Last spring, when my position with a publisher ended, I was ready for the next step, but also felt a tremendous sense of gratitude -- even a sacred sense of wonder -- of what we did, what was asked of us, what we found out and what we accomplished.
What was asked of us: My good friend and colleague and I traveled all over the world, supporting the distribution of a classic book on spirituality and healing to global book markets. The book was Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy -- which you will be hearing about often on this site.
We supported our publisher's own line of bookstores worldwide, as well as did some major exploring to place the book in markets that catered to the widest range of audiences: Muslims, Catholics, Hindis, general population, Mind/Body/Spirit groups, healthcare professionals, religion scholars, etc. etc.
What we found out -- and what I found out in particular -- was that the hunger for spirituality is here and everywhere, now and with no end in sight. The challenge of the work was to keep going in a straight line. The receptivity was everywhere!
How amazing it was to be able to go into a country, talk to book industry professionals and the public and learn what ideas their citizens are reading and valuing and to find out that spiritual ideas are the common link to us all.
As you will find out on my website and I'll continually be referring to it on this blog, the ideas in Science and Health actually heal. And as we introduced the book, hundreds of people who read it shared how they had been healed, uplifted, comforted simply by reading the book.
The largeness of this work of sharing and practicing the practical spiritual ideas in Science and Health still moves me. I remember driving into work one of my last days and saying - Well God, it is you and me again! Prior to that my prayer and work always involved many people, conversations, meetings, events in many languages. Now these experiences have time to ripen as they have deepened my understanding and confirmed my conviction that God, good speaks to every man and nation and that understanding God as good heals outward conflict and inner turmoil. These experiences have enlarged my pool of peace and expanded my hope for mankind.
Someone once asked if I miss my former job and I quickly said no. And I meant it. It is like asking: do you miss giving birth to your two sons? After giving birth to my sons, I remember being impressed at the strength and focus that women give to secure ongoing generations. What a hopeful thing it is to have a child and to care for a child as they grow! I do not miss the birthing process, but I love what is growing because of it.
Likewise, after working at this job, I am just as impressed at the possibilities that arise when there is such focus, devotion and strength of vision aligned with an unselfish love. We had a passion and love for the work of sharing Christian Science with the world. I love the focus and strength that that work demanded. And then we did it! The whole spectrum of human emotion was there: unbridled joy, doubt, compassion, relief, anger, brilliance, laughter, tears, - you get the picture. But what made it so worthwhile were the moments of prayer: the on your knees humble, winner take all prayer that didn't stop until God's presence was felt, healing was realized or a way distinctly pointed out. Some colleagues joked about wearing out knee pads....
But I am back in wonderland - wondering how my next steps will develop. I am re-inventing myself as well, and in a way that complements the width of my former experience with an opportunity to develop the depth of an understanding of our Father/Mother God and us - Her/His children. My experience includes a literal embrace of the world. Added to that is my current world full of family, art, the woods,and the blessed benefit of time to pray and ponder. Opportunities to experience a different sense of time to listen and be quiet; to act, to do and to heal in the quiet guidance of the love of God.
My newest wonder is to develop the practice of Christian Science in my own life and share with others as a Christian Science practitioner. I take patients. I have office hours and a website. I put CS after my name and tell people at parties what my new line of work is. I make myself available to others and together we fight demons and wrestle with obstacles and stand back to see God work and see the glorious possibilities that exist by understanding - even more - by experiencing the transforming power of Love. We will grow understand the minutiae and omnipresence of this Life force. How wonder-full is that?
I am again tremendously grateful for the space I now have to do this. Life is so rich. So varied. So infinite. So full of wonder. I am looking forward to hearing from you all!
Kim, CS
Friday, October 28, 2005
Monday, October 24, 2005
How big is infinite?
To understand God as infinite......
I was downhill skiing in Colorado and got off the main run and found myself in waist high powder snow. Intead of changing my weight backward on the skies, I kept it forward and landed in the snow with a soft *phlumph* I lay there, feeling of the bright sun and soft snow and views of beautiful mountains hemming the bright blue empty sky. I am a part of this, I told myself. Amazing. I am a part of this.
