Weight Loss

With all of the weight loss programs and diet food systems, the exercise regimens and surgical options, why would anyone pray about losing weight?  Isn’t prayer mental and weight loss physical?  How can there possibly be any correlation?  Good questions.

Let me frame the answer by first quoting Christ Jesus.  He said – pretty bluntly, actually – Take no thought for your life [or the body], what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink. Is not the life more than meat?  (See Matt. 6:25)  I don’t think he was suggesting that we be thoughtless, either.  On the contrary, I believe he was saying put your thought on God alone, and let Him work out the details.  (See Matt. 6:33)

Why would he say that?  Because the tendency of the human mind is to limit everything by measuring it: the size of the body (your own or someone else’s), the size of the portion (or the number of points and/or calories the portion represents), the size of the progress – or not, even the size of the commitment.  These measurements keep thought stuck in the body.  It is literally self absorption!

On the other hand, turning to God in prayer expands and lifts thought.  As the author of Hebrews says, “he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”  That (believing in and diligently seeking God) is the solution.  Isn’t that what Jesus did every moment?  And didn’t he resolve every situation as a result?  And didn’t he say we would do the same things as he did?  (See John 14:12)

Following Jesus’ command to take no thought either for the body or the food we put into it tends to both normalize the function and appearance of the body.  Really?  Yes!  Because it leaves both to God’s control – the same God who so loved the world He sent His only begotten son (See John 3:16).  That much love, that big a gift surely indicates God’s ability and willingness to care for you and me in a healthy and healing way.

Consider these options: If you’re willing to put the effort into counting calories, how about counting your thoughts of God instead?  If you’re willing to take the time to watch what you eat, how about watching what you think instead?  If you’re willing to exercise your body, how about exercising your spiritual authority instead?  Isn’t a prayer-filled regimen much more satisfying and all-inclusive than an exercise or diet plan?  And more permanent too – just like God’s love!

Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.  (Matt 6:33)

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.

Unsubscribe…

Lots of serial e-mails come with the option to unsubscribe.  I get a number of them from organizations I appreciate or support.  Sometimes though, their sheer quantity overwhelms the e-mail that’s more important and that really needs my attention.  I’ve recently unsubscribed from several that I realize I just don’t read.  But I don’t miss them and I appreciate a freer inbox.

Your thinking is a lot like your e-mail inbox.  Lots of times it’s stuffed with interesting (or not) stuff – or maybe just repetetive stuff – or stuff that actually distracts and detracts from more substantial or more real or more progressive thoughts.  Worry can take up a lot of space in thought.  So can anger or blame.

What if you were to “unsubscribe” from those kinds of thoughts?  What if you just chose to think the thoughts that made a difference?

There is a way to do that.  It’s called standing porter at the door of thought.  Mary Baker Eddy explains it more thoroughly in Science and Health (see page 392).  But in a nutshell, it’s about realizing that you don’t have to entertain all the thoughts that come a knockin’.  Really.

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.

Self-help book

There are lots of books out there that help their readers do everything from fix a refrigerator to fix a marriage.  Some fall in the “for dummies” category and others in the “you have to have a degree in the subject before you can read it” category.  There is one book, however, that can replace them all.  What, you say?  How can just one book explain refrigerators  and marriages and everything else, at the same time?

Okay, so if you do a word search for refrigeration in the book I’m suggesting here,  it’s true you won’t find anything.  In fact, for the most part, you won’t find any “quick fixes” that way.  But you will find permanent solutions for any and every problem.  Yes, any and every problem.

The book is Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.  It’s not just a repair manual, it’s a restore manual and a redeem manual.

Here’s how it works: it explains God and His relationship with His creation; it makes plain how Jesus healed; it reveals the nature of Spirit and Soul; it illumines the Bible.  And it teaches the reader how to do anything and everything through effective prayer.

There are countless times in my own life where problems ranging from a broken refrigerator to a broken marriage were resolved by digging deep into the ideas presented in Science and Health. Issues as disparate as child rearing and what kind of car to buy have been solved.  Questions regarding what to do about unemployment or what to do in my garden were handled in much the same way.

All in all, thoughtfully reading, conscientiously applying, and practically living the scientific ideas found in Science and Health will repair anything.  Find out for yourself!

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.