mindful – Spirituality & Healing

It can be hard to keep awake mentally and spiritually with so many technological and other distractions. Even though Christ Jesus lived so many years ago, he gave us practical wisdom to deal with these distractions. He said,

“what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.”*

Watch our thinking. Be mindful. Be proactive in thought. Watch what is going and coming from our consciousness. Much of our spiritual practice consists of being watchful of our thought: what am I focusing on? Is this really helping me progress? How is my relationship with God? How am I thinking about my fellow humans? Is this promotive of my spiritual identity? What am I believing truly has power in the world?

Being watchful and aware of our consciousness is a great practice to cultivate. Better health, more harmonious relationships, and greater opportunities come from being alert. They stem from our oneness with God and are inherent in our relationship with God.

God’s will for us is freedom, harmony, and joy. We can experience these as we draw closer to God and become more aware of God. This is a daily practice — moment by moment. We can always be checking in — am I focused on divine Truth, Life, and Love right now? How can I be a healing presence in this moment? Can I magnify the good? As we are more mindful of our own thoughts, we inevitably bring healing and bless those around us. We will uplift the atmosphere at the office, we will bring healing to our family relationships, we will comfort and strengthen ourselves and others.

When his students asked Jesus what some of the essential ingredients were to healing, he replied “prayer and fasting”. (Matthew 17:21) Fasting doesn’t have to be only about food. The definition of fasting can be expanded to include anything that would detract our attention from Spirit; anything that would take our focus off good. This could mean depriving ourselves from being news junkies and tuning in to what God is saying; or depriving ourselves of selfishness and being more generous; it could mean depriving ourselves of worry and doubt by focusing more on faith and trust. We can fast from materialism and anything that would try to captivate our attention — anything that doesn’t allow our thought to move forward towards progress, health, and healing. This type of fasting doesn’t deprive us of anything. Rather it allows us to “feast” on God! It keeps us so focused on God, that we become better, more satisfied, healthier, and happier.

Spiritual author and teacher, Mary Baker Eddy, wrote to a student,

“Keep awake by loving more.”**

Loving God primarily, and loving our neighbor as ourselves, keeps us awake to God’s presence. It keeps us tuned in to God, to be aware of all that God, good, is saying to us. God’s guidance and love are like radio waves filling the atmosphere — we just need to tune in to hear exactly the right message. Being awake to Spirit, enables us to see and know who we really are, helps us feel the love and peace of God’s presence, and inspires us with right activities that bless and heal the world.

So, we don’t have to blend in with the crowd — doing what others do and thinking what others think. We have power and authority over our life and consciousness. We can take our thinking into our own hands and feel the peace, love, and assurance coming straight to us from the Divine. We know that God’s will for us is only peace, only goodness, only love, courage, and strength. And we can bring these into our experience by keeping them close in our thought.

Know, then, that you possess sovereign power to think and act rightly, and that nothing can dispossess you of this heritage and trespass on Love.***

*Matthew 13:37
**We Knew Mary Baker Eddy, Vol II, p. 117
***Pulpit and Press, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 3
Image by Vural Yavaş from Pixabay

Beauty is a thing of life, which dwells forever in the eternal Mind and reflects the charms of His goodness in expression, form, outline, and color.¹

Beauty is a thing of life….wow….isn’t that the truth. When I was a photographer, my job was to look through this lens of life to see beauty in the details. I did a photo series on shadows that were cast by light shining through blown glass. The reflections looked like abstract images of water. You could almost see faces, boats and other shapes in the series. Beauty is everywhere; all around us. Have you ever seen someone in whom light and joy radiated through their eyes? I have. This has since taught me that beauty is, indeed, a thing of life. Because it dwells in God, divine Mind, we can see it all around us.

For in Him we live and move and have our being.²

Being in awe of beauty is a therapeutic action (the Greek word therapeo means in English “to heal”³). Looking at the stars and moon, looking at the smile on a friends face, the sweet voice of a child, all remind me of God and God’s goodness. It is as if these are God’s faces, God’s smiles, and God’s laughter and voice. Perceiving beauty has therapeutic effects.

When I was in high school and college, I thought beauty was something I did — a way I acted or a way I dressed. I have since learned the beauty is not something we do; it is something we are. We shine because God is light. We reflect beauty because God is beautiful. We laugh because God expresses Her joy. We are like rays flowing out from the central sun, who is God. We are never disconnected from our Source, which is why we have the right to express all the beauty, poise, grace, love, energy that God has for us today. Nothing can stop it because nothing — no circumstance, physical ability, lack or limitation — can ever separate you from God, divine Love (even if you seem to be separated) for an instant.

Just like nothing separated me from God through past mistakes and lessons learned. We are one with the light of God, with the light and activity of Christ. We always have been and always will be. Seeing beauty around us is one way we can perceive the spiritual reality, God’s presence, all around us.

let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.⁴

________

1 Mary Baker Eddy, Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 247
2 Acts 17:28 NRSV
3 Emmanuel Y. Lartey, In Living Color: A Intercultural Approach to Pastoral Care and Counseling Second Edition, p. 55
4 Matthew 5:16 NRSV

Tag: mindful

Being awake to God’s goodness and love

The beauty of life