The human is what fluctuates. It goes up, down, pauses, sometimes even seems to go backward. But the connection between the dog and the owner is always there. And so the destination is assured. LIkewise, whatever human drama may come our way (we go up, down, pause, sometimes even seem to go backward), we have our unbroken connection to God. And trusting in God, we can be assured that She directs our paths. We will get to where we need to be. Our mission in life will be fulfilled. Our purposeful life journey is uninterrupted.
The human and the divine are connected. After watching this a couple of more times, it struck me that if the dog were obedience-trained, its trajectory would look more like the owner's. But even if it took the zig zag path, the connection between the owner and the dog is never severed. It reminds me of the story of the Prodigal Son in the Bible. There was an obedient son and the prodigal son. Both, even though having very different experiences, were always connected to the Father. "Step by step will those who trust Him find that "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." (from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, p. 444) Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need. (ibid. p. 494)
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As a Christian Science practitioner, I regularly work with people to overcome all kinds of discord with an understanding of God as Love. Every day I see the power of Love at work. Prayer, spirituality, optimism, love are the weapons of our warfare and the impulse behind our tools to build, repair and restore our world. This is what I have learned: Let me first say what prayer is not. Prayer is not a wish. Prayer is not a delusional quest. Prayer is not an empty hope that relies on a chance that a god may smile on us and give us what we want. Prayer is power. Prayer is an intimate communion with a power greater than ourselves. Optimism is hope and hope is part of the continuum that goes from intuition, to hope to faith, to understanding to fruition which determines a new reality based on Love. Love is not a coping mechanism. Love is the life force of all – it gives meaning and focus to all we do. We are all made of Love. Stay with me here. This is not fluff. Consider this: We respond to Love, yearn for it, without Love there would be a significant decrease in the number of songs sung throughout the ages – of Love celebrated, sought after and found. We long to be known and to know others. Why? What is the force behind this? Love. Why are we all impelled to get up in the morning and go about our business? To survive. But why survive? What makes it worthwhile to survive? An obligation to be there for others? A holy curiosity to find out more – to solve problems, provide for others, to explore new solutions, to stave away death? What is behind all of this? It is Love. Love is self-creative, attractive, it causes things to grow. Like sunshine, we need it, live by it and grow by it. Without it, we wither and die. So when we pray, we open ourselves to our connection to Love. Prayer quiets the chaotic noise and fear that says life is impossible and slows us down to recognize what already is. Like a fish in the ocean, wondering where the water is, prayer opens our eyes to a realization that Love is right where we are. Love is already working in our lives. It is seen in the harmony and order of the traffic, the technological genius of our communications, the compassionate smile of a stranger. It is everywhere. Isn't it instructive to see that what scares us the most are those things that are anti-Love? Hunger, lack, destruction, death, conflict, deterioration, isolation, envy. The seductive attraction of greed, personal power, perversion, self-serving material acquisition is at first not scary, but leads down a road to more conflict. Its antidote is Love. Did you ever wonder why we protest against hunger, lack, destruction, etc. If these were natural to us, we would love conflict, embrace destruction, and feel at home with deterioration. But the vast majority of us don't. And those who do, we recognize the healing that has to go on. We rise up against these things. Deep down, we know that they are wrong. Why? Because deep down, we are spiritual beings, at home and at peace with love. Health and well being, harmony and productivity, connection and expression, proliferation of good and creative innovation is what we are all about. Sages from ages teach and guide us in the ways of Love. Is this to be so nonchalantly dismissed? And today, we have convenient access to polls that tell us of the overwhelming majority of people who actually pray, who believe in a power of good that can and does operate in our lives. Is this all based on delusion? Those who point to prayer as a frivolous fancy may want to look again at what is meaningful in their lives. They will find the substance of their lives in their quest for and finding of, and expression of Love. Consider what may be delusional are those things that are not based on Love. Consider as superficial: hatred, divisiveness, and other things that melt in the humble and sincere acts of another. Prayer? It is the engine that moves life forward. Atheists, agnostics, clergy, and all are swimming in the same ocean. Prayer, as a type of communion with all that is productive and synergistic, opens our eyes to see what is glaringly obvious: we are all connected