The Blue Morpho of Happiness

Spiritual resource to share: Costa Rica inspirations

Why I felt this tinge of happiness everytime a blue morpho butterfly crossed my path, I'm not sure.

When my son decided he wanted to spend his high school senior year studying in Monteverde, Costa Rica, last January, we started planning. Of course in the planning, there was lots to think about: details about curriculum, living expenses, upcoming college applications, details about school, just details and more details. We were all also dealing with a new sense of home and a new chapter in our lives. Rick and I would officially be empty-nesters, sharing that role with my dad who shares our home.

So seven months later, we landed in Monteverde and Gabe got settled in to his new life and Rick and I took to walking the rain forests and through the towns. In the middle of a walk on a trail or walking down one of the mountain roads, blue morpho butterflies would pop up, flashing their neon blue off and on. It made me laugh.

Since they were everywhere and going in the same direction that we were going in, it reminded me that all was well; that we are all in our right place and going in the right direction; that God was at the helm here, and we could enjoy the beauty of His plan.

It had been an eventful year for all of us in the family, with my mom's passing a few months ago. Her gentle presence and consistent prayer helped to relieve us of a hard sense of grief and to realize that our love for one another never changes. God, as Love, continues to guard and guide as now, as He has in every aspect of our lives.

These blue morphos were a reminder of that love. It was interesting to know that our visit coincided right at the time they hatch, so they were literally everywhere. And to add another delight, we found that the indigenous Guatuso tribe considered the blue morpho as a symbol of love.

I smiled to think of what Mary Baker Eddy says about love and happiness:

Love inspires, illuminates designates and leads the way.

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

May the blue morpho cross your paths today!



photo© trancedrumer - 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.

GodHaikus

Spiritual resource to share: community poetry

Last month, someone started a Haiku July (thanks Colleen!) and soon voices from all over facebook joined in. I think there were at least twelve novice poets that were sharing their haikus. I hope the others will post theirs too!

As I have been doing GodWords for many months now, it was easy to start doing GodHaikus! Enjoy these 5-7-5 inspirations sprinkled with Haikus from other friends. Soon, every time I opened up the computer.... well....

computer opens
a plethora of haikus
new friends and delight!

starting out....
Thinking of Godwords:
infinite ways to see God
being All-in-all

written with thoughts of a dear friend

rest assured, you are safe,
curled in the palm of Her hand

protected, alert

a prayer of wholeness

no bad parts, good parts,
divided, split or injured.
God declares me whole.

from Sandi

Teach me only truth

what's forever real and now.
Truth alone endures.

One haiku poet introduced

the word "zamming"

and soon many of us were finding

it was just the perfect word!
leaping and zamming
all God's children bounce and play
joyful abandon

embrace

no lines drawn between
sex, race, orientation
Christ is all, in all

for my sons
God's love for you and me
infinite and intimate
bigger than the sky

for busy people

satisfying rest
loon calls fill the evening
night ending day. peace.

removing the stone
hard headache of grief
cracks; reveals the primal point
of sustaining love

This is like an

angel message to me today. ♥

(from a commenter)

Choose your path. Look for
ameliorative signs:
freedom, flow and growth

morning haiku

calm presence of Love
strengthens my confidence: God
underlines my day

triumph

struggling wrestling
heaviness and sludge of doubt
breakthrough: startling joy

from Amy
darkness falling
rain falling
thought rising into pure inspiration

A favorite!! from Isobel:

Oh cuddle divine
arms a big as outer space
trigger sweet release

To share your thoughts and Haikus! 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 make a difference

Spiritual resource to share: a hug



Anyone who thinks they are too small to make a difference has never tried to fall asleep with a mosquito in the room. - Christian Todd Whitman : )

I was surprised when a friend commented on a little act of kindness I did many years ago. She just had a baby, and I went to the hospital to visit her and see my new goddaughter. I saw she was uncomfortable and rearranged the pillows for her. Something about that simple act stayed with her and reminded her that we can all be a blessing in the little things we do.

