prayering about flu and contagion

Our phone rang late last night with a message from the school district announcing that all schools would be closed immediately and for the next ten days to deal with the spreading of 'swine flu'. Turning to this week's Bible lesson, I found so many helpful references to pray with: from the Bible...It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed...for He will not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men...none of them who trust in Him will be desolate... And from Mrs. Eddy's writings...let us labor to dissolve with the universal solvent of Love the adamant of error...the divine must overcome the human at every point...God is everywhere and nothing apart from Him is present or has power...then one disease would be as readily destroyed as another...disease must lose its reality in human consciousness and disappear...Love sends forth Her everlasting strain...

From an article...if your friend believed in ghosts and his heart beat faster and he had nightmares - you, not believing in ghosts, would have no fear of 'catching' his symptoms, however real they might seem.

Another thought - when a cat and a dog meet unexpectedly the cat arches its back. You would not pray about the cat having curvature of the spine, you would simply calm its fear. For more ideas to pray with for yourself, your loved ones and your community in connection with this topic, go to Spirituality.com and read "Freedom from swine flu through God's care".

turn that procession around

In this week's Bible lesson, Doctrine of Atonement, there is a touching and powerful scene. Jesus and his disciples, along with a crowd of those seeking to hear him and those clamoring for healing, came to the city of Nain. As they approached the gates, a sad sight appeared. A funeral procession. Jews did not bury their dead within the walls of a city. A young man, the only son of his mother, had died. She was already widowed and was now without protection and provision. A large number of people accompanied her on this sad walk. So two great crowds of people were able to converge and witness this event.

When Jesus saw her, he instantly knew her situation and had compassion for her. He speaks to her these words of comfort, "weep not". I'm sure many had tried to comfort her but his words held a much different meaning. Having addressed her, he now touched the bier and those bearing it stopped. Imagine the astonishment of those around him when he said to the young man, "Young man, I say unto thee, Arise". But that was nothing compared to their amazement when the young man, who all had accepted as dead, sat up and began to speak. Jesus had already raised many from beds of infirmity and pain, now he raised this young man from a funeral bier. To complete the healing, he delivers him to his mother. One can only imagine her reaction.

And with these few words and actions, Jesus completely reversed that procession leaving the city in sorrow and mourning to one of happiness and rejoicing. Surely, when he said 'arise' it rippled out to all of those present. They felt awe and wonder and word spread that a great prophet was among them. God had visited His people. Not just a prophet, but a great prophet for in their whole history only Elijah and Elishas had revived the dead. A long period of silence in the form of prophecy now came to a close. No prophets had appeared for centuries. So this story spread quickly throughout all Judea and all the region round about.

What I love about this is how the Christ completely reversed what appeared to be consuming everyone. That is how Christian Science operates. Use it with whatever grief or sadness or illness is causing you to feel like you are in a long walk of depression. Weep not. Stand still, stop moving forward with your problem. Don't continue down that path. Listen for the Christ telling you to arise, lift up your thought, see things differently. Be delivered whole and well and happy back to those who love you. No hands were needed to help that young man, he sat up on his own. No period of getting over whatever had caused him to die, he was able to speak normally. The problem had vanished. Health was restored. That procession turned around and went back into the city with a totally different feeling. You can do the same. Today.

Nothing can 'plague' you

This week's Bible lesson asks what appears to be a simple question but we cannot take it lightly. Are sin, disease and death real? Well, they certainly seem real. This is a natural follow up to the previous Bible lesson topics, Reality and Unreality. What is real to you? What is your reality based upon?

Within the lesson is a familiar citiation from Psalm 91. If you are not familiar with this Psalm, please look it up. It is one of the most comforting and promising passages in Scripture. Its applications can change your life and help you to see the all-presence of good. Good is the theme running all through this lesson and if we can understand the allness of God and the allness of good in His creation, we can answer that question with a confident "no".

This morning, I am working with Psalm 91:10. "There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling". This is what we all want to hear and believe in this troubled economy. No evil will happen to you. No evil whatsoever. Nothing bad. That's one side of the promise. The other half balances it perfectly. Since God is good and God fills all space, then good fills all space. Not only will no bad things happen, many good things will.

The second part of this citation is wonderful. "...no plague shall come near your home". What a promise for those struggling to keep up with house payments. What relief for those suffering from spring allergies. I looked up the word 'plague'. It means a widespread affliction or calamity, a sudden destructive outbreak, a cause of annoyance, a highly infectious disease. If any other these things appear to be present in your experience, here is the way to reason whether they are real or not.

