All in God's order

Holly from out East in the US sent in the below picture and story to go with it. I thought you might enjoy her inspiration.

“This morning there were about 30 Goldfinches on the 5 feeders that I have hanging outside on our deck. At one point, my dog barked, and all 30 of those finches flew away, going 30 different directions within a very small area of space in an instant ... without any sense of congestion, or bump or fender bender or accident. It was immediate and perfectly harmonized disbursement.

I have often been amazed how they can fly through the woods, or through the narrow railings of our deck so quickly without mishap of any kind.

Reminds me of a verse from Hymn 263 in the Christian Science Hymnal:

"As the stars in order going,
All harmonious, He doth move;
Heavenly calm and comfort showing,
Comes the healing word of Love."

Near Holly's deck

With amazement, I’ve often watched thousands of birds in swarms fly in harmony with each other. It is certainly proof of an intelligent Principle at work in this universe, permeating all being and enabling such intricate order and harmony to be possible.

Won't it be nice when all mankind learns to "fly in order with each other," like the birds have learned to do, without collision, accident or injury!

Thanks Holly!

Are you in sync?

IPODS are not new to me, but organizing a music library on my computer, and downloading it onto my IPOD is new. My teenagers have done it for me in the past, and this last weekend I decided it was time for me to learn. They thought so too!

So, with a few stumbles here and mix-ups there, I moved 468 tunes from my PC to my little black box that I can listen to wherever I want. Now I can plug my IPOD into a docking station in the kitchen and cook dinner while listening to my tunes! Pretty neat…

Why I even mention this, though, is the metaphysical lesson I picked up from syncing my IPOD to my PC. A reader pointed out to me the day after I learned how to do this myself, that she had just learned how to sync an IPOD to her PC, and thought it was a terrific analogy for how our thinking needs to be synced with the divine Mind, and is synced, as a reflection of the one Mind!

If you’re not aware, when you move tunes from the PC to your IPOD, you choose an option called SYNC. And when you choose SYNC, the PC takes over the IPOD programming and rearranges its content to conform exactly to what the library contains on your PC. Tunes on the IPOD, but not on the PC, are deleted. Tunes on the PC, but not on the IPOD, are added. When the process is finished, the music library on the IPOD is an exact duplicate of the collection on the PC. They are in SYNC!

What a terrific analogy for what happens to us when our thinking is “plugged-in” to God! Like plugging an IPOD into a master PC and letting the PC program the IPOD, we can plug into the one Mind, through prayer and study, and let God program our thinking to conform to the divine thinking.

I like this! God does all the work. Our job is to stay plugged-in. And we stay plugged in through consecrated prayer and following the rules of divine Science in daily life.

So, if you feel out of sync today, get plugged-into God and let divine Mind get you into SYNC with Life—your divine Life—where God is in control, and fear is not. The tunes are a lot sweeter there….

Love one another

The best thing to give to your enemy is forgiveness;
to an opponent, tolerance;
to a friend, your heart;

to your child, a good example;
to a father, deference;
to your mother, conduct that will make her proud of you;
to yourself, respect;
to all men, charity.

~ Benjamin Franklin

Risk and accidents

Whoa, I was just hit by a thought that has my mental gears a churnin’. I was discussing how to avoid accidents and injuries with a friend.

And it’s this:

Injuries and accidents are not proof that chance and risk are real. They are evidence that someone believed in a possibility of chance and risk.

I need to think more about what this means and what it implies for daily thinking and spiritual growth, but I believe there is much truth to appreciate here.

For decades, I’ve noticed some people are a lot more prone to accidents than others, and they have different attitudes about life than others too.

I remember when I managed employees on the family farm that I learned to keep one worker in particular off the big equipment because he was always breaking down whenever he went out to the fields. And the break downs were not necessarily stupid things he did. They could be wheels falling off, or pulleys freezing up, motor failures, and other incidents that would be written off as a normal part of wear and tear on the equipment. But the break downs happened so often with him, and not with others, that I eventually decided there was something in his thought that was causing all the unexpected problems.

