Law of the Garbage Truck

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One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport.

We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches!

The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was really friendly.

So I asked, 'Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!' This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, 'The Law of the Garbage Truck.'

He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day. Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so....love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don't.

Have a blessed, garbage-free day!

You are good. Do you see it?

If you have 9 minutes, watch this video. It will be worth your time.

God's Chisel - The Skit Guys
 "God doesn’t make junk. You are an original masterpiece!"

It would have happened anyway

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



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


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


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


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


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


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


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

Immunity from swine flu

A new article has been posted on tmcyouth.com that I wrote this week, titled, "Protection from swine flu."

God is your Parent

Do you have any parent issues?


For instance, do you ever butt heads with your mom or dad? Do you ever feel like they are controlling your life and decisions, either openly, mentally or genetically? Are they treating you like they did when you were a kid? Or maybe your parents have passed on, but you feel that habits they taught you, beliefs they put upon you, and fears they built up are still haunting you, years, maybe even decades, later?


There’s a spiritual cure to all this unnecessary angst about the effect parents seem to have on their children.


God is your Parent!


This is a simple, straightforward, cut-to-the-chase antidote for all parenting issues.


I love my parents. They taught me many valuable lessons that prepared me for entering the world on my own and making my way through life. They watched over me, cared for me, fed me, clothed me, gave me shelter, educated me, instilled morals and spiritual values, spent a whole lot of hard-earned money doing all this, and still loved me all the same. They were the two most important adults in my whole life.


But my human parents had shortcomings too. They lost their temper once or twice. Passed on a few bad habits, not intentionally of course, but because they had their own imperfections yet to demonstrate over. They didn’t always see things the same way I did, and as I grew older, we disagreed on some very big issues. But all of this is okay. As I learned with my spiritual study in Christian Science, God is my Parent, my Father-Mother.


Human parents reflect the divine presence of Father-Mother for the children they raise. Some parents do a much better job than others, but it’s still the divine Parent that has the final say and impact on all children.


I think of human parents as windows into the divine Parent. Like looking through a window that is dirty, the view is not always clear. But, nonetheless, God is still the Big Time, ultimate, and only Parent. As a child understands God to be his or her Parent, that child naturally looks to God for direction, guidance, support, values and final decisions about all important issues. As they grow older, wiser, and more spiritually mature, they have to sort out what they hear from their human parents, and ask, “Is this directive coming from God or mortal man?” And then act accordingly.


I can easily forgive my human parents for any perceived wrong I felt they may have passed on to me. They did the very best they knew how. And that is enough. I hope my children extend the same grace to me when they are older and have a more mature perspective.


I can forgive my parents because I know that anything they humanly did or said that was not in accord with divine righteousness, is temporal. It does not have a permanent effect or final say on my life. Anything that is not of God is not of them, nor does it stick to me. It is my job to spiritually sort these things out and agree only with what my divine Parent gives me.


I don’t have to agree with my human parents on all important issues. They have their salvation to work out with God, as I do mine. I trust God to lead them, as God is leading me.


I don’t have to win approval from my parents for all my decisions. It’s the divine approval that counts, not human consent.


I don’t have to fear any beliefs of heredity concerning my human parents, because they are not the maker or determiner of my genes. As a child of God, my genetic make-up is totally spiritual. I have spiritual heredity only. There is no other.


Any bad habits I picked up from my parents, well, evils are not habit forming. My human parents do not form my thought, control how I think or affect how I act. God, the one Mind, is the source of all my thinking.


God is my Parent, my Father-Mother! There is no other.


Jesus was crystal clear on this vital metaphysical point. When quizzed about his familial ties, he replied, “Who is my mother: and who are my brethren?" and he went on to say "whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.”


What I see here is Jesus’ ability to look at family from a purely spiritual point of view, as God’s thoughts, rather than male and female mortal bodies related by blood. Jesus’ “family” was thoughts obedient to God. Now how cool is that!


You get to know your family by getting to know God’s thoughts. Our spiritual brothers and sisters are not mortals with shortcomings. They are divine ideas coming from God that illuminate consciousness with inspired spiritual views.


So, to have the right view of our parents, we have to drop the mortal concept of them with its whole human history, and think out from the original idea of God they represent in the first place. And the original idea of parenting is discovered in the truth about God as Parent. What is true about God as Parent is true about our human parents as children of God representing the divine Parent in our growing up years.


As we sift out the error about our parents from the truth of them as reflections of the divine Parent, we get a clearer view of them and find a much happier place to be in thought about them.


As reflections of the divine Parent, mom and dad are wonderful people. There is no other way to see them correctly.

“Father-Mother is the name for Deity, which indicates His tender relationship to His spiritual creation. As the apostle expressed it in words which he quoted with approbation from a classic poet: "For we are also His offspring."” Mary Baker Eddy

Daily Lift

A two minute audio clip on "Be fruitful and multiply," that I recorded a few days ago was posted on christianscience.com today.

Always governed by God's laws

I love Christian Science because it explains how God governs the universe. The more I understand, the more I see, the more I experience of God’s laws at work, the happier life continues to be.

It occurred to me this morning that I’m benefited by God’s laws whether I understand them or not.


This is very heartening, because I have a lot yet to understand!


For instance, before Newton discovered the law of gravity, millions of people were still benefited by that law in operation. The primates rolled off their bear skins in the morning, stood up, and did not float off into space. The law of gravity held their feet to the ground. Even the animals were protected by the law of gravity, and they had no worry about whether they understood it or not.


The same rule applies to God’s laws of harmony at work on our behalf. When we don’t understand them, they still bless us and protect us.


