Short but sweet...

...which is what this entry will be, but worth sharing with the world as it shows conclusively the  healing power of Christian Science.  Just emailed a friend about a quick healing I had a few days ago, which involved a painful ankle.  We were walking our dogs in a 16-acre park near our town's library, with trails that climb upward for 3 levels, and midway I thought, can I complete this hike or not?  Almost immediately a truth that I had read earlier by Samuel Greenwood, a Christian Science practitioner and teacher who lived in Victoria, British Colombia came strongly:  "You are an idea in Mind, with no other source or consciousness."  I reasoned, since God is not thinking this, it is not in my consciousness.  And voila, the pain left -- just like that.

I could never be grateful enough for all that Mary Baker Eddy brings out in her writings about the One Mind, God; that this is our Mind and always has been.  So many powerful statements from especially Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures could be cited here but it would take me all day, and I don't have time right now.

But I will end with a testimony emailed back to me from a Christian Scientist friend down in Georgia.  He wrote: "One time I had some pain in my leg, it appeared to be infected.  I remembered what Mrs. Eddy said about 'If disease moves, mind, not matter, moves it; therefore be sure that you move it off.'  So I mentally moved the pain off.  And it left me ! I have always related that statement to Jesus moving the insanity belief from the man to the pigs.

Can't push me around, no sir!!"

"Press on, press on, ye sons of light"

                                          (By John Robert Howell)


        An understanding of basic mathematics (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division) will satisfy the daily needs of most of mankind.  But one would have to be daffy to expect these basic skills alone would somehow carry him through to a degree in quantum physics.  So it is with the understanding of a few basic truths in Christian Science.  Mrs. Eddy tells us that Truth is so powerful that even a small understanding of it will produce salutary results, but what many of us need to oppose and overcome is the all-too-human desire to loiter in the placid vale of a few familiar and comforting truths because we have a chicken in the pot, a comfortable sofa, and our bills paid.

        Those aspiring to achieve "awakening" in Zen Buddhism take it for granted that long hours of meditation are essential.  Christian Scientists must see the parallel need of unrelenting prayer for themselves, their neighbor, and the world.  Because the sincere and honest Scientist is less caught up in the web of materiality than most people and because he knows something of Truth, his life is doubtless less stressed by the aggressive mental suggestions of mortal mind, but if he is not vigilant he can vegetate in the delusion that a dime's worth of prayer will always result in a dollar's worth of blessing.

        The ante needs to be upped, and greatly so.  Our understanding of the metaphors, parables, and truths that provided growth and support at an earlier stage of our experience needs to be deepened and transformed, else our thoughts become little more than ossified comforts like insects imprisoned in amber.  Psalms, Christ Jesus' sayings and parables, and the writings of Mrs. Eddy are a most welcome refuge and comfort, but we can't graze peacefully beside the still waters forever.  We must grow spiritually and Scientifically and increase our spiritual sense of Truth--if necessary, by geometric strides, not just arithmetic babysteps.

        Some might employ that tired old cliche, "we need to think outside the box".  The brilliant idea of adding stages to a rocket, which solved the problem of getting heavy objects into the earth's orbit and even out of earth's gravitational pull, was thinking outside the box for sure, but the genius required to do it was still an extension, however complex, of existing rocket technology.  What is needed is that a completely new mental state be experienced, a putting off of the old man and a putting on of the new and learning more and more what that means metaphysically.

        It is not a process of somehow doing a better job of mentalizing familiar metaphors, parables, and truths, piling them up into a multi-stage rocket, which may really be nothing more than raising the extension on one's mental ladder a few rungs.  What is needed is ever new and fresh levels of thought, ongoing revelations of Truth.  It takes--and how loath some of us are to give it--hours of quiet prayer, the kind of prayer Mrs. Eddy teaches us in "Prayer" in Science and Health.  But if we are humble, trustful, patient, and diligent we can achieve glorious experiences such as the woman in that wonderful testimony in "Fruitage" in Science and Health ("Born Again", pp. 667-69).  Christ Jesus, Paul, and Mary Baker Eddy aren't bad exemplars either.

Doing Things God's Way

If we do what God wants us to,
things go well with us.
If we don't,
they don't.
Isn't this the way it ought to work?
We can't His wishes shirk
and expect all to go well.
Disobedience will tell --
in vexation, disappointment,
things not unfolding as they should.
And could be,
if one were only obedient.
Think about this:
If Jesus had to be (and was) 100%
subservient to His Father's will,
where is there any escape for us?
How could the rules be waived,
God's will set aside, for you and me?
But if I don't do as I want,
I'll lose out, someone may say.
Oh no, you won't.
Our ever loving Father knows best,
and living to please and obey Him,
we gain in every conceivable way.
Not just words these.
I know what I'm talking about.
Try doing it the Master's way,
and good will flow into our life
such that you may want to shout,
Oh, why wasn't I doing this before?
God has for all His children
such infinite good in store.

Christ's "Not my will, but Thine"
can more and more be yours and mine.

In God's Presence

                                      (Written by John Robert Howell)



Each of us has always existed in the eternal now as God's perfect and harmonious idea.  The extent to which this is not being realized and expressed is the extent to which sin and aggressive mental suggestions occupy thought.  Through prayer, the righteous overcome sin and its attendant demons of fear, disease, and death.

Our world today seems awash in a Pandora's box of afflictions.  Nevertheless, every inharmony we experience, see, or just hear about--whether it is sin, disease, death, hatred, war, famine, loss, or poverty--exists entirely and exclusively in the only place it can--in the rag-and-bone shop of our own personal and mortal sense of existence.  If God, good, is really omnipresent (and He is), then there is no hidey-hole for such inharmonies to lurk in, no place for such a thing as a real inharmony.

Christ Jesus and Mary Baker Eddy have shown us how to experience being in God's presence.  They admonish us to enter our (mental) closets, close the door and pray to our Father in secret.  The door, we are told, shuts out sin:  sinful sense, the physical senses, the erring senses, the material senses (Science and Health 15: 4, 7, 10, 16).  Those false senses, facets of personal sense, blind us to the everpresent God.  The door must be shut, not just pulled to, since being even slightly ajar will allow false belief, which can never perceive God, to enter.  Then prayer becomes a wrangle with error instead of a communion with God, and tussling with error can have the effect of making its claims appear more real and formidable.  In that event what was intended to be standing in God's healing and uplifting presence devolves into a kind of mad hatter's tea party. Further, it is more important that our prayer be a knowing of Truth than a denial of error.

Why must we pray in secret?  Secret is being used in the sense of unseen, private, removed from sight.  "The Student's Reference Dictionary" gives this inspired definition of secret:  "Known to God only."  Daily growth in grace will enable us to pray more effectually, but the specific steps each of us takes will of necessity be the result of individual spiritual unfoldment.  Then we shall not just read, but know, that "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High [abides] under the shadow of the Almighty."

Effective Prayer

(John Wellsman is not only a longtime friend and devoted student of Christian Science; he is a gifted photographer as well.   His website is www.JohnWellsmanPhotography.com  He and his wife Jennifer live in Southern Arizona with their 2 dogs and 3 cats.)


Recently I was reminded of an incident which happened some time ago that illustrates the power of individual prayer to adjust human situations.  It was necessaray for me to interact with the bureacracy of the state in which I lived at the time.  This state has a reputation for brash, in-your-face individuals and surly civil servants to say the least.

When I arrived at the office where I needed to transact my business, it was immediately apparent that one of the clerks was far less than happy to be there that morning, and was taking more than a little satisfaction in sharing the mood with others.  As there were quite a number of clerks, it was not at first clear that I would have to deal with this individual.  Nonetheless, I felt a strong desire to keep my own thinking above the fray, so to speak.  Taking the necessary forms to the quietest corner of the office I sat down and closed my eyes briefly to reach out for some comforting thought.

Almost immediately this passage from Mary Baker Eddy's work, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" came clearly to my consciousness:  "divine Love cannot be deprived of its manifestation or object:" (p. 304:10)  Just as suddenly came the clear understanding of the absolute truth and power of that statement to prevent me--or anyone else for that matter--from believing otherwise.  Without giving further thought to the situation I proceeded to fill out the necessary paperwork and await my turn.  By this time, it was obvious to many in the room that there had been a change in the mental atmosphere surrounding that particular clerk's window.  Within a few more minutes it was obvious that I would be dealing directly with this individual.  As I stood in the line awaiting my turn I could clearly see the change in attitude.

