You're invited: Spiritual Open House

You all are such an inspiration to me, I'd like to get to know you better.

So, you are invited to join me at my monthly "spiritual open house":

Next Open House: Sunday January 14, 2007, at 4pm Eastern Time

The open house will be via conference call for anyone who'd like to share ideas, ask questions, or tell their healing stories.

You can feel free to drop in, speak up or just listen. You'll have the choice to say who you are or to participate anonymously. But be forewarned—inspirational ideas shared may wind up in this blog!

For participation details about the open house, you'll need to be on the list to receive conference call notifications. To sign up, please email me at Laura@LBMatthews.com and let me know:

• your name
• your email address
• your time zone (important!)
• and any particular topic you'd like to discuss

I'll put you on my list to receive the ongoing invitations, which will be for either the second or third Sunday of each month. The invitations, which include dial-in information, will come courtesy www.freeconference.com. Participation in the call is free, although your usual long-distance phone charges will apply.

Hope to talk with you soon!

Your ideas and inspiration are welcome! Please comment below or Contact Laura.
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Preventative maintenance

Another aspect of healing I'd like to explore is preventative maintenance.

You know how with a car you change the oil and lube the gears to keep it running smoothly? That's what a daily spiritual regimen is all about.

If you take the time every day (or as often as possible) to orient your thought Spiritward, you're much more prepared for anything discordant that comes your way. And, how "tuned up" your thought is can either quickly dispatch with problems or avoid them entirely.

In other words, by approaching every situation with the mindset of harmony, you bring harmony to it rather than getting sucked into the vortex of discord.

I can't begin to calculate all the trouble this has saved me from over the years. Some of it I'm not even conscious of as trouble, because when things come my way I'm instinctively looking for the activity of Spirit. Therefore I get the most good out of what others might think of as troublesome. I may see an interpersonal squabble as an opportunity to express more Love, or see an interruption as part of God's will for me that day. If I don't take it in as a problem, well, lo and behold, it isn't one.

Other times it's a more conscious "avert" (which I've written about before). An example is when the mornings begin to get colder and I sometimes awaken with a bit of stuffiness in my nose. Because I have a mindset of health and wellness, my assumption is that the stuffiness will clear up as I get up and get moving. I don't entertain any other possible conclusion. I am healthy, therefore I am not stuffed up. So, this is what I experience.

Basically, as soon as something appears on my radar, I have the habit of accepting only harmony about it. I had to build this habit with that daily regimen I mentioned, but now it's more second nature and I can't imagine moving through the world any other way.

So, is it time for a tune up?

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Every healing is instantaneous

The phrase "instantaneous healing" represents somewhat of an ideal in Christian Science. Students learning to heal are often seeking how to do the "zap" that solves a patient's problems instantly.

Instantaneous healing to me is like a light bulb turning on. Thought is illumined fully and transformed, leading to the transformation of the condition to harmony. And it does happen. I've experienced it myself when calling a practitioner, and I've participated in the instant healing of a patient. As I look back over these instances, I see some attributes they have in common.

A spiritual readiness is often there, and a humility, along with a willingness to put aside fear and listen to something new. Sometimes the person has done their own prayer and study, which has brought them to the point of healing. Sometimes the practitioner's coaching brings them to that point, and their obedience to the practitioner's spiritual direction helps prepare them for the instant of healing.

So to me, every healing is instantaneous, although it may take some patience to get there. Truly, the transformation of thought that must occur takes only an instant, an "a-ha!," a "huh, I get it." It is in those instants of enlightenment that healing takes place, because that's when the mortal belief is yielding to Truth. The way has to be prepared for this enlightenment, and when it happens, healing occurs.

I remember one time I was praying for a patient with a severe case of poison ivy. I talked to her frequently, every day for several days. She was willing and obedient, listening to what I said about her true being and contemplating it sincerely afterward. She studied the passages I was also studying, and we discussed spiritual ideas as a team. We shared many moments of inspiration. The physical condition did not seem to yield, however.

But then we had one conversation where all the spiritual pieces fell together. A crystal clear idea startled thought. I had had it first in prayer, and then shared it with her. It was like the pinnacle of a spiritual structure we had been building together.

I remember the tone of her voice changing. She simply said, very thoughtfully, "Aah." I could practically hear the idea sinking into her being as she accepted it fully. This transformation of thought eradicated her fear, and I knew then that the tide had turned. The condition cleared up very quickly after that, and she was back at work within another few days. (Generally poison ivy takes 12-15 days to do its thing.)

To me, all healings work this way. We work toward an illumination of thought, be it the practitioner, the patient, the parent, the spouse. It's strongest to me when the patient's thought is transformed, because then they're less liable to a reoccurrence of the problem. But sometimes the practitioner's transformation of thought is enough to effect healing change.

What transformation of thought are you welcoming today? That's your instantaneous healing for today.

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Good is not gradual

I caught myself the other day.

I was thinking about a situation that needed healing, and I thought something like, Well, eventually we'll get there if we keep at it. And I realized I was accepting the idea that good is gradual, that it comes to us bit by bit.

Not so! Good is already and always present. Good fills all space—not a cranny is outside of the realm of good. Good is God, Spirit—Life, Truth, Love. It's so much more than a human sense of what might be nice in the near future. It is reality, it is the rock.

Spiritual healing is always about seeing what's already true. The key that unlocks the door to healing is a new spiritual concept that so fills your thought with light that darkness flees naturally. What feels gradual is our journey to that inspiration, but the good we are seeking is present already.

So when we've pinpointed some "good thing" that we want or need—a certain healing, possession, event—it's time to wrap our heads around the concept that all good is already here and now. There is no "future good"; that's a contradiction in terms. There is only now, and now is only good.

Some good thoughts from Science and Health:

There is but one way to heaven, harmony, and Christ in divine Science shows us this way. It is to know no other reality — to have no other consciousness of life — than good, God and His reflection, and to rise superior to the so-called pain and pleasure of the senses.

--242:9

It is unwise to doubt if reality is in perfect harmony with God, divine Principle, — if Science, when understood and demonstrated, will destroy all discord, — since you admit that God is omnipotent; for from this premise it follows that good and its sweet concords have all-power.

--130:9

If sin, sickness, and death were understood as nothingness, they would disappear. As vapor melts before the sun, so evil would vanish before the reality of good. One must hide the other. How important, then, to choose good as the reality!

--480:29-2

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Accentuate the positive

Remember that song Accentuate the Positive? It's a song I don't even know how I know, since I never saw the Bing Crosby movie that features it. But once I saw the lyrics, I remembered the beat and the tune. One of those things deep in the memory banks, I guess.

I also found the blog Accentuate the Positive when I was trolling for the lyrics. Becky is Christian, and she's found spiritual meaning in the phrase. I have to say I agree with her! And love her blog.

One of the disciplines I've developed over the years is striving to state spiritual truths in the positive. It's very easy to get caught up in the negatives, even when we're denying them or trying to turn from them. Even when we're praising God, we can tend toward the negative.

Here's what I mean. In declaring what I know about God, I'd say things like, "You are flawless, spotless, painless, fearless, …" etc. But look at those words. Each one is a "not negative," or a negative thing with a "not" concept included.

So I started looking for ways to state what I meant positively. "You are perfection, purity, harmony, Love…" In stating what God is, not what He's not, I've gained a deeper connection to Spirit.

This has broad implications as well when I'm praying for myself as God's image and likeness. Instead of focusing on what I'm not, I focus on what I am as His image. Instead of thinking, "I am sinless," I'll declare, "As the image of the Divine, I am a pure reflection of Soul." Instead of, "I am not sick," I'll know, "I am the picture of health, full of Life and vitality." Instead of, "I am not poor," I'll hold to, "I have all the wealth of Spirit."

Try this out. Check in your prayers to see how often you use "not," or words with "un-" or "in-" or "-less," and see if you can't upgrade the terms to stating the ideas positively. And see how it can shape your conviction.

Let me know how it goes!

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Standing on their shoulders

Saw Spielberg's Amistad last night, very moving. It's the story of African slaves who manage to take over their captor's ship, but then wind up on American soil and on trial for their lives. Stellar performances, especially I thought, from Anthony Hopkins, who just channeled "old man-ness." He plays the former President John Quincy Adams at the twilight of his career, just brilliantly.