Yesterday, I had a long list of things to get done, aside from my usual practice, which I spend the bulk of my time enjoying. Part way through the day, I thought, “God isn’t worried about getting these articles written and inspirations recorded. In the divine Mind, they are already finished, complete. God’s law of completeness is governing you now, ensuring that you reflect this truth. So, there’s no way you cannot get them done in a timely way.” The anxiousness left, and peace took over. I glided through the rest of the day.


But evening rolled around, and one of the major jobs had yet to be started, let alone finished. No inspiration had lit on my thought to follow through with. But I didn’t fret. I trusted the outcome to God.


In moments, the inspiration I needed came. The mental lights went on in full force. An hour later I was finished.


This morning I realized how pleasant, yet very productive, yesterday had been.


God’s laws of harmony are governing you today whether you admit them or not! You cannot escape them. They are all around you, guiding, governing, directing, leading, inspiring, helping and supporting.


The laws of harmony are not humanly invoked. They are divinely mandated. They are and always will be. You can’t fight them, walk away from them, stop them or prevent them from doing you good.


When standing in the sunshine you can’t help but feel the warmth of the sun. Similarly, you exist in the presence of God’s laws continually and constantly, and cannot escape their uplifting and positive effect.


Enjoy the benefits!

Eating what is before you - Part III

This continues our discussion started Monday on eating what is put before you…


I’ve heard those words, “Eat what is put before you,” so many times over the years and in the context of a Biblical command that I figured I was sacrilegious or disobedient to God if I didn’t obey them! This has caused me much grief.


It was an eye opener when I went to the Bible and studied the words in context.


When Paul wrote those words he was addressing Christian’s concerns about eating food that had been sacrificed to idols.


Eating food as part of a heathen sacrifice was worshipping the idol to whom the food was made. For a Christian to participate in that activity was to essentially nullify his allegiance to Christ and worship idols instead, in the eyes of the public watching him, anyway.


Part of the problem for Christians, was, that some of this sacrificed food would end up in the marketplace as common food, and a buyer would have no idea whether it was sacrificed or not. What then?


Paul addressed this fear when he wrote,


“Whatsoever is sold in the shambles [marketplace], that eat, asking no question for conscience sake: For the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof.”(I Cor 10:25,26)


I find great freedom from stringent dietary rules in studying the deep metaphysical meaning of these verses.


What I see here is, that Paul knew only one God, and that all of creation, including the animals, belonged to God. There were no other gods, and any meat sacrificed to what nonbelievers called gods was not any less safe than regular meat because there were no other powers. There was only one God, divine Love. So, if a Christian unknowingly bought sacrificed meat in the marketplace and ate it, he would not be in trouble with God. The meat was no less dangerous to eat than unsacrificed meat. It was just meat.


And then Paul addressed the issue of eating at a nonbeliever’s home, with verses that included those infamous words, “whatsoever is set before you, eat…”


He wrote,


“If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast, and ye be disposed to go; whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience sake.” (I Cor 10:27)


Wow! Talk about breaking the rules… All kinds of questions could arise when invited to an idol-worshipper’s home. What if the meat served was sacrificed? What if it was unclean? What if…what if…what if…?


Have you ever entertained a barrage of "What if..." questions? Like, “What if this food is too fattening, too caloric, too much cholesterol, and on and on and on…???


Anyway, I’m getting off track…


I don’t think Paul is telling his reader to purposely indulge in bad eating habits. He’s allaying fears about the food one might consume from being a guest in a nonbeliever’s home. He isn’t laying out a dictum of “Always eat everything on your plate.” Far from it! He’s addressing fears about whether the food presented is sacrificed to idols or not.


I find this translation from The Message very helpful.


“If a nonbeliever invites you to dinner and you feel like going, go ahead and enjoy yourself; eat everything placed before you. It would be both bad manners and bad spirituality to cross-examine your host on the ethical purity of each course as it is served. On the other hand, if he goes out of his way to tell you that this or that was sacrificed to god or goddess so-and-so, you should pass. Even though you may be indifferent as to where it came from, he isn't, and you don't want to send mixed messages to him about who you are worshiping.”


So, there you have it. Paul’s words “whatsoever is put before you, eat…” is not the same as “Eat everything on your plate, always, that’s the law, no exceptions.”

Whew, what a relief!!

So, I can say “No” when it’s time to stop eating whether my plate is empty or not.

Eating what is before you - Part II

To continue our discussion from yesterday, should one eat everything put on their plate…?”


In striving to live more by the word of God, and less by the prospective food on my plate, I knew I wasn’t spiritually advanced enough to give up food entirely. Even Jesus ate food. But I certainly could demonstrate more dominion over it.


Eating too much food was not demonstrating dominion, I felt. It was a form of slavery and left me feeling uncomfortable, if not in the short run, definitely in the long run.


So, I decided I did not have to listen to that haunting voice any longer that bellowed, “Eat everything on your plate.” I needed to listen to God more, and eat only what I needed, and no more.


[I should side step and say, I have not demonstrated this to perfection, lest I mislead you into thinking I have this down pat! I still have moments of temptation that need to be caught and mastered. But have made huge progress over the years. And I’m happy with that. Just so progress keeps happening…]


Freedom from “Eat everything…” has been a huge boon to my happiness, joy and sense of well being. The burden from trying to obey it in the past had a dreadful effect that I never realized at the time.


My wife and I have tried hard to keep it out of our pleas while raising our children. It’s been a challenge, because it was so ingrained in us to eat everything when we were kids.


At times it’s felt like a delicate balance between having them eat everything on their plate so food is not wasted and a sense of discipline was enforced, but not having them eat too much, and also, very importantly, not raising finicky children.


We found peace in learning to trust God more to guide their decision-making. We had to quit seeing them as predisposed to make poor food choices and more as intelligent reflections of a wise Mind that made good healthy decisions. It helped immensely to let God do more of the parenting.


