Category: Life

Rats. Yes, rats.

3/30/2014

Even a rat can be seen in a spiritual light. Not just cute animated Disney rats, like Remy of Ratatouille fame, but real rats are intelligent, dexterous, and purposeful. The rat of God’s creating isn’t destructive or dangerous. Rats manifest the Life that is God.

Life is being. It is that which continually unfolds, expressing spontaneity, activity, continuity, and the unlimited supply of good. Life is God – the eternal I am that can’t be extinguished. Life operates in complete wholeness and harmony. Life is Mind, infinite intelligence, not molecule. Life is imperishable Spirit, not matter. Life is joy, vigor, animation, purpose, and endless variety. Life is fun. And Life is expressed throughout creation.

The divine idea of a rat expresses only the positive qualities of the Life that is God. My current favorite example of this is seen in the HeroRats that are being specially trained by a Belgian NGO to sweep prior warzones in Mozambique. Their sharp sense of smell allows them to sniff out the location of buried landmines faster and safer than humans, dogs, or machinery can do. These rats are life-savers.

Here's a YouTube video that gives you a glimpse into their lives. You may never look at a rat the same way again.

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The Principle that holds us secure in life

3/6/2014

There is a divine Principle in which we can have total confidence. It's an infallible, absolute, invariable, concrete and substantial Principle that provides security in life. In Christian Science, divine Principle is another way of describing God - not a man on a throne, a superhuman god - but that which is the cause and source of all that is true and good. If it doesn't meet the criteria of being true AND good, it doesn't correspond with the order of Principle.

The divine Principle of life is powerful, strong, illuminating, liberating. Principle is real. It is a present help in any situation. Principle is just, impartial, available, universal, unconfined and glorious. Divine Principle is the fundamental basis of everything, the origin and ultimate of all that is real.

Principle is stable, positive, precise and demonstrable. It commands obedience, integrity, health and harmony. Why? Because divine Principle reproduces its own characteristics. The divine Principle is perfectly reflected in its own creation.

True law (that which under-girds human justice and is unassailable by variable opinions) is an attribute of this Principle. That is, the law that counts, the law that protects and enforces good is sourced in Principle. Two verses from the Bible shed light on this Principle:

Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. (I Chronicles 29)

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. (James 1:17, 18)

The divine Principle of life is Love, universal and divine Love. If you feel the term Principle seems distant or cold, think of divine Love and you will have a good idea of it. One of my favorite things to think about is that Principle without Love would be like steel - cold, hard and unyielding. And Love without Principle would be like jam - lacking structure, stability or form. But Principle IS Love - perfectly balanced in strength and tenderness, in power and affection, in authority and support. Christian Science discoverer Mary Baker Eddy uses imagery that I think describes so well the tenderness of divine Principle, when she writes of the ocean, "able to carry navies, yet yielding to the touch of a finger." (The First Church of Christ, Scientist and Miscellany, 121)

With an understanding of God as divine Principle comes a sense of the omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence of the law of good. And with it we can begin to drop the sense of limitation in God or in his creation - the spiritual man and the spiritual universe.

Divine Principle is expressed through its own laws, in its own kingdom - the kingdom of all that is real and permanent - the realm of Spirit. The concept of another realm or another control - ie matter or material law - is an illusion that a better understanding of the divine Principle erases. Christ Jesus walked on water in direct violation of material law, but in obedience to the spiritual law of Love. This gave him complete mastery over the wind and waves. Moses divided the Red Sea in disobedience to the laws of physics that would render the act impossible. But his obedience to Principle and His unswerving commitment to follow Love's leading out of Egyptian bondage opened the way to demonstrating the higher spiritual law that was in place and accessible to him.

Matter and material law are not a real substance to be controlled, improved, healed, by turning to divine Principle in prayer. Prayer that reveals that there is only one true Principle or law, one true substance of life - Spirit - adjusts our reality view. Spirit is expressed in the spirituality that breaks the illusion of matter and its so-called laws, restrictions and problems.

