The loveliness of "Let" - revisited

spiritual resource to share: yielding

I was reading Science and Health this morning and came across this quote,

"Let unselfishness, goodness, mercy, justice, health, holiness, love - the kingdom of heaven - reign within us, and sin, disease, and death will diminish until they finally disappear."

It was the "Let" that got me.

"Let" is such a welcoming word. It can mean to actively cause to happen, consent to and leave unchanged. Pretty broad definition. Other favorite "lets":

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.
Let there be light.
Let our ordered lives confess the beauty of Thy peace.

Letting is a yielding to a fixed principle of Love - consenting to that which is unchanged.

Years ago, I had a major let experience that showed me how freeing it is to "let go and let God."

I had been traveling in Central America and was supposed to meet my boyfriend at the very beginning of my trip. So many goof-ups and missed communications happened that after almost a month, we still hadn't connected and I was getting anxious and frustrated.

Finally, I was settled in one location and planned to be there for a long time, living with a local family. Plans (again) were made to meet him at the bus station at a certain time. The bus came and he wasn't on it. That's when I lost it. Storming home in a cloud of anger and frustration, I couldn't even think clearly until I got into my room. There I pulled out my Bible, my Science and Health, my book of poems and starting diving into them as a way to calm down.

I don't quite remember what I read, but I do recall a strong thought coming to me saying "If it isn't God's will, you don't want it to happen." Well, of course! I reasoned, if it isn't God's plan that we are to meet, then there is nothing I can do to make it happen. And if it is God's will, then there is nothing I can do to prevent it from happening. I had to let go of all my plans and hopes and really put it in God's hands ( where it already was any how). I had given my consent to the fixed principle that God governs every aspect of my life. What a relief!

The next morning, I had no expectation other than God was directing me in the way most needed and I felt at such peace with that. I took my books to the central park of that city, and started to read my Bible lesson in the warm sun and bustling market. It was God's day and I was happy.

It wasn't long afterwards that I looked up and saw a bus. Strange, I thought, buses aren't supposed to be running at this time. But there, getting off the bus was my friend and his friend!

We were so happy to have finally connected. He and his friend got settled in a youth hostel, and we were able to have a wonderful time together.

But most wonderful was this important lesson about let. Our active yielding to God brings peace and we see how God's plan for us unfolds - in a much better way than we could ever plan. How lovely!







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a story about a healing

Spiritual resource to share: humility

I had been struggling with an insistent back ache for three days which made driving, sleeping, walking all very difficult.

As I approached this situation prayerfully, I asked myself how much did I really know about God? I challenged myself to dig in deeper.

The more I understood God's supremacy, the more in awe I felt - similar to my time skiing on a mountain, when I took a tumble in the knee deep powder. The day was beautiful, my fall was cushioned ever so gently and the sky a wide expanse of blue. "We are loved more grandly than this." I thought.

The more I understood of God's authority, the more strength I felt - similar to the strength I feel when defending an injustice or the protection I see in the wild when mothers defend their young.

The more I understood about God's love, the more calm I felt - similar to the time I saw the Northern lights for the first time with my mom, dad and brothers. And the wonder and beauty of it seemed to include the whole earth.

As I was painfully driving up to meet with others for an all day meeting, I struggled with the idea that I might not make it through the day. At that point, I totally turned to God. "God, I cannot do this without you." It was a letting go, a total surrender. All of what I understand about God helped me to yield to a life force that is authoritatively loving and supremely good. I could not "make" this healing happen, but I could acknowledge that God and God's power is made known in our present experience, here and now.

When I got to the meeting place, my back was much improved. When the meeting started, I forgot about my back. By the time the shortened meeting was over three hours later, I was totally free.

One idea that has been so helpful over and over again is that prayer-based healing is not about human accomplishment, but about divine acknowledgement.







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 really happened last Wednesday

Spiritual resource to share: surrender and soar

Have you ever hit a bureaucratic wall that seemed insurmountable? I did. On Wednesday. The end of the story is that everything was resolved - but the prayerful journey to get to that point may be helpful to any one who has ever experienced this kind of a challenge.

Two days before my son was to leave for an international trip, I realized I had made a mistake and checked it out with the airlines to correct it. I was informed that even if I did correct that one mistake he would not be allowed to board because of another new policy on passports. I had never heard of such a policy and thought I had done my research on what all the requirements were for international travel.

I was devastated. According to them, the trip was off, finished, kaput. I also knew that to resolve the passport issue at this time of record breaking demand was going to be additionally challenging. On top of that, I couldn't get a refund. I couldn't bear to share this news with my son, who had put his savings towards this trip and was so excited about it.

I have never hesitated in calling on friends for help, and so I called on a "sister bird" (code word for fellow Christian Science practitioner) to help break the gloom and doom I felt I had put myself into.

We talked about how God's plan is already fixed. Already complete. Most needed was to oust the blame and shame of past actions and get on with listening and affirming that God's will for us is all good, and we are always in our right place. With these distractions of negativity out of the way, I was open to infinite possibilities.

The next day and a half were spent on the phone, on the computer and praying. Finally, I saw a way to resolve everything but it depended on two things and the timing had to be spot on. I prayed and realized that we would only want to go forward if this was God's will. I asked God for a sign and left it at that.

On Wednesday, the day my son was supposed to leave, we got a check in the mail. I had forgotten about our state tax withholding refund. It was for $1.20 more than the cost of our now defunct plane ticket. How heartening this was! I felt confident to move forward. I knew our motive for the trip was based on goodness and unselfishness. This idea from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by MBEddy also affirmed our steps to go forward:

Love inspires, illumines, designates, and leads the way. Right motives give pinions to thought, and strength and freedom to speech and action.

We ended up traveling to Chicago to resolve this. Again, to resolve this required two major things to happen. The first part was done by going to the airport and waiting in a few lines. Easy. But I started to wonder if the second part could be accomplished. I remembered again to surrender any doubts, fears or concerns. MBEddy writes in Science and Health another idea that was helpful:

Science reveals the possibility of achieving all good, and sets mortals at work to discover what God has already done; but distrust of one's ability to gain the goodness desired and to bring out better and higher results, often hampers the trial of one's wings and ensures failure at the outset.

Encouraged by my son, "Come on, mom, let's just try this!" we went forward with the second part. (I'll be writing another blog about this experience!) In short, it took us over 5 hours and waiting in 8 different lines to get the second part accomplished. And we did it! We were giddy and happy and let our friends overseas know of this good news that the trip, although delayed a few days, could continue and be extended. Nothing was lost!

This was a wonderful affirming experience. Any of you facing similar experiences, I know that God has only good in store for us all. It may not come in the way that we originally planned, but when we let go of our outlining and surrender all of our plans, doubts and concerns, we are open to see God's plan for us - complete, satisfying and wonderful.






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.