Daily maintenance of thought

This morning I reviewed some odd jobs that needed to be done around the house. The pilot light in the fireplace won’t stay lit. There’s a growing crack in the tile of the dining room floor that needs to be repaired, and my wife needs some yard work done before winter sets in. There’s more…



Geez, I protested. Keeping up a house is a never-ending maintenance project!


As a rule, I don't let jobs accumulate. For the most part, I get them done promptly.

But, I momentarily mused, what if I ignored items needing attention and went on my merry way with only activities I wanted to do?


The answer was simple. The house would fall into a continuing state of disrepair until the number of tasks needing attention was large, the place would look grossly neglected and it would take a huge amount of work to get the premises back into shape. This was not a place I ever wanted to be!


Then I thought about the human mind and body it governs. It seems to be an on-going maintenance project too. If neglected and allowed to fall into a state of disrepair, a huge list of “to-do” items is eventually faced. As with the care of a house, it's better to stay on top of things from the beginning.


Christian Science teaches a unique form of maintenance for mind and body. As Jesus taught, it’s not through material ways and means that an ideal state is attained, but through increased spiritual understanding. The metaphysical “maintenance program,” if you will, of Christian Science, is spiritualization of thought and Christianization of daily life.

But this takes work! It requires prayer and study work!


Many people try to slide by for decades without putting in sufficient prayer time for proper spiritual maintenance of thought. And like a nice new house slowly falling into disrepair, the evidence of need may appear very slight at first. But if repeatedly ignored, eventually the list of to-do items becomes so large that major remedial action is needed to salvage the premises. It’s much easier to stay on top of the to-do list from the beginning and not be overwhelmed later on.


So, after that brief review of the value of on-going maintenance, I decided not to tire of keeping up our home. Be grateful you have it! I reminded myself. And show your appreciation by taking good care of it.

“Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” Jesus Christ

Never tire of prayer

When the latest round of natural disasters occurred in Indonesia, the Philippines and Samoa, a despairing voice sighed in the background of my thought, “Oh not again. These disasters happen year after year. They are never ending…”



I caught the subtle, yet gross, evil and reversed it with a stern proclamation of truth: “Never stop bearing witness to God’s harmonious kingdom and all of mankind’s inclusion in it!”


If we ever get tired of praying, it’s a sign that we’re caving into evil and giving more power to evil than we are to God, good. This is not a healthy mental place to be!


Jesus was adamant in his teachings that evil was a lie and a liar. His understanding of the supremacy of God, good, enabled him to overcome and conquer every single form of evil the world could throw at him. And he left his example for us to follow. He conquered natural disasters too with his stilling of the storm and feeding the hungry thousands.


Prayer is more than uttered words. Prayer is more than time spent studying the Bible or spiritual texts. Prayer is more than thinking right thoughts. Prayer is a spiritual life lived, spiritual mindedness expressed, good deeds done. Prayer is a crystal clear understanding of what is spiritually real, and experiencing that reality in a tangible meaningful way. Prayer is living in the Kingdom. And this kind of prayer is a joy to participate in.


There is nothing burdensome about prayer. Burden comes from not praying, from believing that evil is real and giving into evil suggestions.


God is good, and God is omnipotent. This immortal truth does not seem real to the material sense of things, but the whole purpose of prayer is to break free of any mortal lie of life in matter and accept spiritual reality as the only reality. In a consciousness of Truth, evil disappears, and so does its erroneous effects.


So, when a disaster hits somewhere in the world, it’s not a time to believe that evil is real, destructive and hopelessly in control. It’s a call to do exactly the opposite. It’s a call on our practice of Christian Science to reverse the aggressive claims of evil and vehemently replace them with unmovable statements of Truth that bring healing to those in need.


Spiritual step by spiritual step, prayer by prayer, mankind discovers and experiences to increasing degree the glorious freedom that comes from understanding spiritual truth and accepting its reality. And this progress will include greater dominion over the weather and consequently fewer climate disasters.


Never tire of knowing the truth that helps your fellowman in any part of the world. We are all brothers and sisters, part of one family, under God, and we all benefit from each other’s prayers to understand truth better and see it demonstrated more concretely.

“Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” I Thes.

It would have happened anyway

One time I had a caller wondering if her prayer had done any good in bringing about a physical healing she experienced.



Because it took a while for the healing to occur, she pondered, “I wonder if the healing would have happened anyway whether I prayed or not.”


In a flash of inspiration, I replied, “Of course it would have happened. It’s God law that you be well and strong!”


