Today and everyday, let your heart be filled with gratitude for the power and presence of God “who daily loadeth us with benefits.” (Ps 68:19) For “this is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Ps 118:24) Indeed!
Enjoy this poem by Ethel Wasgatt Dennis
A grateful heart a garden is,
Where there is always room
For every lovely, Godlike grace
To come to perfect bloom.
A grateful heart a fortress is,
A staunch and rugged tower,
Where God’s omnipotence, revealed,
Girds man with mighty power.
A grateful heart a temple is,
A shrine so pure and white,
Where angels of His presence keep
Calm watch by day or night.
Grant then, dear Father-Mother, God,
Whatever else befall,
This largess of a grateful heart
That loves and blesses all.
Happy Thanksgiving to all my dear followers and friends. May your day be filled with rejoicing. Here are some other wonderful articles too:
Melissa Hayden is a Christian Science practitioner in Salem, OR. You can find more information and additional articles at this link. If you like what you’re reading, click the “add me” button.
You see that “announcement” frequently on news and social media sites. It’s about the latest in gossip and current events. Although the intent is to track what’s happening in the world, it’s more about what’s happening in people’s conversations about what’s happening in the world.
This post isn’t really about that though, but about what’s trending in thought. You see, whatever the trend is in one’s thinking, tends to be the experience of that thinker. Have you noticed that? Whatever occupies your thought, whether it’s fear or joy, hatred or gratitude, illness or health, is what you see in yourself and others. The author of Proverbs wrote centuries ago, “as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” (23:7)
It’s called preoccupation and comes from the Latin meaning “to take possession beforehand.” It was originally what you might call a real-estate term from the middle ages literally meaning to occupy something before it belonged to you – and there’s still an element of that in its current usage, though of a mental nature. Now it is used to describe that quality of thought that is self-absorbed or obsessed with a particular viewpoint, accurate or not.
We don’t always notice it in ourselves, but we do notice it in others. And in so doing, we recognize that it is neither useful nor productive. At least when the conditions of our preoccupation are negative.
Because we also notice when someone is always joyful regardless of circumstances. Or when someone is always healthy, even when those around him or her are struggling with contagion. Or when someone always reaches out to help even when their own circumstances may be tenuous.
Mary Baker Eddy expected that kind of preoccupation when she wrote, “Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true, and you will bring these into your experience proportionably to their occupancy of your thoughts.” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, page 261) She understood the nature of the human mind, especially its tendency to focus on what is frightening or missing. This simple instruction helps to move the thinker to a higher, broader more spiritual position where solutions can be found and enacted.
Learning to shift thought this way simply comes from doing it. From catching yourself feeling down or agitated and deliberately choosing a more positive outlook. And if that outlook is based on a God-like view, it’s not just positive thinking, it’s prayer. This is how Jesus thought, prayed, healed. And the Apostle Paul told us to “let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 2:5) We can do that!
What’s trending in your thought?
Melissa Hayden is a Christian Science practitioner in Salem, OR. You can find more information and additional articles at this link. If you like what you’re reading, click the “add me” button.
Sometimes it seems that once you miss an opportunity it’s just gone – and then you inevitably suffer the consequences of having missed it. But what if that’s not the way it has to be? Mary Baker Eddy has this take on the issue: “…to all mankind and in every hour, divine Love supplies all good. The miracle of grace is no miracle to Love.” (see page 494 of Science and Health) And Jesus said “lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” (see Matthew 28:20)
Taken together, these two sayings indicate that there is a different viewpoint that can lift the whole conversation about opportunity into a spiritual realm, a realm not governed by chance but by God. The God I know, the God taught in Christian Science, is not arbitrary, nor does He withhold good from one while pouring it forth to another. God blesses one and all, all the time, no matter what, no matter when.
Our job, then, as those looking to take advantage of an opportunity – or at least hoping for one, is to expect God’s goodness to be available when we need it. I’m not talking wishful thinking here, but the heartfelt recognition of real provision, real care. God’s Love is genuine and ever present, just as He is.
It’s a matter of looking away from circumstances or people or the planets as the purveyor of opportunity, to God, good alone. And then expecting that shift in thought to bear fruit. This last point is important. Expect that trusting God is an effective means of self-direction. You won’t be disappointed.
Melissa Hayden is a Christian Science practitioner in Salem, OR. You can find more information and additional articles at this link. If you like what you’re reading, click the “add me” button.
Have you noticed how many prefixes can be added to the word press: impress, repress, suppress, depress? My favorite though, is express, because it explains my relationship with God. It comes from the 1st chapter of Genesis in the Bible where God makes man in His image and likeness – His expression! (see Genesis 1:26)
If I’m impressed with the world’s glitter and roar and think that I’m lost without it, I can know instead that God is abundantly expressing everything I need. Nothing is left out.
