Hospital visits increasing

A reader just alerted me to an article put out by MSNBC.com, reporting that “Hospital and doctor visits in the United States have surged by 20 percent in the past five years…” I read the piece with dismay for it seems people are suffering more and more, rather than less.

With the huge increase in money spent on healthcare, in the USA anyway, it seems people have more and more ailments to contend with. Some argue that it’s the aging baby boom population behind the increase in hospital visits. Maybe so, but the trend is still disheartening.

I remember an 88 year old woman, whom I befriended 20 years ago in my practice, who hadn’t been to a doctor in 50 years—ever since she had discovered Christian Science when she was 38. She has since passed on, but her experience was proof to me that it’s possible to stay healthy without endless medicines, prescriptions and hospital visits, even at a ripe old age. She had spiritual medicine, and it worked.

Everyone has the healing power of Spirit available to them. Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, the textbook of Christian Science, explains how to find this healing power and put it into practice. Christian Science brings better long term results than any drug, and it has no negative side effects.

I pray that more people find Christian Science and put it to use. Its application will eliminate many of those visits to emergency rooms—and it’s a lot less devastating on one’s pocketbook.

What thou see'est, thou be'est

Three weeks ago, we had a bout of forgetfulness in our household.

The first major slip-up came in our mistaking the time for one of our son’s year-end concerts. The family had been planning to attend this event for months, and greatly looked forward to it.

For some unreasonable reason, we all thought the event started at 8 p.m. I dropped Tyler off at 6:50 for his warm-up, drove off to run a few errands and came back at 7:45 only to catch the last applause of the evening. My wife and friend had just arrived minutes earlier. It had started at 7 p.m. We were all greatly disappointed. At least Tyler made it on time to participate!

It was a major error in understanding all the way around, and my wife and I were distressed about how we could make such a big mistake.

Two days later, a similar episode happened again. Then late Sunday night a couple of days after that, I realized my wife and I had just missed an Improv comedy event I had bought special tickets for.

I couldn’t believe it!

The Improv lapse was totally my fault and I took full blame, but I was stunned how the time had totally slipped my mind. I rarely forget!! If anyone in the family remembers, it’s me. And I completely failed in this case.

With three serious lapses in 5 days, I couldn’t help but see a larger spiritual lesson to be learned. This bout of forgetfulness was abnormal and unacceptable. I decided some major prayer action was needed to prevent further forgetfulness in the future.

As I listened to God for answers, I concluded that my lapse in memory was the effect of being overly impressed by everyone else’s lapse in memory the previous few days.

The timing for the other events, I had relied upon others to keep me informed and felt letdown when the information was obviously wrong. Nonetheless, I had not sufficiently seen the unreality of the error, had become too impressed by it, and then lived it out myself Sunday night.

I vaguely remembered a proverb that I think goes, “What thou see’est, thou be’est.” Maybe I made this quote up, but I believe someone famous, like Shakespeare, said as such. If not, it worked for me anyway….

I’ve seen this phenomenon of people judging others as being in error and then manifesting the same error in their own lives played out in the experience of many people in the past, including myself. The very problem we blame others for, we manifest ourselves.

And that’s what happened to me that week. I saw others as forgetful, and before I knew it, I was living out forgetfulness too. This was not cool!

In humility, I reprimanded my error of condemning (not too harshly!) the rest of my family for being forgetful earlier on, and vowed to know the spiritual truth about everyone’s perfect spiritual memory.

I affirmed that there is one Mind, and that the one Mind never forgets. That each member of my family expressed the one divine intelligence completely and entirely, which meant they did not have the capacity to forget. And I didn’t either! Divine Mind remembers every detail, and there is no lapse in recollection.

I found my peace with this truth, and put all the poor memories behind me.

I’m happy to report that there has been no more forgetfulness on anyone’s part. Hooray!

The lesson was major, though. This rule of not judging others erroneously was brought home with a hard landing. I had judged the others as being forgetful, and then, unwittingly, I manifested the same error.

We learn in Christian Science, that what we hold in our thinking to be true about our neighbor, we’re liable to believe about ourselves. So it’s very important to not hold error in our thought about others if we wish to stay free of it!

The apostle Paul wrote,

“You are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.” Romans 2:1

Lesson learned. If you judge another, be sure it’s a healthy spiritually correct judgment! See what God put there to begin with, and you’ll be standing on safe mental ground.

Upset with high gas prices?

Gas prices have gone sky-high compared to what we’ve paid in the past, in the USA, anyway.