When I ararived at the window, I greeted the individual with a warm, "Good morning!"  After a brief but intense look, the clerk returned the greeting with warmth and sincerity.  We transacted the necessary business quickly, exchanged a couple of humorous observations and as I turned to go, I wished the clerk a good day which elicited a smiling, "Thank you!  You too!"

In the first chapter of the above-mentioned book, "Science and Health" entitled "Prayer" Mary Baker Eddy defines prayer thus:  "Desire is prayer," and she goes on to say"...no loss can occur from trusting God with out desires that they may be moulded and exalted before they take form in words and in deeds."   (p.1:11)  The foregoing incident illustrates to me the truth of that statement.

Scotching Satan's Serpentine Seductions

                                           (By John Robert Howell)


Mrs. Eddy tells us that the nothingness of nothing is plain, but nowhere that I recall does she say, or even imply, that the subtlety of subtlety is plain.  Would that it were.  It is the nature of the beast, animal magnetism, to anesthetize consciousness, in somewhat the pernicious way carbon monoxide acts--silent, odorless, and unseen.  Thus the necessity that our watch be wakeful, spiritually active, and imbued with a keen sensitivity to anything that is unlike God, which of course means we had better be well acquainted with Him.  Other things than gentle lambs come in lamb's clothing.

If the old westerns are to be believed, one of the tricks employed by Indians attacking a circled wagon train was to hang off the side of their horses on the side away from the beleaguered defenders so that only a horse was visible to them.  The Indians would then shoot either under the neck or over the back.  (That paleface's speaking with forked tongue--or worse, much worse--invited retaliation, is beside the point here.)  A horse is all mortal mind, animal magnetism, wants us to see.

Mrs. Eddy sounded the tocsin repeatedly in her writings on the dangers of a flaccid sentinel.  There is the well-known citation on page 442 of Science and Health, lines 30-32:  "Christian Scientists, be a law unto yourselves that mental malpractice cannot harm you either when asleep or when awake."  It should also be remembered that a sentry or porter is posted at the front door, not the bedroom door or closet door.  The discovery of an intruding evil in the act of ransacking our mental drawers or snuggling up with us in bed is not the ideal time or place to deal with it, though we grow from those kinds of experiences too.

As our great Master, Christ Jesus, has admonished us:  "What I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.  (Mark 13-37)

Squaring accounts with Love

Since I just told a close friend an experience I had this morning, thought came, why not put it on my website?  Might just be helpful to a reader somewhere in the world.

There is a woman at the Farragut Post Office who has, over the months, been quite unpleasant to customers.  Almost insulting to us, at times.  Not happy with her work, it seems, always complaining about having to wait on people.  I toyed with the thought of calling her downtown supervisor to criticize, but never did.

Then this morning the angel thought came, why not get a donut or something at the local grocery store and take it to her?  I put a Christmas tag on it, and just delivered it, saying, "For your coffee break later."  She was so surprised, looked pleased to get it.

So, the harsh thoughts I had been harboring toward this lady are gone.  And it feels so good!

Honouring our Saviour

Happened to read a column in a local newspaper yesterday, wherein the mother wrote about teaching her 2 young children that Christmas is not essentially about presents and such, but is a time to honour Christ Jesus.

In thinking about this, let me share a quick healing I had last week that, to me, pays the greatest respect to our Saviour.  I am an adherent of Christian Science, which is clear in its mission and that is to reinstate the words and works of Christ Jesus.  This is pointed out in Mary Baker Eddy's masterwork, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.  I firmly believe from years of experience, that the divine truths found in this volume make available to us those truths that were the basis of Jesus' wonderful proofs of God's everpresence and all-power.

I was putting up Christmas lights when I tripped over a string and fell with one finger bent back.  It wasn't broken I soon decided, but the pain was something to be handled right then.  Almost immediately, I began praying from the standpoint of what I've learned from my religion.  Many statements of divine fact from the Bible and from the writings of Mrs. Eddy flooded into thought, and the one that stood out to me the most was this:  "The Christlike understanding of scientific being and divine healing includes a perfect Principle and idea, -- perfect God and perfect man, -- as the basis of thought and demonstration."  This is from the book I referred to above.

I did my best to look away from the persistent feelings of pain and to realize my painless, perfect being as the child of God.  As I held thought to the spiritual, correct concept of man, the throbbing began to subside, and in less than 2 hours the pain had completely disappeared.  And I could use my finger freely.

There is nothing more important at this season, nor at any time whatsoever, than paying homage to our Saviour, Christ Jesus.  And I'm grateful to have had this opportunity to do so.

The prayer Jesus gave us

                              (This was written by my close friend, Lynn,
                                    who lives here in the South, USA)


Recently I was waiting in my vet's office while one of my dogs was geting a required annual shot.  That office was rocking with people, their dogs and cats, their kids, and staff members -- it was wild.

I was trying to pray for a family member who appeared to be seriously ill and had asked for Christian Science treatment.  I couldn't seem to focus for more than a few seconds before I would become distracted by everything that was going on around me.  I felt the need to pray but how to do it?  It came to me to pray the Lord's Prayer, which our Master Christ Jesus gave us.  I knew I could focus on the Lord's Prayer, because it was so familiar to me.  Mary Baker Eddy tells us in her great work, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures that it is the prayer that covers all human needs, and which instantaneously heals the sick.  So, very slowly while thinking about each line, keeping my eyes closed, I began to pray.  I especially love the Lord's Prayer because when you pray, you are not only praying for yourself, but for people all over the world.  The prayer starts, Our Father -- not my Father!

I was in my third repetition when I heard a huge crash!  I opened my eyes and to my surprise, I was totally alone in the waiting room.  The crash was a 2-car accident on the street right outside.  Two little girls who had been playing on the sidewalk while waiting for the folks in the vet's office, ran inside crying.  I was able to comfort them and lead them to the room where their parents were located.  I alerted the staff to call 911.  A young man entered the office who had seen the accident, saying all involved were fine.  He volunteered to wait for the police and to direct traffic.  The state police showed up within minutes, even though the vet was located out in the country.  If ever you could call an accident gentle and harmonious, this was it.  I was so grateful I was praying just when the accident happened, and that I was praying the prayer that meets all human needs.  Oh and my family member?  -- she was completely healed in a couple of days.

I am so grateful for Christ Jesus, and for the insight and understanding of God's healing presence that Mrs. Eddy provides us in her writings.

Seeing Things Correctly

(This was written by my husband,
         John Robert Howell)

             

Either God is the absolute All or He is not.

That He is a starting point, one without fault.

Any middle muddle is another wife of Lot,

Hesitant, unsure--and then a pillar of salt.




That error out there is but an error within.

Faults found in others start out from our home.

God, pure and everywhere, knows only what is akin

And makes us insensible to mortal mind's drone.

Friend where enemy seemed to be

Okay, so the other guy started it,
And you're going to finish it.
While giving back to him
May be satisfying, for a time,
Don't do it.
Returning evil for evil
Is like putting Miracle Grow
On your flowerbeds.

There's a better way to
Get along with people --
The way God expects.
"Love your enemies, bless them
That curse you, do good to them
That hate you, and pray for them
Which despitefully use you,
And persecute you"
Our blessed Master said.
        (Matthew 5:44)

Doing what the Prince of Peace
Says to do never fails;
It stops strife in its tracks,.
Leaves everyone better off,
And you know what?
Even makes a friend where
An enemy seemed to be.

Christmas Thoughts (Poem) - John Robert Howell

The muezzin of the infinite and light-
emblazoned firmament
Marked the nightly vigil's silent and meditative
hours
Of those wakeful, watchful shepherds, scientific
avatars,
Who pondered not dusty constellations of
earth's deceptions,
But the higher lessons witnessed in God's
refulgence,
Thus to behold the glow of that edritch eastern
star,
Herald of Jesus' nativity, Light's advent in the
flesh.
That event was once and not to be repeated,
Yet for those whose receptive hearts wander
wearily
Among the darkly lighted trails and travails of
mortality
The promise of that holy dawn blesses all
eternally.

Reflections on Light

Fall leaves flutter about in cool breeze,
Care-free birds dart in and out of hedges,
A neighbor mows his lawn in the distance,
Probably for the last time this year,
The lady across the street gathers
A last bouquet of  beautiful roses.
Of all the autumn delights that confront me
As I sit here on stone garden bench,
It's setting-sun rays that get me most --
Light shines on forest floor,
Light plays on trunks of trees,
Light glints off rusting-wire fence
A farmer put up long before we moved in.

