Progress is the law of God

In her revelatory book, Science and Health, Mary Baker Eddy wrote the following:
       Every day makes its demands upon us for higher proofs rather than professions of Christian power. These proofs consist solely in the destruction of sin, sickness, and death by the power of Spirit, as Jesus destroyed them. This is an element of progress, and progress is the law of God, whose law demands of us only what we can certainly fulfill.


How often have I found myself believing that I was stuck in a state of limbo, unable to move forward with my life!  And yet, in each of those cases, God opened a door for me to step through.  A door that brought sure progress to my life and my spirit.  Perhaps more amazingly, the door never led where I was expecting to go.  I would endlessly research human options open to me and analyze each one from multiple angles.  Occasionally I would follow one of those options for a short time only to discover that, for all my careful planning, the end result was not right for me.  
But whenever I've completely released my human sense of logic and planning and turned my life over to divine Mind, perfect Love, I've always found peace and joy and fulfillment.  The important thing is to have an unyielding faith that your life is not your own, but is truly a manifestation of God's eternal Life, and to hold deep within your soul the eternal truth that releases you from human fears and doubts.  Jesus showed us how to live a life so free and conscious of God's power that he could face anything with the certainty that his Father-Mother, God, would bring him safely through.
So whatever your life is like now, just remember that progress is what God has in store for you.  No matter how long suffering has followed your footsteps, uplifting life and love are your destiny.  Expect omnipotent Love to reach you, wherever you are, and lift your life to joy and goodness.  Peace.

   

If you don't like something, let go of it.

A Sunday School teacher once told me a story I've never forgotten.  It was about how hunters captured monkeys in the jungle.  The trappers would simply put a banana in a jar with a narrow mouth.  They would then tie the jar to a tree and wait.  Soon enough, a monkey would come along and see the banana in the jar.  The monkey could squeeze his hand into the jar to grab the banana, but as he gripped the banana with his fist, his hand could not fit through the mouth of the jar, leaving him trapped to the jar and the tree.  It was a simple matter for the trappers to come and scoop him up.
The obvious moral of the story is that if the monkey had enough sense to just let go of the banana, he could have easily withdrawn his hand and escaped.  It was only his own stupidity and stubborn attitude that left him trapped.
Sadly, people are often guilty of the same type behavior.  No, we may not realize that it is within our power to let go of something and be free, but we are.  Whether we are clutching sickness, poverty, depression, or hopelessness, the story applies.  Mortal mind, aka. human reasoning, would argue that these things are imposed on us by forces and circumstances beyond our control - a weak body, bad genes, an economic downturn, failure in a relationship, and on and on.  We are educated from birth to believe that we live in an objective state of being and that there is scientific proof that something outside our control has had a negative effect on our well-being.  If you believe this, you are certainly in the majority.  But is it really true?
The science of physics has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt, that, in fact, we do not live in an objective state, but a subjective one.  The experimenter's thoughts and attitudes directly affect the results of his experiments.  Google the terms placebo and nocebo and read what you find there.
So, what if our attitudes and beliefs are truly a part, maybe even the whole, of our experience?  That means that if we are suffering humanly, that suffering is in fact a product of our thoughts, our attitudes, our beliefs.  And if we can change those thoughts, we can change our experience.  Too often, though, just like our friends the monkeys, we are so fixated on having that banana, that we are not about to let it go, even if that simple action would free us.
Ask yourself, do I wholeheartedly believe that some problem is real and truly a part of my life?  Do I refer to "my cancer" or "my evil boss" or even "my horrible life?"  If you do, then stop and consider how much you want those negative things.  Are you tired enough of them to let them go?  Could you begin to think differently about yourself if you knew it would bring healing to your life?  Even if you're not convinced and certain of this, would it not be worth a little effort to try?  In speaking of healing, the Master Christian, Jesus Christ, tells us that we should, "...know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."  If this Truth is that we are always held in God's loving arms - never hurt, never sick, never threatened - and if knowing this will free us from the human circumstances that say we are, shouldn't we listen to him?
Whether you believe this premise or not, surely we can all agree that thinking positively and expecting goodness is a better way to live than thinking negatively and expecting evil.  So, start each day by reminding yourself that you are Love's expression.  Remember that all through the day.  Fight any suggestion to see and believe in sin, sickness, or death.  You will find comfort and healing in proportion to how sincerely you hold onto these loving thoughts.  Healing in this way happens every day.  Don't be a silly monkey and refuse to let go of that mortal banana.  Peace.