I believe Mary Baker Eddy glimpsed the solution for preventing accidents when she wrote,

“Accidents are unknown to God, or immortal Mind, and we must leave the mortal basis of belief and unite with the one Mind, in order to change the notion of chance to the proper sense of God's unerring direction and thus bring out harmony.

"Under divine Providence there can be no accidents, since there is no room for imperfection in perfection."

Realistically, I don’t expect to totally demonstrate over the belief of chance in a day, a week, or a year, because the world is so prolific with faith in it, and I’ve probably many places in thought that need to be examined to totally eradicate any faith in risk from my consciousness. But I will hold to the ideal and rise to it as fast as I can.

Especially in my tennis game…oh man, do I have plenty of opportunity to eliminate the belief of chance there!!

Supply is ideas

Many people are frightened about how to pay their bills with job loss, mounting debt, rising health-care costs, shrinking pay checks and threat of foreclosure. “How do I get more money?” many wonder.

The spiritual remedy for fear of financial lack is to understand that supply comes first and foremost in the form of ideas. And it really does! Every form of supply you’ve ever had started with an idea in someone’s consciousness, and if it was a good idea, it came direct from God to the one who received it.

Mary Baker Eddy got it right when she wrote, “God gives you His spiritual ideas, and in turn, they give you daily supplies” (Misc. p. 307).

It’s not dollars we need first, but ideas. Financial houses that are out of order are crying out for better, wiser management which stems from better ideas on how to manage the affairs of that household. These ideas come from God, the source of all productive and profitable ways of thinking.

If our attitude is blinded by the belief that we need more money, it is typically closed to what is really needed, and that is better ways of thinking. Any financial mess can be straightened out through reason, discipline, improved choices, and making the hard choices that need to be made to rectify the errors that took over. This is all accomplished in mind, in thought. It doesn’t happen first on the financial statement, but in the thinking of those pouring over the statements.

Sound businesses are run on sounds ideas. Valuable employees express thinking that has value. Solvent households are managed by attitudes that demand balance and order.

Every financial decision happens in thought. Money flows through channels according to the thought that directs it.

When faced with impoverished financial conditions, the pressing need is for more inspired ways of thinking and managing one’s affairs that demonstrate solvency. These inspired views come direct from God, the source of all inspiration to begin with. Prayer helps us hear them.

The first need for a strong financial condition is not for money, but for ideas! The funds will follow…

If you don't like your job

What do you do if you don’t like your job?

With unemployment rising, thousands of people are finding themselves out of work and often accepting jobs they would not choose if better options were available. But they’re committed to supporting a family, keeping their debt down and pulling their weight, so they do what they have to do to keep their financial house in order and pray that career choices will improve over time.

So, does one have to suffer in the meantime, harbor discouragement, anger, and frustration about accepting a position they would not otherwise choose?

Absolutely not! It’s a time to grow spiritually and become a better person, employee and worker to prepare for a brighter tomorrow.

When I was a senior at Stanford, I couldn’t decide what job to take. None appealed to me. I settled for working on the family farm. At least it brought in an income, I decided. After a couple of years, though, I hated my job. I wanted out, but I couldn’t see where to go.

God said to me, “Be patient, until a clear path opens before you.” I obeyed, although it was a huge struggle at times. But my patience paid off.

Rather than agonizing over the job I didn’t like, I focused on becoming a more spiritually minded person. I worked on improving my attitude toward others, on being more joyful, wiser, and a better healer.

I spiritualized my work. Instead of picking apples, I harvested inspired ideas. Instead of pulling weeds, I yanked out bothersome ways of thinking. Instead of complaining, I looked for reasons to be grateful and rejoice.

It took three years, but eventually my thought got inspired enough to see a new job possibility that got me excited. The timing was perfect. I was ready to move, and I did. It was in God’s time, and not in Evan’s time. And it was one of the best changes I've ever made.

Divine Love provides for everyone. In Christian Science, we learn to hold the ideal at the forefront of our thought, but we often don't reach that ideal in one step. It typically takes many steps to reach the final destination.

