imagine............. (revisited)

Spiritual resource to share: our timeless Truth

Graduation! A few years ago, I remember as our oldest son crossed the stage to be handed his high school diploma. To see his class of 35, who represented about ten countries, and knowing that they have just been educated into a love of nature and a responsibility to take care of it, was inspiring to say the least.


One of the sweetest moments that started me off on a long train of thoughts was when our son's graduating class sang the song "Imagine" by John Lennon as their class song.


As they sang, I realized that there is no generation gap between my son's generation and my generation's love of music and hope for peace. This led me to consider my parent's generation. We definitely had different tastes in music, but also had the same hope for peace. And then this led to the realization that the desire for peace, as for Truth, is timeless.


There is a point that I get to in my healing work where I realize the timelessness of the Truth that I follow and practice: it isn't about generations, or persons or time, or anything linear at all. Truth, peace, hope are timeless and universal. "Imagine" speaks of a universal hope and a prayer that we all live as one.


Jesus sang this same song :
That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us:


And hundreds of years before that, King David sang:
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!


In fact, one could say that all major world religions sing the praises of unity and peace!

So.... what is my song that I can contribute? I wanted to sing along with my son's class.  My best contribution for the world I imagine for my children is through my practice of Christian Science. To me, it is the most practical, inspirational, and universal of any discipline I have ever come across. It applies to the care of nations and to the care of an infant. You prove love. You prove what you believe by how you live.

In Christian Science, progress is demonstration, not doctrine. This Science is ameliorative and regenerative, delivering mankind from all error through the light and love of Truth.


It gives to the race loftier desires and new possibilities. It lays the axe at the root of the tree of knowledge, to cut down all that bringeth not forth good fruit; "and blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me."


It touches mind to more spiritual issues, systematizes action, gives a keener sense of Truth and a stronger desire for it.


....This movement of thought must push on the ages: it must start the wheels of reason aright, educate the affections to higher resources, and leave Christianity unbiased by the superstitions of a senior period.


-from Miscellaneous Writings, by Mary Baker Eddy, p. 235

What is your song?

© AndreasG - Fotolia.com

No labels in God's kingdom

Spiritual resource to share: our common heritage
 

A bustling humanity at an international airport
"Have we not all one Father?" Malachi 2: 10

I regularly read tmcyouth.com - a website for those who want to know more about Christian Science a/o are practicing Christian Science.  It has, as its name implies, a youthful bent.


One post shared how a young Christian Scientist came to grips with who he was and how to break through any resistance to share who he is - as a Christian Scientist!


Its title: "I'm gay"  "Oh yeah!  I'm a Christian Scientist!"  made me think about all the categories we find ourselves in and responding to, and how there is a higher calling - a more all-inclusive uber-category that we all belong to.  Here is my response to that post:


What a startling title! And what a great example of coming out and blessing others!


Today, I thought about this post and just knew I needed to respond.

You know, being gay and being Christian Scientist have a bit in common: They are both labels; there are arguments in some circles that both are against the Bible; and again, in some circles, they are both perceived as being strange.

Michael (this is the individual who wrote the tmcyouth post), I love that you were brave enough to announce that you are a Christian Scientist – you had to face up to some stereotypes and had the moral courage to do so. So anyone who is stuck with a label that has been maligned or misunderstood has had to have that same moral courage and to show themselves as God knows them.


The bottom line is that we are not all running around in scared and isolated little categories! We are all the children of God.

A friend of mine was going to Brazil for the first time and was a little nervous about fitting into that culture. I had gone to Brazil a number of times and told her so. “And you know,” I shared, “the Christ is already there! In fact, the place is crawling with children of God!” We laughed. And that certainly broke any mesmeric sense of being an outsider. She went and had a wonderful time.

What was healing with my traveling friend and what I got was healing in Michael’s case is that there is an understanding that we are spiritual, not material. And because we are all the spiritual image and likeness of Love, we have something profound in common with everyone – we are all children of God.

This is the healing idea (that we are ALL the children of God) that lifts stereotypes we have of others, dissolves fears that others are bad influences, it reverses prejudices and false assumptions. We can get a better glimpse that we “… are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus….. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”* We can add ...there is no human category: neither Brazilian, nor gay, nor Christian Scientist, etc…..for we are all have one Father-Mother God!

