Wednesday, May 30, 2007

No need for guilt trips

Have you ever felt guilty for making a mistake?

Have you been made to believe by others that you’re the family “can’t get it right” and deserving of ridicule?

Most of us do something now and then that we wish we’d done differently, but our freedom from the heavy-laden guilt trip is remembering that God loves us no matter what.


God is a forgiving God, and we experience that forgiveness as we rectify our ways and work to improve our thoughts and actions. Others may give us a hard time for our errors, but chances are, they have their own bundle of errors to rectify too. It’s best that we all love and support each other more, rather than condemn and criticize.

I chuckled when I read this story sent to me today:

While on a road trip, an elderly couple stopped at a roadside restaurant for lunch. After finishing their meal, they left the restaurant and resumed their trip.

When leaving, the woman unknowingly left her glasses on the table and she didn't miss them until they had been driving about twenty minutes.

By then, to add to the aggravation, they had to travel quite a distance before they could find a place to turn around -- in order to return to the restaurant to retrieve her glasses.

All the way back, the husband became grouchy and critical of her wife’s oversight.

He fussed and complained and scolded his wife relentlessly during the entire return drive.

The more he chided her -- the more agitated he became. He just wouldn't let up one minute. To her relief, they finally arrived at the restaurant.

As the woman got out of the car and hurried inside to retrieve her glasses, her husband yelled to her, "While you're in there, can you get my hat and the credit card too?"

Enough said.

We all have room to improve. It’s best we forgive more and criticize less. Everyone will be much happier, and we won’t risk winning the label of being a hypocrite!

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Benefits of sharing Christian Science

There is an exhilarating power that builds within when one shares Christian Science freely with neighbors.

Last Friday, I spoke at a Seventh Day Adventist college to a comparative religions class about Christian Science. I was well received and eagerly embraced by a class of sixteen students who drilled me on my practice of this teaching.

I thrive on answering questions, and the questions came.

They asked

  • Do you believe in Satan?
  • Is there an afterlife?
  • If Christ is Truth, then how can people who don’t know Christ find Truth?
  • If matter isn’t real, why go to the mountains to vacation?
  • What if someone dies when you are praying for them?
  • What about hell?
  • How do you pray?
  • Do you believe in baptism?

And the questions went on and on… It was easy to fill the time, and they sent me off with a healthy round of applause. All but one student took a copy of Science and Health. I hope to return next year.

These types of opportunities to share inspire me for days. I forget about myself when giving, tune into God and listen for answers that enlighten my audience. I feel healthier and happier afterward, confident that a good deed was done. I bounce out of the classroom ready to do it all again.

Christian Science can be like a bottle of perfume. The cap on the bottle needs to be opened, and a little of the scent released to be of good effect in the surrounding environment. Sealed in the jar it’s of no use to anyone. In super concentrated form, it’s too powerful to enjoy. It needs to be released. Then its delicious odor has a chance to be appreciated.

There’s a lesson here for each of us. If a student of Christian Science, we cannot keep it to ourselves and receive the full blessing it is capable of bringing into our experience. Much of the blessing comes from sharing it freely and joyfully with our neighbor.

Yes, we need to share with understanding, but the understanding comes as the desire is nurtured. Practice finds the right words and discovers the helpful examples that illustrate the point we’re making.

Preach the gospel to the world,” commanded Jesus. He didn’t say, “If you get around to it,” or “If you want to…” He instructed, “Preach the gospel!”

I can see from experience that orally ministering to others is not only to spread the Word, but to benefit ourselves. We grow in the offering. Preaching is for the giver and the receiver.

So, don’t hold back. Welcome any opportunity to share Christian Science. Your audience will be blessed and you will be too!


Sunday, May 27, 2007

Don't be defrauded

I just received an email from an alleged banker in Senegal offering to send me $26,000,000 if I send him my bank account information. His long detailed email explaining why he has to find a place for this lost money has not convinced me to cooperate!

