Dependable shock absorbers

Someone shared a great idea recently:

Patience and forgiveness are the springs and shock absorbers that carry us safely over the potholes along the highways and byways of life.

What's growing?

Decorative autumn corn

My friend Arthur writes:

"My parents owned a livestock farm from my high school years until after my marriage. I loved the farm and made it my home.

Many bags of seed corn have I planted, so I know first hand what takes place.

As the kernel of corn planted in the ground absorbs moisture from its surroundings, it begins to change. It is a slow process of molecule to molecule transferring from the soil to the kernel. Then several days later, the sprout swells and breaks through the tough skin surrounding it and heads towards the surface.

The sprout begins its life above the earth as a single green blade. It quickly becomes two blades, and then on upward as it gains strength from the soil.

Each day adds to its growth, until many weeks later it develops one or two ears of corn and they slowly "fill out," and the one kernel becomes hundreds of kernels. The promise of a single kernel of corn has been fulfilled, but the full ear did not appear first.

The kernel of Truth in the human consciousness develops much the same way. When the seed of some eternal truth first dawns on us, though awe inspiring and beautiful, it is not always fully understood until later. "

It has to grow in its own quiet way. If we love and nurture that truth, it will sprout and develop, send down its squiggly roots, and shoot up its slender blades.

Watching corn grow teaches us patience, hope, and expectancy. Just so, whatever we are cherishing in our thinking grows -- until it becomes part of who we are, how we think, and the way we live. And like the single kernel of corn, multiplies in its maturity to be shared among many and planted broadly.

Since this is true of whatever we are cherishing in thought, let’s be sure that what we are cherishing is something we really want to have become part of our lives.

The good news is that our Maker gives us the intelligence and wisdom to make these choices, helps us honor truth and goodness, the genuine corn, so much that there remains no entry for worldly weirdness to hijack our thinking and take it in unpleasant directions.

An "Aha!" Moment

I'd like to share an “aha” moment.

Writing a word of encouragement to his church community in Corinth, Paul says, “Agree with one another and live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.”

Well, that makes sense. If we are living in agreement and peace, the One who originates harmony and peace would be present.

So, does it stand to reason that if we are living oppositely, in discord and strife, that the god of discord and strife would be present?

If our thoughts determine what we worship at any given moment, and I believe they do, then if we give voice to anger and resentment – would we be bowing down to them, worshipping anger or hate during such high adrenaline moments?

Expanding on Paul’s sweeter promise, we could conclude that as we live with beauty and goodness, then the God of beauty and goodness is with us. As we live with honesty and patience at the forefront of our thoughts and deeds, that God is with us.

We can choose, as best we know how, to live in agreement and peace with one another, being comforted and strengthened by the presence of that God with us. Of course the God of these good qualities is the same God as the God of other good qualities. Goodness originates from One infinite source.

The more consistent we are in backing off from reacting with anger and impatience, to making an honest effort to find solutions that promote harmony and peace with one another, the more consistently will we realize the immense caring of this universal God.

Finding the harmony within

The joy of

harmony on horseback

Animal trainer Vicki Hearne writes about her experience in restoring difficult horses, horses mistrained so badly their views on life and sometimes people have soured.

Her goal, if I understand her correctly, is to connect with the beauty and honesty the horses inherently know is true about themselves, but that has been buried by confusing signals from humans.

She explains her ability to adapt to the needs of a particular animal -- she knows how to meet each where it is.

Hearne describes a beautiful young mare who reacted murderously to sweet-talk and touching. So the woman had to find another way to communicate.

The form her respect and love (my term, not Hearne's) took was unorthodox, but communicated so clearly to the horse that in four days that same animal ambled up to a picnic table in the pasture and allowed a total stranger to scratch her neck.

Another family came after a week to check on the progress of their troubled horse. As they waited at the fence, they failed to recognize the docile animal loping along under saddle as theirs.

