Loving backward?

A friend recently commented, “I can love forward and I can love backward!”

To me this means not letting anger, fear, hate, hurt feelings, bitterness, resentment crowd into one's thinking. It means staying mentally aligned with God's goodness regardless of the circumstances.

If we think of God as Love and filling all space and time, then God or Love is the center of all being. To love forward is to commit to loving what is good and true no matter what. To love backward is to bathe every memory, good or bad, in Love’s warm and cleansing light.

When someone shares a neat idea, it’s useful to see how it relates to our own experience. So of course I had to ask, “Can I love forward? Can I commit to just love, no matter what comes down the pike?”

What about backward? Can I love backward? Can I regard with kind and forgiving eye every injustice, misunderstanding, willful word or act?

To choose to love backward is, amazingly, to live in the present moment. It is to courageously take charge of this moment in our life. It’s to decide to be in control of our thinking and to consciously choose a generous attitude. It is to refuse to let another decide whether we are going to be miserable or cheerful, unhappy or pleasant, guilty or innocent.

Loving forward is to send our good-will ahead of our footsteps, ahead of the clock as it were. Loving forward decides ahead of time to make the best of whatever comes. In fact it is to do more than that. Attitude makes all the difference. Loving forward is an expectancy of good and that expectancy often opens thought to recognize good that might otherwise have gone unnoticed.

Love, as God, really knows no time, no past no future. Love is now. And that's really all we need to know in order to participate in timeless goodness.

Shredding

Ever have to go through your papers and do some shredding?

That seems to be the way things are done these days. If you're through with a piece of paper that includes phone numbers or financial information, you shred it.

I'd been doing some email grumping to a friend about having spent recent hours shredding old documents.

She shot back, " 'Mind measures time according to the good that is unfolded.' So think in terms of good unfolding rather than time consumption."

She was referring to part of the definition of "Day" in "Science and Health" a book we both read along with the Bible as a guide for life. the author, Mary Baker Eddy, refers to Mind in this case as God. So my opportunity was to focus more on what this infinitely intelligent Mind was telling me than on the chore.

I really appreciated my friend setting me back on track. And had already reached the conclusion, while sorting through various papers, that to shred the past isn't a bad idea. To shred / dispose of / throw out what is no longer of value, is a good thing. To toss out of thought whatever has become heavy is a healthy thing.

We can come to terms with whatever burden lingers from the past, then let it go.

Like that monkey with his hand in the coconut grasping some unseen treasure, we can let go of the past, be free of the silly coconut, and get on with our lives.

Past good remains. It's constant, timeless, present to make us smile, because it originates in God, infinite good.

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.

"Now" vs Jet Lag

A mosaic in Berea where both Jews and Greeks

received what Paul had to say AND

Paul really did speak from steps

like those in the mosaic

Time is a funny thing, an arbitrary measurement, sometimes useful, sometimes a pressure cooker. Yet is it time that builds pressure, or is it how we relate to the ticks and tocks of our day?

Here’s a splendid application for managing time. One of our travel hosts on my recent trip following Paul’s footsteps in Greece, explained helpfully, “As soon as I get on the plane, I set my watch to the time of the place where I am going. And I think and act according to the time it is there.”

My sister had advised, “Don’t even think in terms of ‘If I were home I’d be having breakfast, or sleeping, or whatever.’ Live in the now.”

What a practical two-step antidote for jet lag. 1. Set your watch for where you are going and think and act according to the time it is there. 2. Live in the now.

It worked well for all 26 of us on the tour, so far as I know.

We can refuse to be the victim of “time” in other ways too. When I first discovered this some years ago, I was late for something that seemed important and the temptation was to lean heavy on the pedal and zip through traffic to try to be not-too-late. It occurred to me that instead of being a traffic hazard by driving as though only I was important, I could consciously both slow down and pray.

Have you ever tried to break a hurry-hurry habit? It isn’t always easy. What came to me as I prayed was that I was exactly where God wanted me to be – expressing His qualities of thoughtfulness, patience, and trust in the one Mind to be in control. When hurrying, I was trying to be in control. By slowing down, I was trusting God’s timing.

I agreed to let God be in control, and prayed for the harmony, safety, and good judgment of all on the road. Sure enough upon arrival, I was the first one at the meeting – others had been delayed as well. And this same sort of calm trust in God’s timing has yielded similar results time after time.

Paul lived in the now. He advised forgetting the past and setting goals and moving toward those goals. His personal goal was letting God direct his life for God’s own good purpose. If he had had a watch, I think Paul would have set it for “Now.”

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

NOW

This is the moment you own

A friend sent his inspiraiton:

This morning this thought came to me: "Now!" That was it. Then I remembered the source -- St. Paul wrote to his church in Corinth "behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation."

"Now," right here, right where we are, at this very moment. “Now" is the most important time we have. Not when we get out of bed and get dressed. Not when we figure out our plans for the morning, noon, or night. Not after breakfast. Not when we look at our calendar for upcoming important events or obligations. Right at this very second.

_______________________________

What an exciting prospect! The beauty of “now” is, that we own it. We decide whether to be happy or sad at this moment. We decide whether to be pleasant or unpleasant at this moment. We decide whether to listen to someone else, or to let our thoughts wander. We have the glorious opportunity to choose how best to use this "now" moment. Shall we use it to criticize others? or to be grateful for the good in our lives? We cannot do both at the same time.

I'm learning that life is better when I choose to use each moment to praise what's good. It's a way of magnifying the Lord, the source of all that's truly good. If it isn't good right now, it doesn't come from God. If something comes from God, then it is good, and not a "mixed" blessing.

Good question: How can I improve this moment?

Awesome question: How can I improve this moment in a way that will bless my neighbor?

A lost opportunity is the greatest of losses. . .
We own no past, no future, we possess only now.
If the reliable now is carelessly lost in speaking or in acting,

it comes not back again.
Whatever needs to be done which cannot be done now,

God prepares the way for doing . . .
Mary Baker Eddy