"Contagion" by Mary Baker Eddy

Spiritual resource to share: our consent to robust health

Fueled by recent news stories of studies of anti-depressants and our ongoing reading of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, our other Science and Health discussion group talked about the mental nature of disease and how we give our consent for its cure. Mary Baker Eddy deals with that theme thoroughly in her article on "Contagion."

I have copied half of the article here, and at the end you can click onto the full article - as well as several translations of the article - from spirituality.com.

Contagion
by Mary Baker Eddy
from Miscellaneous Writings

Whatever man sees, feels, or in any way takes cognizance of, must be caught through mind; inasmuch as perception, sensation, and consciousness belong to mind and not to matter. Floating with the popular current of mortal thought without questioning the reliability of its conclusions, we do what others do, believe what others believe, and say what others say. Common consent is contagious, and it makes disease catching.

People believe in infectious and contagious diseases, and that any one is liable to have them under certain predisposing or exciting causes. This mental state prepares one to have any disease whenever there appear the circumstances which he believes produce it. If he believed as sincerely that health is catching when exposed to contact with healthy people, he would catch their state of feeling quite as surely and with better effect than he does the sick man's.

...

Click here to read the full article.





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"....seeking (one's) own in another's good."

Spiritual resource to share: Science and Health

The full quote that includes the title of this blog is "The rich in spirit help the poor in one grand brotherhood, all having the same Principle, or Father; and blessed is that man who seeth his brother's need and supplieth it, seeking his own in another's good."

It is a fit quote for talking about sharing the book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. I have been sharing this book all my adult life, and most earnestly in the last ten years. It never ceases to amaze me the blessings I get by doing this. The line between who is the one rich in spirit and who is the one poor in spirit always gets blurred.

I am now in a second Science and Health discussion group. This group includes some experienced Christian Scientists and some who are new to Christian Science. Those who are new in this group have extensive backgrounds in literature, health care and religion. This month's discussion I found myself saying very little, and just listening, fascinated by what these people were learning and how the ideas in Science and Health impacted/affirmed/contrasted with their lives.

As one would question the idea that there is no intelligence in matter, another would share her experience in medicine that helped to illlustrate the illusiveness of matter. Another discussion focussed on the difference of positive thinking and of prayer that aligns thought to God. In another conversation, one of the women mentioned how similar Eddy's comments on motherhood jived with her understanding of Mary (mother of Jesus). One mentioned that his reading of Science and Health brought him profound assurance and profound questions.

As I listened to the discussion, I found myself being grateful - again - to Mary Baker Eddy's discovery and one of her opening statements in Science and Health "The time for thinkers has come." This active group of thinkers was taking on the big ideas seeing how much they related to current trends in society today, and in their daily lives.

I find that with every discovery or inspiration I share, I get twice that back from both new and experienced readers of Science and Health. My need to see the universality, and the breadth and depth of Christian Science is being wonderfully met in the honest and earnest disussions of these groups. And I am richer for it.

To purchase your own copy of Science and Health, click here.
To listen to Science and Health, click here.



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.

a modern day tares and wheat story

Spiritual resource to share: seeing the wheat, being patient with the tares

I went to a conference last weekend. I was pretty excited to be there, but I knew it would be hosted by a person with whom I have had a hard time appreciating. In addition to a big voice, he seemed to have a big ego, and oftentimes would start his talks with negative stories about some of the kids and parents he worked with, and throughout his talks would highlight these negative stories.

This would be my second conference, and I was determined to see this individual in a more loving light. As the conference progressed, so did the negative stories and disrespectful portrayals of those who made "mistakes." I cringed. I exchanged unkind remarks about this speaker with the person I was sitting near. That's when I realized I was doing a lousy job of seeing this person anywhere near how God must be seeing him -- as made in His image and likeness. I realized I had let myself get caught up in the tares and not the wheat.

So I sat back and really listened at what was happening at this conference. It truly was amazing. The conference had incredibly high ideals. So many people and families had benefitted from the programs that this conference was promoting. All those involved in the conference were volunteers and spent thousands of hours every year to help these programs forward. And now my family was one of the many families who were going to be the beneficiaries of all their hard work. The good that was done was almost overwhelming. The preparation to participate in these programs was thorough, thoughtful and heartwarming.

