TGIF – Today God Is First: And sometimes I choose to honor God with singing. I sometimes sing spontaneously, and other times I may pick up a sheet of music or a hymnal. Just now I picked up the hymnal of The Mother Church and it fell open to hymn # 216, it reads: “O he who trusts in God’s protection And hopes in Him when fears alarm, Is sheltered by His loving-kindness, Delivered by His mighty arm; If ye God’s law can understand, Ye have not builded on the sand.” “O wait on Him with veneration, Be silent in humility; He leads you after His own counsel, His will is done and still shall be; ALL GOOD FOR YOU HIS WISDOM PLANNED; O trust in God and understand.” From the human perspective, we tend to see supply and resources from the stand point of what is missing, from what we don’t have. We look at the present evidence of good in our lives on a ‘portion of good basis’ rather than from the infinite standpoint that God, divine Love works from. The verse written above states, “ALL good for you His wisdom planned.” God does not work on a portion-of-good basis but from His awareness of the infinitude of His goodness which is just at hand. Perhaps we need to re-educate ourselves based on divine Principle. To deepen our understanding of this underlying Truth I would like to share a Blog posting published last year by Virginia Harris entitled: In the Abundance of Life there is no loss EVER. IN THE ABUNDANCE OF LIFE, THERE IS NO LOSS. EVER. --- Virginia Harris, CSB -- 25th Aug 2013 “Oh. My. Gosh. Do you ever stop to think how many times a day the notion of ‘loss’ creeps into your thinking? This ‘notion’ can look and feel like loss of control, peace, patience, or grip…or more tangible things like job, home, money, value, opportunity, relationship, etc. Whatever the loss, the belief of it is a bottomless pit of bad news.” “This kind of thinking is bad because its very basis is the fear of separation from good, the abundant good that is the permanent and everlasting gift from God, the divine Life of daily life.” “Sure, in the living of life there feels like pressures and complications that challenge the harmony and peace everyone yearns for, but these challenges don’t change the spiritual fact: You are one with God and this oneness with Her goodness affirms the allness of Life. There is no separation or duality in one. So, there is no problem in your life that can separate you from the abundant goodness of Life…in fact, divine Life separates you from any problem!” “What is important is to stop ruminating on “I have lost something important” and turn your focus to prayer. Affirm that you have an inseparable relationship with your Father-Mother God and that your inheritance can only be good…and be grateful for this. When this gratitude feels more real, more complete and present to you than any fear of loss or separation from good, then positive, productive ideas will appear that are unencumbered by any loss. These angel-ideas, God’s thoughts, move you forward out of darkness, and your actual experience will express your inheritance of good without interruption.” “Here are some common disguises of the fear of separation from the abundance of good…and a few ideas to remove the disguise:” 1. “I had something of value – a job, a relationship, savings – then it was lost or taken away.” “There is no loss. You are not a victim – or loser – of any kind of loss. You are never forsaken or forgotten by God, divine Love, and Her angels are ministering hope, not defeat, and expectation of good. “ 2. “This isn’t great, but I have to be satisfied with it.” “There is no less. Does Father-Mother Love create a universe of abundance and then make Her beloved child ‘less than able,’ ‘less than deserved,’ ‘less than prepared,’ less than the best to partake of it? No, you are able, you are deserved, you are prepared to partake of all good!” 3. “I need it, but I won’t get it.” “There is no lack. When you persistently and insistently pray to see and feel the abundance of God’s goodness and blessing for you, then you know without a doubt you have all that is rightfully yours right now…and whatever you think you need evaporates. The situation, as a result, will change for the better.” 4. “There is only so much to go around – I can only expect a small piece of it.” “There is no limit. The universe, created by God, is unlimited good! There is enough from All for all, regardless of the circumstance. God has enabled and equipped you to partake of this allness…you are never limited in being and doing good. In fact, the more good you do for yourself and others, the more good you experience.” “In your daily life – the individual expression of abundant Life – there can be no separation from the good God gives. In this life there is no loss, no less, no lack, no limit. Ever.” To illustrate this sacred Truth here are a few testimonies to inspire us: This testimony is from Margaret A. Varly -- from the January 8, 1903 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel: During the first years of my progress in Christian Science, it seemed there was one continual battle with physical conditions; but during the past year the work has been more the overcoming of inharmonious environments, destroying thoughts of poverty and lack,—the feeling that I must do without this or that, until I could demonstrate more goodness and love. The unconscious admission of my lack of goodness and love manifested itself in lack of money and lack of harmony in material conditions. Since I have learned to destroy the thoughts of self-condemnation, and to know myself as the perfect child of God, to know that now I am supplied with all goodness, truth, and love, I have found a decided change in all conditions, and see that the only poverty or lack is our belief in the insufficiency of Love. Then oftentimes, we are too willing to do without the best, to limit God. I found this so in getting the new Science and Health. It came to me suddenly, one day, that I was doing without the new book through fear of not having money enough left to buy what I should need a month later. As soon as this thought presented itself, I started