When I think of God's tenderness and the satisfying feeling I get when feeling God's protection, I think about the times when I have prayed with my sons. I have a mental picture of times when they were both around three years old. My older son, as a toddler, would gather all his stuffed toys and place them in a circle in the stair's sunny landing. He'd invite me to come and join them and talk about God. I'd find a spot, usually between Rilla the gorilla and the as-yet-to-be-named orangutan, and we would riff on all the many qualities of God...Love, Truth, Spirit. We talked about how good God is, and how God loved everyone. In his little world, he was full of knowing God's safety and Love's ever present joy. In my prayer, I knew exactly the same thing. In another recurring event, my youngest would sit with me while I did my morning prayer work. He would gather his legos, and plop down on a sunny spot on the carpet, next to me, sitting in the oversized family chair. Feeling peaceful, my toddler son would create and discover new forms with his legos, actively engaged in his work, wordlessly confident that as is well. And I would be praying as he would be playing and I realized that we were both discovering new dimensions of God's creativity and love, actively engaged in knowing that all is well. A friend once said that there was nothing more satisfying than being in a house of sleeping children. I knew she meant more than just having some quiet. (Although that was always welcome.) But it was more about a reminder that we are all God's children, "cared for, watched over, beloved and protected". (See Christian Science Hymnal, No. 278). Sometimes, it takes a little child to remember what is so naturally known to children, and that persistently applies to all of us. A song for all of us children: Pilgrim on earth, home and heaven are within thee, Heir of the ages and child of the day. Cared for, watched over, beloved and protected, Walk thou with courage each step of the way. Truthful and steadfast though trials betide thee, Ever one thing do thou ask of thy Lord, Grace to go forward, wherever He guide thee, Gladly obeying the call of His word. Healed is thy hardness, His love hath dissolved it, Full is the promise, the blessing how kind; So shall His tenderness teach thee compassion, So all the merciful, mercy shall find.
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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. "In natural law and in religion the right of woman to fill the highest measure of enlightened understanding and the highest places in government, is inalienable, and these rights are ably vindicated by the noblest of both sexes. This is woman's hour, with all its sweet amenities and its moral and religious reforms." (Mary Baker Eddy from No and Yes, p. 45) This quote helped me set the stage for celebrating Women's National History Month last month. I participated in a deeply moving gathering of people who shared stories from women from history who changed their lives. This plan was hatched years ago, with my mother, a friend and one of the Sisters from Marywood Spirituality Center up north here and the Sisters from the Spirituality Center graciously agreed to host it. When the evening event started, there were six of us. We sat around a table and each shared a story from the lives of Rosa Parks, Sister Thea Bowen, Dorothy Day, Tahiri, Mary Baker Eddy and Saint Catherine of Siena and how they inspired us. What underlying theme tied the whole evening together? Each of the women mentioned expressed uncommon moral courage in breaking new ground for civil rights, human rights, education for women, healing and shelter. But the strength of the vision of each woman gave them an authority that no established system of their time would give them. And it was that authority that then shaped their culture, their nation, their churches and the world. Where does that authority come from? You've all heard "one with God is a majority." To get this, you really need to understand what we are talking about when we say God: the Almighty, the Infinite, the Creator of the universe. Simply put, God is big. Authority and dominion of God is supreme. So it follows that the more God-based the reform, the more authority it has, and the more its piercing vision plows through resistance and elevates humanity. "There is divine authority for believing in the superiority of spiritual power over material resistance, " writes Mary Baker Eddy. And each woman who felt her calling received that divine authority. Each woman and the one man at the gathering gave their accounts showing a deep respect for those who stood, many times alone in their calling, to bring healing and comfort to mankind. More profound still, was the uplifting affirmation that each of the historical women's lives showed us: that good is not helpless, that Truth is triumphant and that we can all be a vehicle for progress. from the Family of Man photography exhibit What is it like for me to say, “I’m a Christian Scientist” today? Well, every time I have talked with friends or acquaintances, introduced myself, or introduced ideas that I have learned from my practice of Christian Science, it has always been in the larger context of understanding that all of us are Christian Scientists! OK, that needs some explaining..... (Read the rest on the new online Christian Science Sentinel at http://bit.ly/HhwGJU.) (See more about the Family of Man exhibit at http://bit.ly/5x6gKf.) Oh cuddle divine arms as big as outer space trigger sweet release This haiku was written by Isobel Sally Davis, an artist and kindred spirit I met online. Doesn't it