So, a little course correction was in order. Now, whenever I thought of this person, I would think of his dedication, his big heart (he loved his work) and his generosity with his time and money. Toward the end of the conference, a group of participants got together to write a poem of gratitude to this man. It lovingly joked about his ego and tact (or lack thereof) and poured on the gratitude for the hundreds of lives he touched and for the good that had been acomplished because of his dedicated work. He cried. I teared up and was one of the first to stand up for a standing ovation. And I meant it.

It was a good lesson in being patient with one another for any flaws we may be carrying around, and a reminder that it is the good that we do that is lasting and has meaning - not only for ourselves but for others. The tares and the wheat may be growing side by side in our character, but it is the wheat that wins out.







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.

asking the right questions

Spiritual resource to share: spiritual framework

Did you ever hear of this question – or a question like it? When did you stop beating your dog?
This question, and questions similar to it, point out how important it is to ask the right questions.

Of course, in answering the question above, you are stuck. Providing that you have never beaten your dog, you are stuck responding to false accusations and are trapped in having to explain yourself outside of the framework of the question. The problem is -- it's the wrong question!

Asking the right question is critical to getting a right answer. In asking a question you do three things. You:

• establish or respond to a premise
• provide a framework for the answer
• and lead the conclusion - whether in a bias way, a general or a specific way.

I've found that the question Why do bad things always happen? is similar to the one about beating the dog. So are questions like: When will I stop being a jerk? When will my life turn around? The premises are all faulty, the frameworks for the answers are too narrow and the conclusions are biased toward accepting a faulty premise!

So, in healing, how can you be sure how to ask the right question? I think that the answer is simple. Start with the right answer. The right answer sets up the right premise.

Here’s an example: The right answer is that God is One. That means that God is omnipotent and the only power. So God’s governing is supreme. Anything contrary to that not only breaks the First Commandment, but is set up to be corrected or reversed until it comes into conformity with God’s government.

Instead of the question being Why do bad things always happen? -you can ask, How are bad things to be healed?
Instead of When will I stop being a jerk? -ask How can I reflect God’s goodness more and more?
Instead of When will my life turn around? –ask How can I be open to more of God’s infinite possibilities? How can I see myself as God sees me?

These are the type of questions whose premise helps to shape the most healing and transformative answers!





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.

healing with light

Spiritual resource to share: Wednesday Readings!

Inspired by another fellow blogger , I thought I would do something different for this post today. I thought I would post the Bible and Science and Health citations that I put together today for a Wednesday Testimony Meeting, otherwise known as Wednesday Readings.

The topic of these readings are "Healing with Light." Up here in the very northern part of the northern hemisphere, we are experiencing several bouts of severe cold weather - well below freezing, and today the temperature is -5 below with a wind chill of -35 below (fahrenheit or in celsius: -20 and -37 respectively). So ideas of light, warmth, radiance and protection are very well received!

These readings explore God as light, the Christ light and who we are as children of light- an understanding of which all leads to healing. Enjoy!

From the King James version of the Bible

Gen 1: 3, 4, 5
Ps 104: 1-5
I John 1: 3-5
Ps 27: 1
Ps 119: 105, 129, 130, 135
John 1: 1-9
John 8: 1, 2, 12
John 9: 5
John 12:44-46
II Cor 4: 6
Isa 42: 1, 16
Matt 4: 16
Matt 20: 30-34
Eph 5: 1, 8, 13, 14
Ps 18: 30-32, 28
Matt 5: 1, 2,14, 15, 16
Isa 60: 1

From Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy
SH vii: 3
503: 18, 20, 26, 28
504: 9, 23
510: 9,
18, 27
511: 11
255: 1-6
266: 27
280: 1
246: 1-3, 5-9, 11
247:13
262: 9, 24
325: 30
72: 9
xi: 9
304: 9
152: 21
153: 13
14:12-22
21: 14
367: 17
190: 31

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.

what Jesus did not say

Spiritual resource to share: speaking the truth

Jesus' healings hold a never-ending fascination with me. One aspect of his healings involve his dealings with evil (or the devil). What he did say was always powerful and effective, sharp and dismissive.

