My husband and I were cleaning the basement recently, and as we moved a shelving unit, I saw a man’s black wallet on the floor against the wall. When I picked it up, I recognized my son-in-law’s driver’s license. Although he and our daughter haven’t been married long, he spent a lot of time at our house when they were in high school. Obviously, he had put his wallet on that shelf many years before, and it had fallen back behind and gone unnoticed.
We discovered that the wallet contained quite a bit of money. Then it all came back to us! More than five years ago, our son-in-law had cashed his paycheck—then promptly lost his wallet. We remembered how distraught he was at the time—frantically retracing his steps, but coming up empty-handed. Finally he gave up, sadly believing that the money, driver’s license, and other cards, were gone forever. Finding the wallet taught me a spiritual lesson. Like our son-in-law’s lost cash, I’m sure each one of us has felt at some point that our abundance, health, or even our happiness has gone missing. Maybe we feel like we had these things at one time, but now they’re just out of reach—lost—and we’ve given up on ever seeing them again. But, like the wallet—completely intact, safe, and in fact, right under our noses!—the good in our lives is present here and now, too. Since God is infinite, and good itself, every nook and cranny, in earth and in heaven, are filled with the goodness of God. Your identity, supply, and health are held secure and unscathed in the omnipresence of divine Spirit. The author of the Christian Science textbook, Mary Baker Eddy, supported this fact when she wrote, “It is impossible that man should lose aught that is real, when God is all and eternally his” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 302). Every bit of good that divine Life possesses is eternally ours. It isn’t that God gives us our own health, our own life, or our own supply. God is infinite, and possesses all. Infinity can’t be divided up—a little for you, a little for me. All good, then, is reflected by God’s creation. Just as majestic mountains and statuesque evergreens can be reflected in their entirety on the face of a still mountain lake, so, too, is God’s nature, in all its vast completeness, reflected individually and collectively in His creation—that includes you and me. In another of her books, Mrs. Eddy wrote, “Man is God’s image and likeness; whatever is possible to God, is possible to man as God’s reflection” (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 183). Because you are God’s precious likeness, the abundance, which the whole spiritual universe contains, is yours by reflection. It is impossible that something can be missing. Health, which is an expression of God’s completeness, is also yours by reflection. It is impossible that sickness, so unlike God, can penetrate His oneness. Joy, God’s perpetual expression of Himself as Soul, is yours by reflection, too. It is impossible that sorrow can ever have a place in God’s indivisibility. The next time you think anything good about your life or identity has gone missing, remember the found wallet. Your expression of all that God is and has is right there with you—tucked securely in your back pocket!
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Anyone who has ever been to New Mexico is familiar with the bright blue skies that stretch from horizon to horizon. The fluffy white clouds cast blotches of shadows on the rolling countryside. The clouds look like cotton candy; I’m sure they’re low enough to take a bite. Every summer I make the drive from Colorado to New Mexico. I go to reconnect with friends and attend a one-day talk on Christian Science healing. It’s only a weekend, but it inspires me. I always see things in a new way when I head back home. A couple of summers ago, I was driving home in the bright sunshine when one of those mammoth white clouds turned an ominous gray, and I found myself in a cloudburst of torrential rain. I turned my windshield wipers to high, slowed down, but kept going. I saw some motorcyclists stopped by the side of the road. They were drenched and waiting for the storm to pass. In another thirty seconds or so, I found myself back in the sunshine. It felt like I had passed through a car wash. I thought about the motorcyclists. If they had known that they were less than a minute from sunshine, would they still have stood in the downpour and waited? It seemed like a life lesson to me. At times, we’ve all felt like we’re in the middle of a storm. The dark clouds of pain, fear, or lack seem to loom ominously over our heads. But, if you knew how close you were to clearing the storm, wouldn’t you keep moving forward toward the inevitable sunshine? To me, God is like perpetual sunshine, always shining light on His creation. This light—the understanding of God’s goodness and power, and our unity with Him—is consistent, constant, and always at hand. How am I so sure? In the definition of God on page 587 in the glossary chapter of Science and Health, Mrs. Eddy uses “Truth” as one of the names for God. The qualities of Truth would have to be constancy, consistency, and permanency. When something is true, there’s no way it can ever change into something that isn’t. Truth always produces unchanging fact. A simple example would be the basic equation 3+4=7. This is fact. You could never sit down to balance your checkbook and find that 3+4 is suddenly 8! Truth maintains what is true. God, being good itself, means that you—Truth’s creation—are good, like your Creator. (See Genesis, chapter 1.) As part of God’s creation, you can only manifest what Truth knows about you. Your health, abundance, and satisfaction, are the 3+4=7 of His creating. The fact of permanent health can’t ever morph into sickness. The fact of endless abundance can’t one day turn into emptiness. The fact of joyful satisfaction can’t suddenly become disgruntled disappointment. Again, Truth maintains what is true. He maintains the facts of His spiritually perfect creation. The next time you find yourself in a storm cloud of misery, wondering if it will ever end, be willing to consider the fact that Truth is maintaining everything good about you. Mrs. Eddy shares this about the sunshine that certainly lies ahead: “The discoverer of Christian Science finds the path less difficult when she has the high goal always before her thoughts, than when she counts her footsteps in endeavoring to reach it. When the destination is desirable, expectation speeds our progress” (Science and Health, p. 426). It may seem like you're sitting in the storm waiting for something good to happen, but you are always Truth's consistently good fact. What can be more desirable than the expectation of seeing yourself on the other side of the storm of sickness and sadness, enjoying the sunshine of health and happiness? And this expectation is sure to speed you on your way--out from under those clouds and into the promise of blue skies, from horizon to horizon. The other day I spotted a narrow dirt path that ended on the sidewalk where I was walking. My eyes followed it diagonally across an empty lot to where it began—a bike shop. That made sense! I could picture riders buying bikes or accessories there, then riding across the lot on their way home. Clearly, the bike trail was there because the bike shop was there. They were connected; one existed because of the other. It’s a simple example, but it reminded me of a phrase that I have thought about many times on page 276 of Mary Baker Eddy’s book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: “Man and his Maker are correlated in divine Science…” Correlate isn’t one of those words we hear every day. It basically means that two things are so connected that one of them implies the other. Unlike bike trails, which can exist without bike shops, man cannot exist without God. And unlike bike shops, which can easily be successful without nearby bike trails, God absolutely needs man to express His infinite nature and magnificence. Since every individual and God are correlated, our connection with Him is permanent. The existence of man, creation, implies the existence of God, Creator. One would never exist without the other. Here’s another way I like to look at this fact. Mind is one of the synonyms used in the study of Christian Science. (See Science and Health, p. 591.) Since God is Mind, He must have ideas. After all, a Mind without an idea couldn’t be considered Mind at all. Likewise, an idea, or thought, can’t exist by itself; it has to have Mind to bring it forth. Without idea, Mind would have no proof of existence. Without Mind, idea would have no source. It’s a necessary and unbreakable relation. This powerful information will help you in your day-to-day life. It gives you authority to deny, and declare impossible, things in your life that are unlike God—Good itself. As the expression of God, eternal Life, you are forever connected to health, vibrancy, and energy. As the expression of God, the one and only Soul, your identity can never be lost. The attributes of Soul--joy, humor, and creativity--will always be part of who you are. As the expression of God, unchanging Principle, security and freedom underlie everything in your life. Each one of us is uniquely qualified to express Him in just the way He has designed. Even on your darkest day when you just can’t see what your purpose might be, divine Love knows you. You are priceless to Him. He can’t be fully expressed without you! And how long will the omnipotent creator of the universe and everything in it need you? For eternity! Yes, every moment for eternity you’ll be connected to Mind as His idea. You are important, priceless, and indispensable. Realizing your correlation with God can change and enrich your life. It can help you ride off on your daily adventures with confidence--and purpose! Ride on over to mountaintop moments and find out about how you can subscribe to a free podcast that puts you in touch with God every day. Other thoughts on being at one with God: The Bible: 1 Corinthians 8:6 Romans 8:38-39 How Jesus saw it: John 10:30 John 17:20-22 Science and Health: p. 588 p. 18 p. 502 p. 336 I don’t have a green thumb. Although I do have a few plants, they’re survivalists in my house. A few weeks ago, I noticed one of my Schefflera plants had gotten spindly and sparse. I found some sharp clippers and started cutting. Before I knew it, I had a big pot of dirt with some sticks coming out of it. I felt bad. What had I done to that poor plant?! The incident reminded me of a passage from the Bible in the book of John that says, “He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful” (John 15:2, New International Version). What does this “pruning” look like in our lives? I see it this way: Because God causes us to express Him perfectly, whatever isn’t like Him falls away—is purged from us. God doesn’t allow any spindly sparseness in His creation, because it’s not like Him. God’s creation only includes that which is productive and leads us to Him—promotes our spiritual growth. He has created us to express Him in all His abundance and power. Without us, His spiritual image and likeness, “He would be without a witness or proof of His own nature” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 303). Some years ago, I had a friendship that looked a lot like that spindly plant I trimmed back. It had potential to grow, and I was waiting to see if it would. But it left me feeling unsatisfied, like a plant that was going in every direction but up. It wasn’t producing joy, satisfaction, and spiritual growth. Although it might seem obvious that the relationship needed a change, it wasn’t to me at the time. Like the plant, it existed, and it looked OK on the surface. I guess I wasn’t sure if it needed pruning, but I was open to it. Demanding a change in a friendship—sometimes even needing to end it—is difficult. You might even see what needs to happen, but you don’t have the courage to follow through. Or, you may think it’s going to take a productive turn at any moment, so you stick with it. That’s how it was with me. I just wasn’t sure what needed to happen. So, I did what I always do when I don’t know what to do: I asked God to help me. My prayer at the time was a simple one. It revolved around a psalm that says, “Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. It is good for me to draw nigh to God” (Psalms 73:25, 26, 28). And that’s what I did. Every day I affirmed that my only desire was to know God better—to draw nearer to Him. Whatever was in my life that promoted that goal, I wanted. Whatever didn’t promote a better understanding of God and myself as His offspring, I was willing to part with. The shortened version of my prayer was, “Prune me, God!” After some months, I started to notice that I wasn’t as interested in that relationship as I had been. There was no conversation that ended it. Like my plant’s spindly and sparse branches, the friendship was pruned away. I appreciate God’s help in that trimming work. And the result has been new growth. Other friendships that have been productive and satisfying have taken its place. So what about my little plant? It’s growing, too. Not many days after I cut it back I saw a tiny green sprout on one of the bare sticks. I clapped and encouraged it! A few days later, I saw many more sprouts. Today, it’s well on its way to being full and productive. I was happy to experience new growth, and it looks like my plant is, too. Some citations to consider in your own pruning lesson: The Bible: Psalm 73:25,26,28 Psalm 51:7 Science and Health: 303:25-30 Miscellaneous Writings by Mary Baker Eddy: 151:6-9 On a recent walk, I had an experience that made me feel like I was following cookie crumbs home; the waymarks were that sweet. It was a cool fall day and I was very content crunching my way across the occasional fallen leaf on the sidewalk. Then, up ahead, I saw a message written in chalk. As I got closer I read, “You are needed.” How sweet! I looked around; was that message for me? I doubt the author had someone specific in mind when she wrote it. She had to have known that the well-used sidewalk would have many passersby; they would all see those words. They would see them regardless of their gender, age, or race. They would see them no matter what kind of car they drove, what size house they lived in, or even what job they had. Each person traveling that stretch of sidewalk would get to think about the fact that he or she is needed. I paused to ponder the depth of that message. For me, it had spiritual significance. One of the synonyms for God that Mary Baker Eddy uses in the textbook of Christian Science, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, is Mind. The Mind she’s talking about isn’t a brain, churning out information via the five material senses. She’s talking about divine Mind, the source of our spiritual sense of things. You know, that comforting voice that calmly tells you that everything is fine? Since the divine Mind is infinite, it takes all of spiritual creation—from the idea of the smallest insect, to the idea of the most magnificent mountain—to express His infinite nature. And the sidewalk chalk writer, whether she knew it or not, was standing up for the absolute necessity of every idea in the infinity of Mind’s creation. After all, an infinite Mind who is the spiritual creator of everything there is, needs infinite spiritual ideas to express Him in all His beauty and magnificence. What would Mind be without ideas? I snapped a picture of the message on the sidewalk and kept walking. I went a short distance and saw another chalk-written note in the same scrawling hand. This one told me, “You are important!” Again, I knew this applied to anyone passing by. It made me