Angels are pure thoughts from God, winged with Truth and Love, no matter what their individualism may be.” (S+H 298: 28-30).
When I’m praying my way through a problem, seeking healing or direction, I expect and anticipate an answer. God, Divine Mind, the All-knowing, is reflected in creativity and intelligence. As His child, made in His image and likeness, I know that all I’ll ever need is always, already available to me through Divine Love. Jesus uses the example of a father being asked by his son for bread or a fish, which he would not ignore or pervert, to make the point, “how much more your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask of him?” (Matt. 7:8-11) Our role is to willingly open our thought to ideas, suggestions, and/or commands God sends in response to our asking. In short, to listen, recognize, acknowledge, and follow the angels God sends in response to our asking.
There are no emergencies to this Mind. There are no surprises for the All-knowing. Each one of us can daily declare this Truth to be true of everyone, everywhere, any time. This includes the selfless individuals striving to find answers to the multitude of problems in Japan and Haiti, the statesmen working for peace throughout the world, a college student confronted with an ethics violation, or a 5-year old struggling with the principles of addition. There is no situation outside the infinitude of God – and that includes those encountered by me and you.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
An Awakening
My husband and I were sitting in our family room, one evening 2 years ago, when he dropped off to sleep as we were watching TV. Suddenly, he seemed to wake up and announced that he couldn't see, and his eyes seemed to lose their luster, becoming opaque. I was so grateful to be able to calmly tell him that it wasn't true, and that he was having a bad dream. However, he was agitated, and began to try to stand up, but seemed uncoordinated. Even with my help, he could not stand. This happened a few times without success. He then fell back into the chair and I suggested that he take a nap.
I said, aloud, a quote from Science and Health, "God is everywhere and nothing apart from Him is present or has power." He was quiet and slept for a few minutes. I took out the Bible Lesson for that week, which was, "Substance". I knew God was right there with us, that only harmony was present and could not be reversed. Matter makes no conditions for man; God is our Life.
After a few minutes he wakened and his eyes looked normal. He said he thought he had had a stroke. I answered that it was only a bad dream. He wanted to get up and was able to, with my help.
I suggested that we together go over the "punch list" for the small addition to our house that was in the final stages of completion. This was of interest to him and we went over the list, making additions and taking off deletions as we walked around the house. That night he took a shower and slept well. There has been no reoccurrence or bad effect from this experience, and I write it to serve as another instance of God's omnipotence and omnipresence, as well as the practicality of Christian Science.
I said, aloud, a quote from Science and Health, "God is everywhere and nothing apart from Him is present or has power." He was quiet and slept for a few minutes. I took out the Bible Lesson for that week, which was, "Substance". I knew God was right there with us, that only harmony was present and could not be reversed. Matter makes no conditions for man; God is our Life.
After a few minutes he wakened and his eyes looked normal. He said he thought he had had a stroke. I answered that it was only a bad dream. He wanted to get up and was able to, with my help.
I suggested that we together go over the "punch list" for the small addition to our house that was in the final stages of completion. This was of interest to him and we went over the list, making additions and taking off deletions as we walked around the house. That night he took a shower and slept well. There has been no reoccurrence or bad effect from this experience, and I write it to serve as another instance of God's omnipotence and omnipresence, as well as the practicality of Christian Science.
HELP IN THE NIGHT
My errands recently called for me to visit a medical facility to comfort a friend. I had noticed on a previous visit that there were signs, at each entrance to the building and the specific area of the facility, warning visitors to stay away if they were suffering from any kind of flu-like illness. These signs indicated that ignoring these warnings would put the patients at risk since they were already in a "weakened" condition.
After retiring in perfect health, I awoke in the middle of the night before my visit to find myself exhibiting extreme symptoms of flu-like sickness. As I reached for tissues, the thought that came to me was that now I could not visit my friend because I would be putting her health in danger. The counteracting message that came to me immediately from divine Love was, "A child of God cannot be a victim nor can you be attacked when you are acting from good motives."
I lay there and prayed to acknowledge God's law in operation - the law of Love and all good. I realized that I could not be a cause of harm to anyone because I would bring with me the view of man as God's perfect child, safe in His keeping. God has not created a man who is "weakened" - he is spiritual not material. If he could be a target, man would be a target out of range of this belief. When I awoke in the morning, I was completely free from any sense of illness or symptoms and was able to go to visit with joy.
After retiring in perfect health, I awoke in the middle of the night before my visit to find myself exhibiting extreme symptoms of flu-like sickness. As I reached for tissues, the thought that came to me was that now I could not visit my friend because I would be putting her health in danger. The counteracting message that came to me immediately from divine Love was, "A child of God cannot be a victim nor can you be attacked when you are acting from good motives."
