Christ-freed

 

                                 "If the Son therefore shall make you free,
                                                  ye shall  be free indeed."

                                                       (John 8:36)



        There are more pleasant things in life

        Than  the Shepherd's correcting rod.

        But if this is the one only way

        We can be safely home with God,

        Should we not welcome it joyfully?

        It has happened time and time again.

        When desire to do what

        Our  heavenly Father knows is best

        Becomes uppermost in our thought,

        Things change for the better.

        We stop doing the things we used to do.

        Don't act the way we used to act,

        Are removed from places where

        We no longer need to be,

        And put in circumstances

        Where we can more widely bless.

                                       I do confess,

        When our Saviour has been in charge

         Of conditions that needed adjusting,

         I have indeed become free.

     

   

           

           

Creativity For You, Too

        Our neighbor phoned me and said, "I've got to show you something.  I'll be right over."  It wasn't long before the doorbell rang and there was a very excited girl.  She had in her hand the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" which we had given her earlier when she said she'd like to read it.

        Cindy opened the book to page 89 where Mary Baker Eddy states:  "Mind is not necessarily dependent upon educational processes.  It possesses of itself all beauty and poetry, and the power of expressing them."  Our neighbor could not stop reading these words, or thinking about them.  As we knew from previous conversations, this girl had not had much formal schooling, had had to go to work at an early age, so thought of herself of rather limited in certain abilities.  But this truth which was making such an impression on her expanded her mental horizons.  It changed her thinking about what she was capable of.  And it has continued to help her express herself more freely.

        Creativity in speaking or writing or art (or whatever) is not restricted to a favored few.  You and I are God's, and we have His Mind, our thoughts and abilities from Him reflected.

The Road Not to Take

To avoid destruction worthy of the name,

Embrace the narrow path Jesus taught

His followers to take in life.

Why did our Master say this to us?

To take all the joy out of living?

Ridiculous thought.

It was to save us from the sorrow,

The disillusionment and regret,

A lack of all things worth having,

'That inevitably comes from

Taking the world's way.

And the worst thing about

Disregarding Jesus' command?

It leads to a sense of living apart from God,

To absence of the lasting good

Our heavenly Father alone can give.

No matter how far down the broad way

You may have gone -- if even to the end --

You can turn around and adopt

Today the only way to live.


Your loving Father wants you back.

Let Us Not Limit God's Love

        In an earlier posting, I titled my comments "Blessings Infinite" and this related to  my review of Christ Jesus' words marked in red in one of my Bibles.  Well, I am certainly realizing this.  One of the marked blessings is an enlarged sense of just how much our heavenly Father loves His children.  And how abundantly He takes care of all our needs.

        Given that there are readers of my blog who, though not followers of Christian Science, tell me they get inspiration from what I'm sharing, let me bring this up:  there are some of you who could do with a greater understanding and acceptance of the good God is pouring out on us.  (Couldn't we all!)

        It's a wonder that I can be dazzled by our Father's love for us after all this time and after all I've seen Him do.  But I  am.  And I think this is in line with what spiritual progress is all about.  The sense of limitation is all on our side, not His.  As our Saviour says:  "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."  (Luke 12:32)  The kingdom!  Does not this encompass more good than we have any idea of?

        And Mary Baker Eddy has this thought-provoking statement from her book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures:  "There is to-day danger of repeating the offence of the Jews by limiting the Holy One of Israel and asking:  'Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?'  What cannot God do?"

        As Jesus showed us so conclusively, God not only gives us the supply we need.  His love covers every aspect of our lives.  And this certainly includes healing of our illnesses.  Salvation couldn't be complete with anything less.  How fortunate we are that this is so.

     

Reflection

        (A dear friend who lives in Florida sent me this little poem, and I'm sharing it with you.  Betty is an outstanding example of the agelessness and vitality we all have as God's offspring.)



                     Holy God, in You I see, reflected, my reality.

                     I'm immortal, ageless, whole and free.
                                                                                                         
                     To know myself, as You know me,

                     Shows forth my true identity,

                                   Spiritual, perfect --

                      The way I am now, have always been,

                      And am ever going to be.























                 

             
                                                     

                                                     

                                             

                                                     

                                                       

                                                                                         
                                                     

                                                   

                                               

Staying Fit, the Right Way

        There we were at a nearby park the other day, walking our dogs, when a staff writer with the Farragut Press asked if she might interview us.  She was working on a special section on fitness and wanted our thoughts on the subject.  "What made you choose a healthy lifestyle?" she inquired.  We both said (in different ways), we didn't really think about it.  It was just that having energetic dogs has demanded it.

        Had it been appropriate, we would have added much more, to-wit:  that we look to God for the health and energy we need to lead a super busy life.((I have plans to address this later here in our community.)

       Christ Jesus' life of service--his example of giving God the glory in everything he did and the reliance on God that characterized all he said and did and taught--have lifted my thinking to a higher, more spiritual level. To follow Jesus I too have needed to see God as the source and purpose of my activities.  The Bible invites us to learn of God as inexhaustible Spirit, which is never limited or depleted.  In Isaiah the prophet asks, "Hast thou not known?  hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary?"

        When we come to realize that man is God's child, the very expression of Spirit, we begin to see a spiritual basis for maintaining health and vitality.  We begin to see that our real identity is not material; it is spiritual, because our creator is Spirit.  This spiritual selfhood is characterized by such God-derived qualities as energy, strength, and stamina.  It is refreshing to realize that our real nature already includes all these qualities, that we're not dependent on eating the right foods and getting enough physical exercise.  And knowing how natural it is for man to express the strength and dominion God imparts can take the strain out of the things we're called upon to do.

        Mary Baker Eddy writes in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures:  "Let us feel the divine energy of Spirit, bringing us into newness of life and recognizing no mortal nor material power as able to destroy.  Let us rejoice that we are subject to the divine 'powers that be.'"  (page 249)

        Yes, acknowledging God as the sole cause of action, ability, and endurance glorifies Him, and it does wonders for our whole life.

Only Mental Vitality Will Do

                                                         John Robert Howell



        Christian Science is not a passive, purely contemplative religion.  Christian Science requires unceasing growth and progress, which cannot be achieved vicariously or  by absorption.  The words of Christ Jesus and writings of Mary Baker Eddy are replete with duties, commands, musts, shoulds, rules, and reminders for the necessity for obedience to God, and faithful adherence to these things results in understanding, demonstration, and progress.

        One could easily feel that achieving the goal of spiritual perfection is an Augean task, but he should recall that Hercules cleaned out the Augean stables by running a river through them.  This brings to mind Mrs. Eddy's statement on removing error:  "The way to extract error from mortal mind is to pour in truth through flood-tides of Love."  (Science and Health 201:17-18)  This truth is always available, of course, and the flood-tides of Love it releases are therefore omnipresent and omnipotent.

        Realize this:  it is never too late to start on the path of Christianly scientific salvation.