Artists vs Craft Tent

The night before the She and He Artists were to leave for their first big trip, they realized that they hadn’t checked their new craft tent. Did it have all the walls, accessories, poles? Was it hard to put together? What did it even look like? Was it in perfect condition or were there any rips, tares, or broken pieces? They knew they had pushed this task almost too far off their radar and had waited to the very last possible moment to find out if there were any issues. They had to stop and take the time to learn their craft tent before it was too late.

They started by pulling out all of the parts that had been placed in its large box by the manufacture around thirty minutes prior to dusk. To their relief it seemed like all the parts were there. But shortly into the process they realized the words, ‘one or two can put up the tent’, was either a misprint or they were defective at pitching a tent. They read the instructions and pulled, pushed, lifted; read the instructions again and repeat the process several times, past the last filtered light of the sun into the night’s darkness.

They were nervous, trying not to point their dismay at each other. They pushed on into the night for fear that they would look like the novices that they were in front of all the other artists during set up at the art show. They put the top on, pulled the legs, lifted the middle that was like an umbrella, while the She Artist’s arms shook, her hands sweat, and frustrations were near a spill over point. She strained to hold it up as the He Artist ran around to each pole clicking it into place. By the third pole She was barking the words, “HURRY!” At the final pole He slipped and She lost her grip, both physically and emotionally. After they caught their breath, with all the grit two fit humans could muster, they got to hear the click of the final pole snapping into place. They were so relieved. The next task was to put the four filmy nylon walls in place as the wind started to pickup and lightning in the distance threatened and gave light.

After over two hours the craft tent was in some assembly that looked closed to what a craft tent should look like. They undid the tent with mental notes and comments about this or that they hoped would help the next time they had to tackle the tent. Their egos feared what it would look like in front of others as they put up the tent. What were the lessons they had learned? Would they be able to remember what worked over what didn’t work when the time came? The tent had their attention, respect, and trepidation on its side. The tent was a fierce competitor and they both dreaded the next battle. They knew they had to be ready to meet the challenge… and win.

The day came and the tent was carried to its station. The anxiety between the She and He Artists as the time drew close for them to once again fight with the tent oozed from their bodies in the warm Mississippi air. Their ten by ten tent was once again at center ring. They could not go further in the set up process until the tent was up, the top was in place, and the walls were secure. They pulled the tent and its weapons of choice out of its carry all bag. They stood it up, pulled it apart from corner to opposite corner. It towered over them. They put the top on and pulled it into position, as they had during the previous exchange.

They looked pathetic, novice extraordinaires, to the casual on-lookers, as well as to the sage art festival competitors. A local artist viewed the novices and took compassion upon them. He remembered what his first show looked like, and he knew it hadn’t been pretty. He was viewing that time once again through the two fighting artists who looked like they were in an ugly battle with their tent. He decided that through all the times he had been helped in the beginning of his craft career; it was time for him to be passed the torch… from being helped to being helpful.

He slowly walked over to the She and He Artist, so not to startle them. In the frustrations and embarrassments She noticed him first. She visually implored him with her eyes to help in their struggles. He kept looking at the situation. She then audibly asked him to consider helping them. He gave her a look that frightened her. Would he just turn and walk away, leaving them in the craft tent, pole flaring hell? Or would he come to their rescue? He looked up and down at the issue. He walked to the middle of the tent. Both the She Artist and He Artist stared at him with hopeful eyes and astonishment. He took the middle bar with both of his hands and he shook the tent with quick thrusts into submission. Its poles flared outward; and the top was sent upward. After a few masterful shakes he demanded the He Artist to go to each of the side poles and click them into place. The He Artist was shocked and astonished. But he did as ordered. Within two minutes the tent was in place. They both thanked the Sage Artist for his kindness and wisdom with so much glee and gratitude. They shook his hand and thanked him again before he strolled off, back to his own booth as a hero should.

Pictures of Spring...visual aspects of Renewal

As the rains came and the buds appeared on the branches of the local trees, the couple rejoiced that they too had come through a winter of harshness. Their relationship had grown through the sun of forgiveness and forbearance and their joy came from a beautiful bouquet of learning lessons.

 The She Artist had pictures that were proofs of inspiration. She had had a deep desire to capture the sunsets of that winter in its passing glory. The He Artist’s work had been accepted by an art show jury, their first for the year. They had much to do and a lot to be grateful for as the early spring showed its Divine design. Their work became not only forms of beauty caught by their cameras. But the photos were placed behind unique mat board and lovely frames to become full blown pieces of finished artwork. Day by day they worked steadily and carefully on each piece until the deadline came. When it was time for them to leave, they packed their gorgeous finished product, a craft tent, two chairs, several grid wall display stands, as well as almost all of their personal possessions into their truck and the 17’ trailer. They were on the road towards Pass Christian, Mississippi. They didn’t know that this trip was leading them from the comfort of solid stationariness into the liquidity of a life without mortal life jackets, into the Divine waters of a more spiritual life.

Several weeks prior, they had been led to make reservations at a lovely RV park just a few miles from the sugar white sandy beaches between Biloxi and New Orleans. The Gulf of Mexico brought the hugeness of their endeavors into perspective. As the powerful waters rushed the shores, they could see that their work wasn’t just about two artists’ and their personal desires. But a Divine direction, a purposeful Soulful expression of two witnesses who captured moments of God’s beauty, grace, and presence; and brought it into tangible form for the spectator and customer alike.

They had so much to learn about the ‘why’, ‘Who’, ‘when’, ‘where’, and ‘what’ of their work. They didn’t realize their endeavors were not personal, but under the Hand of the Divine. They didn’t understand that the work was bigger than their personal perceptions. They didn’t see the Big Picture, the reason, the Help, the Direction which consistently was ever-present in their day to day activity as they should have. It might have helped serve them better than their dread and fears concerning the future. Had they taken in the vastness of the ocean’s power as a symbol of God’s power and control over their lives, perhaps it would have helped them gain a deeper sense of trust and peace.

