Making a decision? First, eliminate doubt.

Whenever conscience speaks with a divided, uncertain and disputed voice, it is not the voice of God. Descend still deeper into yourself until you hear nothing but a clear undivided voice, a voice which does away with doubt and brings with it persuasion, light and serenity. – Henry F. Amiel

Oh I love this! Because I know it is so very true. So many times I have struggled over a decision, even asking God to tell me what to do. But it isn’t until I quiet all the human reasoning, the thrashing about recedes, and I focus ONLY on God’s care for me, God’s unchanging love for all that I am, can I be at peace.

Now, I don’t always hear “do this!”, but I do hear “go forward”. And I go forward knowing I can never make a mistake when I am actively listening to God’s voice first.

(I grabbed this quote from my friend Carol’s website where she gathered quotes of peace and related them to beautiful pictures of wildflowers in her New England neighborhood. Check them out — the pix and the quotes — they are profound and sobering.)

I am grateful to say that I don’t thrash about as much any more…have learned over many situations that going to God first eliminates a lot of the self-doubt from the get-go.

But it is possible I am becoming a pain in the neck to other people ;-)…like last night.

I am on the board of a local art organization. Lots of great people and the focus of the work is to provide a venue for emerging artists. Pretty cool. We are right in the middle of a major fund-raising effort to upgrade and expand our visual, digital and cinematography art spaces. It has been tough slogging to go out and raise money from friends, etc., because this is the first time the board has embarked on something this significant.

Last nite I made an impassioned plea that we had to keep moving forward with a conscious decision that we would be successful in our endeavors…and that this meant we can’t be burdened with any doubt or anxiety that we have made a misstep. IOW, we gotta be FREE and act that way and this supports our progress. What we are doing for the community is so unique and so needed, there should be nothing mentally inhibiting us to be successful.

Sometimes I feel like a cheerleader. Not sure my little plea was totally appreciated, but dang I know in my heart when you are on the side of the angels nothing can stop you.

And that is the key. Be on the side of the angels. Having doubt or anxiety is not where angels hang out. Angels abound wherever the consciousness of the Divine is…and since that is everywhere, and all there is, then that is right where you are.

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me…neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”

Don’t be naive about the “mental malpractitioner”

A few years ago I was managing several departments of a large organization that needed to downsize in functions, budget and employee count. This required a completely new view of what our departments should accomplish — their scope and performance. Within 6 months, as a result, we went through 3 rounds of layoffs.

A challenge? You bet. In over 30 years of business I have never met anyone who enjoys laying off people. You know these employees, they have worked hard for your company, and then the time comes when changes must be made in order for the company or organization to continue going forward to serve its customers.

In my situation, the key to making the right decisions was to be clear about the direction of each department. How could we improve the performance of the departments in order to improve the overall effectiveness of the organization? Sure, a decreased budget could do that, but that one thing is really short-sighted, seems to me. What is essential is identifying the goal of each department and its alignment with the goal of the organization over, say, the next 3-5 years. From this, I could determine what personnel and what budget were required to meet the goals.

My closest companion during this time was divine Spirit. Truly. I had never taken on a project of this scope or magnitude before and there were several periods of doubt and anxiety. Each time I appealed to God, Spirit, to help me know what to do for the benefit of everyone, which included those who were to be layed off.

Through my spiritual study of Science and Health, I understand God to be all Love…He is Love to me, to my employees, to all mankind. This means that Love is showering benefits unconditionally to everyone. Since this Love is guiding me, then I can’t do anything to harm another person either. Only Love is at the helm of every right activity. With Love as the source for my thinking, then only Love can be the result.

Still, in the office there was much fear and hurt feelings present and I was constantly working with people to meet their needs and help them move onward.

Late one night, just after the 2nd round of layoffs, I was awakened by a huge pain in my chest. It was so painful and continuous I could hardly breathe, let alone move. My first thought was not of fear but this: “God is my Life!”

I actually thought, Wow, I have absolutely no fear! I am sure it is because of the constant prayer for several months leading up to these layoffs….that even though there was this painful attack, it didn’t change my mental conviction that God is all Love, all Spirit, all of my Life.

Lying there in the dark I asked myself, What more do I need to know about who I am at this moment? The answer was, “Beware the mental assassin.”

WHOAH! For anyone who has studied the writings of Mary Baker Eddy, you know she uses “mental assassin” very very sparingly. It is meant to describe anyone who is actively thinking negative thoughts with the intent to harm about another person. If your own negative thoughts about yourself are harmful to you, stands to reason that another person’s harmful thoughts about you are bad news too, eh?

