I was driving the long four hour stretch from Saint Paul to the northwoods in Wisconsin.  I noticed the billboards near the open highways.  One was selling its space on the billboard with its message: "Here's your sign!"; a hospital advertised its services with the message "Shine!"  A bank encouraged people to switch over to their bank with the message "Switch now!"  And another billboard promoted the idea of newer larger homes with the message "Think bigger."

I had been praying for months about a certain decision that our family was facing.  Although I felt a strong sense of direction in my prayer, there were times that I just wanted a clear and distinct sign as to what we needed to do.  Thinking this through on my way up north, I laughed when I saw the first  billboard with the message: "Here's your sign!"  This was followed by a string of billboard messages that pointed out exactly what we needed to do:  "Think bigger"  "Switch now"  with the results being that we would "Shine!"  Too funny.  And quite helpful!

Not all my messages from God are written on billboard signs, however.  Some messages seem to be quite unlike any kind of message in the conventional sense.  So how have I been able to distinguish when a message is from God or when it is just my own will coming through?

In a word, I've been able to distinguish a message's origins by the peace and freshness it produces.

But talking with God is more than achieving an emotion. And God is infinitely more than an imagined behavioural therapist!. Talking with God is about finding your relationship to the source of Life itself.  An experience with the divine is more about a humble conviction and a grateful connection.  This has come about in my experience in a number of different ways:  There are times when I will, as it says in the Bible, "..hear a word behind you saying This is the way, walk ye in it..." (Isa. 30:21)  Other times, it will be an intuition, that then grows into a conviction in what direction I need to take. (See Science and Health, p. 298).  And then of course, there are the burning bushes - those so obvious neon signs that clearly point out the next steps.

What if you aren't getting a clear sign?   This has also happened to me a number of times.  When praying and feeling no particularly clarity, I wait.  This is a time to reaffirm who God is and who I am in relation to God.  God is always present, in all ways.  God is infinite Love, and fills all space and I am included in this wide embrace.  There is no vacuum.  If I need to make a move I do so, acting on my highest sense of right, and trusting that God will continue to guide, correct, or adjust whatever is needed.

These two ideas about prayer have deepened my trust in Love's directing my life.
From the first two pages of Science and Health: 
"Thoughts unspoken are not unknown to the divine Mind. Desire is prayer; and no loss can occur from trusting God with our desires, that they may be moulded and exalted before they take form in words and in deeds"
and
"...the desire which goes forth hungering after righteousness is blessed of our Father, and it does not return unto us void."

Whether we are seeing clear signs, hearing a still, small voice, feeling an intuitive impulse, or simply moving ahead in trusting prayer or being still - God is governing, guiding, protecting and providing.  We can trust that.

Just some of the women heroes in my life:

For this very special month, I certainly wanted to do more than just celebrate the achievements of women, I wanted to dig in deeper to understand the spiritual impulse behind the many lasting reforms women have initiated throughout the years.  So what I did was to collect a number of selected stories and ideas from the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy that highlight the spiritual undercurrent behind all reforms.  In the Bible I share a story from the Old Testament when a group of sisters were able to overturn an oppressive law about inheritance.  In Science and Health, I chose selections that bring out what true reform is and how it is happening today. 

A question and a response are central to these readings:"A higher and more practical Christianity, demonstrating justice and meeting the needs of mortals in sickness and in health, stands at the door of this age, knocking for admission.  Will you open or close the door ... ?" 
"In this revolutionary period, like the shepherd-boy with his sling, woman goes forth to battle with Goliath."

For those of you who would like to listen in on these readings (which are then followed up by people sharing their inspiration, healing and spiritual progress), please check out the following:

The Wednesday  Gathering is a live, teleconferenced prayer and gratitude meeting open to all, hosted by prayerfulliving.com.

To participate  by phone, call:1+559-726-1300; Participant access  code:463846#

The  Wednesday Gathering begins at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time; 10:00 am Pacific or 1700 hrs GMT

For those of you who would just like the citations, here they are!

