A podcast interview with Joan Bernard Bradley
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Embracing Diversity – Can prayer really have an effect on the world? Joan Bernard Bradley discovered that learning to pray for herself taught her how to pray for her family and even her community.
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Dear Friend,
We don’t know each other, but my heart goes out to you as reports continue to emerge about the invasion and attack of your homeland. Things may look very dark right now; perhaps your plans for the life you hoped to live seem shattered. I and many others are praying earnestly that you feel the palpable presence of God, good, bringing you strength, hope, and inspiration.
These prayers are inspired by the presence of God made evident throughout the Bible. In Psalms, we read, “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?… If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me” (139:7, 11). God does know you and care for you, for everyone. God has not abandoned you. Even in the depths of despair, when we turn our hearts to God, we feel the light and grace of God’s presence and love right here to protect us.
My father experienced the power of this divine light after the start of World War II. When his homeland, Japan, declared war on the United States – the country that he had been preparing to go to throughout his education – his hopes and dreams were shattered. As war continued, he felt alone and completely isolated.
Yet one thing did carry him through those dark days. It was his faith in God, who is omnipresent good. The ideas contained in two books – the Bible and “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” by Mary Baker Eddy, the discoverer of Christian Science – helped him understand that God’s goodness is always present, even in the midst of devastation and war. During the firebombing of Tokyo, as my father ran around dousing the burning embers that were falling on his family’s home, he felt a powerful sense that he actually lived in the kingdom of God, that it was within him, flooding his consciousness with light.
That’s always true for each of us as God’s creation. As God’s spiritual likeness we have a relation to God that is, as my father put it, “as inseparable and unseverable as that of a sunbeam to the sun” (Takashi Oka, “No enemies in the kingdom,” Christian Science Sentinel, April 28, 2003). That he was able to feel this in the midst of such destruction has been proof to me that the “still, small voice” of God can be heard even in the darkest moments.
This is the Christ, God’s communication of divine Love’s power and presence. Mary Baker Eddy expresses it this way: “Christ is the true idea voicing good, the divine message from God to men speaking to the human consciousness” (Science and Health, p. 332). The Christ continues to communicate to each of us right now, empowering us to feel the healing, guiding light of God even in the midst of the anger, fear, and destruction of war. It is in God’s very nature as divine Love to constantly communicate and express tender care and compassion for each of us, and to enable us to know our spiritual nature as His children.
This is a powerful and effective basis for prayer for all of humanity. Its truth encircles the globe, and I and so many others worldwide are wrapping you in our prayers to see that, truly, “no power can withstand divine Love” (Science and Health, p. 224).
With love and hope,
Mimi Oka
This article appeared in the March 09, 2022 edition of the Monitor Daily.
Nothing is gained by fighting, but much is lost.
Peace is the promise and reward of rightness. …
War is in itself an evil, barbarous, devilish. Victory in error is defeat in Truth. War is not in the domain of good; war weakens power and must finally fall, pierced by its own sword.
(The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany by Mary Baker Eddy p278: 21)
A Daily Lift by Tony Lobl
In this 3minute podcast Tony challenges us to think about how we identify ourselves … are we right-wing, left-wing, moderate? Or do we identify ourselves in more spiritual terms. How we see ourselves has an impact on the quality of our lives.
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There is immense wisdom in the old proverb, “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty.” …
We should remember that the world is wide; that there are a thousand million different human wills, opinions, ambitions, tastes, and loves; that each person has a different history, constitution, culture, character, from all the rest; that human life is the work, the play, the ceaseless action and reaction upon each other of these different atoms. Then, we should go forth into life with the smallest expectations, but with the largest patience; with a keen relish for and appreciation of everything beautiful, great, and good, but with a temper so genial that the friction of the world shall not wear upon our sensibilities; with an equanimity so settled that no passing breath nor accidental disturbance shall agitate or ruffle it; with a charity broad enough to cover the whole world’s evil, and sweet enough to neutralize what is bitter in it, — determined not to be offended when no wrong is meant, nor even when it is, unless the offense be against God.
These words are taken from an article titled, Taking Offense, by Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science. They were published in her book, Miscellaneous Writings 1883-18896 pp223-224.
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“A few immortal sentences, breathing the omnipotence of divine justice, have been potent to break despotic fetters and abolish the whipping-post and slave market; but oppression neither went down in blood, nor did the breath of freedom come from the cannon’s mouth. Love is the liberator”.
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (p225) by Mary Baker Eddy
Love Thy Neighbour – Readings from the Bible and the textbook of Christian Science, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.
Christian Science Canberra 