the adventurous life

Spiritual resource to share:  self-discovery



My son's neighborhood this past year in the mountains and
cloud forests of Monteverde, Costa Rica
(c) Gabe Korinek, 2011



It is only in adventure that some people succeed in knowing themselves - in finding themselves.

- Andre Gide

The adventurous life is a life of challenge.  It is highly glamorized, but in actuality, an adventurous life is one that requires you cast off all that is comfortable, in search of something beyond what is convenient, stereotyped, or inherited.

Stripped of the culture one was born into, of family obligations and social expectations, one finds a sense of self that is surprisingly original.  In addition to that, one finds those aspects of life that are universal:  joy, connection, industry, family, success (defined in a full spectrum of ways).   

In deliberately setting out for an adventure, and to be good at adventuring, one's whole concept of self and of home and of life work stretches to accommodate the expanding world view. Taking a risk to experience life more fully, you see who you are more clearly.  And that is the biggest adventure of all.

OK, this might hurt a bit.....

Spiritual resource to share:  self-examination and relationships

I was reading a self-help article in a popular magazine the other day.  It suggested that the way out of a snarly relationship issue may be to write a letter to that person (the snarler, no doubt) and share all your concerns and hurts and criticisms.  Then after you have written it all down, you (the snarlee) are to erase that person's name and replace it with your own.  Then re-read it with your name at the top.

Ouch.

But I saw that there was great merit to this.  It is based in part by the timeless idea of casting the log out of one's own eye before removing the speck in your neighbor's.  Many of you will recognize this from Christ Jesus' Sermon on the Mount.  (See the Bible Matthew chapters 5 to 7.) We won't see what is snarly unless we know it.  And we may know it because we may already be acting a bit snarly ourselves. This little letter writing exercise helps to uncover that in thought.

But Christ Jesus' work takes us farther than this exercise.  His healing work was based on the principle of perfect God and perfect man.  He could see "the perfect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals."  In Christian Science, we are taught to see the perfect man, and this starts with ourselves.  We are made in the image and likeness of God.  We are not a mass of unresolved issues, reactions and temptations.  We are made to be the expressed likeness of all that is good, pure, productive and brilliant.

And so are others.

The deepest self-examination takes humility to pierce the self-imposed justifications and condemnations  that may be jamming the systems of our thought to reveal God's very loved and lovely man or woman (or child).  Letting go of the log of false and hurtful view of ourselves frees us to be at peace with the child whom God has created.  This brings more freedom - because now we can see others - without a speck - and in the clearer light of God's creating.

There is a God - revisited

Spiritual resource to share: a response to atheism

Omnipresent by Sonja Maneri

This post was first written about a year and a half ago. The ideas and the articles included  still offer fresh thought today.  Enjoy!

I've read that there is a group who is now sponsoring bus ads in certain parts of the country that say “There is no God.” I obviously disagree. And this bit of news gave me pause to consider why I disagree.

I understand God to be, not a changeable benevolent uber person, but a force, a power. I understand that we are made in the image and likeness of God, not that God is made in the image and likeness of man. God is Love. God is Truth. God is intelligence. So to say that there is no God is like saying there is no Love. There is no Truth. There is no intelligence. Sorry. Can't go there.

I see mankind's yearning for Truth and Love every day. And I see individuals' responses to Truth and Love result in bodily systems improving, relationships mending and anxiety melting. A natural sense of balance, of harmony – expressed physically, mentally, socially and even financially! – is restored.

And the irony of it is that people who make these claims probably are intelligent loving individuals who feel a need to share some sense of their Truth, which in this case is that they feel that there is no God.

There is a fascinating article from The Times Online in which an atheist describes why he believes Africa needs God. (Read As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God by Matthew Parris.) As I was reading, I found myself agreeing with a number of points.

