God Gives Us Opportunities to Correct Mistakes and Misunderstandings

 

Do you wish you had an opportunity to correct a mistake or misunderstanding?  Mary Baker Eddy, a Christian writer and healer, assures us that God will give us this opportunity.  She writes in her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures:

“Know thyself, and God will supply the wisdom and the occasion for a victory over evil.”

I learned this one summer when I was working on the staff of a camp.  One evening, I was leading a meeting and a camper was being disruptive.  I said something to quiet him and he immediately corrected his behavior.  I had meant my words to be light and funny, but later that night I overheard another camper say to him, “He sure was angry with you when he spoke to you!”

Obviously, the words I’d used to this camper hadn’t come across the way that I had intended.  I wanted to correct this misunderstanding, but how?  Recalling the statement above by Eddy, I examined my motives and feelings about this incident and the camper.  I also took the directive to “know thyself” to a spiritual level and acknowledged that both the camper and I were God’s creation, animated and directed by God’s wisdom.

The next morning, I had a brief, unexpected encounter alone with this camper.  At first, I was inclined not to say anything about our exchange the previous night, thinking that I should just let it go.  But, remembering Eddy’s statement, I recognized that God was now supplying the opportunity to correct any potential misunderstanding.  

“Hey”, I said, “You knew I was kidding you last night, didn’t you?”  “I thought you were”, he replied, with a sheepish smile, “but, I’m glad you confirmed it.”  And with that simple exchange the victory over misunderstanding was won.

You can learn more about the help God gives you in Eddy's book.  Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures can be read online, purchased from any major bookseller, or read, borrowed or purchases at any Christian Science Reading Room.  The Reading Room in Evergreen, Colorado is located at 4602 Plettner Lane.

 

"Realizing" the Truth Brings Healing

I was stacking rocks into a pile when I accidently set a rock down hard on my finger.  The sensation of pain was immediate, but so was my response.  I stated to myself emphatically that there was no pain in matter.  

Why did I make such an incredible statement and what did I expect to gain from it?  In her book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, a Christian writer and healer, states that we can heal physical conditions if we: 

"Realize the presence of health and the fact of harmonious being, until the body corresponds to the normal conditions of health and harmony."  

Eddy explains in her book that God creates man as spiritual, not material, and that health and harmony, not pain and injury, are the normal conditions of God's creation. Jesus demonstrated this in his healing ministry and he said that those that believed in his teachings could heal as well.  By "realizing" the truth of man's harmonious condition, I was not merely repeating empty words.  I was consciously understanding and being clearly aware in my thought of man's true God-created condition.  The result was that the pain quickly ceased and my finger was not scarred or dis-colored.

You can find a detailed explanation of Christian healing in Eddy's book.  Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures can be read online, purchased from major booksellers, or read, borrowed or purchased at any Christian Science Reading Room.  The Reading Room in Evergreen, Colorado is located at 4602 Plettner Lane. 

Finding Blessing in What Appears to be a Thorny Situation

Recently, a business situation that I thought had been resolved a couple of years ago, came undone and needed re-working.  The day I learned of this situation, I had been contemplating an arresting statement in the book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy:

"Divine Mind is the only cause or Principle of existence"

"Hrrumph!", I thought when I learned of the business problem, "If God [the Divine Mind] is really the only cause, why do these problems come up?"  I was frustrated and almost doubtful that statement was true for me at that moment.  But then I thought, "If that statement is true, I should stop feeling annoyed and be alert to understand and witness what God is working to accomplish." 

This new perspective replaced my frustration with a sense of calm expectancy.  I knew that God, Mind, was only capable of doing good and blessing His creation.  So if God was the only cause, the only result could be a blessing. I mentally put the problem in God's hands and was actually curious to see how God was going to resolve the situation.  Within a day I was led to take some steps in a new direction that unexpectedly and quickly solved everything.  Even better, the new solution left me in a better position than I had been in before the problem came up!  The thorny situation proved to be a blessing!

You can learn more about God's identity as the Divine Mind in Eddy's book.  Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures can be read online or purchased from major book sellers.  The book can also be read, borrowed or purchased at any Christian Science Reading Room.  The Reading Room in Evergreen Colorado is located at 4602 Plettner Lane.