Most people are familiar with these types of scams and immediately punch the DELETE button after receiving one, which is what I did. But I’ve been surprised over the years how many people have gotten pulled into them and sent out private information which later was used against them and in harmful ways.

I remember a friend over 20 years ago, who was quite elderly at the time, sending money to a telemarketer who promised to send her a new Cadillac if she sent him funds to pay shipping costs and taxes. She sent the cash. No car ever showed up, and she was stricken with grief about it. She had little financial means to begin with.

Some scams are obvious. Others aren’t.

How do we protect ourselves?

One way, is to not lust after money and things in the first place.

Mortal mind preys upon lust. When we lust after something, we lose our perspective and make poor judgments. In an effort to find a weak spot, mortal mind dangles out promises of cash and prizes to see if anyone will bite. We protect ourselves from these fraudulent efforts but remaining spiritually content.

It helps to understand that we have what we need in God, spiritually, to live content happy lives. We don’t have to possess a lot of money to be happy. We don’t have to own truckloads of goods to be satisfied.

Happiness is spiritual, produced by God and felt in spiritual mindedness.

The more we cherish spiritual wisdom and understanding above money and things, the less gullible we’ll be to mortal mind’s deceitful ways of extorting our hard-earned assets.

In a mind-set of spiritual contentment, there are no weak spots for mortal mind to probe and test. We know we have what we need in Spirit, and that is enough.

Scammers, be gone.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Is chastity possible?

My newest addition to tmcyouth.com, “Is chastity possible.”

…”In an age when surveys claim large numbers of young people are engaging in some type of sexual activity long before they’re ready for marriage, it can be tough for a teen to come out from the crowd and say, “I’m waiting for the right person…” Click here to read on…

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Don't give into defeatist thinking

My USTA team had a terrific time last weekend in Spokane for the regional tennis tournament we had advanced to this spring.

We placed second with scores of 4-1, 1-4, 4-1, and had hoped for better, but considering the stiff competition we were up against, and the experience we have yet to gain, we did very well, and were happy about it.

As usual, there were spiritual lessons to learn.

At the beginning of my first singles match, I was completely overpowered by my opponent. His serve came at me with Any Roddick proportions (probably an exaggeration…but felt like it!). I could not return his serve for the life of me.

I’d position my racket to block it back. The ball would hit my strings, and PING, off into outer space it flew. Everytime! I was getting so distressed about winning even a single game against him that my hope was rapidly sinking into despair and despondency.

But I knew better than to let my attitude go negative! I prayerfully struggled for a perspective that did not accept defeat as inevitable.

I remembered that the final score did not matter. My purpose in playing tennis was not to beat opponents, but to become a better person. I play to learn mental discipline, to more effectively conquer errors, and yes, to defeat defeatist thinking!

Defeat, in this case, would not be a matter of winning few points, but of letting my thought feel defeated regardless of the final tally. It was the feeling I walked off the court with at the end of the match that determined whether I was a victor or not. Not any ultimate score.

With God’s help, all things are possible, I declared.

It took some vigorous mental shaking up to snap my attitude out of giving up.

To find a way to counteract this guy’s play, I dug in my mental heels with the truth that, with God’s help, I could improve my performance, get his hits back and score a few points.

The first set score was dismal, 1-6, I believe. The second set started just as poorly. Down 1-4, I finally reached a spiritually high enough state of thought that I wasn’t feeling defeated inside anymore. I put the score out of mind and concentrated on playing my very best in the moment. I would not be intimidated, I decided.

I finally figured out how to return his serve and counter his strategy when I was serving. I came back all the way to 6-6. Yea! A huge accomplishment for me! I lost in the tie-break for the set, but I walked off the court victorious. I had conquered the defeatist thinking, made progressive strides in my playing, maintained a positive attitude, and come back with an impressive showing.