But there's a thought much higher
Than enchanting light of earth --
It's something Christ Jesus once said:
"I am the light of the world:  he that
Followeth after me shall not walk in darkness,
But shall have the light of life."
               (John 8:12)

The beauty of this light
Can never fade to black.
It's presence and its power
Followers of His can never lack.

The Eternal Now

                              "God's being is infinity, freedom,

                                harmony, and boundless bliss"*

                                a book points out.



                                And so is that

                                       of His reflection,

                                                                    man.


                                           You and me.

                                                Now.




                  *Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
                                by Mary Baker Eddy
                                     (page 481)

Dear servants of Jesus Christ

Dear servants of Jesus Christ,

You do well to remember this:

Tough times are going to come

To all who carry His banner.

Opposition to your endeavors

May nearly overwhelm,

Discouragement may drop

Like a concrete block.

But this is a fact sacrosanct --

Our Master's ministering angels,

Of which there are legion,

Hover about us day and night

And outnumber far and far outdo

Whatever the devil's helpers try to do.

Christ will always be victorious.

You and I can count on this.

More, Christ-following empowers.

Life becomes simpler, happier,

Much more blessedly free

Of those things that clog our path,

Just the way our heavenly Father

Wants it to  be.

Two Poems by John Robert Howell

(John is my husband, and though his Bible website, biblenoteskjvcs, is under John R. Howell, he publishes his other writing under his full name)



  
                                             What is healing like?





What is healing like?

Not one exactly mirrors any other.

It may be the overspreading of a sense of Love,

A sudden, unexpected emergence into light,

The illumination of a long-obscure passage,

The appearance of a star to guide our weary way.



Or from some bed of pain and fear

We might see a numinous mountain stream,

Turn over an intriguing stone or two

In its clear, invigorating waters,

And find before us a polished agate.








                                                     Head and Heart



                                When head and heart do not agree,
                                          You're flying on one wing.
                                Cold doctrine isn't the only plea.
                                          Love has a warmer ring.


                               Exacting truths, unblessed by Love
                                        Chill when they should chafe.
                              The letter mildly urged by shove
                                       Still lacks the Spirit's grace.

Preventing ill health

No one need feel helpless when symptoms of disease appear, just doing nothing while they develop into bodily discomfort or incapacity.  Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, points out something we can do to maintain sound health.  She writes in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures:  "Stand porter at the door of thought.  Admitting only such conclusions as you wish realized in bodily results, you will control yourself harmoniously.  When the condition is present which you say induces disease, whether it  be air, exercise, heredity, contagion, or accident, then perform your office as porter and shut out these unhealthy thoughts and fears.  Exclude from mortal mind the offending errors; then the body cannot suffer from them."  (page 392)

Christian Science, in accord with the Bible, teaches that God is the only genuine casue, the sole creator of the universe, including man, and that the true nature of creation is spiritual, wholly good, expressing God's nature.  From the standpoint of absolue truth, all cause and effect are spiritual, and all is the perfect handiwork of God, divine Spirit.

Christ Jesus emphasized the effect of what we entertain in thought.  He said: "Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man..."Those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart."  (Matthew 15:11, 18)

When one learns that thought affects every aspect of his life, he sees the necessity of replacing fearful, sickly thoughts with spiritual truths that uplift, transform, and keep one whole.  He sees the importance of conforming to the Christly standard Jesus established for all mankind.  No matter what others may be falsely believing about sickness and disease, we don't  have to abjectly surrender our peace and harmony.  We can instead exercise our God-given power over suffering.

Because you and I are actually the reflection of infinite, harmonious Spirit, and we include only those qualities Spirit imparts--peace, joy, health, dominion--the suffering and fear that may seem so real have no genuine power over us.  They are misconceptions, false beliefs, not actual, God-created conditions.  And being misconceptions, they can be corrected with the truth of man's inseparable relationship to God, of his uninterrupted well-being as God's reflection.  This truth heals.

Mrs. Eddy writes in the book I referred to above:  "Instruct the sick that they are not helpless victims, for if they will only accept Truth, they can resist disease and ward it off, as positively as they can the temptation to sin."  She continues further along:  "The fact that Truth overcomes both disease and sin reassures depressed hope.  It imparts a healthy stimulus to the body, and regulates the system.  It increases or diminishes the action, as the case may require, better than any drug, alterative, or tonic."  (page 420)

Thousand of people today are experiencing regeneration and the healing power of Truth, of almighty God.  They are successfully warding off pain and disability--proving them to be untrue.  Empowered with the Christly understanding of Truth, any one can demonstrate the fact that ill health can be prevented.

 Keeping thoughts of disease out of our thinking can not only ward off ill health;  whenwhat we may have been suffering from leaves our consciousness, we experience the wonderful freedom of divine healing.

My mother found this out when she was new student of Christian Science.  She had been a Methodist, an ardent church worker, one who was seeking a better understanding of God.  But she was saddled with several physical problems, which a kind neighbor had noticed as she tried to care for my brother and me, only 3 and 4 years old.  One day this lady brought Science and Health to her, and said that many people were being healed by just reading and pondering the statements of truth in the book.  Well, mother started reading and wasn't all the way through when a condition kind doctors had tried for years to alleviate just disappeared.  Her joy was unbounded, as you can imagine.

But the healing I'm writing about concerned a troubling skin condition that made everyday activities, especially housework, a trial.  It had been with her since teenage years.  She attended a Christian Science lecture where the speaker made clear that disease was only a mental phenomenon, that God had never man it, that it was therefore unreal, powerless.  So illumined was mother's thinking, as she walked back down the aisle of that church after the talk, the clarity of what the lecturer has said caused her to exclaim to herself:  why, I don't have to suffer with this a moment longer!  God didn't make this disease.  It has never been real, never been a part of me."

She told me later that the skin condition started clearing up right then, and within a few days, there was no evidence of it at all.  And she added, "I could feel to some extent what those lepers must have felt that were healed by Jesus."

Yes, indeed, when thoughts of ill health are replaced with God's healing truths, one cannot help but experience Christ-healing.

A Poem - (Betty Gillingham)

(Betty is a longtime friend, a Journal listed Christian Science practitioner, who lives in Knoxville, Tennessee)



A Cure for the Blues


Nothing cures depression
I have found
like thanking God
for everything around.

When news or who-knows-what
begins to get me down,
I thank Him and my joy
starts to rebound.

And before I know it,
by expressing gratitude,
I find very soon
a whole new attitude.

Giving way to thanks giving
makes the day much brighter;
it lifts mental darkness,
makes the step much lighter.

And more -- doing this
is infectious I have found.
It can  help get someone
else's chin up off the ground.

No wonder Jesus commended
the leper -- that only one
who came back to give God credit
for all that He had done.

So, whenever I'm tempted
to feel a trifle blue,
I'll thank our loving Father,
which is only His due.

From a former US Marine

(This is an excerpt from Frank L. Pryor's book, "WW11 Remembrances - 2009.  Frank is a close friend of my family's and was on Iwo Jima when that world-famous flag was raised.  He lives in Oak Ridge, Tennessee)



While I as serving with the armed forces I endeavored daily to study the Lesson-Sermon in the Christian Science Quarterly, as well as to read as much as I could from the Christian Science periodicals for which I subscribed.  That subscription gave me the joy of receiving mail from my homeland, which was comforting and helping.  It was my privilege to help conduct informal Christian Science church services in our camp in Hawaii for about ten months.

I attribute the wonderful way in which I was protected in combat to my study of and diligent devotion to the teachings of Christian Science and the prayers of relatives and friends.  On the second day of the battle of Iwo Jima, as the DUKW, a land and water vehicle, on which I was riding reached the shore it overturned in the rough water.  While I was under the water "the scientific statement of being" (Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy, p. 468) came to my thought.  I was not afraid, because I had been thinking of God's protecting power.  The huge wave partially righted the vehicle while I was between it and the beach.  The next wave smashed the DUKW against the shore right where I had been;  two buddies had lifted me out of way just in time.

All during the twenty-three days in which I fought with the United States Marines to take the island I continued to work metaphysically, as we are taught in Christian Science, both for my artillery section and myself, and none of us was injured.  The 91st Psalm was a constant comfort to me during that experience.  I am grateful for the many ways in which I was protected and blessed during the nearly two years I was in the South Pacific theater of war.

For the many blessings our family has received since we began the study of Christian Science, I am truly grateful.

Guest Bible Scholar - John R. Howell

(John is my husband and we live in Farragut, TN - USA with our 2 dogs, 2 cats, enumerable wild birds, and assorted woodland creatures)


"Cast out demons" (Matthew 10:8, ASB)



My last entry concluded with a brief riff on the words surrounding the cross and crown seal which graces the cover of all the writings of Mary Baker Eddy and their concordances.  The familiarity of lifelong Christian Scientists with this seal has certainly not bred contempt, but I wonder if Scientists really strive to fully understand and live its message.  It is also significant that Mrs. Eddy chose the wording of the American Standard Bible for these words from Matthew 10:8 though they only differ in one word from the KJV, the word "demons" for the KJV's "devils".

Why would Mrs. Eddy make this change if it were not significant?  The word "demon" does not occur anywhere in the KJV, so the Greek terms "damonizomai" (verb) and "daimonion" (noun) are translated the same as "diabolos", i.e. as "devil" or "devils".  According to Strong's the former means "to be demon possessed" and the latter "demon, (pagan) god".  When the Greek is "diabolos" (devil, Satan), such as in Matthew 4:1-11, the KJV properly reads "devil", but in verses such as Mark 16:17 in the "Probation After Death" lesson, the term should be "demon".  This discussion may seem like the runaway woolgathering of someone with a whole shelf of translations and no good games or movies on the telly, but there is an important point here.  It was certainly meaningful enough that Mrs. Eddy did not use the KJV rendering of "devils".

The underlying point of this distinction seems to be that there are false beliefs, unrealities, to be destroyed and those to be cast out, and we need to know which is which and what it means to cast out and what it means to destroy.  It might be a good idea for most of us to maintain in consciousness a bouncer who grabs all intruding evil thoughts b the scruff of their necks and throws them out--throws, not politely shows them the door.

Twice in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" Mary Baker Eddy quotes from 1 John 3:8:  "For this purose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil."  The first time, page 5, she even italicizes the word "works".  My faint understanding of these commands is that false thoughts are demons which may result in the works of the devil.  One we destroy and the other we cast out, and rather than embarrass myself with more verbiage on the subject, I direct readers to the definitive work on this and a passel of other metaphysical subjects, "Science and Health."

Clarity of thought on this matter is doubtless essential if we are to avoid falling prey to some degree to either the devil, Satan, or to demons, however old fashioned such a notion may seem.  Dummelow has interesting notes on diabolical possession and Satan in his commentary on Matthew 4.  One sentence on Old Nick reads:  "He goes about the world like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, and never ceases from his insidious attempts to detach mankind from their allegiance to their Creator."

The "Oxford Companion to the Bible" has  fairly thorough-thorough enough for me at any rate-discussion of "demons".  The Hebrew (OT) demon is quite woolly and not particularly relevant to the more unified Christian (NT) concept.  "Now demons are viewed as evil by nature, since they are obedient servants of Satan who is the ultimate adversary of God."  (Oxford Companion) Christ Jesus' authority to cast out demons was first demonstrated in Matthew 4:1-11, when he "overcame Satan's most persuasive offers...This victory qualified him to begin evicting demons from their human homes (Matt.4:24."

The "Oxford Companion to the Bible" continues later in the same article:  "Evil spirits continued to resist the power of the Holy Spirit, but faith continued to bring liberation.  As a result, a more or  less standard attitude toward demons emerged:  1.  Their primary activity lies in blinding and paralyzing human beings, who become captives of Satan.  2.  Demons are forces external to human beings, yet their power also depends on internal forces operating at subsconscious levels.  3.  This conjunction of demonic and human wills creates a captivity..."

Note to my readers

As this website reaches far and wide, with readers in distant lands, I am planning as of now to open it up to more guest authors and poets. Different guest authors have appeared over the past 4 years from time to time, but with a website up and running, why not let still more make use of it, is my thought. 

So many of my friends are not only wonderful thinkers and writers, but most important to me, have a deep love for God and for all that He is doing in their lives today.  And they have the ability to express their thoughts and experiences in a way that are sure to bring blessings to you.  Thank you for your faithfulness to this site, and the comments you share with me.

Have the loveliest day!

How will people know?

We may have love for Christ
in our inmost thoughts,
yearn to let this out,
feel sometimes we'd like to shout,
"I am His" --
but we keep it in.
How then will people know?
Shall we get a tee shirt
with JESUS blazoned on the front,
as I saw one day at the mall?
Shall we get a tatoo saying we do?
Shall we walk barefoot over hot coals
to prove our devotion?
Not for me the way to go,
nor I suspect for you.

There is no mystery
as to how we're to
let the world see
where our allegiance lies.
Our Master makes it clear
in these very words:
"By this shall all men know
that ye are my disciples,
if ye have love one for another."

So, there it is.
Not always easy to do,
you say, and I agree.
Oh, how I do.
Nevertheless, can you recall
standing in desperate need of
Christly compassion yourself?
I can.  Many times.
Then how can you and I
withhold what so many
are hungering for,
though they may know it not.
They're God's children,
and respond to the same
saving Love that we do,
do they not?

To live and love as the most
loving man on earth did,
is the way to let our
light not be hid.
Those who need what God
alone can give
will feel the fire of our
desire to bless
and be attracted thereto,
bringing good to them and us,
and truly glorious,
honour to our beloved Lord.

The wind is in His fists

This thought just came to me as I looked at the forecast for us in the eastern part of the USA.  It's from Proverbs 30:4 and the correct phrase goes like this..."he gathereth the wind in his fists."  This gave me comfort as even where we are in East Tennessee may well be affected by the winds from Hurricane Sandy, causing widespread damage and power outages.

I recalled one time when we lived in the Boston area when a terrific storm came up.  The windows were rattling unnervingly that night and the near-hurricane-force winds were wildly shipping the towering trees surrounding our house.  My husband was away on business, and I had never experienced wind so fierce.  "What am I going to do?" was my main thought.  "What if a tree crashes on our house?"  This was not thinking that was bringing me much calm.

So, I began praying in earnest as I had learned in Christian Science when other challenges threatened to overwhelm.  This description of wind from the Glossary of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy came to thought.  "That which indicates the might of omnipotence and the movements of God's spiritual government, encompassing all things"  (p. 597).

It was so reassuring to realize that God was encompassing, surrounding all things, that all was under His powerful control.  The fear left.  I really felt God's presence, and it was wonderful.  The next morning revealed that there was no damage whatever in our yard or our neighbors' yards except for a few dead branches that had to be cleaned up later.

Many passages throughout the Bible reveal God as the ever-present, tender guardian of all.  And Jesus, who was ever conscious of God's unfailing care for His children, said, "He that sent me is with me:  the Father hath not left me alone" (John 8:29).  Nor does the Father ever leave you or me alone and unprotected.  The Father's comforting and potent love is always at hand anytime we need His incomparable help.

In truth, we are not helpless victims of violence from weather.  As the man of God's creating, each of us is governed by God, the divine Mind, the only real source of power and activity.  When we realize this fact with the conviction that comes of spiritual understanding--of having  felt His help before--we can come through fierce conditions without fear or harm.  "The history of Christianity furnishes sublime proofs of the supporting influence and protecting ower bestowed on man by His heavenly Father, omnipotent Mind, who gives man faith and understanding whereby to defend  himself, not only from temptation, but from bodily suffering" (Science and Health, p. 387).

We can be safe, whatever the wind may do.  When weather threatens our well-being, we can meet it through an understanding of our oneness with God.  As Paul wrote:  "I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord"  (Romans 8:38,39).

A spiritual understanding of this is extremely practical, and it's accessible to anyone reading this right now.  You can begin now to discern and put into practice those spiritual truths of God and man that will enable you to pass through storms with calmness and confidence that your safety under God's government is sure.

Words that last

Most writers I suppose would like to think that their words will be, if not like those of Shakespeare, as least somewhat long-lasting.  But there are words that will be, that will be around as long as time is.

These words are those of Christ Jesus, who once said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away."  And they have not, as Mary Baker Eddy says in one of her books.  They are as timely and potent and life-giving today as when they were first spoken.

Recently we saw a documentary about Mahatma Gandhi when someting the narrator said jumped out at me.  Gandhi, he said, would tell his fellow Hindus "unless you study reverentially all the teachings of Jesus, your life will be incomplete."  And he added, "Gandhi loved Jesus."

So powerful are our Master's teachings, I couldn't help thinking about the lives of those Indians who were transformed as something Jesus said took root in their thoughts and hearts.  This was the case with Felix Mendelssohn, composer of glorious music, who happened to pick up a New Testament one day and was forever changed by a statement of Christ's.  Although brought up as a Jew, Mendelssohn at once converted to Christianity.

My life would certainly be incomplete without God's Word.  More than this, life would lack joy and peace, and a sense of divine power with which to overcome difficulties that arise.  How have Jesus' words impacted my life for good, you may wonder?  How have these sublime saysings not had an influence for good.

I could fill a book with real-life examples, but let me give just this one.  I was working at an international daily newspaper.  My desk was right across from a woman who was a long-time employee in the newsroom.  In fact, she was secretary to the Editor and wielded a lot of clout.  For some reason, she took a dislike to me and over time, began to make my life miserable.  Things became so bad, I dreaded going to work each day.

Finally, I reached out to a friend who was experienced in helping people with their problems.  After a lengthy recital of the wrongs being done to me (I thought), I paused to hear this Christian Science practitioner and teacher ask, "Do you really want to be free?"  This was quite unexpected, but I said, "Of course I do."  "Then you will have to love this lady", my friend said.  "There is no other way."  Shocked was a mild word to describe what I was feeling.  Didn't you hear what I said? I wanted to say.  Clearly, I was in the right, and it was my co-worker who needed to change.

However, after I hung up the phone, what this woman said began to take hold.  It was plain that if I wanted to be obedient to Christ's commands, I would have to tackle this the right way.  To say that this seemed insurmountable was an understatement.  And I recall one afternoon while waiting for a commuter train out to the suburbs, I was walking up and down that platform in tears, so hard did it seem to get over my resentment of the fellow worker.  "I can't do this", I said to God.  "Ask me to love anyone but her."  Eventually, however, Christ got the victory, and by the time my co-worker retired, we were very good friends, someone I was going to miss a lot.

Our Master spoke words that will last.  And so will we -- eternally -- as we live by what He said.

Guest Column - John Wellsman

Earthquakes


With the reports of an earthquake occurring in Maine recently I was reminded of the following incident:

At 7:42 on Oct. l, 1987 my wife and I were just waking up on the 9th floor of the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, CA when the 5.9 magnitude "Whittier" earthquake hit.  We had just arrived the day before from the East Coast and this was our first full day in CA so at first we weren't quite sure what was happening.

The first quite human reaction was, "We've got to get out of here!"  That was followed quickly by the realization of where we were and that there was no real possibility of "getting out of there."  Humanly, as they say, we were "along for the ride."

As a lifelong student of Christian Science, the next thoughts were to turn to God as we had learned to do in any time of need.  With the passage of years, I cannot recall exactly my line of thought or what specific angel thoughts came to me.  However I do know my inital fears were almost immediately replaced with the sense of God's ever-present loving care and that we were entirely safe in that ever-presence.  Looking back on the expreience, II Kings 19:11 was and is certainly applicable, "And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord.  And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and srong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake:"

Although the trembling and shaking continued for what seemed to us a goodly length of time, there was no damage to the hotel, nothing fell from walls, no windows broken, no collapse of anything in the Disneyland park and no injuries in the immediate area.  It seems that there were on or two minor "aftershocks" but that was all.  We were of course extremely grateful for this evidence of God's loving care and protection.

Thus it was with some interest that I observed after breakfast that the courtyard of the hotel was crowded with people rushing towards the lobby and checkout area.  Everyone was carrying or dragging their luggage.  It looked almost like a grade B movie scene where people have thrown things into their suitcases and slammed the lids leaving various items of clothing hanging out the edges.  I actually saw a number of suitcases with clothing protruding.  Since the earthquake was obviously over, at first I could not understand what was the occasion of this obvious panic.

Suddenly it occurred to me that whenever anyone has an emergency encounter be it in an airplane, car, train or boat, when that situation is over and they are on the ground -- "terra firma" as it is cometimes called, many people will get down on their knees and actually kiss the ground in gratitude for their deliverance.  Why?  No matter what or where one is humanly, we have all been taught that the one thing that is safe and secure, that we can always count on, is the earth itself.   major earthquake (and if anyone questions whether the Whittier quake was "major" they need only Google "Whittier earthquake CA" to see accounts of the incident) quite literally shatters that notion and when one realizes the earth isn't as secure as they thought, it can cause extreme fear.  These people were thus in full panic mode, their preconceptions of safety utterly shattered.

My wife and I through our study of Christian Science had come to base our understanding of being on God.  We had come to see Him as the divine Principle of all real being.  Webster defines the word principle in part as : "ground or foundation."  We had come to acknowledge God as the real ground or foundation of our being.  This understanding could never be destroyed or taken from us. (Yes, I resisted the temptation to say this understanding could never be "shaken").  Thus we were able to accomplish the tasks we had come to California for and to thoroughly enjoy the remainder of our visit.  We are indeed graeful for the insights and understanding we have gained from the study of Christian Science.

Male Chauvinist Piglets

Was thinking about something today
I read in The New York Times,
written by Nicholas Kristoff
that has made me want
to have my say,
as to the atrocious way
in which too many women
in the this world of ours
are being dealt with.
Will not go there,
enough to raise one's hair.
But bear with me
while I comment on
Christian men who
should know better,
and this is treating women
with such disrespect as though
they're worse than second class.
(One can't help observing
 things when out and about.)
Do many women invite such?
They do.  It's true, they do --
regretfully.
But it's those who deserve better
I wish to help.
And if this poem affects
a few men out there
who may need to read this,
and encourages them to
stop and think, and ask,
would I like to be treated like this,
it has done what I intend it do.
The answer to these
unconsciounable wrongs
is not hid --
treat women as Jesus did.

With the Master's shining
example in plain view,
no professed follower can say,
I don't know what to do.

God's Overriding Will

In the Old Testament,*
Daniel says confidently,
that God's will prevails;
that nothing prevents Him
having what He wants done, done.
These words speak to me:
I for sure am one
so glad that this is so.
Many the times I think
I've made up my mind
to not do what I should,
depriving some of mankind
of some needed good
(at least a bit),
and lo and behold, I get
turned completely around,
and end up doing it!
Thinking I was doing right,
He intervened and put
that notion to flight.
Not being willful,
I just wasn't skillful
in seeing the whole picture.

When we pray, "Thy will be done",
and mean what we say,
it's good to know that
God always gets His way.
His will does trump ours,
and aren't we glad it does --
our Father who knows best,
our Father so glorious.



*Daniel 4:35

"...he doeth according to his will
in the army of heaven,
and among the inhabitants
of the earth:
and none can stay his hand
or say unto him,
What doest thou?"

What is God to me?

What is God to me?
I'm happy to have this blog
through which to say.

He is my:
Father,  Defender, Deliverer,
Instructor, Provider, Restorer of
peace and health, joy and rest,
Sender of mercies without end,
of all my friends the Best,
with me night and day,
in every conceivable way,
Maker of beauty that
takes my breath away,
an infallible Guide,
Who never turns aside
Who never lets me down,
Whose help is all around,
The Creator who loves
His creatures great and small,
Who never lets them fall
from His tender care,
My Mind and very being
without Whom I would  not be,
my heavenly, loving Parent
who loves me totally.
Do you wonder I feel so blessed?

Oh, I could go on and on,
but all this and more
is what makes my gratitude
to Him this morning soar.

Guest Poem - Raymond Sutherland

(Raymond is the author of "Life's Tapestry - A Selection of Original Poems", 2008 and he lives in Aberdeen, Scotland.  He has given me permission to use this poem on my blog, though he is not an adherent of my religion.)



A Strange Rededication


Daylight had begun to fade
And definition blurred a bit
But yet the day was far from done
An hour or so still left of it
It seemed that time unwound for me beneath that sky
He came...in power...in presence...God
The Reason Why

I saw them then...the "V" shaped geese
Live arrow-dots in silhouette
Drove...strove to reach the feeding grounds
Beyond the bay
And cotton clouds wisp-white against a darkening blue
Held me in sway
God's Holy Spirit, moved on me in some strange way
And in this vast cathedral I was stirred to pray

My witnesses were old stone dykes...some curious
crows
What they thought of my antics...well...God only...
knows
So there amongst the heather and the loch's green rim
A great place for reflection when the spirit's dim
I shouted..."Jesus Lives!...Lord...fill me to the brim!"
And dedicated even again
My life to Him

The Power of Jesus' Words

Someone has said, if you want
to feel a life-changing force,
put into practice what
Christ Jesus said to do.
This I have found to be true,
as, no doubt, have many of you.
These sayings, merely read,
are sublimely glorious.
But the power that comes to one,
when they are literally done!
Not that our Master's commands
are always easy to do,
as no one knows probably
better than I and you,
who may have walked the floor,
even shed a tear or two, thinking
"I want to obey what Jesus taught,
but this thing I just cannot do."
Yet, keeping on in the fight,
realizing if we put things off,
we'd delay with God being right;
we persevered and won our way.

