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8/13/2014 Healing hearts, next steps To someone dealing with depression or grief, the mental darkness can seem impenetrable. But there is a light in God's love - bigger, stronger and more powerful than all the human earthly sense of love put together - that can break through the blackest of the black and lead us out. If you or someone you know is in trouble and needs help, please listen to this 8 minute podcast titled, God is here and will help. No one is left alone in the dark to suffer. No one. More articles and podcasts dealing with overcoming loss, grief and depression, or helping someone to stop suicidal thoughts: Not a subscriber and want to be?
Easy. Just sign up in the sidebar. You may also wish to: VISIT MY WEBSITE HOME PAGE FIND LINKS TO MY OTHER PUBLISHED CONTENT LISTEN TO A COLLECTION OF MY "YOUR DAILY LIFT" 2-MINUTE PODCASTS  "Every 26 minutes a pastor leaves ministry never to return." This stunning headline appeared in an email forwarded to me from a friend. I did the math. This works out to about 1700 every month. What on earth is going on? I thought pastors were among the happiest people on earth! But then again, so are church-goers, right? And yet church membership is on the decline. What could be the cause? Burnout? "BETRAYED: The Clergy Killer's DNA," a 2012 documentary film, reviewed online by Mike McManus, suggests something much more sinister. The film aims to uncover an element of evil it suggests is lurking largely undetected in congregations around the world. As one pastor put it, "So many ministers are being destroyed by evil and evil people in the life of the church who are willing to take the throat out of the pastor." Another adds, "It may be one or two or eight to ten in a congregation who give themselves to evil purposes for their own narcissistic benefits." A third asserted, "These people who act with viscous[sic] hearts are often called clergy killers." Moreover, the film asserts that virtually every congregation has them, though they are usually very few in number, only a tiny percentage of the total congregation. The purpose of the film is to serve as a warning to both the clergy and congregations to wake up and handle the dangerous undermining elements that would attack and drive away the good in our churches. While I don't think it is helpful to personalize evil to particular people, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to observe that three different mental elements sometimes appear in many church congregations – some with helpful aspects, others not so much.  The first takes the form of an energetic, inspired, willingness to work - call it the “GoGo" mentality - where great effort is devoted to prayer and genuine good works in support of the church and its mission. But sometimes this energy and devotion is undermined by a sense of human do-goodism. Church activities take on a life of their own and the God-link - where divine Spirit is the source of all good ideas and the power of performing them - is lost. Church work becomes a burden and fellow members seem more like opponents than colleagues engaged in achieving common goals. Then you have what we can call the "Blue Sky" perspective, expressed by well-meaning, good intentions and hopes for the church. But lacking any particular vision, purpose or drive, this mental state is easily influenced by the opinions of others or by the threat of any dark cloud that tries to disturb its sense of harmony. A third mental condition involves foot-dragging and resistance to progress or change. A good name for this is the “NoNo" mentality. Beyond negative, this condition sometimes appears benign and even supportive of the leadership and direction of the church; but it's not. It sometimes uses the method of pleasant persuasion to influence others to its cause which, often unbeknownst even to the one expressing it, is to stop forward movement and effectiveness of the church in the community. The NoNo attitude takes the joy and inspiration right out of church through a barrage of spoken and silent negativity. In many instances, it is ignored or simply tolerated until it accomplishes its task of undermining progress. NoNo behavior might destroy a pastor's reputation to get him or her ousted from church. In other cases it so discourages the GoGo and Blue Sky thinkers that they abandon ship precipitately or simply drift quietly away.  When these scenarios play out, congregations think they are only dealing with a local issue. But now it's being examined as a global phenomenon. So what's really at work here? And what can we do about it? The Bible refers to evil as devil, Satan, or the Adversary. Neither Satan nor evil is an actual person. The devil or evil is a false claim of power or opposition to God who is actually universal, omnipotent good – the only real power. Evil is a pretender. It is supposititious, referring to its fraudulent nature as designed to deceive. This is exactly how evil is described in the Genesis 3 allegory that explains evil and its origins. In the allegory a talking serpent tells a lie and seduces Eve into disobeying God and doing its bidding. Having fallen for the suggestions of this talking serpent herself, she in turn uses her influence to convince her husband to follow her down the same path.  I suppose we sometimes forget that, although fictional, these characters are not defenseless in the allegory. Eve and Adam knew what they were supposed to do. But they accepted the arguments of a subtle serpent instead of promptly and resolutely shutting them out. And of course as the story goes, there were sad consequences that followed that decision. I think this allegory points out a couple of things. 