Life is not a check off list

When my wife and I talked about what we’d do while in NYC for two days over Memorial Day weekend, it was tempting to lay out an itinerary of places we wanted to see, and then hoof it around from one place to the other until we worked our way down the desired list.

But we also wanted to enjoy our time together and not be hurried by a jammed schedule of things to do. So we decided that our goal was not to “do things,” but to enjoy each other’s company and let the spirit move us as it willed.

So we made a list of sights we’d like to see, but set no schedule as to when or how.

You must understand that letting go of a schedule is a major accomplishment for me. I’ve always been strong on order and planning out things ahead of time to avoid mishaps. But I’m also learning that there is a higher order already in place that I can trust to appear in a timely way. I don’t have to know ahead of time what the Big Plan is except to know there is one and it’s very good--a scheme much better than I could ever figure out myself.

So, I put Evan’s planning aside, and trusted God’s planning.

Kathy was happy to agree!

Saturday morning, we decided to walk through Central Park and eventually end up at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

As we strolled through the park at a leisurely pace watching the young children play, the ducks swimming in the ponds, the musicians playing their instruments, boats floating in the boat pond, and hard working citizens taking a well-earned moment to relax and soak in some sun, I rejoiced in seeing more clearly that life is not a check-off list of jobs and tasks that need to be done.

Pond in Central Park where part of Stuart Little was filmed

Lists can help keep order, but they are not the end-all and be-all of existence. Life is so much more than human tasks accomplished.

Life is a spiritual experience, not a check-off list.

Life is about feeling close to God and practicing love.

Life is not things we have to do. Life is what we ARE doing!

Life is love lived.

I felt a lot of love while meandering down the paths and around the bends of Central Park last Saturday. And I believe it was easier to feel because I had put a preconceived agenda of what to do that day totally aside. We were letting the Spirit move us, and the effect was one of no strain or stress, no hurry or rush, but peace, calm, quiet, restfulness—love felt.

Jesus let the Spirit move him, but he also had a strong sense of order in his life. He knew he had a mission to accomplish. He knew what his Father-Mother expected of him, and he worked hard to be a faithful son. But he also mentally dwelt at that happy median of trusting the Spirit to lead him each day and move him in a progressive direction. He didn’t humanly schedule his life, but spiritually lived it.

Some people have no problem forsaking lists, but then they struggle with finding order. I am looking for the happy median--order--but freedom too.

It is comforting to understand that God’s plan is better than mine.

It certainly was comforting last weekend!

We still visited a large number of places in two days, but at Spirit’s restful pace, and not in a mortal mind hurried race. The weekend was truly a delightful time.

Encouraging our children

Several months ago, we received a flyer from Discovery Bound announcing a major event for teens they were organizing for Memorial Weekend in New York City. It was a program designed to get students interested in Christian Science together for a weekend of fellowship, and participate in workshops led by successful performers, artists, and musicians who would talk about how spirituality and the Arts work together.

The group would attend a Lion King performance, go on a dinner/dance cruise, see main attractions in NYC, and overall, have a really fun time.

The weekend was financially underwritten by a generous foundation, so was very affordable for anyone wanting to attend.

When we mentioned the idea to our 2 teenagers, they had little interest in going. At first, we dropped the idea, figuring, oh well, it’s no big deal. But we also believed they were passing up on an activity they would thoroughly enjoy and benefit from.

Living in the Tri-Cities can feel remote at times. We are a small community.

Our teens are nearing college age and I want them to know before they go out on their own that there are thousands of teenagers just like them around the world loving and practicing Christian Science successfully just like they are. Getting together with like-minded individuals and sharing spiritual experiences can strengthen one’s own faith and commitment to Truth.

It’s tough to know as a parent sometimes, how far to promote a new idea to your children. Decisions need to be made out of genuine desire and not forced through human will.

We believed in this case, that they weren’t seeing the positive possibilities of participating in this event, so we prayed for what to do. We didn’t give up on the idea!

