In working our way through a problem using prayer and expecting healing we are learning something about God and our relationship to Him, coming to understand His great love, care and tenderness. I read once that in taking shelter from the storm under a tree, one may find on its branches unexpected fruit. Fruit one had not even been looking for. In seeking shelter under the shadow of God's wing we find more about God than we knew before, revelations of what had been true all along. Sometimes this prayerful wrestling allows us to see Him face to face.
This week's Bible lesson is about Adam and Fallen Man, the second account of creation given in Genesis. In that version, after God creates Adam from the dust, He puts him into a deep sleep. We are never told that he awakens. In Christian Science pray using the first account of creation where God saw everything that He had made and it was very good. Each of us has to decide which version we accept as the real one. It has a direct bearing on what we believe to be true about the Creator and His creation.
When someone calls me as a Christian Science practitioner to pray with them and for them about a problem, we are praying to understand just what it means to be the image and likeness of God and to know that He sees us as He created us, not just good but very good. We have not somehow fallen out of this state and need to be returned to it, but pray for the revelation that we have never been less than the child He created. Taking a lesson from that second version we might wonder just who or what is it that is telling us something different. That 'serpent' thought that whispers and argues for the presence of something God did not create, the opposite of good.
Just how did that temptation overpower Eve? Three suggestions. It tempted her by saying that if she believed the lie it would make her better, that this was a good idea to take into her thought and her body. Are you dealing with suggestions along those lines? A second suggestion was that this was pleasant to the eyes. Wouldn't we all want something that looks really delicious, even if we don't know what it is? Most of the diets I hear about promise you wonderful tasting shakes or meals as part of their plan. It might be in a new form or certain portion but they strive to make it look really good. It went on to promise some new knowledge that would make her smarter than she had been, inform her of something she did not already know about. As the true image and likeness of divine Mind we already include all right ideas. Why would we ever choose to become familiar with something coming from another source? But, faced with all that clever advertising, Eve gave in...and took Adam with her.
Remember, interesting as their history is, we are not part of the Adam dream. We stay in the first account of creation. No whisperers there, no false temptations, no promises of something not having its source in good. We have never fallen from grace so there is no reason to pray to be returned to that state. We're already there! We don't pray for all diet methods to disappear, we just pray to see that they cannot falsely tempt us to rely on them for happiness or wholeness or health.
You have never been put to sleep, so to speak. There's a good beginning for your prayers.
Go in peace.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment