Lay your burdens down -revisited

Spiritual resource to share: freedom from resentment

I felt I had a perfectly justifiable reason to feel this disgust. I had been a part of a noble effort to uphold a cause that was near and precious to me. Others I would have normally depended to help uphold this issue  were distracted into ignoring this effort and some even maligned it. I buried my anger and took up the fight without them. We gained some ground, lost some ground, and life went on.


A couple of decades later this anger surfaced in a very subtle way. I found myself becoming dismissive to anyone who even slightly resembled this type of distracted and reluctant thought. This grew to feeling contempt  towards others. Every time I recognized these thoughts, however, I would replace them, and gain some ground on the front of loving my neighbors as myself.


As I continued to grow in my healing practice, I realized that I needed to root out these feelings of contempt, once and for all.  There is simply no room for anything in a healing thought, but love.


A good friend once defined sin as a boulder. One voluntarily picks up the boulder, carries it around for however long they want and then decides when they want to lay it down. The sin is never a part of them.


I also realized that if I was seeing others as misguided (or in any way sinful), that I have planted in my thought the possibility that others could be misguided.  I too could be misguided. So, in essence, if I am seeing another as sinful, I have picked up my own boulder! No wonder I feel burdened!


In my prayer, I realized that God knows nothing about the human drama. It is so irrelevant to life, that God does not even acknowledge it. Whereas I don't ignore what others are saying or doing, I realized that the human drama of apathy, resentment, distraction only has the power we give it -- it simply has no reality or power of its own. God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.


When we pray, we let in the light. We accept that there is another way to see things. We follow the Christ, who multiplies our efforts to see and to do good things. Thought totally shifts from a material basis to a spiritual.


Then, if God doesn't know it, why should I? Why should I experience any type of discord?


And why did Christ Jesus say that we could cast all our cares on him?  He said that  "my yoke is easy, my burden in light." What did he know? Perhaps he knew that the only real thing going on is God's activity.
Christ Jesus could take on our burdens because he knew their weight - nothing. And he knew the allness, the thoroughness of God's pure and perfect control of each of Her ideas.


Each idea of God (this includes each person, each activity, each group) is coordinate, harmonious, self-less and helpful. I realized that I cannot lose anything good. And if this is true for me, it is true for others. No one can lose anything good.


I can lay my burdens down. The battle is not mine, but God's and Truth is always the victor. With this, I felt God’s power and love. I felt power in my ability to replace apathy and contempt with compassion for others, who may be feeling that they are fighting an uphill battle. I felt power in my ability to reflect God's love. And I felt more freedom and joy in my days.

Removing the mask and nailing the veil

Spiritual resource to share:  clarity

A song came into my head recently. One line is: "Thou Soul, inspiring - give us vision clear, break earthbound fetters, sweep away the veil....."  It got me thinking.....

A veil is a flimsy thing, easily swayed in any amount of breeze. And there are times when I feel I am seeing things through a veil. Thoughts are murky, prospects seem few, resources limited, or there seem to be too many human opinions splintering off into random directions. To this material sense of things, what is spiritually crisp and clear seems inaccessible until I can  lift this veil and see more of God's infinite design!

Fortunately, a veil has no substance. It is easy to remove. An object with a veil may have the form of that object, but the true outline and character is revealed once the veil is lifted.  Likewise with material sense – it has no substance, which means it has no ability to define us or confine us. It, too, can be easily removed and reveal the original. 

As we grow spiritually, we start seeing ourselves and others as God sees us – made in His/Her image and likeness. As we grow spiritually, we get good at nailing the veil.

A veil is defined in Science and Health as a cover, concealment, hiding and hypocrisy. Here are some thoughts about what a veil is and what is revealed after the lifting of it. Feel free to add your ideas to this!

Lifting the veil of…. //To reveal God’s (and our)….

