Safe even when we don't know it

Commuter Train

My friend Marti says she prays each morning for God to guide her day. She also has a casual acquaintance who walks past her house on his way to and from the commuter train. Sometimes they chat when he is on his way home. This fellow doesn’t see, and gets along very well using his special cane.

The other afternoon Marti was running errands. Her car was stopped at the railroad crossing while the commuter train was letting passengers off. She waited patiently as the train pulled away and the crossing gates stayed down. Often at this time of day the gates stay down because express trains, leaving the city, zip through her town on their way to distant suburbs.

Suddenly Marti saw her friend who apparently didn’t realize the gates were still down. He was on his way across the tracks towards her. She leaped out of her car, door open and engine running, and dashed up the sidewalk to the gate. “Come quickly!” she called to him. “You must cross the tracks quickly!” He picked up his pace, and she reached her hand out and pulled him to safety -- just in time.

Marti doesn’t think of herself as a hero. She credits her morning prayers for God to guide her day, for putting her where she was needed that afternoon. What I see is angels -- angel thoughts – messages straight from God – guiding Marti and her friend; angel messages straight from God keeping this man safe, despite his misunderstanding of his circumstances.

What I've found is that it's important to listen to these angel messages. Marti was already in tune with her prayer for God to use her that day. So when she saw someone in trouble, she didn't think twice about helping in any way she could. She helped in a way that kept her safe and saved her friend as well.

Living with sprouting purpose

Ever feel like an old stump?

The story of Job records the struggle of a man dealing with injustice and know-it-all friends. In great despair Job observes that even the stump of a cut-down tree might sprout if it just had enough water.

"There is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. . . Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant."

Although Job felt worse off than a dead stump, his remark gives me hope! No matter what the loss that makes us feel cut down and useless, with trust in a loving God, we can deal with it. Lost job, lost friendship, lost self-worth? God has a good plan for restoration and renewal, and He wants us to know what it is.

In Job’s case, when he prayed for his super-critical friends, he rediscovered his oneness with God’s purpose for him. The tragic losses of previous years receded as he moved forward in every aspect of restored and productive living.

Note to self: It’s easy to pray for those who are pleasant. It’s important to pray for those who are not, that they may discover their inmost God-given nature is one of caring and patience. Willingness to wrestle with ourselves in order to pray for difficult people -- those we think least deserve it -- adjusts our course, realigns us so that we find ourselves in the groove with our Maker.

Related: Scent of water - Kim Korinek

Family

“God sets the solitary in families.” These comforting words fit -- whether we are praying for AIDs orphans in Africa, the displaced and endangered in Darfur, or anyone who feels lonely or insecure.

Willing, grateful, happy and generous hearts somehow attract similar companions. Yet even those who are still learning that kindness and appreciation are their true nature, are loved and cherished by their Maker.

I’ve found it really helpful to lean on God’s love as my first, last, and primary relationship. I lean on Him/Her in the middle of crowds. And when I’m alone it’s always instructive and comforting, and sometimes exciting to listen for the input of universal Truth.

A friend took the initiative to be part of a family. She prayed first to ask God how better to praise and honor Him/Her. She then decided to begin the process of adopting a child from another country. Each step was successful, and eventually she brought her baby girl home. In the several years since she has blossomed by sharing her happiness and humor one-on-one as a single mom.

And if you are already part of a family, appreciate it. Family is special. It’s amazing how far a little honest appreciation and praise goe to make family relations even more pleasant. And if we're looking for them, the opportunities are there.

Man is the family name
for all ideas, — the sons and daughters of God.

Someone sent a great news video of a Canada goose who thinks she's part of a human family. Dan adopted her when she was a fuzzy orphan gosling. Apparently she imprinted on him. She and the beagle and Dan are family. Two and a half years later, she has resisted the call of the wild to stay with her human family. They go boating together, play together, relax together.

Finding the source of the fun

Looking for the source

Playing with children and animals reminds us that life is intended to be fun. Play is inherent in most creatures, especially, but not only, in the young. I marvel at the athletic skill and pure joy of dogs leaping into the air and snatching Frisbees.

Within the confines of my comfy home, the cats and I play too. What I’ve noticed about cats is they look to the source of an action. If you wiggle a toy on the end of a string, their gaze follows the string to your hand. They look beyond the waggle to the cause. While they will play with the toy, they always want to know the source. What’s causing the fun?