speak to the tender relationship that we all have with God? It reminds me of the term Jesus used when praying to God: "Abba, Father." Browsing on the internet, I came across this explantion of the word "Abba" from a website called JesusWalk.com: Jesus and his disciples read Hebrew in the synagogue, but in everyday speech and preaching used a closely related language, Aramaic. In Biblical Hebrew ab is "father." But in Aramaic abbā is a word derived from baby-language. As the Rabbis said, a small child "learns to say abbā (daddy) and immā (mummy)." In the pre-Christian era the usage of the word broadened so that "... Abbā as a form of address to one's father was no longer restricted to children, but also used by adult sons and daughters. The childish character of the word ("daddy") thus receded, and abbā acquired the warm, familiar ring which we may feel in such an expression as "dear father." While nowhere in the entire devotional literature of ancient Judaism is abbā a way of addressing God, in Jesus' teaching and practice, such an expression was the norm. Abbā as a transliteration of the Aramaic word into the Greek, appears three times in the New Testament: +"'Abba, Father,' he said, 'everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.'" (Mark 14:36) +"For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, 'Abba, Father.'" (Romans 8:15) +"Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, 'Abba, Father.'" (Galatians 4:6) This explanation helps elevate the relationship we have with our human fathers and lets us see the tenderness, protection and guidance that are the spiritual basis of true fatherhood. And we can take our understanding of God's tender intimacy to see that it applies to everything we do. Because we know of God's love, we can see that love expressed in our relationships to one another. Our relationship to God shows us that we have an intimate connection to what is infinite and that we are at home wherever we are in the universe. The protective and loving embrace of Abba, our Father, can be experienced when we play, when we challenge ourselves or are in challenging situations. Oh Cuddle Divine! It makes me laugh to say it! We are the loved of Love, wherever we are and whatever we do. And we can experience the divine cuddle in: Claire, my youngest niece, on just a regular, normal day. Children give us such wisdom and love. And we are privileged to be a part of their spiritual journey, reminding us how we, too, are children -- of God. This little story has made the rounds on the internet and came to me from a good friend: A kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they were drawing. She would occasionally walk around to see each child's work. As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was. The girl replied, "I'm drawing God." The teacher paused and said, "But no one knows what God looks like." Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, "They will in a minute." This collection of posts comes from my earlier blog and highlights the wisdom and wonder of our lives filled with childlike goodness, growing maturity, and pure, pure joy. It's because of children, we all know what God looks like. 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 Peppered throughout my site and blogs I talk about joy. Joy totally captivates me. It is the foundation of my practice and my reward. I just can't seem to get enough of it! Definitions of joy vary but generally agree that joy is the root of happiness and well being. But the most thought-provoking definition came to me years ago while scouring over the 200+ Bible reference book library of a friend. I have not found that definition since. I was looking up the definition of joy in the context of Hebrews 12: 2 "...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." The chapter focuses on the theme of discipline and the unshakeable kingdom of God. And the word "joy" is about calm delight and grace. But my long ago found definition of joy defined it as the understanding of the ultimate triumph of life. This one idea has led me through all kinds of challenges. It deserves its own headline. Joy = the understanding of the ultimate triumph of lifeThis answered so many questions! How could Jesus go through the betrayal, the crucifixion, the discouragement? Because he understood the ultimate triumph of life. What vision sustained Mary Baker Eddy through her trials so that she could persist with the discovery and founding of Christian Science? She must have understood that Life, God always triumphs. But joy is more than a coping mechanism that puts on a happy face and hopes that whatever challenges we face will blow over at some uncertain time. Joy is the very essence of light, which has an immediate effect on darkness. Joy is a powerful therapeutic force. Sitting in my office, I considered the times I have been pulled up and out of questionable times. In each case, I saw that it was sometimes a glimpse, sometimes a full realization, that good will always have the last word. That lets us start out addressing a challenge as having already won. Love never fails and Truth is always the victor. So now, knowing that whatever race we are in, that we have already won, how do we deal with the day to day impact of these questionsable times? Know this: Life triumphs. This lifts discouragement. God will always give an answer of peace. Love wins. We can see that right now. In small gestures, in past kindnesses, in a receptive thought - we bring a magnifying glass to that seemingly small pinprick light of Truth and that light immediately replaces the darkness with what it true. Truth reveals and heals. Light's immediacy is at work. We see more through God's eyes -- through Love's eyes. We feel the hope and the freedom that God is governing. We keep walking in that direction and find that we trust God fully and understand the ultimate triumph of life. What joy! 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. 1 - Miscellaneous Writings by Mary Baker Eddy p. 262