Small things can make a big difference. And it doesn't have to be an annoying difference either!
An act of love, of sharing, of attention and affection can turn a day from bad to good. A little wink of confidence given to a new performer, or a hug of recognition given to a long lost relative can bring a reservoir of assurance right there.

It is from these sparks of kindness that good things grow into great things. FREE HUGS is such a great example of how a little kindness can grow into world wide movement to share some joy and connection! (Click here to read about its humble beginnings.)

Mary Baker Eddy sheds some light on the power of Love, God, behind all these small actions of good from Pulpit and Press ( p. 4).

Is not a man metaphysically and mathematically number one, a unit, and therefore whole number, governed and protected by his divine Principle, God? You have simply to preserve a scientific, positive sense of unity with your divine source, and daily demonstrate this. Then you will find that one is as important a factor as duodecillions in being and doing right, and thus demonstrating deific Principle.

To find out more about the art of kindness and practical healing prayer, contact Kim at kim@kimckorinek.com or add your comments below.

Prayer for the Gulf Oil Spill: Conference call Wednesday, July 7th at noon CDT

Spiritual resource to share: our healing solutions

Every Wednesday at noon, a group of Christian Scientists host a conference call with readings from the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy on a different topic every week. The last half of the call is open for any on the call to share their own healings and their inspiration from their study of Christian Science.

You are all welcome to join us! This is especially helpful for those who either can't get to a church on Wednesday or for those who just want to check this out for the first time and see what it is like.

Simply call 1-201-793-9022 and give the access code of 7040344, and then you are in! (If you are calling internationally, please email me first at kim@kimckorinek.com.)

It starts at 12 noon CDT (1pm EDT) and lasts one hour.

I'll be doing the readings this Wednesday which focus on our ability to find solutions to the Gulf Oil Spill. These readings give a deeper look at God's authority and show how God's authority is expressed through the honesty of each of us which increases our capacity to find healing solutions. It includes this main idea from Science and Health:

The calm strong currents of true spirituality, the manifestations of which are health, purity and self-immolation, must deepen human experience...."

Hope to see you there!




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.

Monday morning prayer

Spiritual resource to share: clean slate

"All things are become new." That's a great way to start the week!

When the old stereotypical view of Monday morning started creeping in this morning, I recognized it , stomped on it, and realized I had the authority to totally reverse the claim that Monday mornings are sluggish and that there is an inevitable dread with nothing to look forward to the rest of the week.

“Soul has infinite resources with which to bless all mankind and happiness would be more readily attained and would be more secure in our keeping if sought in Soul.”

So, right here, while getting out of bed on a Monday morning, I can claim those “infinite resources” – of insightful love, intelligent care, effective solutions, and abundant supply for this morning.

God’s work is done and it was good. I can go forward, knowing that God’s work is NEVER undone. That God has the authority to fulfill His purpose and supplies us with whatever is needed to do so. God furnishes all good and we can drop all of our own planning, scheming, speculating and dreaming and fully lean on God.

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart,” what a full breath of fresh air that is! “In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.” What a relief!

We know what we are supposed to do this week: acknowledge God, Love, Truth in everything we see and do. And we know what to expect: God will direct our paths.

God is infinite, all-intelligent, all-wise, all-knowing. God is Love. This is what is directing our paths this week. Wow. What a week is in store for us all.

2004 watercolor picture by Gabe Korinek ©2010

the way we'll be

Spiritual resource to share: signs of spiritual leavening



Being the trendoid that I am, I love surveying the landscape to see where the collective thought is and where it may be headed. This has implications for all of us - whether the "us" is my family, my various communities, my country or the world.

Here is a book I'd like to share with you all. Enjoy!

The Way We'll Be: The Zogby Report on the Transformation of the American Dream” by John Zogby

"Book in a nutshell: Americans will face the challenges of the 21st century with creative approaches to consumerism, a cooperative worldview and an inclusive view of spirituality.

