Sticky paper

I recently had a mouse in my house. We thought the cats would solve the problem but after several weeks we purchased live traps. A few days later we caught the mouse and released it in the woods. Problem solved!

I discussed this issue with a family member who shared her stories of catching mice, including the use of sticky paper.

I’m personally not a fan of the sticky paper method, but thinking about this sticky paper did prove to be a useful analogy in my spiritual practice.

I was praying during the church service this last Sunday. It was uplifting, inspiring and healing. However, now and then, these thoughts would come out of no where: feeling personally offended by a situation, rehearsing another uncomfortable situation, etc.

This was my response: there is no “sticky paper” in my consciousness to trap these thoughts. I could simply let them go — no reaction, no distraction. I did let them go and continued on with my prayers. And I felt so uplifted!

This is a process I would highly recommend to anyone! You could also think of the analogy of throwing spaghetti noodles at the wall — in this case, we don’t want them to stick!

I was always there

Sometimes finding a solution to a problem can take a while. It may require patience, persistent prayer and not giving up.

But God is right here guiding us; He always been and always will be. Sometimes we don’t see it until later. It reminds me of the scene with Humpty Dumpty in the movie Puss in Boots — except not in a creepy way, but in a good way!

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Praying about global issues today (hungry children, young girls living on the streets and environmental issues) showed me that God is embracing each one of these dear people and is eradicating these troublesome issues. God’s will for each one is peace, harmony and perfection.

“Father-Mother is the name for Deity, which indicates His tender relationship to His spiritual creation.” (Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health, p.332)

“Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone? …. If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:7-11 NRSV)

Yes, seeing the complete resolution of these issues may take some time. But prayer does make a difference, and as we each open our thought to seeing results from our prayers, we will experience blessings that make a difference every day.

Praying when shopping

One way that I utilize prayer is to know what to buy and when to buy it. Pray has helped me make right purchases at the right time and has also saved me from unproductive shopping & useless transactions. Prayer saves time & money.

I’ve learned that nothing in God’s kingdom is wasted. And that something isn’t a waste if there is a right motive behind it.

One definition of economy is:
the management of the resources of a community, country, etc., especially with a view to its productivity (dictionary.com)

Everything in God’s creation, or what I think of as the Kingdom of Heaven, has value. There are no worthless or unproductive ideas. Therefore everything in our experience can be useful and productive. This saves us from the unsatisfying cravings of commercialism (or buying things just because we like to shop & spend money). It also saves us from being too tight with our money and hoarding it. Neither of these tendencies can occur when we have a spiritual perspective.

Here’s an example:
Last year I decided I wanted an eReader. However, intuitively I knew it wasn’t right to buy one. I still explored the possibility and researched all the eReaders that were out there. Nothing fit the requirements that I wanted in a device. I continued to want an eReader but decided to be obedient to my intuition and be patient and see how things worked out (even though I really wanted to know WHY I couldn’t have one). Well a few months later patience paid off. A new eReader was released on the market that had all the features I wanted. And I knew it was the right device for me immediately. It was given to me as a Christmas gift by my family just a few weeks later. I was saved from making a wasteful purchase that wouldn’t have met my needs. And it was a perfect gift for my family to give me, which I have continued to enjoy and use a lot.

I’m sure we’ve all had experiences like these where we follow our intuition and things work out. This intuition, or divine guidance, is speaking to us ALL the time. Listening to it and being obedient is a skill we can cultivate and practice more and more each day.