Understanding what matters and what doesn't

In the Ten Commandments, we find a prohibition against murder and another against bearing false witness.  Hmm...quite a broad spectrum there.  What can we learn from such widely varied commandments?
Again, in Isaiah 55:8-9, we read, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."
The angel message in these passages is that mortal, material thoughts and actions and all the laws relating to them reflect their source - mortality, materiality, nothingness.  The Creator of the universe is divine, infinite Spirit and that which is the only truth of creation must likewise be completely Spirit, Mind, Love.  So when we think of human life and death, good and evil, morality and immorality, we are simply entertaining vacant unreality - nothing claiming to be something.  The sad thing is how many good and loving ideas of God have been condemned to misery and even death on the basis of vacuous mortal dictates.  The preacher who believes in the power of sin is just as guilty as the simple sinner who believes that there is pleasure in debauched mortal existence.
Does this mean that we have the freedom to completely disregard human morals and rules of righteousness?  Only if we never want to discover our true, eternally loving state of being.  A wise teacher once said that sin is anything that separates us from God, Love, Truth.  Since the ultimate reality of creation is that we can never truly be separated from our Father-Mother, God, sin cannot exist in the kingdom of heaven - our eternal, spiritual home.  
So what and where and why is sin?  Sin is simply a mistake about what is real - an illusion about life that, if believed and practiced will hide our true spiritual, perfect natures from us.  The only reality of sin is that it serves to reveal to us the suffering separation from divine Love brings.  Our Father-Mother, Love doesn't create sin or make us prone to it.  But divine Love does remind us through a still, small voice within our hearts that we are loving, pure ideas.  This voice triggers within us a repulsion to all that is sinful, impure, and mortal.  If we wish to uplift our lives, we listen to that voice and turn away from all that is unlike God, good.  The true meaning of "free will" is that we can choose to embrace sin, conclude its seeming pleasures are what we want, and live lives separated from heavenly good.  But those sin-filled lives are never real.  They are always delusional.  And we may choose to live in this way time and time again, but all that is really happening is that we are wasting eons in false dreaming, never aware that there is true happiness, peace, and everlasting joy at our very fingertips.  All we have to do is to turn away wholeheartedly from anything that makes us bow down to matter, sin, disease, and death. and steadfastly listen to that inner voice of Truth that is always with us - always guiding, guarding, and governing us.
To escape from evil, we must be steadfast in our focus on the Truth of being - in spiritual living and blessedness.  We must stand up against the subtle lies that delusional error tries to impress upon us as our own thoughts.  Humanly when we dream at night, we are convinced that we are living a real existence - traveling to foreign lands and doing wondrous things - when all the while we are simply lying motionless, asleep in a bed.  Likewise, when we look at our daily human existence as reality, all we are truly seeing is a waking dream - sometimes exciting or beautiful, but always false.  We are so acclimated to this pseudo-reality that we think it represents true being.  This is where we must listen to our inner voice - the voice of an angel - if we are going to awake and begin to seek what truly constitutes life and being - divine Spirit.
So, dear friends, do not despair, no matter how deeply mired in mortal delusion you may seem to be.  Your true being has never sinned.  Your true identity is "...hid with Christ in God."  And all the years of hopeless slavery to matter that you may believe you have spent are less than nothing.  It only takes a moment to awaken from this mortal dream and reach out with your heart to divine Love.  Your Father-Mother, God is always there to lift you up as we read in the book of James (4:8): "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double-minded."  Keep your hearts and minds so focused on perfect Love that you listen to and claim no other mind but the divine Mind as your own.  Peace. 

Faith during trying times - sometimes difficult, always rewarding.