• Frailty //Strength 
• Decrepitude //Robust health
• Awkwardness// Gracefulness
• Limitation //Infinite possibilities
• Incompleteness //Maturity
• Fragmentation //Wholeness
• Lack //Abundance
• Bondage //Freedom
• Division //United
• Heaviness //Lightness
• Sluggishness //Deftness
• Drudgery //Buoyancy
• Apathy //Empathy
• Isolation //Interconnectedness
• Fear //Love
• Sadness //Spiritual identity
• Discontent //Deep happiness, contentment

And the least shall be greatest

Spiritual resource to share: confidence in taking small steps

Sometimes the infinite is a little hard to grasp. God is infinite and man reflects this infinity.

Heady stuff.

So when I read these two passages, I felt a gentle and encouraging nudging forward in my spiritual growth:

"Love giveth to the least spiritual idea, might, immortality and goodness..."

and

"God gives the lesser idea of Himself for a link to the greater, and in return, the higher always protects the lower."

God, as Love, is the Great Shepherd. If I can grasp even one idea about God and hold to it, this links up to its next higher idea, and next, and next. Love gives me the encouragement to keep going in this line of prayer, to keep growing. These small inklings of good grow into fuller understanding.

Have you ever felt you aren’t spiritual enough to experience healing? Perhaps you admire others for their spiritual prowess and feel you fall short. You can replace that thought with an acceptance of unlimited good.


Your present understanding has the same link to the greater understanding that others do. We are all linked to the infinite, eternal God.

This was so evident when I went through a horrible time in my life. Finances, relationships, housing, everything was taken away. Shocked and severely discouraged, I could hold to the thought that God loved me. As simple as that thought was, I held to it.

It grew. Linked to omnipotent Truth, this idea was a protection to me. It took away enough fear so that I could listen for ways to find housing. It grew into a confidence strong enough to find a job.

This little spiritual idea of God’s love for me was given an accelerating power, and soon I had the confidence that God was with me, providing for and protecting me.

The idea magnified and multiplied. God loved me. If this was true for me, it is true for others. I could bless others. Within a year, I had housing, a job, new friends and a new and confident outlook on life.

The most important lesson I learned from it is that we are good enough to be loved by God, now. Even what we might consider the smallest idea or understanding of God’s love has divine authority to blossom and develop into fruition. Man is constantly rising higher and higher from a boundless basis. Whatever our starting point in prayer can only lead us upward to greater expression of health, harmony and goodness.


 * The title is taken from the Bible, the book of Matthew: "Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:
Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof."

Let a double portion of her spirit be on me*

Spiritual resource to share:  fixed influence

In the last six months, I have been to three memorial services -- each of women who were my mentors in different aspects of my life.  One was my mother, my life mentor, another a designer, and another a Christian Science nurse.

Each time I attended one of the memorial services, I was hit by a concentrated dose of what was best about these three women:  the unconditional love of my mother, the spiritual approach to design resulting in enduring expressions of home and comfort of my designer friend and the universal and open welcome of my Christian Science nurse friend.

Their enduring spiritual qualities I realized were forever.  I could take these qualities with me and more than appreciate them and see them all around me, I could be these qualities of love, comfort and welcome.
I have heard and will share that once you know someone spiritually, you will never lose them.  This is true.  This has healed me of grief and inspired me to carry on what I have learned from these women and to build on the foundation that they have given me.

I have written a few blogs about my mother (click here) and a couple about my designer friend ( click here), but my Christian Science nurse friend, I have yet to write about.

Her service was memorable in that it was given in Arabic and English, and readings were from the Christian Science textbooks and the Koran.  The theme that continued to play out as we talked among ourselves was her humble mothering and, over a lifetime, she and her American husband took in many international students who found a home away from home in their house. She and her husband took in many many people who were needing a place to stay.  I was one of them who, when I was hurting and feeling lost, she and her husband gave me a place to stay and compassionate companionship.

