I Worried

John Gibson, the pastor of the Presbyterian Church where we record services for their website, built today's inspirational talk around this Mary Oliver poem. It has found a place in my head and heart...

I Worried

"I worried a lot. Will the garden grow, will the rivers
flow in the right direction, will the earth turn
as it was taught, and if not how shall
I correct it?

Was I right, was I wrong, will I be forgiven,
can I do better?

Will I ever be able to sing, even the sparrows
can do it and I am, well,
hopeless.

Is my eyesight fading or am I just imagining it,
am I going to get rheumatism,
lockjaw, dementia?

Finally I saw that worrying had come to nothing.
And gave it up. And took my old body
and went out into the morning,
and sang.”

Of Hamilton and Mickey Mouse ...

I hope everyone had a fine 4th of July, whatever you did. Our special event for the day was subscribing to the Disney Channel to watch Hamilton. Wow, wow, wow! We only watched half of it, as it's close to 3 hours long (yay!), and will finish tomorrow. But what a production, what a presentation, what a concept to educate the masses and pique the curiosity of the people of these United States! This is the type of thing which, I trust, will bring us together, enabling us to get past the petty differences and great divides. And if that doesn't work, I would suggest we all sit down and watch some old Mickey Mouse cartoons! Following our amazement over the Broadway production, we were knocked out by the 1936 animation and fabulous story lines in these old cartoons. If laughing with these characters can't bring "we the people" together, nothing can. So I'm going to advocate mandatory watching of great cartoons as a cure-all for what ails us! Take some time to enjoy life, laugh, and love each other. We're all in this together -- really, truly!

"Love propagates anew the higher joys of Spirit, which have no taint of earth. Each successive stage of experience unfolds new views of divine goodness and love." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 66:13

Truth is Knocking at the Door!

Fireworks in the Snow
PC: Aaron Springston

Fireworks. Decades ago when I was a child, we would look forward to 10 or 20 firecrackers (which we would light with fear and excitement), a sparkler or two apiece (my personal favorite), and then an adult would set off a Roman candle for the big finale. We celebrated the freedom we believed our country was founded upon, and went to bed full of expectations of good. Now, in 2020, I am hearing fireworks crackling (illegally) all over town the night before Independence Day, and I am pondering what became of the simpler celebrations from decades ago. Everything has gone the way of fireworks: too much, too soon, too long. Our values have shifted into the high gear of hyper-materialism, and I see our excessive consumption of fireworks as a perfect example of what we have done with everything. We thought there was an endless supply of gasoline, so we began owning and driving multiple vehicles more and more miles every passing year, until we had superhighways built all across our land, constantly filled with bumper-to-bumper traffic. Our grocery stores ballooned into obscene orgies of processed foods and plastics, highlighted by sugar and caffeine drinks in a poisonous-looking array of colors. I think we all long for a simpler, more honest way of living. And we can have it! On this day of Independence, let’s celebrate the re-inventing of our country. America has always led the world with its innovative thinking, and now is the time for us to do it again! 

"The time for thinkers has come. Truth, independent of doctrines and time-honored systems, knocks at the portal of humanity. Contentment with the past and the cold conventionality of materialism are crumbling away." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page VII:13

New-Old Idea

Piney Creek Garden
Berryville, Arkansas

“When we traded nature for concrete, we destroyed our soul.” I heard this in a documentary series called “Broken Bread”. This show highlights people who are working to change the way we think about food. In many parts of our country, the only nearby places to buy food are convenience stores or liquor stores. The question was asked: Why are we normalizing the fact that fresh food is not available nearby? One man in Los Angeles says, “You don’t have to be a critical thinker to figure this out. Plant vegetables!” And so he has done this in vacant lots and areas which would usually be given to grass. He even has banana trees! By doing this and allowing others to pick what they need, they are being empowered to grow food in their own small spaces. This, dear friends, is exactly what the “new world” looks like: seeing ways to bring us closer to the earth and each other and acting on them! Building community through food is a great way to begin. 

"As a material, theoretical life-basis is found to be a misapprehension of existence, the spiritual and divine Principle of man dawns upon human thought, and leads it to 'where the young child was,' -- even to the birth of a new-old idea, to the spiritual sense of being and of what Life includes. Thus the whole earth will be transformed by Truth on its pinions of light, chasing away the darkness of error." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 191:8

A New Earth

A Foretaste of Eternity

Love heals. We hear this so often, it's probably become somewhat of a cliché. We may think that nothing can heal the ills of the world, much less something as intangible as love. What if love were the most powerful force in the universe? Not just an emotion called love, but an omnipotent, gentle presence which is a synonym for Source. What if experiencing this Love was sufficient to heal every thought of evil or sickness or misery which has ever been imagined? Then we'd all be lining up to get some of this stuff, don't you think? And it's even easier than that. We need but get out of our own way to see what has always been there. Love heals.

"One moment of divine consciousness, or the spiritual understanding of Life and Love, is a foretaste of eternity.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 598:23-25

Maintain Your Dignity

I’m reading “The Nickel Boys”. While this is not exactly a light read, it is an important, interesting, well-written one. Colton Whitehead has written a novel which takes us into a world I do not know. Although I’m only 30 pages into this book, I was stopped in my tracks by a quote from Martin Luther King. The main character is working in a tobacco shop where children often steal candy and comic books. The proprietor allows this because he says if he called them on it, their parents would be too embarrassed to shop in his establishment. He has told Elwood to allow them to take things, as he thinks of it as a promotion. This doesn’t sit right with Elwood, and at first he can’t understand why. But a quote of Dr. King’s brings it into focus for him: “We must believe in our souls that we are somebody, that we are significant, that we are worthful, and we must walk the streets of life every day with this sense of dignity and this sense of somebody-ness.” Elwood comes to the realization that to do nothing about the kids stealing was to undermine his own dignity. I think that’s the position we the People are in today. To do nothing is to undermine our own dignity. I urge you to listen to your own inner guidance, your soul (if you will), and do whatever it takes to maintain your dignity. Namaste...

"Is it not professional reputation and emolument rather than the dignity of God's laws, which many leaders seek? Do not inferior motives induce the infuriated attacks on individuals...?" Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 236:6