True history

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Today I'm doing something I've never done before—teaching middle school.

My son's social studies class is beginning their unit on the Byzantine era, and I happen to be (somewhat) of an expert on Justinian and Theodora. I'm actually writing an historical novel about them—it's a fabulous story.

So I asked the teacher if she wanted me to come in to talk to the class about it. Next thing I knew, I was lined up to talk with *all four* of her classes. So today's the big day, feel free to send some support my way in my effort to be entertaining!

I love history. To me, it's one long story about regular people making decisions based on their own agendas or vision, adding up to what we have today. I love to dig in and try to understand the motivations of the key players. Why did Napoleon have to be in charge of everything he saw? Why did they kill Anastasia? Why did Caesar cross the Rubicon? What was up with Henry VIII and all those wives?

And what I see in learning the various threads of the story is a tapestry woven by everyone together, reflecting each person's journey. And remarkably, all this adds up to constant progress. For what is happening over time with all these stories is humanity's inexorable march toward Spirit. People act on the light inasmuch as they receive it, and that light moves us all forward.

The Bible to me is the best example of the story made plain. The key individuals in the Bible were significant because 1) they were regular people like you and me (with one exception), and 2) they had some deep insight about God that changed the course of history.

Abraham understood in his era of tribal worship that there is actually one all-powerful God who is Spirit. Joseph learned how to worship this God with fidelity and saved the lives of thousands. Moses brought us the idea that obedience to this God could govern our daily lives and make us better citizens and family members. David unified a nation with a commitment to the one God. Jesus, of course not the same kind of average guy, was the apex of this understanding, emphasizing among other things that this omnipotent omnipresent God is Love and Love brings healing. The Revelator saw through spiritual understanding a glimpse of reality, with the God of Love ruler over all creation, as indeed He always has been.

What are the chances of this happening randomly? Whatever folks may think about physical evolution, or how our material bodies were generated over time, what I believe is most important is the story of spiritual evolution. How we're developing along the path of growing closer to God is the real story.

I'm going to try to communicate to the kids today that history is not dates and battles, but people and stories and motivations and conflict and progress. And they are a part of that history, making their own stories that could even now be changing the world.

For you and me, I'm remembering today that our own spiritual progress and growth is not just making our own lives better, but is making the world better. The world feels the impulse of our prayers and progress, and we're contributing to the ultimate revelation we will all one day share.

The true theory of the universe, including man, is not in material history but in spiritual development.

--Science and Health

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Love is real medicine

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You guys have *got* to read this—"Love is real medicine" in this week's Newsweek.

In the magazine's exhaustive coverage of heart disease, this article by Dean Ornish, MD, to me hits the nail on the head for prevention and cure. "Love," he writes, "and intimacy are at the root of what makes us sick and what makes us well." He later adds, "…love protects your heart in ways that we don't completely understand."

Well, I just have to say it—Mary Baker Eddy understood it! I'm so gratified to be reading how medical science is confirming what her teachings have revealed for decades: that love, or Love if you will, is the source of health and wellbeing, and we're the healthiest when we embody and express Love.

It's so simple yet so miraculous to the human mind. Our bodies, which appear to be physical and structural, are actually governed by our thought, which is purely non-physical and a-structural. Perhaps this is what Jesus really meant by when he said in substance, "Don't think about your body, what you're going to eat or wear. First seek the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added unto you."

And what is the kingdom of God besides Love? Expressing Love is the kingdom of God here on earth. And doing so, as Jesus teaches, will maintain our bodies harmoniously.

I've read studies where having a pet, or a good marriage, or a fulfilling job, all contribute to general health and wellbeing. What is this besides the presence of Love? And can we not extend this to the wellbeing of communities, of nations, of continents?

I know I'm sounding jazzed here, but I just rejoice so much to see this clarity coming forth in the mainstream press. And it's inspiring my healing efforts today. For what better "prescription" is there than to love?

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Forgiving injury

And following up again :) on the forgiveness topic, sparked by this comment from Rev. Veronika:

Isn't forgiveness not buying into the illusion of what mortal mind claims is true? Isn't it remembering the Truth for everybody and everything?

Peace, Veronika

She's really summed up how it is I can actually forgive! It's realizing there was no injury to begin with.

This reminds me of a time when my son was in kindergarten. He attended a birthday party at one of those kids' party places in LA, complete with jungle gyms, mazes, arcade games, and a big room for lunch and cake.

I dropped him off to do some shopping, and came back a couple hours later—to panicked employees and anxious other moms. (This was before the advent of ubiquitous cell phones.)

Apparently one of the college-aged employees had been goofing around with my son after lunch. They were playing with the self-drying soap dispenser (which looked like a gun), and the employee squirted it right at my son. The soap got into one of his eyes. Not pleasant for my boy. I'd never seen him in so much pain. He couldn't open the eye, and any amount of light made him shriek.

The party hostess hovered and I could see the owner had visions of lawsuits flashing through her head. I needed some time to think, so I asked everyone to leave the two of us alone in a darkened room.

As I held him, sang to him and comforted him, my thoughts raced. I realized I had a choice. I could get angry and assign blame, possibly holding the establishment responsible. Or, I could address the situation calmly with love.