So, we listed all the benefits the trip had to offer and my wife and I repeated them to the kids. We asked them to seriously consider going, but made it clear that it was their choice.

The children said “They’d think about it.”

After a few days of thought, the kids decided to “give it a try.”

Yay! So we made plans.

Kathy and I dropped them off at the International Hostel in NYC last Friday night with a hundred or so other teens that were also attending.

At this point, the kids expected to have a good time, and had no problem letting mom and dad take off and leave them there. That was a good sign!

Kathy and I spent the next two days in the City, which I will blog more about after this, and picked the kids up Monday morning. And they were as happy and delighted as could be. The weekend had been a grand success. New friends had been made, the program was fabulous, and their faith had been strengthened.

Kathy and I were thrilled we had followed through.

One lesson I learned from this, is to not let resistance to a new idea prevent one from trying something new. Mortal mind works overtime to stop progress.

You may have noticed in your own life, that when a new progressive idea presents itself, 10 reasons not to do it also appear. Resistance to progress is endemic in mortal ways of thinking.

We have to be alert to this often subtle form of evil denying our right to experience ever-increasing amounts of good in our life. We have to be willing to leave our comfort zone and pioneer a bit. A few brave steps into unknown territory can be very rewarding.

That was certainly the case for our family last weekend.

We are still basking in the glow of a very successful trip. And thanks to Discovery Bound for making it happen!

Prayer for calm in China

After hearing reports of more tremors in China today, and remembering the thousands of families and children already reeling from devastation and loss, I had to take more time out to pray for peace and calm in that land.

I thought about Jesus Christ stilling the storm with the few simple words, “Peace, be still.” And I asked, can’t we do the same today with the earthquakes in China?
Jesus proved the universe to be mental. What we call physical conditions are mortal mind conditions that can be changed, altered and improved with spiritual understanding.

Mary Baker Eddy learned through experience, too, that prayer can affect the weather and natural conditions on earth.

About the physical realm she wrote, “The physical universe expresses the conscious and unconscious thoughts of mortals.” Science and Health

Logic implies that turbulent conditions on earth are representative of turbulent conditions in mortal thought outlining mortal conditions on earth. To restore peace, love needs to replace that internal discord in public consciousness.

With the upcoming Olympics, there has been a large unleashing, in many parts of the world, of repressed and suppressed hatred toward China over human rights issues. It occurred to me in prayer that this immense mental discord cannot be ignored. It needs to be addressed and ministered to with an understanding love that helps the people of China find peace within their own country and with the rest of the world over these issues.

In the meantime, I pray to see more clearly that innocent people and children cannot suffer from a mindless and merciless tide of events, whether the perceived turmoil takes the form of earthquakes or political acts of intolerance.

Divine Love is powerful enough to relieve pent-up pressure in the earth’s strata or built-up hatred in mortal mind. Love can do the job.

Let us pray… “Peace, be still.”

Fruits of faith

Faith is to believe what we do not see

and the reward of this faith is to see what we believe.

~ Augustine

Finding God in the ads...

A fifth grade teacher in a Christian school asked her class to look at TV commercials and see if they could use them in some way to communicate ideas about God.

Here are some of the results:

God is like
a FORD
He's got a better idea.

God is like
COKE
He's the real thing.

God is like
HALLMARK CARDS
He cares enough to send His very best.

God is like
TIDE
He gets the stains out that others leave behind.

God is like
GENERAL ELECTRIC
He brings good things to life.

God is like
SEARS
He has everything.

God is like
SCOTCH TAPE
You can't see Him, but you know He's there.

God is like
DELTA
He's ready when you are.

God is like
ALLSTATE
You're in good hands with Him.

God is like
VO-5 Hair Spray
He holds through all kinds of weather.

God is like
DIAL SOAP
Aren't you glad you have Him? Don't you wish everybody did?

God is like
the U.S. POST OFFICE
Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet nor ice will keep Him from His appointed destination.

