With a love for the chambered nautilus

We're preparing to move again. When we arrived here in Elsah, almost three years ago, we were offered campus housing in a beautiful Colonial house that even included a section of finished basement that was perfect for me. But there is no flat surface to this property, no place for the kids to play, very little room for a small garden. My area does not have a bathroom so I must go up a flight of stairs to use the powder room and up another to take a shower. the biggest challenge for all of us is the very steep driveway, very difficult to drive up with the least bit of ice or snow. We were actually housebound several times.  So when another house became available up the street we walked through it and decided we would move into it. It also has a finished basement for me, and this time there is a full bath. The driveway is flat and I think I may be able to do some gardening this summer. So we are busy going through everything and packing up. And wondering how so much accumulated in so short a time. Sigh.

It is an opportunity to really look at what we have, some boxes which never did get opened, and decided what we should donate or give away. That brings me to one of my favorite animals, the chambered nautilus. We actually got to see one in an aquarium in Hawaii. They even had a 'baby nursery' with little nautiluses swimming around.

You are probably familiar with the beautiful spiral within their shell. As the nautilus grows, it adds sections on. Before it seals off each section, it carefully disposes of any 'rubbish' left inside and then it adds a bit of gas. This adds to the buoyancy of the shell. The rubbish would only slow it down. I love the concept of clearing out the rubbish as I continue my spiritual growth. Mrs. Eddy writes in Science and Health on page 324: "Gladness to leave the false landmarks and joy to see them disappear, - this disposition helps to precipitate the ultimate harmony."

We sometimes find ourselves at a place where we know we have caught a glimpse of Truth and understand more about God and our special relationship to Him as His beloved child, made in His image and likeness. For me, this often happens when I have had a physical healing or seen some discordant situation resolved with blessing on both sides.

I think it a brilliant idea to stop once in a while and assess how much we have allowed to accumulate in thought. To be willing to clear out any false thinking, to feel joyous to see those things disappear. What freedom as one moves on. What joy to feel light and buoyant. It adds to my growing understanding of what home really is. I am grateful for all the things I have and I am looking forward to placing them in my new 'lovely basement'.

Love has provided and continues to provide so much good in my life. His arm truly encircles me and mine and all.

The most popular Bible verse

I was interested to see a story on the internet today about the most popular Bible verse downloaded this past year. Bible App claims it was accessed over 162 million times in 2014. What was the most popular verse? What might you have chosen?

Romans 12:2.  "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."

The New Living Translation says, "Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you  into a new person by changing the way you think."

Renew your mind. Take time to examine what you are thinking, what you are accepting as true. The subject of our Bible Lesson this week is God and each section of the Lesson expands on the Lord's Prayer and its spiritual interpretation given in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.

I remember the first time I attended a Christian Science Sunday service. Almost nothing made any sense to me. They even said the Lord's Prayer differently! The congregation spoke a line together and then one of the readers at the podium gave an interpretation of that line. I was put off at first but then interested in that idea. I had been searching for a religion that honored God as I believed Him to be and this version of that prayer called Him Father-Mother. Now that was a new idea for me. And thinking of myself as His beloved offspring would require some 'renewing' of my mind.

By the way, the second most popular verse was also among Paul's letters to the recently formed Christian churches.

Philippians 4:8. "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

This would also have caused me to reconsider how I was thinking about God, about myself and the world around me. It seems like the media would compete for our attention by focusing it on the sensational, the disastrous, the violent, the dishonest, the impure. Paul is turning worshippers to a new way to honor God, a Christian life that focuses on what Jesus taught and lived and asked his followers to express.

As we approach the new year, it might be revealing to take an honest look at where our mind is these days. How much have we conformed to worldly thinking and how often have we turned instead to prayer, connecting with God, the divine Mind? What do we have to gain? We can prove what God's will is for us. We can tune in to truth, justice, purity, loveliness and be grateful for good reports of healing and acts of kindness.

Renew your mind and your commitment to seeing and expressing good. I imagine there is an App for that.

Have a Mary Christmas

Who wrapped the first Christmas present? The answer is in the Bible and this week's Bible Lesson. "And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes..." (Luke 2:7) That Mary was the mother of Jesus. What an amazing event, witnessed by just a few people. Mary and Joseph had taken refuge in a cave or stable, the only place available in crowded Bethlehem where so many had gathered to register and pay taxes to Caesar Augustus. It may be that no one was present when this 'gift' arrived but Joseph and Mary. But in a  nearby field, a group of shepherds were keeping watch over the flock that night and an angel comes to them with this momentous news, telling them about the birth of the holy child and where they might find him. So off they go, the first party of Christmas visitors. Later the Wise Men, following the star, would travel far to present this child with gifts worthy of a king.

Years later, grown to  manhood, Jesus travelled around teaching, preaching and healing. He was often a guest at the home of Lazarus, Mary and Martha. Wherever the Master went, crowds followed and that house would fill to overflowing. Martha, a conscientious hostess, would scurry around providing hospitality for them all. She was upset with her sister, Mary, who did not help her. But Jesus points out that Mary has chosen to sit at his feet and listen.