A wise teacher once wrote: "Trials are proofs of God's care." In the midst of challenging periods in our lives, most of us have a tough time believing that the pain and suffering we are going through could possibly be evidence of a caring Father-Mother, God.  So, what does this quote mean?
Well, it comes down to how much do we need to grow spiritually in our lives to truly know Love's heavenly kingdom.  The true saints among us live their lives facing the same kinds of trials that we do, but their faith in omnipotent Love is so great that they see beyond the pain to the true reality of being.  They have gained such faith by years of devoted prayer and communion with God.  The suffering they endured early in life taught them a most valuable lesson of faith and trust in Almighty God.  We suffer because we need to grow in our perception and understanding of spiritual, perfect reality.  Our inner spiritual voice reminds us that Love is more potent than hate, Life is more real than death, and Good is more powerful than evil.  When we confront the illusory forces of evil or human error, our human sense of being is troubled.  Much like trying to read a book while riding in the back seat of a car on a hilly, curvy road, the human brain is receiving mixed signals.  The eyes say we are sitting still reading a stationary book while the inner ear testifies that we are moving up and down, right and left.  The end result of these mixed signals is we feel carsick.  Likewise, when our spiritual sense is telling us that divine Love is our life and that we are safe and protected, sometimes our mortal sense tells us otherwise, and we suffer.
Our response to this suffering is key.  Do we accept the suffering as real?  Do we allow the suffering to overcome our sense of God's care?  Do we look elsewhere than Spirit for relief?  If we do any of the preceding, we allow ourselves to lose the lesson we could learn.  If we wallow in the suffering and believe it is reality, we suffer more and defeat the only real purpose suffering has - to prod us into a greater faith, a more steadfast turning to divine Mind.  The result is that we must continue to suffer until we reach that point where we awaken and allow suffering to refocus our minds.  When we finally begin to reject the suffering for its unreality, we will see the true purpose for its seeming presence in our lives.  That truth is telling us that we need to turn more to Spirit and Love and look away from matter and error.
The old adage about suffering, "That which doesn't kill you makes you stronger" applies.  If we turn our thoughts and lives to spiritual being and goodness and find that the trial we were facing is behind us, we can rejoice because we have risen up higher in the scale of existence.  We have added a new piece of evidence to our mental file folder declaring that Spirit can be trusted to overcome matter, and we are blessed by this addition.
So, since divine Love cares dearly for each and every one of us, that Love continues to remind us that we should look away from error, evil, and matter and turn wholeheartedly to Spirit.  Those reminders that we get look a lot like trials and suffering, but they are really just heavenly wake-up calls.  The Bible says: "Rejoice in all things!"  Even suffering can be a call to rejoice when we let it teach us to look to God.  Divine Love is faithful and will deliver us from the lions' den or the fiery furnace.  Likewise, Love will meet any human need we have, including the need for relief from a suffering human sense of pain in life.  So, after the first blush of fear that may accompany a trial or test of our faith, resolve to look heavenward.  As Jesus advises us, "...know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."(John 8:32)


Trials teach mortals not to lean on a material staff,-- a broken reed, which pierces the heart. We do not half remember this in the sunshine of joy and prosperity. Sorrow is salutary. Through great tribulation we enter the kingdom. Trials are proofs of God's care. Spiritual development germinates not from seed sown in the soil of material hopes, but when these decay, Love propagates anew the higher joys of Spirit, which have no taint of earth. Each successive stage of experience unfolds new views of divine goodness and love.  (Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health, 66:6)