The article did a brilliant job of defining one’s own consciousness as a belief system, a philosophical/spiritual framework and a structure of thought. He explained the structure of the rural African thought and how the Christian thought powers through “the crushing passivity of the people’s mindset” a mind-numbing type of group–think. He recognized what I also recognize to be the effects of Christianity:

It brings spiritual transformation, it unifies us and makes us less selfish. Christianity feeds hope and enlivens and energizes our work. It gives us that holy curiosity that Albert Einstein cautioned us never to lose. It liberates the individual from hierarchy and group think by giving direct access to a source of unconditional Love, of Truth and intelligence.

Others may argue that the Christian thought is made up of fairy tales and satisfies those who are childish and simple. To me, I see that Christianity, as explained in Christian Science, brings out what is inherently natural to all of mankind. It explains the science of being. The very practice of Christianity operates out of a belief system that uncovers the most primitive and root forms of who we all are – the very image and likeness of Love. It is what keeps life going.

So is God only needed in Africa? I think that wherever there is a belief system that includes limitation, elitism, oppression, or fear - that God is needed there. And sometimes these systems exist in our very own churches, sometimes whole cultures are awash in these systems. These exist in the US as much as in Malawi.

The author writes: “When the philosophical tourist moves from one world view to another he finds - at the very moment of passing into the new - that he loses the language to describe the landscape to the old.” Sometimes I feel the same way when explaining my Christian Science perspective to one who feels that God doesn’t exist. We may not have a common language. But I believe we have a common spirit and a common need to make sense of the world we live in and a common need for Truth and Love and intelligence. This need goes deeper than language or affiliation with a group.

And the answer to this need is a felt presence of peace and joy. And no doubt the atheist, the African, the Christian, and all of mankind have felt this and recognize this presence at some time. To me, this presence is God.  It is the very life-force that nourishes and sustains us all.

good never dies

Spiritual resource to share: peace, equality and justice

photo from 1963 March on Washington where MLKing gave his speech "I have a dream"


Thinking about Martin Luther King today brings up all kinds of inspiration and feelings. He, too, is in that league of men and women who put aside all personal comfort to bring out an ideal for all mankind. And in the popular words attributed to Benazir Bhutto and of another civil rights activist, Medgar Evers, "you can kill a man, but not an idea."

So Martin Luther King's idea lives and thrives. To celebrate his idea, one of our local area churches has been bold enough to deal with an undercurrent of racism that the community has been actively working to heal. They are sponsoring a talk tonight on "White Privilege and how it affects the relations between Indian and non-Indian Communities" being given by a woman from Wellesley and one of our own judges from the Ojibway Nation.

In MLKing's 1964 Nobel lecture, he says regard accepting the Nobel Prize:

I experience this high and joyous moment not for myself alone but for those devotees of nonviolence who have moved so courageously against the ramparts of racial injustice and who in the process have acquired a new estimate of their own human worth.

And that is the legacy I hope to preserve here in our Northwoods. A continuing effort to love beyond any boundaries and to acquire, for all of us, "a new estimate of (our) own human worth." Our dignity is their dignity; their freedom is our freedom; we are forever bound together.

I'll write more later about tonight's event.

To hear and see Martin Luther King Jr.'s talk "I have a Dream" click below:

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 time to keep silence"*

Spiritual resource to share: integrity

It seems the more experienced I become in dealing with relationships, the more I learn the lesson of keeping silent.

At times when I want to blurt out some injustice and take someone to task for it, keeping silent has saved me from some pretty embarrrassing situations.

Now, I am not advocating ignoring situations that need to be brought out in the open, or dismissing our responsibility to speak up when needed. But when dealing with relationships where there is some kind of problem, keeping silent may be a good place to start the healing process.

Keeping silent many times has helped me to:

• step back from an emotionally charged situation
• given me space to prayerfully examine the whole picture
• given me space to stretch my understanding of God's governance of the situation: trusting Truth to reveal whatever needs healing, trusting Love to work in each individual's consiousness and trusting Principle to bring things out in an orderly and logical way.

