Don't retreat into a cave of self-consciousness

Do you ever get so worried about how you might come across to other people that you don’t try to communicate with them?

Maybe you have a kind word to share, or a helpful idea to offer, maybe something fun to laugh about or a topic you’d like to discuss, but you’re so worried about coming across as silly, out-of-touch, not wanted, or unworthy, that you retreat from the opportunity and hold back and keep it all bottled up inside?

Jesus Christ commanded, “Let your light shine!” Your enlightened inspirations are part of your “light,” the good you have to offer the world. If you are constantly retreating into a shell of non-action for fear of what might happen if you step out, it might be time to love yourself more, honor the good you have to offer, and get out there and share it!

In my younger years, I was so timid about sharing in public that I couldn’t even get my bottom off a pew in church to share a testimony of healing. And I had many healings to share! I was petrified at the prospect of speaking in public. It took me a few years to conquer that fear, but once I did, I felt so liberated.

It’s healthy to express our inspirations openly. As children of God, we are expressions of God. To express, is to be actively sharing outwardly. It’s to be giving, generously sharing, radiantly shining, and having an impact.

Don’t let mortal fears isolate you into a cave of self-consciousness. It’s a dark lonely place in there. Break out! Act on your God-given right to freely express worthy ideas, and enjoy the benefits.

Unexpected surprise

Last Christmas, my family played around in the snow in the Blue Mountains of Oregon with another family that had four teens. At the end of a busy boisterous day, one of the youngsters exclaimed, “I can’t find my cell phone!” He hadn’t a clue where it had gone. 

He was assured that everything would turn out okay. The parents shared a few comforting words, and a few prayers were sent his way declaring that no good thing could get lost.

The family did buy him another phone later, because the need for communication was pressing.

But, guess what!

Five months later, a man vacationing in the same area said his son found the cell phone. And it was still working! They said it looked like new and the battery had charge. 

And, as it turned out, there was another member in the family that needed a mobile right then, so the timing was perfect.

A life of faith and trust can be full of unexpected surprises—pleasant ones!

Delete the mental pop-up ads

A friend shared an enlightening analogy with me the other day that I wanted to pass on…

She equated the aggressive suggestions mortal mind pops into our mind on occasion to the pop-up ads often encountered when browsing the Internet.

Are you familiar with those obnoxious pop-up suggestions? 

They are suggestions of evil that want to trip up our progress and keep us from prospering. They are silent, inaudible implications like…

    You’re going to fail

    You can’t do it

    You’re getting sick

    Your efforts are hopeless

    Life is depressing

    You lack

    You are not worthy

…and on and on and on.

The carnal mind lurks at large in this world looking for mental seedbeds in which to plant evil suggestions. And its “seeds” of negativity often pop-up in consciousness without warning, like weeds sprouting randomly in a garden. If we believe them, they take over, and tempt us to feel like we have no choice but to suffer.

But we do have a choice!  

You can delete those suggestions before they take root and gain anchor in thought.

Like deleting a pop-up ad!

When you’re browsing the Web looking for information on how to clean a stain off your kitchen counter, and an ad pops up advertising a remodel for your kitchen, what do you do? You click on the X and delete the ad. You get it out of

your way, out of your view, and remove it from your experience. Why? Because you don’t want to remodel your kitchen. You simply want to clean a stain.

Well, you can do the same with the carnal mind. Stay on mental guard for the good and the pure, and whenever an advertisement for evil pops up in your thought, delete it pronto! Don’t even read its banner. Click on the X and make it go away. And it will.

You don’t have to entertain evil suggestions. You do not have to listen to them, give them audience, acquiesce to their demands or relent to their banter. Kick them out of your mental auditorium!

During the three temptations the devil threw at Jesus, Jesus ended the devil’s campaign with, “Get thee hence, Satan…Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve” (Matthew 4:10). And Satan left. No more pop-ads from evil for Jesus to waste time on.

“Get thee hence, Satan” was Jesus’ way of clicking on the mental DELETE button. 

You have one of those buttons too. 

Use it!

Are you listening?

A frequent complaint I hear from people is that they can’t hear God talking to them.

When God is speaking to me, I don’t hear a voice like a person talking to me face to face. But I definitely hear intuitions, fresh ideas, and new perspective that come directly from the Mind of God that I’m supposed to act on. 

When waiting for God’s direction, the Big Question is usually not whether God is communicating with me, but “Am I listening?”

I saw a stark example of not listening last weekend.

My family went to Arby’s for lunch after church. My son told the order-taker at the counter, “I’d like a 16 ounce vanilla shake.” He read his order directly from the menu.

The gal at the cashier replied, “What size would you like?”

My son repeated, “The 16 ounce size.” 

“Okay,” the cashier said.

Then she asked, “What flavor do you want?”

“Vanilla,” my son repeated.

“Alright,“ she spoke as she typed the request into her computer board.

My son and I glanced at each other with a look of “She is oblivious.”

I saw a vital spiritual lesson in the experience.

My son had communicated exactly what his order was to her, but she hadn’t heard a word he said. Her pre-formed conceptions about how the order should come deafened her ears to his original words. She had to do it “her way.”

And the same error can happen with our listening to God’s directions. If we have too many pre-formed concepts about how blessings should come our way, we don’t hear God’s way. And we can miss out entirely.

So be assured, God is speaking to you. The real question is, “Are you listening?”

How to double your money

The quickest way to double your money

is to fold it over and put it back in your pocket.

~  Will Rogers

For anyone tempted by get-rich-quick-schemes, there’s a treasure-trove of wisdom in these words!

The beautiful you

Here's a thought-provoking video for women concerned about how they look.

Keep in mind that this video was created by the makers of Dove beauty products, so there is a commercial agenda at work behind the scenes. But many of the points are valid. 

People are often their harshest critics. And our individuality is often more beautiful than we accept because of the self-criticisms that distort our view.

Better yet, though, the video is a reminder that we must not focus on physical features to determine individual beauty. 

Beauty is not a thing of matter. It’s the way we live our life. People see the joy we live, the love we express, the integrity, honesty, the lofty ideals and values we advocate. These qualities of God are what make up the substance of our being, and when lived openly and generously, they are beautiful and desirable.

One can have a big nose and still be astoundingly beautiful. People of substance don’t focus on another’s nose. They focus on the real substance being expressed, and that is what is important in the long run. And is what should be most important to us. 

Mary Baker Eddy wrote, 

“Beauty is a thing of life, which dwells forever in the eternal Mind and reflects the charms of His goodness in expression, form, outline, and color.” Science and Health, p. 247. 

We all have “…form, outline, and color,” but it’s spiritual; not material. It’s the grace of God manifest through us. 

Live, be and think beautiful today! God made you that way.