Whoa…this was a new view I hadn’t seen so clearly before.


Many people don’t pray for healing, but get well anyway. And then they credit material reasons for the wellness, for example, by saying the body heals itself, or the ill would eventually go away anyway. But this is mistaken reasoning. Yes, it’s natural for the body to stay well. And yes, it’s expected that illness go away. But it’s not for material reasons. It’s for spiritual reasons!


God governs. God reigns supreme. There is a divine Mind controlling and governing every activity, function and aspect of our being as children of God. This divine Mind produces health and harmony in us, and no false belief of the human mind, including the belief of illness, can rob us of it. Jesus Christ proved it by restoring health to sick bodies with scientific surety, thus overriding the claim of evil that it could rob us of our God-given rights to well being.


So, yes, if we believed we were sick and felt like it, it would be natural and normal to return to wellness and for the sickness to disappear. There is nothing unusual about recovery at all. It would be expected. It’s God’s law in operation on our behalf.


It’s best to pray though, in all cases, because there are times when the belief of sickness seems to hang on longer and dig in its metaphorical heels. Prayer keeps our thought spiritually alert to healing truth so the error of belief can be mastered and not allowed to go as long as it would want to. Prayer is always the safest and wisest course to choose no matter what one thinks about disease “running its course.” Prayer puts a stop to it, shortens “the course,” eliminates the risk factor of what may or may not happen according to medical belief, and ensures a healthy outcome.

Answered prayer

Last Wednesday night, an animal lover in the church I attend, shared a story that puts a chuckle in your belly and a smile on your face.

Years ago, she lived in Anchorage, Alaska. One morning, on her way to work, she was driving up the Seward highway, and in the median was a moose. She zipped by, as did hundreds of other cars, but felt instant compassion for the plight of the moose stranded between two busy lanes of traffic.

Her heart went out in compassion, and she prayed for the safety of the four-legged creature. She affirmed that it expressed an all-wise Mind that would act only in the best interests of safety, that it could intelligently discern a wise course of action, exercise patience, and be escorted safely out of the median into the hills beyond.

After a few minutes of prayer, she felt comfortable with the truth of being, but still really wanted to know if the moose was safe.

She prayed to God, “Please give me a sign that assures me the moose is safe.” All of a sudden, the radio announcer came on with “breaking news,” and announced that “I’m happy to tell you that the moose stranded in the median on the Seward highway has made its way safely up into the hills!”

“Thank you God,” my friend uttered. And that was the end of her moose story.

Cobwebs of the human mind

I just got back to my office after being gone for eleven days. What a spider-web mess I found on the outside of my windows! Geez… The place looked like I hadn’t been here for three months.

As I swept cobwebs away from the brick and glass, I thought about how frequently I had to clean in order to keep my premises looking nice and spiffy. A few days off duty, and the build-up of dust, dirt and neglect get totally out of hand. It’s almost a daily effort in the summer to keep the windows clear.

While picking up litter too, I found parallels between how often physical premises have to be cleaned for proper maintenance to the diligence required to keep our mental premises clean. There can be no vacations from the pursuit of spiritual growth if we want to keep our mental home maintained to a high standard and free of pain, suffering and disease. As soon as we retreat from proper moral and spiritual care of our thinking, the spiders and dirt of the carnal mind move in and take over making a mess to clean up until we decide to pay attention once again.

It’s easier to keep unwanted intruders out before they invade the sanctity of our consciousness in the first place. That's what daily prayer is all about--keeping our standard for living high and staying there. It's worth the effort.

What needs to change?

A reader sent in the below thoughts with a spiritual conclusion I just love…

I was listening to a gal on a Christian Science CD yesterday speak of her years as a teenager when she smoked, drank, experimented with speed and then developed an eating disorder. At one point, she realized she could die. As she discovered Scriptures and learned about God’s goodness and love and who she was spiritually, the bulimia, smoking, and drinking all fell away. She felt spiritual and whole,....which I find an amazing thing.

I liked her comment at the end, which was this:

I realized I didn’t need to change who I am.
I needed to change my view of who I thought I was.

Excellent point! And this is how Christian Science healing works. We don’t change who we are. We’re already perfect in God’s image. Healing is a discovery of what is spiritually true, and eternally so.

Are you in sync?

IPODS are not new to me, but organizing a music library on my computer, and downloading it onto my IPOD is new. My teenagers have done it for me in the past, and this last weekend I decided it was time for me to learn. They thought so too!

