Is it a big deal?

When my family first moved into the house we presently live in, we had to set some rules about where to park our cars. When it’s dark, it’s very difficult to see behind your rig when backing out of the garage.

The family jumped into my CRV one evening to head out for dinner. I backed out at a slow pace, and “Scrunch,” I hit something behind. Stomping on the brake, I exclaimed, “What was that?”

Well, my wife was not thrilled, because I had just dented the front hood of her station wagon. Of course, there was no excuse on my part, but I asked her why she had parked behind me instead of over in her usual spot. She didn’t have a reason and I was already getting upset with myself for not looking better before backing out.

Anytime I feel tense inside, it’s a sign I need to go to God and regain a Love perspective.

To stay calm, I asked myself, “What is most important here: to get bothered by the accident or to stay in a loving and thoughtful frame of mind?”

I knew the answer, but had to fight off temptation to get worked up. It felt easy to go down the destructive route of self-condemnation, accusation, and feelings of guilt.

I prayed to keep in view what I call “The Big Picture.”

The Big Picture, for me, is living a life of Love. When you have Love, you have everything worthwhile and of value, and all else pales in significance.

It’s often tempting to think small things that happen everyday are big things, when they aren’t big things at all.

A dent in the hood of a car is a small thing. It should not be allowed to turn into a big thing.

My relationship to God was undisturbed by that backup mishap, I accepted. God loved me all the same, and my wife loved me just as much too.

I could quickly learn my lesson, stay grateful for life, and let the incident go, which is what I did.

As it turned out, we soon traded the station wagon in for a new car, and the dealer was not concerned about the dent. It was small enough that it did not affect the wagon’s trade-in value, for which I was grateful.

But how often has a similar event happened in your life. Have you ever seen little deals turn into big deals?

Has your ego ever got dented or bent out of shape by someone else’s comment, and then you fumed and fussed for hours, or days about it? Did you make a mistake and continue beating yourself up over it? Did another fall short of your expectations and you resented the outcome? These things ought not to be.

Life is about Love. Life is not about grumbling, grudges, selfishness, ego and mindless ruminating. It’s about reflecting the divine Ego, which is a mind-set of love, forgiveness and instant compassion.

The more we dedicate our existence to living love, the sooner little things stay little things, and don’t become the “big thing.”

The Big Thing is Love. Love is what matters most, and Love is all that adds up in the long run.

Love IS Life.

Live it to the fullest and keep "The Big Picture" perspective. It’s more fun that way!

“The right way wins the right of way, even the way of Truth and Love whereby all our debts are paid, mankind blessed, and God glorified.” Mary Baker Eddy

Autistic boy update

For those of you who have been reading this blog for a few months, you’ll remember a posting in December about a teacher’s touching experience with an autistic boy in her class. If you’re wondering what happened, here’s an update:


Remember my little autistic boy? Well for two months he has been a model student. Happy, willing to participate and interact—just plain transformed.

Yesterday, I started to do an activity with the class where I turn out the lights. When I said it was time to darken the room, he panicked and ran for the door. His aide told me he was terrified of the dark. So I talked to him and told him he could go into the hall while we did the exercise. There was no return to screaming or crying, but he was very agitated.

I said to him, “You know you are safe, and any time you change your mind you can come back in.” I gave the aide what she needed to do the activity with him in the hallway.

We started and I looked at him outside the window, returning to a parallel life and thought, “No way. That door cannot separate him or me from the progress we've made. In or out of the class, he knows Love's holding him safe. I will not be impressed by a closed door.”

We had been into the activity for maybe 60 seconds when the door flew open and in he came. He melted into the group, did the activity and was happy about it--darkness and all.

The aide said he kept looking through the window, and after a couple of false starts, decided he belonged with his class, not separate from them. She said it's the first time he's tolerated a dark environment at school that she's aware of.

Yes!!!!!!!!!!!


Such inspiring progress... We should never underestimate the power of our prayers to bless others around us. Love heals, and the closer we feel to Love, the easier it is for people around us to feel Love's healing presence too.

What is your healing?

While conversing with a friend today I realized that the healing we’re looking for is not always the healing we first need.

When faced with a bodily complaint, the temptation is to assume we need the ache or pain to go away before we are free. We put a material condition on our freedom, and then hope, even wait, for something to happen physically before we proceed with our life. This may or may not be the need.

For example, several years ago, while lecturing around the country on Christian Science, I was in a large theater in S. CA preparing to go on stage. I was battling a splitting headache and sickness that would not release. I was in no shape to speak before 300 people, and it was ten minutes to starting time.

Hiding in the balcony in a quiet corner where I could get my thoughts collected, I prayed to understand better that God would give me everything I needed to fulfill my responsibilities.

As I affirmed the immediacy of my spiritual perfection and the unfailing care of divine Love, I saw clearly that I did not need to wait for the pain to go away before I could proceed.

God is All. So, in essence, God was the speaker, God was the speech, God was the presenter, and God was the energy, health and poise that would make the lecture a success. I did not have to wait for something to change materially in the body before God could do the job well.

Confident that the outcome of the event was totally in God’s hands, I headed for the lobby and then to the stage. The closer I drew, the less pain I felt. By the time I stood in front of the audience and greeted them with a big verbal bear-hug Hello! the illness and pain was gone. I was off and running with my talk, and the lecture was very successful.

I learned many lessons from that experience.

When I was suffering, my initial prayer was to be rid of the pain. But the pain persisted. Under the pressure of the moment, and with no choice but to go on stage, I yielded my worries entirely to God, acknowledging that He was doing all the doing, and if I really trusted Him, I could proceed without fear. I obeyed, and as I obeyed, the physical suffering rapidly diminished and I was able to follow through.

My healing was a strengthening of trust in God’s omnipresent and ever-active health and harmony. The physical healing was secondary.

It takes discernment and focused listening to decide the need of the moment when praying for relief. But one truth is for sure. All spiritual healing is in internal job. As we yield to spiritual truth, the pertinent truth we obey will take the fear away and any physical suffering it causes and lead us to the total freedom that is rightfully ours.