MBEddy writes in her autobiography, "The best spiritual type of Christly method for uplifting human thought and imparting divine Truth, is stationary power, stillness, and strength; and when this spiritual ideal is made our own, it becomes the model for human action."

There was a time early in my marriage when I felt a strong attraction to another person. It made no sense, I was happy in my marriage, but this attraction seemed mutual and compelling even though nothing happened between us. But I felt that the only way to break this spell was to confront this person directly. As I continued to pray, I realized that this was not the way to go. I saw that this compelling attraction was nothing more than a type of mesmerism. I could rest in our spiritual foundation of integrity and purity to burst through that dark cloud. And it did. The next day, I felt totally free of this attraction. And so did this other person.

Keeping silent and working this situation out prayerfully with God was needed in this situation. It also helped to move a small ego (me) out of the way and made room for divine Love to work. In the space of silence, I was able to turn my desires over to a higher law:

The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

*"...a time to keep silence...." from Ecclesiastes 3: 7


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.

Deep dive into archetypal churches

Spiritual resource to share: understanding church

I've been giving tons of thought to church lately. So I was happy to see that that was the weekly topic of a weekly Bible Lesson Sermon that I study.

For those of you who attend a church, or have been giving the idea of church a working over, I hope you find these notes interesting.

One of my favorite Bible reference books is the Thompson Chain-Reference Bible - 5th improved edition.

In one section (p. 1692 to be exact) they take a look at the seven churches of Asia described in Revelation chapters 2 and 3 and give a comparative analysis of the virtues and sins of each one and then - most interesting to me - they use each of these churches as a type of archetype for modern churches today and give an analysis of these same conditions in today's churches.

In reviewing this list, I have also reviewed my individual actions and how they relate when I am sharing Christian Science with someone, giving treatments, etc. (my personal expression of church). It's also given me a helpful tool to look at the strengths and weaknesses of my own church of choice (my community expression of church). It's been very enlightening.

Enjoy and let me know what you have found surprising in this list! Here is the list:

NAME of Church: Ephesus – The orthodox church (Rev 2: 1-7)
VIRTUES commended: good works, patience, sound doctrine, church discipline, steadfastness, hatred of evil
SINS and weaknesses rebuked: Loss of love, backsliding
CONDITIONS in Modern Churches: Active churches over emphasizing orthodoxy, but lacking in spiritual fervor.

NAME of Church: Smyrna – the poor, rich church (Rev 2: 8-11)
VIRTUES commended: spiritual endurance, heavenly treasures
SINS and weaknesses rebuked: no reproof
CONDITIONS in Modern Churches: missionary and other churches enduring persecution

NAME of Church: Pergamos – the church with bad surroundings (Rev. 2: 12-17)
VIRTUES commended: steadfastness amidst evil environment
SINS and weaknesses rebuked: tolerance of corrupt doctrines and heretics
CONDITIONS in Modern Churches: churches supported by the government

NAME of Church: Thyatira – the church of the evil prophetess ( Rev 2: 18-29)
VIRTUES commended: charity, spiritual service, faith and patience
SINS and weaknesses rebuked: lax discipline, tolerance of a corrupt prophetess
CONDITIONS in Modern Churches: the development of numerous modern cults

NAME of Church: Sardis – the dying church (Rev. 3: 1-6)
VIRTUES commended: none for the majority of members; a few commended for purity
SINS and weaknesses rebuked: extreme formalism, spiritual death imminent, inactivity
CONDITIONS in Modern Churches: churches which manifest a growing formalism accompanied by spiritual declension (a downward slope or bend)

NAME of Church: Philadelphia – the weak but loyal church (Rev. 3: 7-13)
VIRTUES commended: Keeping of “the Word”, testimony
SINS and weaknesses rebuked: none recorded
CONDITIONS in Modern Churches: all earnest spiritual churches