So, with a few stumbles here and mix-ups there, I moved 468 tunes from my PC to my little black box that I can listen to wherever I want. Now I can plug my IPOD into a docking station in the kitchen and cook dinner while listening to my tunes! Pretty neat…

Why I even mention this, though, is the metaphysical lesson I picked up from syncing my IPOD to my PC. A reader pointed out to me the day after I learned how to do this myself, that she had just learned how to sync an IPOD to her PC, and thought it was a terrific analogy for how our thinking needs to be synced with the divine Mind, and is synced, as a reflection of the one Mind!

If you’re not aware, when you move tunes from the PC to your IPOD, you choose an option called SYNC. And when you choose SYNC, the PC takes over the IPOD programming and rearranges its content to conform exactly to what the library contains on your PC. Tunes on the IPOD, but not on the PC, are deleted. Tunes on the PC, but not on the IPOD, are added. When the process is finished, the music library on the IPOD is an exact duplicate of the collection on the PC. They are in SYNC!

What a terrific analogy for what happens to us when our thinking is “plugged-in” to God! Like plugging an IPOD into a master PC and letting the PC program the IPOD, we can plug into the one Mind, through prayer and study, and let God program our thinking to conform to the divine thinking.

I like this! God does all the work. Our job is to stay plugged-in. And we stay plugged in through consecrated prayer and following the rules of divine Science in daily life.

So, if you feel out of sync today, get plugged-into God and let divine Mind get you into SYNC with Life—your divine Life—where God is in control, and fear is not. The tunes are a lot sweeter there….

Take time out to pray

This was too cute to let slip by!

I love the picture, especially the stillness and stance of trust and peace.

Sent in by a reader…

Written by an environmentalist committed to showing man's impact on the land.

"I watched prairie dogs every day, rise before the sun, stand with their paws pressed together facing the rising sun in total stillness for up to 30 minutes," says Williams. "And then I watched them at the end of the day take that same gesture 30 minutes before the sun goes down; they would press their palms together in perfect stillness. I don't mean to anthropomorphize, but when you look at a creature that has survived over the millennium begin and end each day in that kind of stance, it causes one to think about one's own life and speed and the rapidity in which we live."

You can be a healer

Last week, I lectured at a Christian Science Youth Summit in Chicago, Illinois, and had a wonderful time talking with dozens of teens and college age students.

My talk was recorded and has been posted on tmcyouth.com as a podcast.

The intro states:

Would you like to be able to heal people? Christian Science lecturer Evan Mehlenbacher shares some tried and true rules for healing that come from the most advanced form of healing there is today: Christian Science.

If you want to listen, click here, "You can be a healer."

How prayer changes other people

Have you ever gotten upset over other people's behavior and wished they would change so you could stop being angry?

Have you ever blamed your spouse for troubles in your marriage?

Have you ever believed your happiness and harmony is at the mercy of how another person treats you?

If so, you might doubt that prayer can make much of a difference in addressing situations like the above because in the back of your thought you'll be harboring the fear that the other person has to change BEFORE you are free of their inconsideration. And besides, they might not even be praying about the trouble themselves, so what difference will your prayers make? Fear taunts...

In thinking this scenario through and how to resolve it, God sent me this very helpful insight...

The truth you know in prayer changes people around you because the truth you know in prayer changes how you see everyone around you.

So, prayer does change everything around you even if the other person is not praying like you are. You don't have to wait for the other person to change before you can be free of whatever bothers you. Let prayer change your view of them, and the new view you see leads to healing.

Prayer for our leaders

As financial and political leaders of our countries debate and vote on solutions for the economy, I pray that they be led by divine wisdom to make wise choices.

I pray that the one Mind leads them, guides them and governs them.

I pray that they hear solutions that result in meaningful change and valuable reform that brings genuine improvement to our economy.

I pray that all anger, bitterness, complaint, and finger-pointing be set aside, and that the spirit of divine Love prevail.

I pray that each player is able to forgive the other, see the good on the other side, value each other’s contributions and work together as one.

I pray for unity of thought and oneness of Mind manifest.

I pray that partisanship be put aside, and that the oneness of Mind in Love take over.

I pray for genuine change from the bottom-up, and not superficial on the surface alterations.

I pray for the supply of all my neighbors, to know that there is enough good to go around for everyone. That the goodness of divine Love is not hoarded, frozen, locked down in unreachable places, held back, running short, or no where to be found.

I pray that everyone can see the bounty of Love available on their behalf, how to avail themselves of it and benefit from its blessings.