*Galatians 3: 26, 28

Egypt’s victory is our victory

Spiritual resource to share:  spiritual breakthrough

For days now, the calls for prayers in the Tahrir Square have been joined by thousands of prayers throughout the world. I’ve been loving, praying and thinking through the events of the last few days of Egypt’s historic breakthrough toward freedom and democracy and its impact on the world community. And now, such a release of hope and possibilities, such celebration!

I realized the very principles that were behind this demonstration are principles that happen whenever there is a breakthrough towards greater good. There is much to be grateful in Egypt’s persistent and courageous and effective demand for freedom. Why do we celebrate with Egypt? Because it affirms the declaration of independence from all oppression. And this is something we can all prove in different degrees.

We can claim our own breakthroughs to freedom, whether we are struggling with a sense of depression within ourselves, at work or in the larger arenas of life. Here’s a few ideas about the thought forces that are at work in any breakthrough.

Freedom – what it is

• The removal of anything that would try to divide, restrict or limit a right idea.
• The right to a full uninterrupted expression of our grandest hopes, our unlimited creativity, our deepest compassion, our keen intelligence and our broadest aspirations.

 Protest – what it does

•  Identifies and calls out from hiding that which restricts, limits or divides
•  Brings into sharp focus whatever would obstruct justice

Depression/Oppression – what it tries to do

• Claims that there is a power outside of omnipotent God, good
• Claims the other so-called power is imbalanced, deteriorating or otherwise limiting power to only one person or thing, leaving others with little or no power
• Perpetuates the victim/perpetrator dynamic 

Progress – where we are going

• We go forward; there are no retrograde steps. The new direction does not include the past.
• We recognize that what has been conquered no longer exists.
• We protect our progress by refusing to go back to positions outgrown and we refuse to go back to the victim/perpetrator model by flipping our roles

Continuing prayer for Egypt and for mankind

Hatred, envy, revenge, love of personal power cannot overwhelm the growing understanding we have of our God-given freedom.

Hatred, envy, etc., have no power of their own, but relies on the power we give it. So we don’t give it power: we don’t animate hatred; we don’t give voice to envy; and we don’t occupy our thought with ruminating scenarios of revenge.

  

We recognize what true power is- the energy and force of omnipotent God. God’s synonyms are Love, Truth and Life. These ideas are self-assertive and transforming. Love harmonizes, Truth purifies and establishes, and Life is constantly, persistently growing. Goodness is inevitable.

  

Eqypt’s breakthrough is our breakthrough, helping us move forward confidently into a new day, a new government, a more inclusive and life-affirming journey that embraces all mankind.





To read about more anti-regime movements in the Middle East, start here: As Mubarak resigns, Yemenis call for a revolution of their own Thousands of secessionists protested in Yemen today in an example of how disparate movements across the Middle East are tapping the anti-regime fervor for their own disparate aims.
Also read Egypt's revolution redefines what is possible in the Middle East.
For a spiritual perspective, read  A spiritual view of Egypt in transition

protection of prayer in Egypt

Spiritual resource to share: living your truth

These pictures were taken off of a site showing Christians guarding Muslims in prayer.  (Egypt's Coptic Christians use the tattoed cross on their inner wrist to identify themselves as Christians.  Read here for more info.)


There is not much to add to a picture like this.  Thousands are praying for a peaceful restoration of order and right government.  This picture of unselfish courageand the desire to protect others inspires me to step out and add my prayer. 

The prayer that I want to share is one that has been prayed for millenia.  It is a song of hope and safety: Psalm 91 


Background on the 91st Psalm from Resources for your Ministry:


"Luther said of Psalm 91, “This is the most distinguished jewel among all the psalms of consolation.” It is not certain who authored its words (David, Moses?), but we do know that this is a psalm for times of danger. Still, it is cheerful and full of comfort, unlike Psalm 90 which is somber and full of concern. The psalmist is encouraging both himself and his audience of the wisdom of trusting the Most High God, for He is able to protect us from any danger....  It all results in a statement of strong confidence in the care of the Lord—in all the circumstances of life— and calls us to rest in Him."

Psalm 91 (New International Version, ©

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress,

my God, in whom I trust.”

Surely he will save you

from the fowler’s snare

and from the deadly pestilence.

He will cover you with his feathers,

and under his wings you will find refuge;

his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

You will not fear the terror of night,

nor the arrow that flies by day,

nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,

nor the plague that destroys at midday.