The trip had been set for only six days. But through necessity it was extended to almost two weeks. The extra time gave them moments of clarity and inspiration which they needed for future courage. It was a springboard view of the possibilities and opportunities of their life on the road with Him, God, a bird’s eye view of what their new life would include. The beauty and grandeur of the place, the freshness of the full blown spring, the time they had been given in this paradise fed them as artists and their budding friendship.

When they came back to their stationary RV home they were not the same people. The struggle between the known and the unknown, between the comfort zones of a stagnating RV park and the refreshing daily renewal through His direction on the road, had changed the artists from the ordinary to the extraordinary. It guided them into the realization they were to move into a 17’ RV and go on the road. Permanent seekers and followers, witnesses to the Grand Director of Life on the road.

Photographers in their Right Place

A new chapter for the photographers led them to hit the road both literally and figuratively. It took their artistic and marital life through metaphorical twists and turns. Some days seemed as daunting as a rutty dirt road with lots of S curves, other times it was as promising as a smooth new four lane highway.

A thrill of peace, a sense of gratitude and glory would go through their moments day by day all the while not knowing where it would lead them, what they would find, and how their lives would be maintained. At other times sheer fear would grip them; as terror when one sees the edge of the rails meeting the sky in a roller coaster ride. Each step of the way they had to find the right answer. Step by step they had to learn the unnatural qualities of trust, patience, and perseverance. Two egos were learning how to see in the dark until The Light upon the path would shine just enough to move them slightly forward. 

Unlikely doors would open, messages would be heard as they prayed, words from this passage or that billboard or marquee would help guide them at just the right moment, all the coincidences would push them forward. They learned a new way to listen; a new way to view life, outside what seemed necessary or normal. 

Their first steps were from the stability of a full time job and home to a transition of retirement from a past career into an RV during the bitter months of winter and into their new lives as artists. They had to learn how to keep warm, let go of possessions, and work with each other around a tight space. It was a frosty obstacle ridden time for two people to learn the balances of time, space, relationship. Their desire and love helped melt away the lack of understanding, fear, and personal view points. They turned to the Higher Power for help to work through the daily challenges.

They found that the biggest challenges were self-conceived notions, fears, beliefs, plots and plans, and for those obstacles of personal sense to be fought over and dissolved. Each day they had to learn how to trust each other, trust The Word, and trust the progress and moves that brought them towards a higher Divine way and means. The winter was long and cold but they made it to spring and into bigger moves and longer miles away from their comfort zones.

They would see that comfort was not based on a brick and mortar foundation with a permanent address or a structured schedule. But it was based upon a peace that comes from an all absorbing love, a love for God's Ways, a love to be childlike and obedient. Comfort came through demonstrating what they were learning and understanding about themselves as Children of the All-knowing God.

Two Photographers and a 17' Trailer

Once upon a time a business woman of normal standing in her community knew she was a fake. You see, she didn't like normal. Her heart and thoughts didn't fit in with the normal people of her community. Behind the mask of normal she wore for those around her, she yearned for the abnormal, the freedom to be herself. The desire to break out of the boxes all the normal people tried to put her. Through their view points, opinions, and their own discomforts of the abnormalities of those unlike themselves, she became very dark and sad.

She was a depressed soul with a smile on her face. She hid behind this false facade as long as she could, years in fact went by. The fakeness and normal people wore her down. Only her hopes and dreams of a life, where she could be herself...artistic, different, with a life filled with new adventures and wonderful places to see, buoyed her through the rough patches called, 'being responsible'. At times she would lose herself in the mundane routines of normal people. She would wonder if she would ever get to be an expression of her true self-hood...OR, if she would forever live a life of fakery.

She had no ill-will towards the normal people. They were happily going along in the normalness of their ways. But she could tell they didn't like abnormal people. They would make remarks, pressure those around them to be like themselves...or else. So for their sake and hers she hid her true desire to be who she was...wonderfully, completely, wholeheartedly abnormal.

*******

He was a runner, a freedom fighter. All his life he lived by the beat of his own ways. Even as a child he bucked the system, made his own rules, even if it meant paying a penalty. He broke free from the boxes that the government, community, and even the school boards tried to impose upon him. His days were of his own making. His lesson plans were of his own creating. He learned through his own system. He made his own breach and filled in the gaps with his own curriculum.

Year after year this free spirit made his life choices against the tides of what the normal communities would find acceptable. He lived his life unapologetic and outside the boxes normal people check. He made his life under his own terms and no one else's.

He was an artist, an archer, and a productive member of society without government assistance nor community involvement. He crossed the country from West to East and from South to North for many years until it was almost time for him to find the woman who needed help breaking the chains and barriers of normal-hood and to help set her free.

*******

They had three things in common: first, the desire to be free; second, the love of photography; and third, a love for God and courage which was brought to them through prayer.

They met in an unlikely way...but for two abnormal people, wouldn't that be normal? Their love and friendship grew through growing pains. They both fought hard for their individual independence and yet they fought as rigorously to stay together. Their bond was being built like and made as beautiful as a Kintsugi bowl.

Step by step this unlikely pair moves closer together and becomes one unit of artistry. They both took photographs that won them places in the hearts of Art Show Juries. She puts together each photo with its perfect pieces of mat board and its unique frame. He completes the task of turning them into a finished product. They are both proud of, and deeply grateful to be a part of this beautiful whole collection of lovely artwork.

Through prayer and guided steps, they will take to the road to go from art show to art show. They are two artists, two 'road prayer warriors', two souls united as one by marriage and artistic commitment, living in a 17' Springdale Mini, and loving their abnormal life.

This blog is to bring the abnormal and the normal readers alike together as one, to celebrate this couple's accomplishments, mourn their hardships, and pray with them every roll of the wheel across this land we call the United States of America.

