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3/10/2014 When you need a do-over Have you ever wished that you could erase what you wrote, delete what you said, undo what you did, or wash away what happened to you? Do you tend to go over aggravating events and wrongs in your thought, letting your yesterdays haunt your todays? In many cases, a do-over is completely within the realm of possibility. You can bake another cake and remember to put the baking powder in this time. You can erase an unkind text message before you click the send button. But in other cases - past hurts, for example - the memories can seem indelible, unforgettable, trapped in time. What to do? It helps to know that we have complete control over what we think. We choose to live in the past or in the present. The divine Mind that creates us, gives us dominion over evil in the past and mastery of good in the present. Mind is conscious of what is - always of what is. In the eternal now of Mind, no one is stuck. Thoughts from Mind of what is good and pure and true are available to refresh, update and renew us at every moment. That's not to say that there is no value to considering the past. Ruminating over yesterday serves no positive purpose; but examining yesterday in the light of one's present spiritual perspective can be instructive, alterative, and even regenerating. Christian Science founder Mary Baker Eddy wrote, "The human history needs to be revised and the material record expunged." RETROSPECTION AND INTROSPECTION, 21  In its spiritual sense, revision involves looking at the past through the spiritual lens of ones present understanding of God and His creation, bringing the view of the past up-to-date with what we know now. This update may not change the past, but it certainly will change the present. With it we can effectively begin to expunge the material (limited, false, restrictive, incorrect, unjust) record until we blot out completely what does not serve good in our present. We can drop pain, fear, doubt, insecurity. We can forgive the misunderstanding and grow forward. The legal definition of expunge is "to destroy; blot out; obliterate; erase; efface designedly; strike out wholly. The act of physically destroying information—including criminal records—in files, computers, or other depositories." (West's Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2). Human memory is another depository to be wiped clean by the spiritual process of revision and expunging. A period of my life was so clouded by emotional pain that I avoided looking at any photos from that time. That's not to say that I didn't revisit it in other ways. I was a ruminator. Most any slight or hurt would trigger a bad trip down memory lane. At the same time, I was spending a lot of time in prayer and study of Scripture for my general spiritual growth. And I was learning and growing and changing. I was sure of it - so sure, in fact, that at 3am one night, some months into my study, I awakened with the thought that everything that the divine Mind is revealing to me now of the omnipresence of good, the power of Love, and the purity and goodness of Mind's creation, was as true in my past as it is right now.  I was impelled to hop right out of bed and go to my photo albums. As I looked through them, I started to cry, but not tears of sadness or pain. Of pure joy. I could see nothing but genuine happiness in the photos. It was so healing. That was the end of the ruminating thoughts. My past was redeemed from that miserable pain. We can exchange a limited material sense of yesterday for a clearer sense of the spiritual facts today - the very truth which existed then and there, even if it seemed hidden from view. Spiritual revision doesn't involve ignoring bad acts. It wrests control from the "bad," thereby expunging it from our record, and it gives full power to the present good. We can leave behind the incidents and events that misrepresent us and bind us to pain. Man, as the reflection of the divine Mind that is Spirit, is spiritual. Our spirituality includes dominion over evil and the pure mastery of all that is good. Mere historic incidents and personal events are frivolous and of no moment, unless they illustrate the ethics of Truth. To this end, but only to this end, such narrations may be admissible and advisable; but if spiritual conclusions are separated from their premises, the nexus is lost, and the argument, with its rightful conclusions, becomes correspondingly obscure. The human history needs to be revised, and the material record expunged. For I have known the thoughts that I am thinking towards you -- an affirmation of Jehovah; thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give to you posterity and hope. JEREMIAH 29 Like? Please share. Let's spread the good.
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  A French friend often says to me, “You Americans love to say, ‘I sink.’” That’s her accented version of I think. The French language, rich in vocabulary, doesn’t just settle for “thinking.” In France, we reflect, consider, admit, cogitate, conceive, believe, deliberate, envision, reckon, estimate, imagine, meditate, presume, reason, dream, ruminate, propose, speculate and suppose – but we certainly don’t just “sink”! And wherever we may find ourselves in the world, not every thought is just a thought. It all depends on it’s point of origin. The Mind that is God, thinks; and nothing else does. All real thought is reflected from Mind. Anything else is suggestion. In Scripture, Job spoke of God as the singular source of all thought and action. “He is of one mind, and who can turn Him? and what His soul desires, even that He does. For He performs the thing that is appointed for me.” (Job 23:13,14 King James 2000) God is Mind and holy thought is sending; Man, His image, hears His voice.  Divine Mind is one of seven synonyms for God used in Christian Science to explain the source of real thought. Others are Soul, Spirit, Life, Love, Principle and Truth. Concepts, ideas, inspirations, intelligence, judgment, proverbs, reason, reflections and loving sentiments originate in this Mind, in God, and are reflected in us, Mind’s ideas or creation. Christian Science Discoverer, Mary Baker Eddy explained, "Man and his Maker are correlated in divine Science, and real consciousness is cognizant only of the things of God." (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, 276) Mind is the Thinker and we are His thought. God’s thoughts lift, inspire, promote, envision, advance, move, improve, develop, cheer, comfort, awaken, thrill, calm, and heal. I am talking real-deal thought. We have all heard the adage, “You are what you think.” But that can open a real can of worms, can’t it? “I think I am worthless.” “I think I am scared.” “I think I am sick.” “I think I am a victim.” In my friend’s accent: That isn’t thinking. It’s sinking! Seeded in Mind, true thought expresses intelligence and produces positive results. Mind’s thoughts are invaluable. Mind opens and reveals good and good and more of good, never thwarting or crippling the flow of inspiration, comfort, security and joy. Mind-thoughts are Love-thoughts. They are supported, uplifted, embraced. God’s thoughts are good and they feel good. They don’t hurt, cripple, paralyze or torment. The intrinsic thought of God never wears out, breaks down or quits. And God’s thought, expressed in us, is permanent. So what about all that negative stuff that is often called thinking?  The counterfeit notions of daymares and nightmares, the thinking-posers that have no true claim as thought, are the disposable, changeable, weighted speculations of limitation and fear. They are un-sourced, that is, there is no real mind to think them. They are not God’s. Consequently, since we are God's reflection, they are not mine, or yours, or anyone else’s. Their only claim to place and power is in the realm of suggestion – the fabled dreamland of doubt, darkness and confusion. But they are not legitimate thought. It’s pretty simple. Sinking thinking isn’t your thought. It doesn’t have a real hold on you. Divine Mind does. And Mind’s thought of you is a stabilizing reflection of permanent good. The divine Mind that conceives you, guards and keeps you. It will never let you go. I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. (I Corinthians 13:12 New American Standard Bible) Hey, Peeps! It is a joy to blog for you.
