You are Beautiful

It is wonderful to be alive. Today I am grateful for you. Perhaps I haven't met you, but I know that you are wonderful and beautiful.

How can I know you if I've never met you and we haven't talked before? Allow me to explain. I appreciate you, because you are the reflection of God-good. Here's an example of what I mean.

A few weeks ago, a coworker was complaining that our programmer was being obstinate. I told my coworker that the programmer was a nice person, he's adopted two boys out of the foster children program. She said, "Well, I don't know [the programmer] like you do." I told her that I could appreciate people without getting to know them. She bristled at that thought, so I gave her the following example.

Divine Spirit moved me to talk to a woman at work that I had not talked to before and ask her what job she would like. [The Spirit does ask you to move outside your comfort zone sometimes.] I also heard from Spirit that she's going to say she doesn't know, but she wants to be a teacher. This woman replied, "I just want a good job, I guess." I asked her what she would really like to do, what's her calling? She said that in high school she wanted to be an art teacher. We talked briefly about what is holding her back - fear. (I told her that when she's ready, I could help her get rid of the fear.)

How could I appreciate this woman before I knew her? Simple. I know what God is like. I know that God expresses in you His beautiful lasting qualities. I understand that you have those qualities by reflection.

I love you and appreciate you, even if we have never met.

Global Thanksgiving

Love to you all. God's grace has healed me and for this I am thankful. God's grace has healed my family and I am grateful for this. God's grace has healed my dog - for this I am happily grateful. God's grace has revealed my calling - to be a spiritual healer, a Christian Science healer - and this is what I am most grateful for because now I am witnessing God's grace and healing for you and all mankind.

Thank you God!

Dan

Never Give Up

Isn't it odd how light we can feel, until somebody says something that we take personally. The same goes for thoughts that we take personally. Let's say we are praying for healing and the thought comes that the illness is getting worse, we are not praying about it very effectively. That sounds plausible, right? On one hand, yes. But on the other NO, NO, NO. Why? Because there's no truth in it. And, if you accept it as true for you personally, then you struggle even more.

All the best!

Sin Healed? - Part 1

Can sins be forgiven? It's an excellent question. If sins cannot be forgiven then evil is perpetual, and suffering is inevitable and everlasting. Wouldn't incurable disease seem normal, too?

Some think that one can avoid punishment for sin because God does not know sin, that "He is of purer eyes than to behold evil." Here is where Christian Science helps us understand God's law in a practical way. Mary Baker Eddy states in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, "Error excludes itself from harmony. Sin is its own punishment." (Error is another word for evil. Error means that evil is a mistake, a misconception, like 4+4=5.) The way to be free of the punishment of sin, is to totally forsake sin. Error's agony aids in destroying error. Hiding sin as a means of preserving peace, or giving the illusion of peace, causes error and the suffering to grow.

Once the sin is forsaken, the suffering is removed. It's a law of God-good. God is patient with our mistakes. He gently leads us back to the right way. He does not tolerate the sin, but is very patient with our failings. We should be so patient with each other. "Through the wholesome chastisements of Love, we are helped onoward in the march towards righteousness, peace and purity, which are the landmarks of Science." (S&H 323:6)

When sin is rebuked, we discover something. We discover our true sinless nature. We discover that in God's eyes, we never strayed. And, we are home. "In this Science, we discover man in the image and likeness of god. We see that man has never lost his spiritual estate and his eternal harmony." (S&H 548:5)

Love's Impulse

I used to put off praying. Not that I wouldn't eventually follow through. Now, I don't wait. When the thought comes to pray - I pray. If the thought comes to drop to my knees and pray, I follow that lead. Now, I believe that I am working at divine Love's impulse.

Sometimes that means waking up at 2AM because Love says, "Pray!" And, sometimes it means going to a professional hockey game with someone you love and have fun!

I am finding great satisfaction, love, and happiness responding to Love's impulse.

"Sensualism is not bliss, but bondage. For true happiness, man must harmonize with his Principle, divine Love; the Son must be in accord with the Father, in conformity with Christ."

-From Science and Health, with Key to the Scriptures
by Mary Baker Eddy
337:6-10

World Out of Control?

It is in my heart to pray for our world this morning. God governs. God being all good, governs everything harmoniously. Anything out of control is a denial to God. So, one or the other is not true. Material sense does not comprehend how anything in front of it is not true. Well, material sense often believes it's own illusions. Man is the likeness of God (Gen. 1.). God is not the likeness of man/material sense.

God-good governs. Period. Therefore nothing is out of control. To God, His spiritual sense, and his spiritual ideas all is harmonious. On this basis Christ Jesus healed. He had a different vision.

Today, I am declaring that God is in control. He is in control of me, my future, the Earth's future, Iraq's future (and present!), Iran, North Korea. If I don't do that, I'm saying that evil gets to choose when good is in charge and when it's not. It's a boaster. Jesus called it "a liar and the father of it."

War Inevitable?

Are you praying about war? If not, why not? I know that sometimes that I have a feeling like I should pray about war, but I feel hesitant. I had an insight that we should be praying more about big issues like war. If we never pray about it, how will it come to an end? And, if it is the objectification of evil, why wouldn't we pray . My insight was that prayer is effective, so we need to be applying it to what is needed most. That simple thought was helpful. How can prayer help delete the images of carnage, death, futility, and frustration?

Jesus never made a reality out of death. When he raised the girl from death, he told those around him that she was sleeping. He did the same when he raised Lazarus. He was alert to the fact that death is not reality - it's illusion. There's a book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures that has a lot of insights about death. It mentions death 387 times! On page 39:9, it says: "The Bible calls death an enemy, and Jesus overcame death and the grave instead of yielding to them. He was "the way." To him, therefore, death was not the threshold over which he must pass into living glory." Death isn't to be feared or welcomed. Death is a belief that life is in matter. This life apart from God, Spirit, results in death. Life in Spirit never ends.

Is the situation hopeless in Iraq? It sure seems to be. There's daily bombings. It just goes on and on, with no improvement. It sure looks like good is out of the picture and that evil is unstoppable. That sure takes God out of the picture. What's needed to turn this situation around? Would you be surprised if I said prayer? What I mean by prayer is listening for God's voice, looking with God's vision. As it says in Genesis, God created everything good and he was pleased with His creation. God, Spirit, created spiritual creation. It has never morphed into material creation, never degraded into war. We can be faithful to Jesus and love our enemies. We can pray that all love their enemies, and that all the so-called "enemies" are blessed. If everyone felt blessed they wouldn't attack anyone else, and war would fade.

I am praying to know that Iraq is not immersed in war as the carnal mind portrays. I'm adopting Jesus' view that evil is a "liar [lie] and the father of it." I am seeing what God is seeing and unseeing what the carnal mind is seeing. War is not inevitable - God's peace is.