Spring cleaning or clearing out was isn't useful or beautiful

This morning I was reading an entry in Sarah Ban Breathnach's devotional, Simple Abundance. She was talking about taking time to look around your home, being grateful for it just as it is, but also asking yourself if your possessions are useful or beautiful. This time of year, when I can open the windows and let in fresh spring air and give everything a good cleaning, I take a good look at just what I have accumulated around me. This usually prompts a deep look in thought as well. What have I accumulated that should really be discarded?

The passage in Simple Abundance turned this to a more spiritual outlook as well. She writes: "There is an ancient metaphysical law that says if we desire more abundance in our lives we must create a vacuum to allow ourselves to receive the good we seek. How can more good come into our lives if there is no room for it"?  A fair question but as a student of Christian Science I can see another way to work with this, from the standpoint of God's ever-present love that is constantly pouring out good and blessings for each of His children.

Part of my daily work for myself is to take the time to pause and look around my 'house'. Mrs. Eddy gives a spiritual interpretation for 'house' as 'spiritual consciousness'. So I strive to start each day with a little bit of mental housecleaning. Have I truly let go of any false thinking from the days or weeks before or am I carrying wrong opinion about myself or others into this new day? We should expect spiritual progress as we study our Bible Lesson, read Science and Health, and appreciate the articles and testimonies in our periodicals. We should expect healing to be occurring at church and at home. We should be on the alert to see and appreciate the good happening all around us. I want the things around me to reflect who I am, what I love, and that is a direct effect of how I am thinking about God and my relationship with Him.

Today I focused on the last section of this week's Bible Lesson. What am I learning? How to turn thought into new and healthy channels. Sounds like a breath of fresh air. How, as God's beloved daughter, I am always beautiful and grand. What fun to think of myself that way. How to see each successive stage of my experience with new views of divine goodness and love. How to feel the joy of all that and go through each day with a smile. I will make it a goal to be sure I am clearing out of thought what is not useful or beautiful. I will be alert to ask myself, 'is this a useful thought, is this a beautiful thought'?

The spring flowers are fading here in Elsah but outside my sliding glass door is a small circular garden of peonies, with big round buds ready to burst out in shades of pink. I anticipate bringing some of those inside for the whole family to enjoy. They are both useful and beautiful. As are the things I am learning as I continue my study of Christian Science.

Broken cisterns or limitless good?

Once again we have a Bible Lesson filled with thought-provoking questions. Once again we are provided with answers that will promote spiritual growth.

"Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not?" This is Proverbs 23:5.  Just what are we choosing to see when we look at ourselves, someone else, or a challenging situation. This first section of the Lesson continues with more questions about why a nation or its people would turn away from our Father Mother God. The answer provided is one to think about. They committed two errors; they chose to forsake God and instead built cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water. To forsake is to leave altogether, to abandon. Sounds pretty dramatic, but there are times when we choose to abandon what we know to be true about God's wonderful creation and totally accept a material, flawed creation as the reality. We do not look to Him for comfort and healing, we choose another path. Maybe we think this particular claim can't or won't yield through prayer. Maybe we have given it our best effort but there has not been improvement. You have made your request of God, but the answer does not come. This is where the cisterns come in.

Dummelow's Bible Commentary explains, "God's blessing, under the figure of fresh water as supplied by a spring or rivulet, is contrasted with the vanity of serving idols, which is as devoid of profit as is a cracked reservoir (dug to collect rain water) for that which it is intended to supply". The Prophet is cautioning the people who have turned away from God to worship idols. Have we turned away from God to worship the material body, ours or someone else's? Have we decided to depend on other sources for supply? That will not provide what we need. Trusting in matter just doesn't hold water.

So the first section speaks to me about being true to the model God has created and maintained. My spiritual identity as His perfect image and likeness. Do you still use bar soap in the shower? Pick up a bar of Dial soap to be a daily reminder; Divine Image And Likeness.