The Spiritual and the material

In her revelatory work, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy wrote: "A straight line finds no abiding-place in a curve, and a curve finds no adjustment to a straight line. Similarly, matter has no place in Spirit, and Spirit has no place in matter. Truth has no home in error, and error has no foothold in Truth." (S&H 282: 14-16)
Math often serves as a useful translator between the two polar opposite worlds of spirit and matter.  We all appreciate the concept of the number 5 as an inantimate idea, but we deal with that number in the real world as a concrete identity.  So too the analogy of spirit as a curve or sphere while matter is compared to a straight line segment gives a sense of the vast and unbridgeable gap between the two.
And if Spirit and matter are irreconcilably separate, then shouldn't we begin to examine our lives on the basis of where our focus is held?  How many years, decades, yea, centuries have men endlessly struggled over material possesions, conditions, even sematics?  But if the true reality of the universe is in divine Spirit, then all these struggles are completely senseless and useless.
Take the current stuggle mankind faces over sexuality and marriage.  True, the Bible does instruct that men should "Be fruitful and multiply." (Gen 1:22)  But in another passage, that same Bible says , "But they which shall be accounted worthy . . . neither marry, nor are given in marriage."  (Luke 20:35).  The deeper Truth is that neither sexuality nor mortal marriage are spiritual.  They are, like all material things, part of that straight line universe wherein the heavenly kingdom of Love has no abiding place.  And yet just as mortals have done for milennia, men stand ready to torture and kill one another to prove some completely inconsequential point made by dogmatic, counterfeit, self-ordained religion.  Hear the crystal clear words of Christ Jesus: "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him."
So, where does human sexuality fit into this command to spiritualize our lives?  It could be argued  that sexuality by its material nature is not spiritual and thus not truly a part of Love's heavenly kingdom.  Does that mean the we should eliminate sexuality from our thoughta and our lives?  Well, acutally, at some point in our spiritual evolution away from matter, that should be a natural progression.  Should we force a premature denial of human nature by strength of will?  The ongoing troubles seen in the Catholic priesthood and among sex offenders in society seem to indicate that forced denial humanly leads to repression and eventually unhealthy expression.  Perhaps the wisest approach is to understand human sexuality for what it truly is - a deeply felt part of human expression of selfhood, not completely understood or understandable, but something that must be accepted for at least a little while longer.  
And if it is conceded that this sexuality can never be a true part of man's perfect spiritual being, then what good can we ascribe to it?  Certainly deep human love and the bonding which occurs between two loving individuals has value.  A beautiful sunset is not spiritual, but it can certainly lift up our thoughts and thus our lives .  In like manner so do human sexual bonds within committed loving relatiohships, specifically, marriage.  The key point that needs to be understood spiritually is whether loving human relationships should be limited or judged by a mortal code.  Insofar as moral codes are temporal and mortal, it seems more in live with the God who is Love to err on the side of honoring love and commitment over human rules and constructs.  Any rational human being who has witnessed the deep and abidig love between a couple, be they heterosexual or homosexual, must realize that such emotional bonding cannot be coerced or forced.  Who would choose the stigma most of the world assigns to LGBTQ men and women unless they were obeying an imperative inner voice from their indwelling soul?  And if one is truly obeying such a voice, how can we possibly declare that such love cannot be allowed in our society or our churches?  I believe the appropriate quote from Jesus Christ would be, "Judge not, and ye shall not be judged."(Luke 6:37) 
The time has come for all loving people, of all religions (or no even no religion), to try harder to remember their true spiritual identity and cease from all effots to believe in or construct reality from mortality and human imagination.  As expressions of a divine Creator, perfect Mind, we are always able to hear the voice of Truth when we listen.  We should all be striving daily to uplift our thoughts and thus our lives to Spirit.  And we should honor God as Love by extending our love to all our brothers and sisters wherever they are on their individual journeys spiritward.  Rather than cast stones or hurt our brothers and sisters, we should realize that no mortal, material construct, even marriage, is spiritual.  And we should extend to   all our fellow beings the respect and love that allows them to live their lives as they feel led by the divine Creator.  As long as we do not hinder our brothers and sisters, and we try keep our thoughts uplifted, we never need to fear that Almighty God will direct our paths and lead us safely home.  Blessings to all my brothers and sisters.  Amen.

Judgment, justice, and reality

In everyday life, we often seem to be asked to make judgments of people, of places, and of things.  We have learned to accept this as reasonable, maybe even necessary, and sometimes we probably fail to give the process due consideration.  We just judge and move on.  And how sure are we that in judging we are being fair or righteous?  After all, our judgments are based on what - our own education, our prejudices, sometimes our lack of understanding?  So, what if we discovered that we were indoctrinated into bigotry as we grew up?  How often do we seek spiritual perspectives and inspiration before we make our judgments?  

Perhaps if we wish to live more righteous lives, we should seek to determine what the wisdom of the ages tell us about judgment.  Search whatever spiritual teachings you feel best touch your soul, but for me, there is ample wisdom in the Bible to help me direct my thoughts.  In the New Testament, Jesus said, "Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man." (John 8:15)  He is also quoted as saying, 

     "Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and      

       ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be 

       forgiven:

      Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure,   

      pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, 

      shall men give into your bosom. For with the same 

      measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you 

      again.