Mrs. Eddy defines 'house' as 'consciousness'. So what we are defending is not only our physical home but the things we are accepting into thought. She gives Mind as a synonym for God. If we can see that God is divine Mind and that Mind is ever present, if we can see that God is good and good is ever present, we can see that we, as His image and likeness, are part of that expressing of good. We are what God is thinking about, we are what He is dwelling on. As there is only one Mind, we can know what He is knowing, the ever presence of good. He saw all that He had made and it was very good. That includes each one of His children. Nothing else is present. No one else is present. That is what is real.

Spend a little time with Psalm 91 today. I guarantee some of the verses will really resonate with you. This is prayer, spending time with God, getting to know Him as He is and to see His goodness ever present. To see yourself as the recipient of good. Prayer brings honest-to-goodness physcial change for the better. That eliminates sickness or disease. That brings an end to sin or making poor choices that do not lead to good.

You are not the victim of any form of plague. Nothing can 'plague' you. You are enveloped in good and it is your Father's good pleasure to open the windows of heaven and pour out more good than you can possibly take in.

don't touch the hem, be wearing the garment!

As I read a familiar story in this week's Bible lesson, I was struck by an interesting idea. The woman in the story was suffering from a long-standing issue of blood. She hid herself in the throng surrounding Jesus, reasoning that if she could only touch his clothes, she would be healed. So she reached out and touched the hem of his garment. She believed that he had some power within him that healed. The hem, or blue fringe on the border of the garment, was put there by divine command, and served to remind the Jewish wearer of the special relation to God in which he stood. (See Numbers 15: 37-40) She knew, as soon as she touched him, that she was healed of that problem and the loss of blood stopped. She would have slipped away but Jesus, sensing what had happened, did not allow that. He asked who touched him. When she, fearful and trembling because what she had done broke Jewish law making those around her unclean, came forward, he made sure that she realized that it was her faith in God that had brought about the healing. And he announced this so that no one could condemn her for her actions as she was whole. If she had slipped away without knowing this, she might have been unable to get a healing next time she needed one and the Master was not around.

But what I thought about this morning was that many of us tend to identify ourselves as the person who needs the healing, the one turning to the Christ and trusting that we can make contact in some way and be healed. Think what it would be like if instead we identified ourselves with the Christ, accepting the idea that we have the same mind that was in the Master because that is the only Mind there is. We can be just as aware as he was of man's perfection and wholeness. For ourselves and for others. We are the ones wearing the garment! We are clothed in righteousness, right thinking, Truth knowing so we are always in 'our right mind', the only Mind there is.

Try looking at a familiar Bible story and ask yourself which character you are identifying with. Go about your day today imagining yourself clothed in that garment. What a concept.

Your 'Pool of Bethesda"

Included in this week's Bible lesson is the story of Jesus' healing of the man by the Pool of Bethesda. I was thinking about that this morning and asking myself, "am I sitting beside my own Pool of Bethesda"? That man had carried around a heavy burden for many years. It seems to me that what he was now doing was hoping to some miracle that would restore him to health. Restore his dignity and self esteem. Allow him to stand unaided. Give him freedom to move around on his own. He believed, as did the many others who came to this Pool, that what caused the healings was the intervention of an angel. Mrs. Eddy defines angels in Science and Health as God's messages and messengers. So this man was waiting for evidence that an angel had appeared and then hoping against hope that he would recieve the blessing.

Jesus asked the man if he wanted to be healed. An odd question but the answer establishes where the man's thought was at that point. He believes in the power of the angel, he believes healing is possible, but he feels that he is unable to be healed because to do so he must rely upon the help of others to get him to the pool. Do you feel that way? Do you think that you need the intervention of someone to move you ahead of others in the employment process? Does it seem like someone else always gets their blessing, perhaps what should have come to you?

Jesus had asked him if he wanted to be made whole. That man must have been feeling, then, that he was not whole. He was physically handicapped, he was alone, he was a victim of circumstance. Many feel that way with all the challenges around us. Do you feel that there is a hole in your life, in your body, in your relationships, in your career? Does there seem to be something missing? Jesus might well ask you the same question. Do you want to be made whole? Of course we do. But how? What was the Christ offering to do?

Mrs. Eddy writes in Science and Health that Jesus beheld the perfect man, the perfect idea of divine Mind, right where the rest of the world saw something lacking. Jesus saw everyone as whole, never having lost anything. Always as the perfect reflection of a perfect Original. Complete. Undisturbed. Whole. Healthy. Complete. Able to do all things through God who is our constant support. And he saw it so clearly that, like a light being turned on in a dark room, the man's thought of himself was lifted as well. That light of Truth shined for both of them. And it brought healing and restoration because immediately that man was whole. This was a revelation, not so much a restoration. What had always been true had been revealed. So no physical therapy was needed to strengthen weak muscles, no time was needed to recouperate. No help was needed to balance that man so he could walk on his own. No help was even needed to carry that cot. He could walk right then and there. And he did.