You are invited to join the discussion by sharing your reflections in the comments below. To be sure you don't miss something, you can have new posts delivered to your email inbox. Simply subscribe in the sidebar. And if this post is meaningful to you, it will also be to others. Please share! 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 12/4/2012 Follow your star Have you ever found yourself in such a dark place that you have wondered if there was truly a way out? I have been thinking about the Bethlehem star. On the blackest night, a beam of light illuminated the place where the Christ child lay. Was this Jesus’ star? I always thought so. But the prophet-shepherds and wisemen saw it and followed. I now believe that star belonged to them and it belongs to each of us. In a Christmas message, Mary Baker Eddy, the discoverer of Christian Science, wrote, “The star that looked lovingly down on the manger of our Lord, lends its resplendent light to this hour: the light of Truth, to cheer, guide, and bless man as he reaches forth for the infant idea of divine perfection dawning upon human imperfection, — that calms man's fears, bears his burdens, beckons him on to Truth and Love and the sweet immunity these bring from sin, sickness, and death.” Miscellaneous Writings, 320  I remember a time when mental darkness was threatening to take me out. As much as I longed to, I couldn’t see a way forward. In a particularly desperate moment, I felt the impetus to become completely still. Then, I realized that I didn’t have a personal mind with personal thoughts that needed to be controlled. I could trust that the one divine Mind, my real and only Mind, knew everything for and about me. I could have confidence that Mind, God knew me as His child, all good - only good - and I could trust Him with the details of revealing what that meant. I felt safe. I fell asleep, and upon waking, I found I’d broken free of the fixating depression. In the next hours and days I followed God's illuminating presence, thought by thought, from darkness to light. My thoughts were clear and directed. I stayed with the fact of Mind as the unopposed knower and revealer of all the good in my life until I was well.  Shepherds in the eastern sky Saw a pale star passing by, Guiding them at break of day Where the babe in meekness lay, Born the gracious news to tell, God with us, Immanuel. Star of being, still thy light Shines before us in the night, By those radiant beams we find Christ, the Truth, for all mankind. Marion Susan Campbell Christian Science Hymnal, #11 This post first appeared a year ago on this blog. It has been edited for this repost, as my mastery of English writing impoves bit by bit. You may also like to visit my:
WEBSITE HOME PAGE TOP OF MAIN BLOG PAGE LINKS TO MY OTHER PUBLISHED CONTENT 2/6/2012 For in these things I delight If you feel weak, tired or sad when you look at your life, you may be holding onto a too small sense of yourself as the reflection of Mind, God. God delights to show you the fullness of His kingdom.
Mary Baker Eddy wrote: “The kingdom of God is within you. Know then that you possess sovereign power to think and act rightly, and that nothing can dispossess you of this power and trespass on divine Love..." (Pulpit and Press, p.3) God's children, all of us, reflect the omniscient Mind that is God. We reflect the fullness of Mind. This means that we can know exactly what we need to know in the right place, at the right time, all the time. We each have a built-in capacity to reflect and express the all-seeing, all-knowing, all-hearing Mind that is God. However, if we believe we possess a separate mind, intelligence or ego, we may be living within the limiting precincts of ignorance, doubt and fear. It's not that we can't see; its that our eyes become closed to what is there to be seen. 11/9/2011 I can speak Martian. Can you? Every morning, first thing, I pray for a word that will take me deeper and farther into an understanding of the infinite nature of God. One morning about a year and a half ago my word was "Incorporeal". Up until then, I hadn't given that word more than a cursory thought.
To me it meant, simply, "without a body" or "unlimited by a body". But this day I thought about the implications in my life of God as incorporeal. The thing with deep thinking about God - it tends takes you deeper into thinking about man made in God's image. |
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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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