I love watching my son eat only a little bit of food, if that’s all he feels like eating, and walk away from the rest. He’s as fit as can be, and I wish I had been able to do the same when I was a youngster.


At restaurants, we often split meals and share drinks. Four of us can eat for the price of two, and still have leftovers to bring home.


There are many nutritional, dietary and food rules circulating in public thought that threaten harm if not obeyed. Don’t eat too much fat, too much sugar, salt, etc. If one tries to follow all these rules, he might grow paranoid and fearful about eating, just like the climate of fear that has grown up around the “Eat everything on your plate,” rule. But this should not be. Eating should be a simple, straightforward, natural part of life that is no big deal.


Fear and concern about these rules is not going to be solved by wrestling only with the rules and deciding which ones are right and which ones are wrong from a material point of view. The discussion needs to go higher. In fact, to a whole new level, to not of what is materially right, but to what is spiritually right?


Like the lesson I learned from praying during meals rather than getting all absorbed into eating. I realized that food wasn’t the issue. Spiritual mindedness was the issue. And when I put pursuit of spiritual mindedness first, I found greater dominion over my eating habits and fears about them.


Under the influence of the one Mind, you are not going to engage in bad eating habits. You are not going to eat food that harms you. You are not going to lead an indiscriminate life of making poor choices, and then suffering later from them.


The one Mind guides wisely, intelligently, and healthily. The one Mind, listened to and honored, keeps you safe, secure, out of harm’s reach and in the way of health, fitness and balance. The one Mind knows how to do these things without special studies, dietary advice or medical counsel. It’s certainly benefited me over the years.


So, having said all that, what about Paul’s instruction recorded in the Bible, “…whatsoever is put before you, eat…”


What do you think?


Part III tomorrow…

Eating everything on your plate

There are so many issues that surround the consumption of food that there is rarely a short, simple, easy answer that resolves all the fears and concerns people have about their eating habits. There are short absolute truths, which when adequately understood, can resolve those fears quickly. But gaining sufficient understanding of those brief ringer truths often involves thinking through several issues first to clear the mental view enough to make the final and full demonstration of total dominion over food.


We’ve been thinking together about some of those issues on this blog.

One belief that I’ve had to think a lot about over the years is the proposition that you should eat whatever is on your plate. This admonition has deep roots from times past when food was scarce, hard to come by and treated as a limited resource. It is only fair to mention that in many parts of the world today this is still the case, even in America.


I have senior friends who grew up in the Depression and suffered from hunger because they had no food. The effects of that searing experience have not always been easy to shake later even when food was easy to come by. Some virtuous qualities grew out of the austerity such as learning to not let anything go to waste and finding a way to use leftovers creatively. But attitudes, such as “Eat everything on your plate,” which was obviously the wise and grateful thing to do at the time, have also held on.


I grew up hearing “Eat everything on your plate.” My parents knew what the Depression was like and did not forget its lessons.


But I’ve also seen great harm from blindly following the “Eat everything on your plate,” instruction.


What if there is too much food on your plate? Are you required to eat it anyway, stuffing yourself beyond reason?


Oversized proportions are frequently served in restaurants. You order, the chef prepares your order accordingly to management policy, a waitress serves the order, and a plate is put before you.


To listen to mom’s voice in the background that counseled through your growing up years, “Eat everything on your plate,” is to feel obligated to eat it all, or guilty if you don’t.


I broke free from this constrictive mind-grip when I quit listening to those voices and started reasoning my decisions out spiritually.


I grew to love Jesus’ statement, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” This guidance told me that it wasn’t food that sustained me, gave me life and kept me healthy and strong. It was the word of God, or truth, that supported me.

I may not fully understand this truth to demonstrate it totally. I still eat food in my belief that I need it to live. But nonetheless, Jesus did demonstrate it fully and left us his example to learn from. Step by step, or perhaps, bite by bite, it is okay to prove truth in degrees...


To “take in” the word of God required spiritual mindedness, I decided, and listening to the voice of Truth, and growth in spiritual understanding.


When I sat down for a meal and concentrated on thinking about spiritual truth rather than what was on my plate, I found I ate a lot less. I wasn’t as hungry as before. And my desire for garbage food significantly diminished. I learned from experience that consuming truth in thought, reasoning with it, loving it, and growing with it was far more desirable than any food I put into my mouth.


On the other hand, though, when I neglected to pray during a meal and got all consumed into eating bite after bite, I went into a semi-mesmerized state of thought, ate far more than I needed too, even to the point of stuffing myself.


I began to see a direct trade-off from concentrating on the intake of material food versus concentrating on the intake of spiritual truth. And the latter was far more desirable in effect on my thought and body.


So, when wrestling with, “Eat everything on your plate,” I realized that the issue was not how much food I ate , but how much spiritual truth I thought. When thought was balanced with God, the amount of food I ate was balanced with the right amount of food appropriate to eat.

“Eat everything on your plate,” is a human instruction, a mortal opinion, often based on fear and not necessarily on divinely inspired ideals, at least in circumstances where lack of food is not an issue. They were words of wisdom that had served their purpose and were ripe for replacement in a society where often way too much food was placed on a person's plate.

Rather than getting overworked about answering the question “Did you eat everything on your plate?” perhaps a better question would be, “Is your thought filled with truth and love?” The effects are much better.

What do you think?

Part II tomorrow…

How moral choices affect food choices

You’ve probably heard the old adage, “You are what you eat.” Nutritionists, doctors and dieticians may argue this position, but there’s so much more to consider.


Metaphysicians realize that what you put into your mouth is the outcome of what happens in your thinking. To remedy troubles in the eating department, troubles need to be resolved first in the “thinking” department.


Moral and spiritual choices affect food choices.