To counteract any rising emotions that might come along with doling out ever –increasing wads of cash to the oil companies, check out, “Fill’er up with love,” which is a blog I wrote, and was posted on www.tmcyouth.com yesterday.

Improving church services

I attend church services at the Church of Christ, Scientist, which has hundreds of branches around the world, and I’ve heard it frequently complained by visitors that these services could use some more life.

Now, I will be the first to admit that Christian Science makes strong demands on one’s spiritual sense. It is not a sensual religion that grabs the human emotions with high-rolling sensual thrills that lift one to ecstatic highs. Quite to the contrary. It is a profoundly metaphysical teaching that requires one to quiet the physical senses and tune-in to the depths of Spirit where spiritual reality is revealed.

But, then again, it seems to me, that a service focused on ultimate reality should be the most mentally engaging activity of one’s week.

My local branch church recently decided to take a new approach to sponsoring our church services. We’re using the model from the Book of Acts as our guide.

On the day of Pentecost, the disciples were swept away by the Holy Spirit into an experience beyond any event they could have ever humanly orchestrated on their own. The effect was the beginning of the Christian church. Thousands of people were converted to this new teaching at a time.

It was not through committee appointments, by-laws, or any institutional mandate that the Christian movement took off. The disciples were of one accord, and when they had finally quieted material sense sufficiently to allow the Christ to take over, the Christ dominated their thinking, their actions, their lives, and BOOM, the church was off and running at full speed.

As our little society group here in Richland thought about letting the Holy Spirit take over our approach to sponsoring services, and not letting time-honored tradition hold us back, a number of ideas surfaced that we might try. And we tried a couple of them this week. They are not a big deal, but a start, and they worked well.

For example, we thought about the motive and purpose of taking collection. We agreed that it wasn’t money that kept a church going, but the inspiration people gained from participating in the church services. So, right before the collection, the First Reader said to the congregation, “This is when we take collection, but we’d like to first open the meeting for you to offer briefly any inspirational idea you gained from hearing the lesson.”

Several people spontaneously shared a short inspiration that had come to them while listening to the lesson. It was great! For any who are tempted to doze during the sermon, it was a vivid reminder that when you pay attention, the bounty is immense!

In as much as the Church Manual outlines an order of service that we are to follow, we’re starting to see immense room for flexibility in that order of service.

For example, the Manual does not stipulate a Bible translation to be used. Yesterday, our First Reader read out of the New King James Version for the Scriptural selection. The Manual does not say where the benediction has to come from. The Reader pulled a beautiful benediction from an article in the Christian Science Sentinel. Hymns can be used from anywhere,--that fit the theology of Christian Science,--and there are many sources. Contemporary solos can add a great amount of life to the service. The time for announcements is rich with opportunity to bring added dimension and possibility to the meeting. As my 13 year old son commented, “We should show short videos on how people’s lives have been changed by Christian Science!” It was a spontaneous observation from an unbiased youngster.

In bringing new life to our services, one must start with the source of all life to begin with--Mind! We can't start with the outward and work back to the spiritual. We must start with the spiritual, and let the inspiration of Spirit transform the outward.

It's heartening to remember that there are no limits in Mind, which means there are no limits on possibilities for the Holy Spirit to bring life to our services. It’s needed. It has to happen. It’s a requirement that must be met to conform to the true spirit of Christian Science, which is Truth-Alive here on earth today! Truth is active, animated, vibrant, Spirit-filled, and any activity professing to Truth must likewise evidence such realities.

As we truly let the Spirit guide us, and not allow ourselves to be bound and shackled by outdated practices, human opinion and limited views, our services can break open with the Spirit and carry people away into Truth like never before.

Any ideas of your own??

Acknowledge your blessings

Last weekend, my wife and I took our son to a large out-of-town tennis tournament for junior players. It was his first major event to participate in as a competitor, and we were all excited about the opportunity for him to play with other strong players from around the Pacific Northwest.

He did well, winning his first two matches, 6-4, 6-2, then 6-1, 6-1. He got trounced in the semi-finals by a far more experienced player who was also older and much bigger. But that was okay. We had reached our goal of gaining experience and playing the field to see what the competition was like.

The next day, I told a friend that I had spent part of the weekend watching my son compete in the tournament, and she replied, “How cool to be able to watch your son play tennis!” It was a simple statement, but stopped me dead in my mental tracks.

I hadn’t thought of being there in Ellensburg with Tyler as “way cool.” Yes, I was the one who encouraged him to participate in the first place. I was the one committed to getting him there and ensuring all went well. At the last minute, my wife was free to come too. And yes, I was excited about seeing him play. But I hadn’t thought in terms of “How cool…” I had seen the activity as just another part of raising children and living a family life.

