One time in a high school class, my teacher handed a student a coin. He told the student to squeeze the coin in his palm very tightly. The teacher then took a five dollar bill out of his pocket and tried to push it into this student’s firmly clenched fist. The teacher tried and tried—but it couldn’t happen. For the whole class, he made a salient point—teaching us in a memorable way that we can’t grasp new concepts while we’re holding tightly onto something else.
In prayer, as in fields of learning and knowledge, an openness and willingness to exchange ignorance for truth always brings big benefits. Christ Jesus surely understood this and encouraged people, not just to be halfway receptive to progress, but to be as totally willing, receptive—and innocent—as little children are. “Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein” (Luke 18:17). That’s a very clear-cut way to put it!
Through communion with God we can experience the kind of transformation that is far beyond just a slight shift of direction. It can result in a radical conversion, a 180-degree change of thought, where all of existence is perceived from a different viewpoint—an entirely spiritual perspective.
With the trust and flexibility of a child, it’s rewarding to work with the quality of one’s thoughts, to be willing to release and let go of old concepts.
“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you” (Ezekiel 36:26).
In this article The good worth holding on to Mark Swinney explains further how with childlike receptivity, this change of thought brings surprising changes and healing. Find it here:
Read how this writer experienced healing of sudden and overwhelming symptoms of the flu, nose bleed and abdominal pain when she “focused on turning thought away from the body and to God.”
She shares: ” I have always loved Mary Baker Eddy’s description in her book Unity of Good of how Christ Jesus healed: “He demanded a change of consciousness and evidence, and effected this change through the higher laws of God” (p. 11). If Jesus could do this, then I could too. He said so.
I continued to demand a change of consciousness and evidence. The change in consciousness involved exchanging mortal thinking and belief in material laws for the divine laws of Spirit—ever present and all-powerful. The change in evidence was natural as I acknowledged the truth of perfect Mind and perfect reflection, “perfect God and perfect man” (Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 259). The so-called body must be governed by the Mind that governs man. It has no alternative.”
For the whole article by Bonita Rea, published in the July 10, 2017 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel, click here:
Like the weather, some changes in life are unpredictable. They can be surprising, unforeseen – like suddenly being promoted at work, or becoming a parent for the first time. While a life-changing event can be exciting, others can be hard to cope with – especially if they’re unexpectedly thrust upon you. One way to deal with stormy life-changing events, is to change up one’s thinking, take positive action and embrace life changes! Doing so is good for your health.
EMBRACE CHANGE
When something you’ve loved is snatched away, feelings of hurt and disappointment can rain down upon you. You wonder how to carry on. When this happens, it’s time to use the umbrella of spiritual-type thinking to shelter your heart, restore peace of mind and move you forward to happiness and healing.
TIPS:
– Rather than standing under the grey clouds of disappointment and discouragement, lift up your thinking. Have courage. Embrace the change. Open your heart and welcome the good that lies ahead.
– Don’t begrudge the experience of a life change. Instead, focus on what you’ve gained, rather than what you’ve been forced to give up.
– Remember with thankfulness all that you’ve achieved, and what you can still do, and be.
– Realize that change doesn’t end things. Look past any unhappiness to the new opportunities that lie ahead. Change can be a stepping-stone to fresh prospects.
– Weather a stormy life-change. Be brave. Work on, and await the outcome. You can “steer safely amid the storm”. Mary Baker Eddy – Science and Health p.67
– Be encouraged, strengthened and reassured. You have within you the spiritual qualities of buoyancy, adaptability, and resilience. You will bounce back. You’ve been created to be mentally and emotionally strong. You can handle changed circumstances with grace and poise, and be triumphant.
– Let this poem comfort and help you embrace life changes. You’ll find it’s good for your health.
“In heavenly Love abiding, No change my heart shall fear; And safe is such confiding, For nothing changes here. The storm may roar without me, My heart may low be laid; But God [divine Love] is round about me, And can I be dismayed?
Green pastures are before me, Which yet I have not seen; Bright skies will soon be o’er me, Where darkest clouds have been. My hope I cannot measure, My path in life is free; My Father has my treasure, And He will walk with me.” Anna L. Waring – In heavenly love abiding.