Don't miss the excellent testimony in this week's Sentinel about 'A Christmas Full of Peace'. So many of us get caught up in the hustle bustle of the holiday season and forget to spend quiet time thinking about the Nativity. Did you know that was the one thing Mrs. Eddy has asked us to memorize? "It is most fitting that Christian Scientists memorize the nativity of Jesus'. (Misc 374: 17-18)  The writer of the testimony mentioned, wishing to gain a more spiritual apprehension of the nativity, studied everything Mrs. Eddy wrote about Christmas and the story of the nativity in Matthew and Luke. She stopped worrying about holiday preparations and had a healing of a physical problem.

So this year I am striving to have a 'Mary' Christmas. There is so much to appreciate in the Gospel accounts of the nativity. I want to be like those shepherds and hear the angels singing. I want to be wise and follow the light of the star. I want to present a gift of gratitude. I want to choose to stop bustling around and sit at his feet.

So I wish you all a 'Mary' Christmas and a merry Christmas.

God bless us, everyone one!

It IS a wonderful Life!

Our family really gets into the holidays. We are baking cookies, wrapping presents, trimming the tree, hanging up the stockings. And we're watching all our favorite Christmas specials. We save Polar Express for Christmas Eve, pausing the movie at the appropriate place to go fix hot chocolates with lots of whipped cream or marshmallows. But there is one special I haven't watched for years. Due to some personal challenges I just can't watch George Bailey go through all the injustices and challenges that lead him to consider taking his own life. I know it ends well when an angel shows him how many lives he touched and blessed. Despite appearances, George Bailey is the richest man in town and he has had a wonderful life.

George was allowed to step back and see how he blessed so many others. We could all benefit by taking something nice to sip and a few cookies and sitting quietly to reflect on our own lives. So much good has unfolded in my life. I love living in a three-generation household and watching several of the 'grands' growing up. They are a big part of my life. And now two more of them are at Principia College, where we live, and I get to experience rugby and chemistry through their eyes.
All three of my children are living good lives and encourage me to be with them as often as possible. An added bonus has been James helping me with the power point presentations of several Association addresses.

After a twenty five year career with children's books in 2002 transitioned to the full time Christian Science practice and that is a daily - sometimes hourly - challenge and blessing. I can' t imagine what the last 40 years would have been like without Christian Science and my participation in branch church work. No matter where we moved we found an instant church family.

One of the things that spoke to me when I first started reading Science and Health was the definition Mrs. Eddy gives for God, especially the seven synonyms. I love getting to know God better as Principle, Mind, Soul, Spirit, Life, Truth, and Love. I can never thank her enough for her devotion in writing our textbook, establishing our churches, setting up the Manual, starting the periodicals and our wonderful Christian Science Monitor.

It has indeed been a wonderful Life and given me a wonderful life and I will rejoice all through the holiday season, taking moments to be grateful. His arm truly encircles me, and mine, and all.

Step; outside on Christmas Eve and hear the angels sing.

The special gift in this week's Lesson

There is a special gift in this week's Bible Lesson, Soul and Bod,y and I am very grateful to be reminded of it this morning. Students of Christian Science are familiar with the story of how our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, the discoverer and founder of this divine Science, had a remarkable experience that lead to this discovery. She had been a devout student of the Bible all her life. She suffered with various ailments during her childhood and adolescence and this followed her into her adult life. It lead to studying other alternative medicine methods being used in her day. Some afforded relief but none gave her a permanent healing. Always, she returned to her Bible.

One day she was walking on an icy sidewalk and had a fall that caused severe injuries. She was taken home, her husband, a traveling dentist, was sent for, and her doctor and her friends did not expect her to survive. Even if she did the injuries would have left her a helpless invalid. She called for her Bible. Here is what happened next in her own words:

"St. Paul writes: "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." "This knowledge came to me in an hour of great need; and I give it to you as death-bed testimony to the daystar that dawned on the night of material sense. This knowledge is practical, for it wrought my immediate recovery from an injury caused by an accident, and pronounced fatal by the physicians. On the third day thereafter, I called for my Bible, and opened it to Matthew IX,2. As I read, the healing Truth dawned upon my sense; and the result was that I rose, dressed myself, and ever after was in better health than I had before enjoyed. That short experience included a glimpse of the great fact that I have since tried to make plain to others, namely, Life in and of Spirit; this Life being the sole reality of existence."  (Miscellaneous Writings 24)

Those verses in Matthew are in this week's Lesson which is filled with references to light and the glory of God. What a gift to be reminded of her experience and to remember that she gave the rest of her life to writing our textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, and presenting that Truth to the world that all may come to know God as Good and man as made in His image and likeness. Spiritual healing is as possible now as it was in Jesus' time and when Mrs. Eddy experienced it herself and then began to heal others.

