A follow-up to being wise about spending

A sense of compassion compels me to add some further thoughts to what I posted yesterday, on the wisdom of conducting our lives economically: someone I was talking to said, that's cold comfort for me! I've already been unwise, lived beyond my means. It's too late now.

But it's never too late--provided one turns to God to show him the way out of troubling circumstances. Along this line, two things have come to mind today.

First, the Old Testament (Jeremiah 32:17) which states: "Ah Lord, God! Thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee."

And interestingly enough, an experience a friend of mine had who served in WWII in the Solomon Islands. This was published some years ago in the Christian Science periodicals, and it bears on the subject of feeling up against great odds, and can be transposed to a financial situation, I think.

This soldier was waiting to be evacuated when a round of mortar fire whistled past. He jumped into a foxhole. Because he knew the target-ranging system being used, he expected the next bomb to land very near. He heard it coming. Then, he said, time seemed to stop and he thought of his loved ones at home and of himself, feeling this could be the end. Then, came a divine message of assurance: "What are you worrying about? You are God's child, and God's child cannot be destroyed." That bomb landed on the edge of the foxhole, but didn't go off.

I've always found this example of just what turning to God in a desperate circumstance can do most inspiring, and applicable to anything we might face in our daily lives. As bad as things may look today in the stock market, the economy will turn around. Has anything happened to God's all-power and love for His children? Of course not!

And in conclusion, the Bible has this eternal assurance: "With us is the Lord our God to help us, and to fight our battles" (II Chronicles 32:8). What a comfort to you and me to know that we always have instant recourse to the Father's ever-present love, that whatever our particular battle may be -- even a scary financial picture -- we can ask God for help, confident that He will adjust circumstances, open up new opportunities, and show us the right and wise and economical steps to take. By taking refuge in almighty God, one can end up better than he was before.

The wisdom of being economical

Sure I'm not the only one who heard about the AIG executives who blew a whole lot of taxpayer money at that California spa--after just being helped to the tune of 85 million dollars. People are rightly aghast at this, and it made me think about excessive spending. And only yesterday came across something Jesus mentions which I don't recall seeing before, in Luke 21:34 on not being overcharged with surfeiting. How up-to-the-minute this is!

And it made me appreciate more than ever what the leader of the Christian Science Church calls for in her by-law in The Manual of The Mother Church, namely "wisdom, economy, and brotherly love." I find this absolutely wonderful, such a guideline in our own daily lives and doing.

And lastly this morning, a note of thanks to my own dear father who lived through the Great Depression and always told us kids, don't ever spend more than you take in. If you have a dollar, spend only 90 cents of it. Daddy, who was single at the time, said he was always last to be hired (if he got hired at all) because they took the married men with children first for the jobs open. He more than once had only potato peelings in his lunchbox, and did not want any of us to go through what he had survived.

So, how wonderful those of us who love Christ and Christian Science have the words of our great Master, Jesus and of Mary Baker Eddy to show us how to live in these times.

Taking up the cross

Just read in my morning review of the Master's words marked in red in one of my Bibles this statement: "He that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me." This is from Matthew 10:38. And this ties in with something I'm giving deeper thought to because of a comment a friend in New York state just made to a poem I posted earlier today. Her, along with so many others, heartfelt commitment to Christ Jesus really moves me. She said, on the subject of Jesus' words above, that most mainline churches today no longer bring up the cross at all! Just isn't popular to demand anything of their attendees. Nominal Christians don't want to hear about sacrifice/giving their all to Christ/following in his footsteps. Too much work required, too much selflessness to even think of doing this. So many only want a feel-good, promise people instant wealth and success (even health without doing a thing themselves) religion. Of course, this is not the Christianity Jesus left us.

So what have I arrived at from all the thinking I've been doing? That we are not really Christ's until we are willing, yea, even eager, to pick up whatever our cross happens to be, and carry it all the way. To be joyful about going the whole distance. It seems clear to me one who reaches this point--and it is a sublime one-- is on ground the safest, ground most holy, ground that takes him very near to things divine.