because that is the nature of Love, and that is the nature of us. So those optimistic remarks? They are a way out of the morass of discord. A little hope brings in a little light. And even the deepest most long-lived darkness is powerless against a little light. Now that may seem like a tidy ending. But I want to share something more. Read about how things have been healed in people's individual lives. Read about how war, pollution, dishonesty in politics have been overcome. These things happen on a regular basis. Love is the power behind these solutions. Love, in all its infinite expressions, is effective, continuous and lasting. Check out www.christianscience.com and www.csmonitor.com to see real life examples of this every day. Drop the religious stereotype that says all religions are harmful and only want to convert you to their way of thinking. Go down to the very primitive basis of spirituality: pure Love, pure Truth. Is it possible to act those out today? Yes. And you don't have to be a Christian Scientist to do this. You are already made of Love. Solutions to bring your life into harmony are right at hand. I'll end here. And I hope that you have a greater sense of the possibilities that lie within your grasp. Love and hope and optimism are power, and we are swimming in it. Feeling hopeless is like feeling there is no way out. That all paths have been tried and have dried up. Prompted by a friend's comment that she deserves to feel hope, I started thinking about hope in new ways. I even waxed poetic. Hope is part of that continuum of our spiritual sense that continuously cycles upward from intuition through hope. Hope opens the door to faith, then to understanding, fruition, which defines our reality. (1) We all have moments of reflection and moments of expression. When we feel what Mary Baker Eddy describes as times that are "low, sad and sweet" we can fully embrace the opportunity to feel a stillness and nourishing presence of God's love. (2) Go ahead, feel that deep calm. Silence the voices that say "I can't feel it," (as if omnipotent God was a limited emotional state). "I don't deserve it," (as if God could create something less vaulable than Herself). "God is too far from me," (as if God is only omnipresent for some). It is the opening of our eyes that lets us see beyond limitations to infinite possibilities It is our acceptance of God as pure, radical and radiant love. It is our right to claim our inheritance - that we are the beloved child of God. Beloved, NOW are we the children of God. Let this mature and season your consciousness, and grow and radiate into glorious expression -- into glorious, rowdy, spontaneous, surprising, satisfying and Olympic-triumph defining expression. (1) See Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, p. 298 (click here to go to chapter)
(2) See Christian Science Hymnal, Hymn # 253 See explanation of bracelet below. It has not even been a month and another story hits the headlines of a shooting. This time it is in a place of worship. The jarring impact of the shooting of innocents who were attending worship services in their Sikh Temple is still rippling out. (See story from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.) I listen. Messages come in via facebook and twitter. We are all feeling this. And I think that there is a growing feeling that this has happened to all of us. The internet has fleshed out and made tangible a metaphysical principle uttered by many of faith and of no faith: We are all connected. I look up Sikhism on belief.net to learn more find out how to share and feel comfort. "Known as the "religion of the householder," Sikhism emphasizes the family and advocates living in the world without being worldly. Moral purity is considered the chief basis of religion. There is no priesthood per se, but there are official readers of scripture." Christian Science and Sikhism share that common bond in that our "pastor" or "priest" are books. Moral purity, compassion, uniting with God. These are all familiar practices. (See belief.net's explanation of Sikhism.) These make up the fabric of our lives, our daily living, striving, helping, loving. So when there is a tear in this fabric, there is the natural and primitive response to mend it. The scriptures that I study include Jesus' cry to his disciples "Father that they all may be one" (from John 17: 21). I read Mary Baker Eddy's words: " The divine Science of man is woven into one web of consistency without seam or rent." (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p 242) There's comfort in knowing that it isn't the tear that has the substance to define us, it is the fabric - the intertwining of our lives and our highest ideals and our daily rhythm of continuing good - this defines us. The outpouring of love, the seeking out of the motive, the resolve to forgive, and the strength to go forward are the active agents in healing. We will find more ways to heal. There are five Sikh symbols worn every day. One is the Kara •A steel bracelet, symbolizing strength and integrity. From http://www.sikhismguide.org/fiveks.aspx: "Steel is symbolic of strength yet resilient under stress. In the same way, the human soul must become as strong and unbreakable as steel which has been tempered in the furnace." We can all move together in strength and integrity on this. |
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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