It doesn’t take a lot of time to get that joy and purpose back in our lives, only a change of thought. We must begin with our thinking. Instead of endlessly analyzing what’s wrong with our life, we must find what’s right about it. We can do this by gaining a better understanding of God and our relationship to Him. And we can begin right now.
When I left college, I went into a profession that was exciting and satisfying. I was able to spend my life in service to others, fulfilling a longtime dream. But over the years, the work became more and more like drudgery. When I began dreading going to work, the problem became obvious. I called a Christian Science practitioner to help me through prayer
The practitioner listened to me say that if I could get out of this job or find a new career, things would be better. Then she told me that I didn’t need to look for change anywhere but inside my own thinking. She reminded me of Jesus’ saying, “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:20-21)
That statement became a beacon and an anchor to me. I yearned to find this kingdom of God, but realized it would require a better understanding of Him than I presently had. This was evident when I read this statement in Mary Baker Eddy’s book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: “It is our ignorance of God, the divine Principle, which produces apparent discord, and the right understanding of Him restores harmony.” (390:7-9) I wanted some of that harmony, whatever it would take.
So, over the next month or two, I spent several hours each week studying the Bible and Mary Baker Eddy’s writings, both of which illuminate God who is all loving and omnipotent. My relationship to Him started taking center-stage in my thinking. I was learning about a God who is all-in-all, who only gives good things to his children. As I strove to be more loving to others (off and on the job), it became clear that everything I needed in my life could come from Him, and that living this way brought glimpses of joy into sight.
As I spent minutes daily in quiet communion, I started looking to God for fulfillment, and finding it. Work became easier and more fun when I expressed God-given joy at my workplace, along with other Godlike qualities like tenacity, humor, and unselfishness. I felt carefree because I trusted God more, and that brought more confidence. I was able to express what I was learning about my oneness with God with others.
When I think about how God cleared out the cobwebs of doubt and fear, I just thank Him again and again.
Let’s keep these cobwebs out of our thinking right now by claiming our forever oneness with God. We are in the kingdom of God right now. We cannot be anywhere else.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Monday, February 26, 2007
Painful Rectum and Elimination Problem Healed
How can I control pain and destroy its power over me? This is the question with which I approached a painful challenge with elimination that I began to have about seven years ago.
Sometimes the trouble went on for almost a week, and when I did eliminate, I would be in extreme pain. I couldn't sit or lie down with any sense of comfort. I called a Christian Science practitioner for support through prayer, and sometimes talked with her several times a day, and often during the night. At one point, I found myself wanting to do anything just to feel comfortable. I began to think that perhaps a doctor could give me something to relieve the pain or to alter the condition in some way.
As I wrestled with this, I thought of this passage from the Bible: "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases" (Ps. 103:2, 3). This was a reminder to me that all my life, I had relied on God for all of my needs, and He had never failed me. But now I was very fearful. I had never experienced this much discomfort before. At one point, however, I realized that I could not just hope the pain would go away. I had to take an active stand for what I understood about God's healing power.
I turned to a passage in Science and Health that went to the core of my struggle: "Discussing his campaign, General Grant said: 'I propose to fight it out on this line, if it takes all summer.' Science says: All is Mind and Mind's idea. You must fight it out on this line. Matter can afford you no aid" (p. 492). I felt I must fight it out-mentally resist the claim of disease-with what I understood of Christian Science. I couldn't put it off. I felt I needed to trust the healing power of divine Love, starting right that minute.
My outlook brightened. When the pain started again, I would firmly challenge it: "You, pain, are a lie, and you are no part of me. I am God's child. And because God loves me, He does not send pain and suffering." I voiced this out loud. I also sang many loved hymns from the Christian Science Hymnal.
And I diligently studied Science and Health. There were times when I read 50 pages a day. I memorized whole paragraphs that particularly inspired me. When I was in pain, these passages would come to thought, bringing spiritual light and comfort. Although I continued to struggle with recurring discomfort, I kept up my study, and my denial that the condition had any reality-because God was the only creator. I also continued to lay claim to God's love for me, and knew that He would not desert me in my hour of need.