With the economy, we might have an ideal job firmly planted in our mind, but not see how it can be immediately realized. That is no reason to get discouraged and worried. If the ideal seems afar off, there is always a step in the right direction we can take, and with patience, patience, work, and more patience, step by step we outgrow the lesser and enter the more expansive. God’s law of progress guarantees it.

The easy path to follow

Last weekend, I spent time with my family up in the Blue Mountains, which are nearby. The sun was shining bright, there was blue sky galore, and warm temperatures to enjoy.

My brother brought his son by on their snowmobiles, and 6 of us headed out on five sleds to tour the hills in the glory of the beautiful weather.

Brent, my brother, a very experienced and extremely capable snowmobile operator, led our group through hills and valleys, canyons and vistas, for miles and miles out into the wilderness. I trailed the caravan ensuring no stragglers were left behind!

As I followed, I thought how easy it was to drive over a path one before has already gone down.

At times, Brent took us through dense forest with all its stumps, logs, holes, pits, streams, unexpected cavities and other uncertainties that could easily trap and ensnare the inexperienced traveler. As the leader, Brent had to stay extremely aware of what he was doing, exercise great caution, and think about everyone behind and depending upon his wisdom and decision-making to get us safely to where we needed to be. Sometimes the way was so uncertain the four of us sat still while he investigated ahead to discover what route was safe to take. Once he found a safe way out, he'd come back, get us, we’d follow, and all would be well.

I pondered how easier it is to be a follower than a leader.

I thought about Jesus Christ leading the way to heaven. He had to navigate through the treacherous waters of mortal mind, the hatred and vengeance of materialistic thinking, and the spiritual ignorance of the age in order to succeed in his mission. But succeed he did. He made it all the way to pure perfect heavenly consciousness and said, “Follow me.”

The path he trod is all laid out before us. It is clear, absolute and certain, spelled out in the Bible, the New Testament and explained in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy. Like the path in the snow my brother carved ahead of us, Jesus carved a path to salvation for all to follow. And there are no obstacles in the way. None! The path is clear.

And this was the intriguing part for me to consider—no obstacles in the path!

With my brother’s trail, if we stayed on it, we were certain to keep going. If we detoured even a couple of feet off the trail at times, we might have ended up stuck, slid into a crevasse or nose-dived into a deep pit. All we had to do was stay on the path, and we would keep moving.

The same rule applies to following Jesus to heavenly consciousness. All we have to do is stay on the path he walked.

If we detour into the byways of material sense, for instance, get mired in fear, sense-testimony, andger, doubt or selfishness, or believe that disease and matter is real, we detour and get off the path. That’s when we get stuck and feel left behind. But Jesus commanded, “Follow me!” And he meant to follow him in thought, to Truth and Love, to obey the one God, to live a pure life, to strive for spiritual mindednessa and to love, love, love.

The way is clear. Jesus has laid it out plain to follow. "This is the path. Walk ye down it." He instructed.

Consider this: There are no obstacles in the path Jesus has cleared. No obstacles! Through his demonstration of Life in Spirit, and his triumph over all the claims of sin, disease and death, he has eliminated any reason for us not to succeed in our demonstration of the same. All we have to do is live the life he lived and worship the God he worshipped. Then we are set. Victory over evil is assured, and the outcome of our prayers certain.

We have much to be grateful for...

“If the disciple is advancing spiritually, he is striving to enter in. He constantly turns away from material sense, and looks towards the imperishable things of Spirit. If honest, he will be in earnest from the start, and gain a little each day in the right direction, till at last he finishes his course with joy.” Mary Baker Eddy

My group made it safely home, without incident, and had a most enjoyable time.

Staying fully employed

With the unemployment rate rising, corporate lay-offs dominating economic news, and workers wondering about job security, this is an opportune time to elevate one’s understanding of what it means to be employed.

People frequently think of employment as a secured position that draws a paycheck from another individual, institution, company or government. This view of employment is fraught with danger and uncertainty, though, because human trusts are not always reliable. Companies lay workers off. Institutions fail. Corporations file for bankruptcy. Then what?