Discovering a Basis for Loving Others

I was angry!  The teaching assistant (TA) in my digital electronics lab had refused to pass my project because of what I considered to be an obscure flaw in its operation.  This TA had a reputation for being persnickety and hard-nosed.  Many of the students in the class (including me) avoided her and made it our strategy to take our work for approval to other TAs who seemed to be more lenient and supportive.  However, this TA had been the only one in the lab that day and I had been certain my work was correct.

As I walked home stewing about this, I began to see the situation from a new perspective.  I didn't want to produce imperfect or inferior products in my career, nor did I want to be sloppy or lazy about my work.  This TA was training me to exercise care and strive for perfection.  I realized that rather than being at odds with each other, we shared the same underlying motivation - the divine impulse to do right and good in everything we did.  This benevolent divine influence is present in everyone, even when it seems hidden and we seem to be working in opposite directions.  My anger was extinguished by this insight and I was able to figure out how to modify my project to work correctly.  The next day, I took my work back to the same TA and it was approved.  From then on, I appreciated this TA and did not avoid having her inspect my work.  At the end of the year, when I turned in my final project, she approved it without examining it and explained: "I don't need to check your work, because you wouldn't turn it in unless it was well done."

This turn-around in our relationship is explained by a statement from the book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.  Eddy wrote:

"When we realize that there is one Mind, the divine law of loving our neighbor as ourselves is unfolded; whereas a belief in many ruling minds hinders man's normal drift towards the one Mind, on God, and leads human thought into opposite channels where selfishness reigns."

You can learn more loving those that seem to oppose you in Eddy's book.  Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures can be read online, purchased from major booksellers, or read, borrowed or purchased it at a local Christian Science Reading Room.  The Reading Room in Evergreen Colorado is located at 4602 Plettner Lane. 

"Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?"

We were backpacking in a wilderness in the Colorado mountains and were miles from a road.  Although it was late May, as it grew late in the day we found ourselves in an area covered by deep snow - and it was snowing!  However, I wasn't worried. The Bible contains many examples of God providing for man's needs and these examples are relevant to us today.  Referring to the Biblical experience of the Children of Israel in the wilderness, Mary Baker Eddy comments in her book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures:

"There is today danger of repeating the offense of the Jews by limiting the Holy One of Israel and asking: 'Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?'  What cannot God do?"

Through my study of the Bible and the spiritual insights about it's stories that I've gained from reading Eddy's book, I've come to trust that God can do anything - even furnish a table in the wilderness.  As we looked around for a suitable place to camp, we came across a sign that said "Shelter".  Walking a short distance in the direction the sign pointed, we found, not just a table in the wilderness, but an entire shelter with walls and a roof!  Thank you, God!

Do you want to find out more about how God provides for your needs?  You can read or listen to Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures online or purchase it from major booksellers.  The book can also be read, borrowed or purchased at any Christian Science Reading Room, including the one in Evergreen, Colorado at 4602 Plettner Lane.

One Mind Knows All

We were collecting oriented samples of coal for a scientific study.  To mark the top of the sample, we sprayed it with paint from a spray can.  I was wrapping samples in the truck when I looked up and saw my two colleagues by the coal bed looking at the ground.  They said the nozzle of the spray can had fallen off into a large pile of coal.  The nozzle was very small and black.  We could not spray the paint without it.  What to do?

I had been reading the book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.  In this book, Eddy explains an important concept about God – that God is the only Mind, the all-knowing intelligence of the universe.  She writes:

“The spiritually unscientific definition of mind is based on the evidence of the physical senses, which makes minds many and calls mind both human and divine.  In Science, Mind is one, including noumenon and phenomena, God and His thoughts.”

It was very clear to me that nothing could be lost to the all-knowing and ever-present Mind.  God knew where everything was at every moment and since man (me) was the thought of God, I could know where the nozzle was.  I then looked at the ground where my colleagues stood.  Without even stooping I spotted the black nozzle!

Want to learn more about the one Mind?  You can read or listen to Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures online or purchase it from major booksellers.  You can also read, borrow, or purchase this book from any Christian Science Reading Room.  The Reading Room in Evergreen, Colorado is located at 4602 Plettner Lane.

The Influence of [Divine] Thought on Actions

We all recognize that thought influences and directs our own and others actions.  Did you know that there is more than human thought at work and that we can turn to for direction?  Mary Baker Eddy, a Christian writer and healer, explained that there is a divine influence on thought which, when recognized and acknowledged, leads to healing and resolution.  In her book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, she describes this phenomenon as:

"...a divine influence ever present in human consciousness and repeating itself, coming now as was promised aforetime, 'To preach deliverance to the captives [of sense], And recovering of sight to the blind, To set at liberty them that are bruised.'"  

I experienced this divine influence in thought when I was coaching a middle-school soccer team.  At one practice a player accidentally kicked a teammate and a fight broke out between the two players.  I separated them, telling one to go sit on the bench while I tried to calm the other.  This boy was so angry I had to physically restrain him from going after his teammate.  I gave him the usual coaching talk of how it was an accident and that we had to get along with our teammates, etc, etc.  This did not calm the situation at all.  The player kept struggling and saying “I want to fight him!”

Then, I remembered Eddy's statement about the divine influence ever present in human consciousness.  Simply by acknowledging this influence, I found myself saying to the player, “I know you’re brave enough to fight him.  But I think that you are even braver than that.  I think that you are brave enough to walk over to him, shake his hand, and tell him that you are sorry that this incident occurred.”  At this point, the influence of the divine thought on this boy became apparent as well.  He stopped struggling, looked at me in surprise, and then walked over and did just as I suggested.  The incident was over.

You can learn more about this divine influence on thought in Eddy's book.  Read or listen to Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures online or purchase it at major booksellers.  You can also read, borrow, or purchase the book at any Christian Science Reading Room.  The Reading Room in Evergreen, Colorado is located at 4602 Plettner Lane.

A Spiritual Basis for Loving Your Neighbor

One of the well-known instructions in The Bible is to "love your neighbor as yourself".  This is often easier said than done, especially if we think of our "neighbor" in broad terms as all of our fellow men.  Many of our neighbors can seem quite unlovable!  How are we to obey this command?

Mary Baker Eddy, a Christian author and healer, shed some light on this topic in her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures where she wrote:

"To love one's neighbor as one's self, is a divine idea, but this idea can never be seen, felt, nor understood through the physical senses."

"When we realize that there is one Mind, the divine law of loving our neighbor as ourselves is unfolded;..."

In this second statement, "Mind" is a synonym that Eddy uses for God to convey the intelligence and wisdom inherent in God's creating and governing activity.  As I've studied Eddy's book, I've come to understand that this command is not about how much to love your neighbor (e.g. as much as you love yourself), but how and why to love your neighbor - as yourself because you are closely related through your relationship with God.  To the physical senses, we are all individual beings that are often in conflict, but to spiritual sense we are all ideas of God made, as The Bible says, "in His image and likeness."  Remembering this fact, even if we can't seem to discern it at the moment through the physical senses, enables us to follow The Bible's instruction and genuinely love others.

Recently, I was standing in a crowd at an airport baggage carousel waiting for my luggage.  The lady next to me had a backpack on and was speaking a foreign language to her companion.  She had her back toward me and, oblivious to my presence, kept swinging her backpack into me.  Because of the physical sense evidence - I couldn't understand her words or see her face and I was getting pushed aside - I didn't at first feel much love toward her.  But remembering the spiritual meaning behind this biblical command, my heart embraced her as a fellow idea of God.  Just then her bag came along the carousel, but because of it's size and weight she was unable to lift it off.  I instinctively grabbed it and placed it by her.  She turned, smiled, and thanked me appreciatively.  The mutual love of one neighbor to another was outwardly expressed!

You can learn more about the spiritual basis for loving your neighbor from Eddy's book.  Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures can be read online, purchased at major book sellers, or read, borrowed, or purchased at the Christian Science Reading Room in Evergreen, Colorado.

Responding with Prayer When Help is Needed

I was sitting in an aisle seat on a cross-country plane flight, when the flight attendant knelt beside me and said “We need your help with a medical emergency”.  I almost jumped out of my seat, but then realized the attendant was talking to the person behind me, who apparently was a physician.  The two of them went forward in the plane.  I had no idea of what was happening, but I felt called upon to respond in my own way – with prayer.

How can one pray effectively for others?  Mary Baker Eddy, a Christian healer, wrote in her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures:

“... be thoroughly persuaded in your own mind concerning the truth which you think or speak, and you will be the victor.”

The thoughts that were coming to me at that moment to pray about were 1) that help was very far away and 2) that life was threatened.  The truths I countered these fears with were 1) that God is a very present help in trouble and 2) that, as the Bible says, God is Life.  God and God’s creation certainly couldn’t be threatened.  I contemplated these ideas until I felt “thoroughly persuaded in my own mind” of their truth and was at peace about the situation.

In the meantime, while I was praying in this way, the plane was making an emergency landing.  When we got to the terminal, I saw the physician and a woman get up from seats about 8 rows in front of me and leave the plane.  Shortly thereafter, the physician returned to his original seat behind me and we took off.

After we were in the air again, the flight attendant returned and asked the physician, “What was the problem?”  “I don’t know”, he replied.  He then explained that when he got to her, the woman was unconscious, not breathing, and had no pulse or blood pressure.  “But then”, he said, “it was like a switch was flipped – she regained consciousness and all her signs were normal!  She will be fine!”

Do you want to add your prayerful support to situations?  Learn and be thoroughly persuaded of spiritual truths from Eddy’s book, Science and Health with key to the Scriptures.  You can read this book online or read, borrow, or purchase this book at any Christian Science Reading Room, including the one in Evergreen, Colorado.

Practicing Self-Forgetfulness Leads to a Harmonious Relationship

Recently, I had to spend three days with a relative that I had had a thorny relationship with. I was concerned about how this time together would come off.  I wanted us all to have a harmonious and happy time.  In preparing for this event, I found guidance and peace in a statement by Mary Baker Eddy, a Christian writer and healer.  In her book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures she wrote:

"Self-forgetfulness, purity, and affection are constant prayers.  Practice not profession, understanding not belief, gain the ear and right hand of omnipotence and they assuredly call down infinite blessings."

I decided to focus on self-forgetfulness - to understand what this meant and to put it into practice.  The human ego can have a hard time "forgetting" itself and putting others first, but from reading Eddy's book I had a higher sense of what it meant to be self-forgetful.  It wasn't about my human ego struggling to be meek in the presence of another human ego.  Self-forgetfulness meant putting aside the whole notion that we are separate mortal individuals with competing egos and goals for the concept that we are spiritual ideas created by the one divine Mind, a.k.a. God and flowing harmoniously together through life like water in a river.

There were a few occasions during the three days that I had to remind myself to be self-forgetful, but each time I did the task became easier and the entire event went smoothly and happily for everyone involved.

Want to learn more about forgetting the mortal self and your real spiritual self?  You can read or listen to Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures online or purchase it from major book sellers.  If you live near Evergreen, Colorado, you can read, borrow, or purchase this book at the Christian Science Reading Room at 4602 Plettner Lane.

Ending Political Deadlock by Acknowledging the One Mind

As the government shutdown over funding for a border wall continues, we might wonder, "Is there is anything that I can do to bring the two sides together?"  Some might suggest calling our political representatives, writing letters to the editor, or joining in protests.  Mary Baker Eddy, a Christian writer and healer, suggested a radical idea in her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures:

"The exterminator of error is the great truth that God, good, is the only Mind, and that the supposititious opposite of infinite Mind - called devil or evil - is not Mind, is not Truth, but error, without intelligence or reality."

Although this spiritual truth may seem nice, but unrelatable to our human situation, in my experience I found that it is a basis for prayer that yields practical results.  To give one example, I was once on a committee to select a contractor to do some work for several government agencies.  The members of the committee had diverse opinions of who and what was needed.  Just prior to our final meeting to select a contractor, I took some time to pray for our work.  Considering Eddy's statement, I affirmed that all members of the committee were governed by this one divine Mind.  This gave me a sense of peace about our meeting.  As we gathered to make our decision, there seemed to be tension and committee members were joking about needing baseball bats.  However, one person suggested that before we have any discussion, we take a secret vote and list our top choice.  To everyone's surprise, we voted unanimously for the same contractor.  The meeting was over in record time!

Let's join in our prayers and affirm this great truth that God, good is the only Mind.  It can have a healing effect!

You can read more healing ideas in Eddy's book.  You can read Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures online or purchase it at major book sellers.  You can also read, borrow, or purchase the book at the Christian Science Reading Room at 4602 Plettner Lane in Evergreen, Colorado.

Recognizing the Harmony of Life

It was past nine on a Friday evening and things weren’t going well.  My colleague and I were tasked with getting a large computer system set up and operational on a network in time for business Monday morning.  My colleague had done this work many times before with other systems, but tonight we hadn’t gotten very far in the process and we were stuck.  The computer was not communicating with most of the devices on the network.  The support offices we needed to call for technical assistance were not open over the weekend.

I walked to the other side of the room to clear my thought and listen for inspiration.  We had been working on various aspects of this project for almost a year and had overcome many obstacles.  I was in the habit of turning to prayer for guidance and each time there had been a challenge it had been overcome.  As I thought about these experiences and the good this computer system was intended to accomplish, I felt a calm trust that God, Good wouldn’t bring the project this far and then abandon it.  My recognition that harmonious progress was a natural part of life, assured me that somehow, someway, we would be led to overcome this challenge.

At that point, I looked down at the printer I was standing by.  The printer, one of the only devices the computer would communicate with, had been spewing out paper for several minutes.  As I looked down I saw that the page emerging from the printer had a large heading: “Important – Read This”.  Following the heading was a single sentence that explained that due to an engineering change, we needed to issue a specific command to activate the circuit board in the computer that would communicate with the network.  This page was quickly buried by additional sheets of paper coming out of the printer, but we had our answer!  We were able to move forward and the system was operational on time!

Mary Baker Eddy, a Christian healer and writer pointed out the power in having a calm recognition of the naturalness of good.   In her book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, she writes:

“Let neither fear nor doubt overshadow your clear sense and calm trust, that the recognition of life harmonious- as Life eternally is- can destroy any painful sense of, or belief in, that which Life is not.”

In this sentence, “Life” with a capital “L” is a name Eddy uses for God.  You can learn more about recognizing harmonious life and developing a calm trust in Life from Eddy’s book.  It can be read online, purchased through Amazon, or read, borrowed or purchased from the Christian Science Reading Room at 4602 Plettner Lane in Evergreen, Colorado.

Beyond Chaos

“Chaos” seems a byword of news headlines and commentary these days.  Everything from politics to the stock market have been dubbed unpredictable and disorderly.  Hurricanes and fires, for some, add a sense of the world’s undoing, and even doom.  And all of this can easily spillover into our personal lives with days of disarray and worry.  How do we get beyond the chaos?  Is there more to just enduring it, riding out?

The book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, poses a bold counter - that there is a spiritual force or power at work that continues to lift us beyond chaos:

“’Let there be light,’ is the perpetual demand of Truth and Love, changing chaos into order and discord into the music of the spheres”

The author, Mary Baker Eddy, goes on to talk of the “invisible good” and “the secret beauty and bounty…known to God”.  As the Bible prophet Elisha prayed for his follower Elisha: “…open his eyes, that he may see” (II Kings 6:17).  This doesn’t mean, however, to be naive or detached, but it does open us up to other possibilities. It would lead us to recognize and accentuate what is positive in our midst.

I’ve certainly had moments in my past work in the criminal justice field that left me feeling overwhelmed and depressed. It seemed chaos ruled the day.  But embracing these counter spiritual truths from Science and Health always opened me to a way forward—as well as leading me to feel energized and confident.  It is similarly encouraging to see people coming together and finding deeper purpose amidst the disruptive tragedies and political frustrations of our times.  There is good going on dictated by a higher good, we can call God.

You can read Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures online, purchase it from major booksellers, or read, borrow, or purchase it from the Christian Science Reading Room in Evergreen, Colorado.