For instance, when our children were in elementary school my wife and I were aghast to learn that teachers rewarded their students with candy. We had an unwritten rule in our home that candy consumption was kept to a minimum. There are so many symptoms of suffering that come along with the belief that one needs a piece of candy in their mouth all the time, that we decided simply to stay away from the practice altogether. And we were succeeding very nicely. Our children had no special desire for candy.


Then we noticed them coming home with pieces of hard candy, plus my wife finds candy wrappers in their clothes when doing laundry.


We ask them, “Where did this candy come from?”

They replied, “Oh, our teacher gives that to us when we do a good job.” We were astounded. When we went to school, we were taught to do a good job because that was the right thing to do, because it was the moral way to live and behave. But for some reason, these teachers believed they had to bribe a student with sugar to do well, as if they wouldn’t want to already the way God made them.


Anyway, we stop being aghast. That’s a different blog. We let go of any resentment, knowing that it wasn’t our job to manage the teacher’s methods. They had their reasons for doing what they did, and we valued their work as educators of our children. We could still love them, and did.


But we also decided that we didn’t have to accept the bad influence and poor moral choices being made around our children as inevitably affecting their behavior. That we could speak directly to them about why we kept candy consumption to a minimum and also why it was important to do good work because that was the morally right thing to do, and not because one hoped to get a reward of candy.


For the most part, they understood our position. We did not tell them they could not eat any of the candy they received. We wanted them to think for themselves and make their own choices. We mentioned that we’d like to see them pass up the candy and be happy without it, but we didn’t lay down a hard and fast rule.


Afterward, we noticed candy would come home, but sit around, eventually grow stale and old, and then be thrown out. This was a good sign! I’m sure they ate some, but the habit of receive and eat without thinking was stopped.


Moral choices affect food choices. When we strive to live a moral life, we make better decisions, healthier decisions, and the effect is better on our health and well being.


Health is not a function of what we put into our mouth. It’s the outcome of living and thinking in harmony with God, with divine Principle, and living for spiritual reasons and purposes.


I laugh when I tell this next story….


I’ve lectured hundreds of times over the last 15 years, all around the country. Every lecture is a success, I figure. Sometimes, though, lecture outcomes are particularly outstanding where someone is cured of a terminal disease or several people have major spiritual breakthroughs during my talk, and tell me afterward....


One evening, after returning to my hotel room around 10 p.m. after a lecture I had given, and feeling especially exhilarated about its success, the tempter said in my thought, “You did so well, you deserve a reward. You should order a hot chocolate sundae!” And I did. I had never done anything like this before.


At 10:15 p.m., far after dinner time, I sit down to this bowl of ice cream and oozing hot fudge, with a cherry on top, and start to eat. But the bites were not enjoyable. In fact, it all felt rather repulsive.


“What was I doing?” I protested. I sat up straight in my chair and pondered some more. “This is ridiculous. It’s 10:15 at night. You had a fine dinner. You are not hungry. It’s time to go to bed. You had a super lecture tonight. The reward for doing a great job is not a hot chocolate sundae. The reward is all the spiritual good and healing that came out of the event and stays with you forever. Eating this sundae is a fraud and deception. You don’t need it, you don’t want it, and you should quit eating it.”


Just to check my reasoning, I ate a few more bites, and yep, it was still repulsive. I had been bamboozled by the tempter to order the thing in the first place, and it was time to check its harmful influence. I put it aside, and left to prepare for bed.


My actions were the outcome of my moral and spiritual choices. At first, I made a poor moral choice, believing that dessert was an appropriate reward for doing a good job as a speaker. The logic was stupid and inane. The reward for doing any good work is the good outcome of the work. Increased sugar consumption dosed with heavy flavoring is hardly an equal compensation for the joys and freedoms that come from demonstrating competence, ability, capacity and inspirational activity. It’s a fraud on oneself to believe so.


“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Jesus taught.


When we think of food in strictly material terms, as so many calories, carbohydrates, and chemicals we lose sight of what real food is. Real food is spiritual. It’s not atoms configured in a multitude of ways called carrots, ham, apples and yogurt. Real food is spiritual thoughts coming from God. Its morality and spirituality lived, expressed and demonstrated.


When our thinking is right with God, making sound moral and spiritual choices, what we put into our mouth will not be harmful. It will be guided by sensible decision-making, uplifting motives and spiritual purpose.


And then we begin to fathom what Jesus meant when he said, “Take no thought for what you eat.” In other words, it’s not what you eat that is the overriding concern. It’s what you think. And when you think right, guided by God and moral and spiritual directives, what you eat will be of no harmful consequence.


We are not what we eat. We are what God made us to be in the divine image and likeness. And the beauty, health and fitness of the divine likeness most readily comes out for all to see when our thought is guided morally and spiritually.

Can you think of your own examples of how moral decisions affect eating choices? Some of the comments already include a few instances...

Hmmm...do I really need this???

Being a contribution

Have you ever felt impatient?


Have you ever been in a big hurry to get somewhere or complete a project and failed to enjoy the experience it took to get there?

If so, and you’d like to live less harried, I think you’ll enjoy this entry from the blog, Jake’s World, on, “Being a contribution.” It has a couple of very enlightening ideas that will put more joy into what you do.

What influences your food choices?

I am humbled by all the very thoughtful comments being posted. Nice work! Thank you.


As one commenter queried, “How do you maintain the spiritual facts of being, decide what food to buy, and not get caught up into all the material health laws you hear about these days?”


This is a critical question to answer because the more one’s thinking gets down at a mortal level of contemplating calories and carbohydrates, fat and sugar, fiber or not, it loses sight of Spirit, God. You just can’t stay mentally focused on the chemistry of food and spiritual truth at the same time. It’s a trade-off, like looking to the right and left simultaneously. You look one way or the other. Spirit and matter are exact opposites. To get absorbed into dietary rules loses sight of the healing power and influence of divine Mind.