2 - Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Eddy p. 79 3 - Science and Health p. 570 4 - Science and Health p. 57 5 - Romans 13 verse 10 6 - Science and Health p. 57 7 - I Corinthians 13 verse 8 A former Evangelical Covenant pastor in the Yup'ik villages of Hooper Bay and Scammon Bay in Southwest Alaska recently emailed me. He has been living among the Yup'ik Eskimo since 1974 and was looking for the name of the translator of the Eskimo 23rd Psalm that I had posted on my site some years ago. He collects historical documents about this region and shares it with the villages, and wrote to share this background with me. Tim (also known as Kanglek, one of his Yup'ik names) shares: "...it could have been written by a missionary in the northern part of Alaska. Loraine Burdick was a Presbyterian missionary in Barrow. She later wrote a column in the Anchorage Daily News in which she shared drawings, stories, and crafts about Alaska. In 1967 she turned her column into a book. The book entitled Alaskettes included the 23rd Psalm. She said this adaptation of the 23rd Psalm first appeared in David C. Cook's 'Adult Bible Class.' Author unknown. She gave no date. " (Thanks Tim!) Eskimo 23rd Psalm The Lord is my master; I am his dog. He makes me lie down in soft snow; He leads me across firm ice; He calls to me encouragingly. He drives me on good trails because I belong to him. Yes, though I travel Through storms and troubles, I will not be afraid Because he is with me. My harness is securely fastened And his hand is on the sled. He guards while I eat, Though enemies lurk near. He doctors my hurts. My heart overflows with gratitude. Only kindness and gentle care will be mine from the hands of this master And I will be on his team forever. Beauty before me, I walk with. Beauty behind me, I walk with. Beauty above me, I walk with. Beauty below me, I walk with. Beauty all around me, I walk with. Navajo Night Chant Beauty is the radiant of all the radiant qualities of God. We swim in beauty everyday and as the Navajo saying shares, beauty is truly all-encompassing and always present.
This new cluster of posts are all about beauty from all different perspectives. Beauty as power, beauty as the harmonizing agent in relationships, beauty in identifying who we are, beauty as healer, as laughter and as wonder. Give yourself a beauty treatment and enjoy these posts! I realize I have a strong snow theme going here. My facebook posts are full of snow pictures. But if you could see out my window, you would understand why. It is basically all you can see. So I have been mining my older posts to see what lessons the snow has given me. And I came across this one written in April, 2008. Toward the beginning edge of spring, we had another snowstorm, much like the situation we have now. Hopes dashed for an early spring, I thought more about the eternal spring we have right now. So curl up with a hot drink, and enjoy! HERE COMES THE SUN ...we hope. I woke up this morning to eight inches of freshly fallen snow. My heart sunk. We have had months of a record snowfall. I scrambled to find all my past posts where I lauded the beauty and magic of the first snowfall. But the beauty and magic of the snow alluded me now. Have you ever been in a situation where you were waiting and waiting for something, and then, right when you thought you were going to get "it" (whatever it was you were waiting for), you realized you had to wait some more? When I have been in these situations where the waiting is prolonged, I remember being brought out of a sense of impatience and irritation by being more present and grateful to what is happening now. We all need to wait for things, but when that waiting turns into thinking that you lack what you need now, and can only have it sometime in the future - and the nearer that future the better -thought turns inward and restrictive. You get crabby. What has been most helpful to me is Christ Jesus saying: "the kingdom of God is within you." The Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven is defined in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by MBEddy as "the reign of harmony in divine Science; the realm of unerring, eternal, and omnipotent Mind; the atmosphere of Spirit, where Soul is supreme." And most comforting of all, MBEddy writes,'.... remember Jesus' words, "The kingdom of God is within you." This spiritual consciousness is therefore a present possibility.' So the atmosphere of Spirit, the reign of harmony is a present possibility. Right now. Right now as you are reading this. But how can that be? When we have waited so long? Step up to this claim and make it your own. You can claim this. Harmony right now is a present possibility. Harmony, goodness, love and abundance aren't stuck in a material expression. They are qualities of thought. And we can align our thought with all we know of God. We can harmonize with God. We can pray. We can accept that the kingdom of God is here. It is this yielding and letting go of sometimes our most cherished hopes that may be hardest to do. But actually it is harder to hold on to these hopes when we can only see that they come in a certain form: For instance if we feel that we have to see that person, or we have to see green grass growing or we must get out of