I did finally get up, taught myself a quick lesson in skiing powder, and joined friends at the end of the run. But the larger lesson - to have an answer as to my place in the universe, my purpose in life, which came to me in a *phlumph* - this lesson stays with me today.
"God is Love. Can we ask Him to be more? God is intelligence. Can we inform the infinite Mind of anything He does not already comprehend?" queries Mary Baker Eddy in Science and Health. Understanding God as All-in-all, we have arrived home.
Chau,
Kim
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I was downhill skiing in Colorado and got off the main run and found myself in waist high powder snow. Intead of changing my weight backward on the skies, I kept it forward and landed in the snow with a soft *phlumph* I lay there, feeling of the bright sun and soft snow and views of beautiful mountains hemming the bright blue empty sky. I am a part of this, I told myself. Amazing. I am a part of this.
I did finally get up, taught myself a quick lesson in skiing powder, and joined friends at the end of the run. But the larger lesson - to have an answer as to my place in the universe, my purpose in life, which came to me in a *phlumph* - this lesson stays with me today.
"God is Love. Can we ask Him to be more? God is intelligence. Can we inform the infinite Mind of anything He does not already comprehend?" queries Mary Baker Eddy in Science and Health. Understanding God as All-in-all, we have arrived home.
Chau,
Kim
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Friday, October 21, 2005
Eternity in five minutes
"To see the world in a grain of sand, and to see heaven in a wild flower, holdWilliam Blake
infinity in the palm of your hands, and eternity in an hour."
In all respect to William Blake, his thought got me thinking...to understand infinity and eternity are daunting enough, but the possibility of experiencing eternity in an hour....I am wondering if it is possible to speed things up and hold eternity in five minutes?
OK, so this is a bit ironic. But what is eternity if not a sense of timeliness? What is time but a space between two moments? Can we feel eternity? And if so, what does that do for us?
Mary Baker Eddy writes in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, "
Become conscious for a single moment that Life and intelligence are purelyPraying is a way to become conscious of spiritual things, the things of God: gratitude, affirmation of good and expectancy of healing. These are timeless attributes that show me a power beyond my own consciousness. This to me is getting a taste of eternity.
spiritual, neither in nor of matter, and the body will then utter no complaints.
.... Entirely separate from the belief and dream of material living, is the Life
divine, revealing spiritual understanding and the consciousness of man's
dominion over the whole earth."
Filling thought with a consciousness of God opens the door to infinite possibilies, purifies thought and protects. It brings me into a place of peace and confidence and possibility.
Kim ................
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Thursday, October 20, 2005
Live from the home of the World's Largest Penny
I used to live in the Boston area. Boston, as many Bostonians will tell you, is the Hub of the Universe. And they will tell you the many good reasons that they feel this is so. However, when I talked to a friend from London and visited there, I was convinced that, indeed London must play THE central role and be the center of the universe, and my friend agreed.
Then I visited Singapore. With temples that are right next to mosques which are across from the shrines which are next to some churches, surely this is the most diverse and central part of the universe. But an African colleague called Africa "Mother Africa," she said, because it gave birth to mankind. A Greek friend explained that Greece was the center of the universe because it was the birthplace of civilization. And an Argentine explained,with a twinkle in his eye, that the well known pride of the Argentines is due to the fact that God is from Argentina.
Interesting to know that every place has its central role in the universe. Every place has its mark and it is all important. My new home town, for one, is the center of the Universe for many of us, and our claim to the universe is that this is Home of the World's Largest Penny.
Globetrotting over the years has taught me valuable lessons:
Then I visited Singapore. With temples that are right next to mosques which are across from the shrines which are next to some churches, surely this is the most diverse and central part of the universe. But an African colleague called Africa "Mother Africa," she said, because it gave birth to mankind. A Greek friend explained that Greece was the center of the universe because it was the birthplace of civilization. And an Argentine explained,with a twinkle in his eye, that the well known pride of the Argentines is due to the fact that God is from Argentina.
