Tag: life lessons

Facing your fears…like the Hobbits did

Published on by lindseybiggsLeave a comment

Recently my husband and I watched “The Hobbit” and the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy.

The “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, in particular, is quite intense with epic battle scenes and constant toil for the characters. I often find myself echoing the Hobbit’s sentiment of being a peaceful people who don’t like adventures. Even watching these movies can be quite exhausting!

As one might already know, watching the extended version of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy is quite an endeavor in and of itself. So I figured I should get the most out of it. Well, I did because I had a spiritual breakthrough!

We might want to run away from the challenges that confront us, like Bilbo & Frodo Baggins wanted to. However, we have the “sword of Truth”, the “armor of goodness” that we can wield to overcome the deception of evil.

For instance, was the ring that Frodo was carrying actually physically heavier as he was climbing up the mountain of Mordor to throw it into the fire? I don’t think so. The ring weighed the same as it always had. However, the resistance to good and the temptation of evil is what seemed to be heavier in Frodo’s thought and he had to summon the courage and will to overcome it.

What if Jesus simply wanted to have a peaceful life and avoid conflict? We wouldn’t have his supreme example of overcoming every obstacle of evil and demonstrating the victory of good, divine Love and spiritual Life. Jesus’ example proves what is possible, and his life-work has been inspiring to me many times.

So, though I may echo the sentiment of the Hobbits, I can feel the dominion of their victory by the end of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. The young Hobbits return home with an understanding of what it takes to overcome evil (love, unity, strength, etc). Conquering their fears, instead of hiding from them, has made Middle-earth a better place for all of its inhabitants.

Life lessons from landscaping

Published on by lindseybiggs6 Comments


My husband and I are continuing a landscaping project we started last fall. When we initially considered this project it was  overwhelming. There was the space we had to consider as well as the aesthetic look, practical needs and our budget. How could we get the best results without exceeding our budget, or making mistakes and having to redo the landscaping? 

We had a landscape consultant helps us with the big picture. We wanted to do the planting, expanding and decorating ourselves to save on cost and to learn more about the value and skills of homeownership. 

We could then focus on priorities. This was very important because we didn’t have the time or money to do the whole project at once. 

This reminded me of man’s spiritual journey through life. If we look at ourself, our understanding, the world and all that needs to be accomplished, we might feel overwhelmed. Feeling this way often prevents us from even getting started, being apathetic or feeling like what we have to offer is of little value compared to the all that needs to be done. But as I’m learning through this landscape project – planting a tree here and there, fertilizing and watching it grow – we see how each part that we accomplish affects the whole. In fact, with each part that we accomplish we can step back, look at the big picture again, and see if any adjustments need to be made. What have we learned? Can we adjust our route or strategy?

And then we see that each part is actually a valuable, integral part of the whole. Each part is needed to help us see the full picture. And with each part we gain the ideas, lessons and skills we need to continue in a more productive, effective way. 

I think about all that the prophets and spiritual leaders have accomplished to help humanity gain a clearer sense of the allness and tangible presence of Spirit, Life, Truth and Love. They each had a spiritual journey of learning and growing – of God’s nature being revealed to their consciousness. If they had stopped, or failed to get started, we wouldn’t have the spiritual understanding of being that we do today.

Mary Baker Eddy, a Christian healer and teacher from the late 1800’s – early 1900’s wrote:

“[Divine] Science reveals the possibility of achieving all good, and sets mortals at work to discover what God has already done; but distrust of one’s ability to gain the goodness desired and to bring out better and higher results, often hampers the trial of one’s wings and ensures failure at the outset.”¹

“We must form perfect models in thought and look at them continually, or we shall never carve them out in grand and noble lives. Let unselfishness, goodness, mercy, justice, health, holiness, love — the kingdom of heaven — reign within us, and sin, disease, and death will diminish until they finally disappear.”²

Even though we have a lot of growing to do, like my garden, we can still succeed with each step we take along the way. 

 

¹ Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 260
² Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 248 

Our eternal life purpose

Published on by lindseybiggs2 Comments

I just returned from a trip to Boston.

It was great to meet with people, share insights, experiences, and ideas for progress and betterment.

The latter half of my visit was for my annual spiritual Association meting.  Each year I gather with a group of people to listen to and learn new spiritual ideas and metaphysical insights.  These are lessons on Life, Love, Spirit, Soul, Mind.  Everyone who goes through a class in Christian Science becomes part of an annual Association.  It’s like a post-graduate course in metaphysics (in learning more about a spiritual sense of God).

I am very grateful for these annual Association meetings where I get to learn and expand my spiritual growth.  I attended a spiritual talk on Saturday and participated in workshops throughout the weekend.

One of the “Life Lessons” I learned about this weekend was:

  • Be true to your spiritual selfhood—your unique individuality.

Mankind has such diversity.  And I appreciate each one’s uniqueness.  We don’t have to try to be like someone else.  And, in fact, we can’t — we each have our own niche to fulfill.

“Each individual must fulfill his own niche in time and eternity.” (Retrospection and Introspection by Mary Baker Eddy)

Have you ever considered that you have an eternal purpose?  That you will always have a purpose?  And that those who have gone before you have a purpose and are expressing it now?

Life is another name for God.  And we all have the same life!  Those who have passed on are aware and conscious of their eternal experience. I think this is a beautiful concept to meditate on: those who have gone before us are still fully expressing their life purpose, embodying eternal Life, and living in divine Love, never separated from Good.

If we listen to our spiritual intuition, we will hear these insights; we will see the wholeness and completeness of Life; Life is really like a sphere (and not a straight line with a start and finish).

I hope these ideas will give you some peace and inspire you to live the vitality Life and Love in your day today.

 

Many blessings