Cleaning Up Our Heart and Earth

photo credit: Aaron Springston

Does anyone else feel as though they're in a sort of limbo? On the one hand, we are finding out how little we actually need and what is truly important to us. On the other hand, many are suffering because of lack of income to handle the necessities of life. I'd love for the outcome of our quarantine to be a universal acceptance of free power from the sun and wind, more entertainment supplied by nature her-own-self,  and happy connections with our family and neighbors. I'd like to see people playing bridge and pinochle at the kitchen table after dinner together, going for long walks with their dogs, reading to each other, relaxing into being rather than always doing. Wouldn't it be perfect to barter our services within communities? Wouldn't it be great to have neighborhood markets and bakeries and shoe stores like in the olden days? I want our kids to be safe walking to school, where learning is a joy and they wake up every morning excited about going. What if we all worked at something we enjoyed, something which benefited our communities, things which brought satisfaction to our soul? What kind of world could we have if everyone was present in the moment, noticing the needs of others and our planet? We wouldn't need to eat animals at every meal, and could raise them in such a way as to not pollute our hearts and earth. We've strayed from what is important, but we can find it again. We must help each other or we'll never make it back to the garden. Nothing is more outlandish than the way we, as a society, are living right now. There are models of sustainable living all around us. Let's bring it into existence for us all!

"RESURRECTION: Spiritualization of thought, a new and higher idea of immortality, or spiritual existence, material belief yielding to spiritual understanding." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 593:9

A Quotation

This quote has haunted me all day. I leave it here.

photo credit: Aaron Springston

“There is no question Baghdad is a remarkable city, but no beauty on earth lasts forever. Cities are erected on spiritual columns. Like giant mirrors, they reflect the hearts of their residents. If those hearts darken and lose faith, cities will lose their glamour. It happens, and it happens all the time.” The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak 

Helping Each Other

United Methodists of Eureka Springs
photo credit: Richard Quick

According to Gallup polls, almost 20% of Americans say their faith or spirituality has gotten "better" as a result of our current pandemic. Apparently this is occurring worldwide, as witnessed by people in England putting signs outside their homes asking prayers for Boris Johnson. This hints at a spiritual revival, as it shows concern for the weakest during this health crisis, no matter what their station in life. It is a common religious cause to look after the desolate, the poor, the weak. Wealthy countries are showing this desire by helping poor countries fight this virus, if for no reason other than to stop a global economic collapse. Here in Eureka Springs, we have our wonderful Methodists rising to help the "least, the last, and the lost", as they word it on their website. During this time of quarantine, they have been delivering meals to people in need. They have partnered with Ben E. Keith and local restaurants to make up frozen dinners (that look pretty darned good!) for people, so they do not have to go to the grocery store and possibly expose themselves to something their bodies could not bear. Their service started out delivering 7 frozen meals to 60 people, once a week, made possible by a $10,000 grant. With the help of local donations, including the Rotary Club, this number has increased to 120! I am so happy to know the people who make this possible. In a day and age when churches get a bad rap for so many legitimate reasons, it's inspiring to see church members walking the talk, opening their hearts to everyone, and putting their efforts toward this most worthy cause. Thank you, Blake Lasater and the United Methodist Church of Eureka Springs! 

"Love inspires, illumines, designates, and leads the way. Right motives give pinions to thought, and strength and freedom to speech and action. " Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 454:18

Inspired Thought

photo credit: Aaron Springston

The sunshine today was nice. I took a walk in the cemetery and spent some time just breathing and thinking loving thoughts about everyone I know. It's easy to fall into a blame game with everything as topsy-turvy as it is. But, actually, the fault has been happening for a long, long time. We've been thinking if we're financially stable, everything is alright. Someone said that to me today, that the tragedy of this situation is that people will have no money. Well, I must agree -- as long as our world is set up the way it is. When I ended up in the hospital a few years ago, I discovered that if you were poor enough, everything was covered by what is known as Obamacare. I was grateful, and still am. But it showed me that it doesn't pay to work hard at minimum wage because you might make too much money and have to pay exorbitant amounts to the medical machine we call health care. I have gone on this rant for a reason: the world must change. We're doing too many things the wrong way. There are alternatives and it's time we shout from the rooftops that we want these changes! Progressive thinking encompasses everything, not just politics and religion. But that's a darned good place to start!