One scene in particular spoke to me. Adams is meeting with Sengbe, the one who led the onboard insurrection, to prepare him for their final battle in the Supreme Court. He tells the African that the battle ahead will be difficult. Sengbe replies (through his translator) that they won't be alone. He says he will call on his ancestors to be with them:

I will call into the past, far back until the beginning of time, and bring them to come and help me. I will reach back and draw them into me, and they must come. For at this moment I am the whole reason they have existed at all.

Adams (Hopkins) sits pondering this for a long moment. You can just feel his growing determination to do the same with his own father, John Adams, second President of the United States, the man in whose shadow he'd lived his whole life. You can see him make the choice to stop trying to come out from that shadow and instead call on that legacy to support his actions now.

This touched me personally, because I've often been grateful for those who have gone before me and hewed "the rough granite." Divorced women and single mothers of a generation ago, women who fought for equality in the workplace, women who fought for the right to vote. These all made the road so much easier for me today. If they hadn't paved the way, I would never have been able to come as far as I have.

And I also think with love and gratitude on spiritual mentors. I've had many. Mary Baker Eddy, of course. My own teacher in Christian Science gave his life to the healing system he loved from early manhood. The fact that he rose through the ranks to the highest positions means less to me now than his cultivated ability to heal quickly and effectively. I used to aspire to the former, but as I mature it's the latter that I'm striving for. I met with another spiritual mentor yesterday, one who also has also given her best effort and inspired vision to the teaching she loves. She continues to inspire me.

These are the giants on whose shoulders we stand. What better gift of gratitude can we give than to continue their work, and make their struggles and sacrifice worthwhile?

It is the task of the sturdy pioneer to hew the tall oak and to cut the rough granite. Future ages must declare what the pioneer has accomplished.

--Science and Health

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The presence of God

What does the presence of God feel like?

I know to some people, the idea of God's presence isn't necessarily comforting, because they think of Him as a critical or judgmental being who punishes. No one wants to have that lurking over your shoulder.

Unfortunately, the word "God" is burdened with so many human concepts like that. Centuries of spiritual growth for humanity have led us to a higher view, yet the former still clings, even unconsciously. That's why I think it's so important to periodically take out and shake up the definition we're holding for God. Are we sure we're dealing with the highest ideal?

I know that what I experience as the presence of God is directly related to the understanding that God is Love. That's the starting point for me. And anything that does not coincide with Love doesn't get space in my thinking when I'm contemplating what God is.

Love fueled my spiritual growth for many years. It took me a long time to even begin to get comfortable with the concept of universal, ever-present, omnipotent Love. Basically, I had to get used to the idea. I had to make it part of my being. Eventually it became something I could rely on, something that I could turn to whenever blackness threatened. It became less theoretical, more solid. Now, it is Truth to me.

This is the foundation of all that came after. I then began to build on it. Brick upon brick, my spiritual storehouse of ideas and inspiration is built on the foundation of God as Love. Ideas like God as Mind, as Truth, as Life, solidified for me as well, all with the inherent requirement that God is Love. There is no Life without Love, there is no Truth without Love, etc.

Gradually, too, I began to conceive of the possibility that existence itself is only within spiritual reality. Existence came to be characterized for me with ideas like harmony, peace, wisdom, grace. Anything outside that reality began to seem false, hollow, unreal. I could see through the unreal and accept only harmony.

There was a time when feeling the presence of God was a startling moment of inspiration for me. Love would overpower my senses and I'd see, briefly, from a new perspective. The more this happened, the less I was satisfied with anything else. So I strove to cultivate that inspiration, monthly, weekly, daily.

So now I have to say that the presence of God for me is steady, strong, peace. An awareness that all is right, that harmony is Truth, that Spirit is real. Now this feeling doesn't ebb and flow as much—it is with me more often than not. When I lose sight of it, I'm instantly aware that something is off, and I know what steps to take to reorient myself toward it.

God is present. His presence never changes—it is our understanding of it that grows.

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When doing a favor becomes a blessing

Remember that interfaith meeting from yesterday? That I was attending as a favor to a fellow church member? Well, it blew me away.

It was a small group of about fourteen or so. All different denominations of course. And it started out all chatty, with introductions all around and me saying I was subbing for someone.