A thousand may fall at your side,

ten thousand at your right hand,

but it will not come near you.

You will only observe with your eyes

and see the punishment of the wicked.

If you say, “The LORD is my refuge,”

and you make the Most High your dwelling,

no harm will overtake you,

no disaster will come near your tent.

For he will command his angels concerning you

to guard you in all your ways;

they will lift you up in their hands,

so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

You will tread on the lion and the cobra;

you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

“Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him;

I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

He will call on me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble,

I will deliver him and honor him.

With long life I will satisfy him

and show him my salvation.”

sharing Christian Science

Spiritual resource to share: opening up and having fun

I am so glad to hear the conversation about sharing Christian Science opening up that is going on online. (Click here to join the discussion.) Many years ago, my Christian Science friends and I felt (for some reason) that we all needed to hide our religion.

But now, I haven’t had a problem with this at all. So I thought about why. And here is what I came up with.

I really get that Christian Science is universal. I really understand that Christian Science operates as freely and unconditionally as the law of gravity.

Just as everyone operates under the laws of gravity, everyone operates under the laws of Christian Science.

I haven’t found a person who doesn’t respond favorably to Truth, purity, and clarity. Our judicial system is based on defending truth, health laws require purity, journalists and other communicators practice and expect clarity in their communications. This is the law of Truth operating and as Mary Baker Eddy says, “Christian Science is the law of Truth (see Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 482: 27)

Who doesn’t strive to be good or to do good things? This makes sense for all children of God love good – loving all that is fulfilling, meaningful, substantial and loving. Artists strive for substance in their work, people are led to find companionship and work that is fulfilling and meaningful, and singers and poets have never exhausted the theme of what it means to be loving. This is the law of good operating. Mary Baker Eddy writes in Rudimental Divine Science p. 1 “Christian Science is the law of God, the law of good.”

Harmony is a desired trait in our lives. We seek it out because we are all spiritual beings who feel most natural when our bodies, our relationships and our actions are harmonious.

We balance our checkbooks, arrange our work schedules, appreciate and recognize the beauty of a river, the symmetry of traffic or even when a glitch in our computer is fixed! This is the law of harmony operating in our lives. In Science and Health p. 134: 21, Mary Baker Eddy refers to Christian Science as “the natural law of harmony.”

Intelligence, order, efficiency, ( do you see where I am going with this?), we all get this; we all have these qualities in our everyday experiences. If we didn’t have these qualities in our lives, the world would probably implode. The intelligence of the rescue and renovation efforts going on in Haiti and the relentless persistence for more efficiency and expediency come from all of us children of God who know that intelligence and order and love and compassion are what make up practical and effective ways to help each other. This is the law of Mind that operates in us and through us. Mary Baker Eddy writes that “Christian Science is the law of divine Mind”. ( Miscellany p. 240:11.)

So if Christian Science is already operating in everyone’s lives, Christian Science is already present in whatever situation we are in.

When introducing myself to others or when being a part of a conversation in which religion or spirituality comes up, I usually share by saying I’m a Christian Scientist or a student of Christian Science who is studying the science or the “how-to” of Christianity. And then I’ll share an interesting idea I found relevant to the conversation, and then ask them what they have learned or what they can share.

The Golden Rule applies of course and I treat others with a natural respect and that’s reciprocated.

There are always times to be alert to misstated facts like the questions about Scientology or faith healing. But it is easy to correct those statements.

Although I have come across some people who simply don’t like Christian Science ( or whatever it has been that they heard about Christian Science), but for every one person who has been negative about it I have found so many more people who are willing to talk about their own spirituality and are open to hearing new ideas about Christian Science.

One of my friends who went to a Christian Science lecture with me said, “Kim, I don’t know if I could ever be a Christian Scientist, but it gives me such hope that there are those who practice in this way.” We don’t need to try to convince anyone of anything here. Just sharing a simple truth like “Good is not helpless” or Love can lead the way” can be so helpful and meaningful to people. We can offer some needed encouragement or direction.

People are already familiar with and operating under the laws of good, of harmony, of intelligence and truth. It is not too hard to share with them other laws of God – in other words, it’s not too hard to share Christian Science.

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.

Say amen somebody!*

Spiritual resource to share: one another's blessings

Staging at the Obama Inauguration 1.20.09

What can I say after a day packed with inspiration? Only to repeat what has already been shared.