God is like
CHEVROLET. . .the heart beat of America

God is like
MAXWELL HOUSE. . .
Good to the very last drop

God is like
BOUNTY. .
He is the quicker picker upper. . can handle the tough jobs. .and He won't fall apart on you

Rise up and walk

After being taught in Sunday school about a man whom Jesus healed of lameness a young child related the story to his parents afterward, and innocently misquoted Jesus' command to the man as, "Wise up and walk!"

A Sunday school teacher's prayer

A poem written by a Sunday school teacher for her pupils.

Dear God,

Your Love is valued and because of that, I love.

You love me and because of that, I believe in you.

You cherish all of your children and to think - I am yours too!

I am totally moved by your compassion. Compassion teaches great things.

I will be all that I can be, because of you.

Your love touches me - with a smile.

If I know, if I truly feel that you are All,

Then I know, and I perceive that your Love heals.


~ Patti Paul

The devil can only talk

I attended a Christian Science lecture by Ryder Stevens a night ago, and I’ll never forget how he described evil’s tactics to influence the human mind.

He said something similar to, “Evil can’t make us do anything. It can only talk at us. If the devil had power, it would have pushed Jesus off the pinnacle rather than ask him to jump.”

Isn’t that helpful!

Evil has no power to make us do anything.

Jesus taught, “The devil is a liar and the father of all lies.” In the human experience, evil appears real and powerful at times, but what we see is what we believe. Evil has no power to stop Life or interfere with the good God has built into our spiritual being. Evil never reaches us, as children of God.

It makes lots of suggestion to the human mind! But they are only suggestions. They are never truths, realities, or imperatives.

Evil has no power to “push us off the pinnacle.” If we jump, it’s not because we had to.

Human being or Spiritual being?

I gain so many spiritual lessons in working with my patients.

I was listening to a friend talk about how she feared there might be flaws and emotional deficiencies in her thinking that held her back from being healed through her prayers. That even though she prayed and knew the truth well, that as a human being, she felt there was always some shortcoming hidden in thought that prevented her from being spiritually successful.

In a knee-jerk response, I replied, “You’re not a human being. You're a spiritual being!”

There was dead silence on both ends of the conversation.

I had to think about what I said too.

And, of course, I realized, if we see ourselves as human beings, we’re always going to be plagued by doubt and fear.

Humans are limited. Humans are deficient. Humans have shortcomings. Fear and doubt come with the mental territory the human mind occupies.

The exit door from a feeling of hopelessness that often accompanies identifying oneself as a fallible human is spiritual being.

In Truth, we are not human beings, we are spiritual beings!

Wow! Huge relief!

I have much spiritual growth to gain to fully grasp what it means to be a spiritual being, but at least it’s the right starting point in prayer!

We’re not fallible human beings. We are immortal spiritual beings.

Spiritview's new design

You may have noticed a few design changes on Spiritview... How could you not?

For a long time, I've wanted to make some modifications, but didn't have the expertise myself to implement them. I finally found a web designer I trusted, and asked them to re-work many of the features, and that's what we're looking at today.

Most notably, I hope the text in the posts is much easier to read. I had complaints from the earlier version about hard-to-read-text with the font color blending in with the background color.

Also, I have an original banner on the headmast now. We experimented with a few different nature pictures, but honestly, none of them seemed to properly symbolize the essence of the blog. No offense to you nature lovers! I'm one of you too! The scenes would capture certain aspects of spirituality, but not the sum total, so I settled for a graphic design instead.

The red hues are not what I originally had envisioned, but, interestingly, the path we take on a journey doesn't always take us to the destination we thought we were heading toward. Has that ever happened to you?

In the end, I liked the edgy feel of the maroon/red tones. It set the blog out from the massive numbers of sites that are saturated in blues and greens. I feel comfortable being a bit different... Good thing, because I don't know how a Christian Scientist would thrive otherwise...

I'm still experimenting with font colors, link colors and so on...so more changes and tweaks may appear. Enjoy the ride!

So, if you have any constructive suggestions for further improvements or adjustments, now is the time to let me know while I have a web designer to help!

