 a stop along my favorite hiking trail up north Earth Day is every day for us. My family recycles, keeps informed about environmental issues, keeps on top of our carbon footprint and supports some green groups, but underlying these actions is prayer.
Thought determines experience, and when thought is aligned with God, who is infinite Mind/infinite intelligence, we are open to literally infinite possibilities. This is where prayer comes in. God, the Creator of the earth, saw everything that He made and announced it completely good. (See Genesis 1:31.) To take a look at the material scene, though, it would appear that deterioration, neglect, greed and ignorance have altered this view and put us on a dangerous course of further deterioration. So, then, does God get shoved out of the picture? Hardly. And are we helpless to stop this downward spiral? Not at all. In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy writes, "Omnipotent Spirit ( another name for God) shares not its strength with matter or with human will." God, and all of God's attributes such as unconditional love, intelligent care, balanced systems-- all have divine authority. God is at the helm of thought. And God is supreme good. God will not be overwhelmed. The mental environment we accept is the physical environment we live in. So it is important that we identify with what has divine authority and work out from that basis, and accept only a mental environment that is sustainable, harmonious and pure. This then will become our physical environment.
My prayer for today is to continue in the Love in which we were created, and to safeguard all the good, beauty and majesty around us.
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 As one cousin puts it, this is the first crowd-sourced sermon she's seen. Being called on to substitute and conduct the Wednesday church service at the last minute, I wrote a facebook plea for friends to send in quotes from the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy in light of the Boston bombings. About a dozen people responded, plus a young friend's list of quotes from her friends. And now, on today's news, at MIT and Watertown, Massachusetts is still in our prayers, and these citations now formed into a sermon, are just as relevant. Thank you everyone for getting involved, and staying involved. Another friend wrote in "Cities all over the world appear to be blasted by the mesmerizing, “jarring testimony of the material senses.” In addition to the three people killed and many injured in the Boston marathon tragedy, other bombs also exploded in other cities around the world killing 55 people in Iraq; 30 people in Somalia and 30 children in Syria. Mental pictures from around the globe of fear, violence and helplessness, or anger and revenge, cannot disturb or blast away the spiritual evidence of our perfect unity with God and his reflection." “No evidence before the material senses can close my eyes to the scientific proof that God, good, is supreme.” (Miscellaneous Writings by Mary Baker Eddy, p. 277:23-24)
 I just got a quick email from my cousin letting us know her son who lives in Boston is alright. Confused, I went to the computer and heard about the bombs exploding near the finish line of the Boston Marathon.
My immediate thought was relief for my cousin's son on the heels of despair for those who did not get such a report. I turned to prayer. It is my tool for fortification and engages my trust in all that is good - all that comes from God. God is pure Love, immediate Truth, calming Spirit and orderly Principle. So where was God when this happened? God's law of harmony is still operating. This incident – by anyone's definition – is a mistake, a fatal and tragic mistake. It is not the defining moment for this race that celebrates all that is noble and enduring. It is not the turning point for mankind. It is not the end of all that is noble and enduring. It is cowardice, ignorance and arrogance. A mistake that needs correcting. My prayer turns to affirm all that is progressive, productive, heroic and lasting. This prayer and others like it, will never be stopped. Those involved in the rescue efforts, those involved in comforting and healing those who have been injured and are grieving, and those who are, like me, affirming what stands strong in the face of such a display will never be stopped. I continue to trust in the power of Mind, intelligence, to lead us into finding solutions for safety and in the power of Love, peace to find its way once again into broken hearts. Acts of violence will end. Prayer and affirmation of all that is good will not. And so we run with patience and pray with conviction and put aside the fear and anger that would distract us from seeking true justice, finding effective security and embracing humanity with a healing and comforting love. St. Paul wrote, “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us;” that is, let us put aside material self and sense, and seek the divine Principle and Science of all healing. (from SH 20:27)  "Thou art whole." (Or in other translations: You are healed/you are well/You look wonderful/Thou hast been strengthened.*)
That was what a master healer once claimed to an individual who had been healed after 38 years of invalidism. Jesus' further teachings instructed us all: "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Or in other translations: Be shlemim (complete), even as is your Av Shomayim/ You must be good in every way, as your Father in heaven is good in every way. **) What does it mean to be complete, whole, perfect? It has a lot to do with understanding that we are the expression of God, aka the children of God. Mary Baker Eddy writes, "Unless you fully perceive that you are the child of God, hence perfect, you have no Principle to demonstrate and no rule for its demonstration." (From The First Church of Christ, Scientist and Miscellany p. 242:8 ) Accepting this and the principle that we are made in the image and likeness of God ( ie perfect), our very being is based on a perfect principle of God, who is Truth and Love. So what is the basis of perfection? Perfect means: Having all parts present……… So this means: YOU ARE WHOLE Perfect means: Having everything that is required………… So this means: YOU HAVE EVERYTHING YOU NEED Perfect means: Complete in moral excellencies……………. So this means: YOU ARE NATURALLY KIND, GENEROUS, ACCURATE, HONEST, UPRIGHT Perfect means: Perfect Love………………………………… So this means: YOU ARE LOVED, LOVABLE, LOVELY and LOVING Perfect means: Exactly fitting the need in every situation…………. So this means: YOU ARE IN YOUR RIGHT PLACE and SITUATION; YOU HAVE A MISSION AND A PURPOSE IN LIFE Perfect means: Entirely without flaws or blemish…………… So this means: YOU ARE COMPLETE, CLEAN, CERTAIN, CONFIDENT, SURE, and PURE From this basis of wholeness, we can meet any challenge with increased confidence. We have all we need to meet any discord, disease, or lack. And that is something for which we can be completely grateful! For more background on Christian Science and how it heals, go to christianscience.com. *http://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/John%205:14) **http://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/Matthew%205:48 |
Kim C Korinek, CSBPhone: Translate here!
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June 2018
banner photo (c) Micah Korinek; other photos by Gabe Korinek, Kim Korinek, Brad Crooks. Leslie Larsen (c) 2016
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