The score did not matter. My opponent simply was a better player than I was, and he deserved to win. But I had grown spiritually. I had become a better person. My thinking was vastly improved from when I began the match. And for that spiritual growth, in this case, of not giving into feeling crushed by a stronger player, I was grateful.

Every match offers a unique spiritual lesson to learn, and I eagerly look for that lesson each time.

Playing tennis for me is not about accumulating trophies, but about becoming more spiritually minded.

We had a great time. We really did.



Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Watch your mouth

From Woody, one of my readers and favorite story writers:

One of my sons decided to ride a bike cross-country to the east coast starting in Montana. This trip became a truly growing experience for him. Upon his return, he shared a few of his experiences.

One day he was out in the middle of Wyoming pedaling up a long slow grade of some 10 or 15 miles. To make matters worse, he was working against a headwind and the shoulder on the road was narrow. As the 18 wheelers passed him, he became both frightened and frustrated at his predicament and slow progress.

With no relief in sight, he looked up the long grade to the distant horizon and became angry with it all. Or rather he decided his best choice was to be mad. And with that, he began to rant and yell as pedaled his bike up the hill against the wind.

At the very peak of his raging, with his mouth open, a large bug flew into the back of his throat and began to gag and choke him. The uninvited guest instantly stopped the rampage. Unable to either swallow the bug or spit it out, he pulled to the side of the narrow shoulder, stopped, and went to great lengths to finally dislodge the unwanted creature.

Later, he told me he had learned a very important lesson about life from this incident.

“When things get tough,” he said, “Keep your mouth shut!”


This story is a new twist on the old adage, "Don't put your foot in your mouth." Don't let a bug get stuck there either!

Sometimes its best to keep our lips shut and pray for a more loving and positive perspective. Then we're in no danger of being rebuked by unwanted pests!




Conquering fear

Do the thing we fear, and death of fear is certain.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Monday, May 21, 2007

For healing, focus on solution

It’s a common concern in spiritual healing; the question of “How do I get rid of the problem I’m struggling with?”

The nagging doubt may come in the form of
How do I get rid of this disease?
How do I stop the nightmares?
How do I shake off the past?
How do I conquer fear?
How do I…?

One answer to these concerns is to reword the question.

Spiritual healing is not so much about getting rid of problems as accepting Truth.

The more productive questions are often,
How can I demonstrate health?
How can I maintain peace of mind?
How can I rejoice in my spiritual present?
How can I be confident of Love’s ever-present care?

I learn lessons from my efforts to play tennis better.

When missing the ball, I don’t stay mentally glued on all my misses. I zero attention in on hitting the ball more accurately. I find it more constructive to spend time and energy improving my strokes rather than condemning my errors and getting depressed about them. As I hit the ball more successfully, my improvement automatically precludes the problem from occurring again.

The same rule applies to curing disease.

When praying for relief, the more thought is focused on disease, the more the disease appears real, and this prevents thought from recognizing the spiritual truth that destroys the false sense of disease—the enemy to begin with.

The question of, “How do I get rid of a problem?” is better when replaced with “How do I demonstrate the solution?”

If a budding mathematician claimed 5 multiplied by 5 equaled 27, and the error was pointed out. The mathematician would not agonize over the 27 to understand what to do next. He would go back to the original equation and resolve the problem correctly.

The “original equation” in Life is, God + man = perfection.

When error presents itself, the sooner we cease agonizing over the error the better. It’s more helpful to get back to the original equation and solve the problem correctly.

God + you = perfection.

This is the spiritual perspective Jesus held, and it works for us too!

Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals. In this perfect man the Saviour saw God's own likeness, and this correct view of man healed the sick. Mary Baker Eddy

Are you looking in the right place?

A chuckle producer…

One day I was walking down the beach with some friends when someone
Shouted....
"Look at that dead bird!"
Someone looked up at the sky and said...
"Where???"


Saturday, May 19, 2007

Shiny object polisher

I share the following with you which came in from a reader yesterday because the lesson relates to all of us.

