angel with moose wings

Spiritual resource to share: self-forgiveness and expectation of good

Two evenings ago, I took my dog, Mocha, out to a remote area where we could hike a wide expanse of lake. The ice on the lake had been frozen over for months and gave us an open vista to run and jump through drifts while watching the sun set.

I parked the car easily and Mocha and I were soon out of the car and onto our hike. But when returning, I realized there was an ever so slight slope to my parking space. But that was enough to keep me from backing up onto the icy dirt road and head on home. After thirty minutes of trying to get out, I was stuck.

I realized I didn't have my cellphone.

I realized that we had earlier emptied the car out of all emergency equipment

I realized that it was getting dark and this was pretty remote.

Oops.

I realized I needed to pray.

My first thought was to berate myself for not having checked before I left to see that I had what I needed in case of an emergency. I drive in remote areas so often and it is almost second nature to have with me these emergency things. I needed to forgive myself - immediately. I didn't have time to dwell in self-condemnation and fearful speculation. It was getting dark fast.

Mocha and I walked out a half mile to a paved road. Far down the road, I could see headlights of a car. I waved earnestly with both arms. It went right past me.

Sure, I thought, who is going to want to pick up a stranger with a Rottweiler at night? Right on the wings of that thought came another. I had a choice. I turned down the ideas that I could be abandoned or that we would have a long, cold lonely 10 mile walk home.

I started listening to angels - "God's thoughts passing to man" - that assured me that God is right with me. God cares for each of His children. This is a law of Love operating right now on our behalf -- and on behalf of any of God's children that happen to pass by this way!

Another set of headlights. Another car passed by, but then stopped, went into reverse and stopped again in front of me.

As the driver of this 4x4 pick up truck with a trailer hitch rolled down his window, I explained my situation and asked if he had a phone I could use. He volunteered to take me to my car and help pull me out. Mocha and I jumped in the back of the pick up and into a wide all-embracing set of wing-like antlers of a moose. We negotiated space with the antlers and then took off to find our car.

What was lovely about this experience was the man - he was kind, understanding and concerned for my safety. After he easily pulled my car out onto the dirt road, he followed me to be sure that I could get to the paved road with no problem. The fullness of God's care for each of His children was shown through this man's unselfishness and kindness. This was God's angel message in a fully equipped pick-up truck.

After many heartfelt thanks, we parted on the paved road and Mocha and I were safely on our way home.

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.

Natación con pirañas/swimming with piranhas

Spiritual resource to share: love of adventure

Recurso espiritual de compartir: amor de aventura

Presented first in Spanish, followed by a translation in English

Presentado primero en español, seguido de una traducción en inglés

(Por favor véase abajo para más información/See below for more information)

Este articulo (abajo), escrito en 1974 por Alex Noble y publicado en El Monitor de Christian Science, ha sido un pilar inspirador - lo saco siempre que yo esté listo a emprender algo nuevo y desconocido. ¡Disfrute!

Pasos avanzados

Encuentro que el riesgo hacia objetivos expansivos y loables es esencial. Mientras el riesgo es fácil para hablar de, no es tan fácil practicar. Cuando tomo un riesgo, ampliándome en una nueva dirección, parece a salir en un lago congelado. La invitación de miradas superficial, ábrase y seguro. Pero hay siempre la posibilidad que el hielo rajará - la posibilidad de fracaso, de poner en ridículo de mí. Siempre que yo tome un riesgo - hacia el desarrollo de una nueva habilidad, hacia una amistad nueva y desafiante - casi siempre tengo dudas profundas en cuanto a la sabiduría de mi curso.

Verdadero a cada paso de la nueva experiencia cuando esto no se abre antes de mí, avanzo, sostenido sólo por un sentido interior de aseguramiento y necesidad, aunque el paisaje circundante pueda parecer incierto y hasta peligroso.

En cualquier situación de riesgo, trato de mantener que una buena voluntad de dejar va de cosas que no calculan de un modo natural y espontáneo. Debe haber libertad, flujo y crecimiento. Pero un nuevo talento o habilidad, un nuevo amigo, una perspectiva fresca en mi vida - éstos bien valen el examen de conciencia lo que arriesga por lo general provoca.

Jean Cocteau ha dicho, "un artista debería averiguar lo que él hace todo lo posible, y luego hacer algo más. ¿" Qué debe adelantar allí si me quedo la caja fuerte y caliente dentro de los límites de una orden cómoda, establecida? ¿Por otra parte, qué puedo posiblemente perder encarando el nuevo, el desconocido, dónde asombroso, las cosas vigorizadoras, que abren horizonte, y hacer, pueden pasar? En la toma de riesgos, a menudo me hago esta pregunta: ¿"es hecho algo de un impulso de mi truest mí un error, sin tener en cuenta qué podría pasar?"