1) Evil isn’t personal. While we might see ourselves facing the downside of one of those thought patterns in church (GoGo, Blue Sky, or NoNo), we can make a correction. Personalizing evil or taking personal credit for good in church is never healthy. But separating evil from person and letting God as the source and power of good guide the church and its members always is. With watchfulness and moral courage we can throw off the serpent of negative influence that would disrupt our church experience. We may blame a snake all day for what we perceive to be wrong in the church, but there comes a point when reason takes over and we must admit that talking serpents aren’t real. We don’t have to be duped. 2) Good is the only real and permanent influence. After the whole complicated story of evil is told, Adam and Eve are discovered in Christian Science to be only matter-based beliefs suggesting we all have built-in character weaknesses, as if God actually created us that way. The real account of our origin and condition is given in Genesis 1, where God’s man is revealed through spiritual light and revelation to be formed of Spirit, and thus to be entirely spiritual and good. The real man, created by God, has dominion over every creeping suggestion of evil. And through our prayers and alignment with this true view of man’s origin, we can wake up to the innate power of good as the only real and lasting influence on the church.  Christ Jesus did. He dealt with the mental assault of suppositional evil in what is referred to as the "temptation of Christ." (See Matt 4.) The devil, aptly referred to as the tempter in this scenario, promised what it couldn't deliver if only Jesus would fall down and worship this deceiver. Jesus didn't waste any time considering his options. He forcefully renounced this pernicious suggestion saying, "Get thee hence, Satan." The attempt to persuade him to abandon his mission and forsake a waiting world was thwarted. Mary Baker Eddy, discoverer of Christian Science and the first Pastor of the Church of Christ, Scientist, had learned through experience that individual well-being, safety, and progress in the church come from guarding the door of our thinking. She urged her students to follow the Biblical injunction to "let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 2:5) One paraphrase of that is “Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself.” (Peterson, The Message) Christ Jesus knew that he and those around him were Spirit-made and empowered only by divine Good. He couldn’t and wouldn’t be deceived to follow a path that would be self-destructive or a danger to others. Being aware of this divine goodness in us and our fellow church members makes us strong and courageous. It keeps us focused on our true mission in the world and God’s vision for His church. Filled with goodness which comes from God, our divine Mind, we are naturally shielded from evil suggestions and find that we can stay the course, helping our brothers and sisters to stand for good in church and progress in the community. Mrs. Eddy explained, “The self-seeking pride of the evil thinker injures him when he would harm others. Goodness involuntarily resists evil. The evil thinker is the proud talker and doer. The right thinker abides under the shadow of the Almighty. His thoughts can only reflect peace, good will towards men, health, and holiness.” (The First Church of Christ, Scientist and Miscellany, 210)
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It's easy! Just sign up in the sidebar. You may also wish to: VISIT MY WEBSITE HOME PAGE FIND LINKS TO MY OTHER PUBLISHED CONTENT LISTEN TO A COLLECTION OF MY "YOUR DAILY LIFT" 2-MINUTE PODCASTS 8/10/2014 Mash-up of this week's web highlights Two new blog posts and a report on the recovery of a doctor caught my attention late this week. All three are special - quite worthy of a look. Christian Science teacher Diane Marrapodi asks, "What are we left with when there are no words, or when words fail to meet the demand for comfort and healing, or when words are just, well…words?... When trials appear and 'there are no words', you can reliably trust the ever-presence of spiritual sense. It enables you to recognize and feel the love of God. You can know and see, with scientific certainty, that God is blessing you right now. " Christian Science teacher Barbara Pettis asks, "Sometimes someone will ask us if we’re a pessimist or an optimist—do we see the glass half-empty or half-full? But a better question would be, are we materially minded, or are we spiritually minded?A materially minded individual tends to be one who thinks in terms of what is physically possible or impossible, whereas a spiritually minded individual will be more apt to think in terms of “with God, all things are possible.” What a difference these two perspectives can make! " And People magazine has a health update on the doctor receiving care in an Atlanta hospital after returning to the US from Ebola-ravaged Liberia. I was touched by his plea: "As you continue to pray for Nancy and me, yes, please pray for our recovery. More importantly, pray that we would be faithful to God's call on our lives in these new circumstances." All three will take you into a faith that goes deeper than a surface belief in God. They show a conviction and practice born of experience with God - of a growing spiritual understanding of Him and of unselfed love. Not a subscriber and want to be?