When you read it, ask yourself, “How much time do I spend on polishing the shiny objects in my life while ignoring the less bright aspects that need some major cleaning attention?

Here goes…


A son, who is a recent graduate of the Fine Arts in Piano Performance shared with me a term used through out the music department. It is “Shiny-Object-Polisher”. He explained it was the difference between
amateurs and professionals. He ran into this principle every time he worked on a new piece of music. It refers to the reality that in reparing a new work of music that some passages will come along quite quickly and readily while other parts will be more of a struggle.

The tendency is to polish the parts that are easy to make bright and clean in performance and leaving little time for the more difficult passages. The music professors can quickly hear where the lessons learned in performance are already at hand and the student lingers too long in practice on those parts without moving on and spending a greater amount of their study and energy in the areas not nearly as “shiny”.

He went on to explain that he learned the value of going directly to the most difficult passages of a practice piece and spending nearly all of his time there. Thus, not allowing the easier portions of the musical piece to distract from learning the needed lessons of the day.

I now look at my own day to see where I dedicate the major portion of my time and energy. Is it with the projects that are Shiny-Object-Polishing? Or do I go directly to the less attractive tasks and put my energy into them?

While the tendency is to shy away from the more arduous undertakings, yet the greater personal development comes from the less than shiny endeavors right in front of me. And now I find gratitude for those tasks.

So, what less than shiny tasks do you have before you today that need some vigorous metaphysical scrubbing attention?


Thursday, May 17, 2007

What's worth pursuing?

I got a chuckle out of reading this little ditty today.

We squander Health
In search of Wealth
We scheme and toil and save;
Then squander Wealth
In search of Health,
And all we get’s a grave.
We live and boast of what we own
We die and only get a stone.

~ Anonymous


Spiritually speaking, we do not die and end up with a stone. We continue to grow spiritually, lose a material sense of self and gain eternal life. But the poem puts the relative experience here on earth into perspective. It’s not the material gains that amount to much in the end of the earthly experience. It’s what we gain spiritually and take with us that has substance.

Life is eternal. We should find this out, and begin the demonstration thereof. Life and goodness are immortal. Let us then shape our views of existence into loveliness, freshness, and continuity, rather than into age and blight.” Mary Baker Eddy

When we realize Life is eternal, we don’t spend time pursuing temporal ideals that eventually are all for naught. We focus on seeking eternal riches that are forever ours. And this type of gain is worth pursuing for it can never be taken from us. Hooray!

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

New blog

I know, I know...I've missed a few days posting blog entries recently. But there's a reason!

tmcyouth.com asked me to start blogging for them a couple of weeks ago, and it's taken a bit of extra energy and time to get going with their program.

tmcyouth.com is a web site of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, dedicated to interacting with young people online around the world interested in Christian Science and its activities. It's a relatively new site targeted at a young audience, but growing and expanding with new ideas and offerings.

SpiritHeals, the name of my new blog on their site was added today.

I have two entries up.

Check out my introduction and my first posting titled, "A better way than war!"

Click on the above links and you'll go right to them.

And make comments at the end of the pieces! People love to read comments. I hope to receive many...and as usual, I expect to respond right back again.

To keep up the pace with SpiritHeals I'll be posting fewer entries on this site. I can only do so many! But I will blog links here to any posts I make on SpiritHeals. So, in the sum of it all, I'll probably have as many postings as you've grown accustomed to.

We'll see!

But this is fun. I look forward to the challenge of reaching an audience with obviously unique interests and concerns. To be honest, though, I think there is a "young" audience in all of us.



Sunday, May 13, 2007

Nothing stuck in Mind

Sometimes I have an unpleasant experience which I wish was not happening at the time it was happening, but it happens anyway.

Ever had one of those?

I had one last week.