Here is an excerpt from Reverend Lowery's benediction blessing at the Inauguration yesterday: (Thanks Maggie for posting this on facebook.)

The Rev. Joseph Lowery's Benediction:

"God of our weary years, God of our silent tears,
Thou who has brought us thus far along the way,
Thou who has by Thy might led us into the light,
keep us forever in the path, we pray,
lest our feet stray from the places, our God,
where we met Thee, lest our hearts,
drunk with the wine of the world, we forget thee.

Shadowed beneath thy hand may we forever stand --
true to thee, O God, and true to our native land.

[...]

Help us then, now, Lord,
to work for that day when nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
when tanks will be beaten into tractors,
when every man and every woman shall sit under his or her own vine and fig tree,
and none shall be afraid;

when justice will roll down like waters
and righteousness as a mighty stream.
Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest,
and in the joy of a new beginning,
we ask you to help us work for that day
when black will not be asked to get back,
when brown can stick around -- (laughter) --
when yellow will be mellow -- (laughter) --
when the red man can get ahead, man -- (laughter) --
and when white will embrace what is right.

Let all those who do justice and love mercy say amen.

AUDIENCE: Amen!

REV. LOWERY: Say amen --

AUDIENCE: Amen!

REV. LOWERY: -- and amen.

AUDIENCE: Amen!

(Cheers, applause.)

See the whole benediction here:



*Say Amen Somebody is a little known documentary about the history of the American Gospel movement. A long time favorite of Rick's and mine.

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.

Celebrate Native American Heritage Day in the United States!

Spiritual resource to share: our heritage

“For the first time, federal legislation has set aside the day after Thanksgiving — for this year only — to honor the contributions American Indians have made to the United States.”

This is the first year that National Heritage Day is being celebrated, having been passed into legislation by Congress and signed into existence by President Bush only one month ago. Although controversial, it brings out important points about what we honor and how we honor one another – specifically those tribes who first lived off this land that many of us call home now. It is purposely set for the day after Thanksgiving.

What I am honoring today is the noble and unselfish act of the Wampanoag Indians who kept the pilgrims from starving that first winter in 1621 – this act being referred to as our first Thanksgiving. Their ability to cross cultures, help at a basic humanitarian level, care for feed and teach a foreign group how to survive in an alien environment – is something we can work to achieve as our legacy to the world. It is a heritage to be proud of.

I am also honoring the work being done in my community. I’ve had occasion to participate in many community meetings about healing a divide that has come between the whites and the native tribes in my area. The call to understand one another has been made and a number of efforts have been underway – Ojibwe is taught at the high school, community groups have been educated about tribal customs, a church put on a workshop and talk about white privilege that was attended by an uncommonly large and diverse group, and much more.

I am also honoring a lesson learned about God and mankind. “Anishinaabe” is a word I learned that means “first or original peoples.” A tribal elder explained that in essence, we are all first people. I reasoned that we are all direct descendents from God. Diving below the surface of culture, traditions, history and character, we come to the purely primitive spirituality of who we all are: direct expressions of one God.

Looking at the world, we can claim our native heritage to Truth, to Love and to Life – all of which defines God. From the student at Oxford, to the hostage in Bombay, to the Ojibwe teacher in rural Wisconsin, to the grandparent in Buenos Aires – we share an amazing heritage under one God – from whom we are all directly connected.

This fundamental truth of our common heritage impelled the Wampanoag Indians to help another people to survive and thrive. It is the same fundamental truth that impels us all to prove our heritage and pray for one another, heal one another, and help one another. The outcome of this? Mary Baker Eddy explains it in terms most broad and practical:

One infinite God, good, unifies men and nations; constitutes the brotherhood of man; ends wars; fulfils the Scripture, "Love thy neighbor as thyself;" annihilates pagan and Christian idolatry, — whatever is wrong in social, civil, criminal, political, and religious codes; equalizes the sexes; annuls the curse on man, and leaves nothing that can sin, suffer, be punished or destroyed.

photo copyrighted by swisshippo - Fotolia.com


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.

"American Prayer"

Spiritual resource to share: noble deeds



There are some actions taken - like this music video - that so effectively touch the heart, that the differences in race, age, orientation, education, party afiliation and gender fade in a united effort to hope, to pray and to become those actors of noble things.