Jesus Christ had a better understanding of employment. He said, “I am about my Father’s business.” He never put his financial well being at the mercy of an earthly entity that may or may not come through with its promises. He put his whole trust in God. He worked for God, and very consciously so. And he was always fully employed, fully cared for, and was able to bless thousands of others through the abundance consciousness he reflected. We have his example to follow.

One aspect of employment is listening for progressive ideas coming from God, and then acting on them. That’s what Jesus did. He listened and followed. This is what all gainfully employed workers do. They listen for wise ideas, act on them, and in turn, are able to perform their work well. The best ideas are coming from God and lead to the best results.

We live in a divine economy where God is the placement officer for every worker. In changing economic times, like the global economy faces today, it’s not a time to fear unemployment, but a time to stay tuned-in to the most rewarding, worthwhile and profitable way to use one’s mental time and resources.

Gainful employment is the outcome of gainful employment of one’s thinking. One might ask, "Where are my talents and abilities going to be put to best use?" And by "where," it's not necessarily with a particular company, but with a demand of the times. People are in great need just about everywhere. Workers who meet these needs are going to be gainfully employed because they are responding to a current demand.

I find this rule true in my practice. If I have a lull in calls from patients for help, I write an article addressing a world need. Without fail, patients start calling in soon with needs to be met.

Seismic shifts are taking place in industry, commerce and technology. Over the long run, workers are going to be moved from the least profitable enterprises to the more profitable ones. To prosper, workers need to be flexible, attentive to new demands, ready to move, adjust and adapt to the changing times.

No one will be left out. Everyone has a niche to fill in the ever-advancing demands of Life, Truth and Love expressed. But it does take consecrated prayer, humility, listening and obedience to rise to the demands of the times and make the most of them.

Employment is not what we do with our hands, but what we do with our thought. Gainfully employed thought leads to gainfully employed actions.

So, whether we hold a job title with a company at the moment or not, our employment status with God remains unchanged. It’s labeled, Fully Employed! God moves us about from one business to the other depending upon the needs of the times and what we’re ready to express and put into practice. It can be a harmonious and smooth transition as we listen, pray, and humbly follow where the divine finger points. There doesn’t have to be a long drawn-out period of time or increasing debt in the meantime. Divine Love’s provision is immediate, with no conditions attached. And the provision includes blessings for you too!

The score that counts

Last Saturday, I played in a doubles tennis tournament with a good friend of mine, and learned yet another lesson on what score matters the most when the match is finished!

The competition was tough and we had to work hard for every point.

The first match ended in victory for us, but our second match was barely lost in a 10-8 match tie-breaker. Losing the match was not a big deal. That has happened before! But some poor calls during the match wanted to put a dark cloud over the experience.

One of our opponents made a number of bad calls, at least from our point of view. We let each one slide without comment, but after a while, the cumulative effect of his seeing the ball out when it appeared clearly in, was weighing on us mentally. And for anyone who plays tennis, you learn that any negativity in thought adversely affects your performance quickly.

My partner was more affected by the calls than I was, but after we barely lost the match, the temptation came to place blame. But I didn’t want to go there.

As I drove home, I pondered, “What is most important? Who won by points, or who won by love?”

Any arguing about the calls during the match would have been fruitless. It would have caused strife, conflict and resentment on the court, which no one wanted. Playing tennis is for fun, and should stay that way. So, you learn to let the bad calls go. Everyone makes them once in a while. But this guy seemed to make several.

I wanted to shake the feeling of being treated unjustly.

I looked to Jesus for guidance.

What would Jesus do?

Forgive. That was clear.

Forgive 70 times 7, he taught. And I did during the game. I instantly let the bad calls go and moved to the next point without resentment. It was after the match, when we lost, that I fussed a bit! But I didn’t want even a tinge of resentment to linger in thought.

So, I asked again, “What was most important? The final score, or the attitude you walked off the court with?”