It's easy! Just sign up in the sidebar. You may also wish to: VISIT MY WEBSITE HOME PAGE FIND LINKS TO MY OTHER PUBLISHED CONTENT LISTEN TO A COLLECTION OF MY "YOUR DAILY LIFT" 2-MINUTE PODCASTS 8/7/2014 When writing loves you back Next month marks 3 years since the start of this Blog. It has been quite a journey! Looking back over early posts, I came across one, written two months after I began writing regularly. It marks 30 days of blogging and posting every day. I still can't believe I did that. I think I kept that pace up for about a year. Some of you have been with me since the beginning. Others are coming later to the game. While my writing voice has continued to develop and the messaging has become more focused, the spirit of the blog - captured in this post - is still very much the same. So for "Throwback Thursday", I am bringing this post up to today's date (and polishing it up a bit) for your reading pleasure. Last Friday marked thirty consecutive days of blog posts. Now, for most bloggers, that would be considered - ho hum - normal. But for me? My best writing streak ever was in 1998. I wrote seven consecutive articles over a two or three day period. Afterward, I put my pen down and relaxed, writing one or two things a year, because I considered such abundant writing an exceptional phenomenon. But when I recently realized how many hungry little fishes surface in the internet pond every single day looking for inspiring, hopeful content to help them on their daily swim, I was impelled to jump into the deep end of blogging despite my personal doubts. I love to write. I love to explore an idea from many angles and to tell a memorable story. (I am full of stories!) I especially love to share the good news of what God is and does. Anything that helps others to feel the power and love of God that is right there in their midst is a thrill to me. But the commitment to blog - to think deeply and share new content consistently every day - well, I wasn't sure I could keep up.  Then I read this tip from a fellow blogger, Brian Wood: "Quality is better than quantity, but quantities of quality wins." I think his words speak to the unlimited potential to be inspired and to share quality ideas. I believe that everyone has infinite quantities of love in their hearts. As Christ Jesus said, "A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things..." (Matthew 12:35) Every blog post is a love letter. Love for God, love for the message, love for the stories and love for the reader - it all comes together in each post. Its funny though, in the midst of all that love, I forgot that I, too, would be on the receiving end! People have asked how I can blog everyday and get everything else done. The fact is that, since I started blogging - which is a time and attention commitment - my activities have become streamlined and the time-wasters have disappeared. It is like daily life has yielded all its little hidden moments over to the writing, and other tasks now unfold without a hitch. Mary Baker Eddy explained this phenomenon in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. "Working and praying with true motives, your Father will open the way." (p. 326) Example: I am involved in emptying and selling our family home. I have a short window to accomplish it. I am also working full-time and keeping up with the blog. There has been a lot to coordinate, and yet there hasn't been a second of delay in getting things done. Painters, carpenters, electricians and plumbers have all come, and completed their work well, within a day of my request. Not one has kept me waiting or scheduled things for weeks later. Another example: Last week I went to the French Consulate in New York to notarize some legal papers. Nothing I have done with the Consulate has ever taken less than a week and at least two trips to the city. It was done in 15 minutes. I attribute this flow of good in my daily tasks to the commitment to writing with love - and about what I love - daily. Eddy once said in one of her poems that God, divine Love "makes radiant room midst the glories of one endless day." (Poems, p.75) I love to blog for you. And the blog is loving me right back! This post was originally published on this blog on November 21, 2011. Not a subscriber and want to be?