These days, and this age is demanding from us our nobility. My prayer is that we remember that we are the children of God, "the noblest work of God" sings a hymn. We can do noble things.

American Prayer - Dave Stewart (Barack Obama Music Video)
Source: www.youtube.com









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.

there are no big events

Micah, Ellen and Gabe skimming across the infinite

Spiritual resource to share: what is changeless

I am swimming in big events. Our lives have kind of swirled around teens traveling to all corners of the world. In the next month, we've got family and friends going to Thailand, Germany, Chile, Sweden, Lithuania and England and coming from Spain and from Colorado and another from Korea.

There is great anticipation for these events and - as we've seen with our tearful goodbye to our Thai daughter - a mix of sadness and grief/gladness and gratitude. I'll have to admit catching myself off balance here and there.

In quiet moments, I have found myself thinking through the idea that there are no big events in Mind (Mind, another word for God). This takes me to some fundamental truths I have come to trust and live by.

One of my favorite quotes from Mary Baker Eddy is that man is "the infinite expression of the infinite Mind." How then, can there be a big event in the infinite? It is all big. Or, in other words, it is all a part of the infinite.

My kids are not leaving one part of the infinite to go into another part of the infinite. God is always present. God is always there. God is always good.

I write a goodbye note to my courageous goddaughter who was ready to leave for Chile months ago. I know that all her Godlike qualities of adventure, joy and intelligence will be called on. I write to her: "Like a seed that has the full idea of a majestic tree, you, even as a baby, already had these qualities of God. These new experiences will draw out from you all that God has provided."

What is changeless is the divine adventure. The idea of "big" is lost in the infinite. Surrounded by omnipresent Love (a word for God), fueled by Soul (another word for God), and guided by Principle (another word for God), our kids live in an environment of God’s design. We are all swimming in the infinite! And that never changes.

Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

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 with the world

Spiritual resource to share: caring hearts

Very recently, a former editor of The Christian Science Monitor, Richard Bergenheim, passed on. A beautiful article of love and appreciation was written up in the Monitor. You'll need to read the article to get the full force of the contribution he made to others personally and internationally. The article closes modestly enough with these words:

Richard liked travel because he loved humanity. In June, he told a group of college students, "Think of the world as filled with friends. We don't let our friends be in trouble without trying to figure out how to help them. We care. And part of what the Monitor exists to do is increase the caring capacity of our hearts."

When this delightful youtube video showed up on my screen, it reminded me of the thousands and millions of people who love humanity and who work, love and dance with others and in so doing, increase the caring capacity of all of our hearts. So enjoy watching it, and I hope you'll find your heart dancing to find even more ways to love and care for one another.





You can click here to subscribe to The Christian Science Monitor now!

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.

To Asia with love and comfort

Spiritual resource to share: timeless truths

Reviewing some of my posts, I came across this one, written in response to the earthquake in Java, Indonesia two years ago. The timeless truths apply today to Myanmar, to China.

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

The comfort of God with us, with those in Indonesia, and with those everywhere

When I left home for college, my mother and I still maintained a very close relationship. When she would call me on the phone, I knew it was her before I answered. And many times when I would call her, she would answer the phone with "Hello Kim!"

I also noticed that when I was in trouble, my mom would later tell me that she felt I was in trouble of some kind and would either start praying or try to get in touch with me. This phenomenon became quite natural and it just was the way we operated.

I came to see how much of this was a direct reflection of our infinite Father-Mother God - God who is always knowing our needs, always there to comfort, guard and guide us.

God is constantly talking to each one of us. God is constantly sharing with us ideas that help protect us, provide for us and comfort us.

The recent earthquake in Indonesia threatened to tear open a wound just newly healing from the effects of the tsunami of 2004. In response, I was quick to counter that with a prayer that lifted me out of a feeling a sense of hopelessness and futility: God is omnipotent. That means that there is no power greater than God, and no power that can obscure God's tender ministrations to His/Her children.

God is not in the earthquake. His omnipresence can lift us out of any storm, any strife, into feeling peace. God's ideas nourish us, bless us, strengthen us and allow us to take care of one another. We can listen for His voice and respond in ways that are effective, practical and efficient.

Every single person has a direct connection with God. God is ever active and is constantly talking to each one of us. We all have this connection - before birth, during our lives here and after death, God is right here, comforting and providing for us.

There is great reason for hope. What I learned at an early age, with my mom, is that when there is love, there is always communication. This is a spiritual law. And there is always love.