A miracle fulfills God's law, but does not violate that law. (Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, 134 )

Miracles aren't really exceptional. What many term a miracle is the natural activity of the divine Principle that is understood to be God in Christian Science.

In the beginning of my public practice I had a case that resulted in a resuscitation of life from death. As it turned out, it wasn't more or less difficult a case than any other. I was on my knees hand-washing the kitchen floor when the call came explaining that a person had died. I was asked to pray by the nurse in attendance. I did. I knelt back down and continued washing the tile as I prayed.

My prayer was a gentle, yet firm, affirmation that the divine Life that is God is manifest normally and continually - that is, that neither God nor his creation can be interrupted in being. The normal activity of man, under the perpetual control of the Principle of life, only includes the expression of the Life that is God, not death.

I was aware of the ease with which I returned to washing my floor after the call. I hadn't been shocked by the news. I then realized that this man, too, could continue with his day without being shocked by the belief that life could suddenly end, when it couldn't. Life really is eternal.

My words, here, seem somewhat feeble to explain the deep significance of what I saw of spiritual reality in that prayer. My prayer wasn't difficult or complicated. It was completely logical and natural. I wasn't a bit afraid. I didn't feel I was engaged in a great battle with death. My prayer was a simple witness to the divine Principle of life that holds all creation in Life, God, without rupture, without interruption.

The patient revived. Ten or so minutes after his sudden decease, he sat up - and not in a state of recovery, but in a better state of health than before he passed. And he continued on in good health.

This kind of things happens more often than we may realize.

To go deeper as you consider Principle, remember that:

Since God, the divine Principle, is Love, the law of God blesses, supports and orders life.
Since God, the divine Principle, is Life, the law of God cannot be interrupted, is continual, is eternal.
Since God, the divine Principle, is Mind, the law of God is intelligent, logical, always conscious.
Since God, the divine Principle, is Spirit, the law of God is spiritual, unlimited, true substance.
Since God, the divine Principle, is Soul, the law of God is harmonious, beautiful, well-doing.
Since God, the divine Principle, is Truth, the law of God is accessible, complete and upholds endless being.

The divine Principle that is God holds you completely secure in life.

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Unending Life lecture (audio only) available online for a limited period

1/29/2014

Is it possible for us to live without fear of deterioration, aging, disease and death? I take on this question in my lecture Unending Life Within Your Reach, now available online for the next few weeks. Sponsored by First Church of Christ, Scientist, Watford, Hertfordshire, UK, the lecture was recorded live at the Palace Theatre in Watford on January 21, 2014.

This one hour lecture introduces a Christian Science perspective of life before birth, the human experience and immortality. It presents the life of Mary Baker Eddy, founder of Christian Science, in the context of the religious and scientific questioning of her time on the subject of life and the afterlife. It addresses common questions about Christian Science and its contemporary practice:

Who is Mary Baker Eddy?
Who is Christ Jesus, and what do his crucifixion, resurrection and ascension teach us about life and immortality?
What present proof is there of eternal life?
Is death an inevitable stepping stone to eternal life?
Is Christian Science treatment effective in cases of grave illness?
Can you show how physical healing happens in Christian Science?
Can the deteriorating effects of aging be reversed?
Is it ever too late to treat a case effectively through prayer in Christian Science?

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The time has come - a guest post by Kay Olson, CSB

6/17/2013

Faith Bass Darling is a fascinating main character in a recent novel that I read (Faith Bass Darling's Last Garage Sale, Lynda Rutledge, Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam, 2012). She is a very wealthy woman who becomes convinced that God has told her that "her time has come". She decides to have a huge yard sale selling everything she owns, in order to be ready. Everything! Without a single bit of regret.

Imagine emptying your house of long-cherished belongings. Recently, I did just that. Not because I believed my "time has come." I don’t share Mrs. Darling's belief that God, who is Life, has anything to do with death. But the time had definitely come to accept my daughter’s invitation to live with her.