ENGLISH

This piece, written in 1974 by Alex Noble and published in The Christian Science Monitor, has been an inspirational mainstay - I pull it out whenever I am ready to embark on something new and unknown. Enjoy!

Stepping forward

I find that risk toward expansive and creditable goals is essential. While risk is easy to talk about, it is not so easy to practice. When I take a risk, extending myself in a new direction, it is like stepping out onto a frozen lake. The surface looks inviting, open and secure. But there is always the possibility that the ice will crack - the possibility of failure, of making a fool of myself. Whenever I take a risk - toward developing a new skill, toward a new and challenging friendship - I almost always have deep misgivings as to the wisdom of my course. True to each step of the new experience as it opens up before me, I move forward, sustained only by an inner sense of assurance and necessity, even though the surrounding landscape may appear uncertain and even dangerous.

In any risk situation, I try to maintain a willingness to let go of things that are not working out in a natural and spontaneous way. There must be freedom, flow and growth. But a new talent or skill, a new friend, a fresh perspective on my life - these are well worth the soul-searching that risk usually provokes.

Jean Cocteau has said, "An artist should find out what he does best, and then do something else." What is there to gain if I stay safe and warm within the confines of a comfortable, established order? On the other hand, what can I possibly lose by confronting the new, the unknown, where amazing, invigorating, horizon-opening things can, and do, happen? In taking risks, I often ask myself this question: "Is anything done from an impulse of my truest self a mistake, regardless of what might happen?"

Después de bajar por 800 pasos a una cascada hermosa en Costa Rica, nos dijeron que los peces en los fondos estuvieron relacionados con pirañas - sin embargo, esto era una relación distante y estos peces eran vegetarianos!

After climbing down 800 steps to a beautiful waterfall in the cloud forests of Costa Rica, we were told that the fish in the surrounding pools were related to piranhas - however the relation was quite distant and these fish were vegetarian!

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 light that keeps shining

Spiritual resource to share: comfort

Days after the thrill of a surprising victory at a recent competition my son was in, we heard the tragic news. One of his schoolmates passed on after a short illness. This had us all running for comfort, trying to find ways to make sense of this.

Comfort is a gift. And, like a gift, it has to be accepted. This may be hard after shocking news, but after the anger and questions calm down, we can reach out for and receive comfort.

There is a song about comfort:

Like as a mother, God comforteth Her children,

comfort is calm, that bids all tumult cease.

Comfort is hope and courage for endeavor,

comfort is love, whose home abides in peace.*

Comfort as calm, as hope, as courage, as love. This is a gift for each of us. This is a gift that helps to clear our head so we can see what is true and lasting about life.

Some say that time will heal the hard headache of grief. But perhaps that is only the time it takes

• to let go of the disorientation and welcome a new re-orientation to life.
• to stop looking at the lost opportunities and find the opportunities that exist right now to love each other, to help each other, to enjoy each other.
• to replace the shame of past unkindnesses with the affirmation of the life (the love, the goodness, the joy) that was shared
• to replace the guilt of forgetting with the balm of forgiveness. It is not too late.
• and finally, to exchange the fear of loss and change with an understanding of what is changeless.

Sooner or later, we recognize the integral part each friend, each family member and even each acquaintance has in the fabric of our lives. We weave into one another's lives like the threads that weave over and under and cross each other in a taut fabric ..... and there is no unraveling.

Love is spiritual and good - like light. We can no more lose what is good than we can lose light. Consider that the absence of a loved one brings their gifts into sharp focus and demands recognition!

My son and his classmates are celebrating their friend's life. They are preparing a memorial service with his pictures, his stories and all that he brought to this startlingly connected school community. This action - shared by the whole school - was quickly becoming an affirmation of life and the continuity of community. His friend's life's connections showed them what their life connections were.

"Mom, I want to stay here with my friends" my son explained to me when I asked if he wanted to come home for a while, "you can feel the healing going on."

It becomes more obvious than ever before that we are all important to one another. The light that we bring to others keeps shining. And the light of this friend goes on in all the lives of all the people he touched.

* Christian Science Hymnal Hymn #174


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.

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Aprendiendo a escuchar

Spiritual resource to share: Lessons and inspirations in Spanish!
Recursos espirituales de compartir: ¡Lecciones e inspiraciones en español!

Vine a Costa Rica por muchas razones, incluyendo aprender a escuchar. Mi educación de español era un poco irregular, pero tengo bastante capacidad y puedo hablar mas o menos bien. Pero, es obvio, necesito escuchar con mas atencion.