"The true history of the universe, including man is not in material history but in spiritual development. Inspired thought relinquishes a material, sensual, and mortal theory of the universe, and adopts the spiritual and immortal." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 547

A Novel of Rumi

[image taken from internet; no photo credit available]

I’m reading The Forty Rules of Love by Elia Shafak, which is described as “a novel of Rumi". It’s a very enjoyable read with many pearls of wisdom, such as this: “You say you are ready to deliver all your knowledge to another person. You want to hold the Truth in your palm as if it were a precious pear and offer it to someone special. But opening up someone’s heart to spiritual light is no small task for a human being. You’re stealing God’s thunder.” This comes to me at the perfect time, as I’m itching to open up everyone’s heart to spiritual light — as you probably are, too! I sat on the front porch this evening, giving myself over to the moon and its light. This quote from the book kept returning to my mind, and I fully understood how true it is. Since we are each the reflection, the image and likeness of God, only we, individually, can recognize that spiritual light, that God-ness within, and allow it to flow out. What blesses one blesses all. I truly believe that. I can only have this recognition within, but that’s all it takes! Namaste, dear Friends...

“In the Science of Mind, you will soon ascertain that error cannot destroy error. You will also learn that in Science there is no transfer of evil suggestions from one mortal to another, for there is but one Mind, and this ever-present omnipotent Mind is reflected by man and governs the entire universe. You will learn that in Christian Science the first duty is to obey God, to have one Mind, and to love another as yourself.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 495:31-8

Activity in Solitude

photo credit: Jim Young

Music to calm anxiety, videos on making a victory garden, demonstrations on how to make face masks, children's games, spiritual talks and meditations, movies from the olden days, "specials" from the early days of television, music concerts of all kinds  -- For those of us fortunate enough to have a high speed internet connection, the world is our oyster! I spoke with a 94-year-old woman today, whom I know from duplicate bridge and she also sings with the Catholic choir. She doesn't "do" computers and so there she sits. Usually she plays bridge three times a week and goes to church and choir practice, rounding out her social life and keeping her active and her mind young. I love her! What I would give to take her an iPad and be able to sit with her and teach her to use it, then she could play bridge with her friends. She would be enthralled with the world she could see. She has a son in Rogers, so he will be bringing Easter dinner to her house next Sunday. There is so much activity for those of us who are sedentary, and computer fans. I've thought all day about something to bring mental stimulus to my friend. I wonder what she would think of Sudoku? Next time I go out for supplies, think I'll look for a book of them! 

“We must become so alone, so utterly alone, that we withdraw into our innermost self. It is a way of bitter suffering. But then our solitude is overcome, we are no longer alone, for we find that our innermost self is the spirit, that it is God, the indivisible. And suddenly we find ourselves in the midst of the world, yet undisturbed by its multiplicity, for our innermost soul we know ourselves to be one with all being.” ― Hermann Hesse

The Salvation of Love

judyclementwall.com 

Our world is grieving. We all are, don't you think? There's the regular kind of grief, such as sadness brought on by being separated from loved ones and being isolated from activities. Then there's the existential grief. One of its definitions states: "despair felt in response to intangible losses, such as the loss of connection with a sense of place, or community." There is so much angst we take on from the state of our world.  The political, environmental, economic, contagion-related state of affairs is frightening. When this is combined with the anxiety we feel because we don't know what tomorrow will bring, then we have a soup ready-made to bring on withdrawals in the control freaks (who are beginning to understand they never really had this thing called control), and an overdose in those who have never slowed down enough to know what they really need. I surprised myself the other day when I said to someone, Buckle up, Buttercup; it's gonna be a wild ride! I don't mean to make light of this. It's a very serious situation, in which people are dying -- either directly from the virus or as collateral damage from the circumstance. I see my friends who have been living in a zen-like manner for decades, and no matter what discipline they are practicing, this is not much of a change for them. They're used to living in the moment, dealing with changes as they come up, shifting perspectives as needed, and listening for inner guidance to maneuver the obstacles which inevitably show up. But even the most calm of us are having to look at the inner turmoil which bubbles up from time to time. When we become frightened, let's be willing to ask for help. We're in this together, friends. We can help each other in ways we never dreamed we'd be doing. Let's not be afraid to accept assistance when it's offered in its many forms. To give is to receive, and to receive is to give. Oh yes -- and don't be afraid to grieve.

"The miracle of grace is no miracle to Love. Jesus demonstrated the inability of corporeality as well as the infinite ability of Spirit, thus helping erring human sense to flee from its own convictions and seek safety in divine Science." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 494:15