In her book, "Adam's Task," Hearne says, "As it happens, I never encountered a horse in whose soul there was no harmony to call on, though I have thought about giving up more than two or three times. I believe in such horses..." (P. 146)

At this point I'm going to make a huge leap that Hearne might not. That is to say that she was honoring the inner majesty and nobility of her client's animals, much as Christ Jesus showed his respect and love for the inner majesty and nobility of the sick, the scrabblers, and the sinners who crossed his path longing for their genuine life-purpose and life-meaning.

He saw God's man -- whole, useful, generous, caring, intelligent -- right where the rest of the world saw the lame and blind, lowlife and sinners. Where people were willing to connect with that good God who loved them, and discover their inseparability from this infinite goodness, there was healing and transformation.

Sometimes a blessing followed, "Go in peace." Occasionally a solution for making the transformation permanent followed, "Go and sin no more."

Eddy writes, "Whatever is governed by God, is never for an instant deprived of the light and might of intelligence and Life."

I believe Hearne works her transformations from the basis of this intelligence as a constant in her equine clients.

I believe Jesus also lived and healed from the basis of this Principle in his daily encounters.

You and I can find the spiritual intelligence from God active in our lives as well, that allows us to recognize and draw it out in others.

Managing big projects a step at a time

Step by step

kids learn the game

One morning about a month ago I walked into the local Park District field house and my friend Mark had his maintenance crew sweeping and vacuuming the floors between and under the bleacher seats. In the winter, they focus on indoor cleaning. This has to be done in the early morning hours, and it was instructive to observe.

The next week he was atop an indoor “cherry picker” dusting the blades of one of the oversize fans that hang from the ceiling. A huge pile of accumulated dust gathered on the floor beneath him. By the end of the week all six fans were clean and gently circulating the air.

After that Mark tackled the supports that hold the six basketball hoops. He dusted and washed them from the top supports near the ceiling, all the way down to the hoops themselves. By the week’s end, the supports gleamed as though they’d been given a coat of fresh black paint.

Next were the dividers – curtain-like pieces that unroll from the ceilings to separate three simultaeous volley ball games. And finally the crew gave the hardwood floor a thorough cleaning that removed most of the scuff marks that accumulate in an active field house. In six weeks time the place looked sparkling.

To make a little time and geography jump here, 2,000 years ago the people of Athens faithfully worshipped many gods, and to be sure none were left out, they even had an altar to the unknown God. Then Paul came along explaining this one ever-present, all-powerful good God. He said they lived in this God, moved in this God, had their very being in this God.

How would you deal with such a huge new concept? Perhaps one idea at a time. Much as Mark approached the winter field house cleaning – a huge project. Yet seeing the overview he broke it down into bite-size pieces, a few hours each morning. And the cleaning was accomplished in an orderly and harmonious way.

That’s a valid approach to life itself. Deal with the demands and requirements one step at a time.

If we aren’t ready to say that God doesn’t know evil at all, can we say at least that He is the source of all good? And begin to identify that good in our lives, and think about what it means that it might all come from one intelligent source?

And to think about being grateful for all that’s good and beautiful? These are first steps, and useful ones in a spiritual approach to life.

Being independent of time

Comfort doesn't take time

Greg pointed out recently that, "God is never in a hurry, but he is always on time."

I love it!

Truth is never in a hurry. It doesn't have to be. Truth doesn't have to rush anywhere to be true. That the earth is round it timelessly true. 9 x 9 = 81 is timelessly true.

Infinite Love is never in a hurry. It doesn't have to be. Ever-present love is always present. It is always in time and on time.

Have you ever rushed someplace because you were afraid of being late? Some of us go through life rushing here and there, and missing the beauty of life's journey.

The records we have of Christ Jesus' life indicate that he was never worried about being late. Even when others were anxious for him to come heal their crisis, and he was sometimes delayed, he arrived and restored health and purpose at the right time.

I'm visiting dear relatives in the peace and serenity of Wisconsin's north woods. The tempo is different with retirees -- it's relaxed. Double that for the north woods.