Then the host handed out the devotional. As soon as I saw the words, I felt the tears welling up. It was a song written for a fifteen-year-old boy struggling with leukemia, from the point of view of the boy's father. (The boy is now a man, and the cancer is in remission.)

"He's My Son"
by Mark Schulz

I'm down on my knees again tonight,
I'm hopin' this prayer will turn out right.
See, there is a boy that needs Your help.
I've done all that I can do myself
His mother is tired,
I'm sure You can understand.
Each night as he sleeps
She goes in to hold his hand,
And she tries
Not to cry
As the tears fill her eyes.

Can You hear me?
Am I getting through tonight?
Can You see him?
Can You make him feel all right?
If You can hear me
Let me take his place some how.
See, he's not just anyone, he's my son.

Sometimes late at night I watch him sleep,
I dream of the boy he'd like to be.
I try to be strong and see him through,
But God, who he needs right now is You.
Let him grow old,
Live life without this fear.
What would I be
Living without him here?
He's so tired,
And he's scared
Let him know that You're there.

Can You hear me?
Am I getting through tonight?
Can You see him?
Can You make him feel all right?
If You can hear me
Let me take his place some how.
See, he's not just anyone, he's my son.

Can You hear me?
Am I getting through tonight?
Can You see him?
Can You make him feel all right?
If You can hear me
Let me take his place somehow.
See, he's not just anyone.

Can You hear me?
Can You see him?
Please don't leave him,
He's my son.

You can listen to the song for free here, if you download their little plug-in.

The host, pastor of First Assembly of God here in Framingham, played us the music as we all read along. I just became flooded with emotion—gratitude, really. It really put into words a lot of my spring and summer. So I simply sat there and wept, in this little band of strangers.

After the devotional, we all then went around the circle and introduced ourselves formally. Others were giving their thanks for the inspiration from the song, so when it was my turn, I just said, "I'm Laura Matthews, here on behalf of the Christian Science church. I'm a Christian Science practitioner. And I too want to say thank you for this song. I have a son who's fifteen and he was headed down the wrong path. Now, by the grace of God, he's all right. So I'm here to say that the answer to all these questions in the song is Yes. He does hear us, He does care, and He can make us feel all right."

The rest of the meeting was inspired as well, as we discussed some of the issues facing our town and what we'd like to see happen. The spiritual power expressed by this little group energized my day.

I'm so glad I went!

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Selflessness

My friend Clarissa reminded me of this story:

A man once asked if he could visit heaven and hell.

When he reached hell, he was amazed to find people seated around a huge banquet table. The finest foods were piled high on the table. “What a feast! Perhaps hell wasn’t so bad after all!” he thought.

Then he looked more closely at the diners. They were all starving. You see, each diner had been given chopsticks which were three feet long. There was no way they could carry the food to their mouths with these long chopsticks. No one could eat a bite.

What a hell indeed, to sit so close to a banquet and yet be unable to taste even a bite.

The man was then taken to heaven to observe life there.

To his surprise he saw people seated around a banquet table in exactly the same situation. Each person had been given three foot long chopsticks in heaven, too.

But here, everyone was happily eating the delicious food. The residents of heaven were using their yard long chopsticks to feed each other.

--Chinese parable, courtesy Seeds of Peace, 2002

I've also been talking lately with two young men who are exploring Buddhism. They've been explaining to me the concept of there being no self. I have to admit I was having a hard time wrapping my head around this idea, since I believe that I will always have a sense of self, of individuality, of distinctness, even as I achieve the understanding that we are all one.

But Clarissa's reminder brought me instead to the word "selflessness." This word to me means so much more than just having no self. It includes the concept of not thinking about yourself. And actually, trying to think yourself into having no self is sort of self-focused, isn't it? But not thinking about yourself to the point that you think of others first, in other words, you cease experiencing selfhood because you're so absorbed in working for what would be good for others, to me must be closer to what Buddha meant.

So today I'm thinking about putting others first, before myself. And, even as I was writing this, I got a test. A friend from church called me and said she was unable to attend a scheduled interfaith meeting today, and could I go in her stead? In the frame of mind I had while writing this, I just instantly said yes. I'm now trying not to think about all that I had to do today, and instead to realize that in feeding her, I'm feeding myself, and we're both in heaven.