That's according to Zogby, president and CEO of Zogby International, a polling company that canvasses about half a million people every year to gauge public opinion ....(Zogby's) results point to a populace much less taken with the
traditional signs of status and success. In survey after survey, he finds respondents more apt to be satisfied with less material wealth and more spiritual satisfaction.

Zogby's data also shows that the current generation of 18- to 29-year- olds, what Zogby terms "first globals," are more than willing to make adjustments in the face of dwindling natural resources, threats to the environment and international tensions. "

Being a Christian Scientist, I am keenly aware of the power of God as Love and Truth. Following Christ's lead, one can actually experience this healing power in degrees. Is there a leavening effect to this Love? I think so.

Mary Baker Eddy, discoverer and founder of Christian Science saw this well over a hundred years ago - and it is still true today. She wrote this in her book Miscellaneous Writings:

This age is reaching out towards the perfect Principle of things; is pushing towards perfection in art, invention, and manufacture. Why, then, should religion be stereotyped, and we not obtain a more perfect and practical Christianity? It will never do to be behind the times in things most essential, which proceed from the standard of right that regulates human destiny. (p. 232)

And then (from the same book)

Like the leaven that a certain woman hid in three measures of meal, the Science of God and the spiritual idea, named in this century Christian Science, is leavening the lump of human thought, until the whole shall be leavened and all materialism disappear. (p. 166)

Inclusive spirituality, a more universal cooperation, satisfied with less materialsm and more spirituality .....I think she is on to something....




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.

swinging like Tarzan

Spiritual resource to share: living fearlessly

It seems that many of life's challenges are about overcoming fear by letting go of those fears. When you let go of the fear, you open your eyes to what already exists - freedom, peace, grace and full joy. And you find that you can trust God, who is the source of all Life.

I had a wonderful reminder of this a few months ago while on a family adventure in Costa Rica. It was easy for my sons to talk me into doing another zipline tour of the Cloud Forest. Costa Rica is stunningly beautiful and to be able to soar over the jungle and steep grasslands is simply awesome! And I didn't mind the steep short hikes to get to the launching platforms where one gets locked into a pulley system before zipping down a cable that slices through the lush forests or zings high above the land and waterfalls.

But, on this trip, there was something called the Tarzan swing, and that was another story. You are still tied onto a cable, but you have to simply step off the platform into - nothing! I could do all the ziplines, but my knees were protesting the Tarzan swing. As I approached the drop off point, I couldn't move.

I decided not to do it. I confessed to the guide, thinking I would have a sympathetic ear, someone who would understand why I couldn't go ahead with this and let me go back with the others who elected not to do this event.

"This one is a little hard for me." I said quietly so as not to embarass myself in front of those who decided to do it. "You see, I am a little bit nervous ...." The guide leaned over and interrupted me, ".....so am I....." he said, and gently, but firmly, nudged me off the platform!

The rest of the group laughed. I screamed. And then, I flew!! Swinging down deep into a valley then swinging up to almost touching treetops, I could hear my sons and others laughing and cheering. I let out a perfectly articulated Tarzan yell.

Life is good.

Letting go of a limited perspective shows you how limitless life is. We can trust Life to be self-sustaining, self-correcting, joyous and eternal. All we need sometimes is that little bit of encouragement to take that first step out of a fear-based type of thinking to soar over problems and challenges and to experience the adventure of the Life that is God's.

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.

...and comforters are needed much of Christlike touch

Spiritual resource to share: a spiritual dimension of care

When my mother needed care, my dad, my husband and I were well prepared to give her what she needed. But we soon found calling others for additional support was needed. This new support was both surprising and refreshing!

In one instance, I called a Christian Science nurse to ask for ideas in how to prepare food. She gave me some inspiring ways to think about food as well as practical ways to prepare the food done in a way that was normal and natural.