Thanks for your support. It is appreciated.

You make this blog what it is!

The healing power of Love

Two weeks ago, my daughter came home after school feeling very poorly. I didn’t know about the illness until I heard, “Mom, will you read to me from Science and Health?” Science and Health is a book all about spiritual healing. It’s the textbook of Christian Science.

I was cooking dinner, so as soon as I settled cooking pots on the stove down long enough to leave, I went into her bedroom to see what was happening.

Jenna lay in bed under thick covers. I sat down at her side and rested my hand on her arm. She was burning up with a raging heat and complained of a horrendous headache. She rarely complains about anything, so for her to even mention a problem meant it was no little struggle.

As I listened for angel thoughts to share, I just loved her. I looked into her eyes and saw a beloved child of God. I reminded her of how loved she was. I reassured her of the healing presence of God that works to keep her well. I reminded her that God made her healthy and keeps her healthy. We recognized together that Truth could push any error out of her experience, and quickly! She soaked every truth in like a dry sponge put to water.

After a couple of minutes, I could see a response in her face. Mom was patiently waiting for me to finish. I kissed her, gave her a big hug, and left the room confident that she was fine. Mom continued to read to her from Science and Health.

As I finished dinner in the kitchen, I rejoiced in knowing that she was spiritual and well as a child of God. A spiritual idea of God does not get sick or suffer. A spiritual idea of God is always healthy and well. My daughter was not susceptible to error influence, nor was she an unsuspecting or vulnerable mortal. She was immortal. Her spirituality was her immunity to illness, and since she was totally spiritual, not material, she could not suffer. I felt a great peace about her situation.

Ten minutes later, while I was setting the table, Jenna came bouncing out of her room into the kitchen and asked in her normal boisterous, full confident voice, “What’s for dinner?” I looked up a bit amazed, I must say, for she was a picture of health. I was not expecting her to eat dinner. But the ill Jenna I had seen in bed minutes previously was gone. She wanted to eat and then head off to chem lab at school. I quickly accepted the healing. We ate dinner, and all was fine.

Over the next few days, she started coughing. I didn’t pay much attention to it, at first, which was a mistake. But when I realized it was persistent and not yielding, I specifically addressed it with her one morning before she went to school. I told her to not accept the coughing as something to put up with or figure would go away in the future. It was error, and was not necessary. We decided together that it had no place in her experience as a healthy child of God and off to school she went. I never heard another cough.

As a parent, I’m so grateful for Christian Science. It gives us spiritual remedies we can put into practice instantly to help our children. And the side effects are so totally wholesome.

Ballet extraordinaire

A reader sent me this link, Chinese Ballet, that will wow you whether you enjoy ballet or not.

Grace, poise, control, dominion, beauty, love, trust…the feats will amaze you.

Evidently, it took this husband and wife eight year to perfect the routine.

On page 199, in Science and Health, Eddy wrote about the mental requirements necessary for such flexibility as evidenced in this short video.

“The feats of the gymnast prove that latent mental fears are subdued by him.

“Had Blondin believed it impossible to walk the rope over Niagara's abyss of waters, he could never have done it. His belief that he could do it gave his thought-forces, called muscles, their flexibility and power which the unscientific might attribute to a lubricating oil. His fear must have disappeared before his power of putting resolve into action could
appear.” Mary Baker Eddy

"Into the wild"

Have you seen the movie, “Into the wild?”

I just watched it, and found it to be one of the most thought provoking films I’ve seen in a long time. It’s based on a true story.

Young Christopher McCandless graduates from Emory University, with top grades and a bright future ahead of him, but decides he doesn’t want to pursue a traditional career, or even law school at Harvard. He gives away his $24,000 in savings to charity and sets out on a lone odyssey to find true happiness.

Raised in a turbulent home, and by parents who loved him, but didn’t teach him what love was, and perhaps were not equipped to, Chris saw no reason to stay connected with his family and be part of their lives. He deserts them, justified by the belief that they deserted him in many ways.