The larger demonstration of this rests on our acknowledgement that God loves us. Tenderly, intimately, right-there-with-us kind of love. This love communicates to each of us all that we need to know and what we need to do.

For more articles about this, click here.





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.

Praying for Myanmar

Spiritual resource to share: prayer for the world

Thu May 8 at 1:00pm CDT

Sarah Hyatt, C.S.B.

PRAYER FOR RELIEF EFFORTS IN MYANMAR

Please join me and many others in this global initiative of prayer. Thanks! Kim




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.

more on PANGEA Day, May 10th

Spiritual resource to share: "whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." -Phillipians 4: 8

One more post on PANGEA Day, May 10th (taken from an email from TED.com):

Wherever you will be on Saturday May 10, Pangea Day, you are warmly invited to join me and countless others around the world for a powerful, first-of-its kind experience.Gathered in homes, movie theaters and larger venues, we will participate in a remarkable program of films and talks -- a kind of super-charged, marathon TED session -- celebrating our common humanity.

If you think of yourself as something of a global soul, it could be one of the year's highlights. And in fact you could play an invaluable role in helping it realize its full potential... If you don't have time to read this now, please just calendar Pangea Day for Saturday, May 10th (11am-3pm US West Coast, 2-6pm US East Coast, 7-11pm in UK, 8pm-midnight in Europe and much of Africa, 9pm-1am in the Mideast, 11.30pm-3.30am India, etc.).

On that day, we invite you to gather around a screen with your family, friends and neighbors, preferably from more than one country. Pangea Day will be available on TV in many areas of the world. In the US, the full four-hour program is being carried live on Current TV, available in 41 million homes on the major cable and satellite systems.

Current TV pioneered the vision of citizen-empowered media, and we're delighted to be partnering with them. We have similar agreements with the massive satellite network Star TV in China/India/Asia, with MGM Networks in Latin America, with Sky in the UK, several partners in the Mid-East, not to mention Indonesia, Mexico, New Zealand and many more. Full details will be posted on our website next week.

And thanks to partnerships with Akamai and MSN, we will also be available on a live, full-screen web-stream everywhere with a broadband Internet connection.The best way to watch Pangea Day is not just as a normal TV show or web-stream. It should be watched as a community event.

We want the sense of the great global village gathering around a campfire. We already know of more than a thousand self-organized screenings taking place in homes, clubs, and movie theaters. We expect thousands more come May 10.

As many of you know, the day is the result of the combined efforts of countless TED supporters around the world, inspired by the TED Prize wish of film-maker Jehane Noujaim. She dreamed of a day when people around the world could share the the same film experience at the same time. The idea has grown into a giant global project... thanks to you. To get a sense of the scale of ambition, please take a minute to watch this beautiful trailer.

Here's the state of play: - Out of thousands of submissions, we have assembled a fantastic line-up of films. There are about 20 in total, ranging in length from 2 to 15 minutes (most of them around 5).

They all tell powerful stories, often without language, of what it is to be human. They are, by turns, funny, touching, dramatic, inspiring. - But you won't just be watching films. You'll be watching the world watching. We're bringing in live audience images from around the world. Watching a film about reconciliation is one thing.

Watching it while simultaneously witnessing the reactions of people who are supposed to hate each other will be something else altogether. - The day also features a dozen powerful three-minute talks from scientists, film-makers, story-tellers and global visionaries. Just as a session at TED takes us on a journey stimulating every part of our brains, so will Pangea Day. Don't dismiss it as a warm & fuzzy peace-fest.

The project builds on the latest ideas in anthropology, psychology and technology. We'll be revealing how.- The whole program is being broadcast in front of a live audience of 1,000 (from more than 50 countries) at a spectacular set being built at a Sony Studios soundstage in Los Angeles. - It will look and feel like nothing you've seen before.

If any of this excites you, please would you consider doing something to help the day realize its full potential. There are three specific things you can do.