ABOUT THE EXPERT:
Beverly Goldsmith writes on the connection between spirituality and health and is a Practitioner and Teacher of Christian Science healing. Twitter: @GoldsmithBev
Jesus taught us to walk over, not into or with, the currents of matter, or mortal mind. He demanded a change of consciousness and evidence, and effected this change through the higher laws of God.
The effect of this Science is to stir the human mind to a change of base, on which it may yield to the harmony of the divine Mind.
When understanding changes the standpoints of life and intelligence from a material to a spiritual basis, we shall gain the reality of Life, the control of Soul over sense, and we shall perceive Christianity, or Truth, in its divine Principle.
Mary Baker Eddy (Unity of Good), (Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures)
Health – Readings from the Bible and the textbook of Christian Science, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, … It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. (The Bible – Proverbs 3: 5, 6, 8)
Stand porter at the door of thought. Admitting only such conclusions as you wish realized in bodily results, you will control yourself harmoniously. (Science and Health p392)
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Every Wednesday at 6.00 pm a Testimony Meeting is held at the Christian Science Church in Canberra. Each meeting begins with readings selected from the two books designated as the Pastor of Christian Science: The Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. A new topic for the readings is selected each week.
At the conclusion of the short readings the congregation is invited to share thoughts on this topic and relate how they have used the principles of Christian Science to solve life’s problems and bring physical healing.
If you are in Canberra on any Wednesday please join us. Everyone is welcome.
This recording represents the readings on the topic: Health
The Getting of Wisdom – the Path from Sense to Soul – Readings from the Bible and the textbook of Christian Science, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.
When wisdom entered into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee. (Prov 2: 10, 11)
The finite must yield to the infinite. Advancing to a higher plane of action, thought rises from the material sense to the spiritual, from the scholastic to the inspirational, and from the mortal to the immortal. (Science and Health p256: 1-5)
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Every Wednesday at 6.00 pm a Testimony Meeting is held at the Christian Science Church in Canberra. Each meeting begins with readings selected from the two books designated as the Pastor of Christian Science: The Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. A new topic for the readings is selected each week.
At the conclusion of the short readings the congregation is invited to share thoughts on this topic and relate how they have used the principles of Christian Science to solve life’s problems and bring physical healing.
If you are in Canberra on any Wednesday please join us. Everyone is welcome.
This recording represents the readings on the topic: The Getting of Wisdom – the Path from Sense to Soul
One of mankind’s worst enemies is hatred. It may be discomforting to be hated, but it’s injurious to do the hating. One who hates, harboring intense animosity against another, sometimes feels the bad effects physically in tension and other unhealthy stimulation of the body. These symptoms should warn him of the danger he is courting by hating.
Mary Baker Eddy quotes Hannah More as saying, “If I wished to punish my enemy, I should make him hate somebody.” And elsewhere Eddy warns: “Hate no one; for hatred is a plague-spot that spreads its virus and kills at last. If indulged, it masters us; brings suffering upon suffering to its possessor, throughout time and beyond the grave.” Yet she also reassures us, “Clad in the panoply of Love, human hatred cannot reach you.”
This article, Love’s Triumph Over Hate by Naomi Price, was originally published in the Christian Science Journal. It is currently available on-line at JHS-online. In it she examines the question: How can we love when others hate?
One time in a high school class, my teacher handed a student a coin. He told the student to squeeze the coin in his palm very tightly. The teacher then took a five dollar bill out of his pocket and tried to push it into this student’s firmly clenched fist. The teacher tried and tried—but it couldn’t happen. For the whole class, he made a salient point—teaching us in a memorable way that we can’t grasp new concepts while we’re holding tightly onto something else.
One of mankind’s worst enemies is hatred. It may be discomforting to be hated, but it’s injurious to do the hating. One who hates, harboring intense animosity against another, sometimes feels the bad effects physically in tension and other unhealthy stimulation of the body. These symptoms should warn him of the danger he is courting by hating.