What I'm reminded of on this trip is to consider which things are important and why. The snowpacked roads are not salted, and if you rush around as though you lived in greater Chicago, you end up in a snowbank. The fresh sand spread in the morning gets worked into the road snow by mid-afternoon. Drivers simply slow down to a safe speed.

Speed is not important. Being somewhere an hour ago is not important. Impatience is just rude. Taking time to listen to people is important. Hearing their cares and their joys is important.

If God is ever-present good, and good is always present, its opposite cannot be at the same time in the same place. I'm willing to trust God to show me how this is true. And how I don't have to rush around to express the good purpose he has in mind.

My job is to move with the grace, kindness, and thoughtfulness that is independent of time -- whether in the northwoods or back at home.

The universal language of kindness

The scratching post

“Kindness is a language we all understand
Even the blind can see it

and the deaf can hear it.” Mother Theresa

And animals understand it.

Kindness is so needed, and sometimes seems so understocked in the world’s inventory. Yet each of us has the ability to multiply the supply!

I hope this simple example doesn’t sound too trivial.

I recently took my cat to have his claws clipped. Although he tries to cooperate and uses his scratching post regularly, sometimes when his claws grow out, he forgets and stretches them on the carpet. After this happens a couple of times, he goes to Victoria for a clipping.

The grooming room at the back of her house can be a cacophony – clippers buzzing, a small pooch yipping for attention, her shop vac inhaling clippings from the floor.

Buster clung to the sides of his carrier defying gravity as I tried to pour him onto the grooming table. So I released the knobs that allow you to separate the top from the bottom of the carrier and picked him up.

We stepped back as Victoria vacuumed poodle fur from the floor. Clinging to me like Velcro, Buster wasn’t about to let go of his one security in that room.

"Oh, you don't have to put him down," she said. Victoria finished her vacuuming, came right over to the frightened feline, gently lifted each paw from my jacket and clipped his nails. In 30 seconds he was done, and back inside what he considered the safety of his carrier.

Afterwards I thought a lot about her kindness to an infrequent cat client. Kindness comes from the heart. In giving kindness, we don’t lose anything; we increase the world’s inventory and improve our own.

I believe God put kindness into each of us as an essential ingredient of our character.

Yet for some of us, acting on our caring seems to come more naturally than to others. Sometimes harsh circumstances bury individual goodness for awhile, maybe for years. But it is God’s design for mankind to express goodness and caring. And being the recipient of thoughtfulness serves to remind us that that’s our nature too.

This, I think, is the secret of kindness:

We see eye to eye and know as we are known,
reciprocate kindness and work wisely,
in proportion as we love.
Mary Baker Eddy

Not in proportion as we are loved, but in proportion as we give love to our world. When we need help, a loving God shows us how to discover this love and share it.

Always a beautiful work of art

On the island of Rhodes, I watched an apprentice potter grasp a dull gray lump of clay. He shaped this lump on his spinning potter's wheel, molding it skillfully with his fingers. Within minutes it had become a beautiful vase.

Prophets from 2500 years ago found the clay and the potter a good metaphor for the relationship of man to God. Isaiah wrote, "O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand."

Paul too uses the potter metaphor in his letter to the Romans. He advises against questioning the skill or the motive of the potter. And he addresses the need to trust the potter, and not become so absorbed in our own projects that we miss God's very presence!

I can relate to that. There are many times when with unbridled enthusiasm I have rushed forth with what seemed to me a great idea -- only to realize somewhere down the line when things began to unravel, that I hadn't asked God's opinion.

So I'm getting better at going to God first. With a "God, what kind of pot would you like me to be today? How can I best serve you today?"

As long as it's is my Maker's idea, I've learned I can be not only content, but rather excited about how He/She shapes and molds my day. And maybe that's where the pottery metaphor ends. Because while a vase or a water pot is a completed object, infinite Mind's (another name for God) creation is actively and continuously unfolding. It just never ends.

And so our Maker's purpose for us continually unfolds, providing us with new views, new insights, clearer understanding, fresh opportunities.