This reminds me to be grateful for the source of all the good in my life. To do more than enjoy the good, to follow the unseen string to its source. To say, OK God, I see what You are doing here, sharing this glorious sunrise with me, or the miracle of tulips opening in spring. Or providing a kind driver who pauses to let others into a line of traffic. I will enjoy these gifts, and give You the credit! Thanks for caring so much! You are the greatest!

Going forward by releasing the past

What am I willing to let go of?

There’s the old story of the monkey who put his hand into a coconut. He found something inside, and wrapped his fingers around it. However, he couldn’t get his hand out again, because in holding onto the treasure, his hand became a fist – too large to remove from the hole. This was the monkey’s dilemma – hang onto the treasure and be stuck in the coconut, or let go of the treasure and be free from the coconut.

Here’s a variation on the coconut theme. Once a an anxious man came running to Jesus and asked what he needed to do to have eternal life. They talked awhile, and Jesus found the man was already doing all the right things. Then came the clincher. “Sell everything you have and give it to the poor. And follow me.” The poor fellow couldn’t do it. He couldn’t let go of everything that seemed important to him, in order to follow Christ.

Progress is a lot like that. So often we have to let go of some perceived treasure before we can go forward. It might be material wealth. It might be attachment to things. Often as not, though, it’s some mental dependence. Sometimes it’s resentment or anger. And you know what? Most of us are reluctant to let go until it really hurts. And sometimes not even then. Sometimes we’d rather die than forgive somebody!

Students, staff, friends and families at Virginia Tech will have plenty of opportunity to figure out how to let go of the past in order to go forward. I wish them well as they sort through emotions, decisions, and determining what’s really important in their lives.

I’ve never been in the position of being shot at, or watching my friends shot or killed, or learning they’ve been killed. So I can only speak from what I know. And that is my conviction in a loving God who comforts and guides those who turn to Him/Her for consolation. From this infinite goodness comes the power to let go of whatever doesn’t bless us. With that letting go, healing and progress can take place.

Virginia Tech and the man who understood love

He understood love

I know I wasn't going to blog until May 1, but then Virigina Tech happened. I am so awed by the sacrifice of a single person for those he loved, that I cannot not write. So this is about love.

Liviu Librescu gave his life for his students. According to The Christian Science Monitor, at the first sounds of gunfire, he headed for the door and placed himself protectively in the doorway. He prevented the gunman from entering his classroom, saving the lives of his students by offering them valuable seconds to escape out the windows. They survived. He did not.

What do we say of such a man?

He was in fact a Jew who understood love as defined by another Jew 2000 years ago. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” Christ Jesus.

The news reports talk about bravery and courage. But it was more than that. It was love -- the kind of love that transcends mere affection. His son says Liviu considered his students his family, and was generous, kind, and supportive outside the classroom.

Where is God in this terrible tragedy? For me God is found not in the madness or the hate (these are, alas, manmade), but in the lives of people like Liviu Librescu who loved so much he didn’t hesitate to give his life for his friends.

"I make strong demands on love,
call for active witnesses to prove it,
and noble sacrifices and grand achievements as its results."
Mary Baker Eddy

See also Virginia Tech Aftermath April 19 post
and Virginia Tech Prayers

Good medicine

Highly effective pill

New, extra-strength Forgive All

Here's what the small print on the box says:

"If we confess our sins to God,

He will keep His promise and do what is right:

He will forgive us our sins

and make us clean from all our wrongdoing."

from Today's Enlgish Version

That's not such a bad deal. If we've done something to hurt others, fess up! We can put it face-up on the table if we're genuinely sorry, and give it over to God to be help us be more considerate and thoughtful. Of course, as with any drug, there are side effects.

Warning: Side effects include:

• Freedom from guilt
• reduced tension
• increased joy
• spontaneous laughter
• increased love for your fellow human
• eternal Life
• and an urge to tell others the wonderful news!

This new-old product claims to be:

• long lasting
• easy to swallow

Though introduced by the Great Physician, the Food and Drug Administration has yet to give its final approval.

Something to think about:

“Truth is the tonic for the sick,

and this medicine of Mind
is not necessarily infinitesimal but infinite.”
Mary Baker Eddy

Dogs -- bundles of gratitude

Golden retriever gives love in a nursing home

Over a period of weeks, I visited a friend in a nursing home, and Snowflake the white poodle-mix greeted me in anything but a friendly way. Her tiny body bounced into the air with each defensive woof. I like dogs, but decided not to push this relationship. There was something going on that I wasn’t privy to, and I decided to leave whatever it was in God’s gentle and caring hands.