      And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the 

      blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch?"

      (Luke 6:37-39)

Jesus' comment refering to when "...the blind lead the blind", sums up for me unrighteous judgment.  How can we possibly judge others unless we know our own wisdom, inspiration, and vision are perfectly aligned with the divine, spiritual source of life?  Do we know this because a denomination or a local preacher has drilled it into our heads that we must believe in a particular human version of  Truth?  When was the last time that church or that preacher raised someone from the dead, walked on water, or ascended into heaven?

Maybe, before we mindlessly condemn our brothers and sisters in Christ, we should stop and seek an inner inspiration before we pass judgment.  Beware leaping to false judgments of others if you heed Jesus' words, "...with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again."  Do you really want to assume the wisdom of the Almighty based soley on human teachings and understanding?  Are you willing to suffer the same condemnation that you mete out if you are wrong?

Surely there's a better way to approach the whole matter of judgment.  Again, I like to start with Jesus' simple words: "Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man."  And so, if Jesus judged no man, who are we do presume to know enough more than he did?  I think that the reason Jesus could declare that he didn't judge men was that he was aware of a Truth that completely separated him from most preaching, theology, and human reasoning.  This Truth was that mortal, material, sinful men were not real - were not ever part of his Heavenly Father-Mother's creating.  Mortals are by definition not spiritual beings.  Their existence is at best a temporal human illusion.  So all that they say or do is unreal, vacuous.  Yes, humanly it appears that they commit evil deeds worthy of condemnation and judgment, but if what we are seeing of these deeds is part and parcel our own illusory view or a false sense of reality, then it is simply an exercise in futility to condemn that which is unreal.  When Jesus declared that we “… judge after the flesh;” was he not pointing to this discrepancy in our vision? 

Until we ascend into heavenly wisdom and peace, we are going to continue our daily material existence including the human demand to see evil and judge people, places, and things based on whatever human code we have adopted as our own.  Would we not be more faithful to Jesus’ teachings if we resisted this temptation?  If we could strive each moment to see our brothers and sisters as God’s children - pure, unfallen, and eternally good, would we not be more in line with the gospels?  Just as Jesus told those wanting to stone the woman they believed to be a sinner, should we not also practice his wisdom that said, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.”  In other words, should we not realize that our entire vision of reality is flawed and that just as she may have appeared to be in violation of human codes of behavior, are we not all violating another of Jesus’ admonitions to:  “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”? (Matt 5:48)

So, when you know you have truly reached perfection, then judge all you want to, cast the first stone, and condemn away.  But be cautious, since if Christ Jesus didn’t feel that he could take such actions, perhaps you are mistaken as to your state of heavenly wisdom.  The better path, it seems to me, is to try instead to see the goodness and love in all our brothers and sisters, tolerate their human imperfections as best we can, and try always to live more Christly lives ourselves. 

Blessings and peace to you all.

A new day, a new week, and new opportunities...

As we move forward in life, each new day has its own story to tell, and according to the laws of physics, we all play our part in the telling.  Our expectations, our fears, our doubts, our optimism or pessimism, all affect the day we experience.  So, if we would rather have joy instead of sorrow, health instead of sickness, peace instead of conflict, love instead of hate, then we must do our part to fortify our hearts and minds with God's Truth and remember Love's omnipotence.  As we face each day, a great Bible verse to remember is found in Isaiah: "And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left." 
We need to remember that the voice we should be listening to is everlasting Mind - divine Love that will never lead us away from our heavenly home.  We should beware of the voices of discord, whether they come from the media, our friends, our families, or even when they seem to be coming from our own consciousness.  It is up to us to judge these voices, as the Bible says in 1 John: "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world."  It may fly in the face of logic to declare that there is no sin, disease, or death, when the world is screaming at us that these troubles are all around.   But if we want to find true and lasting peace in the midst of peril, we should strive to follow the Biblical wisdom and lift up our thoughts and our lives - today and every day. God bless you and keep you all.