Now, before you think this is kind of wacky, consider this: there is an ancient Native-American legend that when the tribe wanted to cut down a big tree they all stood around the tree and screamed at it. Soon the tree withered and died.

So I had to know more about “mental assassin.” With effort, I got up to go to my study and look up what Eddy has to say about the term. Here is what I found:

“Never fear the mental practitioner, the mental assassin, who, in attempting to rule mankind, tramples upon the divine Principle of metaphysics, for God is the only power.”

God is the only power. There was nothing to attack me, no human power to stand up to the power of God. My job, my ONLY responsibility, was to affirm my inseparable relationship to Him, to Love. This was my armor of protection, as well as my guide in all my relationships to my employees.

What peace came over me! The pain disappeared immediately and I went back to bed with the most amazing feeling of being totally loved.

This experience taught me many lessons. The most important is to make sure I wear an “armor” of protection every day…the most effective armor is of Spirit: knowing who I am as a spiritual child of God. He is my Father and my Protector because He is the only power in the universe.

Now, in a very practical way, this means that I need to keep my thinking as spiritual as possible so that I am not harming myself with negative thoughts. AND that I am not inadvertently thinking negatively about others. What goes around comes around, no?

This is constant vigilance and I can’t say I am always successful. But I know now I can’t be naive about the attempts of negative thoughts to harm. A spiritual mentor once told me that negative thoughts only have the power you don’t take away. Being naive means you aren’t alert and taking away negativity and replacing it with Love.

Here’s another quote from Mary Baker Eddy that sums it up:

“Good thoughts are an impervious armor; clad therewith you are completely shielded from the attacks of error of every sort…The right thinker abides under the shadow of the Almighty. His thoughts can only reflect peace, good will towards men, health, and holiness.”

The two causes…but one God

OOoh, I had a BFO (Blinding Flash of the Obvious) today when I was reading my daily spiritual study guide, the Christian Science Bible Lesson. This week’s topic is “God the Only Cause and Creator.”

Now, for years when I have read the citations from the Bible and Science and Health on this topic (this topic is repeated twice a year, always with different citations and “themes”) I have always thought of the Cause definition as “originator” or “source.” IOW, God is the only Originator and Creator.

That is certainly true. But today, I saw Cause in a different meaning: purpose, mission, objective, aim.

So think about this: God is the only Purpose, the only Mission, the only Aim.

Here are the Bible citations that got me going on this track:

 “And let these my words, wherewith I have made supplication before the Lord, be nigh unto the Lord our God day and night, that he maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel at all times, as the matter shall require:”

And what is the cause of God’s servant? It follows in the next verse:

“That all the people of the earth may know that the Lord is God, and that there is none else.”

Ooooh, it is all in one. The purpose or mission of one’s life — the life of all mankind — must be to know that God is the only Originator (or source) and Creator.

This is the key to life, it seems to me. The reason for our living, the security for our life, the good of our life. What more could any of us need? The good news is that God is causing our lives to be guided by this objective.

“And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my judgments, and do them.”

And here is the corresponding citation from Science and Health:

“There is but one primal cause. Therefore there can be no effect from any other cause, and there can be no reality in aught which does not proceed from this great and only cause. Sin, sickness, disease, and death belong not to the Science of being.”

When I look at “cause” with both meanings it really expands this quote. Have to go think about it some more.

But I tell you, it reinforces to me what I was blogging about yesterday…the people of the whole world need to understand who God is, who we are and what is our relationship to Him. Understanding this will eliminate all the world’s ills, conflicts, diseases, lack.

If it were not so important, why are the major conflicts of today rooted in religious wars?

How do you think about God?

A couple of nights ago I was watching the comedy news show  Colbert Report which was, per usual, very insightful in an “inside-out” kind of way. If you are not familiar with Stephen Colbert’s comic approach he basically takes a conservative position on issues and hugely parodies them — all the while sounding completely serious and making exactly the opposite point. (But then again, maybe he isn’t???) Incredibly hard to do but dang the guy usually pulls it off to huge gales of laughter by the studio audience (and me in bed!).

So! I am watching the last segment which is always Stephen interviewing some really smart person who he may or may not agree with. Doesn’t matter because Stephen is so freaking smart that he plays off the guest’s statements and turns them around to make (yet another) insightful point. Typically I watch this part with 4 parts anxiety, 6 parts admiration because the guest is ALWAYS on the disadvantage because, well, because it’s Stephen’s show. (They usually come off ok because everyone knows it is a really tough gig — but of course Stephen comes off brilliant.)