In the future there may be opportunities to purchase pieces of artwork, maybe a book or two, but for the most part this is a journal, a log of epic RV proportions, a place to commemorate the adventures of two abnormal artists and their journey together.

Precious

"Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth.”¹
“My people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places;”²
“My people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who bringeth good tidings, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!”³
“Since thou was precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life. Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth; Even everyone that is called by name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.”⁴

God has created Man, is speaking to Man, and views Man as very precious. We must publish this wonderful Love, by listening, seeing, and treating each other as the precious Creation of God. It is our duty to our Father-Mother, God. We are Father-Mother, God’s children. We not only must do this, we get to do this.

HOW? Start by treating our family, friends and those we come into contact as Precious Children of Love. Then think of anyone that comes to our view, our thoughts, our experience as the Precious People of God’s Creation. Then pray, love, and have sincere hearts to those around the world in the same way. One by one, if each of us view the other as God sees us, and as God has created us, we will see what Christ Jesus spoke of when he stated, ‘Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself’⁵ truly means.

Having that consciousness that rejoices in Her babes. Having that view of Love for all His creation by cherishing and loving one another, we will begin to see true Peace. It begins in our thoughts and hearts and then spreads to all mankind through love without condemnation and without judgment.

We are the precious creation of the One Altogether Lovely. Let us love one another in honor to this Precious Parent and Creator of Her Precious People. We are His, ‘my people’. Let us rejoice in this and love one another!

Gentle hugs

1 The King James Version of The Holy Bible Psalms 78 vs. 1
2 ibid Isaiah 32 vs. 18 (my)
3 ibid Isaiah 52 vss. 6 (my), 7
4 ibid Isaiah 43 vss. 4-7
5 ibid Matthew 19 vs. 19

Letter: Abide in Love

Dear Hearts,

Mrs. Eddy, the founder and discoverer of Christian Science, states, “One must abide in the morale of truth or he cannot demonstrate the divine Principle.” S&H 456:19

When we look up ‘abide’ one of the definitions is to ‘be fixed or permanent on a particular condition.” We MUST abide in Love. We Must abide in the demonstration of THE divine Principle (God’s Laws). We must have the ‘morale’, the mental confidence, loyalty, enthusiasm, in Principle more than in personal principles, opinions, beliefs, based upon fears, hopes, agenda, the confusion and lies and fears of mortal mind, the 'carnal mind' as Paul calls it. We must be fixed permanently upon trusting God’s ever present perfect Being and Law, trusting Truth, His constant Truth.

The Truth is you, me, all are under the control of the Perfect Creator, Spirit, Love. We must abide in this Truth and Love. The Creator is Love and does all out of Love. He has created all through Love, and it is Perfect, needing nothing. Everything is done through Love. So because it is Love being manifested what God has for you is perfect, useful, helpful, timely, Love being loving.

We must trust this Love firmly. The only way we can do this is to understand Love. It is not based upon the mortal view of love, but on a higher elevation of perfect constant Love, the Christ, the Power, the Creator, Love.  The work here is to learn, understand, turn to and live Love.

We must abide in it consistently. We must love it more than beliefs. We must turn to it, listen for its directios, and obediently follow it. We must look to it and away from the mortal dream stating that Love isn’t here Doing, Being, expressing Itself perfectly. We must so abide in Love that lies do not fool us, sway us, or make us believe that Love is less than Love.

This is ‘demonstrating’ Principle. This is having faith, trust and understanding in and abiding in Principle, Love. The healing follows the understanding!

Understand God’s Love for you, and all, and abide in that Love. Then you will see the harmonizing activity of Love. Look to Love for everything and you will see Love’s activity everywhere.

It is wonderful worthwhile work.

Gentle hugs

"Progress is the Law"

Good morning,

This morning’s prayers for myself (‘me first’ is mandatory) started with the Lord’s Prayer. I finished the prayer. But then went back to the “forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors” portion of the prayer…I started thinking of one family member, then 6 others, that had made my childhood the unfun that it had been. I then began to forgive each one of them.

I started by giving each one of them back their familial loving titles, instead of just the names I had thought and spoken of them for so many years. I took a strong mental stand, knowing that “Progress is the Law”.

I allowed myself to realize that this law does bring us all up and forward from our past mistakes, of actions and thoughts. I let them ‘off the hook’ through forgiveness and this progressive law. This freed me and them from the past. It gave me a way to forgive them and to allow Love to enter in and heal us all.

How? By seeing them as blessed and by seeing them through a sense of change for the good (Progress), I could see them as their better selves, as the Children of God. Through this thought process, I got to love and forgive them, see them as God sees them.

Progress IS the Law. I could see how they HAD TO have progressed since those many years back and still now after their passing. They had to progress from the way they seemed to be in my childhood, and into my adulthood for some, because Progress is spiritually the Law. I’ve progressed, so they can and have had to as well.

I get to see them in this better view point. It frees me from the past and lets me love them, forgive them, and let go!

What a joy to see that everyone gets to Progress and be freed from past mistakes, past misbehaviors, and be as we are, our better selves through His Love.

Gentle hugs

Poisons removed

This morning before my eyes opened a part of the Lord’s Prayer was coming to my thought. It was, Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from all evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever.¹

These words are not just words but heartfelt prayer to God, a statement of affirmation. God does give us the supplies of perfect ideas and thoughts that bring us through our day with grace, love and forgiveness. By turning to God alone for our needs both for direction, ideas, thoughts that come from the All-knowing Mind, God, we gain the true sense of what we’re to do today.

This daily, moment by moment activity of turning to God for all frees us from the burden of belief that we’re out in a world of chaos, fear, anger, and doubt and that we’re ‘to fend for ourselves’. What a lonely fear driven thought that is! But because God is All-in-all we must and can turn to this Love for all things. This turning of thought to God brings to our day peace, reassurance, perfect guidance, protection, and the ‘How to do’ anything in all circumstances. For only God is and can give us peace and direction, love and understanding.