1) Make firm plans to participate on May 10th. As a friend of TED, you can apply for free tickets to our main satellite-connected locations in LA, London, Rio de Janeiro, Kigali, Cairo or Mumbai. If you know you can bring a group of at least six people who will commit to being there for the full program, please write to pangeadaytickets@gmail.com. Or attend one of the other screenings listed in your area here. (If you happen to be in the San Francisco Bay Area, you can join a screening being organized there by a great group of TEDsters. Please write to Taylor Milsal, milsal@gmail.com)
2) Host a screening.
It could be in your home with a few friends and family. Or you could book a larger venue in your neighborhood and open it for others to come join. You'll just need a large TV screen, the right channel access (or a good Internet connection) and willingness to spend four hours as a global soul. The Pangea Day website has the details you need here. Make sure to add your screening to our fast-expanding global map.3) Most important of all. Please help us spread awareness of Pangea Day. There are numerous ways to do this:
- Forward this email to your friends and colleagues... and invite them nicely to do the same!
- Post a story on your website or blog
- Point people to some or all of the following high-impact films:

The Pangea Day website and trailer.

The series of anthems sung by one country for another that I sent you earlier this week, e.g.
France sings for USA
Kenya sings for India

A viral Pangea Day film that debuted at TED this year.

Do please write and tell us what you've done (you can write to my colleague, TED Scribe Jane Wulf, jane@ted.com). We want to recognize and celebrate those who make inspired contributions to the day.OK, that's the practical stuff.

Do you have one more minute? I'd like to just say something more about why Pangea Day is worth your time and effort.I think we can agree our world is becoming ever smaller/flatter/more inter-connected. An important consequence of this is that all of the issues that matter -- war, terrorism, poverty, disease, human rights, environment, climate change -- can only be tackled now from a global perspective. And yet the people supposedly trying to solve them are almost all serving narrow mandates on behalf of their nation, religion or tribe.

There's a terrifying mismatch here between the nature of the problems and the means the world is deploying to tackle them. "The world" itself doesn't even seem to have a seat at the table. But there's no reason this should be so. It is absolutely possible in the 21st century for us to begin a truly global conversation; to start nurturing that identity we share: one humanity.

Some use the language of promoting global citizenship, or reducing cross-cultural suspicion, or expanding our circle of empathy, or eliminating the "us/them" mode of thinking. These goals are all linked, and any progress toward them is, I think, a very big deal.I was brought up in an international boarding school in India with kids from more than 30 countries. We had a shared experience of each others' lives. Differences in color and race gradually faded.

I'm convinced today's media have the power to humanize "the other". To help people make the mental switch from "them" to "us". Telling stories through film is especially powerful in this regard. At the start of a film, you see someone strange-looking. At the end you feel kinship. There's no moral effort involved here. It's just a natural mental repositioning. Call me idealistic, but I really believe that that mental shift holds the key to our shared future.

Of course, May 10th won't lead to an outbreak of world peace. But I do think it will reveal a sense of possibility: the possibility that there are incredible new ways of using technology as a force for good; that peoples' minds are not locked in a dark place forever; that our global village can start the long journey from "us/them" to "we".

As the Pangea Day website says: Films can't change the world. But the people who watch them can.








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.

Circle the date to circle the world - May 10th

Spiritual resource to share: watching through another's eyes

I just finished installing the movies feature in my new facebook account. I had to admit. I love movies. So when TED.com ( an incredible organization celebrating all of what is innovative and progressive) announced PANGEA Day on May 10th, I was totally on board. Nothing like totally creative, idealistic, hopeful and pragmatic artists to get me going. Check it out.



The Pangea Day Mission & Purpose (from their website)
Pangea Day is a global event bringing the world together through film.

Why? In a world where people are often divided by borders, difference, and conflict, it's easy to lose sight of what we all have in common. Pangea Day seeks to overcome that – to help people see themselves in others – through the power of film.

The Pangea Day Event
Starting at 18:00 GMT on May 10, 2008, locations in Cairo, Kigali, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai, and Rio de Janeiro will be linked for a live program of powerful films, live music, and visionary speakers. The entire program will be broadcast – in seven languages – to millions of people worldwide through the internet, television, and mobile phones.

Here is one of those programs from a series. They are each just one minute long. They feature a choir in one country singing another country's national anthem: a simple idea that packs surprising emotional power. This one is of France singing for the USA.












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 heart grows rich in giving....

Spiritual resource to share: giving

So now my favorite show to watch on the 'net is Oprah's Big Give. Have any of you seen it? Basically, Oprah and friends of Oprah give money to a selected group of people who compete against one another to give this money away in the most creative way. Combining the popularity of reality tv shows and the interest in seeing people get eliminated every week, she taps into the fundamental satisfaction of giving unselfishly. And not only that, but the competitive element sharpens the focus on giving as creatively and as exponentially as you can.