While hitchhiking across the country, he forms some touching and caring relationships with a few people along the way. But he is determined to go to Alaska, and live in the wilderness on his own. Relationships are not what people need, he tells an older gentleman whom he befriended.

Christopher figures he can find happiness and completeness in the wild where there is no competition from daily demands of work, earn, buy and pay.

He makes into the deep outback of the Alaska wilderness, alone, and finds an old bus furnished with a woodstove to camp out in. He’s in wilderness heaven! Over the next three months he revels in the pristine purity and majesty of his surroundings, makes notes in his diary and ponders life lessons.

When it’s time to leave, he discovers a stream he crossed in the spring has become a huge river that he cannot cross. He’s stuck. He cannot return. He goes back to the bus. He has no food. He is starving, and in desperation begins living off of plants. But unfortunately, he eats a poisonous plant, and falls very ill. In his great trial of suffering, alone with no one to help, and in lonely circumstances of his own creating, some life lessons come into focus.

Among those lessons, he jots into his diary the words,

“Happiness is not real, unless shared.”

I’m jolted by his observation. It’s almost exactly what Mary Baker Eddy wrote over 100 years ago, when she penned,

“Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love. It is unselfish; therefore it cannot exist alone, but requires all mankind to share it.” Science and Health

I loved Chris' revelation! It rang so true for me.

Happiness is not a selfish enterprise. It is not something we find alone. Yes, it is spiritual, and we find it with God, but it helps to know that it’s also spiritual to love others freely and share the joys of Life with them. A spiritual life is not a materially lonely life. A spiritual life is an activity of engagement, discourse and spiritual discussion. Christopher did not find this in the wilderness, and his solo flight away from all of society left him lonelier than ever.

Some people have thought Mary Baker Eddy lived a lonely life because she stayed home oftentimes, penning her works and praying for the world. But this belief couldn’t be further from the truth. She was constantly engaged with citizens of the world. She ran a household of up to 25 staffers. She answered dozens of letters each day, with the help of secretaries. Eddy was constantly engaged with the public, people and thinkers around the world. She was an excellent model, for her time, on how one could find the time and space needed to grow spiritually as individuals, but also still be actively engaged with neighbors.

Aside from that diversion in discussion...

The ending of the movie leaves the viewer greatly sobered by Christopher’s experience. He comes to know himself better, and instead of mentally running away from everything he dislikes in the world, he begins to acknowledge the good already in place.

I don’t think I’ll ever forget Chris’ words,

“Happiness is not real, unless shared.”

It captured the essence of my whole experience with Christian Science. I can’t keep its joys to myself, for if I do, they die. But when I share, they come alive!

Perhaps, that’s what this blog is all about…

Mind's perfect memory

A short video clip forwarded to me today is fascinating to watch.

It illustrates the unfettered capacities of Mind and the perfect memory Mind possesses—and man possesses too, as Mind’s reflection.

“We are all capable of more than we do.” Mary Baker
Eddy

How big is your God?

A reader sent me these pictures today.

Can you find spiritual lessons in them?

The first question I asked was, “Can humans hold the sun in their hands?”

The answer is obviously “No,” but the picture tells a different story.

I thought about other examples where the lesser appears to master and control the greater.

For example, there is much talk in the press today about recessionary conditions in the US economy. It would appear that the sub-prime fall-out, the high price of oil, and expense of war in Iraq are sapping our livelihood and lowering our standard of living. If we were to buy into this summary, our demonstration of supply might feel gripped within the ever tightening hands of fear, and belief of shortage and lack.

But if we understand our supply is not human, not material, and not temporal at the mercy of fear-cycles, we can have supply despite a recession. The greater is never at the mercy of the lesser.

We have to back away from what appears to be a shrinking, small amount of supply, and regain the correct picture of God as infinite supply, and bigger than any quantity the human mind can comprehend.

From a material point of view resources might appear limited, small and meager, like the little sun in the big fingers. But from a divine vantage point of God as the source of all supply, resources are infinite, unending and ever flowing.