The answer was clear. The attitude I walked off the court with was infinitely more important than the final score. The score would be forgotten in a few days, but my attitude would stay with me for years. If I could walk off the court with complete and total forgiveness, without a cell of resentment in my thought, and genuine love for my opponents, that would be a victory that would bless me in all my relationships with others, in my practice, at home, everywhere I went and in everything I did. To love in the face of injustice would be a far greater triumph than the acquisition of a little plaque that collected dust on my bookshelf.

I chose to love! It was not hard. I do it all the time. But it feels good to love and never resent! Resentment is poison that kills. Love is balm that heals.

So, the tournament was a grand success, as usual. I will never be a Roger Federer, or even close! But that does not matter. It’s the spiritual lessons I learn and gain that count and make the effort worthwhile.

If I end a match a better person for the experience and feeling closer to God, I consider it a success whether the score was in my favor or not. And that’s the way it should be. It’s all God cares about!

The "score" that counts is the spiritual attitude you live.

Are you giving?

“We think we are not happy because of what we are not getting.
But really, we are unhappy because of what we are not giving!”

~ Marianne Williamson

Life is more than money

When I read news about the latest billionaire to commit suicide because of huge financial losses from making poor investment decisions over recent years, I thought, “If these people understood what life was all about, they would not commit suicide.”

Merckle, heir to a pharmaceutical fortune in Germany, and the investor who took his life, lost $1.4 billion investing with ponzi-scheme artist Madoff, as well. He has had his share of bad news.

But life is so much more than money! I ask, "How can thought get so lost in the illusion of monetary wealth that all sense and reason vanishes from thinking, and no reason to live can be found just because money was lost?" This should not be so…

Money is no big deal in the eternal scheme of things. God sustains us forever regardless of how much money we have on earth. Money comes and goes, but the riches of Spirit are forever ours.

Yes, we are accountable for our decisions and must at-one for our mistakes, but there is no better place to make adjustments than in the here and now. Committing suicide does not make one wiser, more intelligent, or a better decision-maker. It is an illusion of escape that must be overcome too.

It’s better to face our problems now and rectify them. God gives us the help we need to align our affairs with principle, build on a better foundation, make amends, pay off our debts, fix our problems and conduct business with integrity.

If there is a need to live super modestly, compared to the past, while making adjustments, that is okay. That could be a good thing. Humility is wealth. Living humbly can be a very progressive step, bringing thought closer to God, teaching the riches of gratitude and valuing the simple things in life.

Life is so much more than money.

Life is spiritual. It’s a gift from God. It’s precious and to be honored and respected by living it.

Fame, fortune and portfolios come and go, but not life. Life is a constant. It is the goodness, love and peace of God embraced, valued and expressed moment by moment. We all can experience the blessings of life, divine Life, independent of what financial numbers cross the screen on any given day.

Life is bigger than the numbers, even when there's a minus sign in front of them.

The aggressor's voice

Two weeks ago yesterday, I got a headache and started to feel ill in a short period of time. I squeezed in a bit of prayer for relief, amidst all my other praying, but the suffering intensified. After a while, I stopped what I was doing, felt a bit flustered by the on-going pain, and retorted, “What is going on here?”

As if a person was standing in front of me and practically yelling in my face, I heard the clear cut words, “You are going to get sick!!!”

I was startled because the declaration of evil was so explicit and bold.

I slumped back in my chair to understand what was happening.

The first lesson I learned was how the experience graphically illustrated a main point in Christian Science that all illness starts as suggestion. It does not start as a physical condition in the body. It starts as suggestion and strives to get the ear of the target with the intent of convincing the target that the suggestion is a necessity.

I decided that the aggressor was not succeeding by being subtle with me this time, so ramped up its tactics to see if I could be intimidated into submission through forceful verbal articulation.

Too often, people listen to evil suggestions without censoring them; accept them into human consciousness as legitimate, and then see the suggestion manifest in the body. They don’t notice what is happening until a physical symptom appears. And then, because they never understood the mental nature of disease, believe the problem is physical. And it never was. It was suggestion that started the illness, not a germ, virus, or poison. And that was exactly what was happening to me. Evil was not successful with a subtle, “You are going to get sick,” so it tried to influence me with a super-loud-in-your-face attempt to convince me.