Interesting to know that every place has its central role in the universe. Every place has its mark and it is all important. My new home town, for one, is the center of the Universe for many of us, and our claim to the universe is that this is Home of the World's Largest Penny.
Globetrotting over the years has taught me valuable lessons:
- Everyone is important
- Everyone has an important claim to the universe
- The literate have nothing over the illiterate
- The rich have nothing over the poor
- The powerful have nothing over those who are thought to be powerless.
Love, purity, joy, kindness, and intelligent care ennoble every one of us. Likewise, every person has a central role in the universe.
The wisdom of Mary Baker Eddy flows on "and the light of ever-present Love illumines the universe. Hence the eternal wonder, - that infinite space is peopled with God's ideas, reflecting Him in countless spiritual forms" (from Science and Health).
Kim
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Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Life cannot be buried
I needed to get my feet on solid ground about the recent cataclysmic events, including the most recent in Pakistan and India. After viewing scores of pictures and many articles read, I found I could relate to betrayal, loss of control, fear of death, fear of losing the people I loved, pain, and so on. But I have never experienced it on this scale.
Even to pray, to realize healing seemed to be daunting. But how big is my understanding of God? Is it bigger than a tsunami? An earthquake? a hurricane? It was beyond my experience to answer.
I prayed with the help of two books. One is the Bible: story after story of the experience of mankind's evolving understanding of God and how we relate to God. The other is Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy: illuminating the spiritual laws that undergird the Bible and explaining the operation of those same spiritual laws today. The backbone of both books is the illustration of divine law operating throughout millennia, through wars, famines, political successes and failures, celebrations and the drama of ongoing life.
I was pondering over Christ Jesus' resurrection. Although he is given different offices by different religions, one thing that can possibly be agreed on is that he stood for hope, for a way out of the mire of sin, sickness and finally out of death and into peace and fulfillment. The events surrounding his crucifixion were ominous and unrelenting, even up to the time he was on the cross. And yet, right in that noise of horror, hopelessness and torture, he loved. He forgave his persecutors. He made sure his mother was cared for. And three days later, he was resurrected, which also resurrected the hope of those he taught and ultimately the hope of all those who believe in his teachings.
He not only taught that God was bigger than a hurricane, tsunami or earthquake, but he walked his understanding of the bigness, the allness and omnipotence of God every day. The result? No sin or disease could ever even be real to him. He restored all whom he met back to their normal physical and mental state of health and awakened the understanding of their relationship to God. His persecutors tried to stop, then to torture, then to kill, and finally to bury this hope of healing and reconciliation. But it simply couldn't happen.
The lively hope that Life is of God, good and that we are one with God was too powerful. In Science and Health it says,
Our present day persecutors -- natural disasters, terrorism, war -- would try to hide the hope that Life is eternal, Truth is omnipotent and Love is ever-present. But that is impossible. God is too powerful. It takes a determined stepping away from the human picture to see the persistence of Love in these situations. But to do so is to play a part in a resurrection.
This is what Jesus Christ resurrected for us.
So back to South Asia. I look at all the pictures from my news source online. I am mentally walking in the pictures of the devastation, testing if my understanding is sufficient. Looking for glimmers of hope and life. My prayer connects. I understand this:
What the pictures show is unending care, and connection to one another. Diligent prayer. Reconciliation. Cooperation. Differences dissolve in the persistence of life. The children, the fathers, and mothers, men and women are all children of one God. They are wrapped up in one Love. There is great hope. I am putting this prayer out into cyber-space, knowing it will join the millions of other prayers. These prayers contribute to that atmosphere of thought and are renewing hope, resting those tired from helping others and strengthening the strong insistence that Life can never be buried.
Even to pray, to realize healing seemed to be daunting. But how big is my understanding of God? Is it bigger than a tsunami? An earthquake? a hurricane? It was beyond my experience to answer.
I prayed with the help of two books. One is the Bible: story after story of the experience of mankind's evolving understanding of God and how we relate to God. The other is Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy: illuminating the spiritual laws that undergird the Bible and explaining the operation of those same spiritual laws today. The backbone of both books is the illustration of divine law operating throughout millennia, through wars, famines, political successes and failures, celebrations and the drama of ongoing life.