One day one of the nurses told me the dog’s story. The nursing staff had adopted Snowflake when her original owner, a client there, passed on. Then Cindy arrived. Cindy was legally blind, yet maneuvered around the building pretty well with her walker. Snowflake felt Cindy's need for security and immediately attached herself to her. Cindy was delighted with her new buddy. Well, that’s good, I thought. “God sets the solitary in families.”

Each time I came to visit my friend, Cindy and Snowflake were there, usually settled on the living room couch. Often as not Snowflake lay draped across Cindy’s lap. When Cindy used her walker to go to the bathroom, Snowflake trotted faithfully behind her. She pasted herself to the closed bathroom door until Cindy came out. The little dog didn’t bark at me anymore, but she still eyed me cautiously.

One day as I walked from the study to my friend’s room, Snowflake came dashing towards me. Then back to the doorway, then towards me. She was clearly anxious about something. I followed her and found Cindy standing with her walker at the front door.

I greeted Cindy, asked where she was headed, turned her back in the right direction, and made sure she navigated the proper corners. As I bent down to retie my shoe, little aloof Snowflake galloped over and vigorously licked my hand as if to say, “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

Smiling in amazement I suddenly understood the fierce devotion of this little curly-haired bundle to her mission. Her life purpose was as Cindy’s guardian and protector. And she was generously acknowledging my small part in assisting her.

Spontaneous gratitude is one of the most heartfelt expressions of being alive that I know. Who can say a grateful animal is not expressing the highest intelligence?

All of God's creatures,

moving in the harmony of Science,

are harmless, useful, indestructible.

Easter -- He is risen!

The angel rolled away the stone and sat on it!


May the angels cherishing your life purpose

roll away the stones of anxiety, sorrow, and misunderstanding

from the door of your faith and hope,

and point you in a new direction.

Related posts: He is Risen!
Celebrating Easter (see April 8)

Unchanging worth

A friend sent this little story with a good reminder.


A well-known speaker started off his seminar
by holding up a $20.00 bill.
In the room of 200, he asked,
"Who would like this $20 bill?"

Hands started going up.
He said, "I am going to give this $20
to one of you, but first, let me do this.
He proceeded to crumple up the $20 dollar bill.
He then asked, "Who still wants it?"

Still the hands were up in the air.
“Well,” he replied, "What if I do this?"
And he dropped it on the ground and
started to grind it into the floor with his shoe.
He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty.
"Now, who still wants it?"
Still the hands went into the air.

My friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson.
No matter what I did to the money,
you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value.
It was still worth $20.

Many times in our lives, we are dropped,
crumpled, and ground into the dirt
by the decisions we make
and the circumstances that come our way.

We feel as though we are worthless.
But no matter what has happened
or what will happen,
you will never lose your value.


Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased,
you are still priceless to those who DO LOVE you.

The worth of our lives comes not
in what we do or who we know,
but by WHO WE ARE and WHOSE WE ARE. "

You are God’s loved child, and you belong to Him/Her.
This is the most important relationship you will ever have.
And that is why you are forever cherished and essential.

Good happens immeasurably!

Do things happen in threes?

In Clint Eastwood’s recent excellent film, “Letters from Iwo Jima,” a young Japanese soldier tells his commander that the commander has twice saved his life. The commander smiles and remarks that things happen in threes. And he soon saves the boy’s life again. The young soldier is one of the few Japanese survivors of Iwo Jima.

While this makes fine drama, I’m not all that happy with the premise of things happening in threes. For one thing, it’s superstitious and carelessly submits to a capricious fate. For another, it’s not at all pleasant to contemplate when the “things” that might happen are bad things. One keeps waiting for, even expecting, the third bad thing.

As to good things happening in threes, well I've thought about that too. I believe with all my being that God, that higher power who created the universe, is wholly good. And that He expresses Himself/Herself in goodness, intelligence, and beauty. And that ceaseless outpouring of the divine nature in our human experience is not limited to tidy little clusters of three good things here, or three good happenings there. Three is too tiny when we’re talking about universal good.