During this period, the word feel really began to stand out to me. In prayer, I asked, "What does it mean to feel? Is feeling material or spiritual?" The immediate answer that came was that feeling is spiritual, a faculty of divine Mind, God. Then I looked up every reference in the Bible and in Mary Baker Eddy's writings on this subject. One statement from Science and Health particularly comforted me: "Let us feel the divine energy of Spirit, bringing us into newness of life and recognizing no mortal nor material power as able to destroy. Let us rejoice that we are subject to the divine 'powers that be.' Such is the true Science of being. Any other theory of Life, or God, is delusive and mythological" (p. 249: 6-11).
Through this study, I was gaining new insight into the fact that pain was not coming from my body, but from my thought-it was a mental illusion. I realized that I had a choice to make. I could choose to feel pain, or I could choose to feel "the divine energy of Spirit." It was up to me. I could not feel pain and the care of divine Love at the same time. So whenever the condition flared up-and it sometimes came with a vengeance-I immediately prayed with the spiritual facts, and held to my prayer. In the course of this work, I was seeing that because my own true identity was spiritual, all I could really feel was the power and presence of Love. I saw that the physical body itself has no feeling. I realized that it was only fear that prolonged pain, and came to regard both fear and pain as lies, false suggestions, nothing more. Because God was always with me, I realized that I could refuse to fall into the trap of fear any longer.
A turning point came one day when I was talking with the practitioner. She said, "Well, David, you know that there is nothing but God." It was like a light had been turned on in my consciousness. "There is only God." I knew that was true. He is All and there is nothing else. Nothing exists but God and His creation. Because of God's allness, there could be no room in my thinking for fear, disease, anything unlike Him.
When I was no longer afraid of the pain, it lost its grip on my thought, and therefore, in my body. Soon, I was completely healed. I was able have eliminations with no blockage and no discomfort. And I have remained free ever since.
Sometimes the trouble went on for almost a week, and when I did eliminate, I would be in extreme pain. I couldn't sit or lie down with any sense of comfort. I called a Christian Science practitioner for support through prayer, and sometimes talked with her several times a day, and often during the night. At one point, I found myself wanting to do anything just to feel comfortable. I began to think that perhaps a doctor could give me something to relieve the pain or to alter the condition in some way.
As I wrestled with this, I thought of this passage from the Bible: "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases" (Ps. 103:2, 3). This was a reminder to me that all my life, I had relied on God for all of my needs, and He had never failed me. But now I was very fearful. I had never experienced this much discomfort before. At one point, however, I realized that I could not just hope the pain would go away. I had to take an active stand for what I understood about God's healing power.
I turned to a passage in Science and Health that went to the core of my struggle: "Discussing his campaign, General Grant said: 'I propose to fight it out on this line, if it takes all summer.' Science says: All is Mind and Mind's idea. You must fight it out on this line. Matter can afford you no aid" (p. 492). I felt I must fight it out-mentally resist the claim of disease-with what I understood of Christian Science. I couldn't put it off. I felt I needed to trust the healing power of divine Love, starting right that minute.
My outlook brightened. When the pain started again, I would firmly challenge it: "You, pain, are a lie, and you are no part of me. I am God's child. And because God loves me, He does not send pain and suffering." I voiced this out loud. I also sang many loved hymns from the Christian Science Hymnal.
And I diligently studied Science and Health. There were times when I read 50 pages a day. I memorized whole paragraphs that particularly inspired me. When I was in pain, these passages would come to thought, bringing spiritual light and comfort. Although I continued to struggle with recurring discomfort, I kept up my study, and my denial that the condition had any reality-because God was the only creator. I also continued to lay claim to God's love for me, and knew that He would not desert me in my hour of need.
