A new way of seeing

Spiritual resource to share: new ways of seeing

Annie Dillard writes in her chapter on "Seeing" in her book Pilgrim at Tinker Creek about a little girl who visits a garden for the first time since regaining her sight. "She is greatly astonished, and can scarcely be persuaded to answer, stands speechless in front of the tree, which she only names on taking hold of it, and then as 'the tree with the lights in it.'"

Changing her standpoint from being blind to being able to see, she experiences things in a fresh new way. All of a sudden, life gets bigger, broader, more beautiful. I see a parallel here! I think that this is what happens when we pray.

For instance, I went to pick up my mother for an evening event. She had been waiting half the day to tell me about her latest "Aha!" Finally, we had a moment and she shared an inspiring moment of understanding more about God. This opened up for her a whole new and helpful way of seeing things. "Enlightening, isn't it?" she winked.

Mary Baker Eddy explains this in Science and Health:

When understanding changes the standpoints of life and intelligence from a material to a spiritual basis, we shall gain the reality of Life, the control of Soul over sense, and we shall perceive Christianity, or Truth, in its divine Principle. SH 322:4

For me, each healing I have had and each healing I work through with a patient, involves some type of shift in thought, "from the material to a spiritual basis." Each healing involves dropping a limited view of things for a clearer sense of what is real, substantial and lasting. The things that were limiting drop away, which is always a relief and expected, but this is really secondary.




The real story, the primary story, is that we get a better understanding of how God really operates. We get it. We understand more of the principles behind Christianity, behind Truth itself. And that is when life gets bigger, broader and more inclusive. And that illuminates our whole world.












To share your thoughts on this or to explore this idea further, please feel free to be in contact with me, add your own comments below, email this article to a friend, or add to the healing finds and sites on the web to the right.