But my friend was right. It was “cool!”

My friend had a different perspective. She was one longing for a family herself, and even children, and I had these things. So when she heard about the father/son activity, it was easy for her to see how special the experience was. I, as dad for fourteen years, had taken the privilege for granted.

I will not do that again! At least, to the best of my abilities… :-)

From that one simple observation of my friend, I have become more aware than ever to not take anything about our children’s growing up years for granted. It’s too precious. It happens once. Every activity they are involved in, every job they do, every assignment they complete, every smile they make, every idea they share, is cool! It’s the divine unfolding in their unique identities as children of God.

And what conscientious parent would want to miss out on even one of those special moments!

How cool...

Flaws or blessings?

An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole, which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the house. The cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.

After 2 years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house!" The old woman smiled, "Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side?" "That's because I have always known about your break, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house."

Each of us has our own unique differences. Some people call them flaws, but from a spiritual point of view, there are no flaws in God’s creation. Each divine idea serves a special and worthwhile purpose, and it’s the grateful mind’s desire to see that heavenly purpose and acknowledge its benefits.

So, perhaps we all need to ask the question about ourselves, and about our neighbor, “Am I seeing flaws or am I seeing the blessing in the differences we all behold?”

And with a more grateful and appreciative perspective, we may notice a whole row of beautiful flowers alongside our path we never noticed before!

What if no such thing as debt?

Too much debt is a common complaint of many callers these days. It’s ironic that in a time when the economy is supposed to be strong, with full-employment throughout most of the country, the USA anyway, millions of people sink deeper into debt, frantically trying to keep their financial heads above water. Something is not right here!

One day, recently, when I was praying to see someone’s financial solvency and to see them abounding in God’s unlimited supply of infinite resources, the question lobbed into my thought, “What if there was no such thing as credit with which to incur debt?” I wondered what the world would be like in such a case.

It may sound preposterous because debt is such an integrated part of many people’s lives. Yet, this is not true for many people I’ve known over the years. I’ve known people who never go into debt. They loathe debt. They avoid it at all costs. They may have bought a modest home with a mortgage to put a roof over their family’s head in their early years, but by and large they stay out of debt. They’d rather go without then put a balance on a credit card and have to deal with the consequences later. And they gain great peace of mind from never having to deal with debt. I have seen the contentment in their demeanor. They are usually very humble people, not into show, not caring whether they keep up with the neighbor’s purchases next door, and not judging their substance by how many possessions they own. They have found a spiritual contentment within that satisfies them beyond the acquisition of any material thing. And this spiritual contentment keeps them out of debt to the world.

It’s a good question to ask oneself if struggling with debt. What if there was no money to borrow? What would you do differently when balancing income with outgo? How would your long run decision-making change if there was no credit card you could reach for when short on cash?

I like the question because it requires one to quit relying upon a material vehicle for supply and hopefully drive desire closer to the divine source of all supply.

One problem with ease of credit is that the human mind starts relying upon the material credit rather than upon God for supply. It creates a false sense of reliance that sooner or later has to be reckoned with.

God is the source of all supply that lasts and truly meets human needs. Cash is easily spent and gone, but God’s supply, coming in the form of wisdom, sound decision-making, spiritual-mindedness, love, humility, obedience and unselfishness meets needs over the long haul. Spiritual supply keeps us out of financial debt.

And that’s where our gaze should be focused for long term solutions to financial crises—on the long run! There may be some short term uncomfortable adjustments to make while getting back on track with aligning with true supply—spiritual supply—but the long term rewards will be immense.

God can give us more than any amount of debt could ever provide.

If struggling with debt, ask yourself, “If there was no credit to gain, how would I live differently? Where would I go for help? And what kind of help would I be looking for?”

Moses found water in the rock and food falling from the sky. Peter found tax money in a fishes’ mouth, and thousands saw a few loaves and fishes multiply to the joy of all.

We too, can find what we need “in a fishes’ mouth,” and water from the rock—from the most unexpected places—and see good multiply before our eyes. God can do it! When we cease to let the temptation of debt blind our mental eyes to seeing God’s ever-present supply at hand, we see possibilities that we didn’t see before, and the perceived need to acquire debt goes away. We find we can live without it just fine!

Our true debt is to God—for all the blessings divinely bestowed upon us waiting to be used. Pay this heavenly debt, and debt to the world will get paid off.

Finding work you love

I have a new blog post on tmcyouth.com, titled, "Finding work you love."

