A call on your practice

Do you ever get upset by other people’s shortcomings? Do you get angry over their imperfections, bad habits, or undesirable character traits? If so, then you have an opportunity to be a healer!

And where is the first place to start the healing work? Yep, you probably guessed it, right in your own point of view.

A student of Christian Science strives to live the laws of spiritual harmony. And one of these laws states that God made the universe, and that everything within it expresses goodness of some kind.

Part of the practice Christian Science is to see goodness when goodness is not so obvious, and hold to it until the evil sense goes away and is replaced by an improved picture.

When we don’t see goodness, it’s not because it is absent. It’s because we’re not seeing it. Evidence of any kind of evil is a call upon our practice to see the good and contribute to dissolving the evil.

Too often it’s tempting to get mad at others who act up and let thought settle into a state of self-justified anger, resentment or ill-will. But this is not healthy, and it’s definitely not healing. When a neighbor manifests error, it’s not a call for us to get mad and upset. It’s a call to pray and love more. It’s a call on our practice of Christian Science to see the good and contribute to dissolution of the error.

Thinking back to my early days when I sold organs and pianos to put myself through college, one day, the store where I worked had an extremely angry customer leave a very heated message on the answering machine. I had to call them back. Rather than becoming afraid, and even angry, I saw the mad customer as a call on my practice of Christian Science to demonstrate the power of Love where there seemed to be no love.

I returned the call with a listening ear and an open mind. The customer was still raging mad and spewed out all types of ill-will. But I did not react. I loved the woman. I saw her as a child of God. I knew she had good qualities. They were not apparent, but I knew they existed! I did not react in kind. I listened and waited until she finished her story. She calmed down. I expressed understanding of her position, and then gently explained the store’s point of view. She listened. Her attitude started to adjust. We ended the conversation on a friendly note.

This rule of seeing every adverse circumstance you encounter as a call on your practice, works. It saves a huge amount of grief, irritation, bother and fear. It immediately cuts to the need of the moment, which is always for healing.

So, whenever you find face adversity, fear not. Fret not. Don’t react. Respond. Respond with love. See the trial as a call on your practice to be a healer, and as an opportunity to bring comfort to an otherwise troubled situation.

“Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.” Romans

Going into the practice

I occasionally talk with individuals who would love to go into the full-time practice of Christian Science healing, but entertain many fears and doubts as to their readiness or capacity to succeed.

Questions and concerns frequently voiced include, “Do I have enough understanding? Are my prayers effective? Will anyone ask me for help?”

When I hear these worries expressed, I point out that going into the practice is all about wanting to help and heal others. Success grows out of genuine desire to see other people cured of their suffering. It’s not a function of how many years one has studied the truth or how well known they are in community circles. It’s a function of love.

For instance, take the comforting instinct of a caring mother. If her child is in physical distress, she does not walk away into a different room and ponder first whether she is qualified to help. She immediately comes to the aid of her child and does whatever she can to relieve the suffering and bring comfort. She does not stand around worrying first about whether she can help. She jumps in and helps, and through prayer, listening, reasoning, thinking and responding, brings comfort to her little one. Her qualifications to help are her unwavering love and absolute care for her chidlren. Her concern for their safety and well being impels her to their aid no matter what. There is no question in her mind about whether she should help or not. She does it because it’s the right thing to do and she always finds an answer that makes a difference.

The Christian Science practice is about loving others, helping others, coming to the aid of those in distress. Success grows out of desire to make a positive difference in other people’s lives.

The real question is not, “Do I have enough understanding?” It’s “Do I have enough love? Do I care enough?”

When we genuinely want to help our neighbor, we find the resources to do it. Our ability to help grows out of our love and yearning to restore hope, promise, health and healing into the lives of our friends, relatives and neighbors.

Like the Good Samaritan Jesus talks about in the Bible, the person who truly loves his or her neighbor cannot walk by someone who is suffering and in pain and ignore them. It’s impossible. The heart of Love goes out to those in need and yearns to see comfort and healing restored.

A person who loves their neighbor cannot idle hours away in the lounge chair of indifference and selfish satisfaction while a neighbor across the street struggles in pain and teeters on the edge of death.

Love for God and neighbor is what impels success in the Christian Science practice. It’s all about taking what one knows about the infinite love of God for man, and demonstrating that love in real life circumstances.

Millions of people suffer today, feeling hopeless, lost, confused and full of fear. They need help. They need comfort. They need healing. They need the Christ-touch of Love that Christian Science is capable of giving them. Those who are ready to respond will be given the understanding, support, confidence and faith they need to make a positive difference. God will ensure that, for God blesses the right unselfish desire and the honest effort.

The big question is: Will you respond? Do you love enough?

“Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye
have received, freely give.” Jesus Christ

“Millions of unprejudiced minds — simple seekers for Truth, weary wanderers, athirst in the desert — are waiting and watching for rest and drink. Give them a cup of cold water in Christ's name, and never fear the consequences.” Mary Baker Eddy

Christian Science is easy to practice

Have you ever heard someone say, “Christian Science is hard to practice?” I have, and I’ve been pondering an appropriate response.