It was lunchtime. I grabbed a newspaper with one hand, a hard Anjou pear with the other, and sat down to eat. In too much of a hurry, I bit the pear and quickly found myself gagging on the bite which when straight down my throat without a single chew first.

My life flashed before my eyes as jumped to my feet and gasped and fought for breath but couldn’t find any. The pear piece was jammed, and in a very bad place.

Realizing no person was around to help, I did remember God was there! In my plea for divine intervention, I accepted that no matter what the material senses were telling me, my life could not be taken from me, not by a pear, not by an accident, not by a mishap.

No sooner did I quit fighting physically, and calm down, I realized that I could breathe. The pain was terrible, but I could get air down the appropriate channel. I relaxed and turned wholeheartedly to God for complete resolution.

But relief did not come fast.

I repented of being in a hurry to eat in the first place. I realized more divine grace could have been expressed and less hurry-hurry mentality. That realization felt good and progressive. I knew God forgave me too.

I felt better spiritually, but my throat situation still felt unbearable.

I felt so desperate at one point that I stood on my head to see if it would help. It didn’t! And I’m glad no one was around, for I was quite a spectacle I’m sure.

I quickly got past trying to physically remove the piece though, for nothing was working in that direction. I gained complete trust that Mind was going to get the chunk out of there one way or the other.

After four hours of consecrated prayer covering every pertinent topic I could think of, and no relief, I finally asked myself, “Why can’t I feel perfect and healed right now?”

And the answer came clear.

“Because you believe a piece of pear is stuck in your throat.”

Duh! Yes, I knew that! But suddenly the angel message made sense.

I had spent all afternoon spiritualizing my thought so this healing could happen, and every prayer was necessary, but I was still clinging to the belief that a chunk of matter mass was stuck in my throat.

I remembered a favorite phrase of mine when working on outdoor projects. If a bolt was rusted in place or an axe head unyieldingly lodged in a log, I might echo, rather playfully, “It’s stuck!”

This pear piece definitely felt stuck! I decided to redeem my consciousness from the belief that anything could get stuck when it ought not to be stuck.

Maybe I was a victim of my own casual acceptance of things sometimes getting stuck. I wondered.

The concept of “stuck” implies unyielding, unmoving, fixed and stubborn.

Nothing is stuck in Mind, I declared. Whatever Mind wants, Mind gets, for Mind makes it happen through its own power and abilities. It was Mind’s will that I express Life freely without impediment, obstacle or obstruction, I felt strongly.

I remembered that I lived in a universe of Mind, where everything and every occasion expressed intelligence and wisdom. In Mind, there are no stuck relationships, no stuck healings, no stuck projects, no stuck perspective, no stuck attitudes and no stuck pear pieces!

I even prayed to see the nothingness of matter. The fear I had struggled with all afternoon was having a too large piece of food trying to go down a much smaller hole. This dilemma was easily resolvable in Mind, I finally saw.

In Mind, things are thoughts. The pear was an idea, throat was symbolic for an idea, and eating was a metaphor for an idea in action. Ideas are not physically large or small. They are metaphysical. They do not have physical dimensions that are either too large or too small. Every idea is always just right.

Activity is not matter mass elbowing with each other, but ideas expressing divine functions. So, I concluded, whatever the idea of eating was, Mind was the one doing the “eating” and Mind could handle a bite of any size. Matter-mass was a mortal mind concept I could dispense with and not be troubled by any longer.

Metaphysically considered, divine Mind could swallow a large bite of pear as easily as a small bite. And the idea of throat could handle whatever Mind sent its way. In Mind, there were no large bites or small throats. There was just harmonious activity, every idea working in harmony with another. The idea of eating a pear could never conflict with Mind’s ability to handle the bite, and the one intelligent Mind would never allow a conflict to occur in the first place.

The “throat” of divine Mind was free and clear of all food pieces, I decided, and so my sense of throat, guided by this truth, had to be clear too.