Zeph 3:14-17
Prov 31:10-26
Num 27:1-8, 11
Num 36:5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 13
Prov 11:16
Prov 31:29-31

SH 268:6-13
561:22-25
562:3-7, 24-28
514:10-19
28:32
534:18-30
65:13-23
63:12-20, 23-27 
327:1
248:19-32 
516:24-31
508:17-25
517: 7-14
516:21
57:4-11
60:6-11 
340:23-28 (to ;)
67: 32-3
68: 4-8
256: 1
170: 22
224: 22
232: 16-19
268: 11-13
570: 14-23
 
Hymns are taken from the Christian Science Hymnal
Hymn 200
Hymn 374
Hymn 12

I have been fascinated with my conversations with friends, Gary and Maggie, who have doctorates in the fields of science, and with lectures and writings of Dr. Daniel Scott, CS and Dr. Laurance Doyle and others.  They have helped me see more clearly the role of Christian Science in the progress of mankind. 
Thrilling stuff.  Here are some past posts of conversations I've had and inspirations I've gained from them.

Yes, I think that my sons and goddaughters and so
many of their friends are on the right track. Most are bi-lingual, have lived in  another country at least half a year; they have immersed themselves in other
cultures and thrived. They continue to learn how to live in an interconnected  way while teaching their elders the ways of the internet. It's excellent
preparation for the massive globally shifting period that we are in.

There is something thrilling about living in these times. I simply find I cannot separate anything that is progressive, thought-provoking and  transformative from the very science of Christianity – which is another way of  saying Christian Science, which is another way of saying the law of God.

It amazes me how the discovery of Christian Science in the mid-1800s continues to put fresh insight into mankind's progress today.

Am I narrowing what I see into a denominational lens? I dont' think so. Christian Science is so much more  than denominational.  It explains the very science of being. I find that the more I practice Christian Science in the world, the broader my world view becomes, and the more peaceful and confident I feel about my place in the world.

I just watched one of TED.com's recent videos given by Paddy Ashdown at TEDxBrussels regarding a global power shift.   It reminded me of earlier reads of: The World is Flat,  The Great Emergence 

The Fourth Turning (see fourthturning.com/).

There seems to be a general agreement among these and other thinkers:

We are in a transitional time. 
In any time of shifting, moving, growing, our present day footings get loose. Accountability and responsibility get redefined from a higher standard of right.

Here's Mary Baker Eddy's take on it:

“This age is reaching out towards the perfect Principle of things; is pushing towards perfection in art, invention, and manufacture. Why, then, should religion be stereotyped, and we not obtain a more perfect and practical Christianity? It will never do to be behind the times in things most essential,
which proceed from the standard of right that regulates human destiny. Human skill but foreshadows what is next to appear as its divine  origin.”
(“Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896,” p. 232)

 We have a shared destiny.

What is our shared destiny? With global and social power shifting into realms where there
is no one agreed-upon rule of law, nations need to move beyond operating from the basis of self-interest to operating from the shared basis of survival. What is our shared destiny? To help one another survive and thrive.

This idea from Science and Health explains it well:
"The rich in spirit help the poor in one grand brotherhood, all having the same Principle, or Father; and blessed is that man who seeth his brother's need and supplieth it, seeking his
own in another's good."

Everything is connected to  everything.

So that would include Church. Paddy suggests that our national security needs to lock in all institutions together. What does this say about the institution of Church? As an institution, it is also changing, and it is increasingly obvious that Church does not exist in a vacuum!  However, when Church becomes divisive and exclusive, it will fall. But when Church is recognized as the institution of the spiritual engine of mankind, it will thrive and drive the transformation. The definition of Church from Science and Health may soon become the operative word! Church will then drop its material and denominational baggage and embrace its higher purpose:  


CHURCH. The structure of Truth and Love; whatever rests upon and proceeds from
divine  Principle.
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 where will our lives be heading? 
Mary Baker Eddy's idea on man as an individual–"rising higher and higher from a  boundless basis" – can also  be applied to mankind – rising higher and higher
from a boundless basis.  Those with a firm hold on what is spiritual and permanent about the nature of man need to show proof of this –in lives of integrity, compassion and  purpose.  

The world's stage will need players like this to be able to share in mankind's destiny a world of peace, abundance and creative improvisational acts of genius and kindness.  Exciting, yes?

 

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!