Choosing our own thoughts

“The Silver Chair,” one of the classic Narnia books, sends the children on a quest to find a kidnapped prince. After many adventures they finally discover him imprisoned in an underground world. They are about to escape when the wicked queen returns. She uses her evil magic to lull them into a stupor where they dreamily repeat “There is no Narnia, there is no sun, there is no blue sky.”

Even in this stupor Puddleglum, the gloomiest of the rescuers, recognizes this as thought manipulation and refuses to submit. He rouses the children and the prince to claim their mental freedom. When the desperate queen assumes the form of a giant cobra, the prince destroys the snake, and they make good their escape.

We have a right to choose our own thoughts. Like these fictional heroes, we too are faced with manipulative suggestions. Every day. Such as:

• Aggressive drug company ads creating markets for their newest products.
• Media reporting the worst and most outrageous headlines
• Entertainment. Sigh. Well there is quality stuff out there, and if you’re willing to do a little research, you can find it.

These manipulations distort our views of reality. And like the wicked queen in the story, would almost convince us that there is nothing good, no sun, no blue sky.

The most insistent manipulation may be simply what the material senses report – that matter gives, governs, controls, and destroys life.

But what if matter itself is a distortion of reality, a corruption of God’s true creation? What if God’s laws are friendly, dependable, supportive, and good? And what if these laws are supreme – in spite of so much evidence to the contrary? What if we can tap into these laws by getting to know our Maker better?

A friend called and mentioned how she leaned on God’s laws. She had been ironing fusible interface onto a piece of fabric, but it turned out to be double-sided and unexpectedly stuck to her iron. In the confusion she tipped the steam iron and poured boiling water onto her hand.

She chose to turn immediately from the evidence of a burned hand to God’s law of harmony allowing no room for an accident. With that law sustaining her, she continued with her projects for the evening.

Every time her mental media wanted a report on the hand, she refused to go there, and turned back to God’s restorative law being the only one governing. By the time we were talking, 24 hours later, her hand was clean and clear. (She thought it was cool to share this in a post.)

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“As vapor melts before the sun,
so evil would vanish before the reality of good.
One must hide the other.
How important, then,
to choose good as the reality!”

Mary Baker Eddy
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