Tag: humility

Lessons on humility

Published on by lindseybiggs3 Comments

As I mentioned in a previous blog post, my husband and I are doing some landscaping. One thing that has been particularly challenging is the irrigation (sprinkler) system we have. It wasn’t installed very well so ever since we moved in to our house we have tried to remedy this.

The biggest challenge is that we know nothing about irrigation systems! We’ve had estimates from technicians to come out and fix it, but they are too expensive. So, while we were working on this system yesterday, I was growing increasingly frustrated and feeling helpless.

As I prayed about this, I realized the situation was frustrating because I didn’t have the knowledge or skill set to do something about it. In humility, I saw that God, the only source of knowledge and intelligence, is the Mind the governs each builder, landscaper and home owner with the guidance and understanding of what to do. The same Mind that guided each individual in installing an irrigation system, is the same Mind that is with me right now.

At that moment, our neighbor came over and asked if we needed some help. He is a builder and very knowledgeable in landscaping and irrigation. He built his house and has helped the previous owners of our house with many aspects of our home.

He was able to tell us what we needed to fix, the items we needed to get from Home Depot, and he loaned us his tools so we could fix it the next day.

I am overjoyed! We are now well-equipped with the knowledge and resources that we need, feeling confident, and even able to expand our irrigation system to a new area where it is needed.

Humbly acknowledging God, the divine Mind, as the source of all ideas provides solutions for all our needs. These ideas may come directly to your consciousness, through a neighbor (like in our case), or in some other creative outlet. They always come when we let God lead us, and when we are humble, listening, and ready to receive them.

Childlikeness & its benefits

Published on by lindseybiggsLeave a comment

Tobin Hart, PhD, author of The Secret Spiritual World of Children, writes about how children are naturally attuned to the spiritual. He says:

“Nearly all children experience ways of knowing and being – outside of any training or rituals. They include awe and wonder, intense feelings of love and compassion, startling moments of wisdom and a deep curiosity about the profound nature of life. They are naturally attuned to the spiritual.”

There are many ways that we can learn from children and cultivate our own forever innocence, childlikeness and receptivity. 

Here is what Christ Jesus says about children:

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me. (NKJV Matt 18)

And said in a slightly different way:

 “I’m telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you’re not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in. Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God’s kingdom. What’s more, when you receive the childlike on my account, it’s the same as receiving me.” (The Message Matt 18)

I have the joy of teaching Sunday School, and this past Saturday I went to prepare my lesson. At the time, I was feeling really bogged down by some plans my husband and I were trying to sort out. I couldn’t tell which direction we should go in or when. The limitations of my human sense of things was frustrating and confusing. And it was tempting to just stew about these plans rather than actively engage in the preparation of this Sunday School lesson. 

But I had just gotten a bunch of new lessons from a previous teacher so I decided to check them out. 2 of the lessons used a concept of a “thought bucket”; you and the children decide what can go in to your thought bucket and what can not. We adapted one of these games and tried it out. The game went like this:

You get 5 buckets (we used tupperware) and think of 5 temptations i.e. discouragement, fear, lack, revenge, hate, lust, etc. You then think of 5 “weapons” of God i.e. love, kindness, patience, meekness, trust, hope, faith, confidence, etc. We wrote the 5 “weapons” on a piece of paper and crumpled it up on in a ball. You then try to make a basket throwing the “weapons” into the buckets. If you make it, you go on to the next one. At the end, each bucket should have a “weapon” in it. And I thought it was really fun to unfold the weapon paper and see which weapon conquered each temptation. 

At the end of this exercise, I felt totally refreshed and joyful! The simplicity of this exercise reminded me of the simple, spiritual Truths and how easy it can be to practice them. Sometimes as adults we make it so complicated! But it can be as simple as determining if the thoughts in your bucket are from divine Mind, Spirit, or from the carnal mind, error. Our Father takes care of all the other details. All we have to focus on is what is going into our consciousness. 

It reminds me of this thought:

“Stand porter at the door of thought. Admitting only such conclusions as you wish realized in bodily results, you will control yourself harmoniously.” (Science and Health, p. 392)