smile as I remembered this passage from Science and Health: “Love is impartial and universal in its adaptation and bestowals. It is the open fount which cries, ‘Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters’” (pg. 13). It occurred to me that everyone on the sidewalk, and everyone in all of Love’s, God’s, vast creation, is so important to Him that they’re being supplied with everything good right now—impartially, universally, and abundantly. Again, I snapped a picture and walked on. I wasn’t surprised to see the third declaration. In fact, I was looking for it. It said, “Be ‘you’ nique.” I laughed. Even the message was unique! Clearly, the sidewalk author had a great grasp of Soul. Like Mind and Love, Soul is another synonym for God. Soul is our individuality. Our unique identity is Soul’s expression of each one of us. I like to think of it as the creative side of God: dazzling vibrancy, a colorful character, the joy of laughing—the things that make you, you! Or, in this case, everything that makes you, “‘you’ nique!” It’s raining today, and I’m sure as I write this, those powerful notes of encouragement are being washed away. But I’m not worried; they’re already safely tucked away in my thought, and in the truth of God’s infinite universe. I don’t need the chalk messages to remind me that everyone, including you and me, is needed, is important, and is unique. What a great sidewalk lesson! Some helpful citations to think about on your daily walk:
The Bible Psalm 143:8 Jeremiah 31:3 Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy 465:8 71:7 95:30 I won’t lie: I’m a dog person. You could say they’re my favorite kind of people. Not all dogs, however, are created equal. Every morning I take a walk around my neighborhood. One of the houses I pass is a home daycare center, and sometimes there are kids outside playing. There are also two white dogs that live there. They’re the small poodly types—you know, curls here and there, and really yappy? As I walk by, they always run and jump along the wrought iron fence and bark at me. Every.step.of.the.way. They’re poor examples of neighborliness; one day, one of the kids imitated them and barked at me, too! It’s been that way for a couple of years, so I’m used to it. I usually engage with them, tell them I’m no threat, that sort of thing. But they still let me have it—until recently, that is. You see, a few months ago, I had the privilege of having a beagle as a houseguest. He’s a confident ten-year old, and he knows things—important things—like exercising his dominion over yapping nonsense. We spent ten days together, eating treats, and taking long walks, and he taught me a great lesson. The first day we passed by the chaotic poodle house, he stopped to see what all the commotion was about. He and the poodles sniffed each other through the fence—typical dog greeting. Then my friend turned up his nose and away we went. We left those little yappers in our wake! Every day after that, when we walked by the poodle house, my beagle friend and I did the same thing—heads up, eyes straight ahead, feeling the dominion over the yapping. I could almost hear him sending those dogs a message: “I’m not interested in you now or ever, because you have nothing to say that I want to hear, and I’m too busy moving forward to stop.” In this case, it was dogs doing the yapping, but how many times have you heard that annoying blabbering in your thoughts? It goes something like this: “What if I get sick? What if I don’t have enough money? What if my marriage fails? What if…what if…what if?!” In the study of Christian Science, we call that mental nonsense “mortal mind.” It has a relentless way of sharing information with us that isn’t at all helpful. But mortal mind knows nothing of God, the divine Mind, and His completely unconditional love and perpetual care for all of us. It’s important to only listen to God because God is the only one who can (and does) give us correct information about ourselves. He tells us that we’re whole and safe and that He’s already taken care of everything in our lives. Actually, since there’s only one God, or Mind, this other nonsensical mind really has no voice, no right to speak. Too soon, my beagle friend went home, and I was on my own with this lesson. But it worked for me, too, even when I walked alone. In fact, that’s also how I deal with mortal mind’s babbling now. Head up towards God, thought focused on what the one and only Mind is telling me, I move briskly forward. No hesitation, no engaging, no pausing to see what the yapping is about. I know what I learned from the beagle is effective because the other day when I walked by the house, my curly little neighbors were sitting in a chair in the front yard. They didn’t even move. They looked at me, but didn’t say a word. Just like the poodly yapping, mortal mind’s valueless gabbing can be silenced, too. And the results are equally tangible. Less annoyance. Less worry. And even: healing. Some helpful citations on this topic: The Bible Isaiah 30:21 Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy 151:26-27 |
AuthorI hope these insights will inspire readers to think more spiritually about themselves and the world around them! Archives
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