Recently, a friend commented, “It takes hard work to suffer!” What he meant was it takes a huge effort to carry around burdensome beliefs that cause suffering.

Take resentment, as an example.

Have you ever carried around a grudge or complaint against someone for several hours, or several days, even years? Was it easy? Was it easy to complain and resent? Not likely. Usually, it’s quite a burden, a real downer on joy, peace of mind and feeling love. Carrying around resentment is super hard work.

Now, take the opposite state of thought.

Have you ever been filled with love and joy for a few hours, or days? How does it feel? Does it weigh you down or lift you up?

For me, I feel buoyant and inspired when holding to thoughts that produce love and joy. It’s not hard work at all to dwell in Love. It’s very easy, and health producing too.

Christian Science is all about thinking in harmony with divine Love. A consciousness filled with love and truth is a Christian Science consciousness. Anger, ill-will, complaint, ingratitude, fear and their kin, is not Christian Science or anything close. Carrying around evil thoughts is hard work.

Take another approach.

Christian Science is the law of God. CS explains how God governs the universe, how things operate under the government of divine Mind, and our place in the overall activity. These laws are not subjective human opinions, but divine reality.
When we live in harmony with divine law, life proceeds in an orderly fashion. Like a mathematician applying the laws of math. When the accountant adds according to the law of addition, he calculates right answers and gets his work done efficiently. If he deviates from the rule and tries some other approach, he errs and his work is unreliable. It’s not hard work to calculate correctly. The work gets hard when the rules are not applied properly.

The demands of Christian Science require its students to leave all for Christ, or Truth, in order to ascend the metaphysical ladder of spiritual understanding. To leave all for Christ is to let go of material mindedness, selfishness, matter-worship, ego-worship, avid pursuit of things and fame, and any love of mortality. Mortal mind may rebel at these demands and declare, “This is tough!” But Christian Science is not what is tough. It’s mortal mind’s resistance to Truth that makes human life tough.

To the hardened liar, the demand to be honest may sound like “hard work.” But it’s not tough at all to be honest. It’s much more difficult to lie and deal with the penalties and guilty conscience that accompany the evil then to be honest. The liar simply hasn’t figured this out yet.

It’s easy to practice Christian Science. It’s easy to love. It’s easy to live a life of integrity. It’s enjoyable and freedom-giving to live in harmony with God’s laws.

And the same rule applies to handling sickness and disease. It’s very tough to hold beliefs of sickness in thought as realities. It’s downright miserable, actually. It’s much easier to release them and whole-heartedly embrace eternal health and well being as the reality. When praying for relief from physical suffering, it’s not the knowing of Truth that is hard. It’s the letting go of the false belief that produces the suffering that seems hard to the human mind. And that resistance is mortal mind objecting to Truth.

Child-like faith, trust and faith, accompanied with large doses of humility, help conquer the ego and pride of mortal mind that holds on to suffering beliefs.

God is good. God is All. God is omnipresent Love. These are the realities and the eternal facts of being. The sooner we happily admit these truths, the sooner we feel in harmony with God’s laws, and the sooner the burdens lift.

Christian Science is easy to practice when seen in a correct light.

The Divine Payroll

Whose payroll are you on?

Jobs come and go. Salaries fluctuate. Paychecks get spent. But there’s one income that never fails. It’s your divine income from God.

It was a great leap of faith for me when I went into the full-time practice of Christian Science 20 years ago. I had little money in the bank, and prospects of earning much in the healing ministry looked dim. Yet, my heart was committed to the helping others spiritually and forward I went.

Our income was meager the first few years of my practice, but my family’s needs were met more than adequately. Money came in unexpected ways and from unexpected places. My wife and I lived modestly, but were happy as could be in our respective activities. And that is true wealth, in my estimation.

After reading Alan Cohen’s article on “You heal, life supports you,” I was reminded how money comes through human channels, but the source of all income is inspired by God and can appear in any number of different ways. Even as "manna from heaven."

My motto in the practice has always been “Attend to God’s business, and God’s business will attend to you.” Our monetary needs have always been met, without fail, and in abundance over time.

As Cohen points out, we were on the Divine Payroll.

For all of you engaged in selfless deeds and charitable giving, you might enjoy his article, and easily relate to his point.

The Divine payroll is big enough to include everyone. Even you!

Enjoy.

What have you done?

I couldn’t help but chuckle when I came across the following quote while reading “The Fred Factor,” by Mark Sanborn.

“At the Day of Judgment we shall not be asked what we have read but what we have done.”

~Thomas ‘A Kempis

In pursuit of spiritual understanding, many people do much reading, but then wonder what they have to show for their effort. A key to success in demonstrating genuine spirituality is putting into practice what we study.

I know from experience, that after studying for very long, I have to stop reading and do something with what I learned. Treat a patient, write an article, make a thoughtful phone call, care for the family…something, anything to experience fulfillment of the ideas I took in.