I pray that our whole world comes out of this financial turmoil intact and stronger for the experience, a more loving community of fellow-citizens to co-exist with, and a better place for our children to grow up in.

I pray that we have all we need coming from God to meet the immediate needs of the moment.

I pray for peace of mind to prevail on Wall Street and Main Street.

I pray with confidence that God is working out a good purpose, and we’re all being blessed by it.

I pray that we are all under one Mind, one God, and unified by its presence and power.

One infinite God, good, unifies men and nations; constitutes the brotherhood of man; ends wars; fulfils the Scripture, "Love thy neighbor as thyself;" annihilates pagan and Christian idolatry, — whatever is wrong in social, civil, criminal, political, and religious codes; equalizes the sexes; annuls the curse on man, and leaves nothing that can sin, suffer, be punished or destroyed.

~ Mary Baker Eddy

What is true goodness?

While driving to my office today, it struck me how often people get upset with God because they don’t receive what they pray for.

“God is supposed to be good,” they protest. “Why didn’t God give me what I asked for?”

I remembered what James in the Bible wrote, “You ask, and receive not, because you ask amiss.” I interpret “to ask amiss” as asking for the wrong thing, or to request something that will not bring the right kind of benefit, at least not yet.

Two to three years after graduating from college and working on the family farm, I asked God to get me off the ranch into a different job. My request was not granted. I remained in place, and continued to fret, but also to grow spiritually. In later years, I realized my primary need at the time was not to get off the farm, but to learn larger lessons in life, for example to have more courage and confidence to stand up for what I knew was right. When I finally gained the confidence, and trust in God I needed, in this case, to leave the family business, I was able to exit with good effect. God was not going to let me leave the ranch unprepared for the next phase in my life, which was the Christian Science practice.

I’ve learned from similar experiences that the good we think we deserve may not be the good we most need. It pays to trust God’s plan.

God is a wise giver. The divine Provider gives what is in our best interest to receive at any given moment.

A trap many seekers fall into is identifying their good in a material way. For instance, in thinking they need a house, more money, a spouse, or a better skin condition. From surface glance, there is nothing wrong with having these things. But they are not the substance of good.

Good is God. God is Spirit. True goodness is spiritual.

It’s not a house that gives us home. It’s not money that makes us wealthy. It’s not another person that makes us complete. It’s not any condition on the body that makes us healthy. Divine Love provides the real substance of home, the riches of Life, a feeling of completeness, and enduring health.

All true goodness is spiritual coming from above and is first felt in the human experience as qualities of Love expressed. When our prayers are focused on seeking spiritual good, the sum and substance of God, rather than on material things, status or position, our prayers will be answered.

It’s a righteous prayer to seek spiritual mindedness and the things of Spirit.

The “prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

The prayer of the person seeking genuine spirituality will not be left wanting.

Hmmm...right way to pray?

I laughed when I read the below story sent in by a reader. It certainly shows how prayer can be turned around at times to serve our purposes rather than God’s…

After starting a new diet I altered my drive to work to avoid passing my favorite bakery. I accidentally drove by the bakery this morning and as I approached, there in the window were a host of goodies. I felt this was no accident, so I prayed ... "Lord, it's up to you, if you want me to
have any of those delicious goodies, create a parking place for me directly in front of the bakery." And sure enough, on the eighth time around the block, there it was! God is so good."

I’d say this prayer was designed to get what the driver wanted rather than what God wanted! Wouldn’t you say? All we have to do is keep “driving around the block” until our wishes are fulfilled!

Hmmm...we all might have our occasions when we've done the same...

I wonder what happened with his diet…

Falling ants and the disappearing sliver

I love the new office space I moved into last spring. All conditions proved ideal the first few months, except for one. There were ants. Not too many ants, but enough to get me bothered. They would fall from the ceiling onto my desk. One or two at time would land on my glass top and start crawling around looking for refuge. This would happen 3 or 4 times a day. I put up with it figuring it was no big deal, but didn't care for the surprise aliens invading what I considered my territory.

In July, the problem worsened rapidly and I was ready to call an exterminator. I had hesitated because I didn’t want chemicals in the air, but the accelerated bombardment of creepy little creatures falling from above was driving me buggy!

I opened the phone book, found a company to call, lifted the receiver and started to dial, but then abruptly stopped, hung up the phone and comitted to pray about it one more time.

There has to be a spiritual solution to this, I protested.

Humbly, I listened for a helpful inspiration.