Even I was surprised at the "love" option. How could I love when my son had been hurt?

As I wrestled with this, I asked him what hymn from church he wanted to hear, thinking already of which one I wanted to sing. But he picked another one, "Shepherd, Show Me How to Go." I said, No honey, this other one would be better, but he remained firm. So I started singing that one, using the time with the memorized lyrics to continue to pray.

I went back to my core beliefs:

1. There is a God who created all of us.
   
2. We're created in the image of that God, perfect, invulnerable.
   
3. This inherent invulnerability guaranteed that my son would be—in fact, already was—fine.

I became convinced that my son had never been outside of God's care, no matter what I was seeing and hearing. God, Love, blanketed my son in protection by the very nature of the creation God has made—perfect, harmless.

I also thought about the worker who had caused the accident. Wasn't he a child of God, too? Perfect, blameless, harmless? With a perfect God and a perfect creation, including these two perfect children, there could be no injury.

And I was startled by another conclusion: with no injury, there could be no blame. I let go of the blame I was feeling, and felt a calm come over me.

The hymn I was singing came to a close, and the final words suddenly hit me: "White as wool, ere they depart / Shepherd, wash them clean."

That touched me. My little son had picked just the right hymn, and the sense of his being washed clean of this problem infused me.

Reassured on a deeper level that all was well, we came out from the darkened room and went home. His dad came over later with some saline solution to bathe the eye. I continued to pray for my boy most of the night, since he woke up many times in pain. But always the pain eased. His tears began to flow more normally.

The next morning while he was getting breakfast (Mom still snuggled in bed), I heard him shout, "I'm better!" He could open his eyes, and the redness went away by the next day. I called the party place to let them know he was fine, and the owner told me that they were looking again at their training and safety standards.

So yes, Veronika's point is well taken. Seeing spiritually that there is no injury enables everyone concerned to forgive, and also to not have to live with the effects of injury. Not always easy when the situation is more grave or more far-reaching, and taking the appropriate steps allowed by our legal system when the case warrants it is important for helping ensure mistakes don't happen again. Yet it's a start, a beginning, to lessening the hurts of the world.


A thought on accidents


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Disaster preparedness

Regarding disasters, I really liked these ideas from Raymond (a member of my Reading Science and Health in a Year listserv, used with permission):

I often hear it said that [you shouldn't] jump in front of a train to prove (test?) God's protection from harm and care for man.

Yet mankind will build inadequate structures and protect them inadequately on nature's train tracks, THEN later pray for God's protection and care and salvation from harm.

It seems that mankind lacks the good judgment and, frankly, the political courage, to stop itself from jumping in front of trains. Praying for "no hurricanes" strikes me as "outlining," as [in] telling God the right solution.

Perhaps we (I?) need to be praying that God's wisdom and strength will be demonstrated by mankind in where and how we choose to live on, or near, train tracks? As a species, we have chosen to live cheaply and to roll the dice, rather than to reflect Mind and Principle, it seems.

This makes so much sense to me! As humanity progresses spiritually, wouldn't you expect we'd get better at protecting the vulnerable with wise and economical building codes or responsive and effective infrastructure?

So when my attention is turned to situations that seem out of control, my prayers always include an affirmation of wisdom for all those involved in helping others, from the top down.

I started praying this way for Y2K (remember that?). I remember thinking, the best thing would be for all those who need to figure out how to fix the mistake of only using two digits to delineate a year will have the divine guidance to do so, and there will be no harmful "turn of the century." And they did get it done, there were no repercussions. No major blackouts, no failed banks or stock markets, no crumbling of society.

And we can continue this prayer every day. That those in positions to make a difference have the spiritual insight and strength of character to do what they need to do, even if there's not an immediate emergency looming. That you and I can be both spiritually and practically prepared to follow Mind's leading when the time comes. And that we all can show our true spiritual nature by helping each other and caring for the weak and vulnerable.

It's a worthy discipline: whenever you see a news story that makes you shake your head in disbelief, stop and embrace everyone involved in Mind's wisdom and Love's caring. And open the mental window to let that sun shine in. We may find ourselves with better politicians and decision-makers, and impending disasters will become non-events, just like Y2K.

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Answer to prayer--a kitty

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Just a little light update on the daughter in college.

She's been doing great, is happy, the work is *challenging* apparently. The only thing lacking apparently is being with her close friends.

She had a very tight group in high school, of people who knew each other very well. They'd grown together from middle school, and seen each other through a lot. So, while she was enjoying the new friends she was making at college, she knew it was going to take time to get to any new deep friendships like she had at home. A bit of loneliness set in.

When I found out about it, I couldn't comfort her much because she was seeing the situation pretty accurately. I mean, I couldn't just say, Oh, you'll be good friends with the new people lickety split. She's right in that true friendships take time to mature, and that long-time friendships are priceless.

So when we got off the phone, all I could really do was pray for her. I prayed to know that divine Love was with her, sending her just the right companionship, and that she didn't need to feel lonely with Love right with her. It was a fairly simple prayer, based on my conviction that this girl is loved by God in ways I can only approximate as her mother. I always picture her as having God's love shining on her, like sunlight on sparkling water.

And here's what she posted on her Weblog a few days later [with my editorial explanations]:

Too Awesome

omg [ohmigod] too just too great.

I woke up this morning to a kitty meowing for attention.

can you believe that??? I thought I was imagining things at first. turns out Kat [roommate] let him in and he wanted to cuddle. he's been here before and he loooves the memory foam [on her mattress, makes it extra soft]. <>

All day I've been working and petting him... things couldn't be better.

lol [laugh out loud] I'm such a cat lady. I'm not lonely at all when i have a kitten to be with!

This must be one of the campus cats we saw roaming around when we moved in. Couldn't have asked for a better solution, thanks God! You warm a mother's heart.

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Make the world a better place

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One of my favorite magazines is Kids Discover. I've been subscribing for years, long past the time that my own kids have outgrown it.

The most recent issue is on Teddy Roosevelt, US President from 1901-1908 (among other things). There's a lot more to him than I knew. Check out these quotes:

"This country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a reasonably good place for all of us to live in."

and

"The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, peace-at-any-price, safety first instead of duty, the love of soft living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life."

Pretty relevant today! He also said, "No president has ever enjoyed himself as much as I"—bless him.

His ideas above make me stop and think. What is my obligation to those around me who do not live as well as I do? Do I love soft living too much? Do I put personal safety ahead of duty?

I believe in the virtues Roosevelt is espousing. Juxtapose these ideas with some from a female contemporary of his, Mary Baker Eddy (who was just as well known back then as he was):

Whatever it is your duty to do, you can do without harm to yourself.

If the soft palm, upturned to a lordly salary, and architectural skill, making dome and spire tremulous with beauty, turn the poor and the stranger from the gate, they at the same time shut the door on progress.

With one Father, even God, the whole family of man would be brethren; and with one Mind and that God, or good, the brotherhood of man would consist of Love and Truth, and have unity of Principle and spiritual power which constitute divine Science.

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.

(all from Science and Health)

To me, living a life of spiritual purpose has got to extend far beyond oneself. I know there have been times in my life where I had to concentrate on my own growth, to dig myself out of my own pit, so to speak. But the journey eventually widened to include helping others, feeling responsibility toward humanity in general, and making myself available to help where needed in whatever form presents itself.

Many are responding to this call even now as concern for the Gulf continues. Many thousands of thankless people work diligently every day to make the world better for a child, for a neighbor, for a community. As I ask for strength myself to do good today, I pray for these others, knowing that their loving intentions and good works fuel their efforts with spiritual power.

What can we do today to make the world a better place for us all to live in?

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How healing works

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It's come up a couple times lately, people saying, I can see how you can pray for yourself and achieve peace and healing, but how can it be that one person's prayers can help someone else?

And the short answer is, It works because there's only one Mind.

What I love about Mary Baker Eddy's synonyms for God [Principle, Life, Mind, Spirit, Love, Soul, Truth] is that she's not just saying these are attributes of God or qualities of God, but that these things actually *equal* God. God *is* Love. God *is* Soul.

And God is Mind. Infinite, omnipresent, Mind. One Mind. All Mind. Mind that is All-in-all.

So there's only one. In our day-to-day business here in this mortal seeming, there appear to be many, millions, of "minds," but this is part of the illusion that comes with believing we have separate bodies, separate lives, etc. In spiritual fact, there is just one Mind, and our consciousness is a direct emanation of that Mind. We're connected with that Mind, and connected with each other through that Mind.

It's this property of connection that makes healing possible through prayer. When I'm praying for someone, I'm not trying to influence their little mind with my little mind. I'm bringing both of us into alignment with the one Mind—yet you could also say, I'm affirming that we are indeed *already* in alignment with this Mind, since it's the only one there is.

I'd say, if you can think, you're capable of being healed through Mind. The ability to think comes from your connection with Mind, but it's not your ability. It's Mind's ability being expressed through you. So you can think as Mind thinks, and you can experience what Mind knows about you—that you are its perfect emanation, joyous, strong, complete, intelligent, creative, lovable…. all the good that God, Mind, is.

I've seen this happen many times, both through being healed myself and participating in another's healing. Mental, emotional, physical troubles yield when this property of Mind is employed.

Today we are Mind's ideas. Let's shine with the energy of Mind!

from Science and Health:

Mind's infinite ideas run and disport themselves. In humility they climb the heights of holiness.

--514:7

Science reveals only one Mind, and this one shining by its own light and governing the universe, including man, in perfect harmony. This Mind forms ideas, its own images, subdivides and radiates their borrowed light, intelligence, and so explains the Scripture phrase, "whose seed is in itself."

--510:28-4

Mind, supreme over all its formations and governing them all, is the central sun of its own systems of ideas, the life and light of all its own vast creation; and man is tributary to divine Mind.

--209:5-8

The universe is filled with spiritual ideas, which He evolves, and they are obedient to the Mind that makes them.

--295:6-8

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Another new feature--subscribing

Hello friends!

Up in the top right column, you'll see a new feature: subscribing to this Weblog. If you subscribe, you'll receive email notification early in the morning once a day about my blog with the information about what I posted the prior day.

I hope you like this new feature! Do let me know what you think.