To forgive all wrongs, ill-will, disappointments, angry encounters, hurt feelings, is to free not only our ‘debtors’, those who we feel have done something to us, but it also frees us from the harboring of the poisons of anger, resentment, and hard feelings. These resentments and hurts clog our thoughts, harden our hearts, and make us ‘stiff necked’ people. The attributes of resentment poison our other relationships with doubt and mistrust. They make us come into other relationships not fully engaged. They smolder in our thoughts, making us unpleasant without explanation.

To forgive frees us from the past. To forgive allows us to express grace, joy and love with all without constraint. Forgiveness frees us to be our true childlike self, God’s child, the child of Love. It brings ease and joy back into our relationships and thoughts.

Many times our Master, Christ Jesus, included the words, “Thy sins be forgiven thee” when he was healing people. He knew that the only way the sins that create disease and death may be forgiven is by the complete removal of them. He stated to many, ‘go and sin no more’. That is the fullness of forgiveness, that the sins be completely stopped. Those harboring ill-will, a sin against our fellow man, God’s child, must stop completely the holding of grudges. How? By forgiving others and letting go of the thoughts that harbor the anger and resentment. This frees us all and stops the egotism, the sin, the self-superiorities of ill-will.

In the healing in Mark we find his explanation of these words when we read, “Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only? And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.”²

All that Christ Jesus did wasn’t just for his own good but for all to learn and do as well. When we forgive we are freeing not only ourselves but also those who we are harboring ill-will against. This grace of forgiveness heals.

It is the Christ within us, the Good of God’s creating, the perfect Ideal that we all manifest of God’s likeness that gives us the ability and freedom to forgive. This is what Jesus revealed throughout his earthly career. This Christ raised the dead, healed and fed the multitude, and broke all mortal beliefs concerning life and death. This Christ is ours by reflection. We too may heal relationships through this Christ activity of Love.

Mary Baker Eddy states in her main work, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, “Sin is forgiven only as it is destroyed by Christ,—Truth and Life.”³ Truth and Life are the synonyms of God, so sin is forgiven only as it destroyed by the Christ power of God.

How? The statement, “Love thy neighbor as thyself”⁴ brings a new view of how to see and express love to our fellow man. This activity of Love frees us. It breaks the chains and fetters of hate. Through the reflection of Love, God, our true nature and expression, we are freed from all ill-will. Love brings to our thoughts love. This love, this grace, this joyful acceptance of others as God sees them, precious, whole, complete, good, brings the wonderful ability to forgive our ‘enemies’.  Love, then, is the key to forgiveness. Love frees us to love!

Today let us stop the poisons of ill-will. Let us forgive as we would like to be forgiven. Let us free ourselves and others from the holding of grudges even for one more hour. Let us be free through the activity of love and forgiveness.

Gentle hugs


1 The King James Version of the Holy Bible Matthew 6 vss. 12, 13
2 ibid Mark 2 vss. 7-11
3Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy page 5 line 23
4 The King James Version of the Holy Bible Matthew 19 vs. 19

A must 'Read'; A Promise, A Law, A Gift ...God is Love

“And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us.  God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment.  He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us.”¹

What a beautiful relationship, God to Love. It is as mathematical as any of the perfect provable theorems of the Science of Mathematics. As we understand Love as God, we can see all that God does and gives. It is through the Mind of Love.

If we clearly see and understand this…or it should be said, AS we clearly see and understand this, we will stop blaming bad on God. We will stop fearing bad and be perfected in Love. We will see that Love removes the bad. Love comes to protect, heal, and lift us above what we consider bad.

Bad is subjective. In that what we believe as bad, the loss of something/someone, or the violence of person or wars, or the destructions of people or weather, isn’t what God sees or creates through Love. Love lifts us gently above the sorrows and reveals Life, His Life, as perfect, sustained, maintained, Real. Love reveals to us through higher thoughts and concepts that what we treasure, count as ‘real’, are but the illusions of an evil world and evil doers.

“This human belief, alternating between a sense of pleasure and pain, hope and fear, life and death, never reaches beyond the boundary of mortal or the unreal.”² 298:17

When we stop letting the errors of our beliefs swing us like pendulums in a clock from bad to worse, from fear to hopelessness. When we stand firm on the side of God, the side of Good, we will see this Good as the power, dominion, love, joy and peace of our lives now, not a hoped for later.

Love loves, therefore what He creates is all loving. What error, the devil, aggressive mental suggestions creates is chaos, hate, and harm. But Love never created evil and Love is the only Creator. Therefore evil, devil, animality and hate are but the mental suggestions that we place upon ourselves. When we turn to Love in our own dismay we find that all that is unlike Love is  removed by Love. Love reveals to us His Life in the Kingdom of Heaven and our place in His divine consciousness. We dwell in Love.

“In order to comprehend the meaning of the text, let us see what it is to believe.”³ “You will find yourself losing the knowledge and the operation of sin, proportionably as you realize the divine infinitude and believe that He can see nothing outside of His own focal distance.”⁴

We are as little children in the world of make-believe. ‘We believe what we see and see what we believe.’ But this isn’t what God created, manifests, sees, understand, nor sustains in His vastness Goodness and Love, His Truth. When we get horrified by our own beliefs and tired of fear and its false tyranny we turn to Him… or we blame Him…

God is ever available Love. Ever waiting patiently for us all to turn to Him and be healed of our misconceptions. God is the Truth. This Truth removes all that is unlike the Truth. This Truth is the power that frees us from the aggressive mental suggestions. This Truth is the Divine Law and it removes all the false mortal beliefs of false proclaimed laws that we believe are true.

God is above our beliefs. God lifts our understanding to the Truth and reveals man as free, healthy, protected, loved. God is omnipotent, the only and All-powerful. God is omnipresent, the One and Only that fills all-space. These divine Facts remove the beliefs of other powers and evils that falsely abuse and accuse man. Love fills all space. When this is seen and understood mankind finds the divine revelation—that there is no evil—the conceivable and evident Truth of Divine Being. When we turn to the Real, the unreal—evil, fear, doubts, murderous, disastrous tendencies—disappear.  