I like Mrs. Eddy's description of a sculptor, molding and chiseling thought. What model are we holding up before ourselves and have we accepted a false model? Are we doing that about someone else? That only leads to following a downward path, limiting our capabilities, accepting a bad outline. The answer lies in changing our point of view, turning our gaze in the right direction and then holding to the true model in thought so we can live a good life.

Don't waste your life trusting in broken cisterns. Whatever they seem to offer just runs out, leaks away, fails to supply or satisfy. Choose instead to rely on the ever-present goodness of God who pours out blessings all the time. See the good in yourself and others. See it because that is what God has done and He saw it as very good. That has not changed, only our focus can make it seem like it has. Adjust our focus for a clearer, truer picture. What comes into focus is worth the effort.

Pondering the questions...and your own answers.

This week we are studying one of our Bible Lessons that poses a question. That prompted me to consider the other questions included as well. We are students of Christian Science and should be learning something each week. More of the truth about God and our relationship to Him should be clearer and clearer. And we should be expecting and experiencing healing. If someone asked you these questions, how would you answer them?

Question. Are sin, disease, and death real?
Answer. No. Why not? Because God never made them and He maintains His creation perfectly.

Question. What is this supposed power, which opposes itself to God? Whence cometh it? What is it the binds man with iron shackles to sin, sickness, and death?
Answer. Whatever enslaves man is opposed to the divine government. Truth makes man free.

Question. What is that in thine hand?
Answer. A rod. When God tells Moses to throw it on the ground, it appears to turn into a serpent, and Moses runs from it. But in reality it is still and always has been a rod. What he thought he saw was an illusion. The illusion of Moses lost its power to alarm him. God has lessened his fear of its reality.

Question. Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
Answer. The power of Christian Science and divine Love is omnipotent. It is indeed adequate to unclasp the hold and to destroy disease, sin, and death. ( Am I claiming this every day and demonstrating it in my own life?)

Question. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servant to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
Answer. Let the slave of wrong desire learn the lessons of Christian Science, and he will get the better of that desire, and ascend a degree in the scale of health, happiness, and existence. (Am I alert to 'wrong desires' and abstractions)

Question. Is it possible, then, to believe that the evils which Jesus lived to destroy are real or the offspring of the divine will?
Answer. Find a sovereign antidote for error in the life-giving power of Truth acting on human belief. (See next question)

Question. How can a Christian, having the stronger evidence of Truth which contradicts the evidence of error, think of the latter as real or true, either in the form of sickness or of sin?
Answer. All must admit that Christ is "the way, the truth, and the life," and that omnipotent Truth certainly does destroy error. (What am I admitting, letting into my life, accepting as real?)

Question. Who dares to doubt this consummate test of the power and willingness of divine Mind to hold man forever intact in his perfect state, and to govern man's entire action?
Answer. That is the question we each must answer.

This week's Lesson is like sitting in on one of Mrs. Eddy's classes. There is much to think about and many false beliefs to challenge and overcome. Don't dismiss the questions lightly. Look into your heart, see the serpent illusion as unreal, break off false shackles for yourself and those around you, find that sovereign antidote, admit Truth.

Golden image or true image and likeness

Today I am praying about golden images. Our Bible Lesson this week, on Unreality, starts each section with a reminder not to be deceived. The three Hebrew men were not deceived when the king created a gigantic golden statue and made a law that everyone had to bow down to it and worship it. They knew there is only one God and we do not bow down or worship any other. Jealous men, hoping to see them punished, reported their behavior to the king. He is furious when they still refuse to obey his ruling, even when faced with a burning fiery furnace. "When they get tossed into it, the only thing that gets destroyed are the ropes binding them. They walk around freely and the Son of God is with them.