“There is nothing to bug you in your office space,” a little voice uttered within. And by “office space,” I knew the nudge meant mental office space.

"There was nothing to bug me in my mental office space," I repeated.

I couldn’t think of any irritation off-hand that was bothering me, other than how to deal with these nuisance critters falling from the rafters. But suddenly, in my prayers, found peace of mind about the whole antsy episode.

"God is Love. I live and work in God’s allness. There are no bothersome ants in the office space God has provided for me," I affirmed.

My prayer was short, to the point, and quickly brought to a close.

I forgot all about calling an exterminator. I didn’t care to do that anymore, and went back to work.

A week later, I realized that not a single ant had appeared since that little de-bugging prayer. Not a single one. I even looked around for a straggler. None! No ants. It’s been over two months now, and not a solitary ant has appeared on my desk. I'm still thanking God for the change in circumstances.

I had another experience that caught me by surprise in August while camping.

One evening, I noticed a large black sliver in one of my fingers. My first impulse was to get it out. But it was buried deep and looked immovable. I did not have proper tools, and didn’t want to tear up my finger trying to get it out, so I decided to leave it alone and prayerfully know that it was not a problem for me.

In my prayers, I went directly to absolute Truth. In Truth, I knew, there was no sliver in an unwanted place, that I was not a victim of a harmful incident, that I was in no danger, and that as a spiritual child of God I would remain pain free and healthy during the rest of the camping trip. It was a short, simple and to the point prayer. I forgot about my finger.

The next morning, while eating breakfast, my vision ran across the digit I had been worried about the evening before. And there was no sliver.

I did a double take. I inspected it closely. I looked for an opening where it might have exited. There was no opening. There was no sliver. There was no evidence whatsoever that a piece of foreign matter had been there. My finger was perfect.

The above two incidents have gotten me to thinking even deeper about the fundamental truth Christian Science teaches, that there is no matter. What we call matter, and material conditions, are but mortal beliefs. Change the belief, the condition changes. And the change doesn’t have to take time. Truth is not any truer tomorrow than it is today. So, why not experience it today!

What does God need to know to heal you?

I have a new blog posting on tmcyouth.com titled "Does God need to know about your problem?"

If you've ever wondered what God needs to know, and maybe doesn't need to know in order to heal you, this blog may answer some of your questions!

Treatment versus prayer

I’ve often been asked, “What is the difference between giving a Christian Science treatment and prayer?”

On one hand, there is no difference for a treatment is a prayer for healing. But, on the other, there is a distinction to be made because treatment is metaphysically designed to specifically change a person’s thought about something. It's not just a general affirmation of Truth.

For example, if a person believes they have a cold, a requested CS treatment would focus on dissolving that person’s cold-belief with the truth that they are healthy and well as God’s beloved. The treatment would specifically refute the sufferer’s false beliefs with spiritual truth to the negation of those erroneous beliefs, and the treatment would continue until health was manifest and the cold had disappeared.

As a general rule, treatment is given for oneself or for one who has requested it. It would not be in accord with the Golden Rule to give CS treatment to someone who did not ask for it or did not want it. Treatment is powerful and changes the mental landscape it addresses. Any person feeling the effect of treatment should know why the changes they are experiencing are taking place.

Then the question arises, “If someone is suffering, and they don’t want me to give them CS treatment, how should I think about them? Shouldn’t I treat the belief that they are sufferers? Shouldn’t I pray to know the truth about them anyway?”

And the answer is yes. We should know the truth about them. We should know the spiritual truth about everyone we meet. But knowing the truth about them is not the same thing as giving them treatment.

It’s like the difference between a lantern shining brightly and a spotlight focused on a specific target. Prayer is the lantern approach to solving problems. Treatment is the spotlight approach.

A lantern lets its light shine, and any passerby is welcome to bathe in the light or not. It’s their choice. A spotlight is a powerful concentrated beam that takes over the isolated space it shines on. Standing in a spotlight is a much different kind of experience then passing by a lantern.

So, when someone asks for treatment, turn on the spotlight of truth for their benefit and assiduously work for healing.


If a sufferer does not ask for help and you need to know the spiritual truth about them anyway, hold to the spiritual truth about them as God’s child and let that understanding of Truth glow like a lantern. They may or may not notice. But at the very least, you have taken the morally and spiritually right step.

Shine away!

Answered prayer

I know not by what method rare,
But this I know, God answers prayer.
I know that He has given His Word,
Which tells me prayer is always heard,
And will be answered, soon or late.
And so I pray and calmly wait.
I know not if the blessing sought
Will come in just the way I thought;
But leave my prayers with Him alone,
Whose will is wiser than my own,
Assured that He will grant my quest,
Or send some answer far more blessed.