And to conclude, came across a statement made by Mary Baker Eddy in First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, page l66 where she says: "Life's ills are our chief recompense; they develop hidden strenth." You may be thinking, how could she write this?! How can you endorse it?! Because I do feel accepting this premise, and grasping what is being said here, is essential if we're to be real followers of Christ. Too many churches are anemic, not attractive to people any longer. They offer nothing people can't get from the world. So, in a sense, they are irrelevant, dead above ground. Churches no longer offer what can only be achieved as one hears about the cross and is willing to take it up--eagerly, joyfully.

We're not promised a picnic

The beauty of having one's own blog is that, whatever the thoughts rattling around, one can give them out almost the moment they occur. Thinking on a gorgeous autumn morning just now about something a friend said recently: trying to live what Jesus taught and demonstrate the spiritual truths he knew is no easy proposition. How many of us can say Amen to that! But we consider Christ and Christian Science well worth the work required, or we'd go off to something else.

To start with the sublime, I often think of the time Jesus told his disciples that there would be those who, if they killed them, would consider they were doing God a good turn! Doesn't get much clearer than that. One doesn't enter the narrow path that leads on and up to God, the path our Saviour walked for us, without having been warned what awaits him.

And just thought and looked up something Mary Baker Eddy states in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, page 26 which lays it out: "While we adore Jesus, and the heart overflows with gratitude for what he did for mortals -- treading alone his loving pathway up to the throne of glory, in speechless agony exploring the way for us, -- yet Jesus spares us not one individual experience, if we follow his commands faithfully; and all have the cup of sorrowful effort to drink in proportion to their demonstration of his love, till all are redeemed through divine Love."

Personally, I find these words glorious as they show just how much reverence the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science had for Christ Jesus. And to end this little entry, I have thought of the time when she was about to give a talk and some threatened to blow up the hall where she was to speak. Did she turn and run? No, sir. In her own words, (paraphrased), I leaned on God and was safe.

So, you have my thoughts for the day...

Jesus' words -- how timely

Our Master's words -- how timely,
a way out of all difficulty.
Consider what he says in Luke 15:
how much one can find
in these economic times to mind,
about a man who lived life profligate,
brought through want to his knees.
Imagine being hungry enough
to eat the food pigs ate!
Would this not get one's attention?
And if it takes harsh conditions
to turn people in God's direction,
to begin thinking-- instead of myself--
how can I my Maker please,
is this not a good thing?
As a friend said,who works
where we now and then eat,
people can't keep leaving
God out of the picture,
and go on prospering.
On this, he and we did meet.
Pleasure-seeking...
Christ-forsaking
will get mankind only so far.
And if the time has come
for at least some
to consider God's demands
in these times so tough,
to start obeying His commands,
then I say,
it can't happen soon enough.

Our heavenly Father awaits
with such a loving welcome.

"Why not take it to God?"

Some years ago,
a colleague dealt
me quite a blow,
leaving me feeling
very low, confused,
my world about to fall.
Did I to my Father go?
I am sorry to say, no,
not strong in faith enough.
Finally, I did seek out
an experienced, wise friend
and asked him, "Who can I
take this problem to?"
And his inspired counsel?
"Why not take it to God?"
I have learned to heed
since this angel advice,
thus saving myself remorse
at not turning to God first,
when difficulties arise.
And I strongly recommend
this superior course.
How much better it is
to turn to Him first,
as His offspring should --
an all-loving Father who
wants for us such good.

To God goes the credit

They told me not to even try writing poetry.
"You're not intellectual enough",
the wise and published ones said.
So I didn't try --for too many years.
Then, one wonderful day unforgettable,
poems began to flow,
poems that have warmed people,
made them laugh and weep,
enlightened, inspired, and in some cases,
made them want to amend their lives.
Truly.
So take it from me:
don't ever let anyone convince you
to keep your words bottled up.
Express what you feel -- boldly.
That's all there is to style.
Isn't what you have to share
as valid as anybody else's?
Don't let people's opinions
stand in your way.
Have your say.
If it's in your heart,
it will reach the hearts of others.

Above all this, for my writing,
I humbly give Him the credit.
As the Bible says,
"So shall my word be that goeth forth
out of my mouth: it shall not return
unto me void, but it shall accomplish
that which I please, and it shall prosper
in the thing whereunto I sent it."
(Isaiah 55:ll)