 Some say that it is instinctive. Some say that it needs to be learned. But either way, sharing is what brings the fabric of mankind together.
Recently, I got a facebook message from a classmate from high school. She shared that a classmate and her family were going through a tragic situation and urgently asked us to pray for this family. Even though I hadn't heard from these classmates for years, many of us did just that and prayed.
 I knew I needed to write something to my old friend, but I deliberated and actually spent hours praying and then deciding what to share. I finally wrote it, sharing a personal story that I thought related. I just got a message from her today. She was so grateful for the message. It gave her comfort.
So why, oh why, oh why, I asked myself, did I feel the least bit hesitant to share? Giving and receiving are profoundly satisfying and healing.
 How did I get over myself enough to share? When my sense of compassion overcame my sense of self.
Here some of those stop signs that I found would try to halt one's sharing of good words and works on the highway to meaning.
Watch out for thoughts like:
Oh, they won't remember me.
They won't understand my message.
They are probably too busy and don't have time to read this.
What if they are offended by what I write?
I am not articulate.
Someone has probably already shared this same idea.
(These are rather lame, aren't they?)
And here are some of the green lights that let our love and compassion overflow, offering a healing balm to whatever situation we see is calling for healing:
"Whenever the heart speaks, however simple the words, its language is always acceptable to those who have hearts." (1)
"Giving does not impoverish us in the service of our Maker, neither does withholding enrich us." (2)
"Give them a cup of cold water in Christ's name and never fear the consequences. (3)
"Love enriches the nature, enlarging, purifying and elevating it." (4)
"...Love is the fulfilling of the law." (5)  And finally, "(Happiness, Truth and Love) cannot exist alone, but require all mankind to share it." (6) So go ahead, and love your neighbor. Share a cup of cold water, a simple idea, a healing story. Gently ask if they would like you to pray for them. "Love never fails." (7) You simply can't go wrong. And the good you do just keeps blessing.
 A friend, who owns a Christian bookstore, and I had been talking about the transforming changes we had been seeing in our respective churches and sharing what we've been learning about these changes on a micro and macro level. She recommended two books: Jesus, Mean and Wild and Beautiful Outlaw, both books which portray Jesus as a radical - playful, persistent, militant and unexpected. I was also doing a deep dive into cataloguing Jesus' healing works into a blog which I tagged in a variety of ways. All these things made me take a second long look at the church that Jesus had built and where I felt I was at in this church. Christian Science churches work under the mission of church that is "....designed to commemorate the word and works of our Master, which should reinstate primitive Christianity and its lost element of healing." That's from the Church Manual, on page 17.
So this new/old view of Jesus, as a radical change agent, whose works largely discredited the religious practices of the day, but provided a saving relief and assurance that God is all, that God is Love and that God is right with us all - this is the foundation of Church today. Now take the fact that each branch church of The Mother Church is named specifically for the community in which it resides: for example, First Church of Christ, Scientist, St Paul, or Seventeenth Church of Christ, Scientist, Chicago, and so on, and we see that each church has a special relationship to its larger community. OK, let's keep going: Now Mary Baker Eddy, founder of Christian Science, defines Church in this way (mind you, this is a definition of Church on a large scale, not just for those branches of The First Church of Christ, Scientist): "The church is that institution, which affords proof of its utility and is found elevating the race, rousing the dormant understanding from material beliefs to the apprehension of spiritual ideas and the demonstration of divine Science, thereby casting out devils, or error, and healing the sick."
So, it follows that church is expected to walk its talk, to show proof of its utility. How? In the big picture, it is expected to elevate the race, and all of our branch churches have the opportunity to start in our own communities. Specifically, how to we show proof of our utility? On the one-on-one level, it is expected that people's lives will be healed and transformed because of the activity of church. One of my roles is to represent our branch church in an inter-faith ministerium. There are about a dozen of us. And each minister and youth director from the various churches have come together recognizing that we represent the spiritual leadership of this community. It hit me that this group really represents the spiritual impulse that animates those things that are good, health-giving and progressive. All those things that improve our community have a spiritual basis. How important, then, that we look at our own mission for church, challenge whatever orthodoxy would strain our reach, and enliven us to take responsibility for elevating the race and healing in our communities for which our churches are named. It is a call to love unselfishly, share without fear of consequences, and demonstrate the unity and oneness that our local communities to our global communties so urgently need.
A new day! A new post! And a new way of blogging!
Welcome to my new website. After over six years of blogging and having my own website, I thought it was time for a fresh look. Undoubtedly, the features on websites have grown exponentially, so it is timely and right that I get on with it!
The commitment to write and to supply a steady stream of practical and healing ideas and send them out to cyberspace is just as strong as ever. As I continue adding to this blog, I'll be focusing on these
categories:
CURRENTS: these post will explore the thought currents of the day and how they relate to the spiritual progress of mankind; of developments in science, theology and medicine as well as in technology,
entertainment and design.
RELATIONSHIPS: these posts go to the core of our connections with one another - parenting and partnering, friends and family, strangers and heroes and colleagues.
WELL-BEING: these posts will talk about our own individual path toward peace, productivity, place, identity, wealth, laughter and our capacity to be a blessing in the world.
HEALING: the posts in this category will relate a specific healing as brought about by the study and practice of Christian Science; it will also include ideas on what it means to be a Christian Science practitioner.
COMMUNITY: this category is so big, I am breaking it into COMMUNITY-global and COMMUNITY-local; these posts will look at ideas elevating and transforming political, social, economic and health issues on both global and local scales. For this reason, issues about Church, as a healing change agent, will be included.
INSPIRATION: these posts will draw from holy scriptures and inspired authors, past and present; it will also include selections of readings on current topics from Science and Health with Key to the
Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy and the Bible.
TRANSLATIONS - GOOGLE TRANSLATE is an ambitious tool that will translate any of these blog posts into one of many languages, but I have chosen these twelve languages, simply because of the people I know! Those languages are: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish and Thai. Simply pull the desired language from the menu bar on the right and select your chosen language. And if you are choosing to have these posts translated in your native language, I would love to know how well it works!
That should cover it! From time to time, I'll have a guest blogger, I'll pull from my old, trusty “ad infinitum” blog and I'll keep adding special features. I'll continue to post one or more times a week, links will be everywhere and I look forward to reading your comments!
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