to the fairy cheerleader pilgrim in us all

Spiritual resource to share:  play

My twin nieces and their daddy

I opened the door to squeals of delight and hugs and questions.   Can I have some pie?  Where's Mocha?  Can we play now? What's in those boxes? Can we have a fashion show?  What do you think of my new boots? 

The nieces have arrived. 

The eight-year-old twins and the equally boisterous four-year-old had barely gotten off their winter jackets before the fun was to start. It was Thanksgiving.  But I am not too sure that that mattered that much.  What DID matter was that here was a time to be together and to see and experience everything in a new way.  We, of course, had to see the new boots, the new haircuts, and the new book and the newly developed talents of reading and drawing and cookie making.  Later, all the adults were treated to a fashion show, which is where we stood breathless, as we saw the incredible fairy cheerleader pilgrim outfit.

I blame it on the girls.  Kids tend to bring out the childlikeness in us all - and our innocence, laughter, joy, and goofiness just tumble out.  All inhibitions go out the door when the nieces come in.  So the challenge is -- can we have that same level of joy with one another?

Here's a wish to you all to give it a try -- pump up the volume of joy.  And do this in whatever occassion you find yourself in where there are others, just like you, with a latent reservoir of mischief and awe.  Remember that we are all made to play.  God is good.  All is well.  And may you surround yourself with extraordinary measures of  laughter and unselfishness and fairy cheerleader pilgrims this holiday season.

you make a difference

Spiritual resource to share: a hug



Anyone who thinks they are too small to make a difference has never tried to fall asleep with a mosquito in the room. - Christian Todd Whitman : )

I was surprised when a friend commented on a little act of kindness I did many years ago. She just had a baby, and I went to the hospital to visit her and see my new goddaughter. I saw she was uncomfortable and rearranged the pillows for her. Something about that simple act stayed with her and reminded her that we can all be a blessing in the little things we do.

Small things can make a big difference. And it doesn't have to be an annoying difference either!
An act of love, of sharing, of attention and affection can turn a day from bad to good. A little wink of confidence given to a new performer, or a hug of recognition given to a long lost relative can bring a reservoir of assurance right there.

It is from these sparks of kindness that good things grow into great things. FREE HUGS is such a great example of how a little kindness can grow into world wide movement to share some joy and connection! (Click here to read about its humble beginnings.)

Mary Baker Eddy sheds some light on the power of Love, God, behind all these small actions of good from Pulpit and Press ( p. 4).

Is not a man metaphysically and mathematically number one, a unit, and therefore whole number, governed and protected by his divine Principle, God? You have simply to preserve a scientific, positive sense of unity with your divine source, and daily demonstrate this. Then you will find that one is as important a factor as duodecillions in being and doing right, and thus demonstrating deific Principle.

To find out more about the art of kindness and practical healing prayer, contact Kim at kim@kimckorinek.com or add your comments below.

Lessons from trees and babies and patients

Spiritual resource to share: fun

No one ever told me how much laughter happens when you are in the daily practice of Christian Science. There is much joy to be harvested here -and sometimes that joy comes out in full throated guffaws. You operate on honesty and earnestness and you expect and demand results. It has to be practical. It ends up being joy-full.

In one particular conversation with a patient, we were talking about moving forward and how this is natural for us to do. As natural as the seedling rises to its full purpose of a tree, it is part of our nature as children of an all-loving intelligent God, to rise to our full purpose.

A favorite quote comes to thought: "The place where God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet." (F. Buechner) It is not what we love that moves us forward , it is THAT we love that we cannot help but move, grow, and continue to bless others as well as ourselves. God calls us to fulfill Her holy purpose. We respond.

But what about dealing with obstacles or seeming setbacks? What would try to divert, hinder or stop us from moving forward. Perhaps it is nothing but our own fabrications.

So, our conversation continued, how would a child learning to walk deal with a stumble? We know that something in them moves them forward; some compelling and holy curiosity gets them to stand up and try again. This is not heroic or out of the ordinary. This is what babies do! (Can you even imagine a baby taking a tumble and then refusing to get up? "Oh yes, you see," this hypothetical baby might try to explain, "I just must be the falling down baby type. Perhaps I am really meant to be on the floor." Preposterous.)

Segue to the Bible's book on II Timothy, where it states:

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.... Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus ....

And answering this calling, and practicing this Truth, and sharing/discovering it with others leads to a joy that just makes you want to look up, hold your arms out and laugh.


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.

dance. dance! DANCE!

Spiritual resource to share: universal jumping joy

OK folks - off to Liverpool.... and do the twist!



and then to Belgium....



and then a little bit of tango in front of Shakespeare's statue in Central Park



Dance brings out the childlikeness in us all!







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.

2009 - a year to pour on the joy!

Spiritual resource to share: overflow!