I was pondering over Christ Jesus' resurrection. Although he is given different offices by different religions, one thing that can possibly be agreed on is that he stood for hope, for a way out of the mire of sin, sickness and finally out of death and into peace and fulfillment. The events surrounding his crucifixion were ominous and unrelenting, even up to the time he was on the cross. And yet, right in that noise of horror, hopelessness and torture, he loved. He forgave his persecutors. He made sure his mother was cared for. And three days later, he was resurrected, which also resurrected the hope of those he taught and ultimately the hope of all those who believe in his teachings.
He not only taught that God was bigger than a hurricane, tsunami or earthquake, but he walked his understanding of the bigness, the allness and omnipotence of God every day. The result? No sin or disease could ever even be real to him. He restored all whom he met back to their normal physical and mental state of health and awakened the understanding of their relationship to God. His persecutors tried to stop, then to torture, then to kill, and finally to bury this hope of healing and reconciliation. But it simply couldn't happen.
The lively hope that Life is of God, good and that we are one with God was too powerful. In Science and Health it says,
"The persecutors had failed to hide immortal Truth and Love in a sepulchre."
Our present day persecutors -- natural disasters, terrorism, war -- would try to hide the hope that Life is eternal, Truth is omnipotent and Love is ever-present. But that is impossible. God is too powerful. It takes a determined stepping away from the human picture to see the persistence of Love in these situations. But to do so is to play a part in a resurrection.
- To let the human sense of grief yield to the warm embrace of Love.
- To let the human sense of loss yield to the divine sense of eternal Life.
- To let the human sense of fear and distrust yield to the strong arms of everlasting Truth.
This is what Jesus Christ resurrected for us.
So back to South Asia. I look at all the pictures from my news source online. I am mentally walking in the pictures of the devastation, testing if my understanding is sufficient. Looking for glimmers of hope and life. My prayer connects. I understand this:
Christ hath rolled away the stone from the door of human hope and faith, and through the revelation and demonstration of life in God, hath elevated them to
possible at-one-ment with the spiritual idea of man and his divine Principle, Love" (from Science and Health)
What the pictures show is unending care, and connection to one another. Diligent prayer. Reconciliation. Cooperation. Differences dissolve in the persistence of life. The children, the fathers, and mothers, men and women are all children of one God. They are wrapped up in one Love. There is great hope. I am putting this prayer out into cyber-space, knowing it will join the millions of other prayers. These prayers contribute to that atmosphere of thought and are renewing hope, resting those tired from helping others and strengthening the strong insistence that Life can never be buried.
News articles
Remember the children in Asia's quake: Christian Science Monitor story
A glimmer of good news in Pakistan: yahoo news
Earthquake to be treated as a national calamity: The Times of India
Healing article:
No earthquake can loosen Love's embrace by Neera Kapur: spirituality.com
Peace, Kim
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Saturday, October 08, 2005
What intrigues me most about Christian Science
Recently I was talking to a number of other Christian Science practitioners and we were all asked this question. Their answers were clear and varied. One practitioner loves the sound reasoning of Christian Science. Another practitioner loves how effective Christian Science is at problem solving. Another practitioner commented how Christian Science taught her to move through the world with dominion.
As for me, not only do I love the fact that Christian Science is so many things to so many people, but I am most thrilled to know that Christian Science spells out the universal law of Love and shows how to apply it to every situation imaginable.
Let me break this down as I understand it.
So, Christian Science explains "how to" do universal love, how to be loving, and be loved, and how to heal and harmonize with divine Principles of Love.
OK, so the thrilling part of this again is that these principles of Love find receptive hearts everywhere: with your immediate family members with whom you live and in situations a half a world away. Regardless of any human category you put yourself into or any situation you find yourself in, there is a principle, a law of Love, which when applied, brings the human picture into harmony.