this place -- in order to be happy, we are stuck. Letting go of those materially based hopes help us see the good we already have - now. The kingdom of God is already within us. We can expect to feel that satisfaction that we have what we need, and trust that God is guiding us to those places that are best for us. And best of all, we can see the beauty and loveliness that exist around us right now. photo by Brad Crooks; location: Patagonia I could have been the poster child for Overachievers Anonymous. I was pregnant with my second child. Our first child was 2 1/2 years old. I was working fulltime, co-leading the church services, weighing in a major decision regarding re-location and involved in a court case. And I wanted to do everything right. I worked hard at it - emphasis on the "I". I put the responsibility squarely on my shoulders. But being so right, trying so hard and taking on so much had a breaking point and any amount of doubt or fear would set everything tumbling. My private time with God was between ten at night to midnight. One night, I was exhausted and prayed to God. I don't remember the specifics, but some of my prayer had gotten to the low point of berating myself for not knowing how to pray better. (Otherwise, I wouldn't have all these issues, now, would I?) I got a direct response. And it surprised and humbled me. Like an iron hand with a velvet glove, it was as if a hand came into my thought and swept away the cobwebs of false responsibility, worry, doubt and anxiety. A comforting wave of assurance rolled over me. I was loved. God approved of me. God understood everything. And all was well. That was it. A direct hit to the heart of the beast of anxiety. An explosion of the heaviness. The thunder of the Truth came in with the gentleness of Love. And then, I felt a calm joy, and a rested confidence. Well, God loves me! God knows me and approves of me! I simply wept with the relief of it all and ended up laughing. I accepted the fact that I did know how to pray, I did know how to listen to God. I accepted God and God's love for me. God and I had a wonderful understanding of one another. And to this day, we have a great working relationship1 Each situation I was involved in was resolved in its own time: the baby, the potential move, the church services and the rest. All was well. All is well. And, as the hymn says, all must be well. Years later I came across this correspondence written by Mary Baker Eddy from the collections of The Mary Baker Eddy Library. It fit this story perfectly: You are not alone. Love is with you, watching tenderly over you day and night. And this love will not leave you but will sustain you and remember all thy tears and will answer all thy prayers. So for all you over-achievers out there, take heart. Stand back and see God's work. All is well! "...you O Lord, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy." Psalms 92 What is it about kids and animals that so powerfully draws us in and makes us just laugh? My niece, when she was just four, was our flower girl at our wedding. After a full day and night full of dancing, she grew tired. But when we did one more circle dance, she shook off whatever tiredness she felt and ran - just ran! to join in on the dance. My dog, after being at my feet while I was writing, writing, writing at my desk, had the patience and persistence to wait until just the right time to look at me with her liquid warm eyes and get me to shake off whatever warm comfortableness I was feeling to join her for a romp in the snow. She leaps, she wags, and we are off. Joy is powerful! It's contagious and compelling. Joy has been defined as the understanding of the ultimate triumph of life. Life always triumphs and Love never fails. What children and animals seem to know inherently is that life is about playing and exploring, that good is present right now and that we simply cannot wait to see more of life and love and good! It is enough to shake off any tired thinking, any dead ends and negative ruminations. Jumping for joy just shakes off anything unjoyful, simply because anything unjoyful cannot attach itself to us. There is too much good to discover. The works of God's hands are everywhere and the only acceptable response is to jump in and dance! Here are some other posts about the shakedown that happens when joy is at the helm: "The miracle of grace is no miracle to Love," my cousin reminded me as we were waiting backstage to perform in our high school dance production. I was nervous. I was a freshman and this was the first time I had ever choreagraphed a full length piece that was now being performed in front of a crowd. But the familiar quote and the reminder that this performance was on God's shoulders, lifted a false sense of responsibility I had about the performance. It calmed my nervousness and reminded me that this performance is about God's grace. It was not about what I could personally achieve, nor a personal statement designed to gather praise about my up and coming skills as a dancer or choreagrapher. This performance was about joy and freedom of movement. Grace has always seemed to be an evasive term. But I now saw it that it is an inherent quality that comes to the surface naturally to ease away nervousness. Grace is also the antidote to anger. Grace is the soothing and smoothing away of irritation. It quietly assures us that God is in control, and we can move forward in our day in the balance and confidence of divine Love's leading. The performance that night went off without a hitch and it became the first of many performances. Whenever I am faced with a new project, a new direction in my life or a