stress – Page 2 – Spirituality & Healing

Beating the clock

Published on March 30, 2016March 30, 2016 by lindseybiggs2 Comments

Rushing around smartly is no proof of accomplishing much. *

Jesus is the perfect example of overcoming time and stress. He was in some pretty stressful situations but he never caved in to pressure, never doubted his Father’s Kingdom. He knew God’s law was lovingly reigning over all and could reverse the material view that said it wasn’t.

Jesus was asked to go heal Jairus’ daughter but on the way he’s stopped by another situation. It’s a woman who was in physical need and was healed when she touched him. He even took the time to comfort this woman to let her know that her faith in God healed her.

Well, now he gets the “too late” message: the girl whom he had agreed to go heal is now dead. Jesus was too late! He missed the window of opportunity. Haven’t we all heard a message like that before? You missed the deadline! What were you thinking! You berate yourself: I’m such an idiot!

Well, that’s not what Jesus did or thought! He knew God was all powerful. He knew there was no “too late” or “too hard” or “impossible” with God.

The end of the story is that he goes to the home of the girl and heals her — she is alive and well. (See Mark 5).

Looks like God had everything under control the whole time! Even when the people didn’t believe it and couldn’t see it.

How often do we believe that we only have just a quick time to obtain something good — that there’s a narrow window of opportunity; and even that we have to experience as much as we can before our time is up! Wow, this proverbial clock would have us running and rushing around and missing the glory and joy of God’s forever Kingdom!

urban-571631_960_720 There was one week in my spiritual practice where I really focused on God being the law and order that is governing everything. I thought about a divine Principle governing my experience and placing me where I needed to be at the perfect time. It was awesome! It was at a time when I had an hour-long commute to and from the city for work. I found that praying with these ideas helped me to arrive exactly when I needed to. It even helped me to find parking in my overcrowded neighborhood — arriving at the perfect time when someone was pulling out of a spot (at a time when parking could take a half hour or more to find). I was just in awe of God’s goodness and I learned so much that week about how God governs every facet of our experience. We see this when we humbly and prayerfully express Him/Her!

Jesus wasn’t stressed out and we don’t need to be either. We can experience God’s harmonious control governing every avenue of being for good.

—

*Mary Baker Eddy, Improve Your Time (article), Miscellaneous Writings

What is controlling our thinking?

Published on January 18, 2016January 17, 2016 by lindseybiggs2 Comments

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 afraid^2;

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.

___

^{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}

Is Life controlling you…or time?

Published on September 8, 2014 by lindseybiggs2 Comments

It’s so easy to get caught up in being in a rush these days. There are often many demands made on us. How do we navigate these waters and maintain a sense of peace?

“Life is without beginning and without end. Eternity, not time, expresses the thought of Life, and time is no part of eternity. One ceases [time] in proportion as the other [eternity] is recognized.” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 468)

Imagine that…time ceasing! As I think about that, there is great sense of stillness, unity and serenity.

How do we recognize and bring eternal life in to our day right here and now?

I think it’s helpful to recognize that we are not on a timeline, but we are at one with the entire sphere of Life. What we see and know of human life is just a limited perspective and a fraction of the whole Life.

Christ Jesus demonstrated eternal Life in his resurrection and also in the lives of others whom he saved from death (see Luke 7:11-17, Matthew 9:18-26, and John 11:1-44).

He said, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.” (John 11: 25, 26)

So, clearly, Life is about much more than material cells and atoms.

Dr. Eben Alexander, the author of the New York Times bestseller “Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon’s Journey into the Afterlife”, said in a recent interview, “The most profound revelation of all this was that the brain doesn’t create this kind of deeper message of soul, spirit, or consciousness at all.”

Certainly there is much peace and realizing that we will never really die. Our consciousness and identity are eternal and permanent.

“All that is beautiful and good in your individual consciousness is permanent” (Unity of Good, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 8). So all the love and the good within us is here to stay.

How can understanding that Life is eternal give us greater dominion over time?

I had an experience recently that illustrated that.

I was late. My meeting was about to start in 10 min. But there had been demands at home with family that I had needed to attend to. What to do? I recognized that I clearly had a choice. I could get all frazzled and in a tizzy. I could give up this sense of peace and dive into the invisible pressure that comes from time. Or I could maintain a sense of peace, recognizing it as a God-given quality, and trust that God is governing me and others, and I can never be punished (or cause others to be delayed) through doing good for others. I opted for peace. I got in the car. I did not speed. I praised God all the way. I prayed to recognize His qualities of poise, grace, kindness, patience, love and tenderness that are always with me. I arrived at the meeting right on time, even though there was no way humanly that I could have done so. The meeting commenced and all was very harmonious. I marvel at this beautiful spiritual lesson.

We always have a choice. We never have to let go of the spiritual dominion and poise that God has given us.

Now, I don’t mean that we should be apathetic and inconsiderate towards others. In the example above, no harm was caused to others by the demands from family that I had to take care of. And the spiritual dominion and peace that God gave me saved me from acting impatient and rushed, which can often cause others to feel agitated and hurried.

I’m so grateful for this small way, and the big ways, that we can prove Life is eternal, spiritual and harmonious right here and now.