Category: Identity/healing the past

Overcome the 4 C’s

Published on by lindseybiggs2 Comments

Christ Jesus says, “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.” (Matt 9:16-17 NIV)

Emptying the bottle of thought of the old is a prerequisite to being receptive and ready for the new!

Holding on to old thoughts, old ways of seeing ourselves and others means there isn’t room for  new inspiration – the new ideas – that come today.  The new inspiration will be spilled and wasted because there isn’t room for it in the bottle of our old thought.  We have to let go of the old thoughts first!

For me, emptying the bottle of thought of the old has been the actively resisting the 4 C’s.

  • Criticism
  • Condemnation
  • Comparison
  • Complaint

Criticism

Criticism actually hurts the one doing the criticizing in addition to being hurtful to others.  It is a public or private confession that you are not seeing the child of God that has been created.  Seeing God’s child, His image and likeness, requires inspiration, spiritual discernment and light.  The temptation to criticize tries to cut us off from that light.  Spiritual light makes us happy and free.  So why do we want to feel cut off from that light even for a moment?  Criticizing doesn’t actually change the environment or people around us.  It doesn’t heal.  What is actually needed is a change in our own thinking.  And creative solutions will then appear.  Practice the humility needed to bring about that change today which results in healing yourself, others and countless situations.

Condemnation

A child of God is never condemned.  God loves each of us.  It is not in our nature to condemn because it is not in our nature to believe in something more powerful than Love – than God or Good.  The activity of the Divine is always bringing transformation, renewal and healing.  It reveals who we each are as whole and complete.  Therefore we are never condemned. 

Comparison

Comparing impedes our progress and hides our true purpose.  God’s diversity is so vital.  No two men, women or children are the same.  We are as the snowflakes – each one unique.  So one person’s life expression is not going to look the same as another.  We are all expressing divinity in a unique way.  Denying our creativity, uniqueness and perfection is like trying to deny an aspect of God that needs to be expressed.  Love and cherish the unique qualities and ideas you have.  Don’t think with jealousy, envy or coveting what another person has.  Love you because of who God made you to be – special, priceless, invaluable.  Trust me – you will be much happier and productive when being the “real” you. 

Complaint

Ah, complaints.  They’re so easy to do.  There is a line from a hymn which says, “Our gratitude is riches, complaint is poverty” (Christian Science Hynnal, 249).  Wow.  That really shows complaining in it’s true light.  Complaining cuts us off from seeing the goodness and abundance and Love each moment.  And that is why complaint is poverty.  Gratitude is an acknowledgement of the good, Love and kindness present in this moment.  Take a moment to look around you.  See all the beauty, good, protection and care coming from God and feel that gratitude in your hearts.  Now, don’t you feel rich?! 🙂

 

I know it can be hard resisting the 4 C’s; but making a conscious choice of the thoughts you are going to continue to think – allow to dwell in your consciousness – will open you up to so many possibilities.  It will open you up to goodness, inspiration, love, and joy – progress in your life, relationships and future. Like attracts like. Having this spiritual consciousness will attract that which is spiritual, eternal and precious in your experience.

Enjoy this day!  Consider sharing, in the comment section, experiences of how you overcame 1 or more of the 4 C’s and what it felt like for you.  You can help inspire others to do the same.

Mental Meteorology

Published on by lindseybiggsLeave a comment

I really enjoyed Chet Manchester’s Daily Lift the other day on mental meteorology.

And, along the same line, a friend shared with me an idea that Mary Baker Eddy (the discoverer and founder of Christian Science) told her students.  It was, in essence, to make sure there are no storms, tornadoes or earthquakes in our thinking.

I love this call to overcome the temptation to be angry, hateful or vengeful.  It is possible to overcome these suggestions, as they are not part of our Creator or His creation.

They come from what Paul calls the “carnal mind” in the Bible (the book of Romans).  This carnal mind is not our mind, or God’s, and is the opposite of good.  The good news is we can overcome this because good is inherent and natural to each of us.

Proverbs states: “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.” (Proverbs 16:32)

In explaining metaphysics, Eddy says:

“Metaphysics is above physics, and matter does not enter into metaphysical premises or conclusions. The categories of metaphysics rest on one basis, the divine Mind. Metaphysics resolves things into thoughts, and exchanges the objects of sense for the ideas of Soul. These ideas are perfectly real and tangible to spiritual consciousness, and they have this advantage over the objects and thoughts of material sense, — they are good and eternal.” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 269)

(Pretty radical for a woman in the late 1800’s!)

So in thinking about what things like tornadoes and tsunamis represent, it’s only natural to see that as our consciousness becomes more peaceful and in accord with everything around us, that peace and harmony must be seen, felt and expressed everywhere!

 

Overcoming shyness

Published on by lindseybiggs4 Comments

I’ve never really been a shy person; I was even called a “social butterfly” in elementary school.  And many people today would be surprised to find that I dealt with shyness.

There came a time when I felt incredibly shy.  I didn’t enjoy it much because I didn’t feel like myself.  So I decided to seek a spiritual solution to this problem as I do with many challenges.

I talked with a Christian Science Practitioner who told me she had dealt with shyness herself.  And through the help of her mother and prayer she was healed of this problem.

This was encouraging.  She shared the idea that shyness is really a type of selfishness because you are thinking about yourself instead of the other person.  She suggested that I try to love everyone around me.

Well I instantly felt a lot better, feeling confident that there was a spiritual solution, and that it was something as enjoyable as loving more.

Over the years I worked on this.  I found cherishing each person’s spiritual identity, and striving to listen to them, to what they’re saying and also to what they are not saying (to what their heart was calling out for) to be a blessing.

When I loved the person I was talking to, the way God feels about them, I was able to listen, be more sensitive, and really enjoy each friendship.

In fact, striving to listen a lot more throughout my day, even when there is only silence around me, enables me to hear God’s voice which tells me who I might bless and leads activities throughout my day.

A teaching of Christian Science is that God is Mind (which Paul refers to in the New Testament).  And because God is all and is good, He or She must be the only real Mind.  This Mind is always clear, uplifted, meek, patient, kind and compassionate.   When I realize that this is the true Mind, then all the other mental “noise” quiets down, and I can listen clearly.

There are still situations that I find uncomfortable, as most humans do.  But sometimes it’s because someone else might be feeling uncomfortable, hostile or unloved.  Being aware of this helps me support each individual in feeling safe, secure, and loved.

It’s a joy to have positive interactions with people and has been such a blessing to me as well as to others.

I’m grateful that there are harmonious solutions to situations like these.  And it can be as simple as opening up to a greater awareness of Divinity and Her spiritual image and likeness – man and woman.