To practice Christian Science means a never-ending discovery into the depths of understanding infinite Love and feeling the effects of Love's harmonizing influence. It has an impact on our individual lives. Christian Science has an impact on communities and nations.
It seems to me that Christian Science explains the science of genius, of all that is brilliant and good and enduring. Through the science of Christ's teaching, we can all experience the promise that "with God, all things are possible."
Another friend commented that when she first read Science and Health, she was left breathless. It still does that to me, even after years of reading and practicing the ideas in it.
Signing off,
Kim
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As for me, not only do I love the fact that Christian Science is so many things to so many people, but I am most thrilled to know that Christian Science spells out the universal law of Love and shows how to apply it to every situation imaginable.
Let me break this down as I understand it.
- Christian Science is the science or the "how to" of Christianity.
- Science is all about a system or method reconciling practical ends with scientific laws or the application of certain principles that bring about a consistent result.
- Christianity is based on the teachings of Christ.
- Christ is all about the expression of an omnipotent and omnipresent God (Love) in our human experience.
So, Christian Science explains "how to" do universal love, how to be loving, and be loved, and how to heal and harmonize with divine Principles of Love.
OK, so the thrilling part of this again is that these principles of Love find receptive hearts everywhere: with your immediate family members with whom you live and in situations a half a world away. Regardless of any human category you put yourself into or any situation you find yourself in, there is a principle, a law of Love, which when applied, brings the human picture into harmony.
To practice Christian Science means a never-ending discovery into the depths of understanding infinite Love and feeling the effects of Love's harmonizing influence. It has an impact on our individual lives. Christian Science has an impact on communities and nations.
It seems to me that Christian Science explains the science of genius, of all that is brilliant and good and enduring. Through the science of Christ's teaching, we can all experience the promise that "with God, all things are possible."
Another friend commented that when she first read Science and Health, she was left breathless. It still does that to me, even after years of reading and practicing the ideas in it.
Signing off,
Kim
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Saturday, October 01, 2005
Downpour
Many years ago, I wrote and submitted a poem that was published in the Christian Science Sentinel (Vol. 98, No. 36). It was written after an inspiring talk with a friend who had overcome the shame of abuse from a someone she trusted and had found her way to be totally free of any effects of that abuse.
As I re-read this poem, I realized it had healing ideas for anyone who has suffered an almost overwhelming loss. I'm sending it out on the web in hopes that it will bring comfort to those dealing with loss and especially those dealing with the effects of the hurricanes in the Gulf area of the US.
Downpour
It’s all right to cry.
Let the tears take you down to a place you thought no one ever knew about, and
Behold
..........the Christ is here.
You are not alone.
Behold, the Christ is here,
the spirit of God,
giving a cup of cold water,
pouring you out a blessing,
filling up the vacant hope,
spilling over with
an endless, purifying love and assurance:
“I have overcome the world.”*
The Christ is here,
carrying you with the truth
that your life is flooded with
God’s infinite goodness.
Be comforted now with clearer, wider vision.
You are not alone.
*See John 16: 31-33
© Christian Science Sentinel Vol. 98, No. 36
Used with permission
Please feel free to add your own comments or email to a friend. Visit www.kimckorinek.com
As I re-read this poem, I realized it had healing ideas for anyone who has suffered an almost overwhelming loss. I'm sending it out on the web in hopes that it will bring comfort to those dealing with loss and especially those dealing with the effects of the hurricanes in the Gulf area of the US.
Downpour
It’s all right to cry.
Let the tears take you down to a place you thought no one ever knew about, and
Behold
..........the Christ is here.
You are not alone.
Behold, the Christ is here,
the spirit of God,
giving a cup of cold water,
pouring you out a blessing,
filling up the vacant hope,
spilling over with
an endless, purifying love and assurance:
“I have overcome the world.”*
The Christ is here,
carrying you with the truth
that your life is flooded with
God’s infinite goodness.
Be comforted now with clearer, wider vision.
You are not alone.
*See John 16: 31-33
© Christian Science Sentinel Vol. 98, No. 36
Used with permission
Please feel free to add your own comments or email to a friend. Visit www.kimckorinek.com
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