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Gratitude abounds

There's one thing I'm bringing to just about every conversation lately, and it's gratitude. I'm growing more and more grateful for how things are going for me and my son, and every time anyone asks me how things are going, I just can help radiating about it.

After a very rocky spring and summer, he's now away at school. When you compare now to what things were like only a few short months ago, say in early June, it's like a great darkness has ceded to brilliant light.

When people ask me how this happened, I have to say it was my own letting go. There were many other circumstances swirling, but the turning point for me personally was my own realization that I couldn’t myself solve the problems. I had to let go of the need to find a solution that would fix everything, and instead just trust completely that divine Spirit had it all covered.

And don't you know, the solution that Spirit gave us was indeed the one I'd humanly outlined months ago. But my own trying to force it to happen actually got in the way of making any progress toward it. Spirit's wisdom finally revealed that it couldn't be my decision at all. It had to be my son's. When I got out of the way and let my boy decide his own life, it turned out he had his own connection to Spirit and he acted accordingly.

It was very scary to get out of the way and let him decide, though. Up until that point, his self-decisions had been to my mind dangerous and harmful. So I had no idea what he was going to do if I let go. It was like he was hanging off a cliff by a rope that I was holding, and me getting the message to let go.

Silly me. Spirit had the trampoline waiting there underneath him all along. He just bounced back up to me and said, "Hi, Mom! Look at me, I'm fine!"

So I'm just grateful and gleeful and loving getting all his reports.

God is good.

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What is God to you?

My friend Chris sent me a fascinating article from USATODAY: View of God can predict values, politics.

As the result of a comprehensive survey of Americans, the survey results indicate that while 92% of Americans believe in God, there are four divergent views of who He is:

• Authoritarian (angry at humanity's sins and engaged in every creature's life and world affairs. 31% of Americans overall believe this.)
• Benevolent (sets absolute standards for mankind, but is primarily forgiving. 23% believe this.)
• Critical (eyes the world judgmentally, but isn't going to intervene either to punish or comfort. 16% believe this.)
• Distant (cosmic force that launched the universe, then left it spinning on its own. 24% believe this.)

Apparently one's concept of God then has a pronounced relationship to what you believe politically and socially. It's a better predictor of where you might stand on the issues like stem cells or abortion or gay marriage than your region or party affiliation.

And, as usual, I find myself way outside any of these. I've spent a lifetime with these three definitions of God, found in Science and Health:

GOD. The great I AM; the all-knowing, all-seeing, all-acting, all-wise, all-loving, and eternal; Principle; Mind; Soul; Spirit; Life; Truth; Love; all substance; intelligence.

GOD: Divine Principle, Life, Truth, Love, Soul, Spirit, Mind.

Question. — What is God?
Answer. — God is incorporeal, divine, supreme, infinite Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, Love.

To me God is the intelligent presence of Love, constantly sending His ideas to lead me out of the limiting material condition to the realization of spiritual reality. God is simply *not* a bigger more powerful human being. He's beyond and transcendent, above but not out of reach. He fills all space, so I am never alone. He is all powerful, so I am never helpless. He is all Love, so I am infinitely cared for.

This definition is entirely 100% spiritual. There is no finiteness there, no physicality, no mortality at all. God is not even touched by these limiting things.

I suppose, then, if I read this article correctly, my definition of God impacts how I view the world. It's the filter through which I process everything that comes my way. It's how I see myself and others—not as material beings, but as spiritual ideas of the infinite all-powerful all-loving God.

So, where do you land? What's your concept of God?

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A little later than usual....

Hiya! I'll be blogging a little later than usual today, I have an early morning meeting. It also looks like Blogger is misbehaving at the moment, so I'll post when everything's working again.

Also, apparently my daily reminder email went out very late yesterday (in the evening rather than the morning), so if you missed yesterday, scroll down! It's the next entry.

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Blessed are the rich?

TIME magazine's cover story, Does God Want You to Be Rich? (let me know if the link doesn't work and I'll send you a copy) delves into both sides of this apparently highly-charged, particularly Protestant question.

With Joel Osteen on one side and Rick Warren on the other, it's like clash of the Titans. True, Osteen claims he's not saying "mega-wealth for everyone," but it's right to be able to pay your bills. And Warren isn't saying "poverty is the most holy," but that it's more about what we give than we receive. And I find myself sort of agreeing with them both.