Our world is constantly setting up 'golden images' that it expects us to bow down to and worship. If we do not stay alert, we can buy right into that mindset. Like the image of 'golden years' that claims certain things should be part of our life during those decades. We should have built up some kind of financial plan or retirement benefit. If we are not yet to that point, we should be planning for it because if we don't how ever will we maintain a good standard of living. Every magazine at the check out stand shows a 'golden image' of what a man or a woman should look like. The issue is filled with exercise plans and diet suggestions to help us have that image. How does one combat all these aggressive mental suggestions? Keep your eye and your thoughts on God. God, good, the only cause and creator. God, divine Love, who meets every human need. God, Principle, the law of ever present good.

When those men came out of that furnace, untouched by the flames, their hair was not singed, their clothing was intact, the fire had been unable to hurt them. Not even the smell of smoke remained as a reminder of the ordeal. God sent His angel and delivered them. The king, the jealous counselors, all the people, saw what happened....and what did not happen. How are your family, friends and co-workers seeing you? Are you a bright, happy person, filled with confidence, always expecting blessings for yourself and those around you? Do you look at others' experience and see them threatened, bowing down to a false god, or do you take a moment to see that they have the power and understanding to face down that picture. 

We honor the words of Genesis One where God saw everything (and everyone) that He had made and it (and they) were very good, made in His own image and likeness. We should be claiming that image and likeness daily, hourly if need be. We should never bow down to a false god. No one can make you do that so never give your consent. Lift your eyes and see what your God can do. He can deliver you from any and all false gods and silly laws. Mrs. Eddy says that 'Enslavement of any kind is not legitimate'. What God did in the fiery furnace, the lions' den, and in kings' palaces so long ago He can and will do today.

Admit or not admit, that is the question.

Our branch church recently hosted a wonderful lecture by Suzanne Riedel entitled Security and Living Without Fear. It was filled with inspiration and good examples of how to do that. One thing I took away with me was her references to 'admit'. I was reminded of it this week in our Bible Lesson on Unreality which focuses on not being deceived by what the material senses are presenting.

Admit has several meanings. Let in. Open the door to. Allow to enter. Give right of entry. Take in. Welcome. Accept. Those sound positive. Admit can also mean to permit, grant, tolerate, bear. Those sound a bit more negative and unhelpful, if not unhealthy. Admit can also be to approve of, to accept, to go along with.

In the first section of the Lesson there is this from I Corinthians 15:58....my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.  That is something worth admitting. From Science and Health, page 277....If  goodness and spirituality are real, evil and materiality are unreal and cannot be the outcome of an infinite God, good.  That is also something worth admitting. It is an interesting way to look at the Lesson, watching for those citations that alert us to what we might be admitting as real or unreal. The same section another passage from Science and Health says this...."We lost the high signification of omnipotence, when after admitting that God, or good, is omnipresent and has all-power, we still believe there is another power, named evil (page 469).

There are dozens of places in her writings where Mrs. Eddy uses the words admit, admits, admitted, admittedly, and admitting. I may spend some time today looking those up and pondering what she says. During my most recent rereading of our textbook I spent extra time with the chapter, Christian
Science Practice, and on page 392 there is a reference. "Admitting only such conclusions as you wish realized in bodily results, you will control yourself harmoniously".

There is an interesting conversation between error and good in Unity of Good, starting on page 21. On the next page Good says, "Thou shalt not admit that error is something to know or be known, to eat or be eaten, to see or be seen, to feel or to be felt. To admit the existence of error would be to admit the truth of a lie". That is also something worth admitting.

Be alert today to what you are admitting, accepting as truth, and what you might be admitting into thought that is not true or real. "Allow nothing but His likeness to abide in your thought" (S&H 495).