Or maybe I’m depressed that things are tough and coping is hard. I can simply trust that God is doing the heavy lifting and expressing me as the satisfied outcome. Under all circumstances.
What if I imagine I’m suppressing all of my desires and feeling repressed as a result? I’ve learned that by turning my desires into prayer they are purified and exalted. Then I see their true expression in a natural happiness and joy, which is what God already knew about me. And now I know it a little more too.
So the bottom line is to understand the God is expressing you as the very manifestation of His being: whole, complete, harmonious. And knowing it.
Melissa Hayden is a Christian Science practitioner in Salem, OR. You can find more information and additional articles at this link. If you like what you’re reading, click the “add me” button.
People ask me that all the time because it’s what I do for a living. The short answer is, “because it works.” Prayer brings results. It calms me down, helps me to think more clearly from a spiritual viewpoint and to hear God’s voice, and it actually heals – not just me but those I pray for.
So, you might ask, given all of the “cures” out there – quick and easy fixes for just about anything – why pray? Because all of the side effects are positive. Peace of mind, improved health, happier relationships. I could go on.
Again though, what about the dangerous stuff? It’s true that some situations are pretty scary. Prayer can help to dissolve fear – fear which gets in the way of making safe and practical decisions. The Apostle John said that perfect love casts out fear (see I John 1:18). Prayerfully connecting with perfect love, another name for God, helps to clear the fog. And here’s another amazing side effect: once the fear is gone, the situation often resolves itself.
Mary Baker Eddy put it this way, “Love is the liberator (see Science and Health page 225).” Pretty straight forward, pretty simple, no caveats.
So, if I can get loving liberation as a result of prayer, why would I choose anything else? Why would anyone?
Melissa Hayden is a Christian Science practitioner in Salem, OR. You can find more information and additional articles at this link. If you like what you’re reading, click the “add me” button.
You often hear forgive and forget in the same sentence. And truly, the ultimate forgiveness is to forget the offence so thoroughly that it’s as if it never occurred. Completely erased. What a wonderful remedy! To so understand that the real history of you and someone else – anyone else – doesn’t include anything but good. It may be the work of a lifetime to prove that, but what awesome work it will be! And it blesses universally and impartially as well.
And while you’re at it, once you’ve forgiven, it helps to know what forgetting is NOT. It’s not ignoring the issue – it’s letting it go. It’s not wondering if it will recur – it’s knowing it had no beginning. It’s not fearing it will be perpetual – it’s simply moving on.
There’s a good dose of the Golden Rule in forgiving and forgetting – isn’t that what you hope someone else would do for you? In fact, the whole Sermon on the Mount (see Matt 5 to 7) is pretty much all about forgive, forget, expunge.
To actually live the Sermon on the Mount is to have such a complete trust in the power of good, the presence of Love itself, that no one and no thing can hurt you. Ever. Not because you’re armored behind callous distance, but because you’re safe in the panoply of Love (see Science and Health page 571).
Melissa Hayden is a Christian Science practitioner in Salem, OR. You can find more information and additional articles at this link. If you like what you’re reading, click the “add me” button.
There is a passage in Science and Health by Mary Baker Eddy that explains that Love – God – is a universal solvent. (see page 242) Solvent has several definitions that are useful here (see Ask.com). The first, from chemistry is, a substance which dissolves, forming a solution. The second is, something that solves or explains. Both are helpful in learning to know God better.
The first definition is particularly interesting because it fits right in with the Christian Science view of Spirit as substance. Building on that theme, you could say that Spirit, God dissolves whatever is unlike Him, that is, whatever is unlike good. Out of that dissolution then comes a solution, an answer, even a cure. For example, by dissolving sickness, health is revealed. By removing sin, purity is made plain. By overcoming fear, peace is at hand. Reasoning further, we can see that true substance is always the solution. That fact simply dissolves any other conclusion.
The second definition also squares with Christian Science which defines God in part as All-knowing and All-acting (ibid pg. 587). That means that any true solution or explanation is divine, coming straight from Principle, another name for God. Love’s solution is intelligent and sufficient. And it is not unknowable, but fully explained and fully understood through the same divine Mind that enacted it.
You may have noticed that I’ve introduced a number of names for God: Love, Spirit, Principle, Mind. Add to that Life, Soul, and Truth and you have a complete picture of God as defined in the Bible and explained in Science and Health. Knowing the fullness and allness of God brings to light more clearly how the universal solvent operates. This broad and complete characterization of Deity leaves no gaps in His creation where a solution could go missing. Every need is met by trusting this divine fact.
Melissa Hayden is a Christian Science practitioner in Salem, OR. You can find more information and additional articles at this link. If you like what you’re reading, click the “add me” button.
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