Nature teaches grand lessons.

This summer I got the opportunity to sit in awe of the ocean, the beautiful sand, and tall trees. I felt like I was in heaven. Sand and water are so simple, yet their purity and consistency can entertain one for hours as you stare at the waves coming in and out, in and back out again.

I was reminded of a blog that a colleague wrote about the healing power of being in awe. Scientists have found there are healthy physical and mental effects from the state of being in awe. What gives us this profound sense of awe is as diverse as we are.  For me it’s nature, the trees, moon, animals. There is something so spiritual about pausing for a moment to just be in awe of this wonderful creation.

I was reading an article about retails shops and malls closing down at a rapid rate across America. One town is looking to make up for the lost business by attracting people to stop for the hiking trails, state parks and a new whitewater rafting outfit.

Studies have found that as people consume more, they are less and less happy. Spending money can actually be an addiction, similar to drug addictions, because, as studies show, spending can give people the same temporary high that drugs can.

So how do we break these cycles of addiction? Through knowing that man (more than just human beings) — men, women and children — are the spiritual manifestation of God. A friend once told me that she thinks of the word “man” as short for “manifestation.” I like that. We are much more than the flesh and bones that we see. We are actually each the image and likeness of God; the reflection of the one creative Spirit. Getting to know God and expressing this infinite wonderful being is the way to satisfy.

Higher enjoyments alone can satisfy the cravings of immortal man... The senses confer no real enjoyment.

What can we enjoy then? I find that thinking in terms of qualities helps. The Bible says:

God’s Spirit makes us loving, happy, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful…

So true enjoyment comes from our spiritual sense. Spiritual sense is actually how we perceive beauty, peace, love, satisfaction, comfort, joy. It’s how we feel safe. It’s how we give generously. It helps us make the right decisions. In fact, it is our constant connection to the Divine, to our real, native being.

God’s being is infinity, freedom, harmony, and boundless bliss.

So it makes sense that as we become conscious of God, we are becoming more aware of infinity, freedom, harmony and boundless bliss and can be truly satisfied.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

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Mary Baker Eddy, Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 60:31
Galatians 5:22 CEV
Science & Health, p. 481:2-4
Matthew 5:6 NIV