By the end of our phone conversation, I had not only new meals I could prepare, but also an entirely inspired way of looking at food. Gone were the overly processed foods, replaced by fresh and whole foods. Variety and appropriate proportions, balance and color all became a part of preparing nourishing food for my mom. Preparing a meal became an act of love, seasoned with an expectancy of healing and a return to normal eating.

This was probably a small part in that Christian Science nurse's day. But to me, it gave me a renewed energy and even a sense of fun to our job of caring for my mom. This tender touch helped to break any sense of monotony or routine and brought it to a fresh and healing perspective.

This poem captures the tenderness of Christly caring for one another that I found so helpful.

Ask God to give thee skill
In comfort's art;
That thou may'st consecrated be
And set apart
Unto a life of sympathy.
For heavy is the weight of ill
In every heart;
And comforters are needed much
Of Christlike touch.

Poem by AE Hamilton
(as shared on page 95 in Retrospection and Introspection by
Mary Baker Eddy)

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.

Prayer for the Gulf - prayer for mankind

Spiritual resource to share: corrective purity

Sunrise on the Gulf of Mexico

On my four hour drive home last night, I listened to news on the radio as much as I was in range. Having such an intensive session of news reporting, I started seeing a pattern – of reporting anger, arrogance, ignorance, hopelessness, the awfulness of the human condition. This cancerous outcry for all the attention of the airwaves and all the attention of our thought woke me up.

We have a choice. We don’t have to accept this. I don’t want to be passive about this.

RE: the gulf – we can (what an amazing word!) sweep away the false and give way to the true. So what authority is given to us that we CAN do this?

The authority of omnipotent Truth - which is a synonym of God - is given to us to sweep away the chaos, disorder and mistake and see the brilliance, purity and power of Truth revealed.



The power of Truth – purity – is attractive and it is normal, natural, and factual that all those children of Truth (you, me, the people at BP, the people on the coasts, politicians and children and so on) be attracted and drawn toward Truth, honesty and purity.

It is our own purity that draws us towards those practices most reflecting purity, power and Truth. This is as natural as a flower turning toward the light, the river finding its easiest course, the stately progression and growth of a redwood.

There is no obstacle in this natural progression. This means that the anger, conflict, arrogance, mistake, the threat to life and potential threat to future life, have no power, influence or substance.

We are not followers of the human drama. We have been called to demonstrate – to witness – God’s will on earth as it is in heaven. We are Christ’s followers, Truth’s followers, Love’s followers.

In following Principle, Truth, we remember that there are infinite resources, ideas and solutions that are at hand. Courage is a spiritual quality in ample abundance. Intelligent care is based on omnipotent Love and is accessible now. Innovation has its roots in Principle – a quality of God we all reflect. We can call on and expect brilliant solutions to any of life’s problems. If God is All, then there is no condition where God’s laws are not operating.

This is what we are called to demonstrate – to expect and to give our consent to the healing solution to this problem. There is a perfect solution that will bless all.

This fact established in Science and Health covers all the bases for my prayer here.

S&H 99:23

The calm, strong currents of true spirituality, the manifestations of which are health, purity, and self-immolation, must deepen human experience, until the beliefs of material existence are seen to be a bald imposition, and sin, disease, and death give everlasting place to the scientific demonstration of divine Spirit and to God's spiritual, perfect man.

Keep praying. Keep revealing God’s power in your life.

Thursday evening: This just in !
Good friend Isobel added these comments:



Isobel Sally Davis May 20 at 11:23am
This quote is phenomonal! Perfect quote to lift thought with all the talk of oil probably getting a ride on the loop current and gulf stream. thank you for that!

Another quote that keeps coming to mind relates more to the moral aspects..."...level wealth with honesty..." Whether it is a plane crash due to negligence of the pilots, or a natural disaster caused by the collective belief of chance, I think it's a great opportunity for moral progress. Not that the oil companies are evil, but the temptation for oil companies to cut corners to increase profits, and for the government to let them, needs correcting.