But as I was reading, it also occurred to me what Jesus did NOT say in these types of healings. And this gave me some insight into looking at how subtle and silly our arguments with the devil can be! For instance, this story:

Luke Chapter 4: 33-37 (From The Message)

In the meeting place that day there was a man demonically disturbed. He screamed, "Ho! What business do you have here with us, Jesus? Nazarene! I know what you're up to. You're the Holy One of God and you've come to destroy us!"
Jesus shut him up: "Quiet! Get out of him!" The demonic spirit threw the man down in front of them all and left. The demon didn't hurt him.
That set everyone back on their heels, whispering and wondering, "What's going on here? Someone whose words make things happen? Someone who orders demonic spirits to get out and they go?" Jesus was the talk of the town.

So Jesus said less than five words. What Jesus didn't say was:

• Why are you attacking this man?
• Did he not study enough? Is he weak and vulnerable? Did he do something wrong?
• Why are these demons doing all these bad things? The world is going bad!

So the demon obviously recognized Jesus' authority. What Jesus didn't say was:

• Thank you for recognizing who I am. I am trying to be the Holy One of God as best I can.
• Why are you challenging my authority? Do I need to be more convincing?
• Thank you for recognizing my authority. Would it be all right if you didn't hurt this man so much?

Jesus' authority stemmed from his unshakeable understanding of God's supreme authority and God's relation to man. His example helps us to see how we can - in MBEddy's words - "speak the Truth to every form of error" and how we can "rise in the strength of Spirit to resist all that is unlike good. God has made man capable of this, and nothing can vitiate the ability and power divinely bestowed on man."

In our healing work, we can stop trying to figure out or accommodate the problem, and claim our dominion over evil of every type.

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.

the world is not falling apart - comments about school shootings

Spiritual resource to share: calm trust

"The world is not falling apart" was my first instinctual response after reading about the shooting on Northern Illinois campus recently. This jolt of bizarre violence had the potential to string itself to other senseless acts of violence building momentum for the idea that chaos is the order of the day.

But there is something more powerful than that.

A calm forceful thought came through: "The world is not falling apart." I drew from historic examples of the turning of apartheid, the falling of the Berlin wall, the overthrow of Nazism to see the deep churning of thought brought on by the transformation of Truth and Love (words for God). I drew on my own experiences in seeing the immediacy of love and comfort rush in when there was a fear of death. I drew on the reliable and persistent flow of common sense and common humanity to flood in where chaos threatened. And I drew on the energy of prayer that affirms eternal life, healing, and the supremacy of good, God.

And I came to the conclusion, that no matter how random, stupid or senseless these acts of ignorance are, the roar of God's Truth will always overpower it.







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.

making room for children

Spiritual resource to share:

childlike curiosity and goodness

We could all come up with dozens of qualities to list when it comes to children: joy, innocence, spontaneity, honesty (sometimes brutal honesty!) So when a respected healer and friend made the comment that we should all get more children in our lives - I knew what she was getting at. We all desire more of those childlike qualities, and we all needed to make more room for those qualities on our lives.

For some, this comes in the way of wanting to have children. But there are lots of other ways this can happen. The idea is to be open to children -- totally open, and see what shows up.

I have a favorite example of this. I once worked under a nursing home administrator as part of a course I was taking. This nursing home was very innovative in that it looked at the rich experiences of its residents and used their resources to enhance everyone's life at the facility.

So the residents ran their own convenience store and consignment shop, volunteered in the community, and taught and took a wide variety of classes from the typical arts and crafts classes to discussions on death and dying. But the BEST thing they did was to rent part of their space out to a child care program.

The administrator recognized the need for purposeful activity and the supply of grandmotherly love and wisdom that existed at the nursing home. She could also see that some overworked daycare workers needed to get some support in caring for their very young charges. The result was winning! Arrangements were made so that the child care program moved in to the lower level of the nursing home. Soon wagonloads of children were carted through the halls to the delight of the residents. The children’s chirpy greetings and laughter were infectious! Then those who could go and visit the child care room were put to work holding babies, rocking and singing and reading to them. It was brilliant!