Since Easter is this Sunday, it might be worthwhile to think about three in another context – Jesus’ three days in the tomb. At the end of those three days, his biographies say, an angel rolled away the stone and sat on it. Don’t you love it? Sat on it. “So much for you, big, tough, rock. You cannot bury Christ in a cave.” So Jesus walked out. What was he doing in that cave for three days? Recommitting to Life? Re-forgiving his enemies? Recommitting to strengthening his badly shaken disciples?

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“Jesus' three days' work in the sepulchre
set the seal of eternity on time. He proved Life to be deathless
and Love to be the master of hate.”
Mary Baker Eddy
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So maybe it's OK to ask, what could I accomplish in three spiritually focused days? Long silence.

The best I know how to do right now, is one day at a time. And to seek out the good in each day, and participate in it, with as much attention to seeing things through God's loving eyes, as I know how. And to value the good in each day, and thank the Creator for it.

Checklist for making choices

Deborah Skillin, a Christian Science practitioner living in Florida, recently challenged Radio Sentinel’s listeners to watch every choice they make, by using a checklist: one for choices that aim us toward God, the other for choices that steer our thought away from God. She defined sin as making choices that turn us away from God. And she identified repentance as throwing off those poor choices.

This delightfully practical approach to monitoring what occupies our mental energy, invites us to do something constructive. That very morning while driving, I began to weigh my thoughts. One mildly critical thought would have waltzed right past the mental security detector, had I not been so closely examining my thinking. It was a joy to take charge and say, “Nope. Not going there!” Criticism is one of those mental elements that steers us away from God.

I asked God what He/She knew, and He told me worthwhile things about this person that I had forgotten. These were thoughts leading towards God and towards recognizing His harmonious government of the universe – and leading out of the mesmerism of negative thinking.

What a God-given privilege to be able to make choices, to have the opportunity to choose the best course of action. And to realize that we can select our thoughts as carefully as we would select quality furnishings for our homes.

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“Of two things fate cannot rob us;
namely, of choosing the best,
and of helping others thus to choose.”
Mary Baker Eddy
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Gratitude - an active awareness of good

Grateful doberman thanks firefighter

Gratitude's the thing. A grateful person lights up a room. My father-in-law is like that. He loves people, and they feel his genuine love. He can walk into a room full of strangers, and 30 minutes later have half a dozen new friends. He considers their achievements and accomplishments amazing and wonderful. And they love his recognition of their worth.

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“Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love.
It is unselfish; therefore it cannot exist alone,
but requires all mankind to share it.”
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You know what? I used to be embarrassed by his delight in everything. Now I am in awe of the consistency of his joy. It hasn't wavered in the nearly 40 years I've known him. He meets "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" with the same inner strength and good humor with which he greets good news. And, I've never heard him criticize anyone.

Not always having felt so naturally grateful for everything, I find it helpful from time to time to list the things I'm grateful for. This is not an exercise in positive thinking, so much as a conscious decision to recognize and rejoice in the good in my life. Since whatever is truly good originates in God, gratitude recognizes the hand of God moving gently through my life, my day.

Gratitude can be for good not yet seen, too. Jesus thanked God before he fed the multitudes. He thanked God before he raised his friend Lazarus from the dead.

It's most satisfying when gratitude moves from thanks for things you can hold, to thanks for things you feel in your heart, such as, Thanks, dear Father-Mother good, for always being here for me! Thanks for being the source of all that's good in my life. Thanks for amazing sunsets and gentle rain. Thanks for celebrating the promise of spring with happy flowers and singing birds.

In fact, before going to sleep tonight, I'm going to leave a voice mail for God, just thanking Him/Her for everything good I can think of. It's a great way to fall asleep. I highly recommend it.

Under the wings of the Most High

My friend has a beautiful olive colored macaw. They’ve had this feathered family member for over twenty years. He talks, he’s clever, amusing, and fun for all of them.

Linda says the bird teaches her wonderful lessons. For example Linda has often found comfort in the 91st Psalm, which includes this thought, “He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust:”

She and the bird have a sweet and trusting relationship. One day she came up behind him, and placed her fingers under his wings (which would be our armpits). She said there were different feathers there, soft downy feathers found no where else on his whole body.

Linda suddenly gained new insight into the “wing” metaphor. That to be under the wings of a parent bird would not only be safe and sheltered, it would be cozy and comforting as well.

Thanks Robin Kopec for this great macaw photo!