Blog Archives

9/29/2012

Who knew?

Who knew when I first posted to this blog that it would keep going this long? Certainly not me. But it has been a year now and, my goodness, how much good conversation has been generated on Spirituality and the Search for God! I am very grateful to you, the readers who support this blog. It is a collective labor of love.

When I began writing on September 29th last year, I was in the middle of a major project that occupied all my daytime hours, but the push to blog was no small nudge. More like a wave smacking me forward to the shore. So I was up at 3 am to get the job done. The process has become easier, and I do usually get a bit more sleep, but the fire and commitment to keep this conversation going are still here.

For the next few days, I will be looking back at some of the posts that are deeply buried in the archives, perhaps editing them a bit to bring them up to date with how I would say things now - maybe fixing a few spelling errors, too!

A special thank you to guest bloggers Kay Olson, Diane Marrapodi and Sabrina Stillwell, whose experiences as Christian healers have lightened and enlightened us. And warmest thanks to all the readers, for your generous appreciation and your mighty sharing that builds the readership and helps the conversation to go further.

Here are five posts picked up from the blog and republished
by the international news agency, The Christian Science Monitor.

Arrest the effects of abuse now

Holiday preparedness

Looking for your Soul-mate?

If the weight of the world feels overwhelming

Infertility and the power of prayer

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9/24/2012

"...on earth, as it is in heaven." - A guest post by Kay Olson, CSB

Don’t like the weather? “Wait a minute”. Capricious weather? "Mother Nature is at it again!" Hurricane? "It’s an act of God”.

Nature and God often get a bad rap when it comes to the weather. That line about Mother Nature is kind of a joke, but many believe God is actually responsible for dangerous and destructive events.

Although, some do reject that belief. One Southern governor refused to sign an emergency relief bill until a reference to a damaging storm as an “act of God” was deleted. I cheered!

How can one think about the weather when it is imperative that weather be good for a garden (rain), for a parade (sun, but not too much), or for an outdoor wedding (perfect will do, thank you!)?

It was the latter that consumed my thought when we were planning a wedding for our oldest daughter. It was to be held in the city’s beautiful Rose Garden. At one end of the acre of roses, was a delightful gazebo that was just right for the refreshments. At the other end, a fountain gurgled into a little pool. The wedding party would stand nearby. Three violinists from the Symphony orchestra would provide music.

It was a perfect plan, except for one thing. There was no alternative place for guests in case of --- rain!

Every day a month before the wedding, we found ourselves checking the weather report, sometimes twice. We thumbed through the Farmer’s Almanac. We were consumed with the subject of weather.

One day, it occurred to me that we were taking the “weather temperature” the way a worried mother would treat a child. Up til now we had always tackled our challenges through prayer. Why not this one?

So we turned the TV weather reports off. We put the Farmer’s Almanac back on the shelf. As we prayed, we weren't thinking about controlling the weather; instead, we began to think spiritually about what God does for His creation, beginning with the Lord’s Prayer: “…. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven…”.

Our prayers affirmed God’s will as good, always good, and always here – on earth – caring for us and for everyone else. We expected our daily lives to be more “heavenly” because we were open to His good will. We loved knowing that harmony is His law and is never interrupted.

Our prayer brought out unselfish motives, too. We wanted the farmer to have the rain if he needed it on the wedding day. We wanted parades and picnics to have the sun and warm breezes to make their day perfect. And, it was ok to expect our outdoor wedding to be rainless!

When the day arrived, I stayed with these ideas. Some friends went with me to set up the refreshments in the gazebo. It was great fun. Then, I looked out. It was raining. I thought “I don’t believe it”. And, I didn’t. I knew that God's will alone is for good on earth as it is in heaven. So, we continued to prepare for guests, went home and dressed, returned to the garden, and waited.

As the first guests arrived, the rain stopped. The sun came out. The rain-drop studded roses sparkled. Strains of Beethoven and Mozart filled the air. The wedding proceeded.

It was heavenly.

Refreshments were served. Then, as the guests waved goodbye...
.. a gentle, sprinkling rain began to fall.

“My teaching, let it fall like a gentle rain, my words arrive like the morning dew, like a sprinkling rain on new grass, like spring showers on the garden……. Respond to the greatness of our God! (Deuteronomy 32:2,3 The Message, Eugene Peterson)

9/20/2012

WARNING: Be wary of certain marketers

I once succumbed to the Home Shopping Network’s excellent marketing. Even in the middle of the night, I would awaken wondering what the current special-priced item was. I bought stuff I neither needed nor really even wanted. The deals seemed irresistible. My wake-up arrived with the maxed out credit card bill. When I came to myself, I promptly returned all the stuff and counted the experience as an important lesson in what happens when one allows themselves to be influenced.

Rigorous marketing isn’t only a potential threat to your bank account. In its most aggressive form, it can also attack your health. Discouragement and fear are sickness-inviting thoughts that act as aggressive marketing agents for disease. Without pity, fear opens the mental door to the possibilities of disease – selling vulnerability through a catalog vividly imaging stress, heredity, weaknesses, or whatever it would take to convince you that you must have the disease of the day.