Sort of. Because for me, the real issue is the definition of wealth.

Like I talked about yesterday, I'm working from the premise (as found in Christian Science) that the only reality is Spirit. I try daily to come to a greater understanding of this truth, that matter itself is nothingness and Spirit is all that exists.

So when I read about anything good that is supposedly "coming," that we supposedly have to go out and get (like wealth or health or happiness), I'm correcting the scenario in my thought to, "It's already here." Goodness is spiritual, not material. And I believe that this material is a dream, not a cast-in-stone reality.

The truth is that each one of us is already infinitely wealthy beyond our most excessive imagination. Divine Spirit is the universal, infinite, inexhaustible source of all good, all the time.

Like Osteen, then, I believe we can open our thought to this constant wealth and expect to experience it in the here-and-now in ways that are meaningful to us. To some, it might be the mansion with twenty-five acres, to others it might be a special night out with a loved one. Experiencing abundance is a state of mind first, then an outcome. And the outcome can take any form.

Like Warren, then, I also believe when we have that firm grounding in abundance, we will be impelled to give back. We will want everyone else to feel this abundance, too. We may give money, we may give time, we may give prayer and love. But the impulse to give out of gratitude for gifts received is natural—and Christian.

The thing about this kind of abundance, the kind based in Spirit, is that it obviates any "keeping up with the Joneses." I know that my spiritual wealth is available to me at any time. I feel that I have it, I don't live with a sense of lack. This keeps me from feeling envious of those whose expression of abundance takes the form of more material goods. It also keeps me from thinking that those who have materially less than I do are somehow not as connected with Spirit.

In Spirit, we all have the same, and it's infinite. So yes, blessed are the rich—that's all of us.

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Evolution vs. creationism—time to wake up

One of the things I love about Christian Science is how it weighs in on the evolution / creationism debate. How does it? The answer is: it doesn’t.

The other night I had a dream. (This is relevant, so bear with me.) In the dream, my alarm didn't go off, so I overslept and missed an important meeting. But in real life, my alarm did go off, and I made it there fine.

To me, exploring evolution and/or creationism is like trying to figure out why the dream alarm didn't go off.

Following me yet? In Christian Science, there's a Creator who is entirely Spirit, creating a reality that is entirely spiritual. The Bible talks about this creation in Genesis, Chapter 1, and creation is characterized as "finished" at the end of the story. But a few verses later in Chapter 2, there's a verse that to me sums up pretty much all that we've been dealing with since then:

But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.

--Genesis 2:6

Interestingly, the Bible never talks about the mist clearing up. To my mind, it's still clouding our vision of that first creation. The mist can also be called by its alias—matter.

If material existence is the mist, then hey, we're still in it. That's what we're perceiving here with our five senses as reality. But it's *not* reality. Reality actually lies with that first creation, the entirely spiritual one. This material seeming is a smoke screen, which is destined to evaporate as the sunlight of Truth hits it.

So what's the point in trying to figure out the mist? To me, that's what evolution and creationism are trying to do. One says the mist has a self-generated order, the other claims the mist is God's responsibility. But both are obsessing over the mist.

Mary Baker Eddy also characterized material existence as a dream from which we need to awaken. We've all experienced what it's like to wake up from a disorienting dream to find that everything is actually in order. Once we're back on solid ground, we dismiss the dream as so much nonsense.

I believe this is how we'll feel also upon waking up fully from this material existence. It will no longer matter (no pun intended) how we got here, how it formed, why it happened. It will be dismiss-able as nonsense.

We can do this in little steps through the process of spiritual awakening on a particular point, i.e. healing. When we come to see that a relationship problem, or a money problem, or a physical problem is part of the mist, we can wake up from the dream in that respect and instead embrace spiritual harmony. This can bring even the dream vision more into line with reality, and present solutions and healing.

So to me, when it comes to evolution or creationism, the idea is not to keep trying to figure out the dream, but to wake up.

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Common ground

I'm about 9/11'ed out. This anniversary was different than the others somehow, it's like suddenly everyone agreed to relive it. Two major motion pictures, a TV mini-series, and online feeds of it as it was happening makes me wonder, is this how the human mind tries to make sense of things?