During this period, the word feel really began to stand out to me. In prayer, I asked, "What does it mean to feel? Is feeling material or spiritual?" The immediate answer that came was that feeling is spiritual, a faculty of divine Mind, God. Then I looked up every reference in the Bible and in Mary Baker Eddy's writings on this subject. One statement from Science and Health particularly comforted me: "Let us feel the divine energy of Spirit, bringing us into newness of life and recognizing no mortal nor material power as able to destroy. Let us rejoice that we are subject to the divine 'powers that be.' Such is the true Science of being. Any other theory of Life, or God, is delusive and mythological" (p. 249: 6-11).
Through this study, I was gaining new insight into the fact that pain was not coming from my body, but from my thought-it was a mental illusion. I realized that I had a choice to make. I could choose to feel pain, or I could choose to feel "the divine energy of Spirit." It was up to me. I could not feel pain and the care of divine Love at the same time. So whenever the condition flared up-and it sometimes came with a vengeance-I immediately prayed with the spiritual facts, and held to my prayer. In the course of this work, I was seeing that because my own true identity was spiritual, all I could really feel was the power and presence of Love. I saw that the physical body itself has no feeling. I realized that it was only fear that prolonged pain, and came to regard both fear and pain as lies, false suggestions, nothing more. Because God was always with me, I realized that I could refuse to fall into the trap of fear any longer.
A turning point came one day when I was talking with the practitioner. She said, "Well, David, you know that there is nothing but God." It was like a light had been turned on in my consciousness. "There is only God." I knew that was true. He is All and there is nothing else. Nothing exists but God and His creation. Because of God's allness, there could be no room in my thinking for fear, disease, anything unlike Him.
When I was no longer afraid of the pain, it lost its grip on my thought, and therefore, in my body. Soon, I was completely healed. I was able have eliminations with no blockage and no discomfort. And I have remained free ever since.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Unceasing Prayer
Many of us strive to become as good a person as we can. Mary Baker Eddy, in her textbook Science and Health, tells us how: “The habitual struggle to be always good is unceasing prayer.” (4:12-13) Unceasing prayer sounds like a tall order. However, Science and Health shows us how to work in this direction. We have a prayer to use for each part of our day.
First we have a morning prayer. Morning is defined as “Light; symbol of Truth; revelation and progress.” (584: 1-2) What a way to wake up in the morning, expectant of the light of Truth. Each morning, know that today is going to be a revelation. So you do not need to worry about what you need to do at work or in your family life. Since your day is a revelation, you do not need to outline. Instead, trust that God’s goodness is directing every step. Your day is harmonious because you reflect God. He is Love, and you can only express love and be loved. Every morning, you can know that today is unique day of progress. Why? Because each day you are growing more in your understanding of God. What a glorious day is in store for you when you start with this morning!
As the evening comes, so can another prayer. Evening is defined as “Mistiness of mortal thought; weariness of mortal mind; obscured views; peace and rest.” (586:1-2) The first part is a description of the mortal view of evening; then comes the divine definition, peace and rest. Just because we worked all day, we do not need to be weary. Remember that we are working for the Lord. How can God’s business be weary? The Bible tells us, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10). Quiet the suggestion that there was even one moment in our day that was not filled with God’s goodness and love. Since God is all, how can there be room for anything else?
Now for the biggest challenge of your prayer -- how to pray during the night? Mrs. Eddy tells us that night is defined as “Darkness, doubt, fear.”(592:21) When we pray, it is with the light of the Truth. This light extinguishes darkness and fear. God is ever-present, omnipotent good. He is with us 24 hours a day. We can never be separated from His love. You cannot doubt that your prayers are effective. You cannot be afraid. You are His beloved child and He cares for you and is always with you. Wherever you are, God is with you.