The way to deal with this quandary is to understand that true health is not a function of what you eat, but a consequence of being under the influence of the divine Mind. The more we consciously depend upon God for direction, guidance, satisfaction and joy, the better choices we make and the healthier and happier we live. And amazingly, at least in my experience, we make what many would call wise food choices.


Mary Baker Eddy wrote, “Man, governed by immortal Mind, is always beautiful and grand.” I think it would be appropriate to add healthy and fit also. Under divine Mind’s influence, food is no longer the issue, but living a spiritually balanced life is.


For instance, the atmosphere of thought in society is filled with a multitude of beliefs, theories, advertisements, “expert-testimony,” nutritional opinion, and more, pushing particular diets, fears and concerns per food. To demonstrate a spiritually balanced life, we have to resist the influence of these mortal mind advertisements. We can’t let them take over our thinking, or we start acting as their slaves, which of course, is what the promoters of their position want us to do. That’s how they sell their product.


A spiritually balanced life is the outcome of thought under the influence of divine Mind, and not under the despotism of fear, sensual pull, or absent-minded ignorance.


I like potato chips. I’m chuckling now… for when I eat them, I think, “Now why am I eating these? There is nothing to them. They dissolve into thin air, and then I want more. Is their any value in eating these things? Do I need them?” I laugh at myself, eat a few more, and then stop. These questions have helped me keep a perspective on food because they make me realize that I often eat things not because I need them, but because I like the taste in my mouth. And that's not enough of a spiritual reason for me to continue the practice. Before I lost weight 25 years ago, eating what tasted good, aka cookies, hard candy, and cake, got me into a bodily mess.


Many of you mentioned moderation as a key to balanced eating. Moderation is a spiritually inspired quality to live and express. It’s healthy, and it brings balance into people’s experience, including the body. There's nothing wrong with good tasting food, but when salt and sugar are the driving force for more, there is a spiritual imbalance that needs to be addressed. Happiness doesn't come from food. It comes from Spirit, God.

When I do the grocery shopping and I pass the chip aisle, frequently there’s a voice within that says, “Oh, you should get some potato chips. That sounds good!” If I obeyed this voice every time I heard it, I think I would not like the results on my body. It would not be practicing moderation. So, I check it. I ask, “Now do you really need those chips?” And the answer quickly comes, “No, it’s a purely sensual indulgence, and you need to keep those in check.” And I walk on by the aisle without regret. Every so often, though, I cave and buy some chips. Or at outdoor picnics, I’ll head for the chip bowl. I don’t have a problem with that and don’t seem to be suffering either. I practice moderation.


Point being, what is having the overriding influence on our thought?


From a purely nutritional point of view, I believe chips would be super low on the scale of food value, and I’ve heard some “experts” say, “Never eat a French fry.” But I still eat French fries, some, and I think I’m fine. But I do practice a spiritual discipline of listening to God first, and striving to live a spiritually responsible life.


Mary Baker Eddy wrote, “If we follow the command of our Master, ‘Take no thought for your life,’ we shall never depend on bodily conditions, structure, or economy, but we shall be masters of the body, dictate its terms, and form and control it with Truth.” This is powerful truth here…


She isn’t preaching ignorance of our acts, gastronomical negligence, or mindless sensual indulgence. It’s much more. It means that the more we honor God first in our lives and live for spiritual reasons, the more mastery and control we can exercise over the body, and over food.


When we honor the divine Mind as the source of all satisfaction, happiness and joy, deciding what to eat won’t be the issue anymore. Staying spiritually minded will be the issue. And when you’re spiritually minded striving to live a spiritually responsible life, you catch the evil influences of mortal mind that would pull you in a self-destructive direction. Like those instances when it’s time to say, “I’ve had enough chips." Or, "I don't need those chips."


The enemy to health and fitness is not food, but gross sensual indulgence, over-indulgence, consumption in excess, lack of care, mindlessness, ignorance, and their kin.


I find that when I am spiritually full, meaning inspired, I’m not drawn to extra sweets, big amounts of food, or constant snacking to feel happy and content. I have found my goodness in God, through spiritual mindedness, and that seems to have the healthiest effect of all.


Here are some more wise words from Eddy, “In a world of sin and sensuality hastening to a greater development of power, it is wise earnestly to consider whether it is the human mind or the divine Mind which is influencing one.”


When you are consciously under the influence of divine Mind, food will no longer be a challenge or fear for you. It’s just not an issue anymore.


It’s the food of truth and love that fill you up with genuine contentment. Spiritual mindedness automatically protects thought from dangerous temptations and wards off unnecessary and even harmful delectable extravagances.


Ohhh…there is so much more to say…

Making food choices

From all the comments posted on yesterday’s blog, deciding what to eat appears to be a top of mind issue!

It looks like it will take a few days of postings, more comments from you, and more thinking and pondering together to cover this issue even partially.

For me, making the right food choices starts with making moral and spiritual choices about the life I live.

To look at making choices from a different angle, for instance, if I’m looking for a book at Barnes & Noble, I’m guided by values I treasure when selecting a book. I look for healthy uplifting prose that takes my thought to a better place. I read to learn, to become a better person, to learn more about the world I live in and how to write better myself.

I am not attracted to the shoot’em up, wipe’em out, blast everything in sight, science fiction stories. Other people are. But I am not. I make choices. How else could I select a book? And my choices are guided by values I cherish.

Now back to eating.

Grocery shopping involves choices. You just can’t get around it. When you walk down the cereal aisle and see 110 different cereal brands to choose from and assuming you’re not Bill Gates and can afford to buy one of every box, or you can’t eat 110 boxes before they go stale anyway, you have to choose one or two or three.