But not until we stop believing in the unreal will we see the totality of Divine Reality. We must proclaim the Real in our thoughts and stay in His omnipresent Good consistently, persistently, completely.

“In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.”⁵

Let us stand for Love, live through His Christ in our daily affairs, cast off the false fears that try to hide His omnipotence and be free.  Let us see Love as a power, dominant over all evil beliefs and fears.

“If you ask a Christian Scientist how they do it, the reply will be in the form of a quotation from Science and Health [p. 494], “Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need.”⁶

It is that we turn to Love, Divine Love, that always has and always will meet every human need, rising His mankind above the evils of misconception and lifts us in His Divine arms, in the view of His ever-powerfulness and ever-present Love.

Gentle hugs


1 The King James Version of The Holy Bible I John 4 vss. 16-19
2 Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy page 298 line 17
3 Miscellaneous Writings by Mary Baker Eddy page 197 line 13
4 Unity of Good by Mary Baker Eddy page 20 line 21
5 The King James Version of The Holy Bible I John 4:9
6 The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany compiled and/or written by Mary Baker Eddy page 73 line 7

We are 'Note Worthy' in God's Grand Plan!

We have become lulled by the serpent liar to believe that we are just lowly, who cares, people that are struggling or have quit even trying to be the grandness that God has created in each of us!  We think that Noah, Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Elisha, Jacob, David, Ruth, Mary, Jesus, Paul, Martin Luther, and to some of us Mary Baker Eddy, just name a few, are the shining stars of God and the rest of us are just here to fill up space, dull bulbs in the universe. But this is totally untrue!

Each one of us are the shining lights of God just as the above mentioned. Each one of us are ‘note worthy’. Each one of us are as important in God’s grand design. But by being fooled into believing that they are important and we’re just failing or hopefully succeeding mortals, lulls us into believing that our lives and work isn't as important. Because of this we do not see our part in the beauty of God’s Wonderfulness, His perfect unfoldment of Life, our grand part!
 
We are the reflections of God. We are not dull bulbs, but radiant lights reflecting His Light of Life, Truth, and Love. If His radiancy was bright in some and dull in others God would look like Swiss cheese or like pictures of the dark side of the moon filled with pockets of craters of darkness and small segments of light. But this isn’t true! We are all note worthy, all important, all radiant lights!  Therefore we must step up and take our place, that only position that we can be and do, and start reflecting as bright and brilliant as the others.

How? By wrestling with the lies, opinions, fears, doubts just as Jacob did, Jesus, Moses, and all the others. Jacob wrestles the devil until the break of dawn in his thought where he saw the difference between the wrong of the darkness of his ways and the light of Truth and Love. It was so bright and clear to him, it was so life changing that even God gave him a new name, Israel.

“Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. And the Lord said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.”¹

Moses handled his fear, doubt and lack of understanding of who he was as the child idea of God. He went step by step with God doing what he was meant to do, the plan of the Holy Spirit.  We too must do our part. We must wrestle with the error in our thought, the belief that others are designed for greatness but we’re just struggling mortals not doing all that much in the big picture. We must get up every day ready for the fight and the win over the liar and become who we were meant to be, Note Worthy, able, precious in the fight.

“It is your province to wrestle with error, to handle the serpent and bruise its head;…”²

The word ‘province’ means office, business, and I add ‘duty to’ wrestle with the liar, the devil, the serpent, error, mistaken belief, fears, aggressive mental suggestions. It is our right, our duty, our ability through the Christ to wrestle with and handle the lies that come to our thoughts everyday and win the battle that tries to hide our bright light in God’s perfect design.

God has given to each and everyone their place as His perfect brilliant reflection. Let us stop being fooled into being less than who we were created to be. Let us everyday step up alongside with the 'great ones' and be grand reflections of God. We are to light the world more brightly with the Light of God. Divine Mind, God, is waiting for us to be who He created, His shining Lights of Love.

Gentle hugs

1 The King James Version of the Holy Bible Exodus 4 vss. 10-12
2 Miscellaneous Writings by Mary Baker Eddy pg 336 partial sentence on lines 4-5

The full sentence by Mary Baker Eddy:

“It is our province to wrestle with error, to handle the serpent and bruise its head; but you cannot as a Christian Scientist, resort to stones and clubs—year, to matter—to kill the serpent of a material mind.” Miscellaneous Writings by Mary Baker Eddy page 336 lines 4-7

 

 

His Perfect Way

“Seek holy thoughts and heavenly strain, that makes men one in Love remain.”¹

This is from a favorite poem turned into a hymn. At times when we sing poems we can get lost in the music and miss the message. So yesterday at church while hearing this sung as our Solo, I wasn’t lost in my croaky voice but listening to the healing words. When the soloist got to this portion it made me think about it.

When we ask ‘when’, ‘where’, ‘why’, ‘how’, ‘what’, we receive the messages from the Holy Ghost who knows all and does all.  This asking is the seeking, the seeking of holy thoughts and heavenly harmonious ways instead of my own.

So ‘when’ should I seek holy thoughts and heavenly strain and remain in Love? The answer has to be today, everyday, always, right now. If I am busy seeking holy thoughts instead of being confused and overwhelmed by the business of the day. I can see a day filled with wisdom, right ideas, helpful ways to handle each challenge. But if I think I’m too busy to seek these holy thoughts from the higher One, God, than myself. By the end of the day, when I look back, I might not see a day of success but a day filled with mistakes and detours. Overtime if I keep leaving Wisdom, Intelligence, God out of my thoughts and day, I am going to have a mess on my hands. The only way out of all the twists and turns of multiple mistakes is to give our lives back over to God who is Life, perfect Life.