We must not be deceived by the human picture!

You might have your own examples to share of the lesser trying to limit the greater…

“Mortal man has made a covenant with his eyes to belittle Deity with human conceptions. In league with material sense, mortals take limited views of all things.” Mary Baker Eddy

Live without stress

Feeling stressed out, worried or overly concerned? There's a spiritual way out...

In April, I lectured to young people in Los Angeles at a Youth Summit on the topic of “How to live without stress.” My talk was recorded and recently posted on tmcyouth.com.

The site introduces the podcast with

Christian Science lecturer Evan Mehlenbacher shares some ideas about how to deal with stress. Fears, worries, and concerns prevent us from trusting our lives to God. But it’s this trust that is the very thing that
can break through to solutions to our problems. Join in to see how to feel God’s presence and shed the stress.

There are many good lectures posted on tmcyouth.com as audio files that were given at Youth Summits this spring. Check them out here.

Freedom from having to get

Have you ever wanted something so badly that the object of your desire constantly occupied your thought and attention?

Maybe you wanted more income, a new car, another place to live, a date, a new LCD TV, a different job, a vacation, some respect, attention from others,…and the list could go on and on…

One rule for life I’ve learned over the years is that the thing we think we need is not as important as we think it is at the time.

It’s interesting how the human mind can get so mesmerized into thinking it needs something and can’t “live without it,” only to discover in due time, that happiness could be had just as easily without the wished for thing.

I’m not talking about necessities such as food and clothing, issues which billions of people struggle with in many parts of the world. That’s a whole different topic. I’m talking about feeling need when there is no need.

In the developed countries, where consumer goods abound and there is ready access to stuff, stuff and more stuff, people often get educated into believing they need more stuff to be happy.

My wife and I deal with this in raising our kids. Their friends have many toys and things that they do not have. And they come home and tell us about this stuff, hinting that every child should have it too, including them! Right? Wrong…

This doesn’t happen very often in our household, but when it does, we’re quick to point out that true happiness doesn’t come from all the things one might own. True joy is spiritual, and comes from feeling close to God.

Many parents might think this type of reasoning is “fantasy talk,” and won’t resonate with teenagers. But I totally disagree. It does resonate, and it works. Want and selfishness might resist at first, but if the parent is clear in their own thought that the spiritual is more important than the material, the message will get through. The child will follow the parent’s lead.

And the same rule applies to us adults as well. If you watch much TV and read many magazines, the message of “Buy this. You need it!” is felt and heard everywhere. We have to consciously resist the temptation to think we need all these things to be happy. We don’t. In fact, acquiring all the stuff can lead to greater unhappiness, because it cultivates a mindset of want, rather than a feeling of contentment and satisfaction.

There is great freedom in not wanting stuff. Letting go of a cherished desire can lift a huge burden out of consciousness that we didn’t realize was even there. Even simple acceptances like, “I don’t need that new jacket. I don’t need to eat out this week. I don’t have to read this clothing catalog,” are uplifting.

The greatest freedom doesn’t come from what we buy, but from knowing what we are—complete, whole children of God, already in full possession of the greatest assets Life has to offer—an ever-expanding knowledge of Truth and Love!

Enjoy your God-given freedom today to be happy without stuff. It’s a lot easier on your pocketbook!

When wronged by others

A couple of weeks ago I was grousing to myself about being unfairly wronged by another. I don’t like feeling resentful because I know it is totally out of character with living the Sermon on the Mount which instructs us to forgive, love our enemies, and move on.

But no matter how I looked at the situation I faced, I still felt wronged, and the burden this resentment brought within was not lifting.

I said all the right words in my prayers, but still, the resentment would not leave.

Finally, the angel message came,

“I might be wronged by others, but I don’t have to suffer from their actions.”

Wow! That was the inspiration I needed to hear.

I realized that I was stuck in my prayers because I was trying to see the unreality of the injustice. And I couldn’t. Injustice is injustice. How can you see a wrong as right? You can’t. Wrong is wrong, and right is right, simple as that.