Los creo que se necesitan tres cosas escuchar con atención:

1 – la voluntad

2 – amor

3 – la creencia que es posible.

La voluntad

Querer algo es estar abierto a una experiencia nueva. En este caso, no es importante tener un orden del día, pero es im portant estar receptivo a cualquier cosa que otra persona haya dicho.

Amor

El Amor - es uno de las siete cualidades de Dios (se escrita en Ciencia y los Salud con Clave de las Escrituras por Mary Baker Eddy). Y mas, los sinónimos de amor son balance, harmonía, y la igualdad entre demanda y provisión.

Cuando hay un ambiente de harmonía, es mas fácil remover las distracciones y entonces, tener un enfoque claro a la otra persona. Existe un equilibran entre el hablante y el escucha. Hay una expectación que el mensaje es claro decir y igualmente claro escuchar.

La creencia es que es posible escuchar y comprender

Creencias como "yo ningún tengo la capacidad a aprender; estoy tan viejo, tan perezoso, tan preocupado" etc. Esos creencias necesitan tirarles.

Sus creencias probado la direccion de su vida, y es su responsabilidad de elegir sus pensamientos con sabiduría.

Su deseo, expectaciones, y voluntad alcanzara un otros y escuchara con un actitud que sera abierta y apoyara. Aprendiendo a escuchar es aprendiendo a amar.

humble expectations

Spiritual resource to share: a spiritual approach to new experiences

I was surprised when clicking off my Godwords* before our trip that it started with humble expectations. But as we headed off to the airport, with our bare minimum luggage and packs, long list of contacts and addresses - humble expectations were the one thing I kept reminding myself were most important.

This wasn't a trip in which we were trying to get away from it all, nor was it a luxury trip. It was a trip designed for the four of us to have time together to explore and play off our own discoveries of what we were learning and enjoying with each other and with the people we met along the way.

Humble expectations helped me to NOT outline, and to be open to new experiences. So, if the food, accommodations, travel arrangements or weather were not what we were used to, we have already set up the framework of this trip to be ready for anything and thrive outside of our own comfort zone!

O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches. So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts

Humble expectations helped to clear the deck so we could see beyond what was familiar. Drawn to what is infinite and good, we weren't disappointed!

The first week, we lived in a clean and airy beach cottage with electricity and running water, just a two minute walk to the beach. Every day, we would do something - sea kayaking, ziplining, visiting an animal rescue center, hiking up through the jungle, eating and smelling our way through with the help of a new friend whose family had lived there for decades.

Every afternoon we would take in the beach, or explore the town or just relax. Dinners were out in the bohemian town of Puerto Viejo where reggae, arabic and hip hop could be heard on the streets. Nights we were together, talking, reading, writing, falling asleep to the sound of the waves or the wind....

The last two weeks were spent up in the mountains of Costa Rica where we went to language school and volunteered in the community and took in the incredible diversity of the flora and fauna and the people.

"The earth is full of Thy riches" and I was enriched by just letting go of any outlining and letting in the beauty and the fun that was there for the taking.

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.

I'm baaaaack!

Spiritual resource to share: returning home

Hello!

I have missed being here at my desk, blogging away into the blogosphere and catching connections with all of you who stop in and visit.

But it has been a very full few months and I am happy to say I have kept up with family and the practice. But two other major projects demanded the rest of my time.

1 - We now are part of a blended household. My parents moved in the end of October and we have continued to take the best of two households and blend them into one, and giving the rest away to thrift stores and charities. Work on renovations, remodeling, and unpacking all were finished before Christmas and we were all tucked in quite nicely for the holidays.

2 - Plans for an amazing family trip to Costa Rica were underway most of this time. In January we spent 3 weeks on the beaches and in the mountains exploring the language, the people and the incredible bio-diversity that Costa Rica is known for

I have lots more material to share with you all, so stay tuned! And it is good to be back.

Christmas Hope

Spiritual resource to share: readings from inspired writings



As I looked at the Glossary from Mary Baker Eddy's book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, it struck me how many words applied directly to the Christmas story. So that became the basis of my readings for a Wednesday evening testimony meeting. Enjoy! And have a blessed Christmas!

Jer 17: 7
Job 11: 17, 18
SH 591: 23

Isaiah 9:6-7
Psalm 72:17

SH 581: 4
SH 588: 7
Luke 1: 26- 37

SH 494: 15 (only)
135: 6
591: 21
Luke 1: 38- 47, 56

SH 589: 19
582:14
589: 16-18
Matt 1: 18-24
Luke 2:4-7

SH 596: 11 (only), 15
510: 9
593: 4
Matt 2:1, 2, 5, 6, 9-11

SH vii: 4, 2
594: 12
584:26
298: 28-30
Luke 2: 8- 20, 22, 24

SH 583: 10
590: 9
582: 1
Luke 2: 25-33, 36-40

29: 20-1
298:13-15, 19-20, 22-24
319:5-7
446:20-23
45: 16
482: 19-22, 23

Hymn 236
Hymn 310
Hymn 222









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.