Even though I felt physical pain, I did not try to heal the pain any longer. I knew the trouble was not physical. It was an outside mental influence trying to mesmerize my thinking into accepting several days of sickness as necessary. The outside voice needed to be refuted, rejected, denied and silenced. And that’s the direction I focused my prayers.

There were other suggestions to refute like the fear that other people around me were sick and I was feeling the effect of contagion. Also the strong suggestion that I was in the season to get ill like millions of others around the country. But after hearing this voice, “You are going to get sick!” speak so positively in my thought, I knew any sickness was not physically produced. It was pure suggestion.

Obviously I had believed the suggestion to some degree because I was feeling the beginning stages of what appeared to be several days of suffering in the offing. But I decided evil also was losing hope of convincing me because it was working so hard to overwhelm my attention. And I wasn’t going to be convinced!

“Resist the devil and he shall flee from you,” Paul instructed.

I affirmed my wellness as a child of God. I declared my health to be spiritual, permanent, built into my being and never lost. I knew disease was unreal, unnecessary, and unimpressive. I knew evil had no influence over my thinking, body or experience. I knew I was God’s health manifest. I knew my spirituality was immunity from materiality and all suffering. I could not get sick anymore than wet could be dry.

After a few hours of quiet, steadfast, assiduous prayer, along with other projects I was involved with, I suddenly felt a major change in my mental environment. Even though there was still some pain, all the turbulence, turmoil and grief evil had been trying to stir up in my mental home, vanished. Calm permeated my thought. The storm was over. A rainbow of hope and promise lit my mental sky. I felt the aggressor had given up its arguments and vacated the premises. I knew the physical healing was very near.

I laid down for a good night’s sleep, fell asleep quickly and woke in the morning at 100%. There has not been a hint of illness since that time. And I am very grateful.

Selfless acts of love

I’m always moved by stories of incredibly selfless people who put the life and well being of others above their own. If the world was filled with people like Irena Sendler, whose story is below, there would be no wars and violence to protect others from.

Sent in by a reader…

There recently was the death of a 98-year-old lady named Irena Sendler.

During WW II, Irena got permission to work in the Warsaw Ghetto as a plumbing/sewer specialist.

She had an ulterior motive.

She KNEW what the Nazi's plans were for the Jews (being German).

Irena smuggled infants out in the bottom of the tool box she carried, and she carried in the back of her truck a burlap sack for larger kids.

She had a dog in the back that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto. The soldiers wanted nothing to do with the dog, and the barking covered noise of the kids/infants.

During her time and course of doing this, she managed to smuggle out and save 2500 kids/infants.

She was caught, and the Nazis broke both her legs and arms and beat her severely.

Irena kept a record of the names of all the children she smuggled out and kept them in a glass jar, buried under a tree in her back yard.

After the war, she tried to locate any parents that may have survived it, and reunited the family. Most had been gassed.

The kids she helped were placed into foster family homes or adopted.

Last year Irena was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Christ penetrates the stubbornness

Last August, when my family visited Switzerland, our tour stopped to see a most unusual church.

Our bus pulled up alongside a humongous rock jetting up into the sky with a large church built on top. The guide pointed out the steep stairs people had to climb to get up the rock to church and commented that over the years found it difficult to traverse, so people quit going to church. The elders decided a sanctuary needed to be built more accessible to the public, so they made other plans.

Without telling us what to expect, she directed us out of the bus to a set of doors inserted to the side of this huge rock. She opened the entrance and had us walk into dense blackness, insisting that we blindly trust her direction.

Into the dark we cautiously strode, holding hands so as not to get lost from one another. Once inside, she shut the door and turned on the lights. Everyone gasped in awe. We were standing in the middle of a beautiful church carved out of the rock. And it was no small space, seating perhaps two to three hundred people.

Soft wooden pews lined the interior, warm lighting graced the walls, and attention was drawn to the front altar where services were held. A church in a rock! I had never seen such a sight.

