In an interior design magazine, an advertisement caught my eye: “USE WHAT YOU HAVE. No big deal. Take the terror out of decorating. Talented professional can help you. No job too small or too large. References. Immediate results.”
It was designer Lauri Ward’s ad about using what people already have as a foundation to renew their home décor. For many people, her good idea revolutionized the interior design business. Rearranging for immediate and improved use what is already ours made such good sense, and I thought, That’s an essential principle that Jesus taught.
Speaking of what is already ours through God’s law of abundance, Jesus said, “Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11:24, New International Version [NIV])…Read more
This feeling reminded me of a deep inner void that I used to feel when I was in my teens and early twenties. During this time, I would look to the world to fill this void, but to no avail. Because I’ve been studying Christian Science consistently for the past several years, I felt I could handle this feeling of “void” in a more productive way.
In my prayers, I find it’s important to ‘identity the problem’. If we think we are feeling lust, anger, addiction or depression instead of realizing we are really feeling a void then we will often be distracted by these ‘symptoms’ and not address the root of the problem.
In my prayers I could see that there really is no void since God/Spirit fills all space. God/Spirit is beautiful and perfect, and made man and woman in the image and likeness of the loveliness, wholeness and completeness of Spirit. So, where is this void? Spiritual understanding told me that in reality there was no void.
Who or what feels this void? Mortal man. Mortal man is a term that is synonymous with mortal ego. Mary Baker Eddy, the discover of Christian Science wrote, “Mortal mind sees what it believes as certainly as it believes what it sees.” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 86) This YouTube video explains this ego and it’s self-deception:
So, I could see that only mortal man, or the mortal ego, was believing in a void. Was I going to let this mortal ego boss me around by telling me lies about myself and how I was feeling? No! I then felt completely free of the feeling of depression that had been lingering around me for a few days. I needed to see that this feeling or emotion was outside of me, meaning not a part of me, and this brought about freedom and healing.
I’m so grateful that God has given us spiritual understanding, so that we don’t have to believe the lies of the ego anymore.
The First Church of Christ, Scientist; Boston, Massachusetts
This weekend my church headquarters is holding its annual conference. The theme of the meeting is “Christ calling us together.” Since being here in Boston there has been such a sense of alertness, engagement and you can feel the effect of people praying along the lines of Christ calling us together.
During the Wednesday church service, people stood up and shared healings they had through their study of the Bible and a realization of the wonder and greatness of God (and God’s Mothering love embracing them and giving us all that we need each moment). In addition to this, members of the congregation shared how they felt support from one another and that the prayers offered to the congregation each week had a profound healing effect on their lives. It was very moving.
Last night my husband and I were locked out of the friend’s house where we are staying. It was a chilly night and we were praying to see that “all things work together for good” as the Bible tells us (Romans 8:28). After 45 minutes or so, their neighbor came home. Even though he didn’t know us or have any proof we were who we said we were, he invited us into his home. We spent an hour and a half watching the basketball game with him on TV and chatting about various things. After awhile we saw that our friends had returned and we went home.
I had such a spiritual sense of God taking care of us -–of the Christ truly calling us together – that I knew it was divine providence.
I love the universal definition of Christ that Christian revolutionary and healer, Mary Baker Eddy, wrote in the late 1800′s:
Christ is the true idea voicing good, the divine message from God to man speaking to the human consciousness. (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 332)
This message from God to man speaks to you and me. It keep us on the straight and narrow path that enables us to live a fulfilling and satisfying life with God. This message is pouring into the thoughts and hearts of all men, women and children. And it is an amazing thing when you can feel and see your community embodying this message of good and consciously expressing it.