NAME of Church: Laodicea – the rich, poor church (Rev 3: 14-22)
VIRTUES commended: none recorded
SINS and weaknesses rebuked: lukewarmness, spiritual conceit, no conscious need, spiritual poverty, spiritual blindness, spiritual wretchedness
CONDITIONS in Modern Churches: popular, self-satisfied, worldly churches







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.

ideas on Love

Spiritual resource to share: self-examination




How deep is your understanding of Love? I think that more than any of the seven synonyms of God related in the Christian Science textbook Science and Health (Principle; Mind; Soul; Spirit; Life; Truth; Love), Love is the most intriguing to me. Love is such a common word. But in my study of Christian Science, I keep coming across more interesting and surprising concepts of Love that are as healing as they are inspiring.


Here is one instance where Jesus sums up what is most important in all things:

... Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

The Interpreter's Bible describes this kind of love mentioned above (mentioned in the intro to the Weekly Bible Lesson on Love)

• Love is active goodwill
• it is boundless and aggressive
• it is extended to those who have no person charm for us
• it may be beyond the boundaries of family, tribe or nation.

It moves me that in this work of healing, compassion and love are a prerequisite. If we cannot find a way to love and serve mankind, we cannot effectively love and serve God. "....if the unselfish affections be lacking, and common sense and common humanity are disregarded, what mental quality remains, with which to evoke healing from the outstretched arm of righteousness?"


For me to understand Love, is to undergo a self-examination of my own thought -- to challenge myself to get rid of ego and humbly ask for more understanding. This is not always easy. But I always feel freer for this exercise!


Another study guide for the Weekly Bible Lesson gives some good self-examination questions born out of a study of Love. It is so good, I have copied it here:

(Jesus') washing the disciple's feet provided an example of the humility and selflessness that would be necessary to further his cause. Rivalry and ambition would have no place in true Christianity. Jesus did more than serve at the table - a task not unusual for a host. He chose to perform an act usually done by slaves - washing feet. (Dummelow) He acknowledged that he was their master, and he reminded them that God was his.

Do you ever balk at doing menial tasks for others? Or do you sometimes feel that a particular job ... is beneath you? True Christian Love is not concerned with a return, status, or acknowledgement. It just gives unconditionally.

Mrs. Eddy eloquently points out that Jesus' humane deeds and unselfish approach were the evidence of his oneness with God. His life demonstrated and defined Truth, Life and Love. She asks, "Who is ready to follow his teaching and example?" Are you ready? How do we respond to the needs of the world? Do we neglect the poor? Sometimes (we may) have the mistaken notion that providing practical assistance to mankind is (beneath us).

Jesus met the human need practically, as well as metaphysically. Mrs. Eddy herself gave to many charities and at one time provided needy children of the town with shoes. She rightfully counsels us to examine ourselves to see where we really stand in our Christian practice. Bluntly, she states that pride is useless. "Meekness and charity have divine authority." Yet one more time, we are reminded that our power is proportionate to our goodness. If we want to be Christians, we have to follow Jesus' example. There is no other way.

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 spirituality of sex

Spiritual resource to share: insight



Walking along Milwaukee's stretch of Lake Michigan, an old friend and I met and walked and talked and walked and talked for hours. We covered our lives, our children’s lives, the scope of our healing practices and our global responsibilities for prayer. It was great. Every now and then we would punctuate our conversations with “Wow!” and have to take notes on what the other just said.

One of my “Wow!” notes was when we talked about sex. Here are some of the ideas from that discussion:

I always thought that Gandhi had the healthiest view on sex – that it is sacred and based on commitment, responsibility, celebration and joy. My friend, however, commented that she found the best definition of good sex from Science and Health, from the chapter on Marriage.

Matrimony should never be entered into without a full recognition of its enduring obligations on both sides. There should be the most tender solicitude for each other's happiness, and mutual attention and approbation should wait on all the years of married life.

