Loss is Gain

 

photo credit: Blake Lasater

My son and his wife recently had a baby. Little Torin decided to make an appearance a couple of weeks before his due date, so mom and dad weren’t quite organized for the event. Actually, when Kailey went into labor, they were moving furniture into the house and everything was topsy turvy. When they came home, someone mentioned that their life was “in shambles”. My son found this to be humorous because their life has never been better!! This serves as a perfect reminder to us all: no matter what is happening around us, it’s our perceptions which create our reality. Aaron only saw the beauty of his wife and child, not the mess surrounding them physically. We can all relate this truth to events in our own lives, can we not? A debilitating health situation can help us to look for new avenues to travel. When I lost my leg a few years back, there was a newspaper article written entitled “Havens’ New Walk”. I love this new way of walking as much as the last one! If not for this “loss”, I wouldn’t have the joys I’m now experiencing. And I am grateful…

“O make me glad for every scalding tear,

         For hope deferred, ingratitude, disdain!

Wait, and love more for every hate, and fear

         No ill, — since God is good, and loss is gain.”

From the poem, Oh, Gentle Presence — by Mary Baker Eddy 

A Clean Slate

 

No matter what you believe in, you can find a group of people who think the way you do. I recently heard a man explaining that more harm can be done by the truth than by out-and-out lies. WHAT?? The example he gave is a web page devoted to instances of black people physically attacking white people. Every day they post more instances of this violent behavior, along with rhetoric warning us of the consequences of “us” allowing “them” to “get by” with it. While these things actually happened, they are being presented in a way which may cause fear and suggest retaliation. Our learned behavior of tribalism is not conducive to peaceful living. The myriad of activities which pit us against each other, or set up sides for us to group together with like-minded people —- years of these practices have made us an adversarial society, and it feels wrong. So I’m going to visualize a world where we all trade our beliefs for a blank slate on which to see what is actually happening, without our biased perceptions interpreting everything. Let me know how a clean heart and head show you the world!

“Mortal error will vanish in a moral chemicalization. This mental fermentation has begun, and will continue until all errors of belief yield to understanding. Belief is changeable, but spiritual understanding is changeless.” Mary Baker Eddy- Science and Health Page 96:21

To Change or Not to Change

 

Time has always seemed elastic, but nowadays it’s pliable beyond past experience. To some of us, these days creep by in a fog of repetition; for others, they zip along, full of excitement and expectation. Looking at the few people on my street, it’s possible to imagine the world from our microcosm. One woman who was extremely social, living to dress up for parades, while participating in activities of three churches, seems depressed and lost without these events. One man fell deeper into drugs and alcohol and is now in rehabilitation, trying to save his life. Two neighbors have a thriving business, selling plants and doing landscaping. They are busier and seem happier than ever. Perhaps we’re all learning things about ourselves during these times of change, as we either acclimate to the "new normal", or try to stay with the ways of the past. Personally, I feel I’ve been practicing all my life for this seclusion. It’s nice, and when I must be active in the “outside” world, I need solitude to rejuvenate. We all have a role in the revolution of thought which we see unfolding. Much needs to be done, and we who are not afraid of change are leading the way. Exciting times, indeed!

“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

Living Arrows Sent Forth

 Henri Cartier Bresson - Rue Mouffetard, 1954, ©MoMa.

My oldest son turned 35 today; two days ago he became a parent for the first time. I’m in love with a baby I’ve never met, and it’s a wonder-filled experience! Often, when I have too many things running around in my head, I turn to Kahlil Gibran. And he has guided me to peace today with this beautiful writing. I am grateful. Namaste…

“Your children are not your children.
They are sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. 
They come through you but not from you.
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth...."

by Khalil Gibran

“When speaking of God's children, not the children of men, Jesus said, ‘The kingdom of God is within you;’ that is, Truth and Love reign in the real man, showing that man in God's image is unfallen and eternal." 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 476:28-32

Seeing Two Worlds?

 

Crystal Bridges exhibit - photo by Aaron Springston

The changes we have witnessed in our lifetime have been exciting and (to take a phrase from the ‘70s) mind blowing! Decades ago, when we were told about the Age of Aquarius and more recently when 2012 was explained as a shift in consciousness, I'm not sure we thought there would be any real change in our lives. People who are looking for purely material reasons to explain the huge changes in everything from politics to weather are feeling helpless and overwhelmed. When looked at from a different perspective, we see that changes are necessary in order to facilitate the realization of this new earth we are more-than-ready to embrace. As with any shift in thought, some are afraid and working to hold on to old ways. But it is impossible to "see two worlds". I choose Love!

“During this final conflict, wicked minds will endeavor to find means by which to accomplish more evil; but those who discern Christian Science will hold crime in check. They will aid in the ejection of error. They will maintain law and order, and cheerfully await the certainty of ultimate perfection.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 96:31-4

We Are All Meant to Shine

 

photo credit: Aaron Springston

The much-quoted "Our Deepest Fear" from Marianne Williamson's A Return to Love tells us that what we fear most isn't our inadequacies but our power. Here is the paragraph from the book: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” Shine on, dear Friends!

[This is from a dialogue between matter and Spirit]

“I am Spirit. Man, whose senses are spiritual, is my likeness. He reflects the infinite understanding, for I am Infinity. The beauty of holiness, the perfection of being, imperishable glory,--all are Mine, for I am God. I give immortality to man, for I am Truth. I include and impart all bliss, for I am Love. I give life, without beginning and without end, for I am Life. I am supreme and give all, for I am Mind. I am the substance of all, because I AM THAT I AM.” Mary Baker Eddy-Science and Health page 252:32

Do Not Be Dismayed ...

 

art by Tijana Lukovic

With the new year comes hope -- hope for something better. But remember each one of us has the power to change our thoughts about the world, and therein we hold the key...

“Do not be dismayed by the brokenness of the world.

All things break. And all things can be mended.

Not with time, as they say, but with intention. 

So go. Love intentionally, extravagantly, unconditionally.

The broken world waits in darkness for the light that is you.”

L.R. Knost