Good.

Spiritual resource to share: our moral excellence

Good. What a word. We must say it dozens of times every day. “Good morning” Good bye!” What a good meal this is!” “Goodness!’ “Were you a good girl today?” “Good dog!" “Is this a good deal?” “Any good news today?” etc. etc.

But Mary Baker Eddy – a VERY careful wordsmith – says good is not helpless. “Evil is not supreme; good is not helpless; nor are the so-called laws of matter primary, and the law of Spirit secondary."

The term “Good” is a derivative of the word “God.” And so Eddy’s statement makes much more sense.

We practice good. Or, said another way, we do good things for ourselves and for one another and that makes up most of our day.

Goodness in life may get lost in the fabric of everyday life, but without that good life, the fabric of life unravels. The power of the good things we do keeps life going, and keeps life growing.

What about something that would threaten good. What about evil?

Evil has all the characteristics of a mistake. By stripping it of its identification with a person, place, or thing, evil is baseless. It is no thing.

That means –
It cannot claim the actions of someone.
It cannot be the animating force of anyone’s character.
It cannot take away good. (Darkness cannot take away light.)
It cannot fool you into thinking that good is weak or that goodness can easily be taken advantage of.

God is good. That means Good is principled, orderly, self sufficient, gracious, patient, all-powerful and all present. Right now we can claim that good is the only thing present, because God is omnipresent. Another aspect of moral excellence, or goodness, is honesty. "Honesty is spiritual power. " This is our basis and foundation for life.

Our day starts with goodness. And throughout our day, we can see this goodness everywhere.







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.

evil is not power

Spiritual resource to share: clarity

"It looks like in the battle of good over evil, evil won again," said a friend deflated by the results of an emotionally charged community meeting to save a beloved project.

"No. I can't leave it at that," said I. "I don't think that is true at all." We talked some more and hopefully shared some comfort, but on my way home, I prayed to affirm what good is all about and what evil is all about.

My favorite author, Mary Baker Eddy, is also known as a reformer and pioneer and most notably as the discoverer and founder of Christian Science.

She has this to say about good and evil:

"Good is not helpless."
"Evil is a mockery of strength."
Evil is not a person, place or thing.*

So how did that help me understand what had just happened?

Good is not helpless. The good that has been done cannot be undone. Those things that have brought life, creativity and growth to others is the most impressionable and powerful force that is present in a person's life.

Evil is not a person. Understanding this gives one the power to speak to the humanity (and I would say the Christliness) in others. Impersonalizing evil defuses its imaginary power until we are no longer impressed with the idea that someone or something can take away our ability to determine our own thought, our own destiny or that someone or something can take away something good.

There are times when a project, a job, a school or a business has to shut down. But the ideas and inspiration that made that project so effective and inspirational lives on. It is the ideas that are good and enduring that keep moving forward.

Both my husband and I were involved at separate times and in different areas, in projects that were truly inspired. The vision of the projects' leaders and of our colleagues was clear and the effects were gratifying and immediate. Then both projects were shut down. What happened was that those who were involved in the project continued cherishing those ideals and spread those values to a wide range of other activities. Both of us experienced a deep sense of grief which was healed when we realized that, like Mary Baker Eddy said, good is not helpless. And we realized that what we accomplished were the seedlings of things that continue to grow and be a blessing.

When a person's motives are based on evil (a false sense of strength) those actions then become either regrettable or forgettable or both. But when a person' motives are based on unselfish goodness, those actions give life to innovation, progress and continuing good. This is what we remember. This is what gives our lives meaning. This becomes the very fabric of life itself.

It isn't in the nature of evil to win anything of substance. Good is the only active power available.





*See MBEddy's Miscellaneous Writings, p. 284.

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 hero in us all

Spiritual resource to share: humility and willingness

My son and I have just finished watching three movies recently: Hotel Rwanda, Schindler's List and The Nativity Story. And interspersed with these viewings was a neat Sunday School conversation about what it means to be a hero.

The three men in the stories actually had a lot of spiritual qualities in common: humilty, willingness, listening to that voice within that rose up against injustice, and courage. But all three men were vastly different: Paul Rusesabagina was a family man who just wanted to be a good employee, Oskar Schindler was a ladies' man and war profiteer, and Joseph was a single man soon to be married.

But each man was thrown into circumstances that changed the course of history in various degrees. Each man varied in how long it took for a transformation to take place: Joseph's was immediate after he learned of Mary's conception. Rusesabagina grew as the cirumstances grew more dire. And Schindler's transformation took well after the start of the war.

Does one have to be a certain type of person to be a hero? The profiles of these three men show that heroes aren't a certain "type."

So what does this mean about heroes and what does this mean about us?

In our Sunday School class, we talked about the nature of Truth. MBEddy writes that "....
Christian Science speedily shows Truth to be triumphant." And that Truth, expressed in integrity, honesty and a foundation of love for mankind will be expressed. It doesn't matter what kind of person we are. As a reflection of God, we already have these qualities and it is our willingness to be of help and our humility to listen that bring these qualities of a hero forth.