I paid particular attention to tender solicitude, mutual attention, and approbation. Tender solicitude is extreme care or concern for the well-being of another. Mutual attention is self explanatory - but it is interesting she says mutual attention and not mutual afffection. Approbation means official approval. Approbation and approval have the same general meaning, assenting to or declaring as good; and also means sanction, commendation; but approbation is stronger and more positive.

I found that these ideas: tender solicitude, mutual attention, approval/praise/wholehearted acceptance, offer the highest ingredients to the act of sex. Any expression of love has a spiritual foundation. And the unselfishness and acceptance that can accompany sex can make it a true act of love.

But I have found that anything done without a right sense of its spiritual nature loses meaning. This definitely applies to sex. Without a spiritual basis for sex, it can be used as a way to manipulate which leads to humiliation. If it is used as a way to compensate a perceived lack, it can also lead to co-dependence and further dissatisfaction.

When questioning the rightness of sex, it is helpful - even important - to examine the heart and see how much you are being motivated by unselfishness, tender solicitude, mutual attention and approbation. This can be a protection as well as a way to provide guidance.

Ask yourself, Am I doing this to be accepted, to be acknowledged as loved? Is this coming from mutual attraction, mutual respect, mutual and whole-hearted acceptance/approval?

Lust is about getting or taking. Love is about giving. Is this act about getting, or about giving? Is it being treated with the sacredness and tenderness for the most intimate expression of physical love, an act that can produce offspring? Am I treating this carelessly, casually or with a sense of solicitous care and protection? Does the person I am thinking of feel the same way or is there a sense of imbalance in the relationship? Does either of us feel the other is lacking - thus is not complete? Or is there joy in the sweet confidence you have in each other?

For the couple who have been married many years, these ideas can help renew the affections. You can ask yourself: Am I treating the act of sex as an obligation or as a celebration? Am I being careless or thoughtless about sex or am I feeling the tender solicitude and care toward my spouse? Am I just trying to get a sense of relief for myself, or am I trying to give of myself unselfishly?

Fulfillment, celebration, acceptance are not limited to the expression of sex, and a couple cannot lack any spiritual quality that will deepen and solidify their affections.

Any decisions regarding sex can lead to a fulfilling conclusion when it is based on spirituality. MBEddy writes "Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need." And this includes the need for belonging, loving, giving and even sex. When Love guides our actions, we are satisfied.





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.

Excuse me for interrupting............

Spiritual resource to share: self examination

I really thought she was wrong..So many times when I went in to talk to my boss, my co-worker would come in and interrupt. Something was always urgent, necessary or whatever. This interrupting habit of hers was getting to me.

But before I talked with her about it, I prayed. I knew that the question from the Sermon on the Mount would guide me well: "And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye?" I had to make sure that my eyes were beam free.

I realized I should watch how I conduct myself. I became more watchful of my own behaviour, and sure enough, I was doing the same thing. Whenever I needed a quick answer, I would barge in, interrupt and ask away. Oops.

As soon as I realized that, I apologized. I was able to exhibit better manners and not interrupt my colleague when she had important business to discuss with our boss. And surprisingly, she no longer interrupted me during my one on one times with our boss.

This was a good lesson and a reminder that when I am feeling critical of someone, I need to first deal with it in my own thought and in my own life. It also reminds me that the most effective self-examination is to peel off those things that are un-Godlike to reveal the man - or woman - of God's creating: patient, respectful, loving.

From Miscellaneous Writings by Mary Baker Eddy:

Examine yourselves, and see what, and how much, sin claims of you; and how much of this claim you admit as valid, or comply with. The knowledge of evil that brings on repentance is the most hopeful stage of mortal mentality. Even a mild mistake must be seen as a mistake, in order to be corrected; how much more, then, should one's sins be seen and repented of, before they can be reduced to their native nothingness!

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.