My husband had passed. She and my other children, were eager for me to make the move. So I did. I sold my house, but I didn’t have a yard sale. Instead, I had a happy time giving away loved possessions to my children and grandchildren, without a single regret.

You might think that getting rid of absolutely everything would have been stressful. But it really wasn’t. Why? Because I wasn't trying to figure out my next steps by myself. I was convinced that I would know what to do and when to do it as I went along. I understood that God, in whom I live and move and have my being, is the divine Principle of divine good, unfolding good for me. God always knows the next step and when to take it in His revelation of good.

This was a lesson I learned from a youngster named Morrie. Unlike the fictional Faith Bass Darling, he was a real little boy who lived in Colorado in the 1890s. Morrie trusted God's perfect timing. He had lost his mother's coal shovel, and he knew she would need it the next morning. It couldn't be found anywhere. Later in the day his mother found him in his room, unusually quiet, and asked him what he was doing. He replied, "I'm praying.”

She asked: "How are you praying?"

"You said I must find that shovel so I'm praying for understanding," he replied.

"Will you pray out loud so I can hear it?" she asked.

This was his prayer: "God is my understanding. He knows all things, and whenever I quit trying to know for myself, then I will know, because God knows".

After his prayer, Morrie went outside to play. Later, his mother asked if he had found the shovel. He was surprised and said, "Why mama, you must wait till the time comes, and not try to know for yourself.”

Early the next morning he came running in to his mother, saying, "The time has come; here it is." He presented her with her the shovel. (Christian Science Journal, Jan. 1890)

I think Morrie’s story shows that he must have felt something of his life inseparable from divine Life, God. Christian Science teaches that God imparts His understanding to us at all times. Morrie expected to know what to do to find the shovel, and he waited for it to be made known. No stress or fuss or fear. And the shovel reappeared right on time for his mother to use it.

God is omniactive Life. His understanding, knowing. expressing, reflecting, manifesting, revealing of good – of all the good that God is – is present in the details of our daily lives.

The emptying of my house and sharing of its contents happened without a hitch in just a few short days. I learned in the process that ridding oneself of things and moving to another State does not imply an end of good. God's goodness continues to provide all that I need in just the right way for my present circumstances. My sense of home – and of being at home – is full and complete.

Best of all, I know that at any point as my journey continues, I can quietly pray for understanding and, like Morrie, I can "try not to know" for myself. God is a caring guide, leading us all into a fuller sense of divine Life and of all the good that life includes.

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What about Jesus, the Christ, and eternal life?

5/30/2013

"Before Abraham was, I am."
CHRIST JESUS

In a letter to the Hebrews, the Apostle Paul wrote, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” To me, this speaks of the eternal nature of the Christ, and of the permanent healing mission that Christ Jesus established for all mankind.

Christian Science makes an important distinction between the Christ and the man Jesus, who so lived the Christ that his name was permanently linked with it. The Christ is God’s eternal self-revealing nature - God's revealing of Himself right now, always now. It is the divine, present and permanent message of God to humanity that good, and only good, constitutes God’s creation. The Christ is as eternal as God and predates the birth of any one individual.

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." Hebrews 13:8, NIV

Jesus lived the Christ; he expressed it more fully than anyone before or since. But Jesus was a human man and the Christ was the divine message and power that he lived. This distinction between the personal Jesus and the eternal Christ in no way separates the one from the other, nor does it disrespect the infinite value of Christ Jesus and what he still gives the world. If anything, understanding the distinction heightens the awareness of what Jesus accomplished, helps explain how he did it, and shows his life to be the perfect human model for ours.

Jesus made his first unique appearance as a baby born to a virgin. This indicated off the bat the special nature of his relationship to the Christ. He may have appeared to those around him to be a fragile infant, but he wasn’t weak. He came to this world with an already developing understanding of His nature as God’s Son. Where did this understanding come from? He later would explain what he knew of his eternity. He said, “Before Abraham was, I am.” See the switch? Where you and I might consider life as occurring on a limited human timeline – the was and will be line beginning with birth and ending in death – Christ Jesus lived on the is line of eternity, where existence isn’t broken down into was, is and will be, but simply always is. Jesus' well-developed spiritual sense allowed him to see his own eternity, and this gave him power and authority over fear, sin, disease and death.