Give of your heart's rich overflow

This week's Bible Lesson on Matter includes the story of Peter and John healing the man who was born lame. How often do we come upon a scene that touches something in us. We are moved by what we are seeing. And we want to give or do something. We can always give...our prayers, our love, our attention, encouragement. Peter 'fastened his eyes' on the man. He did not look away, embarrassed for a man who had spent his whole life begging. He did not shrink from the picture, he addressed the situation. He was not overwhelmed by the great need, he responded by giving what he had, a clear understanding of that man's true identity, his completeness, his ability to rise up from a lifetime of limitation. Right where the need seemed to be, Peter offered the healing solution.

The man must have been looking around to all who entered into the temple, not really focusing on those passing by. Peter tells him to 'look on us'. He got his attention. and then he prepared thought to be receptive for the healing. Certainly that was not what the man was expecting. He just wanted some money. But Peter lifted his thought and then took him by the hand and lifted him right out of that lie.

We know how the man responded. He felt strength where there had never been strength before. He was, for the first time in his life, able to stand on his own two feet. Did he run home to share this amazing thing? No. He went with them into the temple, where he had not been able to go before, walking, leaping and praising God. Giving loud and joyous gratitude to God. I have to think Peter and John were feeling pretty happy as well.

Christian Science allows us to change any false picture because it is not us doing it, but God. He is the only cause and Creator. And all He creates and does is good. Constant unconditional love from Love. The truth of our identity as Truth is always being expressed. How wonderful to see thought stirred from a wrong concept to a change of base. Our spiritual foundation. The bedrock that cannot be shaken.

Today I will work with hymn 139. It begins...I walk with Love along the way. And in the third verse it says....give of your heart's rich overflow.

Come walk with Love today.

what are they among so many?

Often when I am studying our weekly Bible Lesson, especially when I am going to be teaching Sunday school, I like to go through and notice the questions. They make good conversation starters and a good jumping off point for further study and prayer.

This week's lesson on Substance contains several good questions. The Responsive Reading includes the story of Jesus feeding the multitudes. A large crowd of over 5,000 people had gathered to hear Jesus teach. He asked his disciple Philip 'where shall we buy bread that these may eat'? They were far from any markets. Jesus already knew what he was going to do but he was making this demonstration so that his students would see the unlimited supply provided by divine Love. Another disciple, Andrew, asks him a question in return. A lad had offered to share his five loaves and two fish but 'what are they among so many'?

Have you ever sat down to pay your monthly bills and there seemed to be a whole  multitude accumulated? Maybe about $5,000 worth? I have. It can seem daunting, especially if you don't have that much money in your check book or savings account. You can pay some of them, perhaps five loaves and two fishes worth, but 'what is that among so many'? Faced with a tall pile of bills I just took the one off the top and gratefully wrote a check.  I took a moment to thank God that I was able to pay that one and expressed gratitude for the paycheck I was currently getting and the job that I loved. There was about 'five loaves and two fishes' worth of money left so I wrote out a few more bills and mailed them off. But 'what was that among so many'? Before I left my desk I took each one of those unpaid bills and was truly grateful for what each represented. It was right for those obligations to be met, I wanted to meet them, especially the one that was from a practitioner. I prayed until I was confident that Love would answer the need, just as it did that day Jesus fed his multitude. Later that day an unexpected check arrived in the mail and I was able to send off a few more bills. By the end of the week, all of them had been paid from different sources. And I had some left over!

Another question I am pondering comes from section two where David and his men return to the city of Ziklag to find that his enemies have attacked and taken everyone captive, including two of David's wives. David was upset and his men were angry with him because their families and property had been taken. David found encouragement when he prayed. He asks God (here's the question), "Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them?'. This is a response to a problem that yields a healing solution. God assures him that he will overtake them and will recover all. And that is exactly what happens. Do we have that same type of response when faced with a sudden situation? Pray first, take it to God. Then follow His directing. You, too, can 'recover all'.

There are several more excellent questions in this Bible Lesson and all lead to a clearer understanding of true substance and a promise that ... the goodness of God endureth continually. Or as it asks in Isaiah 14:27...The Lord of Hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and His hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?