new oportunity, the lesson of grace learned that night is one I continually draw on! To have things resolve harmoniously, beautifully, graciously and joyfully is divinely natural. It is no miracle to God! And it is right and natural for us to experience God's grace. For more on miracles, click here! Recently, there have been a number of blog posts from friends, quotes on facebook walls and email inspirations coming in that deal with overcoming the heavy baggage of hopelessness with the piercing lightness of Truth. Each one of these posts, quotes and emails starts a wave of fresh thought that makes it easier for us all to experience Truth and Love on a larger scale. So I wanted to add to this momentum. I wrote this post some time ago that shares how I came to experience this lightness and hope in my life. This was my ultimate challenge many years ago: No job. No car. No place to live. No money. Plans to have a family dashed. But the worst of it was I felt I had lost my connection to God. So, added to my list was little hope. I say little hope instead of no hope, because it was a little thing that helped me. That was the idea that in spite of everything, God loved me. It has been several times now that I have told this story about how I re-built my life after a life changing challenge. But today I am reminded that getting out of horrible, dead end situations sometimes takes just one step. And it can be a little step, and that’s okay. I read this today from the book of Job (which was the catalyst for this posting) There is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant. Life prevails over even the worst that can happen. Even a slight glimpse of this idea will start us in the right direction – a “scent” of this refreshing thought will get us up and flourishing once again. I am praying for these small glimpses of peace, hope, progress for all those who are impacted by tragedy, by the confusion of war, or one’s own sense of isolation. These small glimpses are like light in a dark place. A little step toward the light is so practical, so do-able. A little step, a short prayer acknowledges this light. It puts a wedge into discouragement and lets the light glide right in. This leaves me with a feeling of authority and growing dominion. We have what we need to overcome discouragement and disappointment. God loves us. And with this nugget of Truth, we can grow to understand that this love is a rock on which we can firmly stand. Here is another post from my new blogging friend, Lindsey Biggs, who shares her post on the same theme: Let the light in to your consciousness! Efficiency, coordination and synergy are God's resources. A friend was not looking forward to her week. Multiple projects were looming over her, each demanding more time and resources than she felt she had. These kind of situations are ripe for healing. It requires us to let go of a false sense of responsibility and to be prepared to be surprised. We've all been in tight situations before: having multiple projects; having to make major moves in little time; needing to prepare presentations with little direction, and so on. I have found the following ideas not only helpful in alleviating the pressure, but healing - lifting the whole activity higher and making it a bigger blessing than I could have imagined: Whatever the situation is, know that God is bigger. God, Creator of all that is, operates from an infinite basis. God is the source of all intelligence, harmony and joy. There is no problem too big for God. Your responsibility is to respond to God's ability Each task or project we are assigned to is not dependent on our personal achievement, but on an acknowledgement of God's efficiency, coordination, synchronicity and synergy. These are divine ideas - qualities we reflect from God and resources we can draw on for any task. Removing any sense of fear or doubt, we can respond to God's governance and let God's goodness be reflected in our actions and expect that each prayer-filled action we take will be fruitful. Listen. Listen. Listen. I was once on a task where I needed to buy a number of things in a short time with limited funds. I challenged the seemingly implausible and replaced it with the promise of God's abundant good. I claimed efficiency as my standard, expected that all that I needed would coordinate with what we already had, and was convinced that the final product would bless more than I could then imagine. Each step I took, I listened. I wasn't sure where I was going, but I was listening. As I was driving I saw a warehouse and got a nudge to turn in. I did, and found this warehouse had a major clearance on all the items I needed. I was able to get what I needed that day under budget, on time, and beautifully coordinated. Listening every step of the way - this is a blessing to every task that we do! Whether we are setting up a new home, directing a corporate initiative, working for the resolution of a national crisis, God is guiding us all to a greater and more permanent sense of peace, productivity and progress. Through all that the world may throw at us, and sometimes convincingly make claims of divisiness, disaster and disease that would overwhelm us, there is an insistence that life prevails, goodness prevails and love prevails. The very nature of love pierces these claims that lead to depression. The primal impulse of love is God. In the Bible, the book of John says simply "God is love." God's love is the most potent force that we can experience. Understanding the power of God's love - pure, universal and unconditional love - leads the way out of the fog of depression and into the light of God, Love.