Once when my oldest decided to go to boarding school, I was at a momentary loss. But it was a happy and progressive decision, and I realized that I wasn't losing anything (or anyone). In fact, it opened up possibilities to host other students at our house. I realized we could open up our house to all of our son's friends. This month, we had 11 of his dorm mates over for the weekend and last weekend all 22 of his cross-country team members and coaches spent the afternoon at our house after their state meet.

I'm convinced that no matter where we are in life - young and wanting to start a family, having a family and seeing your kids launch toward independence or retired - children - with all their joy and frankness and innocence - can always be a part of our lives.










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.

children's poem

Spiritual resource to share: old favorites

When I was growing up, I saved my money until I could buy my own Bible and a copy of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. In them, I wrote a number of ideas, poems, pieces of advice and highlighted passages in these books. I even had a list of names for my future children (none of which I actually used)! Recently, I recovered my Bible and came across this little poem written in it.

I'd love it if anyone can tell me its origin! I still love this little poem..............

I am the place where God shines through;
He and I are one, not two.

I need not fear, nor fret, nor plan,
He wants me how and as I am.

If I can but relax and be free,
He will carry out His plan through me.

Photo by J Cartwright on Flickr
© All Rights Reserved.

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.

laughing prayers

Spiritual resource to share:

36,792,551 - that's the number of people who have watched one of the laughing baby videos on youtube.com. These clips are incredibly popular!



This one has been viewed only 8,826,596 times. But I liked it best because of the interaction with the dad. View it and see how many times you laugh. How can you even have room for the slightest hint of sorrow when there are laughing babies in the room?!

This laughing clip reminds me of two things.

In a conversation with my prayer team (an ecumenical group of people who work in the chapel and with the hospital chaplains), we talked and laughed about prayer and laughter. In the Bible Jesus tells us how to pray "And when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father who is unseen." How will you know when you are finished with prayer?" - was part of the discussion. We agreed that you will know when you are finished when you can come out laughing.

The second thing it reminds me of is a very loved Christian Science practitioner. Kind sparkly eyes, a little blue tint to her white hair - she was so kind, so approachable. She was the first practitioner I ever called on when I was a tween suffering from warts all over my feet. Her response to my call for help was "Oh, be joyful!" She was always joyful! "Oh, we can see more of God's majesty at work! Be joyful!" This made me chuckle. And throughout the day, I sang a song she gave me to sing. Sometimes it made me laugh. By the next day, the situation was totally cleared up.

How much we have to be grateful for! How attractive laughter is! Watching these little clips, you can sense the security and love these little ones are surrounded by. There is no striving to get to this great height of inspiration and love. It comes naturally. They know, wordlessly, that they are loved and trust that they are cared for. With that firm foundation, they totally delight in the beautiful and the goofy, the surprises and the anticipation of good coming their way.

Belly laughing, falling over with laughter, full throated guffaws - life doesn't get much better than this. It's a great way to look at prayer and an even better lesson in how we can end our prayers with total delight and an ongoing expectation of good!






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.

you don't know what you don't know

Spiritual resource to share: humility

You don't know what you don't know....and knowing that you don't know what you don't know is key to taking some positive steps forward. It is really all about humility. Let me explain......

This was the main lesson I walked away with after hearing a community talk about white privilege recently. This talk was sponsored by many individuals and groups who are actively working to heal racism in our community. It was a special tribute on Martin Luther King Day. It was a night of compassionate listening and gave us a firm foothold in our community's attempt to alleviate racism.

There were two speakers who presented. The two speakers had markedly different messages which blended wonderfully under the heading of: "White Privilege: and how it affects the relationship between Indian and non-Indian communities." The first part of the talk was given by Dr. Peggy McIntosh of Wellesley College. She highlighted patterns of assumptions that are made that favor the white race over other races. The other part of the talk was given by the Honorable Ernie St. Germaine of Lac du Flambeau (our local reservation) and highlighted the fullness and completeness of life as taught by the Annishinabeg (aka Ojibwe).

In two different ways the talk showed the universal humanity of us all and the rich diversity of all that we are. It didn't absorb us all into one united blob, but heightened what is different and awakened thought to accept differences, not from a sense of moral superiority or inferiority, but from the basis of the completeness of each culture, of each person.

