Archive for the ‘Christian Science Perspective’ Category
This article by Michelle Boccanfuso Nanouche was originally published in the Christian Science Perspective section of the November 23, 2018 issue of the Christian Science Monitor. In it she shares how a spirit of gratitude replaced the “poor me” discouragement she’d been feeling about a lingering illness with a tangible sense of God’s presence – and healing quickly followed.
Settling into my airplane seat on the next leg of a long business trip, I heard a man say to his seat companion behind me, “I am so happy we live here. I love our home. I love our neighbors.” I didn’t really want to eavesdrop, but the sincerity in his voice drew me in. Next I heard, “I am grateful for our friends and for my work here. I am grateful for you!”
This flight was a year ago, yet I still remember his words clearly. Why? Because his list of heartfelt gratitude made me feel grateful, too. I considered the good in my life and all around me, and a fatigue that had accompanied me onto the flight dropped away completely, allowing me to arrive at my next stop joyful and energetic.
More than just positive thinking, gratitude can be a powerful, spiritual force for good, rendering one receptive to healing. I once found myself in desperate straits, and gratitude was key to my turnaround. I had been ill for some time and became very discouraged. The list of what was wrong seemed to grow every hour, and I was very tired of it all. (Click here to keep reading or listen to the audio version.)
A Christian Science perspective: A deeper understanding of Mind brings peace to the disturbed mentality. By Deborah Huebsch
In these times of global stir, greater mental stability is certainly something we all would like to experience. A slight variation on a famous saying about peace might relate, “Let there be stability in the world and let it begin with me.” Surely mental equilibrium, an unshakable peace that can withstand turbulent events that occur, is a necessity.
There was a time in my life when I had to think deeply about this subject. A history of severe emotional problems affected both sides of my family. When I started to experience signs of a mental breakdown similar to those other family members had, I was terrified.
At that time a friend, seeing my obvious distress, offered me a copy of a book that literally changed my life – “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” by Mary Baker Eddy. It explained God as Mind, … continue reading.
Upheaval in the world might suggest that there’s no hope for finding order in it. But as this author discovered, acknowledging and evidencing God’s control in our daily lives helps us understand how peace and harmony truly prevail.
This article by Emma Leslie is from the Christian Science Perspective featured in the August 25, 2022 Christian Science Monitor.
Reports of extreme weather, war, the pandemic, and economic instability can make it feel as though we live in a chaotic universe where we have little agency over our own lives.
As someone who has found mental peace and practical answers through prayer, I wanted to pray to see beyond this depressing view of life to something more hopeful, for myself and my family and for all citizens of the world. A moment of chaos on a recent trip gave me a modest but significant opportunity for such prayer.
Click here to read, or listen to, the full article.
I had to learn humility the hard way! I was ice-skating with my granddaughter one evening. I am not a very good skater and I was doing my best to keep up speed and glide. At one point I noticed that the rink was populated with young people, and a little pride crept in that I was out there even though I am a grandmother.
Well, a few more turns around the rink and then down I went. My wrist was badly hurt.
My go-to in times of need has always been prayer. In this case, a wake-up call about pride was my biggest take-away from my prayers. After about two weeks, I could still not move my wrist. Then, one day in humble prayer, it came to me that all of us out there on the ice were children of God, expressing the joy, strength, and energy of divine Life. Our true nature is not defined by a certain age and personal abilities. Instead, it appears in our reflection of God’s qualities.
I was very humbled by this thought. In his book “Mere Christianity,” C. S. Lewis, the Christian apologist, refers to pride as “the complete anti-God state of mind.” It suggests the possibility of a selfhood or ego apart from God, the one true Ego. It is a way of thinking that denies the onliness and allness of infinite good.
Click here to continue reading, or listen to, this article by Elizabeth Crecelius Schwartz published in the Christian Science Monitor Daily. In it Elizabeth describes more of the thinking that then led to a quick and complete healing of the injured wrist.
An article from the Christian Science Monitor by Blythe Evans
When my children were in elementary school, they played soccer through a local sports program. Before each game, the coach would assign each child a player on the opposing team to “mark.” That meant to focus on and stay right with the player at all times, rather than meandering around the field of play. Sometimes the coach would even say, “Mark that player so closely you feel like you’re in their shirt! Stay right with them.”
The importance of this was not lost on the young athletes, and the better they each marked their player, the better the game went for them.
I think of this sometimes when I read in the Bible, “Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace” (Psalms 37:37). Practically speaking, who is “the perfect man” we are to “mark”? How do we do that? And why should we?
Well, it is clear there is no perfect human being, so the “perfect man” must be a higher, more spiritual concept of man than we experience with our material senses. In fact, the teachings of Christian Science help us see that the “perfect man” is the spiritual man (meaning all of us) of God’s creating, made in the image of divine Spirit.
Blythe goes on to explain how this reasoning and spiritualisation of thought brought about a quick healing of her young grandson’s injured finger. She concludes by saying:
This doesn’t mean putting our heads in the sand when we or someone we encounter is not well or acting wrongly. Rather, we can silently affirm that everyone’s true nature is one of harmony, health, and integrity, because God, Spirit, is all good. Understanding this enables us to overcome illness or bad character traits, and to help others do the same.
Click here to read the complete article.
An article from the Christian Science Monitor by Laura Clayton
Recently a relative said she had been feeling concerned about the future. She had been thinking about a possible move, wondering where and when she and her husband might settle next. We talked about the idea of living in God’s “now” – staying grounded in gratitude for today’s many blessings, joyfully being where we are right at the present moment. After our discussion, she said she immediately felt better, lighter, and more peaceful.
Christ Jesus assured his followers, “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself” (Matthew 6:34). The type of living in the present now that brings lasting peace and inspired solutions is not just some clever mental game. It’s a spiritual awakening based on the timeless spiritual fact of our unity with God, good.
In this article Laura goes on to explain the spiritual reasoning she used to find a perfect solution to a family member’s accommodation problem. She concludes: Each of us can wake up to the spiritual reality of today that helps bring a more harmonious tomorrow.
Click here to read the full article.
An article by Lindsey Biggs from the Christian Science Monitor.
Where does our worth come from? A particular job? How much praise we get from a job well done? Many of us have had to wrestle with such questions.
Lindsey writes:
There was a point when I desired additional employment. I felt there were greater ways that my skill set could be used than in what my role at the time offered.
I regularly turn to prayer when I need help or guidance. Prayer gives me a clearer sense of my (and everyone’s) relation to God. I’ve found that getting a clearer view of what God sees and knows helps me experience more harmony.
In this instance, my prayers led me to write a “spiritual resume” – not to share with prospective employers, but to help me think more deeply about where our true worth lies. What I mean by this is I compiled a list of spiritual qualities I felt I expressed, such as patience, creativity, compassion, timeliness, order, self-discipline, etc.
Click here to read, or listen to, this short article where Lindsey explains how a change of thinking from a material to a spiritual basis brought about long-term, satisfying employment.
Christian Science Canberra 