_______________________________________________________

The potter is not in the clay;
else the clay would have power over the potter.

God is His own infinite Mind, and expresses all.

Mary Baker Eddy

_____________________________________________________

Closed doors? Don't be discouraged!

Nancy Fischer, tour host,
explains Paul's impact on
the Christian community in Philippi

Ever feel frustrated, because your project keeps being stymied? All the doors keep closing in front of you?

That happened to Paul. He and Silas had traveled to Lystra (a city located in modern Turkey), where they found Timothy – who became a faithful companion and trusted colleague. So far so good.

The trio traveled west. Just one problem. Luke (who wrote the account) says the Spirit blocked that route. By this time Paul was so committed to serving this God of Love, that when God closed one door, Paul simply said OK, and looked for a new direction.

This time they went north towards Bithynia – an ancient region of mountains and forests, bordering the Black Sea that included serveral large cities. Paul probably thought that must be where God wanted him to go.

However, Luke says, the Spirit didn’t let him go there either. Most likely Paul was trying to find the logic behind this message. And Troas, an important seaport, made sense as a new destination, so they headed west once again.

There in Troas, where they could travel by ship, he had a vision of a man in Macedonia calling Paul to come and help them. At last their direction was clear. They were to take their message beyond Troas – to Europe!

And that’s how they happened to come to Philippi – where, as you have read in previous blogs, they met a merchant named Lydia, a slave girl, and a jailer.

So I’ve been thinking, when a project seems important and doors keep closing it’s important to be clear whether, like Paul, I am totally committed to serving God and fulfilling His purpose. Or whether it’s a notion I cooked up because it seemed like a good idea at the time – without checking with the “Boss.”

Because if it’s indeed a God-initiated project, then He supports it and points the way for its completion. If it’s just a Sandi plan, well, it’s probably not going to be the lasting blessing it could be if it were God-centered.

Certainly we prefer the clarity of a message that says, "Go here," or "Go there." Yet here is Paul, 2000 years later, teaching yet another lesson – about not being discouraged when the message comes in the form of blocked paths -- "Don't go here" and "Don't go there." He didn't let anger, discouragement, or frustration keep him from going forward as best he understood how.

When we really want to serve God, infinite good, and are willing to (preferably promptly) change direction, He will show us the way.

By the way, for those who may be interested, this tour was hosted and led by http://www.biblicaltravels.com/

See you middish October!

Hello good friends - wherever you are in God's great love,

September has presented us with brilliant blue skies that backdrop stunning sunsets and highlight clouds in vivid pink.

It’s been a super adventure sharing spiritual discoveries -- putting on the new cloth, the new garments, of who we are as God knows us.

It's time for an autumn break, and I look forward to seeing you again soon – around mid-October.

In the meantime, you might enjoy discovering previous posts – all the way back to February!

Just scroll down the right hand column until you see "Blog Archives." Then click on the little triangle next to August, or your month of choice. Then click on the name of the month. And voila! You have that month’s worth of posts before you.

As we journey on together, yet individually, may you feel the warmth, comfort, power, and delight of God’s love in everything you do.

Sandi

Sometimes life is step by step

“Umm. Guess what? We’ve been following a goat path.”

We peered over the edge of a small precipice. Three of us gals were hiking down from the serene alpine lake that had provided a magnificent setting for enjoying our sandwiches. Somewhere, though, on the way back, we had missed our turn, and now faced the prospect of backtracking up the mountain.

While we considered what to do, a sudden storm caught us. Happily we all had rain gear, but the downpour rendered the rocky terrain very slippery. We decided to backtrack slightly to see whether there was more grass another way. There was.

Mary Baker Eddy writes in her book, Science and Health, “Step by step will those who trust Him find that "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." This was exactly how we came down the mountain. One footstep at a time. We could see where to take a few steps forward. Stop. A few steps down. Stop. A few steps to the right. Stop. Slide a few feet down this rock.

And so it went. Ruth voiced gratitude for each tuft of grass that gave firmer footing. We proceeded on the basis of that gratitude as we found our steps, literally, one-by-one.

