Just thinking...

Before I share some exciting insights that have just been dawning, want to say something about my not taking comments on my blog:  since I identify myself, feel strongly those who have thoughts to express should do likewise.  I understand that with a blog as widely read as this one is, there might be the desire to keep private one's identity.  But the solution to this is, send me an email or call me up.  What you have to say will, of course, be kept confidential.  I would love to hear from you!  And if comments are off the mark ( as some have been) or downright inappropriate, I know how to deal with them. So...

Now, have been thinking quite deeply about something our beloved Master said in the parable known as the Prodigal.  "Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine."  As never before, the thought of present tense has stood out.  Is ours right now.  How can our loving Father give to us His children more than all?And just last night was reading some lines from the Christian Science textbook when this jumped out.  I have long known these truths, but obviously on a more intellectual level.  Mrs. Eddy is speaking of error trying to assert its superiority over Truth and she writes:  "I can open your eyes.  I can do what God has not done for you.  Bow down to me and have another god.  Only admit that I am real, that sin and sense are more pleasant to the eyes than spiritual Life, more to be desired than Truth, and I shall know you, and you will be mine.  Thus Spirit and flesh war."  This is on page 530 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures."

Like a thunderbolt, I saw why of course, the serpent or carnal mind or whatever we wish to call it, is trying to make us think God's work not already done.  That somehow His work is incomplete, that if we only acknowledge another power--slander God in effect--then the good we need will someday, perhaps, come to pass.  This insight alone make Christian Science a treasure to me.

Then, was recalling something an early worker who served in our Leader's household wrote.  Martha Wilcox is well know to many in the Field as a marvelously clear expounder of divine metaphysics, and she said in essence--the reason why students of Science do not get results is that they are praying, working with the thought that what they are knowing will do the job in the future.  They are not praying from the standpoint of God's work being done, of present perfection.  They are not realizing what is the divine fact now and always.

And will give the words of Jesus that back this up.  "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."  He did not say, know the error and you will find freedom, did he?

And to add one more statement from the textbook which ties this up better than I ever could:  "Man is God's reflection, needing no cultivation, but ever beautiful and complete."  (page 527)

Our Oneness with God

All of us who love and revere Christ Jesus probably have those of his sayings that stand out to us.  I know I do.  And being a student of the religion that reiterates the great Teacher's words and words, there are statements in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy that really light me up.

One such is this:  "Jesus of Nazareth taught and demonstrated man's oneness with the Father, and for this we owe him endless homage."  (page 18) 

This was illustrated to me in a homely incident one day.  I was sitting at a window, looking out on some woods, when I happened to catch a glimpse of a ring in the reflection.  Two were appearing in the glass, yet I knew there was only one there.  This led to much pondering, and it caused me to think more deeply about what that statement I mentioned above.

Then, I recalled something a dear friend in Australia used to say.  He was an ardent student of Christian Science, a poet and sculptor who had served His Majesty's government during WWII.  He said the key thing he held to during the fierce battles was this truth:  God and I are not two, but one, and that one is Him.  I've never forgotten this.  And not surprising, it has blessed me more than once when challenges have arisen that would make me think I'm separated from God.  (Which of course you and I  actually are not.)

This is a topic that will keep unfolding, but what it may be worth to some of you out there in the world, I give it.  To go around believing--erroneously--that yes God is Spirit and All; I believe I'm made in His image, am His child yet am a material being cut off from Him, just will not cut it.  One must come to see what Jesus knew about man's oneness with the Father.  And God be thanked, anyone can.

Cyndi and a Spider Bite

I have mentioned this neighbor before and her new experience with Christian Science.  She has been reading Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy for some months now and has had some wonderful healings.  Well, yesterday she stopped by and told me about a experience she just had with a spider bite.  She and her husband both thought it was a brown recluse type (whatever they are supposed to be able to do.)  The effects of the bite were quite challenging she said.  Not to go into gory detail, but when her leg showed the skin being eaten into, her husband who is not studying CS was alarmed and thought she should go to the doctor.  But having seen what her budding understanding of God's laws can do, she declined.  "I felt God could take care of this problem, too" she related to me.

She continued the account:  "I turned to my little book (as she calls the Christian Science textbook).  I don't recall just what statement brought my healing, but I could see that the whole episode was only an illusion, not real at all."  Then she pulled up her jeans a bit and showed me the place where she had been bitten.  "See", she said, "nothing at all.  No swelling, not even a red mark!"

Our conversation then turned to her mom who lives in another Tennessee town.  Cyndi had been thinking about sending her a copy of the Eddy book, as she also calls it.  The woman is beset with so many physical problems, my friend said.  It then occurred to me that I might write a very light-touch note to go along with the book.  I told the lady that this book had done wonderful things for me, and then told her about my own mother who just by reading Science and Health was remarkably healed when doctors could do no more for her.

As it is in other cases, Cyndi's mom might not be at all interested in the book.  But having been grateful many times for the kind neighbor who introduced our family to Christian Science, I never let an opportunity go by without doing likewise.

A Quick Healing

In yesterday's blog post, I mentioned having experienced many proofs of God's power through my understanding of Christian Science.  It may be helpful to some reader in cyberspace to learn about a specific instance of this.

When we lived in New England, I severely injured my foot.  Right off, I prayed about it along the lines of what my religion teaches.  I kept endeavoring to realize that I was a child of God, divine Mind, that nothing had really happened to separate me from His omnipresent care, and other such spiritual facts.  But I kept remembering the experience of an acquaintance with a similar injury.  This woman was not yet back to full mobility afater a year of medical attention.  The thought of what if this drags on nagged at me. 