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.

great people and noble lives

Spiritual resource to share: goodness



I know great people. That is, or rather was, my big secret. These are people with profound thoughts and kind lives. Sometimes I have blogged about them. Other times, I have encouraged them to write about their ideas, healings or courageous acts and "give it to the world." Sometimes they have.

But more often, they haven't. Even with my best encouragement and finding potential publishers for them, offering to share my editing skills (such as they are) or giving them names of magazines where they could submit their brilliant ideas, it hasn't been enough to stir them to immortalize their most wise and wonderful ways. And so I know there are these profound thoughts and kind acts out there, unacknowledged and so under the radar of popular thought as probably never to be seen or heard.

This bugs me. But then, with the plethora of profound thoughts out there, who is being heard? Is it possible for everyone to be heard at once? Of course not.

So, I turn away from seeing acknowledgment as being the main way to affirm one's life and ideas/ideals. Maybe just to live a life of integrity, sharing one's wisdom and acting with courage and kindness is the reward in itself. Like a columbine flower growing on the unexplored side of a mountain, it is beautiful just because it is.

The characteristics of the great people I know are summed up in two ideas from MBEddy's book Science and Heath. In one idea, she talks about grand and noble lives including these qualities: "unselfishness, goodness, mercy, justice, health, holiness, love--the kingdom of heaven." And then she goes on to say

Unselfish ambition, noble life-motives, and purity,-- these constituents of thought, mingling, constitute individually and collectively true happiness, strength, and permanence.

Being great has everything to do with being good. From her book Miscellaneous Writings (p. 354), she includes a cluster of ideas that, it seems to me, would lead one to greatness: "A little more grace, a motive made pure, a few truths tenderly told, a heart softened and a character subdued."

But the grand core of all great lives is Love.

Love cannot be a mere abstraction or goodness without activity or power.... it is the tender, unselfish deed done in secret; the silent, ceaseless prayer; the self-forgetful heart that overflows; .....the gentle hand opening the door that turns toward want and woe, sickness and sorrow, and thus lighting the dark places of the earth. - Mary Baker Eddy

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.

chasing down the meanies

Spiritual resource to share: seeing the good right in front of your face

One frequent visitor (L) ... and a special person to me .... wrote how she combats those downward pulling suggestions that come to us throughout the day. I loved what she had to share. Here 'tis:

I've noticed lately that I tend to feel down after a friend vents or complains of feeling down themselves. Well, that's not helping anyone. I wanted to share what I've been doing... any additions are always welcome!

When someone is down, it seems easy to end up "down" yourself. This is error's mischief. ... this brings to mind the subject on hypnotism and mesmerism. Isn't the "power of suggestion" simply mesmerism - therefore not God?

Ok enough theoretical.... Practical time. When feeling yourself falling down towards sadness, good ideas to stay upbeat and in God's joy are...

• remember a happy time (goofy kitty memories! - see above)
• feel loved (God loves you, family and friends love you)
• focus on the good going on around you (at work for example, harmonious relationships, laughter from coworkers, efficiency in getting the job done...)
• see God's glory (a bit more theoretical, but still practical - the sun shining, the rain giving life a drink, the wisdom in the structures of the buildings, the roads, the procedures that keep a business running)

It's good to remember that we are standing at the point of perfection. Suggestions that life is bad (or any of its derivatives) are like suggestions to close your eyes. It can be hypnotic if we're not alert.

I like L's wake up calls - silence the complaints and open your eyes and recognize the beauty, intelligence, joy, spontaneity and love all around. Acknowledgement and gratitude for this yields more gratitude and love. It just keeps getting better!

Mentally contradict every complaint ... and rise to the true consciousness of Life as Love, — as all that is pure, and bearing the fruits of Spirit. - Mary Baker Eddy

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.

Good is not helpless

Spiritual resource to share: goodness













Some cold winter morning musings on goodness:

Good. What a word. We must say it dozens of times every day. “Good morning” Good bye!” What a good meal this is!” “Goodness!’ “Were you a good girl today?” “Is this a good deal?” “Any good news today?” etc.

But Mary Baker Eddy – a very careful wordsmith – says good is not helpless. “Evil is not
supreme; good is not helpless; nor are the so-called laws of matter primary, and the law of Spirit
secondary. "

The term “Good” is a derivative of the word “God.” And so MBEddy’s statement makes much more sense. We practice good. We do good things for one another and that makes up most of our day. The power of the good things we do for one another are part of the larger fabric of life, that keeps life going, and keeps life growing.

Good deeds are based on Love. They are life affirming and nurturing. This is not the weak stuff that is easily displaced. Goodness has eternal roots.

What about something that would threaten good. What about evil?

MBEddy tells us: "Evil has no reality. It is neither person, place, nor thing, but is simply a belief, an illusion of material sense." Stripped of any identity, location or energy, evil is baseless. It is no thing. That means –
It cannot claim the actions of someone.
It cannot be the animating force of anyone’s character.
It cannot take away good. (Darkness cannot take away light.)
It cannot fool you into thinking that good is weak or that goodness can easily be taken advantage of.

God is good. That means Good is principled, orderly, self sufficient, gracious, patient, all-powerful and all present. Right now we can claim that good is the only thing present. Evil motives and actions amount to nothing. Honesty is spiritual power. This is our basis and foundation for life. Nothing can be taken from 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.