for the Reading Rooms, and purchased the book. In less than a week, one hundred dollars a years was added to my income. I am so glad that every day I understand and appreciate more, the great Love that has enabled our dear Mother and Leader, to give us this truth. The more I am filled with Truth and Love, the better I am able to understand her life of self-sacrifice and love for all mankind. Margaret A. Varly, Chicago, Ill. And from Frances Ulrich we have this: By Frances H. Ulrich from the December 11, 1965 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel I wish to express the deep, unbounded gratitude I feel for Gods daily guidance. The awareness of this guidance was brought to me through Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy. Over a period of years, a situation in the home had developed which at times made life seem unbearable for my three children and me and which eventually ended in a divorce. Having had a slight introduction to Christian Science in college and again a few years later, I knew it would help the children and me. I began attending services regularly in a branch church, and the children started going to Sunday School. After the divorce, there was a lack of material means. The children and I stood steadfast in our faith and knew that with God there is no lack. Our spiritual growth really began, and peace and content reigned. With the help and encouragement of a practitioner, we began to overcome the financial difficulty, and aid came from various sources. When it became necessary to seek legal help, we were led to an understanding attorney, a Christian Scientist. Since that time, there has been no lack—spiritually, financially, or materially. Science has upheld us in many trials and has strengthened us to reach for and attain a higher spiritual understanding of Gods constant loving care for and protection of all mankind. Problems that seemed insurmountable have been solved, and feelings of fear, hatred, self-pity, and resentment have been removed and replaced with love, understanding, and intense gratitude. I am daily grateful for Gods guidance in rearing my family. It has helped us to become a unit. I no longer feel like a parent walking alone; instead, I know that I walk constantly hand in hand with God, who is the true Parent of all His children.— (Mrs.) Frances H. Ulrich, Pompano Beach, Florida. And to further remind us we have this demonstration from Jules Cern’s lecture: Christian Science: It’s Revelation and its Relevance -- Confrontation With Poverty Now lets see how relevant this revelation actually is in everyday experience. There is much concern about poverty these days. And while poverty is generally associated with a lack of money, poverty can also apply to a lack of any human need: a lack of health, lack of love, lack of companionship, lack of peace, lack of justice, lack of equality, lack of progress, and so on. But regardless of how poverty is classified, it is basically poverty of thought. May I tell you about my confrontation with plain, old-fashioned poverty, otherwise known as being totally flat-broke? Today we hear talk about poverty in depressed areas. My experience occurred when the whole nation was a depressed area. Each day to me seemed to be a fruitless search for employment. Having anything to eat was a daily challenge. This was sometimes solved by selling, piece by piece, all of my clothes, except those I was wearing. A fountain pen, which I sold for twenty-five cents, took care of one days food supply. The only reason for these details is to show that mine was a poverty case, not merely an incident where I was down to my last hundred dollars. I was living in a little room in a large building, in a low-rent section of a big city. Every apartment in the building had been converted into individually rented rooms, each room having its own lock and key. One evening, after another fruitless day of job-hunting, I returned to my room, but discovered that my key would not unlock the door. I had heard of people being locked out of their rooms because they couldnt pay their rent, and now it had happened to me. I went back to the ground floor and found the owner of the building in his office. I was told that I was so far behind in my rent, I would not be permitted to use my room unless I could pay some of the back rent. Otherwise, I would have to look for some other place to live. Then the owner added, However, since it is already nighttime, and a bit late to look for a place to stay tonight, Ill let you use another room. I couldnt let you use your own room if I wanted to, because the janitor kept the new key when he changed the lock on your door. And hes gone for the night. Then the owner took me up to a little room, which was one where the maids kept their mops and cleaning materials. It had a small cot with no bed covers, and one straight chair. But it was warm, which was a factor, since it was early November. I was a rather new student of Christian Science. But it had shown me that God is All and He is good, and never deprives man, but sustains man. I realized that if I were experiencing lack and limitation, it must be because somewhere in my own thought there was a lack of understanding God. Now, with eviction staring me in the face, I was roused to open my thought more unreservedly to the true meaning of Gods allness and goodness. I had my briefcase with me and in it was my Bible and Science and Health. Each week there is a Lesson-Sermon which Christian Scientists study for that week. The lesson for Thanksgiving was due later that month, but I decided that the best antidote for lack, limitation, and fear was to increase my gratitude to God. I sat down on the little cot and using the seat of the chair as a desk for my books, I eagerly began to study the lesson on Thanksgiving. As I pondered its inspired passages, I saw that I had been using materiality as a measuring stick to determine how much I had to be grateful for. I had frequently contemplated my empty pockets and long periods of unemployment, and thought to myself, When these pockets are full and I have a decent job, I