Our Master's words --
we cannot go higher,
possessed as they are
of heavenly fire.

As encouragement to one
who is to Christ brand new
let me say this to you:
begin living as a child of God ought,
actually doing what Jesus taught,
and you will see your life
transformed in ways you
can at this point not see.
Such is the power that comes
from taking Jesus seriously.

A Testimony

I'm so grateful for Christian Science which teaches us Jesus' point of view--God's perfect creation--and the necessity of seeing this so that we may keep right with God and experience the joy and peace and well-being He wants us to have.

As "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" points out, the religion I practice not only cures disease, it prevents it. A neighbor of ours who was struggling with poison ivy reminded me recenty of both aspects of Christian Science help.

When we moved to the South several years ago, I happened to wander into a patch of poison ivy while exploring the woods behind our house. I was healed of this finally, but it wasn't much fun working out of. Our real estate agent had invited us to dinner, and I could tell she was quite alarmed at the physical appearance. But I assured her something was being done for this condition.

There are any number of truths that may come to the thought of a Christian Scientist when overcoming some physical difficulty. But the way I prayed was along these lines. Earlier in the week while I was studing "Science and Health" one evening this statement stood out to me: "When the condition is present which you say induces disease, whether it be air, exercise, heredity, contagion, or accident, then perform your office as porter and shut out these unhealthy thoughts and fears. Exclude from mortal mind the offending errors; then the body cannot suffer from them. The issues of pain or pleasure must come through mind, and like a watchman forsaking his post, we admit the intruding belief, forgeting that through divine help we can forbid this entrance." (Pages 392, 393)

The words above helped me see that disease was not any part of my real and only selfhood as made in God's likeness. By accepting the premise that God is perfect Spirit, as the Scriptures teach, I recognized the fact that the creations of Spirit, namely me, can only be spiritual, perfect. And this was the reality of my being, despite appearances to the contrary, I knew. I credit the inspiration gained from these truths with my restoration to complete freedom from the discomfort.

Then last spring every one was talking about how prolific poison ivy was this year and people were being warned to steer clear of it. I realized the importance of not opening thought up to suffering this time around, and began applying some of the truths I knew from my study of Christian Science, as a preventive measure. I prayed from the Christly standpoint of man's exemption from disease due to his eternal unity with God. I realized the reassuring fact that as divine reflection, we enjoy uninterrupted protection from mortal mind fears and false beliefs and the attendant suffering.

It dawned on me when the neighbor I mentioned earlier was telling me about how careful she had been while gardening, to wear long sleeves, gloves, long pants, and had still caught the poison ivy, why I've gone all summer, been in woods countless times with our dogs, even been unexpectedly dragged through thickets with the feared plant when the chase was on for a cat or rabbit or squirrel and not been affected at all.

I can't express enough thankfulness to Mary Baker Eddy for what she has given the world of God's healing truths which she and so many others before me have proved. I feel so blessed. As the Bible brings out, God does give His angels charge over us and they do keep us in all our ways.

The truth Jesus taught - truth that sets free

Would it give you hope to learn that the Master's healing truths are available today? It did this for a woman I know. More, it completely delivered her from a disease declared to be incurable.

My friend was teaching school when she contracted tuberculosis. She was put in a sanatorium, and even her doctor father could offer no hope of cure. They told her she had about 6 months to live. Then, someone she knew came to visit her one day and told her about a book that was bringing back health for people. My friend said, "Oh, give me the book that can do that for me!" She got "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy and began devouring it. She wasn't all the way through, reading and pondering the spiritual truths therein, when she was able to walk out of that facility permanently healed. And she devoted her life from then on to helping others find the freedom God had brought her.

I couldn't help thinking of this woman's wonderful experience when I read in the Wall Street Journal a report on the growing cases of TB around the world, especially in India and China.

"Science and Health" can show you how a change in your concept of God and man--of yourself--can bring healing and freedom from sickness. This book brings to light God's goodness, power, and love, illustrating how the Bible's promises of God's ever-present help are fulfilled.

The teachings contained in this unique volume stress that Christ Jesus' life purpose was not only to inspire, but to show how to be free from every form of material bondage, physical suffering included. He promised, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also" (John 14:12).

As thousands upon thousands of readers of "Science and Health" have found to their great joy, when the divine facts that Jesus illustrated and practiced are brought into contact with one's fears, beliefs, and attitudes about disease, the result is a change of thought, a spiritualization of thought, a removing of he mental state causing the physical difficulty. This book explains: "The physical healing of Christian Science results now, as in Jesus' time, from the operation of divine Principle, before which sin and disease lose their reality in human consciousness and disappear as naturally and as necessarily as darkness gives place to light and sin to reformation. Now, as then, these might works are not supernatural, but supremely natural " (p. xi).

Through the understanding that Christian Science affords, anyone may gain a correct, spiritual view of man as the image of God. One comes to realize that disease is not any part of our real and only selfhood as made in God's likeness. This spiritual concept of man is basic to scientific Christian healing, and this is why it is helpful to go back time and again to the Bible record that man is made in God's own image (see Genesis 1:26). Accepting the premise that God is perfect Spirit, as the Scriptures teach, one recognizes the fact that the creations of Spirit can only be spiritual, perfect. And this is the reality of man's being, despite appearances to the contrary.

The need in healing is always for a change of mental standpoint. Christ Jesus himself enphasized that what we entertain in thought has its effect. He said, "Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man" (Matthew 15:11).

The discovery that Mary Baker Eddy made, that matter is really a mental phenomenon, was and is revolutionary. Though you may never have considered it in this way before, both the image of disease and its expression in the body are false beliefs about you and me--not actual conditions. The understanding of this fact is a potent force in destroying disease.

Christ-healing is dependent on the removal of disease beliefs and fears. And it is the activity of divine truths in human conscousness that removes these false beliefs. As the divine facts of existence displace mortality's lie in our thought, a more normal, harmonious sense of being inevitably appears.

At the close of the preface to "Science and Health", its author states: "In the spirit of Christ's charity, -- as one who 'hopeth all things, endureth all things,' and is joyful to bear consolation to the sorrowing and healing to the sick, -- she commits these pages to honest seekers for Truth."

Rebounding from injury

There is a profound spiritual prerogative for denying the supposed power of an accident. It is described in the first chapter of Genesis, which says that God made man in His image. This is not to suggest that we ignore accidents but that we can find healing from the effects of them, as we're receptive to the truth that our real being is not material or subject to chance or injury.

No matter what situation we may find ourselves in--even should help be urgently needed--we can turn in complete confidence to God, divine Love, who, as the Bible assures us, is an ever-present, unfailing help in trouble.

Knowing that man is God's child, whole and safe in the care of his creator, regardless of appearances, Christ Jesus was able to heal physical troubles. His works brought to light the fact that man has never really fallen from his original spiritual state of perfection and that nothing can interfere with his freedom and well-being as the offspring of God.

Each one of us who discerns his real being and strives to live in accord with it through following the teachings of our Master can know the comforting assurance of divine Love's care.

In line with Jesus' teachings--his statement, for example, that God is Spirit (see John 4:24)--Christian Science brings out that our true selfhood, as the outcome of Spirit, is spiritual, not material, that man is not bound by human circumstances, is not at the mercy of accident and injury. In a comforting sense, then, we don't have to go somewhere else to find help. We need to open out thought to the reality of our being in God's care, inseparable from Him, inseparable from divine Life and Love. God's child can never, for an instant, be deprived of his Father's loving care, can never be out of his God-provided niche of spiritual security.

THe Psalmist sang, "Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations." (Psalms 90:1) It is for this very reason that in truth we are eternally exempt from mishaps of any kind. We have never actually 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 order, safety, and exemption from harm. Equipped with this knowledge, we can find quick and complete healing of injuries.

And Mary Baker Eddy in her book, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" brings out something that has helped me when I've needed to bounce back from bodily injury. "When an accident happens, you think or exclaim, 'I am hurt!' Your thought is more powerful than your words, more powerful than the accident itself, to make the injury real."