Today I will be thinking about that paralyzed man, brought by his devoted friends into the presence of the Christ. Surely the physicians of his day had pronounced his case hopeless, condemning him to that condition as long as he lived. And at that time, it was thought that such things were the result of having committed sins. How depressing! And I suspect he was pretty unhappy. He and his friends must have heard about this new teacher and preacher who was performing miracles. So he seeks out the one person who might be able to help him overcome the physical problem. Unlike the doctors who pronounced his case incurable and gave him no hope, the Master's first words are 'Son, be of good cheer."  What encouragement for any of us who seem to be struggling with a physical problem that does not yield or seems incurable or feeling hopelessly depressed. Be of good cheer, lift up that depressing thought and let go of it.  Jesus continues, "thy sins be forgiven thee."  The man was given the gift of forgiveness, and being forgiven the sentence was lifted as well.

But they were surrounded by a great multitude, among them Scribes that felt Jesus had no right to forgive sins. They certainly did not want to accept that the man could be and was forgiven. This needed to addressed and Jesus did address it. He shows them that he did indeed possess that power and he tells the man, who has not yet changed his position and moved, to rise up off that bed and go home.  Only then did the full healing happen and the man walked away healed and free.

As did Mrs. Eddy. Preserved blameless. We are all blameless in the sight of God, who forgives all our sins and mistakes. His great love lifts us out of any depressing belief that is trying to keep us from seeing and understanding our true status as sons and daughters of God, made in His image and likeness.

I consider this my first Christmas present this year and am so very grateful to be reminded of how this Bible story figures into the discovery and founding of Christian Science.

Like a sour dough starter

I have a sour dough starter going. It is almost two and half years 'old' and I freshen it twice a week, baking fresh bread once a week. The Thanksgiving Lesson is wonderful, as it is every year. This Responsive Reading contains a verse from II Corinthians that I have always loved but I looked at it in new light this morning.

Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;  (I(I Corinthians 9:10)

What a lovely and inspiring idea! God is meeting our immediate need and providing more for later.  This starter, translated into a spiritual idea, represents supply and nourishment, and 'daily bread' for me and my family and friends as well as I promise of continuous supply. I wish we had the technology for me to send you a whiff of how good it smells when it is baking. :)

I freshen the starter first, setting aside one cup to use in that day's baking, by adding water and flour to the original. This 'feeds' it and it multiplies over the next few days. So I can use the portion I set aside and make bread that day...bread for my food. But there is plenty left in the crock as it multiplies to be used again later.

One could think of our Bible Lesson that way. It gets 'used', read and studied each day, providing the right ideas and inspiration needed for that day's activities. But it has not used it all up, we are building on that to increase our spiritual understanding of God and our relationship to Him as His beloved child created in His image and likeness. Plenty more to come! It increases our righteousness, our right thinking, our Truth knowing and the fruitage of that is healing and demonstration.

The New Living Translation says: "For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, He will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you".

The Message Bible says: "This most generous God who gives seed to the farmer that becomes bread for your meals is more than extravagant with you. He gives you something you can then give away, which grows into full-formed lives, robust in God, wealthy in every way, so that you can be generous in every way, producing with us great praise to God".

So today I will rejoice in my 'daily bread', be confident in the multiplication of good and appreciate the fruit of righteousness, my ability to know the Truth. 

Next time I bake I will consider that aroma as the sweet savor sent up to God in thanksgiving for all my blessings.

Not financial security but financial serenity

I do not think I have ever blogged twice in one day but the most extraordinary thing happened and I want to share the blessing so that others might benefit as well.

This is the time of year that I pull out the box where I have been putting items meant for Christmas giving. They accumulate over the year and then I sort them out and it is a nice start on my holiday gift giving and spreads out the budget. I have a nice start with the things I tucked away all year. But there is still a fair amount of shopping to do and I was feeling a bit concerned about how I was going to pay for it. God handed me a very special gift this morning as I opened up Simple Abundance and read the entry for today. Financial serenity.

How diligently we seem to pursue financial security. Wouldn't it be wonderful to never have to worry about money again, with the peace that we will always have all we need. As the writer points out in her entry, "Financial serenity is never having to worry about money again because you've discovered the true Source. You have access to an inexhaustible, invisible storehouse of good. We don't have to wait another moment for financial serenity. We can begin to experience it today regardless of our economic condition."  What a beautiful reminder that our Father provides all we need, at all times and under all circumstances. God is the Source of all good and He never withholds good from His beloved children.

Money is a state of mind and abundance is a state of belief. When I think how rich I am with family, friends, church, a lovely home, a happy life....how can I ever doubt that God will provide whatever I need to be generous with others.  It's right in the Bible. II Corinthians 9:8 reads 'And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work'.  One Bible translation of that verse is 'God will generously provide you with all you need. And plenty left over to share with others.'

I have been praying about opening a savings account. I like the thought that a savings account is positive affirmation that you have more than you need at that moment. Once opened, I would add modest amounts to it. I would not have a specific goal in mind but it would be very satisfying to add a bit here and there with a few ideas of what it might be used for. Mostly travel to be with those I love.

I love the idea of having financial serenity and I'm going to cherish it daily understanding that God is the Source of it.