God, good is illuminating the way. God’s unceasing love in your life can never be taken from you. The light of Truth that you have been holding onto cannot turn into darkness since the truth of our prayers cannot be reversed. “This unfolding is God's day, and ‘there shall be no night there.’” (584:7-8)
First we have a morning prayer. Morning is defined as “Light; symbol of Truth; revelation and progress.” (584: 1-2) What a way to wake up in the morning, expectant of the light of Truth. Each morning, know that today is going to be a revelation. So you do not need to worry about what you need to do at work or in your family life. Since your day is a revelation, you do not need to outline. Instead, trust that God’s goodness is directing every step. Your day is harmonious because you reflect God. He is Love, and you can only express love and be loved. Every morning, you can know that today is unique day of progress. Why? Because each day you are growing more in your understanding of God. What a glorious day is in store for you when you start with this morning!
As the evening comes, so can another prayer. Evening is defined as “Mistiness of mortal thought; weariness of mortal mind; obscured views; peace and rest.” (586:1-2) The first part is a description of the mortal view of evening; then comes the divine definition, peace and rest. Just because we worked all day, we do not need to be weary. Remember that we are working for the Lord. How can God’s business be weary? The Bible tells us, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10). Quiet the suggestion that there was even one moment in our day that was not filled with God’s goodness and love. Since God is all, how can there be room for anything else?
Now for the biggest challenge of your prayer -- how to pray during the night? Mrs. Eddy tells us that night is defined as “Darkness, doubt, fear.”(592:21) When we pray, it is with the light of the Truth. This light extinguishes darkness and fear. God is ever-present, omnipotent good. He is with us 24 hours a day. We can never be separated from His love. You cannot doubt that your prayers are effective. You cannot be afraid. You are His beloved child and He cares for you and is always with you. Wherever you are, God is with you.
God, good is illuminating the way. God’s unceasing love in your life can never be taken from you. The light of Truth that you have been holding onto cannot turn into darkness since the truth of our prayers cannot be reversed. “This unfolding is God's day, and ‘there shall be no night there.’” (584:7-8)
Friday, February 23, 2007
My healing of an eye injury
When I was sixteen years old, my family moved about thirty miles away from our previous residence. To visit my old friends on the weekend, I would hitchhike.
One day about halfway through my journey two boys stopped and told me I could not hitchhike in their town. I told them both to get lost. One of them pushed me, and I pushed him back. We started to wrestle and I got one boy pinned down. But the other boy pulled me off his friend and then suddenly one of them kicked me right in the eye.
A storekeeper who was watching us came out and broke us up. He asked me if I wanted a ride to a doctor. Instead, I asked him to phone my aunt to pick me up.
My aunt was in the fulltime practice of Christian Science healing. All my life, I had used Christian Science as a means of healing. I was always healed when I called her to pray for me. Why should this time be any different? I thought to myself.
When my aunt picked me up, she, too, asked me whether I wished to visit the doctor or use the prayer of Christian Science. I told her, Christian Science. Okay, she said, we must radically turn our thought to God; you may pray with me now. And we did pray. She gave me a homework assignment to read and study this passage from Science and Health by Mary Baker Eddy: “When Jesus declares that ‘the light of the body is the eye,’ he certainly means that light depends upon Mind, not upon the complex humors, lenses, muscles, the iris and pupil, constituting the visual organism.”(393:25-28)
In Science and Health, Mind is a synonym for the omnipotent God. I realized that if God, Mind, gave me light, then nothing could take it away. I had complete confidence that God would heal me. Within a few days the black eye and all the evidence of the injury were completely healed.
My aunt then insisted that we go to a local doctor to confirm the healing. In his examination, the physician said, Young man, you are lucky that you can see. You were kicked right near the pupil and there is evidence you had an injury. However, your eye is just fine now, like nothing ever happened.
I am grateful for this healing. This experience was an opportunity to learn more obedience, since hitchhiking was against the law where I was doing it. I never hitchhiked again.
One day about halfway through my journey two boys stopped and told me I could not hitchhike in their town. I told them both to get lost. One of them pushed me, and I pushed him back. We started to wrestle and I got one boy pinned down. But the other boy pulled me off his friend and then suddenly one of them kicked me right in the eye.