I have been getting an awful lot of happiness messages on my various technologies lately. (Thank you Amy for this article on the secret of happiness and happiness quotes!) I even have an assignment from one of my mentors to start tracking those everyday happy moments -- of times with friends, children, pets, with nature and so on. Growing up in a photographer's family, we've been dealing with capturing moments of happiness for decades. These all add up. It is these moments that bring out the best of who we are.

I went to bed last night after watching a home made video of my friends' daughter singing ( like really well!) "I'm yours" by Jason Mraz. I wasn't able to get her video on this post but I did get one of Mraz's. Listen to it above. Pure happy.

And now, with the Golden Globes winners announced, that's strong indication that there may be a bigger happiness thing going on! Golden Globe winners and nominees like Slumdog Millionaire, Happy-Go-Lucky and Mamma Mia may make 2009 to be a year for joy to pull out all the stops.

Mary Baker Eddy's take on happiness is timeless:

Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love. It is unselfish; therefore it cannot exist alone, but requires all mankind to share it.

(For other thoughts on happiness from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, click here and type in happiness.)

Happy ( really deeply profoundly happy) 2009!





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.

having fun with humility

Spiritual resource to share: freedom from limitations

I 've struggled with pride on many occassions. And on each occassion, I have grown to see how wonderful it is to let it go and let humility take over and rule the day.

It has gotten to a point where I can recognize the tight binding that happens with pride. It sometimes comes into thought as an affront - like when I am deeply offended by someone's actions. Justification is quick to follow, proving why they are wrong and I am right. Ego stomps around with claims of how I am more smart, more right, more experienced, blah blah blah. Then it grows to a crescendo and then I recognize that all this grandstanding is empty. Totally empty.

Humility is the genius of Christian Science* and I am ready to let go of all of ego's claims to personal superiority (good riddance!) and wait expectantly to see God (as Love) move the situation from binding and limiting to freeing and spontaneously joyful solutions.

I realize I have nothing to lose! That God truly is omnipotent and in charge. That good is not helpless and evil or "error, urged to its final limits, is self-destroyed." I can stand back and see God work. My trust in God continues to grow. I see more clearly that my purpose is to glorify God and not my own agenda. I actively and insistently resist anything unGodlike in my own thinking and refuse to entertain anything unGodlike about others.

I love the surprise of God. God tenderly cares for each one of Her children and is leading us all to greater peace, understanding and harmony. I trust God to be always talking to each of His ideas/Her children, just as I trust God is constantly communicating to me. The more I dive into humility, the more I can let go of self and swim around in a sea of growing possibilities. I can trust God's action to bring about good exponential blessings and peace. I can also trust error to dissolve itself for lack of an audience and lack of attraction.

Can I say this is fun? Well, yes! I have nothing to lose by giving up my pride. I replace it with a growing confidence that God governs and we all have a irreplaceable role in glorifying God.



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



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.

ENter into JOY = ENJOY (revisited)

Spiritual resource to share: JOY!

I was once asked "What gives you 'deep gladness?' What connects you to the universal spiritual law of goodness?"

Good questions. I have asked myself some version of this - how do I get to that point of deep gladness, how do I get to that point of joy? Usually these questions come after I have done some stupid, stupid, stupid thing, or have felt burdened by nagging concerns or doubts.

There are times when I could be singing with King David from the Old Testament:

Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit Psalms

Or the translation of the same song from The Message which is quite entertaining:

Soak me in your laundry and I'll come out clean, scrub me and I'll have a snow-white life. Tune me in to foot-tapping songs, set these once-broken bones to dancing. Don't look too close for blemishes, give me a clean bill of health.

God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life. Bring me back from gray exile, put a fresh wind in my sails! Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God, and I'll sing anthems to your life-giving ways. Unbutton my lips, dear God; I'll let loose with your praise.

Whenever I am singing this song, I have always been lifted out of whatever dump my thought was wallowing in. I don't use always flippantly. I mean always.

Prayer like this helps me recognize I can let go of anything that is limiting my joy and peace and acknowledge that God is the one source for joy and gladness. I can let loose with just being happy - happy to know that we can overcome the saddest of times, with joy. I can enter into joy, into peace, into goodness. And I can, once again, enjoy life.

Mary Baker Eddy, author, healer, (and one who lived the deep gladness and joy of life) writes in Science and Health,

Willingness to become as a little child and to leave the old for the new, renders thought receptive of the advanced idea. Gladness to leave the false landmarks and joy to see them disappear,--this disposition helps to precipitate the ultimate harmony.

Enjoy today!







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.

Sparkle - revisited

Spiritual resource to share: deep joy



Here is another favorite post - written and posted over 12 months ago, but ever so relevant!

I have seen it in pictures and in friends' eyes. It is a sparkle that goes back deep into the restful calmness of the eyes. Sometimes I have seen this look with parents as they balance their babies on their laps. Radiant.