Where? Everywhere with everyone, at work, on the road, with our family, friends and foes (if we think and believe we have them). “If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.”² By seeking His holy thoughts wherever we are, whatever we are doing, we will find that Love is the answer to all of our challenges and questions. Love leads us into the right path. Truth, God, brings to us the answers that we need right where we think we are in a challenge. To love one another and help each other is the standpoint we should seek these holy thoughts. Not just for ourselves but for everyone around us.

Why? Seeking holy thoughts makes me stop thinking everything through from my lacking view point. Instead of my own ways, by turning to God who is All-knowing, All-seeing, All-wise for every answer I am being saved by His heavenly harmonious ways. No matter how small or intricate things seem to be, God has the perfect thought that leads us to the right way to do something, the Divine Way.  By seeking the ‘heavenly strain’ and remaining in love, our viewpoints bear patience, consideration, divine influence, and kind thoughts.

This way of living and thinking makes us people others seek out, because they trust that we are here to benefit them not to use them. This heavenly strain is from a standpoint of loving ideas, thoughts and guidance that not only bless us but bless others. To seek holy thoughts and heavenly strain we are more attuned to God and His healing messages. This brings us at one with God and our fellow man instead of at odds. It brings to us a healing nature instead of competition or an angry disposition.

How? The best way I have found in this seeking of holy thoughts is through humility. If I think I know everything and can do every job I quickly can become unsuccessful, confused, and disappointed. But through humility I find that my ways are lacking and God’s ways are perfect, protective, loving.  By loving God and His ideas more than our own; by looking to Love, Truth, Life, God for all of the answers we find more joy in our lives. When we seek God’s thoughts through humility and meekness we find that our day and relationships harmonize. God’s loving lead directs us through the chaos of our day and brings us peace through His perfect answers to every problem.

“Cherish humility, ‘watch,’ and ‘pray without ceasing’ or you will miss the way of Truth and Love. Humility is no busybody: it has no moments for trafficking in other people’s business, no place for envy, no time for idle words, vain amusements, and all that et cetera of the ways and means of personal sense.”³  Truth and Love is God. ‘Personal sense’ is that voice in our heads that gets us into mischief, trouble, discordant conditions. Why? Because it is the voice of self-justification, self-centered, hurt feelings, egotism, and self-love. It is the voice that makes us say and do things that later we regret.

The last verse of this poem reads, “Fed by Thy love divine we live, For Love alone is Life; And life most sweet, as heart to heart speaks kindly when we meet and part.”⁴

Let us see the great gain in seeking holy thoughts and heavenly strain. Let us be fed all the right ideas, directions, and intelligence that we gain through living love and experiencing Life from this higher standpoint of thought. Let us share these ideas and ways with those around us. Let us feel our lives harmonize through this divine activity.

Gentle hugs


1 Christian Science Hymnal No. 30 vs. 2
2 The King James Version of the Holy Bible I John 4 vss. 12 (If we) and 13
3 Miscellaneous Writings by Mary Baker Eddy page 356 lines 30-3 following page
4 Christian Science Hymnal No. 30 vs. 5     

Worth, Value, is based on expression not possession

Do we ever feel that our value, self-worth seems very much lacking? Do we ever feel worthless? Then what are we basing our worth on? Is it human success, possessions, bank accounts, number of friends, our social calendar? Or are we seeing a higher sense of worth and value?

In looking up the word “Worth” the definition that jumped out at me was “Value; that quality of a thing which renders it useful, or which will produce an equivalent good in some other thing.”

In looking at this I loved the idea that worth and value are based upon qualities that render themselves as useful!  The only qualities that we know that does this are spiritual qualities from God.  God’s qualities such as goodness, tenderness, compassion, love, gentleness, forgiveness, consideration, thoughtfulness all can be rendered as very useful in our day to day experience. They ‘produce an equivalent of good in other things.’  These qualities bring out the good we express with others and how we see ourselves. The more we use these qualities by expressing them the more value we can see about ourselves and others!

In studying a Proverb we read, “The tongue of the just is as choice silver: the heart of the wicked is little worth.”¹

To me this helps begin the process of today’s work…’the tongue of the ‘just’ is as choice silver’.

This tongue can not only be the one we use towards others outwardly while speaking.  But it also can be used against ourselves and others inwardly in our thinking.  How important if we want to be just and as ‘choice sliver’ worthwhile and valuable, that this inward tongue be gracious, loving, kind, forgiving and not egotistical, comparing, competitive!  How important it is for us to feel valuable and then to think and speak what is spiritually worthy.

The above quote from Proverbs includes: “The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom. The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.”²

The qualities God renders as useful to us are never based upon material things, people, places, jobs. These all come and go. What He counts as worthy, worthwhile, are the qualities He created for each of us to express and entertain. Qualities such as kindness, patience, grace have nothing to do with possessions or human success. He sees our value and worth as spiritual.  If we are to feel and see our own worth as very valuable we must base our worth on what God has created us to be.  

If we do not feel very valuable, then what are we weighing in the balances of our own self-worth? What are we putting into our day’s activities that would register a value? Is the higher percentage of our actions and thoughts based upon ill-will, envy, anger, resentment, competition, stepping on our fellow man to gain some better position, self-justification?  Or are our thoughts of a sweeter nature, such as being and expressing goodness, happiness for others, patience, understanding, forgiveness? Is this poly-annaism? NO! It is seeing that our worthless feelings or our feeling of value is based upon our actions towards others and our thoughts about ourselves.

“All that is worth reckoning is what we do, and the best of everything is not too good, but is economy and riches.”³

“Happiness consists in being and doing good; only what God gives, and what we give ourselves and others through His tenure, confers happiness; conscious worth satisfies the hungry heart, and nothing else can.”⁴

When we are putting our own self-worth in the scales and balances of this thought, ‘happiness consists in being and doing good’ then the ‘qualities rendered as useful’ is based upon sharing happiness and giving to ourselves and others ‘His tenure’.