It led me to think of the differences of culture in two distinct ways: 1) culture as personality - stemming from the psychological and historical man - thus limited and 2) culture as individuality - stemming from a collective expresssion of Godlike qualities of abundance, care, love, protection, provision.

When we see culture as a set of mortal opinions, limited power, etc., there is conflict.
When we see culture in a spiritual view, we see a collective expression of the Christlike attributes of love, protection, harmony and progress, there is harmony and improvement.

I am in awe of this process of healing in a community. As a group, we are taking deliberate steps out of a limited view of race relations where there has been conflict and anger, to a compassionate opening to understand and embrace the different facets of our community. It is all heading toward healing, speeding along by our collective desire for peace and respect for one another.

Healing happens. Humility is the genius of healing in Christian Science*. We don't always know what we don't know, but we can continue to look to God - the omnipotent, the omnipresent, and all-loving - and we can expect to be shown the way to healing for ourselves and for health and well-being for our communities.

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.

*See Miscellaneous Writings by Mary Baker Eddy, p. 356

Prayer for the Headlines

Spiritual resource to share: being a witness to God's protection

I just got the word about the earthquake in Rwanda with a request for prayer. This is what I shared:

I am instantly reminded of all that is unshakeable: God's care and protection in the most hidden places to the market place; Omnipresent Love removing fear.

I know that each individual involved has a direct connection to God who is guarding, guiding and speaking to each one; each one involved can feel God's gentle presence guiding them to safety, to help others, to find the right resources necessary to bless, heal and comfort others.

Divine Love shows the way and there are no obstacles - like chaos, personal politics or lack - that can obscure Love's direction or Love's provision. "Love never faileth."

I am reminded that these laws of Love are now governing all individuals, for all nations, under all circumstances, under all headlines. In fact, it occurred to me that every time we pray, we become a witness to God's omnipotence. This understanding puts direct light on what we are consiously praying about, and it also illumines God's spiritual laws that are operating under all conditions.

To add your thoughts and prayers, please visit tmcyouth.com.

mothers of men - revisited

Spiritual resource to share: no nonsense mothering

As a kid, I always wanted sons. I fell in love with the idea of having boys after watching Bonanza, (a television western series in the US). For some reason, I was stuck on having five -five boys who would be raised to respect men and women and their elders, and to be well rounded, robust and educated gentleman. Now that I have two boys (the more realistic and perfect number for our family) I have been totally captivated with them and have had to do some major re-thinking about boys.....They are not all like Bonanza’s Cartwright family.

To me, doing things right, means understanding the spiritual dimension of things. Parenting boys is no exception! So many ideas in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures have helped me focus on spiritually parenting.

Mary Baker Eddy writes in Science and Health some strong facets about the role of parents, mothers in particular:

A mother's affection cannot be weaned from her child, because the mother-love includes purity and constancy, both of which are immortal. Therefore maternal affection lives on under whatever difficulties. (p. 60)

Under the heading of “A mother's responsibility:”

A mother is the strongest educator, either for or against crime. Her thoughts form the embryo of another mortal mind, and unconsciously mould it, either after a model odious to herself or through divine influence, "according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount." Hence the importance of Christian Science, from which we learn of the one Mind and of the availability of good as the remedy for every woe. (p. 236)

MBEddy understood God as Father and Mother. In her definition of Mother, she writes

MOTHER. God; divine and eternal Principle; Life, Truth, and Love. (p. 592)

My visits with old friends who are also mothers of men reminded of how important it was to have the support of other mothers. Raising children is intense. But boy energy is a chapter in itself. As one friend said, “You have to laugh often! It’s either that or go nuts!”

Hillary Clinton wrote a book named after the African proverb: It Takes a Village (click here for a talk by HB on the book). Whether or not you like Hillary’s politics, the sentiment is sure. Having a village to lean on, help, support, laugh and cry with has been a major blessing to me in raising my sons.

As they grow and leave home to make their own way, I am reminded that we are all children of God and my sons, my husband and I will always be connected. Our home gets enlarged to include more of their friends, their new experiences and even new locations. Home is redefined as "not a place, but a power." And I know that wherever they are, home is.





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.