Her first marriage did not last.  It was to a Muslim and they had two beautiful sons.  In a story of forgiveness and redemption that has yet to be fully told, she became stepmother to her ex-husband's three sons when their mother died, giving her a total of five sons. 

The people coming to the service showed the breadth and depth of my friend's love.  Muslim and Christian, Christian Scientist and Catholic, all generations were sharing memories of her, her cooking, her help, her love.  She must have nursed hundreds of patients and friends and mentored dozens of nurses in her lifetime.

What was so amazing to me - and still is - was her humility and generosity and her capacity for unselfishness and forgiveness.  She was so easy to be around, so welcoming.  Could I ever be like that?  I hope so.  Like the story of Elisha, who asked that a double portion of Elijah's spirit be given to him when Elijah passed on, (see II Kings 2: 9), I was imagining if I could have even a tenth of her spirit, I would be doing well!

Grief has turned into commitment to carry on the love and comfort and welcome of these remarkable women.  And in carrying that commitment out, I can never lose them.


* See the story of Elijah and Elisha from II Kings chapter 2

It's all about parenting......

Spiritual resource to share: the inspiration of friends





I loved this story that was embedded in a Christian Science practitioner's comments on a weekly Bible study. (Thank you, Janet Hegarty, C.S. of St. Louis, Missouri! To read her full comments, click here.)

One summer two robins built their nest on our back porch. It was fascinating to watch the nest come together and then, eventually, to see the baby birds appear. The tiny birds were well fed and carefully protected. They grew quickly and each day the nest became more crowded.

One morning we looked out the kitchen window and saw one of the young birds perched on the edge of the nest. As we watched, he eagerly flapped his wings and flew to a nearby branch and then he joyfully hopped about in the tree and continued to test out his flying skills. Soon, another young bird perched on the side of the nest and took flight, and then another.

The last bird, though, just couldn’t bring himself to take off. He perched on the side of the nest all right, but he just stayed there – for hours.

Out in the yard, the other young birds, under the watchful eyes of their parents, had made great progress with their flying skills.

About mid-afternoon, when the early flyers had gained their full independence, flying freely and finding their own food, the parents turned their attention to the little fellow still perched on the nest. The mother bird found a worm and sat on a branch in full view of the nest. Her message was clear, “This worm is for you, but only if you come and get it yourself.” Time passed, the mother bird didn’t give in, and at last the young bird gave his wings a try. The mother bird gave him his reward and then watched over him from a distance until he, too, had gained his full independence.

This scene illustrates the kind of loving persistence that our Father-Mother God showers on each of us as we work to discover who we really are. This is our probation, our time for trying our wings under the watchful eye of divine Love. And the good news is, this process continues to go on, even after what we call death, until each of us discovers and proves our true, perfect, spiritual selfhood.





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.

Pangea Day ripples

Spiritual resource to share: your experience




"Our purpose now is to build a global community - to learn to view things from an international point of view." "We need peace without conditions."

Such were just some of the provocative ideas shared on Pangea Day last May 10th. For those of you who saw any or part of Pangea Day, you'll know what I am talking about. For those of you new to this idea, click here. This initiative is well-intentioned, intentions I really support and hope to grow.

My son and I caught the last hours of the four hour event at our nearest university. We saw clip after clip of films focussing on all that we have in common with the human condition: what is good as well as what is not.

As we were soaking this up, it reminded me of how Mary Baker Eddy defined the moral qualities of humanity, honesty, affection, compassion, hope, faith, meekness, temperance. She categorizes all of these qualities under the heading of transitional qualities. And all of these qualities showed up one way or the other in the films.

So what would the expression of these qualities be transitioning to? Mary Baker Eddy explains the next level as spiritual/as reality. The understanding of this includes wisdom, purity, spiritual understanding, spiritual power, love, health, holiness.

There was a lot to think about after the four hour film fest ended. It was quite hopeful. Peace and understanding take a lot of work, a lot of unselfishness, a lot of getting rid of ego toward a greater good. It was inspiring to hear people's stories and know that it can be done.