~ Eliza M. Hickok

In position to pray

When the world pushes you to your knees...you're in the perfect position to pray.

Prayer in public

Have you ever wanted to pray while in a public setting, but hesitated to show any signs that you were praying for fear of drawing attention to yourself?

A couple of weeks ago, I was sitting in a tennis club lounge waiting for my match to be called. Dozens of players were milling around, talking and having a grand time. I was having a grand time too, but I also craved a few silent moments with God. So I sat down, closed my eyes, mentally blocked out all the sounds and distractions around me, and went directly to divine Love. I became oblivious to material surroundings and let the heavenly inspiration flow freely. The effect was exhilarating and liberating.

When I ended my prayer and opened my eyes, I turned to my coach who had sat next to me, and was greeted with, “Are you alright? Are you feeling okay?” Surprised by his observation, I assured him I felt better than ever, and that he had no reason to be concerned.

I pondered his reaction, wondering why he drew a conclusion opposite to the truth.

One reason, I decided, was that it was unusual to see someone totally “check out” from engagement with the senses while participating in otherwise very physically engaged environments. Another reason, I thought, was the common perception that if one is very quiet and unengaged physically, there is something wrong with him. He’s probably sick or has mental problems, many might conclude.

Do these common perceptions about what constitutes “normal” behavior prevent many people from praying in public settings when they may need God more than ever? I asked myself.

Yes, I understand the concept of praying on the run, praying while grocery shopping, and praying in the middle of intense business negotiations. But there is no substitute for totally shutting down the material senses and receiving God’s full blessing of Truth.

Yesterday, I took my 13 year old son to the Hot Shots Lazer Tag fun center in town for a father/son activity.

If you can imagine the setting, with dozens of 5-15 year olds bouncing off each other in the waiting area like popcorn popping in a kettle quickly eating up the limited available space and with no where to go until released, and with a few parents standing around wondering, “What am I doing here?” you have an idea of the environment I was in.

After the first 15 minute match, I craved a few quiet moments with God. So I found a remote corner with a couch, sat down, closed my eyes, shut down the material senses and went directly to heaven. It was a quiet place to be, and it brought immense peace.

When it was time to enter the arena, I stood in line with my son and a woman next to me commented, with a very supportive and perhaps a bit of an envious tone, “You’re the guy who was sleeping on the sofa!”

I thought, “There it is again. The expectation in active public settings is that one is to be physically engaged. A prayerful state of thought is not recognized. If I had been sitting in a church building, people would have known I was praying.

I’ve wondered since, does this expectation that you should stay physically engaged prevent many of us from praying when we ought to be praying?

Have you ever been in a busy public place where you would have loved to stop everything, sit down, shut your eyes and commune solely with God?

Why didn’t you? What prevented you from doing the one thing that would have accomplished the most good, and the fastest?

Did you not stop and pray for fear of being seen by someone else? For fear of being judged as unusual or weird?

Maybe it’s time to change our priorities. We might be better off in the long run to put the maintenance of spiritual mindedness above worrying about what other people think.

In the middle of a noisy party, wouldn’t it be neat if you could sit down a few minutes, mentally check out of the commotion, pray in solitude and have everyone around you observe, “They are taking a few moments out with God. That is cool. I will let them be.”

I hope that day is coming! Keeping our thought spiritually inspired is the most constructive thing we can do under all circumstances, and it’s for everyone’s benefit.

Prayer in public: it should not be an odd event, but a common occurrence.

I hope you’ll join me if you’re not already.

Happy day!

Live what you pray

Living What We Pray For

I knelt to pray when day was done

And prayed, “O Lord, bless everyone;

Lift from each saddened heart the pain,

And let the sick be well again.”

And then I woke another day

And carelessly went on my way;

The whole day long, I did not try

To wipe a tear from any eye.

I did not try to share the load

Of any brother on the road;

I did not even go to see

The sick man, just next door to me.

Yet, once again, when day was done,

I prayed, “O Lord, bless everyone.”

But as I prayed, into my ear

There came a voice that whispered clear:

“Pause now, my son, before you pray;

Whom have you tried to bless today?

God’s sweetest blessings always go

By hands that serve Him here below.”

And then I hid my face and cried,

“Forgive me, God, I have not tried.

Let me but live another day,

And I will live the way I pray.”

~ Author unknown