"...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!

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

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

 

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...

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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:

• It is not the fall that defines us, it is the rising up.
• We are made in the image and likeness of God, not of some fallen man.
• The fall only has the power we give it, for it has no power of its own.  You'll note that the woman didn't accept that the fall had the last word.  She knew who she was.  She was a runner, and nothing could change that.
• Everyone cheered.  Everyone was inspired.  We have within us the same conviction that
  rises up in recognition of all that is good and triumphant.

In the Bible in Genesis, the simple idea that we were made in the image and likeness of God carries with it a powerful punch.  God is good.  God is Love.  And that goodness and Love constitutes our fundamental being.  We can draw on this whenever some obstacle tries to trip us up.  Whether this fall or obstacle is fear, disease, a difficult past, or lack of eduation or oportunity, the obstacle only has the power we give it.  We can rise up each time and claim the power and goodness and Love that defines us, victorious every time!

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:

Welcome to this cluster of posts that I've written over the years: each post tackling an issue about politics or highlighting transformative prayer and the people behind it.  With our political arena heating up in the US, I hope you'll find the assurance that prayer can be the engine that brings out the highest and noblest in us and in our political endeavors.

I wanted to share a favorite poem that gets right to the heart of healing.

When the human scene seems overwhelming, and we can only discern but faintly what it means to be made spiritually, something reminds us that there is another way.  We don't have to admit to chaos or pain, lack or complaint.  We can admit, with conviction, that we are God's own likeness.  This sets us "free to master the infinite idea.  This conviction shuts the door on death, and opens it wide toward immortality."  This conviction frees us. And the freedom from hurt is just another sign of God's omnipotence and ever-presence.

Virginia Thesiger’s poem “The Healing”* portrays this freedom perfectly:




 After so long, so long
in my tight prison,
with my familiar
  shackles
heavy on head and heart;
after so long, so long, suddenly I see
  the bars
with the eyes God gave me,
touch the chains
with the hand God
  made me,
and suddenly, suddenly
(Oh but my heart flies out of the
  dream
like a singing bird!)
suddenly I am
  free.




*Ideas on Wings © The Christian Science
  Publishing Society

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