A storekeeper who was watching us came out and broke us up. He asked me if I wanted a ride to a doctor. Instead, I asked him to phone my aunt to pick me up.
My aunt was in the fulltime practice of Christian Science healing. All my life, I had used Christian Science as a means of healing. I was always healed when I called her to pray for me. Why should this time be any different? I thought to myself.
When my aunt picked me up, she, too, asked me whether I wished to visit the doctor or use the prayer of Christian Science. I told her, Christian Science. Okay, she said, we must radically turn our thought to God; you may pray with me now. And we did pray. She gave me a homework assignment to read and study this passage from Science and Health by Mary Baker Eddy: “When Jesus declares that ‘the light of the body is the eye,’ he certainly means that light depends upon Mind, not upon the complex humors, lenses, muscles, the iris and pupil, constituting the visual organism.”(393:25-28)
In Science and Health, Mind is a synonym for the omnipotent God. I realized that if God, Mind, gave me light, then nothing could take it away. I had complete confidence that God would heal me. Within a few days the black eye and all the evidence of the injury were completely healed.
My aunt then insisted that we go to a local doctor to confirm the healing. In his examination, the physician said, Young man, you are lucky that you can see. You were kicked right near the pupil and there is evidence you had an injury. However, your eye is just fine now, like nothing ever happened.
I am grateful for this healing. This experience was an opportunity to learn more obedience, since hitchhiking was against the law where I was doing it. I never hitchhiked again.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Peace Maker
It was about 2am. I suddenly woke up to hear a man and woman screaming at each other in the alleyway behind the apartment we were renting for the weekend. They both sounded drunk. My first reaction was Why cannot they stop this racket so I can go back to sleep? I even felt like going outside and telling them this. Then it got worse. The man began to threaten to beat-up the woman. The woman pleaded with him not to hit her. The thought came to me: You want to be a healer; now is your opportunity to put Christian Science into practice.
I began to think about what Jesus would do in this situation. Mary Baker Eddy, in her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, described what Jesus had done: “Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals. In this perfect man the Saviour saw God's own likeness, and this correct view of man healed the sick." (476:32-4)
Then I thought about God, who created man loving, pure, tender, and free. Then, evil is a lie. It can never be part of man. The first commandment says “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”(Ex. 20:3) I knew that man cannot be addicted to alcohol nor would he want to worship alcohol. God created man to serve Him, so man must be obedient to God’s law.
God is always in control of every situation; He governs all. There is no power beside God. There is no other presence, no other reality. I thought about how Jesus, right in the middle of a violent storm, said “Peace, be still” and the storm ceased. I knew peace was a God given right for man. Man is satisfied, because that is how God created him. Man needs nothing from the material senses to be satisfied. Man is already complete, in God's image. There is nothing going on but God, good and His idea, and that is all that is true and ever will be true.
Within about a half hour, the couple quieted down. I heard them both get in their cars and drive away. I was grateful for the feeling of peace that embraced the neighborhood.
I began to think about what Jesus would do in this situation. Mary Baker Eddy, in her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, described what Jesus had done: “Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals. In this perfect man the Saviour saw God's own likeness, and this correct view of man healed the sick." (476:32-4)
Then I thought about God, who created man loving, pure, tender, and free. Then, evil is a lie. It can never be part of man. The first commandment says “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”(Ex. 20:3) I knew that man cannot be addicted to alcohol nor would he want to worship alcohol. God created man to serve Him, so man must be obedient to God’s law.
God is always in control of every situation; He governs all. There is no power beside God. There is no other presence, no other reality. I thought about how Jesus, right in the middle of a violent storm, said “Peace, be still” and the storm ceased. I knew peace was a God given right for man. Man is satisfied, because that is how God created him. Man needs nothing from the material senses to be satisfied. Man is already complete, in God's image. There is nothing going on but God, good and His idea, and that is all that is true and ever will be true.
Within about a half hour, the couple quieted down. I heard them both get in their cars and drive away. I was grateful for the feeling of peace that embraced the neighborhood.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