Also, the claim that human error can ever cause catastrophe is something that needs challenging. I am working on that all the time, stepping away from human responsibility and blame. Stepping away from ego and having the courage to claim God's control and power. "let" the reign of divine Truth Life and Love. When will humanity learn that they have power over the weather, etc.

Isobel Sally Davis May 20 at 11:34am
It wasn't letting me finish.... when will humanity learn that God is omnipotent, and has authority over tornados and ocean currents! (I include myself in this). You might be interested in an article on spirituality.com by me about "safe in the eye of the storm" where I was forced to defeat my fear of weather and had a perfectly harmonious experience at sea. I was able to gain a taste of the culture, social and political systems, and wildlife while I lived and worked in Louisiana. It gives me many more thoughts about this whole thing! xo



Click here to follow the news from The Christian Science Monitor.

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.

Mother-wisdom

Spiritual resource to share: mother-love

After I wrote my first blog about my dad, my mom commented, a little wryly, that I had never written one about her! Well, I checked and realized little bits of mom's wisdom were scattered all over my posts.

This being our first Mother's Day without her, I realized just how much her life's experiences and values are woven into mine. One of the many things we share in common is a love of Christian Science. Its founder, Mary Baker Eddy, wrote something that rings so true and gives me great comfort:

The beautiful in character is also the good, welding indissolubly the links of affection. A mother's affection cannot be weaned from her child, because the mother-love includes purity and constancy, both of which are immortal. Therefore maternal affection lives on under whatever difficulties.

Here are some of my favorite bits of Mother-wisdom I wrote about in my past blogs. Enjoy!

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!" ( and this was well before caller ID!)

I also noticed that when I was away from home and 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.

Two of my favorite citizens of the world are my mother and a former colleague. What they have in common was that they love people deeply and unconditionally. My mother has not yet traveled outside of her country, but every friend I have ever introduced to my parents, from Ethiopia, Iceland, Germany, Cameroon, Colombia, Brazil, Colorado, next door – it almost doesn’t matter where they are from – she just loves them.

Likewise, a former colleague: She speaks nine languages and moves from one culture to the next with hardly a blip. They both know what it takes to be a global citizen.

The best "global citizens" I know are those who love most unconditionally. They love beyond cultures and borders. They love knowing that we are all God’s children and we are all welcomed and at home in the world.


I grew up with the idea that "there is no spot where God is not." My mother always assured me that God is love and is everywhere. This comforting thought helped ease me through many new situations, and it comforts me now. There is no hollow area where God's presence, comfort and love cannot be felt.

Heaven - all that is good - is right here, right now. "This is the best time of life" my mother would say whenever I would ask her what her favorite time of life was. No matter what decade it was, I always got the same answer. She got the heaven thing right on.


I was brought up in Christian Science. I had the benefit and blessing of a mom who always helped me through prayer whenever I had any difficulty. Her tenderness and loving kindness is how I came to understand God. In my journey to the full time public practice of Christian Science, I could see how God was guiding me to new experiences, each experience giving me a higher view of Christian Science. It started with being able to feel the love of God through my own understanding and my mom’s example.

I went to pick up my mother for an evening event. She had been waiting half the day to tell me about her latest "Aha!" Finally, we had a moment and she shared an inspiring moment of understanding more about God. This opened up for her a whole new and helpful way of seeing things. "Enlightening, isn't it?" she winked.

Mary Baker Eddy explains this in Science and Health:
When understanding changes the standpoints of life and intelligence from a material to a spiritual basis, we shall gain the reality of Life, the control of Soul over sense, and we shall perceive Christianity, or Truth, in its divine Principle.

The real story, the primary story, is that we gain a better understanding of how God really operates. We get it. We understand more of the principles behind Christianity, behind Truth itself. And that is when life gets bigger, broader and more inclusive. And that illuminates our whole world.




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.