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comment verification

Hi, folks! I've just changed a setting on my blog, because I was beginning to get something known as "comment spam," meaning automated systems would post comments to my blog as a way to spread their links. So now, when you comment, there's a "word verification" hoop to pass through that ensures you're a real person commenting. It shows up at the bottom of the comment screen, above the "log in and publish" button.

Please let me know what you think of this new setting! If you hate it and it keeps you from commenting, I'll turn it off and go back to deleting spam comments one by one. I for sure want you to comment as much as you'd like.

Today's inspirational entry is below.

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Forgiveness followup

Just want to follow up on the forgiveness entry from last week. One of the comments I received was:

Anonymous said...

I agree that anger isn't a mood one should cultivate as an ongoing state of mind. But it should prompt focused action. That action can include things like voting out incompetents, sending aid to agencies that will use it properly, spreading the word about a problem that needs solving, etc. It can also include prayer, but not the kind of prayer that allows us to sink back into just another mood of self-satisfaction and pollyanna optimism. And while forgiveness is important, it should come AFTER people stop screwing things up. Otherwise we run the risk of condoning and supporting screwups like New Orleans.

To me, there's a distinction between forgiveness and condoning. I don't believe it's ever right to condone behavior that needs correcting. But I also don't think we can constructively solve the problem if we're feeling anger or resentment or vengeance.

Forgiveness to me is an internal thing; pardon or condoning is an external thing. Forgiveness is our own internal releasing of resentment and hurt; pardon is external excusing of wrongdoing, which I actually think we should never do unless reformation is evident.

A simple example might be with my kids. I've been known in the past to have quite a temper. I think it was the stress of raising two kids on my own with a fulltime job and probably too much volunteer work. But in any case, there were times they would be doing what I can see now is normal kid stuff, and I would go ballistic. We're talking messy rooms, spilling the apple juice, fighting with each other, etc. My internal stress would make me wig out. And they became afraid of me rather than learning anything constructive about how nice it is to have a clean room or be careful with the cup or can't we all just get along?

My point is I had to learn to be calm, to forgive, and to release any anger I felt *before* I figured out if they needed disciplining and how to discipline. Mercifully for all concerned, I did become much better at this. I'm even able, now, to stop in mid-shout to say, "Look, I've had a stressful day and I'm overreacting. Let's talk about this later."

So I guess I’m agreeing with the comment writer in this way: We can't and shouldn't condone screwups. People who screwup can only be let off the hook AFTER they've rectified the situation.

However, I do believe we can forgive long before that. We can be calm ourselves, we can be firm, but we don't have to stay angry. And we can strive to discern clearly what was going on to lead to the screwup in the first place, so that we can take action to prevent it in the future. All of this would be better served to do it from a place of genuine understanding, love—and forgiveness.

Let me know what you think!

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Take the bite out of pain

Your body would suffer no more from tension or wounds than the trunk of a tree which you gash or the electric wire which you stretch, were it not for mortal mind.

--Science and Health

I had an encounter with pain once, and I won.

It was an intense headache that put me to bed in the early evening. I simply couldn't function at first. My dear teenaged daughter came in to comfort me, and she began to stroke my hair and rub my shoulders. I found in my incapacity that focusing on her caress got my mind off the pain temporarily.

As soon as she left, though, which she did after a time, the pain was front-and-center again. But this got me thinking.

What is it that makes me think one sensation is pleasurable, and another is pain? Mortal mind.

Mary Baker Eddy uses the term "mortal mind" to characterize thinking that is self-defeating in nature (or mortal). This kind of thinking is opposite to divine Mind, or what the Holy Spirit is thinking. Mortal mind makes us conclude that we are flawed or ill or hopeless because it bases its conclusions on what it sees materially. Eddy writes, "If mortal mind knew how to be better, it would be better. Since it must believe in something besides itself, it enthrones matter as deity."

The way to have dominion over mortal mind? Realize fully that its very nature as the opposite of divine Mind means that it's also the opposite of reality, because divine Mind is the only reality. This makes mortal mind spiritually unreal, and therefore powerless.

So where did this leave me in the darkened bedroom with the headache? Wrestling for the first time with the idea that pain is not caused by the body, but by mortal mind. I was only experiencing this sensation as unpleasant because I had labeled it as pain. When it had started, I began to feel that dread of oncoming discomfort, and this dread resonated within me. I had allowed it too much credence. I had accepted the pain as inevitable.

Now, in the middle of it, I put on the brakes. I decided to stop experiencing the sensation as pain, but instead to strip it of any value, pro or con. I decided to "agree to disagree" with it, telling myself, The sensation I'm feeling is merely a physical sensation, no different than feeling this bed beneath me or the spring breeze over me. It cannot tell me what it is, I'm going to decide.

And I just let go of all the tension and fear I was feeling in the face of the pain. I thought about that tree Mary Baker Eddy talks about in the opening passage above. I was going to be that tree, taking in nothing that I didn't want to experience.

I lay there, mentally and systematically denuding every sensation I was feeling of any value at all, good or bad. In a way, I began to see myself as separate from my bodily sensations, and instead embraced in Spirit. Spiritual sense replaced material sensation in the forefront of my thought. Joy, light, peace were there, and they were permanent.

The sensation labeled "headache" continued, but I relaxed. Eventually I fell asleep, and in the morning woke up fine. Since then I've used the concept to overcome various kinds of pain. And also, those headaches that I used to get a couple times a month haven't bothered to come back.