I lay there and prayed to acknowledge God's law in operation - the law of Love and all good. I realized that I could not be a cause of harm to anyone because I would bring with me the view of man as God's perfect child, safe in His keeping. God has not created a man who is "weakened" - he is spiritual not material. If he could be a target, man would be a target out of range of this belief. When I awoke in the morning, I was completely free from any sense of illness or symptoms and was able to go to visit with joy.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
No Change My Heart Shall Fear
We sang one of my favorite hymns last night, which begins "In heavenly Love abiding, no change my heart shall fear..." (Hymn 148 in the Christian Science Hymnal) I've used that hymn a zillion times, from calming a 5 year old in a tizzy about starting kindergarten, to helping a new college freshman over first-day-on-campus jitters. Knowing we abide with Love, God, and no matter what's swirling on around us on the winds of change, gives us the confidence to go forward no matter how daunting it may seem. We always have and always will have, our place in the house of the unchanging, always loving, Father-Mother, God. Nothing can break that relationship.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Where to begin
The other night I was sitting in the lobby at church waiting for the Wednesday Testimony Meeting to begin. My feet hurt and the pain rapidly increased. I had walked into church with no discomfort but the longer I sat there, the worse they felt until I reached the point where I doubted my ability to get up and walk into the auditorium.
I remembered a phrase that I'd heard years ago when I was in college. It often serves as a starting point for my prayers. It goes, "Begin with God and see things as they are."
This idea effectively turns my thought away from the problem and refocuses it on God, the Only Cause and Creator. From this starting point of perfection I can see myself as perfect because I am made in His image and likeness as stated in Genesis.
I view problems, in this case a physical one, as a temptation to believe that there is a cause outside of omnipotent God and an effect beyond infinite good. In his prayer in the Sermon on the Mount which we call the Lord's Prayer, Christ Jesus includes the line, "And lead me not into temptation." I know I am divinely supported in my efforts to resist temptation of any kind.
The truth about God is true about man as God made him and is true for me as a child of God. The pain disappeared quickly and I went into the service completely free.
I remembered a phrase that I'd heard years ago when I was in college. It often serves as a starting point for my prayers. It goes, "Begin with God and see things as they are."
This idea effectively turns my thought away from the problem and refocuses it on God, the Only Cause and Creator. From this starting point of perfection I can see myself as perfect because I am made in His image and likeness as stated in Genesis.
I view problems, in this case a physical one, as a temptation to believe that there is a cause outside of omnipotent God and an effect beyond infinite good. In his prayer in the Sermon on the Mount which we call the Lord's Prayer, Christ Jesus includes the line, "And lead me not into temptation." I know I am divinely supported in my efforts to resist temptation of any kind.
The truth about God is true about man as God made him and is true for me as a child of God. The pain disappeared quickly and I went into the service completely free.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
I Walk with Love
My knee hurt. Plain and simple, I wasn't having much fun walking the dog or even hobbling about my daily tasks. I complained about it. I came up with reasons for it to hurt, such as a strenuous weekend of hiking up and down. Then I woke up and decided to do what I should have done first.
I prayed to know I am a spiritual idea, not a mortal with an achy knee. As the idea of God, perfect in every way, where was there room for a bum knee? No way. Then the line from the hymn, "I walk with Love along the way, and oh, it is a holy day" came to me. As I snapped the leash on our dog to take her for her walk, I sang the hymn to myself. What a lovely time we had, marching crisply for a long trek around her favorite places. End of the complaining, both from me and the so-called knee. It was a lovely and holy day indeed.
I prayed to know I am a spiritual idea, not a mortal with an achy knee. As the idea of God, perfect in every way, where was there room for a bum knee? No way. Then the line from the hymn, "I walk with Love along the way, and oh, it is a holy day" came to me. As I snapped the leash on our dog to take her for her walk, I sang the hymn to myself. What a lovely time we had, marching crisply for a long trek around her favorite places. End of the complaining, both from me and the so-called knee. It was a lovely and holy day indeed.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
How to Pray for Japan
The following link provides useful ways to respond, prayerfully, for those who need our dedicated metaphysical help.
http://christianscience.com/healing/topics/healing-response-earthquake-in-japan/.
http://christianscience.com/healing/topics/healing-response-earthquake-in-japan/.
Tuesday, March 08, 2011
Allergies
It would appear that food allergies, in fact allergies of all kinds, are rampant in today’s world. A ton of explanations are proffered as to the cause(s), yet people continue to suffer immensely as a result of these impositions. Because that’s what allergies are – an effort, in fact, a lie, to say that man is NOT created in the image and likeness of a loving God, and that environment, contaminants, or heredity can make him/her suffer from drinking cow’s milk, eating bread made from wheat, etc., or even breathing the scent of fresh grass. In praying about this mistaken belief, I’ve found this story about Elisha and the “death in the pot” stew very helpful. (King James Version) Elisha knew that God hadn’t, wouldn’t, couldn’t create anything to harm His children, so those who ate from the pot weren’t condemned to die from ingesting a poisonous gourd stew. Neither are we condemned to suffer from seasonal, food, or environmental allergies.
II Kings 4:38
38 ¶ And Elisha came again to Gilgal: and there was a dearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him: and he said unto his servant, Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets.
39 And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage: for they knew them not.
40 So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat thereof.
41 But he said, Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot.
II Kings 4:38
38 ¶ And Elisha came again to Gilgal: and there was a dearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him: and he said unto his servant, Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets.
39 And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage: for they knew them not.
40 So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat thereof.
41 But he said, Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot.
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