Hello!  And for those of you who are here for the first time, a special hello.  Throughout this site and on a number of the links you will find all kinds of healing stories.  Healings of physical conditions, of doubt and fear, of restored relationships and of financial needs met.  All of these healings have taken place as a result of prayer.  

With all healings, there's a great reilef to find you have the funds needed for a certain project, and it is convenient to no longer have a cold, and there's joy to have restored a family relationship.  But healing is much more than a physical or human restoration to harmony.

I have been taking stock of Jesus' healing work to learn more of the principles behind healing. (You can check out this research blog on his healings here.)  His mission was more than healing broken bodies and broken hearts, but it was to show that God is Love and that we are never separated from God.  Healings are a sign of "Immanuel" or God with us.

I was once healed quickly of menstrual cramps.  This was a welcome relief!  But it also gave me an opportunity to realize the strength of womanhood and what God's love can do for mankind.  It also gave me insights into the spiritual laws that remove all oppression for women and for men.  I realized that if I could have this small proof of freedom from oppressive beliefs about womanhood, that it was also possible on a larger scale.  My confidence in good and my hope for mankind grew.

Spiritual laws, like the law of Love, are similar in some ways to the law of gravity:  they apply to everyone and they operate unconditionally.  The law governing my healing applies to everyone, unconditionally.  I started to see how a healing has so much more than its physical impact: it demonstrates the fact that we can never be separate from God, Love and that harmony (because it comes from God) is a permanent fact.  And if we can demonstrate this for ourselves, we can see it demonstrated for others.  It just keeps growing and blessing! "A rising tide lifts all boats" goes the old saying.  And our uplifted thought lifts up all thought to the possibilities of good.

Here is an idea from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy that I found encouraging:

S&H xi:9
The physical healing of Christian Science results now, as in Jesus'
time, from the operation of divine Principle, before which sin and disease lose
their reality in human consciousness and disappear as naturally and as
necessarily as darkness gives place to light and sin to reformation.  Now, as
then, these mighty works are not supernatural, but supremely natural.  They are
the sign of Immanuel, or "God with
us,"--a divine influence ever present in human consciousness and repeating
itself, coming now as was promised aforetime,   To preach deliverance to the
captives [of sense], And recovering of sight to the blind, To set at liberty
them that are bruised. 

“Whatever you do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius and power and magic in it.”
                                     Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

How many times have you tried to begin a project, a race, even begin your day, and it seemed so hard, so difficult to take that first step? The break-through for me has always been two things:
1- recognzing the arguments against starting the project/race/day as pointless and
2- realizing the potential for good.

Seeing that I can be a force for good has an energizing effect.  That I can be a blessing in some way opens my thought to the ways in which that can happen.

Sometimes it happens in small things.  Like yesterday, when my husband and I made a commitment to spend the day together cross-country skiing.  The time in the sunny cold air, the time talking together, challenging myself on the larger hills, all of this made for a progressive day.

Sometimes it happens in the big things, like committing to a life purpose.  And in my case, it is my commitment to mankind and to being a healer.  Seeing my role in the larger picture gives me purpose and direction and focus.  And it helps me begin my projects, my joys and my days on solid footing. 

This idea from Mary Baker Eddy has been really helpful in getting my day going:

The  purpose and motive to live aright can be gained now. This point won, you  have started as you should. You have begun at the numeration-table of Christian  Science, and nothing but wrong intention can hinder your advancement. Working  and praying with true motives, your Father will open the way. "Who did hinder  you, that ye should not obey the truth?"

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?

 

Whatever.  It's a great word.  It is a bit of a blank canvas however.  Mary Baker Eddy uses it as part of her definition of church "....whatever rests upon and proceeds from divine Principle..." Whatsoever is a close cousin to whatever.  It's used in the Bible  in this one verse from Phil 4:8 :  

"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

Divine Principle, what is true, honest, pure....these are good guidelines for taking on a new adventure.  Whether it is tackling a physical feat, overcoming fear, or just loving life, a good adventure experience is one which leads to new views about God and our relationship to God.  Here is a collection of posts that I hope will take you there!  Just click on the picture to take you to the link.

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.

Throughout my site, there are pictures of all kinds of water: rivers, splashes, glaciers, lakes. Have you noticed?  Throughout my life, I've noticed that water takes a front row seat:  I've played in whitewater, swam in lakes and oceans and rivers, and have lived all my life near the Great Lakes.  And, I have found that water is such a perfect way to illustrate spirituality and play, purity and persistence.

One of my favorite illustrations of water is from a friend's post (read here) describing the closeness between God and each one of us.  We can no more separate ourselves from God than we can separate water from wet.  That is how close and how permanent our relationship to God is!

In an effort to bring up some of my posts from my first blog to this blog, I'm including some of those posts with the theme of water that I hope you'll like:

Thank God, literally, thank God for God!  For me, learning about God's ever-present love has been the baseline for parenting.  From the very first idea of having children to seeing them launch into their own school careers, I have learned more about our relationship to God and to Love than I have from any one single endeavor.  And understanding my self as a child of God has helped me see all of us as guided and loved by the same Father-Mother God.

Here are some of my posts that track how we can all apply our understanding of God to the full spectrum of parenting!

Here is yet another welcome through another medium.  Enjoy!