Finding Common Ground With Those That Support the Other Party

      I recently met a man that was intelligent, principled, compassionate, and moral, but I was surprised to learn that he was an ardent supporter of a politician whom I thought lacked all of these qualities.  “How could he?” I wondered.  But, to be honest, he probably feels the same way about people who share my position.  Was he blind to what was right... or was I?

 

Although I don’t know which one of us is right (I’m pretty sure I am ☺ ), I found some helpful guidance about how to think about people with opposite views in a statement by Mary Baker Eddy.  

In her book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, she writes:

“Evil is sometimes a man’s highest conception of right, until his grasp on good grows stronger.”

Perhaps “evil” is too strong a word in this instance, but the point is that I realized this man and everyone that I differ with, are supporting their highest concept of right.  I am too!  This awareness helps me to respect those that hold different opinions even if I am vehemently opposed to their position.  My prayer going forward is that we all strengthen our grasp on good.  I’m sure we can all agree on that position!

You can learn more about how to pray that we all strengthen our grasp on good in Eddy’s book.  Read Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures online or purchase it from major booksellers.  You can also read, borrow, or purchase this book at the Christian Science Reading Room in Evergreen, Colorado located at 4602 Plettner Lane.

Sculpting a Society Free of Sexual Abuse

This year has been full of charges of sexual abuse and scandal.  Seemingly every corner of our society has been involved including church officials, educators, corporate executives, celebrities, and government officials.  It is good that light is being shined on this problem and that justice is being pursued. Is there more that we all can do beyond raising our awareness and supporting the resolution of this issue?  How can we play an active role in eliminating this undesirable attitude and behavior from our society?

I’ve been contemplating a statement made by Mary Baker Eddy in her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.  She wrote:

“The sculptor turns from the marble to his model in order to perfect his conception.  We are all sculptors, working at various forms, moulding [sic] and chiseling thought. What is the model before mortal mind?  Is it imperfection, joy, sorrow, sin, suffering?  Have you accepted the mortal model?  Are you reproducing it? … Do you not hear from all mankind of the imperfect model?  The world is holding it before your gaze continually.  The result is that you are liable to follow those lower patterns, limit your lifework, and adopt into your experience the angular outline and deformity of matter models.”

Yikes!  I don’t want to be liable to follow these lower patterns or admit this moral deformity into my experience!  Eddy goes on to explain what we should do to prevent this:

“To remedy this, we must first turn our gaze in the right direction, and then walk that way.  We must form perfect models in thought and look at them continually, or we shall never carve them out in grand and noble lives.  Let unselfishness, goodness, mercy, justice, health, holiness, love – the kingdom of heaven – reign within us, and sin, disease, and death will diminish until they finally disappear.”

You can learn more about being a sculpting thought in Eddy’s book.  Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures can be read online or purchased from major booksellers.  You can also read, borrow, or purchase the book from the Christian Science Reading Room in Evergreen, Colorado located at 4602 Plettner Lane.

Rights and Freedom We Can All Agree on Protecting

Currently in the United States, much thought, energy, and emotional anguish is focused on the selection of a new justice to the Supreme Court.  The candidate, Judge Kavanaugh, is being exhaustively examined to learn his views of our Constitutional rights, including the right to life, the right of a woman to control her body, the right to own a gun, and the rights of the executive branch of the United States.  Politicians and citizens are contentiously debating these important issues with one another.

 As I considered these rights and the political and legal process for defining and protecting them, I was reminded of some even more important rights and an entirely spiritual method and power for their protection and enforcement.  Speaking of her discovery of Christian Science a few decades after the Civil War in the United States, Mary Baker Eddy, wrote in her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures:

“The voice of God in behalf of the African slave was still echoing in our land, when the voice of the herald of this new crusade sounded the keynote of universal freedom, asking a fuller acknowledgement of the rights of man as a Son of God, demanding that the fetters of sin, sickness, and death be stricken from the human mind and that its freedom be won, not through human warfare, not with bayonet and blood, but through Christ’s divine Science.”

The rights of man as a Son of God!

The fetters of sin, sickness, and death stricken!

Freedom won, not through warfare or political debate, but through the law of Christ!

It is inspiring to consider these rights and methods.  These are rights we can all agree on protecting!