Another thing this taught me is that mortal mind doesn't know what it's doing. In that way, it's the ideal enemy, because how difficult is it to overcome that which is foolish and mindless? Duh, it's easy. I have the spiritual authority of divine Mind, my Creator, to have dominion over mortal mind and its fallacies.

And so do you.

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Finding your voice, Part III

I've written before about finding your voice, and this weekend gave me many more inspiring examples.

I served at the Christian Science Reading Room booth at the local Ashland Day—what a fun event! People were friendly and open, came right up to the booth and asked what we were all about. One woman actually had read one of my Monitor articles! (Which will sound familiar to regular readers here.)

And the event itself inspired me. First, there was singing the Star Spangled Banner to this HUGE flag flying off a monster extension ladder grounded on a truck. Then the Christian Four Square group with T-shirts that read "Fight Fear with Fear" (the latter being the fear of God) milling about the place, and I think opening everyone up to a spiritual discussion. Not to mention their pie-eating contest. We had great discussions with several of their folks.

National Honor Society teens crisscrossed the booths selling Katrina Relief bracelets (mine's here at my desk), and I spotted here and there what looked like same-sex teen couples holding hands. I'd never been to a public event where absolute openness in that way was safe, let alone accepted. Then later, as I did my rounds, I saw the Gay-Straight Alliance booth, right across the aisle from the Four Square booth. I have to admit this brought tears to my eyes—we've come so far.

Later that day I went to an art showing by Sonya Maneri, a friend of mine and brilliant artist. My favorite painting is called "Omnipresent," just a riveting swirl of radiant color. Sonya blessed us with a fascinating talk about the history of modern art. Her comments seemed to resonate with all that I'd been experiencing that day. She summed up with this thought, "We study the masters so we can see where we've come from. But then, we have to find our own voice."

It's thrilling to me to think of us, standing on the shoulders of those who have gone before, and taking what they learned and demonstrated to new heights, bringing today's context to bear and finding "new views of divine goodness and love," as Mary Baker Eddy says.

Today it's occurring to me that finding our voice is not about achieving one central point and then just reiterating it over and over. It's about freeing our own expressiveness for newness and freshness. We can expect our voice as it grows and resonates to be new every day. We encompass the original expression of the infinite. And the startlingly original will come forth, surprising even us.

For in the end, our voice is God's singing. Our expression is His song. And we are all essential to that infinite chorus.

"Each successive stage of experience unfolds new views of divine goodness and love."

--Science and Health

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Emotions vs. mood

Like a lot of people around the US at this point, I have to admit to some anger about what happened in New Orleans. And I've begun to challenge myself on this issue. When is anger appropriate? Is it ever appropriate from a spiritual point of view?

I’m reading an interesting book (can you tell I read a lot?) called Emotions Revealed by the well-known face analyst, Paul Ekman. At the end of chapter three he says:

This is a good place to distinguish emotions from moods. All of us have both of them, but they are different, even though both involve feelings. The obvious difference is that emotions are much shorter than moods. Moods can last a whole day, sometimes two days, while emotions can come and go in minutes, sometimes seconds. …

A mood activates specific emotions. When we are irritable, we are seeking an opportunity to become angry; we interpret the world in a way that permits, or even requires, us to become angry. …

Another way moods differ from emotions is that once an emotion has begun and we have become aware of it, we can usually point to the event that caused it. Rarely do we know why we are in a mood. It just seems to happen to us. …

Earlier I argued that emotions are necessary for our lives, and we wouldn't want to be rid of them. I am far less convinced that moods are of any use to us. … Moods narrow our alternatives, distort our thinking, and make it more difficult for us to control what we do, and usually for no reason that makes any sense to us. … If I could, I would forgo ever having any mood again and just live with my emotions. I would gladly give up euphoric moods to be rid of irritable and blue moods. But none of us have that choice.

I included that last sentence to be fair the author, but I guess I have to take exception to it. He's basing his conclusion on the evidence of the gajillions of people he's researched and the world he's traveled over to investigate the place of emotion in our lives, so he definitely has more authority on the subject than I. But somehow I can't quite agree that we have NO choice at all. I think when you add prayer to the mix, anything can happen.

But his comments have alerted me to something within myself. And what I don't want to do about New Orleans and other things that have made me angry is fall into an angry mood. I don't think it will help anyone to become so entrenched in a point of view that I can't get out of it.

So my anger is becoming a signal to me that I need to go deeper. Definitely I need to take action when my anger impels me to help and contribute. But I also need to clear the decks spiritually and not let anger get too comfortable within me. Anger needs to stay uncomfortable so that my encounters with it remain productive. And I need to experience forgiveness in the same or higher proportion that I experience anger. This will keep me on an even keel and allow me to help others most effectively.

How to forgive when you're angry? Next to impossible, I admit, yet I've written before about empathy being key. Have I felt any empathy yet toward those in responsible positions who let something bad like this happen? Hmmm. Can't say that I have! So this will be my project for today.

To assist me in that, I'm going to re-read a magnificent sermon:

The Hurricane Within and The Hurricane Without

(second entry on the page) by my friend and frequent blog reader Rev. Myron Jones in Louisiana. I hope you'll read it too.

