Saturday, November 17, 2012

Kindergarten Pilgrims

Katie Rose has been practicing Thanksgiving songs and learning all about the Pilgrims first year in America. Yesterday family and friends were invited to visit the classromm where the kids were all dressed as Pilgrims, sang to us, and then manned their 'stations' where they told us what they had been learning. I was struck by how seriously they behaved. It was obvious that their teacher had instilled a sense of respect for these brave people.

Katie Rose was stationed before a mural the kids had made of the early settlement in Plymouth. She solemnly pointed out their houses, their gardens, and the fact that they had to grow their own food and everyone was expected to work. There was very little there when they arrived so they had to build houses, create gardens and make furniture. And the children dressed exactly like the adults. She looked so precious in her little 'coif', collar and apron.

I thought about that on the way home, as I drove along the freeways lined with every kind of store imaginable, as I travelled easily and quickly from Illinois to Missouri, crossing over bridges, in comfort and ease. And then I started thinking about my 'arrival' into the study and application of Christian Science. I, too, was seeking freedom to worship God the best way I knew. But it was not an easy road.

Unlike the Pilgrims I seemed to have a lot of excess baggage those early years and I had to unlearn a lot of false ideas about myself and others. My personal landscape seemed a bit bleak, as I had to 'build' a new home (consciousness), as I came to understand that God, divine Love, had already furnished it with all I would need, as I learned about the true source of supply and saw it was not dependent on anything but God, good. It was all about 'leaning on the sustaining infinite'.

It's hard to imagine the sacrifices those Pilgrims faced, the courage it took to go to this new land. I think I understand it more now as I have faced and overcome many challenges in my life. I see how I can clothe myself in the panoply of Love and put on the armor of God. Every room in our house has bookshelves overflowing with volumes beloved and cherished. Those Pilgrims had one book, the Bible and there they found all they needed. We are blessed with Science and Health which explains the Bible in ways I would never have thought of on my own.

I am so grateful to have spent the morning with those dear children and been reminded of just how rich and full my life is, how Christian Science has brought healing and goodness and blessing. It was  a true feast in every sense of the word.

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