Which box do you choose? You have to make a choice.

Do you grab the box of airy-fairy sugar poof-balls on the lower shelf that your five year old is pointing at, or the natural granola on the top shelf that is hard to reach and is more expensive?

Eating, cooking, shopping requires choices. Hmmm…

Sometimes, it seems that Jesus’ statement, “Take no thought for what you eat,” is used as a cover-up to make poor choices. I’m guilty too.

Like one man struggling with obesity said to me, “If it doesn’t matter what I eat, why can’t I have my box of doughnuts each morning?”

It has taken me many years to understand what Jesus was saying with his “Take no thought,” command, and I’m still trying to fully comprehend the spirit of his words.

But it seems to me “Take no thought…” does not mean choose whatever you want. Wants are often misguided.

The NIV translation states, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?” (Matt. 6:25)

When I read this, I see Jesus telling me not to make life conditional upon what I eat and drink, but to understand life first, and expect eating and drinking issues to be resolved favorably.

And here is perhaps the pivotal point to consider, is the real issue about the food, or the life we live?

What do you think?

More to come…

Choosing what to eat

How do you decide what to eat? It’s a question millions of people struggle with everyday.

Grocery stores are filled with thousands of food choices. Fruit, dairy, meat, and bread are plentiful and easy to find. But what about the candy aisle, the sweetened cereal, the energy drinks pumped up with caffeine, the sugar laden soda pop, the salty snacks, the processed food that Mother Nature would look at with a skewed eye and say, “What’s this?”

Are a doughnut and a cup of coffee a healthy breakfast? Is it okay to fill up on macaroni and cheese and skip the carrots? How much double chocolate cake is safe to eat? Does an apple a day keep the doctor away? What about those cans of beer?

One’s mind starts to swirl when sorting out the options.

Does deciding what to eat have to be so complex? One might wonder.
 No doubt, most of you are familiar with the multitude of advice and counsel coming from dieticians, doctors, nutritionists, weight-loss gurus, and their associates. Some of the advice is good and needed. Reason easily argues that it's better to enjoy a banana than down a pound of vaporous potato chips. But implementing the wisdom seems to be a challenge for many.

Obesity is running rampant in the world and growing worse by the day. Eating habits appear out of control. People feel out of control.

Suffering hearts cry out, “There has to be an effective way to deal with what to eat and following through with making wise choices!”

I believe there is a better way—a spiritual way to resolve the quandary of what to eat.

Making healthy food choices does not have to be a tortuous fearful exercise when guided by spiritual principles and values.

Before I start sharing some of my ideas, though, I’d like to hear from you.

What values and principles guide your decision-making when choosing what to fix for dinner?

The blessings of contentment

Do you feel content today?

If not, you can!

Feeling genuine contentment is a priceless gift from God. It is part of being a child of God. It is a part of the life God has given you to live. It is built into your being, and it is natural and normal for you to experience on a routine basis.

How could that be when I feel so discontented with life? One might ask.

And this is where a material sense of life must be separated from the spiritual.

A material sense of life measures success, position and status in material terms. It connects happiness with cash in the bank, satisfaction with lusts indulged, and progress with things acquired, recognition achieved, or earthly goals reached. Material sense reasons out from lack and strives to fill perceived voids with some sort of material supply. It is discontented from the beginning.

Spiritual sense, though, is quite the opposite. It reasons out from the bounty and riches of Spirit, seeing completeness and wholeness from the beginning. Spiritual sense perceives the whole child of God made in the divine likeness where there is no lack. Spiritual sense does not strive “for more,” but is grateful for “what is.” Spiritual sense sees what God sees, and rejoices in it.

God’s creation is complete, whole, now! It does not lack. Man, as God’s image, is complete, whole, now! She/he does not lack.

Genuine contentment is the outcome of spiritual reasoning. It does not look around materially and see lack that needs to be displaced. Spiritual sense sees supply that never left.

Paul wrote, “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” Philippians.

Paul didn’t mean that we need to be content with lack, want and deprivation. Quite the opposite! He meant that right in the face of lack we can discern the spiritual supply that corrects that picture of want. Jesus did this every time he healed the sick, raised the dead and fed the hungry. He proved there is no lack.

Christian Science gives us the spiritual insight we need to do this—to look beyond the physical to the spiritual—and discern the riches and bounty of God at hand, here and now!

Rejoicing in the spiritual wealth of God, here and now, brings genuine contentment. It is a gift from God to feel this, and has been built into the spiritual perspective of each and every one of us.

Enjoy feeling content today!

You are rich

Count your blessings! It’s been said innumerable times when lack and shortage stared one in the face.

In these changing economic times, it’s imperative to take inventory of the vast wealth and riches we have coming from God that meets human needs.

The financial pages of the media would have us measure wealth in a material way, as dollars in the bank or as value of a stock portfolio. But these temporal measurements of wealth inevitably lead to a feeling of insecurity, uncertainty, and even fear over whether our wealth is sufficient, intact, or even existent!

True wealth is spiritual. It really is! And you have it in abundance, coming from God, and without limit, this very moment.

Forget about your checking balance and credit card bills for a moment, and take stock of how wealthy you are.

Wealth is God’s goodness evident in the minutiae of life. It’s the smiles of friends and neighbors, the cheer and expectancy of children who greet you in the classroom, the order of a day, the capacity to think and reason, the ability to love, the freedom to pray, the opportunity to lend a helping hand to another in need.

Wealth is not a material thing that can be taken from you. Wealth is the spiritual richness and goodness of God all around to be honored, acknowledged, valued and lived!

We live in a universe of omnipresent good. God is everywhere, and God’s good is everywhere to be seen and benefited from.

Gratitude and a generous spirit keep thought open to seeing the wealth of Spirit all around and participating in its blessings.

It’s important that we not get mesmerized by a temporal belief of lack. In a conscious awareness of God’s omnipresent goodness, any sense of lack disappears. And what appears to be lacking materially, is more than made up for by what we discover spiritually.

A few months ago, I decided it was time to fix-up a messy corner of our yard and get it landscaped properly. It would require some machine work, equipment we did not have.

The bids that came in to do the job were very expensive—at least by our household standards. The project was put on hold. After a few weeks of prayer and listening as how to proceed, God answered our prayer.

One day, while driving by a rental yard, I saw a piece of equipment that I knew I could operate. It suddenly occurred to me how we could do the job ourselves and rather effortlessly without hiring a contractor.

We rented the tractor, and for a few hundred dollars, saved thousands. The corner is looking terrific today.

It wasn’t more money that we needed, but more humility and better listening.

Wealth is wisdom, ideas, inspiration coming from God, and it meets human needs.

God is an infinite source of inspired ideas that solve problems, resolve difficulties and open doors to opportunity. Money is not the primary need. Prayer, listening, discerning, being grateful and seeing what is already at hand are typically the leading issues to be grappled with.

You are wealthy, incredibly wealthy today! Count your spiritual blessings.

There is no need to wait to claim your rich inheritance coming from God. Look all around. It’s present. You have it. Honor it. Acknowledge it. Look for it, and you’ll be amazed at what treasures you find staring you in the face that you didn’t even realize existed yesterday.

"The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it." Proverbs

What are you seeing?

A story sent to me by a reader...

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room.

One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon. His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.

The men talked for hours on end.

They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation.

Every afternoon, when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.

The man in the other bed began to live for those one hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside.

The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake.

Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.

As the man by the window described all this in exquisite details, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine this picturesque scene.

One warm afternoon, the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man could not hear the band - he could see it in his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words.

Days, weeks and months passed.

One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away.

As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone. Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the real world outside.

He strained to slowly turn to look out the window besides the bed. It faced a blank wall.

The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window.

The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall. She said, 'Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you.'

“We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” Paul

You are special

Do you realize how wonderful you are?

No one may have told you recently, but you are one of the most incredible, brilliant, extraordinary, stunning, and impressive creations on earth. As God’s image, you are very very special!

There may be days when you don’t feel so exceptional. If you’re unemployed, struggling with a health issue, feeling alone, lost or hopeless, what makes you special may feel as distant as the planet Mars. But you mustn’t let any temporal condition or circumstance get you down or cause you to forget what makes you the wonderful individual reflection of God that you are.

Months ago, I was getting to know a woman who was wheelchair bound. She was a resident in an assisted living facility. She relied almost totally on nurses and aides to meet her physical needs.

From the outward view, she might have seemed justified to feel sorry for herself, down about her prospects for happiness, and outright depressed about life. But she was not. Far from it!

This woman gushed over with joy and enthusiasm for life. She found it much easier to smile and laugh than sit silent and keep to her self.

She poured out stories about how she helped other residents in the facility find their joy again. She noted that others were often not so positive about life, frequently looking dumpy and depressed. She shared how she saw those people as needing her love, and she would give it to them, brightening up their day and helping them find cheer again.

She was not lost in self-pity and woe-me thinking. She was a light to others. She had something special to offer—her love, her care, her joy—and she freely shared it. She did not let material adversity dampen the spiritual good she had to contribute. Her commitment to living true to her upbeat spiritual individuality was an inspiration to behold. It’s what made her special.

We all have something special to offer. Like this woman, when we focus on living true to our spiritual individuality, despite material trials we face at the moment, the good we do and stay engaged with makes it easier to get through the challenge. We not only continue to bless others, we find blessing ourselves in the increased mental and moral freedom we feel from expressing undeterred love.

You are very special. Why? It’s because God made you special.

God is unique, and as God’s reflection, you have a unique contribution to make to the universal scheme of things. It’s not a material accomplishment such as what job you hold, how much money you make, or what others think of you that matters in the long run. It’s the spiritual qualities you live, the goodness you reflect, the love you share, the joy you spread and the people you heal that makes the biggest difference.

Don’t let any self-concern, fear, lapse in gratitude or indifference from others stop you from living true to your special individuality as a child of God.

You have something very positive, uplifting and spiritual to do today that brings your divine individuality out for the benefit of you and those around you.

Let your love shine, and enjoy the good company of uplifting thoughts it brings with it.

You are very special. God made you that way. You have something especially significant to contribute today that makes the world a better place. And no one else can do it except for you.

And if no one else has recently reminded you of how special you are, I just did!

Hugs...

What about Christian Science and doctors?

Christian Scientists are characterized in many different ways in the public mind, some positive, and some very negative. One of the more pernicious, and unhelpful characterizations, is a common assertion that “Christian Scientists are those people who don’t go to doctors.”

Christian Science is a glorious teaching in that it does keep one out of the doctor’s office. It gives one spiritual medicine to heal health problems, and spiritual truth to keep one healthy and well. Lived rightly, it’s the best healthcare practice on the planet earth today.

Jesus Christ was the ultimate Christian Scientist. He demonstrated the power of Love to heal metaphysically without exception. He was successful in all cases.

However, Jesus was the Master! He was the Messiah, the promised one, and had a special advantage over the rest of us in possessing the knowledge, understanding and power to heal spiritually. But he promised that we could learn to heal as he learned. Through prayer and fasting, and steady and constant spiritual growth and increased understanding, thousands, millions, I suppose, have healed to a degree as Jesus taught.