You can learn more in Eddy’s book about your rights as a Son of God and how to win your freedom through Christ.  Read Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures online or purchase your own copy from Amazon.  You can also read, borrow, or buy this book at the Christian Science Reading Room in Evergreen, Colorado at 4602 Plettner Lane.

Protecting Our Security and Freedom in a World of 3-d Printing

The current controversy over an individual’s right to publish blue prints online for producing a gun with a 3-d printer raises important questions about issues everyone cherishes – safety and freedom.  While courts, legislatures, and voters all have a role to play in deciding this issue, it’s worth considering the larger question of what ultimately insures our security and freedom.  Can we find real security if changes in technology give anyone ready access to instructions and capabilities for manufacturing guns, bombs, or other destructive devices?  Can we permanently protect our freedom if laws can swing back and forth with each change in political control?  Can we trust our government and our fellow citizens to know and do what is best for our country?

Mary Baker Eddy, in her book "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures", points out that we can trust in the forces that will ultimately shape our society.  She writes:

“The history of our country, like all history, illustrates the might of Mind, and shows human power to be proportionate to its embodiment of right thinking.”  

In the statement above, Eddy uses the term “Mind” with a capital “M” to refer to the divine Mind – God.  In her writings she explains that although security and freedom can seem precarious or threatened by the swings and extremes of the human mind, these desirable conditions are protected and promoted by God, the divine Mind.  She writes:

“One infinite God, good, unifies men and nations; constitutes the brotherhood of man; ends wars; fulfills the Scripture, "Love thy neighbor as thyself"; annihilates pagan and Christian idolatry, - whatever is wrong in social, civil, criminal, political, and religious codes; equalizes the sexes; annuls the curse on man, and leaves nothing that can sin, suffer, be punished or destroyed.” 

You can learn more about the divine Mind and how it protects your security and freedom.  Read "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" online or purchase it at bookstores such as Amazon.  You can also read, borrow or purchase this book at the Christian Science Reading Room in Evergreen, Colorado at 4602 Plettner Lane.

An Idea for Eliminating Conflict!

Conflict!  The world seems to be full of conflict between individuals, families, governments, religious movements, societies, and special interests!  These conflicts are caused by opposing thoughts.  A basic premise of human existence is that each individual has a mind or consciousness of his own produced by a material organ called a brain. This condition of individual, independent minds leads to opposing beliefs, interests, and goals and an unhealthy mind can lead to depression and mental illness of individuals.  With billions of minds in the world is it inevitable that there will always be conflict, limitation and confusion?

Mary Baker Eddy, a Christian healer and teacher, proposed an idea that goes against the apparent existence of many minds and offers a basis for hope and progress for humanity.  She writes in her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures:

"The exterminator of error is the great truth that God, good is the only Mind and that the supposititious opposite of infinite Mind -- called devil or evil -- is not Mind, is not Truth, but error, without intelligence or reality."

This idea of one God, one Mind that is wholly good became the foundation of her healing method and is expounded upon in her book.

I had an experience that showed me the practical application of this idea of one Mind.  Many years ago, another individual and I had differing opinions on how to manage a difficult situation.  I implemented what I thought was the best solution, but the other individual disagreed so vehemently that they filed a suit against me to force me to follow a different course of action.  In the months of legal maneuvering that followed, I thought long and hard about this idea that there was one mind - not my mind or another's, but one divine Mind or God that creates and governs all.  As I grew in my understanding of this idea, it shifted in my consciousness from an abstract concept to a practical reality that I could depend on.  I stopped worrying about how to respond to the legal challenge and instead focused on praying to discern and follow what this Mind was directing me to do.

Prior to the case going to court, we were required to meet with a mediator.  The night before this meeting, a new idea came to me that did not directly involve the issues of the case, but that seemed like a good solution for all involved.  The next day, I proposed this idea to the other party and it was accepted.  Not only did they get something that met their needs, but I found that the resulting arrangement was far better for me than my original course of action.

You can read Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures online or purchase it from Amazon or any major book retailer.  It is also available for sale or study at the Christian Science Reading Room in Evergreen, Colorado at 4602 Plettner Lane.