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Antagonism is unnecessary

Finished a hefty tome the other day, and went to a book discussion about it at my local library: Louis Menand’s The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America.

I won't dare to summarize the book here, but would like to mention something it explores: what I call the original win-win philosophy, which came from Jane Addams, founder of Hull House in Chicago in the 1800s.

Here's a quote within a quote about famous educator John Dewey, one of the thinkers profiled in Menand's book:

In 1894, Dewey had been much impressed by—Menand describes it as almost a conversion experience—the teaching of Jane Addams, the founder of Hull House in Chicago, that conflicts of interest are finally "unreal."

[Menand quote] His strategy was to promote, in every area of life, including industrial life, democracy, which he interpreted as the practice of "associated living"—cooperation with others on a basis of tolerance and equality. He hoped that in the long run this would lead to a more just order. The hope had its philosophical justifications, which Dewey spent his career trying to spell out. But it was also the expression of a singularly irenic personality. He had taken Addams’ teaching to heart: that antagonism is unnecessary, that it is based on a misunderstanding of one’s best interests, and that it leads to violence.

--Richard John Neuhaus, The Public Square
Quoted from First Things, the Journal of Religion, Culture, and Public Life.

Antagonism is unnecessary, and it is based on a misunderstanding of one's best interests.

This idea blows me away whenever I stumble upon it, so you'd think it wouldn't surprise me anymore. What's fascinating to me is how long this idea has been around. Its most recent incarnation is Steven Covey's "Win/Win" philosophy in 7 Habits for Highly Effective People.

Win/Win is a frame of mind and heart that constantly seeks mutual benefit in all human interactions. … Win/Win sees life as a cooperative, not a competitive arena. … It's not your way or my way; it's a better way, a higher way.

Finding that higher way is in everyone's best interests.

I’m reminded of a challenging time for me at my last job. A fellow manager and I had to produce a newsletter each week under tight deadlines but with the highest quality. First, she tried to write it and I would edit, but that took too long. So then, I would write it and she would edit it. Trouble is, with the speed with which we were working, my writing wasn't always great and her edits weren't always gentle.

The process became increasingly upsetting until there was a bit of a blowout. But we were good enough friends to stop, take a moment or two, and try to find another way to go about crafting the product.

Fundamentally our work was based on trying to provide the most valuable information to our customers, the subscribers. The customer came first. We trusted each other completely in that regard, and were committed to not letting interpersonal rough patches get in the way of that goal.

When we put that common goal out front, we could see this wasn't about us, but about them. Eventually we devised a system where I would write the piece, and then the two of us would sit down together to go over it line by line. Her gut reactions to the text were easier for me to process when I could hear her reasoning, and I learned a lot about customer communication.

And the funny thing is, these weekly meetings became about much more than newsletters. We'd get that out of the way fairly quickly, then spend time discussing challenges facing the project or encouraging each other in other ways. It solidified our relationship and made us much better managers. We'd found a higher way.

I wanted to see what Mary Baker Eddy, a contemporary of Dewey and Addams, had to say about conflict. Here's what I found:

The suppositional warfare between truth and error is only the mental conflict between the evidence of the spiritual senses and the testimony of the material senses, and this warfare between the Spirit and flesh will settle all questions through faith in and the understanding of divine Love.

--Science and Health

Huh. Turns out then the best way to settle conflict is not to have one side win, but to eradicate the conflict itself.

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Be in the stream

I haven't always understood love. I started out thinking love was something you had to *get*, like clothes or schooling. I didn't have enough; I wanted more; I had to go out and get it.

Love to me was like a pitcher of water, and I was the empty glass beside it. If I were lucky, it would pour into me and fill me up. Only when I was full would I be able to turn to some other empty glass and share some of mine. But hey, as soon as I shared, I'd be low again. Maybe they would pour some back, and I'd fill up. But also maybe we'd spill or water would evaporate… you get the idea. There would never be enough to keep us all happy.

Then I had a series of experiences in a transformative time in my life (here's one) where I began to sense that Love is something much bigger than a pitcher of water. It is, in fact, a free-flowing gushing river of abundance. It flows all around me, it fills all space. It has no limits, so there are no limits to how much of it I can have.

For you don't give and get love; you are Love's self-expression. Love expresses itself through you. And when you express it, you also have it.

So now to me, Love behaves like a water from an unlimited river, and I am a creek it is flowing through. The more I open up, the more Love flows through me. I am giving and receiving at the same instant.

Sometimes I feel like Love is a stream flowing right through the center of my back and out my front, pouring on all around me as I strive to express more Love. Yet the feeling of Love's presence filling me up with that stream continues. I feel embraced in the flow of Love even as I'm sharing it with others.

This is the amazing nature of things of the spirit; the more you share, the more you have. You can't say that about material things. But spiritual truth, love, intelligence, grace are unlimited, so they can only keep going the more we express them.

Join me in the stream today.

The depth, breadth, height, might, majesty, and glory of infinite Love fill all space. That is enough!

--Science and Health

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Become purified

A friend sent me this, which is making the rounds in email:

Malachi 3:3 says: "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."

This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at the next Bible Study.

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot then she thought again about the verse that says: "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver." She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?" He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy -- when I see my image in it."