I collected a number of posts that I wrote over the years dealing with this issue. These posts were written in different years, from different perspectives and approaches to prayer. The last post includes links to others' experiences in healing depression. Even while I write this, I hope that those struggling with depression will feel that they are not alone in this struggle. Love is right where you are. A little girl who was born blind, but now sees, visits a garden. “She is greatly astonished, and can scarcely be persuaded to answer, stands speechless in front of the tree, which she only names on taking hold of it, and then as ‘the tree with the lights in it.” - from "Seeing" by Annie Dillard Land o' Lakes, Wisconsin (c) Gabe Korinek I grew up in a family of photographers. How to see things, how to capture important moments, how to understand light and shadow, how to compose a scene to bring out the subjects’ natural beauty - these were all little lessons picked up while doing the mundane and sporadically wonderful things that make up family and community life. My first professional lesson in a beginning photography class was all about light. As I was driving home after that first class, I started seeing things differently. It was amazing to me to see the same objects that I had been seeing every day, in a whole new way. It was eloquent. That new understanding of light "rekindled an appreciation of the marvelous" which I was finding in my every day objects. I chose the pictures on this website here because each one instructs us to see something familiar with new eyes. Each photographer has his or her own signature in their work, and I can sometimes identify the photographer of a picture just by looking to see how each one experiments with light and composition. My dad always uses renaissance lighting on the faces of each person - that triangular shape of light on the one cheek. My brother Bruce’s signature is clarity and focus. My brother Brad’s work, takes you to places all over the world and shows its universal beauty. My son Gabe has a fresh and profound way of looking at the world and captures that in his work. The casual click of family snapshots brings home the tie we all have with joy, laughter, and play. Jeff’s work (Jeff is the photographer of the banner photo) gives us another way to see. Photographing the northwoods, which is our mutual neighborhood, he captures what is genius in the minutest detail. He seems to be able to take the spiritual sense of a thing and then take a picture of that essence! A wave in a river isn’t a picture of a wave in a river, it is movement and spontaneity and grace. A tree, a drop of rain, a branch against a river - each photo points to an image's primal spiritual element. His perspective – shared through the picture, teaches to see things in a new way, a spiritual lens. My hope for this website is that it will help you to see things through a more spiritual lens, and that you, too, will find a startling beauty and grace in people and things that you deal with every day. I hope you will discover a new depth and spiritual perspective that will surprise and delight you as you explore this site. -+- The crude creations of mortal thought must finally give place to the glorious forms which we sometimes behold in the camera of divine Mind, when the mental picture is spiritual and eternal. Mortals must look beyond fading, finite forms, if they would gain the true sense of things. -Mary Baker Eddy Love is everywhere. I just wanted to share this gorgeous love song with you all today. Happy Valentine's Day! Click here to get there. Enjoy! K.d. Lang - "Simple" Lyrics (K.D. Lang/David Pitch) Flawless light in a darkening air Alone...and shining there Love will not elude you Love is simple I worship this tenacity And the beautiful struggle we're in Love will not elude us Love is simple Be sure to know that All in love Is ours And love, as a philosophy Is simple I am calm in oblivion Calm, as I ever have been Love will not elude me Love is simple Be sure to know that All in love Is ours... Is ours... That all in love Is ours And love, as philosophy Is simple... And ours... This is your new blog post. Click here and start typing, or drag in elements from the top bar.
I don't know of any one question that has captured the thoughts of so many through the years, decades, millenia: what is the nature of evil, and why are we aware of it?
An answer came to me recently, knocked and simply stated - the reason we are aware of evil is that we are not aware of good. So, all you prayer warriors out there, walk with me on this one. The reason we are aware of evil is that we are not conscious of or awakened enough to the allness of God. It is kind of like saying, the reason we are in the dark is because we can't see the light. So that puts the full weight of the issue on understanding the light - God. To unravel the snarls of evil thoughts, motives, and strategies, one turns on the light. No time needs to be wasted on finding the cause for evil, its history, its prospects for the future, its power. The eradication of evil happens when we engage with omnipotent good. A few ideas from MBEddy's writings help bring this lesson home (these are all from her book Unity of Good): "By knowing the unreality of disease, sin and death, you demonstrate the allness of God." (page 9) And the allness of God is all good. "God says 'I am too pure to behold iniquity, and destroy everything that is unlike Myself'" (page 18) Just as the light destroys darkness. "A lie (another word for evil) has only one chance of successful deception, - to be accounted true." (page 17) This puts us in the driver's seat. Don't give away the power. Don't believe the lie. Here are some other posts that demonstrate this principle of destroying evil (evil includes anything bad here: sin, disease, death, lack, etc.) by understanding the light, God. 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.