After this prayer, I truly felt like my praying was finished, like I had arrived. The piece still felt stuck, but I had no fear of it. I headed to the tennis club to play singles with spittoon cup in hand, for I could not swallow. But was absolutely confident all was well.

Ten minutes into warm-up, I swallowed and realized the pear piece was gone. I exalted in God’s love and care the whole evening, and won my match too.

Nothing is stuck in Mind.

If something appears stuck in matter, go to Mind, and Truth will jar the obstinate fear loose of its seeming grip, and all will be found well.

Ah, freedom…

Saturday, May 12, 2007

Don't believe the diagnosis

Here’s a thought-provoking story from Britain about a man diagnosed with cancer. After being told he had only a few months to live, he quit his job, and spent his life savings living life to the fullest.

Thing is, he didn’t die.

A year later, the doctors changed their diagnosis saying he didn’t have cancer. Having spent his life-savings, he was quite bummed.

I’m grateful to know there is a God that can heal us of our ills, even when labeled incurable by doctors. When we put our faith in Truth, rather than a physical diagnosis, we won’t be tempted to deplete our life savings prematurely! Healing happens.

Friday, May 11, 2007

Who walked on water?

How well do you know your history?

Who was the 3rd man to walk on water?

Christ was the first.

The second was the Apostle Peter.

Then there was this guy…

...Jose.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Decide to be happy

A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud man, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with his hair fashionably coifed and shaved perfectly, even though he is legally blind, moved to a nursing home. His wife of 70 years had recently passed, making the move necessary.

After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready.

As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator, his aide provided a visual description of his tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on his window.

"I love it," he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.

"Mr. Jones, you haven't seen the room; just wait."

"That doesn't have anything to do with it," he replied.

"Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged. It depends upon my attitude, and I’ve already decided that I’m going to love it. “

The aide took Mr. Jones to his new room, and the gentleman happily settled into his new quarters.


I love this story because it is a vivid reminder of the spiritual nature of happiness. It’s not the furniture in our room that brings joy, but the furniture in our thought. The more inspired our thinking, the easier it is to be happy under any number of different circumstances.

“If you wish to be happy, argue with yourself on the side of happiness; take the side you wish to carry, and be careful not to talk on both sides, or to argue stronger for sorrow than for joy. You are the attorney for the case, and will win or lose according to your plea.”

Christian Healing, by Mary Baker Eddy

Monday, May 7, 2007

We all need God

In the greatest struggles of my life, I have learned a most important lesson. I can’t do this alone.

~ Unknown

The good news is, we don't do anything alone. God is the ever-present help that gets us through the day and moves us on our way. We don't accomplish anything of substance without divine aid.

As the sun keeps on shining and the earth keeps on turning, God keeps on loving and living through us.

The more we honor God in everything we do, the more we realize His omnipresent Love, His ever-present companionship, and His unfailing care. We're never alone and never have been.

God was here first! And we came into His ever-present company...

Just for fun

Time to plant your virtual flowers!

GO TO: Virtual Flower Garden

Then hold down the mouse button and drag it across the page.

Wa la!

Saturday, May 5, 2007

My fear is gone

The most amazing transformation has happened in my tennis playing this week.

In my blog last Monday, I logged the death knell of my lifelong fear of not being able to successfully do anything sports related. Well, the payoff this week has been far beyond my expectations.

I’m not afraid on the court anymore!

In preparation for our next big tournament in two weeks, I’ve played against strong opponents these past few days, and I’m not the same player I used to be. I’m more limber. I’m flexible. I’m not anxious, worried or fretting over my next shot. I’m generally free of worry or concern about whether I’ll hit the ball accurately or not. I’m able to focus better, forgive myself quicker and wholly enjoy the game.

I can’t tell you how huge of a change this is, and I never realized, until this week, how subtle fear has restricted my bodily movement on the court over the last three years.

