I love this song! It makes my heart sing!
Here are the words of one verse:
You are my wisdom, and You are my wealth,
You are my substance, my joy, and my health,
My Father and Mother, my haven of peace,
My comfort, my healer, my place of release.*
The words are a beautiful prayer of affirmation. I will post the song if I can find it online.
____
*Words by Fenella Bennetts ©2016 New 2017 hymnal can be purchased online or at a local Christian Science Reading Room.
There is something so wonderful about being in nature. Perhaps because it is a time when I delight in beauty.
I love getting to spend time each day in nature. For me, this means simply taking my dog and son to the park each afternoon as a family. We are fortunate enough to live near a park with beautiful trees and lovely wooded trails.
This “outside time”, as we call it, feeds our souls. The trees in this park are beautiful sugar maple and black walnut trees, surrounded by wooded hills, caves, mountain biking and hiking trails. It makes me want to go and plant more trees for our children’s children to enjoy for decades to come.
Trees are like quiet, uncomplaining sentinels, giving of their energy. They are familiar old friends. I am in awe and gratitude for trees. They are a spiritual symbol of home to me.
Studies show that average Americans spend 90% of their days indoors. This tells me that specific effort is needed to carve out time to spend in nature, to enjoy the stillness around us, to take deep breaths and slow walks, and to give space to notice the little wonders around us.
Nature is where I feel God’s presence. It is so beautiful and wonderful that it reminds me of how much She loves us. I believe divine Love is the creator of the universe, and I am in awe of Her majesty all around us. It is as though She is showing off Her beauty, grandeur, order, stillness, and harmony, whispering “I love you” in Her still, gentle ways.
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.
__
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
Spirituality & Healing 