So if you're looking for a job you'd love to do, or would like to be happier in the job you have, check it out!

Cheers

People are nice

I had to catch a 5:31 a.m. plane last Thursday for a business meeting in Boston. I arrived at the airport in what had always been plenty of time only to find an unusually long line waiting to pass through security. As I patiently waited my turn, it became worrisome that I would miss my flight at the snail’s pace travelers were passing by the guards. I prayed to know I was going to make that flight, that the one Mind was on the scene coordinating the movement of every passenger efficiently and ably, and that I wouldn’t miss my plane. But it was not obvious how this demonstration was going to occur!

I wanted to ask an airline employee if I could jump to the front of the line, but there were no employees in sight and I didn’t want to lose my place in line. I do not like asking for special treatment anyway, so continued to wait. But, if something progressive didn’t happen soon, I was going to miss that plane!

As I glanced back and forth from my watch to the dozens of people standing in front of me, and probably looking a bit nervous, a very nice professional type man behind me said, “Go ask to cut in front of the line.” He offered no explanation, no extra words, and no justification. He was direct, to the point, and rather commanding, “Go ask to cut in front of the line.” That was it. It was the nudge, actually giant mental push, I needed to get over my timidity about asking someone for a special favor.

He volunteered to watch my bags while I walked to the front of the line. I thanked him and followed his directions, asking two ladies very politely if they would mind if I cut in front of them. I explained that my plane was about to take off. They laughed and smiled and replied, “Sure, go ahead. We’re in no hurry.”

I got my bags, went in front of them, quickly moved through security and made it to my plane with the cargo door closing a couple of minutes behind me.

I rejoiced in gratitude afterward for the dozens of people I cut in front of which not a one voiced disapproval or showed anger. It didn’t seem to matter. They all understood. Each was so polite, thoughtful and considerate, and I thanked God again and again to be amongst such nice people in that early morning hour.

People are nice. It's helpful to know this truth!

I imagine most of us have had unpleasant experiences with neighbors not being kind, but overall, I expect most of you will agree, that people are by far and large kind, good hearted and want to be helpful. I certainly would have let anyone cut in front of me if the situation had been in reverse, and maybe that’s why it was so easy for me to cut in front of them, once I got up enough gumption to ask.

I also thanked God for the man behind me that told me to cut. He was like an angel messenger sent from God giving me the push I needed. I was obstinately holding my place in line figuring I deserved to be late like anyone else would for not getting to the airport in time.

But, when I thought about it spiritually, I decided that’s not the way God set things up.

God is a forgiving God. There’s always room for flexibility and accommodation when mistakes are made in the human realm. Love can find a way to meet everyone’s needs when adjustments are needed, and still have everyone come out happy whether they are the one who needs a favor or they are the one granting the request.

I believe people are nice because God made them nice. I was grateful to see that niceness in full blown expression this week.

Trusting the unseen

All I have seen teaches me to trust the creator for all I have not seen.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Making quality investments

I receive a short newsletter each month from the Edward Jones investment house, and a word of wisdom they shared this month on making quality investments caught my attention.

An adviser wrote: “Quality investments are like tennis balls: They are more likely to bounce back after a correction. Speculative investments are like eggs: When they drop, they just make a mess.”

I certainly can relate to making an investment that drops like an egg! Haven’t made too many of those over the years, for I’m generally a fast learner on that score! But have had one or two purchases in the past I wished I’d never made.

I extended the warning above to “metaphysical investments” we make everyday. Whenever we commit our thought to a certain pattern of thinking or round of logic, according to the soundness of the wisdom we adhere to will be the outcome of our mental investment.

If we put our hopes in temporal things, someday, those things are going to disappear. The mental investment we made over the years in that temporal thing is going to drop like an egg. Splat! All gone!

If we put our hopes in Spirit, then we make mental investments that never fail us. The power we trust, God, will always be there for us no matter what. Even when faced with severe trial, the trial will eventually pass, and God is ever the same—still present. The “ball of life” bounces back and stays in play.

So, if you’re into making investments that endure for the long haul, make quality investments—spiritual investments you can count on retaining their value forever! And there’s no better time to build your portfolio than now.

Answers to college student questions

My post “Benefits of sharing Christian Science,” spurred several emails from curious readers wanting answers to the questions I said college students asked me in the comparative religions class I spoke to a week ago.

So, here are a few of the thoughts I shared.