Christ Jesus experienced life - his and everyone's - as immortal. His sense of himself included the knowledge of life before human birth and the continuity of his forever life as God’s son. What Jesus explained about real life came from a personal knowledge of God, not only as his Source, his Father, but as the real Father and Mother of us all. Jesus was a revelator of the eternal Christ, the eternal expression of divine Life. The Christ-message to humanity, that life is eternal and that we had better get on with living our real life free of sin and sorrow and hate, is just as important to us today as it was when Jesus walked the earth. Jesus gave us an example to follow, through his words and life, that develops in us our innate spiritual sense and leads to the understanding of real life as eternal.

"When mortal mind is silenced by the "still, small voice" of Truth that regenerates philosophy and logic; and Jesus, as the true idea of Him, is heard as of yore saying to sensitive ears and dark disciples, "I came from the Father," "Before Abraham was, I am," coexistent and coeternal with God, — and this idea is understood, — then will the earth be filled with the true knowledge of Christ."
MARY BAKER EDDY, Miscellaneous Writings, 360

Unending life, unending love - A guest post by Kay Olson, CSB

1/21/2012

I had just walked into the kitchen with an armful of groceries when I noticed my husband hanging up the telephone. He looked serious. I put the groceries on the table and he turned to me with these words: “Your brother died. He had a heart attack.”

I sat down at the kitchen table and kept thinking, “I don’t believe this.”

Then, came a quiet thought: “Don’t believe it”.

I thought: “This can’t be true.”

Another gentle message came: “You’re right. It isn’t true.”

I stayed with these thoughts for some time. I took them deep into my heart. I lived with them during the next few days as my family and I made arrangements for my brother’s funeral.

Decisions: What are we relying on?

11/25/2011

Choices. We make them all the time. From deciding to wear a shirt color that brings in the compliments, to choosing to leave for work early enough to avoid morning traffic - our decisions impact outcomes everyday.

Of course, choice-fatigue can lead to an "I don't care" attitude that disengages from making decisions. This can run the spectrum between avoidance of choice - "You decide for me" - to making a fixed and final choice that shuts down any growth or thinking on the subject - "I will decide once and for all so I don't have to think about it ever again."

But there are certain subjects that naturally require constant engaging and thinking and choosing and growing. I believe that our relationship with and reliance on God to meet our human needs is one of them.

Questions from the heart: Would I be me? What is God? - A guest blog by Kay Ramsdell Olson, CSB

11/6/2011

When I was six years old, this question popped up in my thought: “Would I be me if my mom and dad hadn’t had me?” An answer came, swift and unequivocal. “Yes”. I don’t remember that I thought about it much at the time, or that I told anyone about it. But I do remember that it made me feel good.

I grew up and kept busy with square dancing and voice lessons and 4-H projects. As busy and happy as I was, another question bounced around in my thought from time to time: “What is God?” I loved my church and Sunday school, yet as often as I asked, no clear answer came. I knew the Bible promise, “Seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you.” (Matt. 7:7) So, I sought and knocked and waited.

Fast forward to my college years. My roommate and I decided we would tackle the question "What is God," and keep at it until we found an answer. One night, we looked out the window into the starry night and thought. And thought. And thought. Finally, my roommate blurted out: “God is!” We stared at each other. OK. That had to satisfy for now.

Rats. Yes, rats.

The Principle that holds us secure in life

The divine Principle that is God holds you completely secure in life.

Unending Life lecture (audio only) available online for a limited period

The time has come - a guest post by Kay Olson, CSB

What about Jesus, the Christ, and eternal life?

Unending life, unending love - A guest post by Kay Olson, CSB

Decisions: What are we relying on?

Questions from the heart: Would I be me? What is God? - A guest blog by Kay Ramsdell Olson, CSB

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