"Now reverse the process. Declare that you are not hurt and understand the reason why, and you will find the ensuing good effects to be in exact proportion to your disbelief in physics, and your fidelity to divine metaphysics, confidence in God as All, which the Scriptures declare Him to be." (page 397)

Let Christ have the credit

When misunderstanding with a neighbor gives way to "How can I show kindness to this person", let Christ have the credit.

When a tendency to criticize someone gives way to "Such was I at one time", let Christ have the credit.

When a feeling of illness gives way to healing through reliance on the teachings of Christian Science, let Christ have the credit.

When resentment toward someone who has wronged us gives way to heartfelt forgiveness, let Christ have the credit.

When complacency toward what Jesus taught gives way to an earnest desire to obey these commands, let Christ have the cedit.

When irritation with other drivers gives way to patience and non-condemnation, let Christ have the credit.

When "What's in it for me", gives way to "How can I give to others", let Christ have the credit.

When what we thought and did last year, we would never think of thinking or doing now, let Christ have the credit.

(There are so many more entries I could make along these lines. But you no doubt have things you could add to this list, and I would be happy if you emailed them to me.)

The Cure for Depression

Life for all at times is rough,

But if we go down into depression,

We just have to lift ourselves up.

I say ourselves because

No one can do this for us --

No one, that is, but Christ.

As Jesus said, our joy

Can't be taken from us*

This is divine law,

And being so,

It can be counted on

To save us a from a descent

We do not have to make.

It keeps us out of that valley.

So when mental clouds gather,

Think about this:

We can rely on Christ's promise,

And not go miserably down

Into that darkness at all.



*John 16:22

God's Immediate Help

Last week I really needed to feel God's help at once. And I got it. While clearing some brush in our woods, felt a sharp sting on one of my hands and saw a creepy crawly thing run away. Whatever this insect was, I don't know. But the pain was intense. I went in to the house and sat down, and began praying in earnest.

This thought came to me and was a basis for my knowing the truth about the situation. It's from Mary Baker Eddy's book, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" where she says: "All of God's creatures, moving in the harmony of Science, are harmless, useful, indestructible." I worked with this, endeavoring to know that nothing in God's kingdom could harm me, that even this little bug could poison my system or cause unfortunate repercussions bodily.

The quotation above continues: "A realization of this grand verity was a source of strength to the ancient worthies. It supports Christian healing, and enables its possessor to emulate the example of Jesus. 'And God saw that it was good.'" This is found on page 514, 515 of "Science and Health".

I worked metaphysically for about 2 hours to overcome the pain and swelling, and to alllay any fear of "what if?" and then the whole thing dissipated. No evidence remained that anything had happened. I was so grateful to God for His everpresence and healing power, which I have been the recepient of many times in my life when mishaps have occurred.

Guest Column (Elizabeth)

It might be helpful to readers of this blog, who may know that Christian Scientists rely on God for healing of their physical ills, to learn that not all individuals come to this religion for healing.

Such was my case. I was a working member of another Protestant denomination, but was not finding basic answers to spiritual issues. I didn't feel I knew God well enough, despite all my efforts to study the Bible and do what I felt a good Christian lady should be doing.

Well, one day while I was in college, happened to get to know a girl who had something different. It wasn't was she talked about; it was the way she conducted her life. One day we got into a deep conversation about religion, and this girl mentioned that she was a student of Christian Science. I hadn't heard of it, but was interested to learn just what it taught. This person who turned out to be my closest friend in life said that if I got a copy of Mary Baker Eddy's book, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures", this would explain much to me. I did so, and began reading. To my surprise, I learned things about God and His laws and my relationship to Him that thrilled me. So helped was I, that I eventually left my church and became a member of the Christian Science church.

Later, I took a teaching assignment in Hawaii and while there, felt called to enter the full-time public practice of Christian Science. I yearned to help others find the enlightenment (yes, and physical healings) that I had found through my study and pondering and applying divine truths to daily problems.

Mrs. Eddy points out in her book that "Christian Science brings God much nearer to man, and makes Him better known as the All-in-all, forever near." It certainly has done this for me.

The Blessings from God's Chastening

"Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby."
(Hebrew 12:11)



After God's chastening is over

What then for one is left?

Many things, worth more than gold.

And crowning them all must be

The dawning, "He did what He did

Out of love for me!"

Removing those things that

Stand betwen us and Him

Can leave one feeling punished, bereft;

But when a particular process divine

Has run its course,

Is perfected, and at last is through,

What thoughts of praise and awe there are.

And a person may even wonder,

Is this the way angels feel about You?

Freedom

To longing deep and universal -
"If I could just be free!" -
Is this fact divine and comforting
That all can come to see.
Man is and ever has been in God -
His perfect child, eternally.
For we are not the slaves of
Influences prenatal or heriditary;
Not helpless before circumstances,
Never under carnal mind curse
For a year, a day, an hour.
These truths Christ Jesus knew,
And they gave him wondrous power.
This Christly knowledge Science imparts,
Saving knowledge so glorious,
That we're not hemmed in by fleshly starts,
But are right now the way He made us.
Fortunate world that there is revealed
Crucial things that you and I can see,
(Things God has always known)
That now and through all eternity
We are His loved child, His very own -
Immensely loved and blessed and free.

Honoring Christ...

...is what a friend
of mine lives to do.
And to this high calling,
he is consistently true.

Not just in the uplifting
and bold things he writes,
but how he helps others
to reach new heights,

in knowing the right
and timely thing to say,
which encourages and
brightens another's day.

A kind word here and there,
loving support given,
and voila, someone's
discouragement is rive

When honoring our Master
is where one's heart is set,
this holiest of goals
is certain to be met.

And it can't help other
people's lives affect,
more benefically,
than one may expect.

No need for self-depreciation

"Ye are all the children of God
through faith in Christ Jesus"
Paul tells us in Galatins 3:26.
Wherefore, then, all this
putting ourselves down?
Be humble, yes, and this only
increases as one wakes up
to this glorious fact:
you and I belong to Him,
are made in His likeness.
Does it not devalue God's work
to discredit what we are,
the good we can do?
Accepting what the Bible says
can be a major breakthrough,
change dramatically our view.
The devil uses many a strategem
to inferfere with Christ
working through us to serve.
From a proper sense of ourselves
let us, then, not swerve.


We are Christ's,
and Christ is God's,
for heaven's sake!

Beyond Dispute

Think about this:
Let it take root,
That what Jesus lived
And taught to show us --
Things most glorious --
Apply specifically to you.
For it's a sin to doubt
That what the Son of God
Came to tell us is true,
And it deprives us of the good
We otherwise might have.
"Son, thou art ever with me",
(Words so very reassuring)
"And all that I have is thine"*
Ought to make you rejoice.
These wondrous words,
Among so many others,
Are meant just for you.
For you are God's, His very own,
And all the good to be found
Within the Father's house,
Right now belongs to YOU!


(Luke 15:31)

Our will -- or God's will?

In the Old Testament,
Daniel says confidently,
that God's will prevails;
that nothing prevents Him
having what He wants done, done.
These words speak to me;
I for sure am one
so glad that this is so.
Many the times I think
I've made up my mind
to not do what I should,
depriving some of mankind
of some needed good
(at least a bit),
and lo and behold, I get
completely turned around,
and end up doing it!
Thinking I was doing right,
He intervened and put
that notion to flight.
Not being willful,
I just wasn't skillful
in seeing the whole picture.
When we pray "Thy will be done",
and mean what we say,
it's good to know that
God always gets His way.
His will does trump ours,
and aren't we glad it does --
our Father who knows best,
our Father so glorious.

Our will -- or God's will?
That is the question before us.

Where our safety lies

People around the world are no doubt aware of the theater rampage that took place in my country, in Colorado.  And thinking about the issue of staying safe in today's potentially dangerous environment, I'd like to share something that helps me feel safe and protected when I'm out and about.

The Psalmist sang, "Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations."  (Ps. 90:1)  It is for this reason that in truth we are eternally exempt from harm of any kind.  I like to think about this: we are never actually apart from our divine source, God -- we never have been -- not even for a moment.  As His offspring, dwelling in Him, we are preserved by His unerring laws of order, safety, and exemption from violent circumstances.  Understanding that this is so, and claiming this divine protection for ourselves and our loved ones, and for other people as well, we can feel assured of being safe -- wherever we happen to be.