This brings to mind another "separating" parable from Jesus:

When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

--Matt 25:31-46

I know most people take that parable to mean that we'll be separated out as people, meaning the good people from the bad people, and some preserved and others destroyed. But it's never made sense to me that infinite Love, the perfect Creator, would destroy any of its children entirely.

What I think the parable means is that the good and the evil within ourselves will be separated out, and only the good will be preserved. That good within me that impels me to be charitable will be preserved; that evil within me that makes me turn my back will be taken out and burned. Like refining silver.

But I also know that I have to grow to the understanding of myself as the perfect creation of Love. Day by day I refine, or re-define, my self concept based on a deeper understanding of the Creator. He sees His image already; I am learning to see it, too.

Malachi 3:3 (continued) (to its tune in Handel's Messiah--I'll be singing it all day)

...and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.

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A small topic: life after death

Inspirational stories of hope after the storm, from beliefnet.com

These stories brought tears to my eyes, you might enjoy.

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Someone I know had a relative who accidentally killed himself over the weekend. There wasn't much I could say to comfort her, the situation was too sad. I've been left thinking again about what happens after death, not that I know for sure.

I don't believe in a heaven or hell or judgment or any of that. But I do believe that consciousness continues. I believe it will be like waking up somewhere else, or perhaps we'll have the experience of moving somewhere else. Near death experiences that I've heard about confirm this; the person feels they are turning from their material form and moving toward a light. They never seem to get much beyond that, though, so maybe there's a point of no return.

Anyway, the out-of-body nature of the experience indicates to me that we do have the possibility of being out of our bodies. Meaning, we exist independent of our body. We see when our eyes are closed. We hear when our ears are dead. We continue when the body stops.

So then I wonder, will I be able to make up for the mistakes I made here, to correct them and make them right?

Here's what Mary Baker Eddy says:

After the change called death takes place, do we meet those gone before? — or does life continue in thought only as in a dream?

Man is not annihilated, nor does he lose his identity, by passing through the belief called death. After the momentary belief of dying passes from mortal mind, this mind is still in a conscious state of existence; and the individual has but passed through a moment of extreme mortal fear, to awaken with thoughts, and being, as material as before. Science and Health clearly states that spiritualization of thought is not attained by the death of the body, but by a conscious union with God. When we shall have passed the ordeal called death, or destroyed this last enemy, and shall have come upon the same plane of conscious existence with those gone before, then we shall be able to communicate with and to recognize them.

If, before the change whereby we meet the dear departed, our life-work proves to have been well done, we shall not have to repeat it; but our joys and means of advancing will be proportionately increased.

The difference between a belief of material existence and the spiritual fact of Life is, that the former is a dream and unreal, while the latter is real and eternal. Only as we understand God, and learn that good, not evil, lives and is immortal, that immortality exists only in spiritual perfection, shall we drop our false sense of Life in sin or sense material, and recognize a better state of existence.

--Miscellaneous Writings

So it sounds like waking from a dream. Like we'll then be that much closer to understanding that this entire mortal seeming was a dream.

And how much do we blame ourselves for things we did in our dreams?

I'm finding this profoundly comforting today, that since this mortal seeming is a dream I don't have to worry about being saddled with my failings through all eternity, unable to correct them. True, while I'm here, I have an obligation to live the best way I know how. This is having my "life-work" be "well done" as Eddy says. I have to make what progress I can within the parameters of what I’m experiencing now.

But when I wake from the dream, all I'll have is the lessons I've learned that I can then build on. The failings will be seen as a part of the dream, not part of me.

Ah, thank you Lord, for that insight today.

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The eating/weight/appearance thing

• Beyond comfort food
• "Thinking right" gets you where "eating right" doesn't
• Other articles

Someone asked me about eating issues yesterday, and I guess like just about every woman in the United States, I've struggled with this issue. Food, exercise and me are a love/hate triangle sometimes.

The above links are some helpful articles online that give some excellent ideas. I've also learned several things over the years, ideas I think of as building blocks toward complete dominion on the issue.

1. I am beautiful.
   
2. I am healthy.
   
3. I am satisfied.
   
4. I am balanced.

I believe these things about myself without question, since I am the direct image and likeness of Spirit who is beautiful, healthy, satisfied, balanced. These are things I feel to the core, and they contribute to my overall sense of wellbeing.

So what leads to my struggles with the whole eating/weight/appearance thing? I think what I'm still working through is understanding what the body is. I can tell that I'm still working on several levels when I think about the body: the purely physical, the mental, and the spiritual.

From a purely physical point of view, I believe my body is a temple. For now, it's the housing for my worship of God, and I shouldn't bring anything into it that impedes that worship. And it's a pre-fab temple—it's already constructed for me. If I stay out of my body's way by avoiding or reducing fear, stress, hatred, resentment, etc., all the negative mental toxins, it can and does perform harmoniously. If I work to keep the natural and healthy mindset of love, peace, truth, principle, my body can exceed expectations with greater endurance and capacity.

From a mental point of view, I've often seen how my emotions affect my body. When I'm panicked, or when I'm exuberant, my body responds with a strong reaction that reinforces that emotion. This isn't good or bad, it just is. I don't then try to "heal" my body of the reaction; I work to control the emotion knowing full well that the body will then respond harmoniously.