I thought about Jesus Christ’s experience with others. He was wronged many times, and very unfairly. If he couldn't avoid being treated unjustly, how would I avoid it?

Also, he did not tell his followers that they would never be wronged. In fact, he taught quite the opposite. He warned his students that they would be wronged, and they might as well expect it. But he didn’t leave it there.

He explained,

Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Well of course, I finally figured out with the emphasis of a strong blow across the head, that we feel resentful when we believe something of worth has been taken from us. Something of value like maybe an opportunity, perhaps money, a thing, or esteem, respect, honor, or something similar.

These are all worldly, though. They are not of heaven, I began to see clearly. They are of the temporal realm and to be released for the spiritual.

All good is truly spiritual, and not of this world, I reaffirmed. No one on this planet could do anything, no matter how unjust, that deprived me of anything genuinely good. My substance is safe and sound in Spirit, I knew!

And that’s when I really understood the message, “I might be wronged by others, but I don’t have to suffer from their actions.”

I interpreted this to mean, I might be, and probably would be again, wronged humanly by others, but I will never feel suffering from their actions when I know my substance, being and individuality is spiritual, safe and sound in heaven, where no human can touch it.

My goal in life was not to build myself up humanly in a way that others could tear down. It was not to achieve any type of prestige or certain kind of respect from others. It was not to be anything of this world really. It was to grow in spiritual understanding, yield up all belief of life in matter, and be the heavenly child of God I was created to be in the first place. From this higher spiritual point of view, there wasn't anything anyone of this world could do to truly hurt me. Human injustice might sting for a while, as I let go of human ego, but in the long run, all is spiritual and totally out of the reach of malice and hatred.

Whew!

This higher view was a mega-relief, and I’m still floating in upper mental space from the buoyancy it brought to me.

No more resentment…just more love.

You can do it too.

Change WHAT IF to WHAT IS

Have you ever been plagued by the WHAT IF syndrome? You know, the old “What if…?” question that comes in the form of doubt, fear and worry about your future and includes speculation that the worst of options is about to swoop down and overcome you?

It comes in the form of questions like:

What if this pain is the beginning of something worse?
What if I can't pay my bills?
What if I get fired?
What if I fail?
What if I can’t do it?
What if nothing happens?
And on and on and on…

I finally heard a counter to all these What if…questions a couple of months ago.

When a patient was relaying her list of What ifs…it suddenly occurred to me, that the appropriate question to be asking was not What if…? but What is…? And not so much as a question, but as an affirmation of Truth.

“What is true here!” is the question we should be asking, rather than getting all absorbed into what is not true.

The What if…? question rooted in fear is mortal mind speculation and typically leads to a downward spiral in reasoning that takes one further and further away from truth. If indulged in too far, it can actually produce the very circumstance one fears. And what benefit is that? None…

So, it is to be avoided.

How?

But affirming What is!!!

God is All. God is Spirit, and God is good.
There is no room in Spirit for error to exist, let alone grow.
There is no error in Spirit.
Man is spiritual.
God is in control. The future is under God’s control.
God is making good things happen.
Health is spiritual, and health is permanent.
Good is happening.
and on and on and on…

Try it.

Don’t let the What if…? apparition steal any of your mental time and energy. Turn it out summarily and replace it with What is!

New CD for lovers of pop music

Have you heard about the new CD “Moment by Moment,” by Helen St. John?

I received a circular through the mail, and haven’t seen the recording advertised publicly, so thought I’d share its release with you.

If you have an ear that favors pop music, you’re going to love it. A student of Christian Science will find the lyrics in sync with their faith and beliefs.

Helen St. John is a multiple Grammy-nominated recording artist, appearing on such albums as “Flashdance” and “Scarface.”

“Moment By Moment,” is a CD of modern spiritually-inspired songs driven by world beats and pop drums.

You can hear samples of her music on her web site www.helenstjohn.com

Enjoy the music! I am…