Lessons from trees and babies and patients

Spiritual resource to share: fun

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


To share your thoughts on this or to explore this idea further, please feel free to be in contact with me, add your own comments below, email this article to a friend, or add to the healing finds and sites on the web to the right.

a gift for a child

Spiritual resource to share: our gifts


This just in .....

barbie horse with a pink saddle joyce

Ok, (writes her mom) so Joyce typed the above in, BUT if you would like to be her 'pink' heroine she is the perfect age for dressup stuff. She has not had a good boa since the last one blew up. She just had a light up tiara fatality on the back yard swing set, and would be forever greatful to her favorite Aunt Kim for a box of girlie whatever. .... Anything else? Yes, she pretends most of the day, and fairies and princesses are on the top of the list. (Right after dog and horse)

This was in response to our family's annual gift exchange. I am fortunate enough to have enough nieces that I (coming from a heavily male-oriented family) can get my girl fix in on a regular basis. I get to choose pink things, and musical things and romantic movies and girls' athletic wear, and share books, favorite charities, innovations and woodland adventures with the best of them.

Successful gift giving all depends on what each girls' gifts are and where they are in their lives. That makes sense.

But little did I know that when we first got the first inspiration that a child was on the way, what gifts a child would bring to our lives. Little did I know the depth of love that is felt, the frustration, the surprise, that comes with the package of parenting.

Each child comes to us complete with an inherent mission, a cluster of spiritual qualities uniquely expressing their infinite Father-Mother God. We have the awesome job of seeing these qualities bloom perenially. Through sleepers and night time feedings, to ice skates and fairies, to car keys and college, each child's purpose blossoms and grows.

And I think, do we know just how important our gifts are to them? Our gifts of effort and earnestness, of love, experience and time provide their nourishing soil. We, as parents, are there to remind them that they are known, that they have a purpose and that they are loved.

So in this happy exchange of gift-giving, the deeper current of being known for who you are and who you will be moves forward and we celebrate it! That's the best gift for a child!









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.

good is not helpless

Spiritual resource to share: true power in organizations

These statements have persistently intrigued me: that good is not helpless; truth always triumphs and love never fails. The power behind these absolute statements forms the basis for their expression.

So - I have puzzled - how do you engage with organizations that seem to fall flat of ethical and noble goals? Who have told outward lies, blatantly disregarded laws? Quitting those organizations is one option. Staying with and trying to bring about change is another. Both responses to these moral dilemmas are difficult.

Once a group hired a non-professional musician who was earnest and consistent and, as one friend said, "he plays most of the right notes most of the time." This grateful and compassionate approach helped me to see how I could engage with other groups where I didn't always agree with how they operated. I could see the good that they do and work with that.

But this went deeper. This wasn't a Pollyanna approach.

I understand that good works are born of honesty, commitment, dedication and selflessness and are powerful. In fact, these are the only qualities that accomplish anything worth accomplishing!

Deeply understanding the fixed nature of good trumps the mesmeric and discouraging aspects of greed, selfishness and even criminal thought that would bring on apathy and a sense of hopelessness.

Understanding the nature of good also heightens our awareness of good so that we don't mistake well intentioned efforts incorrectly.

I realized that it doesn't matter how many people are involved in an organization or how many differing opinions arise in the operation of an organization. Good will prevail.

Tangled bureaucracy, rumor mills, gossip and lawlessness do not have an absolute or spiritual basis. They can't stand.

Like a blade of grass pushing up in a desert - Truth, Life and Love - all elements of good - are insistent. Truth slices away at the tons of conflicting opinions like sand dunes drifting back and forth. Love plants its roots deeply. Life continues to create and perpetuate Life.

I continue to apply these ideas to my own life, the smaller groups I belong to and those larger groups that are fighting genocide, are encouraging earth stewardship and global efforts toward peace.

A human organization with noble goals is working its purpose out as surely as I am understanding and fine-tuning my life purpose.

Compassion, patience and an absolute hold on the power of Truth continue to guide me and remove any baggage as surely as it is guiding each of those organizations that I am committed to. I found I need to be as patient and persistent with these groups as I hope others are with me.

This can only bear good fruit. Love never fails; Truth always triumphs; and good is never helpless.

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.