Once fear has its say, discouragement wedges in to be sure that the mental door stays open, at least a crack, so that fear can come back for follow-up high pressure pitches. Discouragement’s tactic is to make a low-grade, constant pitch for all that is negative. Discouragement often slips in quietly, unnoticed; but once it is there, its presence is felt. As a back-up singer in the disease marketing duo, discouragement repeats the chorus-line of the song of “What fear says, what fear says, you’ll never get away from what fear says.”

If you don’t want to buy what they are selling, be attentive to this high-pressure marketing scheme, whose chief goal is to get you to buy what you don’t want: a false sense of total isolation from God, Good.

Should you ever land in bed with a bad case of fear and discouragement, it helps to know it is never too late to wake up, regain control of your case, and boot out those marketers and their unsavory, lying goods. Here's how:

“Be still, and know that I am God,” is the Psalmist's response to fear. Listen for that inner voice of spiritual reason – that clear, still voice of divine Love, reminding you that you are graven, tenderly on the palms of divine Love’s hands. You are safe in Love. Love protects from fear and disease, and casts it out.

“The Lord is in His holy temple! Let all the earth keep silence before Him,” is the prophet Habakkuk’s answer to the repetitive “Woe is me” of discouragement.

The Lord is in His holy temple. Dive deep into the temple - your gratitude for what God is and does. Let gratitude cut off the “poor me” fussing that would distract you from knowing, hearing, and feeling God’s presence with you at every moment.

Put on Isaiah’s “garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness,” and you will find your mental door closed up tight to the influence of fear and discouragement.

I am talking about your house, your consciousness, here – your mental and physical space. You have the right and ability to determine what enters. And you alone determine what stays out. Referring to Christ Jesus' powerful teachings, Mary Baker Eddy, Christian Science discoverer, wisely wrote, “He also said, "The kingdom of God is within you." Know, then, that you have sovereign power to think and act rightly, and nothing can dispossess you of this power, and trespass on Love. If you maintain this position, what can cause you to sin and suffer?” (Pulpit and Press, 3)

Don’t buy everything the marketers try to sell.

9/11/2012

Today's "Your Daily Lift": One Word Prayer

Hey, hey! Today's Your Daily Lift (a two minute podcast by Christian Science lecturers, airing five days a week) tells the story of something amazing that happened on a road trip in the north of England.

You can click one the sheep below to find it in English or in French. Also available is an expanded text of the lift in this blog post.

One word prayer, Sept 11, 2012

La prière en un seul mot, 11 Sept, 2012

9/10/2012

Finding God

Seeking out and finding God isn’t a one shot deal. Just like the true sense of being "born again" happens over and over on the spiritual journey. Spiritual rebirth, coming from a new view of God and His creation, is continuous.

Looking for God involves more than becoming spiritually centered. It's not just the search for spirituality, but the search for Spirit - the divine Source of all spirituality - that moves us forward. Spirit is the center and circumference of being - of all true being. Find God, or Spirit, and you find yourself as the wonderful, spiritual reflection of God.

I teach Christian Science, giving a course on the true nature of God and the nature of man. Of course it is also a course on healing through prayer. But I often find there is a struggle to pay attention to what God is long enough to really get anywhere. And yet, finding God is fundamental to healing through prayer. It is like the human mind has already consented that God is too much to know, too difficult or ultimately unknowable.

Attempts to find God are often made through looking to the reflection, instead of finding the reflection through God; in other words, through looking to man and creation to have a greater sense of what God is, instead of looking to God to understand what creation is – which is a more scientifically Christian method. Jesus always started with what the Father - his Father, our Father - was seeing, saying or doing, in his instructions on prayer.

It is believed that looking at God is like looking at the sun – one can’t do it for very long - if at all. It’s easier to look at what the sun is shining on and to appreciate the beautiful sunny day, than it is to look at the sun itself.

Now I am not suggesting that we all go out with bare eyes and look at the sun, but I will suggest that through a proper lens, scientists are able to look at the sun, to study that sun, to research that sun, to see and know details of that sun perfectly safely and for prolonged periods of time, without damage.

Well, the lens through which we can safely, surely look at God, and really see the depth and breadth of what God really is, is the lens of the Christ - the Science of Christianity that details God's infinite power and goodness. There is no risk, no danger in exploring the outer reaches and inner depths of what that God is, through the lens of this Science. There’s also no risk of missing out on discovering the perfect reflection because you are working out from the Source, rather than up to it.

Sometimes finding God boils down to a simple question of vocabulary. In the Glossary of Scriptural terms in the Key to the Scriptures part of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy gives a definition for God that exposes the divine from many angles. She wrote: “God. The great I AM; the all-knowing, all-seeing, all-acting, all-wise, all-loving, and eternal; Principle; Mind; Soul; Spirit; Life; Truth; Love; all substance; intelligence. (587:5)

That one definition alone gives everyone a jumping-off point to exploring the true nature of God.