My coach has incessantly told me to loosen up, relax my grip, follow through with my swings and be more limber. I would obey, but in minutes, fall back into a semi-rigid stance. This happened so often, I figured the tenseness was normal, a part of playing the game.

But this week, the tenseness is largely gone. Oh yes, I still get anxious at moments, grip the racket handle too tight and whack the ball out of bounds, but nothing like the past.

The corrosive fear is gone and my thinking, body and playing has been liberated. Not too mention my serves, which are far better.

I’ve thought about parallel lessons for healing of all physical ailments. Its common knowledge in Christian Science that fear is the number one detriment to progress in physical relief.

Fear stifles healthy action of the body, hampers freedom of movement, disrupts functions of the organs, locks up muscles, panics perspective, and prevents progress. Fear is anti-health. Its harmful and the source of great dismay, frustration and discouragement when seeking bodily relief.

I can see the bad effect of fear on the body more clearly than ever after what happened to my tennis playing this week. My body is so much more responsive and liberated with the fear gone. I can do so much more.

For decades, I had let subtle fears constrain my actions and stymie my progress in sports. I never knew what it felt like to be free of fear on the playing field. So, I thought a degree of tenseness was normal. Now I know the difference, and there is no turning back!

The same rule applies to relief for all types of bodily restrictions. Limitation in the body is fear manifest. When the underlying fear is gone, the body releases from the imprisoning effect of that fear. The muscles relax, the organs settle into a proper routine, and one’s overall sense of well being improves. Liberation! Healing happens.

When facing down any type of limitation, it is critical that we conquer fear. Fear is the enemy to be destroyed. Where there’s no fear, there’s no tension, constraint, restriction, stress or strain. There’s freedom of movement under the harmonious Mind-action of God where health is normal and ability unlimited.

Have a happy fear-free day!





Coaching our youngsters

A reader sent in the below quote by John Wooden from his book, “They call me coach.” Wooden was a renown basketball coach at UCLA with an impressive win record under his belt and has many words of wisdom to share from his vast experience.

In reading the below I couldn’t help but think about the different coaches and teachers I’ve had over the years who had either an inspiring or less than inspiring effect on my attitude about life.

“It is most difficult, in my mind, to separate any success, whether it be in your profession, your family, or as in my case, in basketball, from religion.

“In my profession, I must be deeply concerned with God’s belief in me and be truly interested in the welfare of my fellowman. No coach should be trusted with the tremendous responsibility of handling young men under the great mental, emotional, and physical strain to which they are subjected unless he is spiritually strong….The coach who is committed to the Christlike life will be helping youngsters under his supervision to develop wholesome disciplines of body, mind, and spirit that will build character worthy of his Master’s calling. He must set the proper example by work and by deed. It is not easy.”


All youngsters are certainly benefited from coaches who aspire to Wooden’s ideals…



Thursday, May 3, 2007

Installing love

Tech Support: Yes, how can I help you?

Customer: Well, after much consideration, I've decided to install Love. Can you guide me through the process?

Tech Support: Yes. I can help you. Are you ready to proceed?

Customer: Well, I'm not very technical, but I think I'm ready - What do I do first?

Tech Support: The first step is to open your Heart. Have you located your Heart?

Customer: Yes, but there are several other programs running now. Is it okay to install Love while they are running?

Tech Support: What programs are running?

Customer: Let's see, I have Past Hurt, Low Self-Esteem, Grudge, and Resentment running right now.

Tech Support: No problem. Love will gradually erase Past Hurt from your current operating system so it will no longer disrupt other programs. Love will eventually override Low Self-Esteem with a module of its own called High Self-Esteem. However, you have to completely turn off Grudge and Resentment. Those programs prevent Love from being properly installed. Can you turn those off?

Customer: I don't know how to turn them off. Can you tell me how?

Tech Support: With pleasure. Go to your start menu and invoke Forgiveness. Do this as many times as necessary until Grudge and Resentment have been completely erased.

Customer: Okay, done! Love has started installing itself. Is that normal?