This is such a potent help in my everyday life, and I hope it brings comfort and a sense of well-being to you.

Jesus came

Jesus came
and the world could
never be the same.
How could it be,
with the Name above
every other Name
in its very midst,
the Son of God who
showed humanity what
a loving Father it has,
One who does wonders
for those who trust and obey.
And when Jesus comes
to one -- anyone -- in
the world today,
comes to one through
Christ's words sublime,
it is a life-changing time.
This I write,
not from hearing others say,
but because my Saviour came to me.
Reconcile yourself to what
Jesus said and taught,
and you will see
your Saviour come to you.

God be thanked that Jesus came!

Oh the freedom Christ brings us!

It has happened time and time again,

When desire to do what

our Father knows is best

Becomes paramount to us,

Things change for the good.

We're removed from places

Where we do not need to be,

And put in those places

Where we can better bless.

I do confess,

When Christ has been in charge

Of conditions need adjusting,

I have become oh so free.


"If the Son therefore shall make you free,
ye shall be free indeed."
(John 8:36)

Help right at hand

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble," the Bible teaches.  For centuries people have found comfort in this promise of God's loving cae and have turned to Him in times of danger and mental turmoil.  Today, there are those who rely solely on God for help in sickness -- and they find healing.

The Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, writes:  "To ignore God as of little use in sickness is a mistake.  Instead of thrusting Him aside in times of bodily trouble, and waiting for the hour of strength in which to acknowledge Him, we should learn that He can do all things for us in sickness as in health."  Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, page 166

I personally have experienced God's healing help in various physical difficulties, not to mention overcoming the effects of injuries from accidents -- some that were amazingly quick.  And more than once, what looked like an oncoming physical problem was completely averted through prayerful reliance on God's love and care.

Prayer in the highest sense is the discernment through spiritual understanding, of God's perfect universe and man.  Despite appearances, God's creation is ideal, expressing His nature.  Disease and suffering are inherent in a misconception, or false sense, of what God has created.

Acknowledging through prayer the truth of our unbreakable relationship to God, the one infinite Mind, brings out thought more into line with spiritual perfection.  Then harmony replaces discord both mentally and outwardly.

Many people have been taught to pray for God's help in difficulties, but few rely on Him to heal disease.  Christ Jesus, our Lord and Master, turning contantly to God, healed pain, disease, deformity, and restored life.  Jesus didn't turn to his Father and our Father in mere optimism, just hoping He would hear; he knew He would.  The Saviour's understanding of man's unit with the creator gave him absolute assurance that He answers every call.  This mighty exponent of God's omnipotence demonstrated beyond doubt, for all people and for all time, the divine help that is always at hand.

Christian Science, the Science of Christ, reveals through healing that man is actually spiritual, not material, not at the mercy of fear or pain.  He can never, for even an instant, be deprived of His Father's ever-present care.  When such truths are brought to bear on a particular trouble through the enlightened prayer Christ Jesus taught and practiced -- and even if the physical need seems pressing -- the result can be a swift and sure restoration of harmony.

Cultivating Closeness to God

Would you like to feel closer to your heavenly Father?  Becoming more conscious of God is an inexhaustible, eternally unfolding action.  But three concrete steps are illustrated for us in the life of our Master, Christ Jesus.

First, voluntary, fervent aloneness with God, divine Spirit. A keener awareness of His ever-presence has to be patiently cultivated, even as effort has to be expended to deepen a human relationship.  Only in woleheartedly reaching out to divine Mind can we hear what God is revealing about His infinitely loving and powerful nature.  From this we gain a priceless awareness of our unity with divine Principle, Love.

Once we've complied with the command in Psalms, "Be still, and know that I am God" (Psalms 46:10", then what?  Again, observing our Master's example and how he was always glorifying his Father, we naturally think of using our solitude to the same holy end. The Scriptures abound with admonitions to give God the glory He is due, and as we advance spiritually, we find that praising Him is something we cannot do enough.

Christian Science shows that the ability to feel God's presence in our daily lives is unseparably interwoven with sanctification of thought.  Reflecting on the way Jesus conducted his life shows that purity was a "given" for him.  We can't afford to linger in the state of thought that acknowledges God but fails to progress in the demonstration of divine power over sin and evil.  Purification is a demand for anyone who would prove man's true spiritual sonship.  As Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure in heart:  for they shall see God."  (Matthew 5:8) Since purity is the natural spiritual state and brithright of you, me, and all God's children, it can progressively predominate in our thoughts and our daily lives.

"In divine Science, the material man is shut out from the presence of God," states Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.  "The five corporeal senses cannot take cognizance of Spirit.  They cannot come into His presence, and must dwell in dreamland, until mortals arrive at the understanding that material life, with all its sin, sickness, and death, is an illusion, against which divine Science is engaged in a warfare of extermination."  (page 543)

Allowing ourselves to be acted on by the five material senses is detrimental to our spiritual well-being.  It is a little like our putting an opaque covering in front of a window through which sunlight has been streaming.  We don't cause the sun to be any less near to us, nor do we stop it from shining.  But we do cut ourselves off temporarily from its invigorating warmth.

The influence of the carnal mind may seem to darken our thought, either through the more obvious channels of sin, sickness, anxiety, limitation, or by means of subtler suggestions such a preoccupation with past good, a surfeit of material possessions, or perhaps a too intense friendship.  Such distractions keep us from praising God, the sole source of all that makes life free, full, and worthwhile.  Nothing can really compete with God; our heavenly Father must be first in our affections.

One marvels at the fruitful relationship Jesus enjoyed with God, which resulted not only in unequaled peace and dominion for himself, but in wonderful "signs following" of physical, mental, and moral regenration for others.  As Nicodemus, "a ruler of the Jews," succinctly put it in a converation with the great Teacher:  "No man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him."  (See Mark 16: 17-20)

Communing with our loving Father, reverently praising Him, living as much as we can in Christly purity, will not only do wonders in our lives; it is the sure way to cultivate closeness to God.

God, Not Drugs

Where is she going with this, you may want to ask?  Just this.  The Bible states, "I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds saith the Lord".  And He does.  And the drugs I'm referring to are those used to treat bodily ills.  But is not God equal to the healing of our bodies?

You get a resounding "yes" from me, not because I've heard other people tell me so, nor my mere hope that God heals us, but after years of personal experience being the beneficiary of His superior healing power.

It is due to the teachings of Christian Science that this has occurred.  I have learned to seek God's help in sickness, not as a hit-or-miss proposition, but in confident expectation of healing.  Equipped with what this religion reveals of  God's eternal laws, it is a fact that we can turn to Him constantly and never exhaust His omnipotent care.

The teachings of Mary Baker Eddy, who discovered and founded Christian Science, prove false the notion of an intermittently appearing, for the most part, inaccessible, Supreme Being.  She writes in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, page 596:  "Paganism and agnosticism may define Deity as "the great unknowable;' but Christian Science brings God much nearer to man, and makes Him better known as the All-in-all, forever near."

Since God is infinite good, this means that good is infinitely present and includes all that is grand, beautiful, permanent, and true.  The very allness of God assures the presence of the divine fact, regarding every situation, no matter what the material senses claim.  God is ever available to us, and we perceive Him through spiritual understanding.  The majesty and power of the Divine Being can never be relegated to a mere "there" and "was."  His presence must be eternally expressed in terms of "here," "now," "is."  The recognition and acknowledgement of this truth bring to us unimagined peace and health, whever we are.

Admitting to oneself that God is an ever-present, loving Father whose help is always available is a start.  But more than intellectual acceptance of this fact is called for.  God's healing presence needs to be felt, obviously.  Those with testimonies of healing published in the chapter of the book mentioned above entitled "Fruitage" went that indispensable further step.  Most took up Mrs. Eddy's book in hopes of finding relief from suffering and despair.  But they found much more than this.  They experienced -- to a greater or lesser degree -- that blessed state so essential to divine healing, which Paul describes as absence from the body and presence with the Lord.

One man badly sprained his ankle, and as he tell is:  "I took my copy of Science and Health and began reading.  Very soon I became so absorbed in the book that I forgot all about my ankle; it went entirely out of my thought, for I had a glimpse of all God's creation as spiritual, and for the time being lost sight of my material selfhood.  After two hours I laid the book down and walked into another room.  When next I thought of my ankle, I found it was not hurting me...it was perfectly well."  This is on page 603.

What this man experienced from his reliance upon God for healing, and not drugs, you too can experience.