Are we valuing ourselves based upon things we have or the qualities we are expressing? Are we expressing love or hatred, resentment, anger, hurt feelings or patience, understanding, forgiveness? The qualities that we are rendering if they are to be ‘useful’ have to be good. This makes us feel happy and worth a lot more.

Let us make sure that our self-worth is based upon the righteousness of God’s Goodness and that we express and embrace this Love. For the Proverbs continues and ends with, “The hope of the righteous shall be gladness: but the expectation of the wicked shall perish. The way of the Lord is strength to the upright: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity. The righteous shall never be removed: but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth. The mouth of the just bringeth forth wisdom: but the froward tongue shall be cut out. The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable: but the mouth of the wicked speaketh frowardness.”⁵

Our worth is spiritual made up of the nature and qualities of God and His supreme righteousness, the qualities He created us to express.  This is true worth.

Gentle hugs


1 The King James Version of the Holy Bible Proverbs 10 vs. 20
2 ibid Proverbs 10 vss. 21, 22
3 Miscellany Writings by Mary Baker Eddy page 203 line 10
4 Message to The First Church of Christ, Scientists, 1902 by Mary Baker Eddy page 17 line 24
5 The King James Version of the Holy Bible Proverbs 10 vss. 28-32

Prayer and concern for all

The Mayor of Boston answered the question concerning the condition of the bombing suspect, “Who cares?” 

I care…

We are taught that we must pray for everyone. Not just the ‘deserving’, but everyone. 

Christ Jesus, when asked why he sat with Publicans and sinners, stated, “They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”¹

We need to see that as examples of the Christ we must care.  To have great compassion for all of the people who have endured this heinous act, must include this young man, his brother, and their family.  They were lead into temptation to be a part of this horrific act. But to exclude him from our prayers doesn’t serve our higher purpose. 

It is hard at first to think of including ‘perpetrators of evil’ in our prayers. But over time it becomes natural. It is in our loving and compassionate nature.  It is our duty. In the long run, through meekness, sincerity, and obedience, it becomes a part of our joy to serve ALL mankind. We do not actually get to pick and choose who deserves prayer.

What would happen if, as shocked as this young man’s uncle is, it was a family member of ours? Impossible? That is what this family was thinking as well. Wouldn’t we want to be included in the healing prayers of the Christ? Wouldn’t we want to be embraced by the ever forgiving Love of God?

In praying this week about this issue the question came to me, “Does God love Jesus more than Judas?” At first the natural thought was, ‘Yes.’ But then I stopped to think about Habakkuk, in the Old Testament of the King James Version of the Holy Bible.  It reads, “The burden of Habakkuk the prophet did see. O Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! Even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!  …Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god. Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God, mine Holy One? We shall not die. O Lord, thou has ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou has established them for correction. Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity:…”³

At first Habakkuk thought that all evil was being seen and agreed with by God. This was upsetting to him until his understanding changed. Then he realized that God is of ‘purer eyes than to behold evil’ and doesn’t “look on iniquity”. This revealed to me that God sees all of His idea, Man (and Woman), beloved, cared for, lifted above all wrongs and evils, to His standpoint of thought and action.

We may not see this occur in this young man, yet,…but we might. Look at the example of Saul who crucified Christians. He took them into captivity, abused them…he then was turned into Paul for God’s use to be a huge spiritual leader in the Christ activity later.

The answers to our prayers must come from a deeper study concerning God’s love.  If God had favorites then God’s Love would be on the same platform as bad human parenting. If God loves one more than the other, then almost everyone in the Bible from Adam to Paul would have been condemned and pushed far away from Him. We all know what Adam did to get kicked out of the Garden of Eden (but that was for his own ‘protection’ according to the Jehovah God). Abram before and after his name change to Abraham had his wife lie. He had her say that she was his sister to save his life. But this just about got other men in terrible trouble. Moses killed a man prior to leading the Israelites out of bondage. David had a husband killed in battle so he could have the man’s wife. Jonas didn’t obey and spent time in a whales belly…Saul became the “vessel”² of God even after  he killed and took into captivity the very people that he later became, a Christian. His life turned from accuser to preaching and converting others to, Christianity.

In meekness we too can pray and serve this Higher Purpose who sees no iniquity in any of us. It is our duty our privilege, to serve this all-inclusive Love, who excludes no one and loves all. Some things we are taught and we must follow that may not always be very easy. But each command is important, imperative.

The sixth tenet in Christian Science is, “And we solemnly promise to watch, and pray for that Mind to be in us which was also in Christ Jesus; to do unto others as we would have them do unto us; and to be merciful, just and pure.”⁴

Let us do this always. Let us do it without personal judgment or simulation. Let us love Love enough to be ever vigilant and obedient.  When we learn “Love thy neighbor as thy self” AND “Do unto others as you would have them do unto us” there are no clauses to who may be excluded.

 "As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways:"5

Gentle hug
1 The King James Version of the Bible Matthew 9 vss. 12 (They), 13
2 ibid Acts 9 vs. 15
3 ibid Habakkuk 1 vss. 1-3 and 11-13
4 Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy 497 line 26
5 The King James Version of the Bible Ezekiel 33 vs 11 (As; to second ;)

 

Forgiveness..."Upholding innocence"

Forgiveness is a word that some ignore, others try and fail, and others do with such grace it is breathtaking.  I will never forget when the gunman went into the Amish School and gunned down several children.  It wasn’t the evil I’ll magnify in my thoughts and remember.  It was the forgiveness!  The Amish people expressed so much forgiveness and compassion.  Right in the midst of their devastating loss they forgave the shooter and expressed loving kindness towards the man’s mother.  It wasn’t months after the incident, it was practically hours afterwards that they began this process of forgiving. 