Christian Science, as explained in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, explains how to heal spiritually as Jesus healed and the Bible promises is possible. It sets forth the ideal, the highest standard, and gives us the footsteps to follow to get there.

Because I have so much to learn, I think of myself as a student of Christian Science. Anytime an antagonist to my study of Christian Science tries to give me a hard time and imply that I should be performing cures at the same level of ability that Jesus did, I reply, “I’m working on that. I see healing everyday, much of which you would probably call miraculous, but I’m not going to pretend to be someone I’m not. I consider myself a student of Christian Science, and I keep growing and learning everyday, and becoming a more effective healer step by step, lesson by lesson.”

When someone asks, “Are you one of those people who don’t go to doctors?” I reply, “Christian Science is not about what you don’t do. It’s about what you can do. Christian Science explains how to find healing through prayer, through turning direct to God for help.” And I might add, “If you could turn to God in prayer, and find healing for what ails you, without using any medicine and not suffering from any of its negative side effects, do you think that would be a good thing?” And they usually nod in the affirmative. And I continue, “Christian Science teaches you how to do that, to find healing solely through your prayers. And it works.”

This unfortunate notion that “Christian Scientists are those people who don’t go to doctors,” is harmful not only for the public to hold in thought, but for any student of Christian Science who may heed to it. It does not characterize the practice of Christian Science.

Christian Science is about living the laws of spiritual harmony. It‘s a purely spiritual practice of keeping thought in harmony with truth and love, and working out the problem of being to the best of one’s understanding at the time. It’s not a human-willed position of “I don’t…,” but a spiritually inspired position of “I do….”

Many students of Christian Science, over years of practice, have taken a “suffer it to be so now,” medical step to alleviate extreme material circumstances. Perhaps they had a broken bone set by a surgeon, or some medical intervention during delivery of a child, or visited a dentist, an optometrist, or had heart surgery, or, who knows… They did what they thought was best under the pressing circumstances of the moment in order to keep going and growing. If they held in thought the mortal weight of “Christian Scientists don’t go to doctors,” they might find themselves unnecessarily struggling with feelings of guilt and condemnation about such temporal steps. And that would be totally unfair to them and to the world.

Christian Science is not about not going to doctors. It’s about living in harmony with God’s laws. And the laws of God are always in operation. No one is ever separated from them, ever.

There isn’t a single human act anyone could ever commit to separate them from God and the love of God that sustains all being. The pathway to discovering this truth fully is not always smooth and easy, but it’s for certain.

To take the position of “I never go to doctors,” is to take a human-willed and even prideful position. And that can be blinding to sound and sensible reasoning and perspective, which is not helpful in facilitating humble prayer that heals spiritually.

Having said all that, it’s seems imperative to mention that Christian Science is up to meeting all human needs, and thousands have proved in varying degrees, in different ways, and in all different types of situations. Putting faith in God’s ability to heal is sensible and most reasonable, and brings its rightful reward. Many students of Christian Science have gone decades without taking a single medicine and not visiting a doctor once, and remained in good health.

The better characterization of those who practice Christian Science might be, “They are those people who study how to pray and find healing.” I like that! It sounds so much better, and it’s a standard any student of Christian Science can live up to.

It doesn’t matter if progress comes in fits and starts, has its ups and downs, off days and better days. It doesn’t matter if we do it all perfectly from day one. I don’t know anyone who has done that, except for Jesus Christ. What matters is the progress one makes, the growing faith, the increased understanding.

Step by metaphysical step, we’re all going to get to the same place—a complete understanding of spiritual reality where all sense of sin, disease and death are no more. Christ gets us there, and no one will be left behind, no one, regardless of what happens in the human meantime.

God loves us all, and that never changes.

Christian Scientists are people who love the promise of spiritual healing, and turn to God in prayer, expecting to find it, and then trust the divine grace to lead them from there to what will continue them down the pathway of progress for the benefit of their own edification and for those around them.

Humor for animal lovers

Everyone once in a while, we all need to clean the outside of our computer screens. However, did you know that you're supposed to clean the inside of the screen, too?

Not many people know this or how to do it. So, here's a complimentary cleaning. Click here.

Anticipate health

Have you noticed recent headlines concerning swine flu? They certainly are lessons on the importance of avoiding self-fulfilling prophecies.

Article headlines these days take as a given that swine flu will cause widespread illness this winter. “Experts” aren’t sure how many people will be hit, but the mental picture they paint is not pleasant no matter how you look at it from their point of view.

These types of alarms are calls for conscientious metaphysicians everywhere to defend the population from unnecessary suffering.

Swine flu pandemic should not be a foregone conclusion. It is not imperative. It is spiritually stoppable and preventable. It doesn’t need to happen.

But we cannot sit on our mental laurels and be passive observers. The fear and worry circulating in public thought about the flu needs to be neutralized and replaced with calm and a secure understanding of God’s omnipresent care and protection.

God’s infinite love is a most powerful influence on the health and well being of mankind. This love is always active on everyone’s behalf, shielding from harm, protecting from contagion, and providing spiritual immunity to material infection. As children of God, we do not live in a chaotic universe of mindless unmerciful forces. We live in a universe of divine Love, where an all intelligent Mind guides and governs the well being of all creatures.

The current growing fear in public thought can be counteracted with an even stronger sense of God’s omnipresent Love that protects one and all from any type of pandemic. An understanding of spiritual truth is the most powerful vaccination against contagion on earth. And it is here to bless one and all.

In preparing for the winter season a few months away, I’ve decided to anticipate health, peace, safety, protection, calm, and well being. I'm striving to abide in a consciousness of spiritual love that knows no fear and is not exposed to any harmful influences.

There is no fear in Love, God, because in Love, there is nothing to fear, not even swine flu.

I’m looking forward to a winter of peace, health and harmony. What are you expecting?