Inspiration from the Beatitudes

I love studying the Sermon on the Mount (especially in The New Testament in Modern English by J.B. Phillips).  I find its wisdom and spirituality to be invaluable.  It is so practical! 

Here is inspiration that I get from reading the Beatitudes:

Don’t forget about God.  Always keep Him in your mind, motive and actions, and you will see and experience the Kingdom of Heaven here and now.

Happy are those who have been humbled before God, who have lost everything materially.  You have gained divine Love/Spirit and the understanding that He/She comforts, cares and provides all you need.

Be willing to “let go” of every material thing.  If you do so, you will always have everything you need and it can never be lost.

Happy are those who want to be governed with the right consciousness.  Those who desire to be and do good, and to be governed spiritually, will feel fully satisfied.

When you have a forgiving and humble spirit towards others, people will naturally be more accepting and forgiving of you.  No one is a perfect human.

Happy are those who are innocent, genuine and pure in motive and speech.  They will see God because they are God’s likeness.

Happy are those who don’t provoke or take offense.  They will promote a peaceful, happy atmosphere among themselves and others.

Facing resistance toward Spirit and progress?  Stand confident and firm in Spirit and in everyone’s inherent spiritual identity and you will see and experience the Kingdom of Heaven.

When walking in the path of Spirit, evil may try to tempt you in all different ways.  But don’t get upset or dismayed.  Good always prevails.  Jesus, his disciples and the prophets already proved the Good/Spirit is irresistible and ever-present.

I hope these ideas are practical and useful for you in living and walking in Spirit in your daily life.

Blessings!

Spiritual reasoning helps in overcoming challenges

When you’re faced with a problem that seems too big and real, it’s helpful to do some spiritual reasoning.

I like to start with God, divine Love.  Things get much clearer when you start with the one Ego or Creator.

I think of God as Love, ever-present and eternal, which is always with me.  God is speaking to us and has the ability to communicate with us in just the right way.  He/She is able to make Herself heard.

God is infinite, limitless so we can lift ourselves up out of the perception of materiality and finiteness, into the realm of permanent, changeless Good.

God is Spirit and Her substance can never be defiled.  God, Spirit, is our substance so there can’t be anything missing or lacking.

When we get a glimpse of who and what God is then we can get a sense of who we are.  God’s offspring is pure, light, holy, with infinite ability and capability.  This offspring is spiritual and in the image and likeness of it’s Creator.  So there isn’t any blemish, lack or loss.  God’s creation is complete, harmonious, always good and beautiful.

There are lots of theories and speculation out there that try to present otherwise.  They say our birthright isn’t perfect and joy and health aren’t natural.  It says we pray to God because we are separate from Him, and prayer isn’t always effective.

All of these subtle suggestions are what is termed the carnal mind and what is illustrated by a serpent in the Bible.  We hear the account of Jesus himself confronted with the carnal mind in Matthew 4.  Jesus overcame material suggestions and claims, similar to the same ones we hear today i.e. matter is our life, God isn’t all-powerful, and money is power.

He conquered these by knowing and understanding His relationship with His Father.  The Word of God, Spirit, gives us life and energy to do and to accomplish all we need; God is ever-present, always loving and protecting us (we don’t need to “test” God but we can apply and demonstrate this fact when faced with a challenge); the carnal mind cannot give us anything.  All fulfillment, opportunity, joy, supply, and talent come from God and are spiritual.

So today, if you’re faced with a challenge try to spiritual reason in this way, the same way that Jesus conquered and overcame the challenges he was faced with through trust in his ever-present Father-Mother God.

Overcoming shyness

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.