The first few years, it's still too bitter to really look at closely—we're still mourning. Then for a couple years we kind of skip over it gingerly, thinking maybe it will go away finally. And now pow, the fifth year, it's time to look it squarely in the face and try to figure out how we really feel and what really happened.

It was surreal to watch the CNN play back of the first two hours, and to realize 1) how what became self-evident wasn't at first, and 2) but even still, how quickly the news reports caught up with the facts.

So what did really happen? And I still think the moments of prayer we all experienced are the truth of the matter. The foundation of spiritual grace is the truth.

I still think those moments that I sat contemplating the One God, after the planes hit and before the buildings collapsed, were the most powerful contribution I made. I now know it in my bones—there is only One God. We all share One God. And I'm convinced that as mankind learns to set aside its human definitions and gets to know more universally that God is Spirit, we will experience oneness here on earth.

It's been one of my goals ever since. To talk to people and find the spiritual common ground. And I've found consistently that the only difference comes down to semantics. We all actually believe and worship the same thing at the core. It's very encouraging, despite the indications of division. We have the same thing at the core.

And this to me is the answer to 9/11. Talking to each other, understanding each other. Not emphasizing our differences, but finding the common ground.

Thanks to everyone who wrote in yesterday, very inspiring.

Your ideas and inspiration are welcome! Please comment below or Contact Laura.
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Five years ago…

Where were you on 9/11 five years ago? Not just physically, but mentally?

I've written about my experiences here (after seeing the movie United 93) and that blog entry is being reprinted today on www.SpiritOnTheJob.com. Also on SpOTJ is a discussion thread asking how people were praying on that day.

It would be a moving memorial to 9/11 if we would all post on SpOTJ how we were praying. It meant so much that the first place we turned was Spirit-ward. And now, five years later, sharing in how *you* were praying would be a blessing to me and everyone else.

So, if you have time this morning, please visit the discussion at SpiritOnTheJob to tell your own 9/11 prayer story. Or, you can post your thoughts here and I'll input them over there. Or, just email me if you like and I'll post it.

If there's one thing we need to remember about that day, it's our prayers.

Your ideas and inspiration are welcome! Please comment below or Contact Laura.
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Opposite-land

Went to my women's Lectio group last night. Hadn't been in a couple months, it was so good to see everybody and to meet some new people.

The worship leader gave us a fun task—write a psalm. Covering up all but the last line written, we each added a line. Here's how it turned out:

You are the Song in my Heart, with You I always have music.
I am exhausted and despairing but with my sisters I am loved and we laugh.
Show me Your kindness so that I can share it with others.
You are my light and my strength.
And the courage and power that bind me.
Love and joy will always be with me.
You are my Guiding Light to illuminate Your will for me.
As the sun rises shining your light through the sun setting leaving room for the quiet light of the stars, I will sing Your song always.

Nice, huh? It was a very peaceful evening of sharing inspiration, progress and challenges.

We also explored this Bible passage:

4 Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
6 Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.
7 And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.

--Isaiah

Aside from hearing the words from the Messiah in there ("Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened…"), I was struck by the cause-and-effect. Say to fearful hearts, "Fear not," and then you'll find yourself in opposite-land. You can't just say it of course, you have to know and understand how and why it is that God will come and save you. But once you know this, and declare it to others, things change. The blind see. The lame leap. The desert blooms. All that was terrible becomes all that is wonderful. Opposite-land.

And how do we get to this state of fearlessness? The Bible tells us that, too. "Perfect love casteth out fear." Where there is Love, there is no fear. Love displaces fear.

Lectio always ends with an invitation. Mine I feel is to love more, and to look for fearful hearts to encourage and comfort. I'll be looking for that this weekend.

Your ideas and inspiration are welcome! Please comment below or Contact Laura.
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Ping the spiritual GPS

A lot of people tell me they experience inspiration as somewhat of a "one-off," or a one-time experience that sort of surprises them. And they ask, How do you cultivate the ability to be inspired and uplifted consistently?

I think this is very important, actually. Inspiration as a random event is nice, but not very reassuring. What good is spiritual uplift if you can't count on it? If it only comes when you happen to be sitting the right way, like good cell phone reception?

Inspiration is much more available than that. It's more like a universal satellite global positioning system, and you're the receiver. When you ping the spiritual GPS, it tells you exactly where you are—and who, and what.