Pangea Day provided a stage for proactive peace-making diplomacy and understanding. It did much by bringing together our common hope for humanity: peace, progress, understanding. My hope is that efforts like this continue and grow, to transition into even more widespread actions for peace and progress.




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.

radicals, controversial figures and troublemakers

Spiritual resource to share: pursuing Truth


Some of my favorite people include explorers, thinkers and other types of adventurers. Sometimes these people also fit nicely into the categories of radicals, controversial figures and troublemakers -- but only when they are pursuing a higher Truth which naturally challenges a stagnant status quo. Those who think outside of the box are one thing, but those who don't even take a box into consideration in their quest for Truth are on the top of my list of heroes.

Two such people are Mary Baker Eddy and the New Testament character Paul. I already knew that MBEddy was controversial in her day, and even now I consider her ideas as cutting edge. So reading this excerpt about her didn't raise any eyebrows:

"When we do not know a person -- and also when we do -- we have to judge the size and nature of his achievements as compared with the achievements of others in his special line of business -- there is no other way. Measured by this standard, it is thirteen hundred years since the world has produced anyone who could reach up to Mrs. Eddy's waistbelt.

"In several ways she is the most interesting woman that ever lived, and the most extraordinary."

The quote is from page xi of the Preface of Mary Baker Eddy by Gillian Gill. The quote is by Mark Twain, who was an outspoken critic of MBEddy for many years, until later in his life when he felt moved to state the above.

But when I read the following about Paul, I did a major re-think on what it meant to pursue one's own Truth.

"Paul was a controversial figure in his lifetime, even within the Christian movement.... He had many opponents who disagreed with his interpretation of the message of Jesus. In the closing years of his life, when imprisonment prevented him from moving about freely, Paul's opponents were able to make a headway with their rival interpretations. However, Paul became a venerated figure. His letters, together with the Gospels, became the foundation of the Christian movement."

The above is from the weekly Bible resources from csdirectory.com, "Bible Characters for Your Weekly Bible Study"

So what does it mean to pursue one's own Truth? Sticking your neck out or going against the mainstream of thought can be lonely and scary. It certainly was for MBEddy and Paul. But there was a compelling story to tell, a truth to be shared. And along the way, the sense of personal ego, pride and fear had to make way for patience, a deep humility, keen self-knowledge and a constant curiosity about the goodness of omnipotent God.

I saw that it takes humility and vision, selflessness and a burning love for humanity that made their experience of Truth the foundation for the movement of practical, healing Christianity today. It gives me plenty to consider as I continue my pursuit.

Click here to read a thoughtful post on Benazir Bhutto as reformer, another hero of blogging friend, Chris.



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.

breaking through the egg

Spiritual resource to share: breakthroughs

Have you ever heard this "Everytime something good happens, it is inevitable that something bad happens." A friend and I were talking about spiritual growth and eggs. You see, she had been feeling that things were getting more difficult and everytime she felt she made some progress, she felt that there was some kind of negative reaction to it.

So we talked eggs.


Now if she were a baby chick inside the egg, as she grew, the egg would seem to get smaller and smaller. It wouldn't be that the egg shell turned mean and tried to hinder her growth. It simply meant that she was growing beyond the confines of the egg and was nearing a breakthrough.

Is this a great illustration about spiritual growth??

Christian Science explains the law of God's omnipotence that says God is all power, so there is no room for ANY other power. God is omnipresent and so there is NO room for any other presence.

When we feel confined or trapped physically or mentally, we are feeling matter's limitation - the egg shell, so to speak. Seeing that God is all-powerful, we can break through any form of limitation. Being confined is not a natural state because it is not from God.

It would only be superstition that would try to claim that every spurt of spiritual growth is followed by a negative feeling. And the truth is - we are constantly growing spiritually and constantly breaking through the limitations of material beliefs.

Your thoughts?







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.