One night, while laying in bed trying to go to sleep, I found myself ruminating about an upcoming project that didn’t require me to be organizing every detail that moment. What I did need was a feeling of peace, rest and trust in God’s all-power.
What do we do when we feel like our thinking is being hijacked from our naturally happy, healthy, restful selves?
The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.1
Mary Baker Eddy, a spiritual teacher and healer, called this influence “error” — it is simply an error to believe that God is not in control; it is simply an error to believe that God’s reality is not harmonious, perfect and that you are not included in it right now.
You are valuable! You are special!
Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid2;
To be at one with divine consciousness is to know that God is controlling and working out every detail of your experience.
You are an active component of one “stupendous whole”.
As an active portion of one stupendous whole, goodness identifies man with universal good.3
Sometimes I wonder: “Really, me? My tiny, insignificant problem in the grand scheme of things? Is God really working that out?” Well the answer that comes is YES —not because my problem is of huge significance but because my being is at one with the whole being— the whole of creation, God’s perfect universe. If I claim and accept that he isn’t governing me than I am claiming and accepting that I am separate from God and the rest of His creation. Impossible!
As I lay in bed that night, I saw clear that it was error (subtly or aggressively) influencing me to over-analyze without relying on God, good, to guide each step of the way through divine inspiration. The moment I realized the error that was influencing my consciousness, I turned my thought to Christ; I thought about the Bible story of Christ Jesus walking over the waves to his disciples who were in the boat.
Jesus taught us to walk over, not into or with, the currents of matter, or mortal mind.4
It was clear to me that I had a choice to make: I could believe that God is all and is the only true law caring for every want and detail I could possibly imagine or I could stay in the boat of believing that there is lack, limitation, rush, stress, and fear that God has no ability to reject.
Thinking about the Master’s nonjudgmental compassion for Peter in reaching out his hand to help Peter when he started to sink helped me see the divine Love that I really wanted to take a stand for. I could see that I was being urged to “walk over the waves” – the downward pull of material thinking — to trust in God’s love.
The unnecessary ruminating stopped in those moments. I slept peacefully and awoke feeling a greater sense of freedom and refreshment. (In the following weeks, the project even evolved in such a way that the details I would have planned that evening would been obsolete, so I was saved from wasted time.) Divine inspiration, trust, and not human will, was needed to take the lead.
. . . let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.5
So, if you find yourself fretting about something, know that Christ is present to help you break the cycles of negative/limited thinking; Christ enables you to see who you really are, your perfect relationship with God who is unfolding every perfect detail to bless everyone.
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1 Romans 8:6 NIV
2 Luke 12:7 NIV
3 Mary Baker Eddy, The First Church of Christ, Scientist and Miscellany, p. 165:16-18
4 Mary Baker Eddy, Unity of Good, p. 11:3-4
5 James 1:4 NKJV
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.
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.
Spirituality & Healing 