9/6/2012

Politics and neighbors - a guest post by Kay Olson, CSB

It is election time in the United States. Speeches, platforms and debates are filling the air waves, heating up Twitter and providing loads of fodder for opining with Facebook friends. While now might be a good time to discuss policy ideas, too often feathers become ruffled and the discourse becomes personal and ugly.

So how can we think (and speak) about politics and politicians in a healthy and productive way?

Many years ago, during an election season, a neighbor invited me to a meeting in support of a local man running for State office.

I don’t recall how we got into it, but we were apparently on opposite wave lengths, politically speaking. I said something she didn’t like and she became very angry. In fact, she stomped out of my kitchen and slammed the door on her way out of the house.

My heart sank. I loved my neighbor. She was a good friend. I couldn’t have her leave so angry. So I ran out after her, threw my arms around her, and said, “Our friendship is worth more than a political point of view!” Her anger stopped cold. She hugged me back. And that was the end of it.

It is important to be informed and aware of the important decisions our leaders make, to support righteous government, to think and pray deeply, and to participate in the democratic process by voting. But knowing who, what and how to support when it comes to politics, requires spiritual discernment and a willingness to lean on Jesus’ prayer - “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Giving the spiritual sense of Jesus’ words, Mary Baker Eddy wrote, “Enable us to know, as in heaven, so on earth God is omnipotent, supreme.”

Although women did not yet have the right to vote, in reply to a number of requests for an expression of her political views, Mary Baker Eddy was quoted in the Boston Post, “I am asked, ‘What are your politics?’ I have none, in reality, other than to help support a righteous government, to love God supremely, and my neighbor as myself.”

She also believed that people who were entitled to do so should vote, and that “in such matters no one should seek to dictate the action of others.” (Boston Post, November, 1908.)

Imagine if we were all to follow that inspired example, what a difference it could make.

9/3/2012

Bible punctuation, revisited

A rich man took a piece of paper and wrote his last wishes:

I LEAVE MY GOODS TO MY SISTER NOT TO MY NEPHEW NEVER WILL BE PAID THE BILL OF THE TAILOR NOTHING TO THE POOR

But he passed on before he applied any punctuation to his letter. Who did he leave his fortune to?

His nephew decided on the following punctuation:

I LEAVE MY GOODS TO MY SISTER? NOT! TO MY NEPHEW. NEVER WILL BE PAID THE BILL OF THE TAILOR. NOTHING TO THE POOR.

But the sister disagreed. She punctuated the note like this:

I LEAVE MY GOODS TO MY SISTER, NOT TO MY NEPHEW. NEVER WILL BE PAID THE BILL OF THE TAILOR. NOTHING TO THE POOR.

The tailor asked to see the original note. He punctuated it like this:

I LEAVE MY GOODS TO MY SISTER? NOT! TO MY NEPHEW? NEVER! WILL BE PAID THE BILL OF THE TAILOR. NOTHING TO THE POOR.

Last of all, the town council entered the discussion of the note. They proposed their version:

I LEAVE MY GOODS TO MY SISTER? NOT! TO MY NEPHEW? NEVER! WILL BE PAID THE BILL OF THE TAILOR? NOTHING. TO THE POOR!!!

Click photo to find source. The Biblia Hebraica Blog.

Punctuation, clearly makes a big difference. Ancient Hebrew, the original language from which Old Testament texts are translated, had no punctuation to indicate the beginning or ending of an idea, phrase or sentence. It also had no past tense. Translators, using their best judgment, added punctuation, time tenses, and even words, to bring out the ideas as clearly as they understood them.

Give it a try, yourself.
Taking out time references and the added words not present in the original, how would you punctuate Genesis 1:1,2 to bring out your best understanding of creation?

GOD CREATES THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH AND THE EARTH IS WITHOUT FORM AND VOID AND DARKNESS UPON THE FACE OF THE DEEP AND THE SPIRIT OF GOD MOVES UPON THE FACE OF THE WATERS

"The decisions by vote of Church Councils as to what should and should not be considered Holy Writ; the manifest mistakes in the ancient versions; the thirty thousand different readings in the Old Testament, and the three hundred thousand in the New, — these facts show how a mortal and material sense stole into the divine record, with its own hue darkening to some extent the inspired pages. But mistakes could neither wholly obscure the divine Science of the Scriptures seen from Genesis to Revelation, mar the demonstration of Jesus, nor annul the healing by the prophets, who foresaw that 'the stone which the builders rejected' would become 'the head of the corner.'"
MARY BAKER EDDY, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, 139

YOUR CART

Who knew?

Here are five posts picked up from the blog and republished
by the international news agency, The Christian Science Monitor.

"...on earth, as it is in heaven." - A guest post by Kay Olson, CSB

WARNING: Be wary of certain marketers

Today's "Your Daily Lift": One Word Prayer

Finding God

Politics and neighbors - a guest post by Kay Olson, CSB

Bible punctuation, revisited

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YOUR CART

Here are five posts picked up from the blog and republished by the international news agency, The Christian Science Monitor.

Archives

Categories

INFORMATION

SERVICES

HELP

Here are five posts picked up from the blog and republished
by the international news agency, The Christian Science Monitor.