Do you believe in Satan?
No. Evil seems very real to the human mind struggling with evil conditions, wicked rulers and disease around the world. But Jesus Christ came to show us a way out of that suffering. He taught how we could live a life of love and service to God which gives us spiritual power to overcome the evil we face. As we faithfully follow his teachings and increasingly succeed at conquering evil, inevitably we come to the full recognition that God is all power and wholly good. There is no place left for an entity called Satan to remain in this place of understanding, which I’ve learned to call heaven.

If evil was real and true, it could not be overcome.


Is there an afterlife?
Life is eternal! No one ever truly dies. We drop the human body as we know it now in the experience called human death, but life goes on. It does not stop. As we grow in understanding that life is spiritual, that Life is God, we stop thinking in terms of before-life or after-life, and accept one Life, God!


If Christ is Truth, then how can people who don’t know Christ find Truth?
Christ abides in everyone whether they call themselves Christian or not. Christ is not a denomination. Christ IS love and truth, and you can find love and truth to some degree in everyone. The more you look from a spiritual point of view, the more you find. A Christian Scientist strives to see the Christ in everyone.


If matter isn’t real, why go to the mountains to vacation?
(This question was asked as a soft jab on the student’s knowledge that I was headed to the mountains to vacation with my family immediately after the class was finished.)

It depends upon how you look at “the mountains.” You say they are matter. Christian Science says, “All is Mind.” The real eternal universe is Mind, not matter.

The more you think out from Mind, you begin to see that what you call material mountains are really grand ideas. You might see material trees and rocks and dirt. I see beauty, order, grandeur.


What if someone dies when you are praying for them?
Any unexpected death is a tragedy. Just as every medical doctor tries their very best to save every patient, each Christian Science practitioner puts in their best effort to heal every case.

I don’t know of any doctor who has never had a patient die, but I’m sure they feel badly if one does pass on. If a patient does die while we’re praying for them, we trust that the patient is alive and well under God’s care, moving on with their eternal life. And in the meantime we continue to work and improve our own healing effectiveness.


What about hell?
There is no geographical place called hell. Hell is a state of miserable human consciousness. As thought is spiritualized and purified, the misery ceases, and a heavenly consciousness takes over.


How do you pray?
There are many ways to pray.

Jesus taught, “Know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” I pray to know the spiritual truth about myself or the person I am praying for. Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, helps me understand the healing truths of the Bible so I can pray more effectively. A basic premise in Christian Science prayer is the truth that God is perfect, and God made us perfect. The purpose of prayer is to see and understand this truth more clearly. When you do, you experience healing of whatever imperfection is bothering you.

I continue to pray until I feel at peace about the truth I am affirming. Once I find the peace, I know healing is happening.


Do you believe in baptism?
Yes, but perhaps not in the same way you think about it.

Baptism, in Christian Science, is not a one time act. It’s a daily purification of human consciousness.

Science and Health states, “Our baptism is a purification from all error.”

Error is evil impure thinking, like hate, anger, resentment, dishonesty, laziness…any type of sin. This purification does not happen in a day. It takes constant, vigilant effort to purge thinking of all error.

Baptism, in Christian Science, is an everyday occurrence.


Whew! Above is a few of the answers I shared. I hope they are helpful in your efforts to share Christian Science with friends and neighbors too!

Share away…

We'll be happy to help

I have this bad, but maybe good! habit of telling people, “We’ll be happy to do that,” when promising to personally help out in some way. I’ve done it for so many years I often don’t realize I’m saying it.

A lady recently asked me to pray for her, and I cheerfully replied, “We’ll be happy to help out.”

She came back with, “Who is the we?”

I said, “Well, me and God, of course!”

“Oh,” she answered.

I have this strong constant conviction of going through life with God. We’re never separated. God and I are one, I know. Like water and wet, God and my true self are never separated. We coexist. God is the Doer, and I’m the doing. It’s a fun healthy relationship of which I am very content with.

So when people ask me to do something, in my strong belief that I can’t do anything by myself, I come back with, “Sure, we’ll be happy to help out.” People look at me weird sometimes not sure who the “we” is, but I know in my own mind what I’m talking about.

I’ve decided maybe I should quit referring to the plural like that, because it confuses some. So I say, “I’ll be happy to do that,” instead. But honestly, it feels very uncomfortable, because I can’t imagine how I could ever do anything without God taking the initiative first. God is the Doer, not me. I like to be the “doing” part.

But I don’t want to confuse people either. So, I’ll probably use the “I” more frequently when no other human is involved, just to keep conversation clear. But in my own view, I know there is only one “I,” and it’s not me. It’s God. But I exist too, I realize, just not as God.

If you have any questions, we’ll be happy to help! :-)