So it's really about developing the ability to ping. I've found some things helpful in that regard.

• Find a quiet space. For me, it's a place in my house with a comfortable chair, no distractions, and a lovely restful view. My spiritual study materials are at hand, and there's no computer or TV. This is my habitual spot for prayer, although that doesn't mean I can't connect elsewhere. The quiet comfy chair, though, helps.

• Get physically comfortable. For me, this is about arranging myself so that I have as little sensation as possible. I actually have a particular position I like to sit in, with my feet crossed and legs stretched out, arms relaxed at my sides and hands folded across my waist. This will be different for everyone. The point to me is positioning my body so that my senses are quieted and I can focus mentally.

• Clear the decks. I use my study discipline to transition from thinking about the day-to-day details of my life to thinking about things of the Spirit. I'll read a few pages of Science and Health, the Bible Lesson, my daily Psalm, etc., to "get into the groove." This is not the prayer itself, however. It's the preparation for inspiration. Inspirational ideas will come to me as I read, which I then explore more deeply when I put the books aside. But I'm not satisfied with the momentary uplift from the reading. It has to go deeper.

• Then, ping. I'm in the quiet place, with the sensation-less body, and I've transitioned away from the material details crowding my thought. Now I lift my thought Spirit-ward. I am expectant, joyous, open. I'm not sending—I'm receiving. I rejoice and affirm God's allness, I glory in concepts of the Divine such as Love, Truth, Life, I let these ideas fill my thought.

• I am one with these ideas as they interplay in the realm of consciousness like swirling atoms in a primordial sea. Eventually, and always, one or two will combine in a new unique way, bringing me the molecule of a new inspiration. This inspiration invariably settles all that has been concerning me, since it is simply a restatement in a way that is new to me of the truth that God is All.

Inspiration to me is always about the truth that God is All. This concept is so big, however, that I only grow in my understanding of it in little bits. Yet those bits feel huge when they happen! That, to me, is the nature of inspiration—new insights into that which has been unchanged since creation itself.

Try to develop your own method for finding inspiration. It may be a bit of a process at first. I had a lot of trial and error at first, but began noticing what consistently worked for me after several months of trying. I now can reliably achieve a mental state that invites inspiration in a very short time, and often instantly if the need warrants it.

I remember what I was like before I started this discipline years ago. I was a bouncing ball of kinetic energy, never at rest. If I can cultivate the state of thought required for inspiration, anyone can.

I know *you* can. The most important thing is to get started, and see where the adventure leads you.

there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.

--The Bible

Your ideas and inspiration are welcome! Please comment below or Contact Laura.
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Hello, I'm back! (and wedding news)

Miss me? :)

I think I mentioned before I was away for a wedding. My entire immediate family of parents, siblings, and sibling kids attended, some of whom hadn't seen each other in a couple years.

The bride was my niece, daughter of the big sister I've mentioned before. She's the first of her generation to get married, and she sounds eager to have children. And so it goes on.

I think if I could characterize my family, it's mostly about unconditional love. Everywhere I looked this weekend there were people I love and who love me. It's a real strength that gets us through tough times.

During the toasts, the groom's father got up and talked about this marriage needing all of us to support it. As witnesses to the event, it is incumbent on us to be there when things get rough. We're a part of their marriage even as this young man is now a new member of our family.

I've often wondered what's the difference between the day before the wedding and the day after. I grew up in the era when it was popular to think of marriage as Just a Piece of Paper. But I don't think that's true anymore. To me, the wedding day is the day you go public. Certainly you've told everyone individually that you're with someone, but the wedding brings it all into focus, celebrates it, holds it up for all to see. And you go forward with a new status, linked in the eyes of strangers in many ways you weren't before.

There was so much love and joy emanating from the couple during all their vows and through the ceremony. It couldn't have been lovelier. And my little niece was absolutely radiant with happiness. Her new husband loves her so dearly and appreciates her so completely. They promised, among other things, to strive to see the spark of the divine within each other always.

I think we've just added another strong marriage to the world.

May Christ, Truth, be present at every bridal altar to turn the water into wine and to give to human life an inspiration by which man's spiritual and eternal existence may be discerned.

--Science and Health

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