When looking up the word “Forgive” there are a lot of definitions such as…‘excuse, condone, pardon…’ These definitions are so lacking and inadequate when it comes to most acts of forgiveness in the simplest forms much less for acts of heinous proportions! How could anyone follow the Master Christian in his command for us all to forgive ‘seventy times seven’¹ when something occurs so large? It may be too hard to contemplate. But then a perfect definition of ‘Forgive’ comes across to us. The definition that states, “to uphold innocence.”

We can do this!  How?  By understanding and seeing Man as God’s child, His Idea—perfect, complete, whole, beloved, loving, free, GOOD—the manifestation and likeness of God’s Selfhood.  Then we realize that we can uphold man’s true innocence as God’s perfect Idea.  This solid foundation of who and what Man really is, the true existence as a child of God, places us where we can take a firm stand and ‘uphold all of man’s true innocence’, including our own.  

Forgiveness isn’t a mortal option but a spiritual activity. The only way we can truly forgive is to lift our views about man from the failing, evil, horrible to the divine, pure, spiritual idea of God.  What God knows about His creation lifts our view from the debase pictures of awful humanity to the glory of God’s creation.  This higher view lifts consciousness and activity. 

Forgiveness is an individual and collective thought and activity.  Jesus couldn’t have healed and brought humanity higher from a low view of mankind. It would have been impossible.  Christ Jesus had to view man from the standpoint of perfection, goodness, God’s beloved.

We too can view man from this standpoint and love enough to forgive, ‘uphold innocence’, and to view each other from a higher caliber of thought, as God’s image and likeness.  We can take each of these challenges to forgive as a spiritual activity instead of a mortal duty.  We can see that by forgiving in this way we are following the Golden Rule, “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”  Wouldn’t we want to have others forgive – uphold our innocence – instead of holding a grudge or thinking of us as less than we are, God’s perfect idea?

“Jesus was compassionate, true, faithful to rebuke, ready to forgive. He said, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."  "Love one another, as I have loved you." No estrangement, no emulation, no deceit, enters into the heart that loves as Jesus loved.”²

We must see that our duty to ourselves and others is to forgive and leave the punishments and judgments up to God’s highest purpose and thought.  All are corrected by God and His perfect ways of Love.  We need not suffer nor suffer others in our self-beliefs of wrongs.  We are responsible to forgive and can do it gladly and obediently.  We can do this through love for God and His idea Man. 

We can and must forgive.  We might as well start right now and go forward blessing others by forgiving them so that we too may be forgiven. After all, our Lord’s Prayer and instruction contains within it these dutiful and promising words, “And forgive us our debts, AS we forgive our debtors…for if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:”³

Gentle hug


1 The King James Version of the Holy Bible Matthew 18 vs. 22
2 Message to the Mother Church, 1902 by Mary Baker Eddy pg 18 lines 12-18
3 The King James Version of the Holy Bible Matthew 6 vs. 12, 14

Agitate? Why not trust?

It is given to us in the King James Version of The Holy Bible, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.”¹ 

This trust isn’t blind faith.  It is a trust in the Christ, Truth, that has brought us all out of the challenges we face daily for thousands of years. It is a trust that fills us with joy and anticipation.  It is an understanding that our Lord, God, Love, IS giving to us all the answers, ways, means, and directions that we need. 

Let us be as little children who turn lovingly to the Divine Parent for all. This type of sweet trust frees us from worry, burden, concern, fear, and doubt.  This trust is based upon an understanding of the Divinity’s ability and availability.  It is the knowledge that God is, does, and will always give us all that we need.

The life that we are experiencing at this time is like the childhood story problems in our math classes.  Challenges arise, we react, the problems worsen then we become upset and confused.  But sooner than later we hopefully, and at times tearfully, turn to the One and Only Answer-Giver for help, God. 

The major kinks and upsets arise when we jump into the story problems, trying to fix, figure, fool with all the ends and outs of the complicated challenges from our own limited, lacking understanding. By doing this we get lost, upset, and agitated.  BUT if we quickly turn to our trust in God, rise above the challenges, we can see His resolve so much more quickly.  HOW? By using the divine qualities that He has given to us, such as patience, trust, love, compassion, and  most of the time the key quality, FORGIVENESS. By turning to these wonderful values and characteristics that God has created within us, we can use them to get out of the way.  Our viewpoint harmonizes and the answer that God is giving to us reveals the perfect solution. 

The fastest way for us to get into trouble? It is to trust half heartedly, lean on our limited view points and abilities, and leave God out of the equation.  The most harmonious, smooth, fruitful, fulfilling, healing way, is to trust God with all our heart, love, acceptance, joy and gratitude.  It is to not get in the way with limited opinions and false egotistical beliefs.

To trust God is to say, “I will, I do, I am, and thank You God for Your Love, Your Truth, Your laws of perfection.  Thank You for being the IS, the I AM, and the I Will who always gives perfect harmonious Good.”  To trust God is to understand God’s perfection, willingness, and ability.  As the All-knowing, All-seeing, All-powerful He has the perfect answer to every challenge that comes to us. God cannot help it, for God fills all space with His perfection and goodness.
“The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God.”² This type of thinking slows the process of meeting our challenges. By the very denial of God’s healing presence we are stuck to our own limited ways and viewpoints.  It throws us into the pit of confusion, depression, egotism. But God, Love, the All-knowing, is saying to all who are listening, “I AM with you always.  I AM handling this.  Stay the course of calm and watch.”  God never leaves even those who do not believe in His Being.  God fills all space how could He do and be otherwise? Love is here for all to turn to, no matter how long denied.  Love frees mankind from useless false beliefs.  Love loves all, because Love is Love. 

Let us listen to this beautiful promising Proverb.  Let us trust in God joyfully with our whole heart.  Let us not lean on our own lacking understanding, based from faulty fearful standpoints.  But let us go at each challenge in the knowledge that God is handling all, and that perfectly well. God has given to us the ability to be calm, loving, patient, forgiving. God lifts us above all the ‘story problems’ to higher ways and views, His!

Hugs


1 Proverbs 3:5
2 Psalms 14:1