Good People Trapped By Bad Ideas

photo credit: Richard Quick

Most of us have probably heard of the Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas. It made headlines with its over-the-top condemnation of many groups of people. I won’t go into all that now, as you can do a search and find instances of their vitriol. I read an interview with one of its former members, Megan Phelps-Roper. She ran the church’s Twitter account until she broke from the church in 2012. One of the questions in the interview was: “How do you reconcile your love for family members still in the church while you no longer accept their beliefs?” She responded: “I believe that they are good people who have been trapped by bad ideas.” Wow. This is simply stated with the least condemnation possible, don’t you think? She goes on to say that it’s important to see these people as capable of change, because then there is hope. “We should be willing to reach out. Imagine what could happen if we kept reaching out to people like Westboro members? There’s so much power in seeing the possibility of change.” I said to someone today that we need to find ways to allow others to change their mind. It’s been thought of by many as a bad thing to change your way of thinking. But as this dear woman tells us: “If you look at who you were a year ago and aren’t somewhat embarrassed, you’re not growing as a person.” Happy expansion everyone!

"Here let a word be noticed which will be better understood hereafter -- chemicalization. By chemicalization I mean the process which mortal mind and body undergo in the change of belief from a material to a spiritual basis." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 168:30

Time Slows Down

photo credit: Aaron Springston

I’ve been sending a card or two every day to people I think would enjoy receiving them. This is not only to help the post office (which numerous folks tell me can’t be done), but to reach out to someone who may be in need of a smile. Today, I was getting ready to play bridge online with a group of people when I realized I had not written my daily card. I almost rushed to do so before the mail person came, but then I realized the error of my ways. If I’m going to mindlessly do it, just to be doing it, then I shouldn’t be doing it! With that perspective, I plan on writing a few tomorrow, mindfully. Following along in that vein, I read an article this evening about a mom who was concerned because her daughter was always checking to see what time it was. She seemed worried that she wouldn’t get enough sleep, that she didn’t have time to do everything she needed to do, and she was becoming more and more anxious. The mother suggested (during this time of isolation) that they give up clocks and sleep when they were sleepy, eat when they were hungry, and enjoy every moment of it. To their delight, they found that their days seem longer and they are enjoying everything more! Yet another grand truth discovered while slowing down...

“The objects of time and sense disappear in the illumination of spiritual understanding and Mind measures time according to the good that is unfolded.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 584:4

We Need Mr. Rogers

Perhaps our moral compass in the United States went haywire when Mr. Rogers' soothing show was no longer on television. He taught us all how to just be nice, but it was more than that, don’t you think? I read an article about him which said his goal was to promote “self-esteem, self-control, imagination, creativity, curiosity, appreciation of diversity, cooperation, patience and persistence.” He taught us how to perform necessary tasks, such as tying our shoelaces; he informed us about things which enrich our lives, such as planting a garden. He never told children they were just as good as anyone else, or that they were infallible, but rather he taught us that we each have value, and that value isn’t tied to particular successes or failures. He encouraged children to go to school and listen to their teachers, humanizing educators by telling the young viewers that the teachers were once children, too. Mr. Rogers taught us to be mindfully aware, to enjoy the process, and to love our neighbors. What more do we need? I think we need another Mr. Rogers...

"Incorrect reasoning leads to practical error. The wrong thought should be arrested before it has a chance to manifest itself." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 452:4

Noticing Solutions

photo credit: Aaron Springston

Too many things are jumping around in my brain this evening. It's time to sleep now and these thoughts could cause tossing and turning, so I'm going to think of the beautiful happenings I've seen today. A group of women I've been associated with for years have a group email going almost daily, telling each other of the events in our lives, sharing what we do to stay active and calm, and supporting each other when needed. A group of people in town provided almost 900 meals for local people this week, and my heart sings when I think of what they have done. I read a blog post from a local woman who now has two restaurants in Fayetteville, and it fills me with hope to hear her tell details of her days. The artists in town who are helping to support our animal shelter during this time when their thrift shops are not open and supplying funds, they bring a smile every time I see one of their renditions of someone's pet. People are giving of themselves and their talents everywhere, we need only notice to see the good. But as one of my favorite spiritual gurus tells us, we must Wake Up, Stand up, Rise Up, and SHOW UP! So don't be afraid of those worries buzzing around you, but rather know there are solutions and it's our job to notice what they are and help them to be implemented. As I've said before: We can do this!

"Self-forgetfulness, purity, and affection are constant prayers. Practice not profession, understanding not belief, gain the ear and right hand of omnipotence and they assuredly call down infinite blessing. Truthworthiness is the foundation of enlightened faith." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 15:26

Undeniable Awakening Occurring

Marianne Williamson said exactly what I'd like to say. So here it is, my Friends!

"My friend Susan sent me this picture today. She said that in the midst of all the sadness her new granddaughter was born, and her peonies began to bloom a few days before Easter. I almost cried at the reminder. Children continue to be born, people continue to love each other, and flowers continue to bloom. In the midst of the pandemic, with all its grief and horror, it seems to me there’s an undeniable awakening occurring. In the silence, in the realizations, even in the tears, there are gifts of knowledge and wisdom and depth and understanding. When this ends, whenever it ends, the sky is going to be bluer and the light is going to sparkle more and we will emerge as a more grateful and more humble people. Some will be grieving for years to come and it will be our task to comfort them. But our greatest task will be to make sure that those who died did not die in vain; that what we learned from this pandemic was to do life differently, for our country and for the world." Marianne Williamson

We Can Do This

The documentary, A Simpler Way — Crisis as Opportunity, was made in 2016 and takes us through the simple ways people have made tiny homes, shared gardens, and are finding innovative ways to live happily in a world which often seems to be hurtling towards disaster. They said this lifestyle is not about being self-sufficient but, rather, community-sufficient. You may live on a city lot and are able to grow all the vegetables you need by turning your yard into a garden (explained in detail by Joan Dye Gussow in This Organic Life - Confessions of a Suburban Homesteader), and your friend may have enough land to raise goats, another friend has a flock of chickens — well, you get the picture. We’re all in this together. It’s way past time to utilize our talents to supply our families and friends with what they need, and in return receive what we need. As we have learned in these studies: to give is to receive; to receive is to give. Perhaps when we can’t go to the big box stores an hour away, we’ll turn to our neighborhood stores to purchase what we need. Rather than get our salad fixings washed in bleach and sold in plastic containers, we’ll look to our local farmers who have built wind tunnels to grow these tender greens all year long. A friend tells me that Home Depot in Rogers had people lined up around the building, because they were only allowing 75 people in at a time. My goodness. Let’s ask ourselves if we really need to do things the way we’ve been doing them. It’s difficult to make shifts and release old habits, but it’s time for a new normal, don’t you think? We can do this.

"When the divine precepts are understood they unfold the foundation of fellowship in which one mind is not at war with another, but all have one Spirit, God, one intelligent source..." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 276

Flying Low