I have seen this look in my Christian Science teacher who maybe was in her 80s or 60s (hard to tell). While teaching her class on Christian Science healing, she would occasionally look out the window, maybe pausing for inspiration. At those times, she looked liked she could have been 17 years old. Her love for God illumined her face.

I have seen this look in a friend's eyes as he held his grandson. And in a picture of another friend with her two newly adopted daughters with arms all tangled together. Inspired. Wordless love.

I like to think of God's love for each of us in this way. God -- seeing our inner beauty and radiance -- and being completely satisfied with a settled joy.

"God gazes at you with love, because you were His idea. He loves you as if you were the only person on earth"

echoes the Bible when it says "I have called thee by thy name. Thou art mine." "The light of the eyes rejoiceth the heart" says another one of the Bible's proverbs.

Sparkle on.












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.

Hello, He is risen!

Spiritual resource to share: Easter greetings

There was a woman I knew who, when I called her on the phone, would answer, "Hello! He is risen!" I knew this was her unique way of expressing her beliefs as a born-again Christian and sharing that with people right away. Later, I learned it was the greeting early Christians shared with one another. Some churches will use it in church services, greeting one another with "Christ is risen!" and responding with "He is risen!"

Today this greeting may mean a lot of things. It can serve as a reminder that we can rise above our difficulties or that we can take a stand for those things that are good and right in the world. "He is risen" can let us know that we are not alone in our struggles to find meaning, health and well-being. Because the Christ has already found a way, we can find our way, too.

The early Christians were model workers of a passionate radical movement that dared to challenge the mainstream beliefs saying love was weak and death was the final say. They knew that God's love is supreme and that death "was swallowed up" in the victory of everlasting life. Their humble greetings to one another kept that reminder front and center. It must have encouraged and emboldened them.

And you know, when put in that way, I feel that all of us are like those early workers, joined together via the internet. We are commenting and questioning each other, responding and encouraging one other. And we have our own "He is risen" greeting to one other in cyberspace.

Happy Easter, everyone! "He is risen!"






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.

whooping it up

Spiritual resource to share: laughter


Inspired by buddy blogger Laura’s post on Happiness last Monday, I started giving some serious thought to laughter. Check out laughing in Singapore, Germany and near my home town in Minnesota.

Now, for those of you who checked out these links, I’ll bet you started laughing. And in the home town link, you probably were aware of how often the effects of laughter were analyzed from a material and emotional basis. It was interesting. But what I am interested in is the fact that we laugh.

I think we laugh because we are spiritual. And inherent in our spiritual origin is the fact that life always triumphs. Life always wins out. In fact, part of the definition of joy includes the understanding of the triumph of life. Laughter breaks down any hypnotic hold of hopelessness, worry or self-doubt, and it helps you see the light again.

In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy explains this:

The substance, Life, intelligence, Truth, and Love, which constitute Deity, are reflected by his creation; and when we subordinate the false testimony of the corporeal senses to the facts of Science, we shall see this true likeness and reflection everywhere.

A true story: I was working long and hard on a problem. The more I worked, the more elusive the solution seemed to be. I kept asking myself -- Is there something more? Something more I should be reading, understanding, grokking? And if I just knew what that unknown thing was, I would do it, and then I’d have my answer. This type of thinking is similar to trying to fill a hole with everything you don't have.

My husband must have seen this dark cloud of circuitous thinking over my head and suggested we go out for a walk, where he started to do or say whatever he could to make me laugh. It worked. I laughed. The hypnotic hold broke. And I could see that, once again, our solution is not the accomplishment of human understanding, but in the yielding to man's unity with Truth and Love. God is so very good.

So, go ahead! Subordinate that false testimony of the corporeal senses to the facts of Science today, and you will see His true likeness and reflection everywhere!

Another fun fact from the links above says that on average, children laugh 400 times a day (click here to see a real laughing champion) and adults only laugh 17 times a day. Here’s your challenge today – get yourself caught up with the kids and laugh your head off.

peace and joy and power

Spiritual resource to share: Christmas



Happy Christmas everyone!

It is 2am and I just got back from a large family gathering, where we all welcomed in the newest member of the family at 2-1/2 weeks old. In the bustle and happy noise, I held her as she slept and thought that even now, "Unto us a child is born." Have you ever felt this when looking into a newborn's eyes - such a deep and untamed calm?

Christmas is about holding that perfect child of hope and healing in our hearts, and nurturing it and watching it grow throughout the year. I wish for you all times for stillness, activity, spontaneous joy and laughter, lots and lots of laughter.

Just wanted to share a loved few thoughts from Mary Baker Eddy about Christmas:

I love to observe Christmas in quietude, humility, benevolence, charity, letting good will towards man, eloquent silence, prayer, and praise express my conception of Truth's appearing. The splendor of this nativity of Christ reveals infinite meanings and gives manifold blessings.

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.