If there seems to be a 'Pool of Bethesda", a person or place or thing that you are looking to for help or healing, why not look instead to see that angel message coming directly to you from your Father in heaven. No pool necessary to prove its presence. Do not accept any limitation that says you can only succeed if others help you. Do not accept the suggestion that you are the victim of circumstance and that someone else gets to good before you do. Good is infinite and cannot ever be used up. There is more than enough to go around. It is God's will that you understand your relationship to Him as His very own beloved child. That comes with divine rights and privleges.

Turn away from the 'Pool' and look for your angel. It is your very own angel and its message cannot be diverted, delayed or erased. When you feel that you are in the presence of the Christ...rise...take up your bed...and walk. Lift thought to cling to perfect God and perfect child. Be made whole.

That which concerns me

Another favorite Bible passage is in this week's Bible lesson: The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me...) from Psalms 138. I like to pray with this one using it two ways.

First, it is so comforting to know that my Father will perfect the things that are causing me concern. The things that concern me. He will open up what seems to be a blocked way, He will make clear some direction that is confusing me, He will smooth out any relationship challenges, He will provide me with abundance when I am concerned about adequate supply. No matter what it is that is causing me to feel concern, I can trust His care and control.

Secondly, it is so supportive to know that God is also going to straighten out anything that concerns me, things about me in my own thought or in the thought of others. Another name for God is divine Mind, the only Mind, the all-knowing and wise Mind. If we understand this, we see that we are all reflections of the intelligence, that wisdom, that knowing. We are not holding our own opinons, just reflecting His as His image and likeness. There are zillions of individual minds, just an infinite number of ways that Mind is knowing things. So God is fully aware of everything about me.

Our bodies express what governs and occuplies our thought. Are you feeling a sense of heaviness or foreboding and is that expressed in weight issues? Are you feeling unsure about a decision that needs to be made and that is being expressed in stomach problems or dizziness? Whatever you are entertaining in thought is what comes out on the body. I love to envision Jesus walking on the water right in the midst of a storm. What lightness. What confidence. What mastery of the elements. What control. We would all like to move through life like that. The message in that Psalm helps. In another part of the lesson we read this from Science and Health: "...Mind can impart purity instead of impurity, strength instead of weakness, and health instead of disease. Truth is an alterative in the entire system, and can make it every whit whole."

I'll be praying with these passages today.

Morning Chapel

When my kids were young, they attended a school where the staff and Administration were all Christian Scientists. Each school day started with a gathering for Chapel and parents were invited to share in it. The classes took turns participating in Chapel, with readings from the Bible or a good thought for the day. A side benefit was giving the children poise and confidence as they spoke before their peers in a safe and supporting environment.

I remember staying for Chapel one day and hearing a verse from the Bible that is in this week's Bible Lesson. The verse is from Psalms 19: "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer."

The words of my mouth. May everything I say be acceptable to God. That can be a tall order as we go about our day. But, not a bad exercise to stop and think what God would think about what you just said. Keep a closer eye on how positive or negative your reactions are and what it says about you. If what you say is acceptable in God's eyes, then it can't be offensive or hurtful to others, nor can it be misunderstood.

That goes for your inner thoughts as well. We can often stop ourselves before we say something we might later regret, but do we take the time to change what we are thinking, if it a thought that would not be acceptable to God. The things we think about our family members, our fellow workers, the person at the check out line, the other drivers on your commute. Do we allow unpleasant or unkind things to stay in our thinking? If we do, they might just slip out when we speak. Better to keep those things we mediatate on, think about, brood over, reminate upon, be acceptable to God as well.

The simple exercise of this lovely prayer is to keep what you say and think pure and good. It certainly makes for a calmer and happier attitude. But this needs to be based on spiritual law, the Principle that comes from the account of creation in Genesis where God saw everything that He had made and it was very good. Nothing unpleasant, evil, unkind, painful mentioned in that account. Nothing that could cause us to think badly of others or be thought badly of in return. Taking it back to God eliminates those things that would cause us to see any one in the wrong light. Much better to see by the light of Truth.

If you are new to Bible study, you might start with the book of Psalms and read through looking for verses like this one that you can copy out and carry around with you. That verse concludes by recognizing God as our strength and redeemer. What we can rely upon and be supported by. Thw Word of God never fails.