What a hoot! Those team members are most successful when they are able to get others who have been dumbfounded on receiving cash and gifts from a perfect stranger, to go and give of themselves to others. A Pay It Forward kind of act.

It is catching. The responses from the team members, once they have done their deeds, are great! They are exhilarated and happy, happy, happy. It's kind of like starting a movement. The attraction and satisfaction of being unselfish is catching on!

It makes me think......

We are all rich: in spirit, in time, in stories to share, in experience, in hidden talents like writing, singing, speaking Finnish, and maybe in things like money, clothes, toys, etc. How can we give even more creatively and in a way that builds momentum for others to give? And how can we do it in a deeply satisfying way? How can we do this so that it makes us laugh for the joy of it all?

Here are some inspiring "giving" ideas from two of my favorite books:


Giving does not impoverish us in the service of our Maker, neither does withholding enrich us.

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

II Cor 9:7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

The rich in spirit help the poor in one grand brotherhood, all having the same Principle, or Father; and blessed is that man who seeth his brother's need and supplieth it, seeking his own in another's good.

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.

you don't know what you don't know

Spiritual resource to share: humility

You don't know what you don't know....and knowing that you don't know what you don't know is key to taking some positive steps forward. It is really all about humility. Let me explain......

This was the main lesson I walked away with after hearing a community talk about white privilege recently. This talk was sponsored by many individuals and groups who are actively working to heal racism in our community. It was a special tribute on Martin Luther King Day. It was a night of compassionate listening and gave us a firm foothold in our community's attempt to alleviate racism.

There were two speakers who presented. The two speakers had markedly different messages which blended wonderfully under the heading of: "White Privilege: and how it affects the relationship between Indian and non-Indian communities." The first part of the talk was given by Dr. Peggy McIntosh of Wellesley College. She highlighted patterns of assumptions that are made that favor the white race over other races. The other part of the talk was given by the Honorable Ernie St. Germaine of Lac du Flambeau (our local reservation) and highlighted the fullness and completeness of life as taught by the Annishinabeg (aka Ojibwe).

In two different ways the talk showed the universal humanity of us all and the rich diversity of all that we are. It didn't absorb us all into one united blob, but heightened what is different and awakened thought to accept differences, not from a sense of moral superiority or inferiority, but from the basis of the completeness of each culture, of each person.

It led me to think of the differences of culture in two distinct ways: 1) culture as personality - stemming from the psychological and historical man - thus limited and 2) culture as individuality - stemming from a collective expresssion of Godlike qualities of abundance, care, love, protection, provision.

When we see culture as a set of mortal opinions, limited power, etc., there is conflict.
When we see culture in a spiritual view, we see a collective expression of the Christlike attributes of love, protection, harmony and progress, there is harmony and improvement.

I am in awe of this process of healing in a community. As a group, we are taking deliberate steps out of a limited view of race relations where there has been conflict and anger, to a compassionate opening to understand and embrace the different facets of our community. It is all heading toward healing, speeding along by our collective desire for peace and respect for one another.

Healing happens. Humility is the genius of healing in Christian Science*. We don't always know what we don't know, but we can continue to look to God - the omnipotent, the omnipresent, and all-loving - and we can expect to be shown the way to healing for ourselves and for health and well-being for our communities.

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.

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

Prayer for the Headlines

Spiritual resource to share: being a witness to God's protection

I just got the word about the earthquake in Rwanda with a request for prayer. This is what I shared:

I am instantly reminded of all that is unshakeable: God's care and protection in the most hidden places to the market place; Omnipresent Love removing fear.

I know that each individual involved has a direct connection to God who is guarding, guiding and speaking to each one; each one involved can feel God's gentle presence guiding them to safety, to help others, to find the right resources necessary to bless, heal and comfort others.

Divine Love shows the way and there are no obstacles - like chaos, personal politics or lack - that can obscure Love's direction or Love's provision. "Love never faileth."

I am reminded that these laws of Love are now governing all individuals, for all nations, under all circumstances, under all headlines. In fact, it occurred to me that every time we pray, we become a witness to God's omnipotence. This understanding puts direct light on what we are consiously praying about, and it also illumines God's spiritual laws that are operating under all conditions.

To add your thoughts and prayers, please visit tmcyouth.com.

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.