There are many spiritual lessons I draw from the chapel in the rock.

A rock is not an easy place to build a church. It is hard, forbidding, stubborn, maybe dangerous, and cold. Yet, a beautiful and endearing place of spiritual worship was constructed within its bosom.

I think about hard places of the heart that seem unyielding and isolated from reason and love. Like the conflict in the Middle East. It seems the two warring sides stubbornly hold to their positions and have no interest in reasoning with the other. Their individual stances appear locked in, and in direct opposition to each other.

The chapel in the rock gives me hope though. As the elders of that church saw a way to penetrate the hardness of that rock and build a sanctuary of peace and love for the benefit of generations to come, Christ can find a way to penetrate the hardness of heart afflicting the Mid-East today.

Right where stubbornness, self-righteousness, malice, and intransigence appear to have a lock-hold on reason, Christ can dynamite a path into the middle of leaders' hearts and establish a space of peace and love that enables parties to talk, negotiate and reason together for the benefit of their citizenry and the world at large. I pray that this happens soon!

Take time out to pray

This was too cute to let slip by!

I love the picture, especially the stillness and stance of trust and peace.

Sent in by a reader…

Written by an environmentalist committed to showing man's impact on the land.

"I watched prairie dogs every day, rise before the sun, stand with their paws pressed together facing the rising sun in total stillness for up to 30 minutes," says Williams. "And then I watched them at the end of the day take that same gesture 30 minutes before the sun goes down; they would press their palms together in perfect stillness. I don't mean to anthropomorphize, but when you look at a creature that has survived over the millennium begin and end each day in that kind of stance, it causes one to think about one's own life and speed and the rapidity in which we live."

Are you missing out?

Woody Fowler posted an inspiring story on his blog yesterday. If you are one who is always trying to keep up with a busy schedule, it will arrest your attention and give you much to think about...

Click here, Weekly Sunday Homily

Footprints in the sand

Many of you have read this poem, but many have not. It's one of my favorites.


Footprints in the Sand

One night a man had a dream. He dreamed
he was walking along the beach with the Lord.

Across the sky flashed scenes from his life
For each scene he noticed two sets of
footprints in the sand: one belonging
to him, and the other to the Lord.

When the last scene of his life flasehd before him,
He looked back at the footprints in the sand.
He noticed that many times along the path of
his life there was only one set of footprints.

He also noticed that it happened at the very
lowest and saddest times in his life.
This really bothered him and he
questioned the Lord about it:

"Lord, You said that once I decided to follow
You, You'd walk with me all the way.
But I have noticed that during the most
troublesome times in my life,
there is only one set of footprints.
I don't understand why when
I needed You most You would leave me."

The Lord replied:
"My precious child,
I love you and would never leave you.
During your times of trial and suffering,
when you see only one set of footprints,
it was then that I carried you."

New beginnings

The greeting “Happy New Year,” has been flowing freely and abundantly this past week as people anticipate a new set of months to twirl through on their calendar. When the past has been a struggle, as it has been for millions, it’s heartening to embrace the possibility of a fresh start and a new beginning in which difficult challenges are left behind and happier healthier times are foreseen.

This morning, as I lay in bed a few moments preparing to rise and begin an active day, I thought, “It’s more than a new set of months that brings freshness and renewal. It’s new thinking that brings progress into one’s life."

"Happy New Thinking!” I exclaimed. And up I bounced for the day.

Happy New Thinking! I like that.

God's is the source of all renewal and restoration. The blessings of divine Mind don’t enter our experience through the door of time, but through spiritual mindedness, consecrated prayer, receptivity to truth and a love of goodness. It’s new thinking that leads to new views and fresh possibilities.

Do you want a new body, a better attitude, a healthier portfolio? It all starts with gaining a better understanding of what you have already in spiritual fact. And that better understanding comes from devoted prayer, commitment to spiritual growth and daily deeds that confirm the new views gained. And that all comes down to new thinking!

As we begin the annum 2009, I extend a Happy New Year greeting to you...

Happy New Thinking!!!