Recently I had requests from two pet owners for prayerful treatment for their pets. Throughout the day, I noticed that Mocha, my lovable Rottweiler, stayed uncommonly close to me. She has always been close by when I do my morning prayer work, and that day, I named her my assistant. Later on, I got the happy news from both pet owners that all was well. I thought about the deep and uncluttered spirituality of animals. They have much to teach us! The lessons from animals is an old, old story. In the Bible, the book of Job has this to say: But ask the animals what they think—let them teach you; let the birds tell you what's going on. Put your ear to the earth—learn the basics. Listen—the fish in the ocean will tell you their stories. Isn't it clear that they all know and agree that God is sovereign, that he holds all things in his hand-- Every living soul, yes, every breathing creature? Isn't this all just common sense? Job 12 from The Message (click here for other translations of these verses) Each animal lover I know has a bond with their furry and feathered friends that can only be explained in spiritual qualities. Mocha has been the furry representative of joy, forgiveness, present-mindedness, patience, contentment, spontaneity, obedience and stability. She is a reminder that these qualities are reflections of God. When I have been sad, or jumping for joy, or simply quiet and praying, she responds with those healing qualities of God. Mocha simply teaches me that God's tender loving care is right here and tangible. What spiritual lessons have your pets taught you? I'm reminded of a mid-winter thaw some time ago. The seasons roll by and another mid-winter thaw is upon us. Another time for a pause: ...walking my dog Mocha this morning, there was no mistaking it: full sun, cool breeze off of the melting snow and birds singing. There was the added benefit of being able to shuffle through both wet and dry pine needles to stir up their fragrance and memory of summer camps of the past. We went to my favorite dock overlooking a lake and sat and listened. I could see the tiny pock marks that the sun had made on the top layer of the ice on the lake. The surface looked like a million crushed diamonds glinting in the sun. Listening, I could hear a soft rush of what sounded like muffled applause as thousands of the trapped miniscule bubbles popped, leaving marks like tiny holes, and leaving the next layer of trapped bubbles exposed. Every tiny hole mattered and soon I could see a fissure developing, again small and almost inconsequential, but enough to make a short white streak under the surface of the ice. Another sound, a pop, punctuated the soft rushing sound. The weight of the shifting ice had produced a tension where the white streak had once been and was able to break through making a deep crack - what was soon to become one side in a three sided break of ice. I left with the quiet rush of applause and sporadic pops behind me, taking in nature's lesson of patience and persistence and applying it to my prayer today. I persist with the truth that "divine Love cannot be deprived of its manifestation or object" as Mary Baker Eddy writes in Science and Health. I stand on the fact that God maintains and sustains each of Her children, providing them with protection, nourishment and security. I hold to the fact that "Progress takes off human shackles. The finite must yield to the infinite" and that "divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need." The ideas God gives us provide the innovation, implementation and strategies needed to forward progress. These prayers are the persistent sunlight on the hardness of the world. And, closer to home, I can humbly rest in the knowledge that God has guided me, is guiding me and will continue to guide me in the way that will best glorify Him. Everything is growing -- businesses, my family, my understanding of God. Patiently, persistently - I trust God, I trust His direction and I trust Her progress. One final comment from Mary Baker Eddy's book: Love inspires, illumines, designates, and leads the way. Right motives give pinions to thought, and strength and freedom to speech and action. Love is priestess at the altar of Truth. Wait patiently for divine Love to move upon the waters of mortal mind, and form the perfect concept. Patience must "have her perfect work." photo (C) Gabe Korinek Spoiler alert! The above video is inspiring. It is is about a race. A woman runs, falls, rises and goes on to win the race.
As I watched this, all kinds of life lessons raced around my head. I admit. I teared up. This video is such an encouraging reminder of a number of things:
You can go to the resources page to find countless stories of healing triumphs. And, below, are some posts from others who have risen up after a fall: |
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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