The world is full of people in need. There is no shortage of opportunity to put spiritual ideas into practice, which is what living genuine spirituality involves.

And the neat part is, everyone is benefited—the giver and the gifted.

Rigid categorization

I find thought provoking ideas in the most unexpected places.

Julia Cameron, author of the international bestseller “The Artist’s Way,” a book that has become a classic on creative discovery for countless aspiring artists around the world, wrote a follow-up book titled “Walking in this world.” A reviewer of this new volume wrote

Cameron shows us how to inhabit the world with a sense of wonder, a childlike inquisitiveness that each of us was born with. "Great artists are actually great amateurs," she writes. "They have learned to wriggle out of the seriousness of rigid categorization and allow themselves to pursue the Pied Piper of delight."

The words “rigid categorization” leaped off the page when I read this. “…pursue the Pied Piper of delight,” lit me up like a lightbulb.

Rigid categorization. Wow! What a concept to contemplate, I felt.

Have you ever been victimized by rigid categorization? Here’s a few examples that crossed my mind:

“But this is the way they always done it.”
“You can’t do that. It hasn’t been done before.”
“You are too young.”
“You are too old.”
“You don’t have enough education.”
“I get up. I eat breakfast. I go to work. I come home. I eat. I go to bed. That’s what I do.”
“I was born. I grow up. I earn a living. I retire. I die.”

Can you think of any others? There are thousands…

I haven’t read Cameron’s book, but I can easily relate to the concept of rigid categorization from a spiritual point of view. To grow spiritually, we must not let our thinking be paralyzed and frozen in apathy and inaction by the rigid categorization of mortal mind.

By “mortal mind” I mean all the worldly ways of reasoning that discourage worthy ambition and fresh creative endeavor.

Twenty years ago, when I wanted to go into the full-time practice of Christian Science, I was besieged by rigid categorization. “You can’t afford to quit your job. You aren’t spiritually minded enough. You’re too young. You’ll fail. It’s too hard,” and more doubts and fears worked overtime to stop my progress. I had to face them all down, and I did by knowing all things are possible with God. I followed my “Pied Piper of delight,” and embarked down a path that has taken me into the happiest most worthwhile career I can ever imagine myself in.

Are you fighting rigid categorization in some form? It’s time to wake up and protest. Break out of the prison cell of tradition and get going with your progressive idea. All the help you need is coming from God. And as you truly trust His provision each step of the way, that right idea will come to fruition.

Income, debt and the practice

A budding Christian Science practitioner asked me for some spiritual insight on how to meet her financial needs when faced with little income. I shared a few ground rules and truths I’ve applied myself, or learned through experience, over the 23 years I’ve been in this precious ministry.

1. God gives us what we need spiritually to succeed in the practice.

2. We don’t have to go into debt to the world to serve God, therefore burdensome debt is to be avoided. The practice is about serving God, serving divine Love, with our whole heart, mind and soul. It’s not about serving debt.

3. God blesses all right desires and motives with adequate resources for those desires and motives to come to fruition. The practice is a right desire, and brings only blessing into one's experience.

4. A practitioner’s income is not directly dependent upon his or her number of patients. The income that prospers a practitioner is spiritual, coming directly from God, and it flows in superabundance. This income is discovered in an inspired Mind-consciousness that knows no lack,--an understanding of unending love from Spirit that translates into human needs met. And most specifically, the human needs of patients who call for help.

5. There is an unlimited demand for the treatments and support a practitioner has to offer. More people than most practitioners realize are receptive to spiritual healing and ready to ask for help.

6. It’s not advertising, fame or popularity that attracts patients. Growth in the practice results from divine Love bringing the supply a practitioner has to offer together with the demand the practitioner is ready to meet.

7. Practitioners need to know what they have to offer, to understand its value and worth, to know the effectiveness of Christian Science healing, and to know Truth meets practical needs and produces practical results.

8. Christian Science practitioners are engaged in a noble and worthwhile profession that is worthy of honor, respect and success.

9. God blesses in practical ways a practitioner’s honest desire and diligent efforts to practice Christian Science for the benefit of humanity.

10. A practitioner works for God. God watches out for His employees and gives them the resources they need to succeed at the tasks He has assigned them to do. It takes hard work, sacrifice of self, a deep unselfed love, and iron-clad commitment to succeed, but the reward of faithful service and unwavering devotion is of El Dorado proportions.

God is All

Shortly after graduating from college, it occurred to me one day that if I wanted to pray for people and heal them spiritually on a full-time basis, I would have to be thinking about God all of the time.

I grew uncomfortable.

Was it possible, or even healthy, to think about God full-time? I asked myself. There were so many other jobs that needed to be done to survive in this world.

Then it hit me.

God is All. There isn’t anything else to think about!

God is the source of all good, peace, harmony, health and well being--of everything and anything one could ever possibly need to live a happy whole life.

There is no other place to go, no other task to finish, no better way to spend time then finding the good one hopes for at its source. In God!

God is All. There is no other power or presence worth worshipping.

Think on it.