Well, one day I was shuffling along on an errand in Needham, taking care to walk on only one part of my foot when...Bam!  A spiritual insight stopped me cold on the sidewalk.  With crystal clarity I saw that the injury and pain were not part of me, had never been part of me.  "Why, I don't have to creep along with this difficulty.  There's no need for gradual improvement.  This never happened to me as God's reflection!"

Instantly, I felt somehting being adjusted physically.  I actually did.  The discomfort disappeared.  While it's hard to put into words, I knew and felt that I was completely healed, right then and there.  I walked on freely and normally.  This healing showed me the mental nature of recuperation.

And it demonstrated to me, once again, the benefits that come to us from knowing something of what Jesus knew about God and about man's relationship to Him.

Mrs. Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science,writes in "Unity of Good", "Jesus required neither cycles of time nor thought in order to mature fitness for perfection and its possibilities (p. 11).  Time does not actually enter into spiritual healing.  Why is this?  Because what appears to be a physical difficulty is, in reality, wholly mental.  It is but a phase of mortal belief, objectified.  As it becomes clear that we're not dealing with a real condition that needs to be changed but only with an erroneous mental state, a misconception of man's true spiritual identity, we stop being a afraid of or impressed with debility.  What appears real to erring human belief is not a reality to man in God's likeness.  It has never been real at all.  Our need, therefore, is always for a change of consciousness from a material to a spiritual basis, to the recognition that God is perfect and that we are His perfect, spiritual reflection -- now and forever.  As my experience demonstrates, this enlightened mental state is then objectified in our life as  normality and freedom.

Psalms points out, "Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations."  (90:1)  This is the reason why you and I, in truth, are eternally exempt from suffering of any kind.  We have never been apart from our divine source, God, not even for a moment.  As God's man, dwelling in Him, we are and always have been preserved by His unerring laws of harmony and well-being.  Equipped with this Christly knowledge, we can find quick healing when we need it. 

Thanking God

Just sitting on our porch this morning listening to the rain (isn't that a lovely sound?) and as many feelings of gratitude arose, felt I must share them.  What am I most thankful to God for this morning?  For Christ Jesus.  And for the discovery Mary Baker Eddy made of the divine laws that underlay our Master's marvelous proofs of God's omnipotence and care for His creation. 

And here let me make clear to those who aren't followers of the teachings of my religion:  Christian Science in no way transcends nor supplants Jesus' words.  God forbid such a misconception!  No, Christian Science reiterates Jesus' teachings, was founded to perpetuate and extend these life-giving words and works, to encourage reliance on God's mighty healing power, just as Jesus did. 

And what I have experienced in my life as a student of divine Science certainly bears this out.  If I were to merely list the problems that have been met through some knowledge of what Jesus knew about God and man--never mind going into detail about these experiences--I would be blogging for a long time.

Suffice it to say, what I have enjoyed through the years -- a practical, right-at-hand help when God's power was needed -- is free for anyone out there in the world to obtain.  And a good place to start on learning more of what our beloved Saviour understood of divine laws is available through "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures."  It is Mary Baker Eddy's masterwork, and what it can do for any person's health and well-being has to be experienced to be believed.

How Like a Courier

(c)  By:  Sharon Slaton Howell



In olden times...

A King would have a
message he wished delivered,
and without hesitation,
faithful courier would
see that it was done.



In our times...

what a privilege to be
serving the King of All,
to bring about something
so dear to His heart --
the honor of His Son.

Saved to the Utmost

Some things just must be shared.  And with the wonderful access the Internet provides for reaching all over the world, have decided to post the following words about Master, Christ Jesus.  Was just reading the New Testament--am going straight through--and came some words from Hebrews I must have read before.  But this time, they seemed to jump right off the page, and I thought, what if someone out there in cyberspace has never encountered this divine promise before and it changes their lives?  What am I blogging for if not this?

Speaking of someone being reached in a beneficial way, last night I was looking through the Wall Street Journal and happened on a piece about some country and western singer who can write songs that change people's lives. Just think how much more the words God gave His faithful servants can transform any one's life, I said to myself.  And so, I'm passing along something Paul wrote.   I believe this with all my heart and being,  would take this on faith alone just because of who said it.  But having experienced Christ's interceding in my life in so many ways--some extremely challenging--I know Christ can save every last one us to the utmost.

Speaking of the Son of God, Paul states:  "...he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them."

 I am certain someone in this world of ours is going to have his or her life changed by this glorious statement. 

From Whence Nature's Beauty?

Some time ago a friend here in Tennessee asked if I would take a look at some of his poems.  Which I agreed to do.  One in particular extolling the glories of the nature scene that had inspired him had this thought:  what was the cause of such beauty?  He didn't know, but it gave me an opportunity to gently bring our Creator into the picture.  I trust my notations opened thinking to a larger view of the question.

Of course, people can admire the loveliness they see around them every day and never give God a nod.  But for those of us who cannot go for a walk, see a stunning sunrise or sunset, look up at the starry heavens, marvel at the changing seasons, rake colorful autumn leaves, or in my case, hike in the Great Smokey Mountains without feeling a sense of awe, the Father of all things is always in the picture for us.

As well He should be.  One could give verse after verse from the Holy Bible connecting God to the glorious gifts we see all around us.  And I personally feel that He should be given the credit for such bounty.  Even the soft, cool breeze we had here yesterday conveyed Him to me.  I could feel His presence all around.

The woman who discovered and founded my religion, Christian Science, has this interesting statement from her book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures", page 477:  "The Indians caught some glimpses of the underlying reality, when they called a certain beautiful lake 'the smile of the Great Spirit.'"

As one of Elvis Presley's gospel songs points out, how can any one view a gorgeous sunset and think there is no God?