Spiritually there is only one conclusion: my true body is Spirit. I've written about this before, and have had moments of clarity where I've felt separated from my physical body and totally spiritual. I can count these moments on two hands so it's not happening every day, but still those moments are more real to me than the time I spend dwelling in the physical. The moments of clarity lead to the instant resolution of whatever might have been inharmonious, bringing my total being into alignment with Spirit.

So when it comes to bodily balance, I'm making decisions on three levels really. For me to truly feel in alignment, the eating and exercising I'm doing has to make sense on all three levels.

1. I need to not get in my body's way by introducing things into it that are inharmonious. This of course changes as the public discourse swings from condemning one type of food to embracing the newest exercise system. What I've landed on is really trying to discern for myself whether what I'm putting in my mouth is contributing to my well-being or is not. It's become more intuitive as my connection with Spirit has grown stronger. What is Spirit telling me to eat? When, for example, am I eating a gift of love from a friend or when am I simply indulging? It could be the same piece of cake, but have an entirely different effect.
   
2. I need to work to reduce the mental toxins that would put my system out of balance, and to express balance and dominion in my day to day life. This involves inviting calm, peace, benevolence, grace into my life every day. It also involves recognizing that it's not balanced to sit in front of this computer all day every day, but to incorporate into my life activity and enjoyment of the world around me. I walk, I dance, I hike, etc.
   
3. I need to go deeper into understanding the nature of my existence as spiritual. As I do this, the temporal comes into perspective. The temporal is temporary! So my investment in eternal health needs to be based on spiritual reality, making sure my mental house is clean and in order. Am I embracing every day more of this reality and making it my own?

Jesus said, Take no thought for what you shall eat and what you shall drink. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

So he's telling us what to do. Seek God first, then food and drink will follow. I find it helpful to remember that he was talking to a society where the issue was often not enough to eat. So this is not a license to indulgence. "Take no thought" doesn't mean being thoughtless. But put it in perspective. It's our relationship with our Creator that is foundational and sustaining. Build that first, the rest will follow.

I'm still working it out, and in fact I think abiding in this mortal seeming demands that we work it out anew continually. The above is a snapshot of where I am right now. In a year's time I'll have new insights I'm sure. And I'd love to hear what you've learned on this!

Have a great weekend!

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Keep your violin in tune

Couple announcements before the posting:

• Thanks to everyone who took the survey. Looks like the most popular idea is a regular newsletter with spiritual picks from the Internet. I know I put in the survey that this would be weekly, but now I'm thinking it will be once a month. I'll let you know how to sign up for that soon!
• I'll then develop a "prayer alert" list for those who'd like to be notified of opportunities to pray for the world, so you'll be able to sign up for that as well. If you want to be on that list, let me know.
  
• I also really really want to recommend this week's Bible Lesson on Substance. It's got great ideas about getting what we need every moment. I've been floating on it all week. You can read it online here.
• Finally, I'd like everyone to know about Inspiration House, the brainchild and new endeavor of my friend Carol Hohle. I'd mentioned it before in connection with the quilts at Gee's Bend. Carol's invited me to do a few sessions on Christian Science, I'm very excited!

Today's is a bit of a follow up to yesterday's posting about prayer. It's another anecdote from Mary Baker Eddy about "keeping your violin in tune."

Christian Science employs what's known as "argument" in elevating thought to the plateau needed for healing prayer. This argument, or reasoning process, enables us to clarify what we think along the lines of logical conclusions based on correct premises.

For example, one correct premise is that Spirit is all. This implies that Spirit fills all space, and we can conclude from this that there is no spot where Spirit is not. Simple, logical, makes sense.

However, as many of us have seen, this is not enough. Just logically knowing the argument doesn't always bring healing, although it is a great tool for moving thought to where it needs to be for receptivity for healing. Reasoning paves the way, if you will, for insight to come. It removes resistance from the human mind, which needs to be willing to experience transformation. It persuades and convinces. So it's a good thing. But it's not the only thing.

Once, a visitor to Mary Baker Eddy's home in Pleasant View asked her how she healed the sick. Here's what Eddy said:

"I will tell you. I heal the same way today as I did when I commenced. My original way was instantaneous. The students did not understand any more than an English scholar could understand a foreign language without learning it. They therefore put it into their language. The argument used in healing is simply tuning-up. If your violin is in tune, it is unnecessary to tune it up. Keep your violin in tune."

--Mary Baker Eddy, Christian Healer

So, while Eddy didn't need argument to heal, she saw that her students needed to be brought along, and she allowed argument to take its place in the healing work. Yet, one doesn't need argument all the time if one's "violin is in tune."

This is where moment-by-moment living of the truths of being becomes essential. If we're in the habit of thinking past the appearance of the senses, of accepting only harmony, of seeing only good in each other and God's government in events, we're closer to being in tune.

Yesterday, I was a bit out of tune. The images from the news and from some family situations were getting the better of me. So I fell back on argument, which was helpful, and got myself back to the mountaintop in prayer. And then, amazingly, I was able to help someone else when they called.

That's the point, really. Staying in tune so we're ready to help others. In this way, we can change the world.

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