A waterfall-fed lake below became the focus of our descent. As long as that lake stayed in front of us, we knew we were headed in the right direction.

Eventually the rain stopped, and the rocks dried almost instantly, providing firm footing again. We discovered our path – the one used by human hikers – and descended into the cool of the forest below tree line. We reached the trailhead and our vehicle, and were warmly hugged and welcomed by friends who had been waiting and supporting us with their own prayers.

A man, not of our group, who had been watching our descent marveled that we had gotten down so quickly. What to us seemed to take forever, seemed quick to him.

Looking back on our hike that day, we were not perfect, we made mistakes, we corrected mistakes. But we were an excellent group. Our collective trust in a loving God guiding us resulted in the mutual cheer, caring and good-will that lightened the struggle of finding our way.

Sometimes life is like that – step-by-step. The struggle becomes our opportunity to trust the gentle and gradual unfoldment of how it is that God would have us glorify Him/Her next.

Even if it rains on our carefully made plans; even when there is no clear path; even when the way seems slippery and treacherous, even when we have to keep figuring out what to do next, God is there for us. And we hear Him/Her best when calm trust uproots fear and discouragement.

King David, one-time outlaw, understood well perilous mountain paths, as well as the need for staying close to the safety and comfort of his God. He wrote, "Hold up my goings in your paths, that my footsteps slip not."

The Fern and the Bamboo - message of hope and expectancy

Ferns

Someone sent an email with a story about the fern and the bamboo.

A man was about to give up on the world. Before he checked out, he decided to have a last talk with God. He went for a walk in the woods and asked God to give him one good reason not to quit living.

So God showed him the fern and the bamboo. Turns out that if both seeds are planted at the same time and equally nurtured, the fern shoots up and is quickly beautiful. Each succeeding year the fern grows more luxurious.

Nothing at all happens to the bamboo seed for four years, despite the nurturing and tender care. In the fifth year a tiny, almost insignificant sprout appears. Within six months the bamboo is over 100 feet tall. For five years it had been growing a root system to support its height.

The moral is:

• Each of us has a different purpose.
• Each of us is beautiful and useful in God’s plan.
• We should be patient with ourselves while our root system is growing.
• We shouldn’t waste time comparing ourselves to others.
• Just do the best we know how, and God will be pleased.

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The fern and the bamboo story is a useful metaphor of hope, patience, and trust.

For me, it’s also helpful to know that the God who carefully plants and tenderly nurtures the seed is not remote and distant, but that He/She is right here – for us to lean on – in good times and bad. That He’s right here to answer our questions, hold our hand, guide our footsteps, shelter us from the storm. That because God is an infinite Mind, He is never too busy to care for any of His children. It’s what He loves to do most.

We love Him, the Bible says, because He first loved us. As we feel that nearness, that closeness, that tender oneness with Love itself, we feel connected with the rest of His creation. It becomes natural and easy to love, forgive, be kind and patient with others.

When friendships are not warm and fuzzy

Unlikely friendship

I guess I’m way behind the rest of the country, but I finally saw the musical “Wicked.”

What a happy surprise! While there are other themes, this was a story about friendship.

Two women who initially despise each other are thrown together as roommates. Gradually they appreciate and value their differences, hostility dissolves, and they recognize how their lives have been transformed and enriched as a result.

As they are about to part, realizing they may never see each other again, the ladies sing about the substance of friendship:

I've heard it said

that people come into our lives for a reason,

Bringing something we must learn,

And we are led to those who help us most to grow

If we let them, and we help them in return.

Well, I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today because I knew you

Who can say if I've been changed for the better?

I do believe I have been changed for the better . . .

Because I knew you I have been changed for good.

The purpose of relationships is to bless. Someone wisely said, “When a relationship ceases to bless, it ceases to exist.”