It's easy! Just sign up in the sidebar. You may also wish to: VISIT MY WEBSITE HOME PAGE FIND LINKS TO MY OTHER PUBLISHED CONTENT LISTEN TO A COLLECTION OF MY "YOUR DAILY LIFT" 2-MINUTE PODCASTS 8/4/2014 Burden-free living - Radio interview "For someone feeling weighed down by financial pressures, ill health or extra large responsibilities, the prospect of getting out from under that feeling may seem unrealistic. Yet there is a way to begin experiencing a lifting of the burden," says Steve Carlson as he introduces this week's Christian Science Sentinel Radio rebroadcast, titled "Burden-free living." Click the link to listen to Steve and his three guests - Eric Bashor, Emily Byquist, and me - discuss how to drop a feeling of burden and find healing where it may be needed. A full-text version of this blog can be delivered to your email inbox.
Please subscribe in the sidebar. You may also wish to: VISIT MY WEBSITE HOME PAGE READ MORE BLOG POSTINGS FIND A LIST OF MY OTHER PUBLISHED CONTENT  I just read a bunch of Monday jokes on Pinterest. One said, "It's Monday. I am refreshed and ready to hate my job." Does that sound like you? Are you feeling like one day blends into the next and not much is changing in your life? It may help to know that no one is sitting on some celestial throne somewhere doing the Yay or Nay thing, answering some people's prayers while ignoring yours. That isn't your God - not the REAL one anyway. Your God, the real one, is good. That is, God is the divine and everpresent Principle of good, and has only good scheduled for your Monday. Prayer won't get you any closer to God and His Monday blessings than you are right now. But prayer can open your eyes to ever-present good so that you can express (reflect) and enjoy it on Monday and every day. Remember the 1993 Bill Murray film "Groundhog Day?" Its premise involved a guy stuck repeating the same rotten scenario every time his alarm went off in the morning. He constantly awakened to the same day - February 2nd - known as Groundhog Day in the United States. Murray's character just went with the miserable flow, trapped in a cycle that never changed. His job was a mess. His relationships were a mess. As a result he sank into despair. The phrase "Groundhog Day" is now commonly used in American culture to indicate an unpleasant experience that repeats itself. Then one day he changed his method. It was a mental shift, really. He decided to take each moment to master something good. Among other things he tried to be helpful to others and to live more generously. It wasn't just a work thing or just a private life thing. He made an effort each moment to be and do his best. If things worked out well, great. If not, no sweat. He knew he would get to try again.  Of course it wouldn't be a Bill Murray movie if there weren't some hilarious mess-ups. But Murray's character unfolds the real heart of the film when he decides to use Groundhog Day as a platform for progress by responding to familiar and sometimes unpleasant situations with more grace. With practice, his same old "same-old" changed into priceless moments of discovering good. I love that. You and I have another Monday in front of us. It doesn't have to be a rerun of tough Mondays past. What if we look at this Monday as a clean white page of good thoughts and opportunities? We could choose to stay stuck in a negative groove. But wouldn't it be more fun to let the divine good that is God lead us to new expressions of His goodness? Here is a hymn to kick off a Good Monday prayer: Take my life, and let it be Consecrated, Lord, to Thee. Take my moments and my days, Let them flow in ceaseless praise. Take my hands, and let them move At the impulse of Thy love. A full-text version of this blog can be delivered to your email inbox.
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I have practiced Christian Science professionally in some form since 1979. But my journey with Christian Science started in a Sunday school where as a young child I was taught the Scriptures and some simple basics of Jesus' method of scientific Christian healing. A significant experience at the age of twelve opened my eyes to the great potential of this practice. After impaling my foot on a nail, I prayed the way I had learned in Sunday school. Within moments the pain stopped and healing began. By the next morning the wound had disappeared completely. Having experienced the great potential of Christian Science, there would be no turning back. |
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© 2011-2023 Michelle Boccanfuso Nanouche, CSB. All rights reserved. Pages updated 2 December, 2022.