Back to the segment. Stephen is interviewing the current president of Bard College who is evidently some major intellectual, having been a college president at age 23 (we were never told which college however). There was the usual bantering about current topics then for some unknown reason the Bard guy mentions God in passing. Stephen asks directly, “Do you believe in God?”  And he answers in a roundabout way that made me think he doesn’t or maybe isn’t sure. (BTW, that was the Bard guy’s earlier point that intellectuals are people who ask questions and know that they don’t know everything.)
The conversation continued and we got to the basic gist of the Bard guy’s belief that humans invented God so it is unproven whether He really exists or not. Stephen responds that, well, God had to have put that idea into the humans’ thinking for them to invent Him, right? Phew.

I am HUGELY interested in what people think about God because, according to a recent study by Baylor University describing American views about Deity, how people define Him relates directly to how we live our lives, socially and politically. According to the study, the people’s view of God (almost 90% of Americans believe in a higher power) is not monolithic (like, one definition). It is incredibly diverse and complex. Witness the Bard guy and Stephen Colbert. In fact, the study describes 4 definitions of God, as revealed by the research: Authoritarian, Benevolent, Critical, Distant.

Nation — that is Colbert-speak — none of these definitions relates to my understanding of who God really is and how He relates to all of us. And I know I am not alone! How I think about Him and relate to Him comes from the study of the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures — a revealing Bible commentary that illuminates who God is, who mankind is and what our relationship is with God.

This short passage sums up the definition that works for me:

“Creator. Spirit; Mind; intelligence; the animating divine Principle of all that is real and good;”

There are thousands, could be millions, of readers of Science and Health throughout the world (it is translated in several languages) who study these ideas and apply them to situations in their lives.  The ultimate value of the ideas in this book is that they can be proven to improve anyone’s daily life. IOW, the existence of God as an active, good force, is proven to any individual.

It seems to me that my understanding of God (which goes well beyond “definition” because of actual proof) contrasts with each of the Baylor definitions this way: God is all-Loving, all-good, ever-present and close as breathing…and all this is All there is.

“In the Saxon and twenty other tongues good is the term for God. The Scriptures declare all that He made to be good, like Himself, — good in Principle and in idea. Therefore the spiritual universe is good, and reflects God as He is.”

Ok, why is this so important?  This isnt just quibbling about “my God or your God or that person’s God.” Think about one of the main points of the Baylor study — that how we think about God impacts how we relate to society and even make life decisions. This makes it imperative, seems to me, that people who understand God as Love and good and near, need to be more public about that…cuz it isn’t showing up on the radar screen! Therefore, its impact isn’t as great as it could be.

Every morning I like to think about a particular quality of God (intelligence, grace, order, harmony, etc. etc. — there are a gazillion ways to describe the Divine, but you get the idea) and relate it to all mankind and then apply it to me and whatever I am doing that day. It really makes a difference to how the day shakes out.

What I realized, in thinking about the Baylor study, is that when I do this  — when I am aligning my consciousness with the Divine — I am kind of putting this thought into the general consciousness of the universe. I am, in a small way, establishing this good thought in the atmosphere in order to benefit all humanity. And I have lots and lots of friends who do the same thing!

Imagine what would happen to the world if gazillions of people did this too?

Pets and Prayer

A couple of years ago I spent a bit of time in the MSPCA-Angell animal medical center for my two kitties. (This hospital is in Boston and is awesome in its professionalism and quality of care.) I was there first because Roy got his tail stuck in the door and needed stitches, then later both cats (Dale is his sister) needed teeth cleaning and some dental work.

Going to the vet is traumatic for me, to say nothing about how scary it is for the kitties. I spend a lot of time praying specifically to gain peace of mind by affirming that divine Love is caring unconditionally for these dear pets and that the medical staff is also expressing Love in their devotion to their patients.

Sitting in the very full waiting room at Angell and observing all the “parents” with their precious and loved pets and seeing their concern similiar to my own, I was overcome by the desire to comfort all of them. So I spent my time praying for all of us. I prayed to know that God, who is all good and all Love, is the Father and Mother of ALL creation, not just humans. That every living being is created, guided and sustained by Him in every situation.

The Bible describes this complete creation in Genesis 1:

“And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth…and God saw that it was good.”

“Everything that moveth” pretty much sums up the entire universe, eh?

My favorite spirituality author, Mary Baker Eddy, in her illuminating Bible commentary Science and Health, describes this creation like this:

“There is but one creator and one creation. This creation consists of the unfolding of spiritual ideas and their identities, which are embraced in the infinite Mind and forever reflected. These ideas range from the infinitesimal to infinity…”

It occurred to me that a needed service in an animal hospital is to offer spiritual support for the pet owners, the dedicated staff and of course the dear pets. Wouldn’t it be cool to have a little “chaplain’s office” right off the waiting room for anyone to pop in for spiritual comfort?