The most important relationship any of us has, is to God, our creator. It’s like that of a ray of light to the sun. The ray has every quality of the sun, and is vital to the sun’s shining – but is not the sun. The rays never touch each other, and do not intrude on each other. Each is needed and important to enhance the effectiveness of the rays next to it. Yet they are related to each other only by their relationship to their origin, the sun. The sun is their authority to go light up the dark places of the earth.

God, infinite Love, is our authority to light up the angry, hurting, misunderstood places of the earth. I believe that everyone who comes into our life experience has something to teach us. It isn’t always fun; sometimes we bristle at the lessons. An African-American friend once told me that something I had said was racist. I was crushed. Typical white reaction, “Me? How can you say that about me?”

Over time, I’ve understood what she meant. And I have tried to be more sensitive to the words I use and how they might be heard. It’s called thinking before speaking, and has been a very good life-lesson – one that I am still learning!

While grateful for warm and unconditional friendships, and amazed to be on the receiving end of such kindness, I am also grateful for those who have had the courage and honesty to tell me when they think I’m out of line.

As long as we are willing to learn, and to forget about being offended, we’ll be blessed even by those relationships that may not be warm and fuzzy.

-------------------------------------------
Love never loses sight of loveliness.
Its halo rests upon its object.
One marvels that a friend

can ever seem less than beautiful.
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Stress - what can we do about it?

Traffic at night

We pretty much know what things cause, and indicate, stress. A traffic light turns green and somebody honks because the first vehicle did not immediately take off. I'm not proud to say I've been both those drivers. Maybe you have too.

How can we not be a victim of stress?

I've found that taking all my concerns to God as the one Mind helps a lot. It's good to sit back and have a conversation with this one good Mind. I tend to think of God as Father and Mother, so I might ask, "Father-Mother, here's this anxious thing going on in my life, and I don't know what to do about it. What do you say? What should I be doing here?"

And when I really want to hear what God is telling me, He/She does. It's mostly about learning to be a good listener. I've also learned that a good listener listens, he doesn't do most of the talking.

A dear friend was in the hospital recently, and I spent quite a bit of time with her concerned family, unti the crisis passed. It was a time for listening. Every report, good or bad, I took straight to God. Here are some assurances I heard, "I am the only Life, and my vital signs are very stable. Matter doesn't give life or take it away. I am the Life of all being. There is no other life."

I was comforted by these assurances and, while not voicing them, was able to comfort and support the family, until they were told by a caring medical staff that all was well.

It's easier to be patient and considerate behind the wheel too, when I remember that my purpose in driving is to help all God's children on that same road feel His love.

Patience most valued

Dealing with stress -- Excellent discussion. Allow yourself some time -- 45 minutes.
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Waiting for the harvest

In Jesus’ parable of the tares and the wheat, an enemy sneaks into a farmer’s wheat field and plants a look-alike crop, probably darnel, a sometimes noxious weed. Soon the foreman’s trained eye recognizes the weed and he wants to pull it out. But the farmer knows that process would damage the tender wheat. So he instructs his men to wait until the harvest when the difference between the mature plants will be obvious. "First, he says, gather the weeds and burn them. Then gather the wheat and store it safely in the barn."

My friend, Arthur, retired Illinois farmer and fellow healer, says that burning the weeds is important – that’s how you destroy the seeds so that the weeds cannot sow another crop. So the solution includes the future.

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“Nothing is lost that God gives: . . .

Leaving the seed of Truth to its own vitality,

it propagates: the tares cannot hinder it.”

(Mary Baker Eddy, Miscellaneous Writings 111:16)

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I think it’s significant that Jesus counseled patience. The Supreme Being has created man in His likeness, intelligent and unselfish, capable of accomplishing much good. When distractions and unproductive notions take root, that isn’t the end of the story.

If somebody you care about is making poor life decisions, and isn't hearing you, be patient. The destructive may look like it’s mingling with the good, but it cannot touch or harm what God has planted in His children. He continues to nourish His goodness in us until it inevitably matures. We can support the out-of-sight growing that's going on. Harvest time will uproot and destroy the weeds. And the good that has always been there remains intact.

Tares and Wheat Parable