Tech Support: Yes, but remember that you have only the base program. You need to begin connecting to other Hearts in order to get the upgrades.

Customer: Oops! I have an error message already. It says, "Error - Program not running on external components." What should I do?

Tech Support: Don't worry. It means that the Love program is set up to run on Internal Hearts, but has not yet been run on your Heart. In non-technical terms, it simply means you have to Love yourself before you can Love others.

Customer: So, what should I do?

Tech Support: Pull down Self-Acceptance; then click on the following files: Forgive-Self, and, Realize your Worth.

Customer: Okay, done.

Tech Support: Now, copy them to the "My Heart" directory. The system will overwrite any conflicting files and begin patching faulty programming. Also, you need to delete Verbose Self-Criticism from all directories and empty your Recycle Bin to make sure it is completely gone and never comes back.

Customer: Got it. Hey! My heart is filling up with new files. Smile is playing on my monitor and Peace and Contentment are copying themselves all over My Heart. Is this normal?

Tech Support: Sometimes. For others it takes awhile, but eventually everything gets it at the proper time. So Love is installed and running. One more thing before we hang up. Love is Freeware. Be sure to give it and its various modules to everyone you meet. They will in turn share it with others and return some cool modules back to you.

Customer: Thank you.

God's Tech Support: You're Welcome. Anytime!


Wednesday, May 2, 2007

What gives your religion meaning?

The below passage was sent to me today by a reader who is striving to live his spiritual faith rather than simply talk it.

I like the quote. You might too…

The only part of our religion that is real is the part we express in our daily lives. Ideals that we do not act out in practice are mere abstract theories and have no real meaning. Actually, such pretended ideals are a serious detriment, because they drug the soul into a false sense of security.

If you want to receive any benefit from your religion you must practice it, and the place to practice it is right here where you are, and the time to do it is now.

Divine Love is the only real power. If you can realize this fact even dimly it will begin to heal and harmonize every condition in your life within a few hours. The way to realize this fact is to express it in every word you speak, in every business transaction, in every social activity, and, in fact, in every phase of your life.

An early New Thought writer said: "Knead love into the bread you bake; wrap strength and courage in the parcel you tie for the woman with the weary face; hand trust and candor with the coin you pay to the man with the suspicious eyes." This is beautifully said, and it sums up the Practice of the Presence of God.

~ Emmet Fox


The 4th P

I chuckled today when a patient reminded me of the 4 Pees that lead to success in healing that I had told him about months ago.

“Oh really!” I said. “What are the 4 Pees?” I asked.

I knew about the 3 Pees…patience, persistence, and perseverance. I refer to those frequently. But I wasn’t sure what the 4th P was.

He said, “Patience, persistence, perseverance and payoff.”

“Oh wow,” I exclaimed. “I like those!”

His own inspiration on the 3 Pees led him to conclude that there must be a payoff somewhere if we are faithful. And he was right.

When we are patient and persistent and we persevere until we’ve finished our course, we’re going to receive a reward. This is true for spiritual healing as with any other endeavor in life.

So from now on, I’ll refer to the 4 Pees…patience, persistence, perseverance and payoff when reminding others of the path we often must take to realize results.

Sounds like a good deal to me!

Cheers


Tuesday, May 1, 2007

Success?

What is Success?
To laugh often and love much;
To win the respect of intelligent persons
and the affection of children;
To earn the approval of honest critics and
endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty;
To find the best in others;
To give of one's self without
the slightest thought of return;
To have accomplished a task, whether
by a healthy child, a rescued soul,
a garden path, or a redeemed social
condition;
To have played and laughed with
enthusiasm and sung with exultation;
To know that even one life has breathed
easier because you have lived;
This is to have succeeded.
~ Anonymous

Satisfaction

I thought I was abused
Because I had no shoes
Until I met a man
Who had no feet.
~ Old Arabian Proverb
 

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