certainly will be grateful. My gratitude had been based upon good matter, instead of upon the goodness of God. I had thought my need was an improvement of matter, instead of an improvement of thought. Ever-presence of Infinite Good When I finished studying the lesson, I decided to go for a walk and further ponder what I had read. It was past 9:30 that evening as I walked along, and my reasoning went something like this, Dear God, You are infinite good. And You are ALL. Since man is Your image, then Your image is all-good. And I am really Your image. Then I am the image of good. This means there must be some good I can do, right now. But then a suggestion came, Its almost ten oclock at night! What good can you do at this hour out here all by yourself? But just as quickly I thought, NO! I have listened to enough arguments of limitation. Thank God there are no limits on God. He is boundless good, right here, right now. Then I am the boundless expression of boundless good, right here, right now. So there must be some good I can do, right now! At that instant I thought of a friend of mine who was beginning a career as a salesman. He had asked me if I knew anyone who might be a likely prospect for what he had to sell. I had replied that I had already given all the names I could think of to another friend of mine in the same business, and didnt feel that I should give out the same names. But now I suddenly thought of several other friends whom I had not thought of before, and how they might be even better prospects than the others. I immediately walked to the home of the friend, who was just beginning as a salesman, and gave him the names. As I started to leave, my friend said, I certainly am grateful to you for walking over here at this hour to give me those names. Is there anything I can do for you? Now if I had wanted to borrow money, this particular friend would have been the last one I would have gone to. Because I knew that he also was having a financial struggle. But even so, I was not looking for a loan. It hadnt even occurred to me. So flippantly I replied, Oh! Of course theres something you can do. About a thousand dollars will be just fine! My friend answered very seriously, No. I mean it. Do you need some money? I just borrowed some today on my insurance policy. You can have whatever you need. Just meet me at my savings bank tomorrow and its yours. I didnt want to borrow the money. It certainly was not my motive in seeing this friend. But I realized that I must not let human pride or human outlining obstruct the fruition of my newly unlimited acceptance of Gods allness and goodness. So I gratefully agreed to accept enough to pay some of the back rent. I returned to the building literally bursting with gratitude — not for the money I would obtain the next morning, but for a more unlimited sense of the divine Principle, or Truth of being. I went into the owners office and told him that I would pay some of the back rent the next day. The owner must have glimpsed the change in my whole being. He must have been touched himself by divine Love. He responded by saying, As you know, I dont have the key to the new lock on your door, but instead of your sleeping in that little room I gave you, Im going to put you in the best room in the building. We just finished redecorating it, and everything in it is new. And so that night, I slept in a beautiful room, between new sheets, under new blankets, on a new pillow, covered with a new pillow case, but which became very wet with tears of gratitude. My own limited human thought had sentenced me to the worst room in the building. But unlimited divine Mind unfolded the best. Non-conformity of thought to visible material lack, and conformity of thought to invisible unlimited good, solved the visible human problem. But thats only half the story. A few nights later, during a meeting at the Christian Science church where I am a member, I told about this experience. My purpose was to testify to how instant is Gods help the instant we open our thought to His allness and goodness. After the meeting, two different members of the church offered me living quarters, rent free. One of them explained that he and his family had been given a very large house in one of the finest sections of the city for the purpose of keeping it in good order. And in return, it was not costing them any rental fee. He said that they had so much extra space in the house, they had been praying to be shown the right one with whom to share their blessing. I gratefully accepted their loving offer to move in with them. I lived there for a year and a half, in one of the best and most affluent areas in the city, without having to pay one penny of rent. That was the end of the depression, unemployment, and poverty in my experience. True Employment and Supply Obviously, it was not a change of human conditions which solved my problem. Of course, human conditions changed, and they changed for the better, much better. But what made them change? When my thought changed. Human conditions change from bad to good when human thought changes from matter to Spirit, from material seeming to spiritual being. Things began to change for me because Christian Science changed my concept of substance from a dollar standard to the divine standard. Poverty is not just a lack of materiality, but a lack of spirituality. And it is just as erroneous to believe that poverty is a part of someone else as it is to believe that it is a part of oneself. If we believe that somewhere there is lack, we are believing that somewhere God lacks being ALL. Christ Jesus made this very clear when he declared, Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest (John 4:35). That was the equivalent of saying, Dont believe that Gods provision for man has to wait for a passage of time, or a change in material conditions. Lift your concept of man and the universe from the material and limitable to the spiritual and illimitable. The photograph is of North Cornwall, England
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 07:03:25 +0000
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