The most important emotion to remove in order to feel secure in God’s unconditional love is fear. A spiritual chaplain whose main purpose is to remove fear and replace it with understanding about God’s all-compassing love for “everything that moves” would really lift the environment of a waiting room, don’t you think?

When fear is removed, spiritual ideas can come forth to guide the staff and the parents…and the cherished pets can feel this positive, loving influence instead.

I bet a lot of the medical staff would appreciate having a quiet, supportive place to go to relieve stress and tension. They surely would be big beneficiaries of a spiritually uplifted and comforting environment.

Many human hospitals encourage spiritual activities in support of patients and staff. My friend Carol told me that when she went with a friend to her local hospital for tests her friend told the staff that Carol was there as her “prayer partner.” The staff was very supportive and wanted to know what they could do to support Carol and her friend.

Seems to me our dear companions – companions who show us what real unconditional love is all about — deserve our best efforts at spiritual support wherever there is the need. And the need is most obvious at those animal hospitals that already show their devotion to healing.

What do you think? Would you be interested in approaching your animal hospital and volunteering as a spiritual chaplain?

No “vacating” on a vacation

Hola, amigos! My husband (Ken) and I just returned from a great trip to Mexico. This is our 2nd trip in 3 months…and 3rd trip in 8 months. Yep, we really like it there.

I’ve tried to figure out what the appeal is. Likely it is a combination of things. Being in another country where you have to adapt to their language and culture is a really good way to remove you from your day-to-day behavior, routine, even habitual thoughts. It does for me, anyway. Plus, I like getting out of my comfort zone and look at everyday stuff in a new and different way. Things I didn’t think twice about at home I have to ponder in Mexico…in another language.

I like interacting with the local people and learning their language and customs. I LOOVE the weather — warm and balmy in the winter, very warm and a bit humid (like Hawaii) right now. We like to go to the Puerto Vallarta area which is on the Pacific coast, and there is something about the sound of the waves and the ocean smell. Could be because I was born and raised in San Francisco. And now I am very land-locked in New Mexico. Yeah, the water is a very big draw.

I guess some people would call travelling to Mexico for a week here and there a vacation. But Ken and I don’t. I am really not sure what qualifies as a “vacation” — vacating from what?

When we go we are always scouting for opportunities. As an architect and developer, Ken is always looking for “projects”: land to develop and buildings to build. That is what architects/builders do. So he is not vacating anything.

As for me, I realized this time clearly that I can’t — nor do I want to — vacate what I do every day either. It’s important to me to be “poised to respond” for any calls to pray whether I am in New or Old Mexico.

Don’t know about you but when I travel there always seem to be MORE opportunities to pray because of the unfamiliarity with a different place. But this trip I was really struck by the various demands to get a spiritual perspective of a sticky situation.

Hey, we didn’t even leave Albuquerque airport before there was an urgent need…Ken left his wallet with credit cards, pesos, ATM card at home…an hour away. Not going back. I stood at the car staring at him and realized I had a choice: get stressed out or know, without a doubt, that all the resources we needed are already established in Mind, the source of all good. These resources are not parsed out over “here” and not there…they are everywhere, without restriction or limitation.

Truly, immediate peace and calm swept over me. As we walked up to the gate two ideas came to me: call my credit card company to let them know the card would be used in Mexico for a week (they were VERY glad to know) and call Ken’s bank to wire funds to another ATM card that I carried. Done. See? It’s not about money, it’s about ideas…and the ideas one needs are ALWAYS available, without restriction or limitation. Getting stressed is a bad detour that just wastes time and energy. Don’t even go there.

During the week there were SEVERAL opportunities to immediately choose to pray with the spiritual perspective, and not stare blankly at the material picture. Physical problems, confusion about plans, potential for various disruptions. But nothing was an “inconvenience” to me — I knew what I wanted to do — think spiritually.

So, all situations were addressed with spiritual logic and conviction that there is only one Mind operating. I remember one moment thinking, without a doubt, that “All is under the control of the one Mind, even God.” (Science and Health) And so it was seen.

It’s interesting when I think about it, being in Mexico gives me MORE time to pray and spiritually reflect because the daily routines and activities aren’t intruding in my mental space.

Hmmm, maybe that is the ultimate reason why I love to be in Mexico — I am not “vacating” what I like to do every day, I am immersing!