More lessons from the mountaintop

“Each successive state of experience unfolds new views of divine goodness and love.” (Science and Health page 66)

Doesn’t it seem that life-lessons always come from left-field? I mean, they are totally unexpected and never, ever sought out. But I have to say in all honesty that my most rattling experiences are the ones that compel me to go to the Divine for comfort and guidance. And the result is always, without fail, uplifting and positive. It’s kinda like I go through a space “worm-hole” into a different perspective of life.

The experience I referred to in my last blog has been like that. At one point, when I had already busted through layers of fear and anxiety and felt more secure in the Supreme providing the only justice in the divine and human experience, I started to doubt and second-guess the outcome. I called my spiritual mentor to share this. She said, “When you are convinced of the truth of the situation, what is there to worry about?”

Duh. The truth is, either God is the governing power of the universe — and all that is in it — or She isn’t. Either Her creation (and all ideas in it) is created pure and innocent or it isn’t. Either justice is Divine — and divinity is embracing humanity — or it isn’t. Decide. With conviction!

I’ve had so much evidence in my life that proves the existence of the controlling hand of the Divine in any situation that choosing this time to know God as All-in-all was a no-brainer.

What I realized was happening in my consciousness is that I was making “…Mind the basis of operation…” I was choosing the divine Mind as my reference point, my perspective and foundation from which to think about and view my experience. When this is the starting point, then the result has to be within this context. Meaning, Mind, as the governing Principle and intelligence of being, must cause a related effect of good.

No doubt about it.

Sitting on top of the world

Here in New Mexico it is pretty easy to find spots where you feel like you are perched above the towns and neighborhoods — the daily activity of life — and look out unobstructed to earth’s horizon line. Yesterday was a day like that — I actually saw mountains behind mountains that I didn’t realize were there.

Metaphysically-speaking, today I feel like I have that same grand view and that same exhilarating feeling. Over the past several weeks, I have been in a deep spiritual study dive. The impetus was a disturbing legal situation that appeared to be deteriorating badly. But the really compelling thing was to expand my spiritual understanding about who God is, who I and my fellow man are, and what is our relationship to God. Yep, pretty much what spiritual development is all about — just the stories and experiences change.

I’m sitting on a mountaintop today after what feels like a long climb. I know there are more mountains-behind-the-mountains to climb in the spiritual journey, but the mountain that was in front of me just weeks ago has been summitted and it feels good. The legal issues are resolved but what is really cool is the spiritual freedom I feel. Many mental breakthroughs have occurred and spiritual lessons learned.

“If you launch your bark upon the ever-agitated but helpful waters of truth, you will encounter storms. Your good will be evil spoken of. This is the cross. Take it up and bear it, for through it you win and wear the crown.” (Science and Health, page 254)

Yep, I encountered storms. Yep, my intentions to help were turned upside down. But rather than be heavily burdened by this, I learned that taking and bearing the cross means embracing it. A spiritual mentor I called described this as embracing the activity of the Christ. The blessing in this is the crown, and it is assured.

Hah! There is no weight (or wait!) in bearing this — because, actually, I am lifted up by the love and comfort of God. This is victory. Yeah, like sitting on top of the world.

Never in the wrong place

Ever get in a situation and wonder, “How did I possibly land in this place?” Or, “There must be some lessons in this experience, but dang if I can see them.” I just read a really inspiring story about a guy who knows WHY he landed in a distressing place and WHAT he learned.

“A Story of Grace” (Christian Science Sentinel, October 1) is about a guy named Doug Sytsma who was put in jail for several days because of a serious disagreement with a contractor that led to criminal charges. He went into the jail having given up on any kind of spiritual pursuit and practice…and came out with a renewed sense of his inseparable relationship with God. And, not only was he transformed, he helped heal a cellmate of a debilitating back condition.

In Doug’s words, “I had stayed long enough not only to learn valuable spiritual lessons but to help my cellmate and witness his healing.” You gotta read this story to get all the lessons. Check out www.spirituality.com after October 1 to read it online.

See, I am in a situation right now that has felt like I landed in a foreign place. Not like going to jail, but I have had a sense of feeling trapped, for sure. There are major challenges to be overcome in this particular organization that I volunteer for and it has been stressful. I have been praying persistently and addressing each issue as they appear — but every day for weeks it has felt like a new surprise, bigger and worse than before, appears.

Now, there has definitely been progress…but it seems like a major struggle to overcome each one. “Why am I here?” has been a constant lament…but everytime I think that, there is this little voice that says, “You know why you are here…to bear witness to the Christ.” Which must be true because I feel like the only valuable contribution I am making is my constant prayer.

But sheesh, I have been feeling so burdened by it. A friend was sitting across from me at one of our meetings last week and said, “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you look like the morgue!” It actually woke me up…where is my joy in bearing witness for the Christ?

So, I have been praying to know that no one and no thing can take away the inherent joy I have as God’s beloved child. “Thou shalt not steal” is a commandment to mortal mind: thou shalt not steal my joy.

When I read this story by Doug this morning, it was like a confirmation of what I have been struggling against. I have been fighting even BEING in this place, regardless of bearing witness to what God knows to be true about the situation. I am right where I am supposed to be, doing what I am supposed to be doing, and that is to see that God’s government over all human activity is supreme, is harmonious, is blessed. There is joy in this.

The only coincidence in life

In the middle of the night I woke up — don’t know why — but decided to use the time to pray. I started making this my nocturnal habit several years ago when one of my spiritual mentors suggested it. “Somebody in the world,” she said,  “needs your prayers right at this moment.” That puts some urgency to it, eh?

Last night what came to me was a phrase from Science and Health: “Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need.” I have grown up with this statement as it is printed in big letters in almost every Church of Christ, Scientist I have attended.

Isn’t this the most comforting statement about the ever-active and ever-presence of God’s love for each and every one of us? And no matter how I felt coming in to church, seeing this statement on the wall — and believing it to be true — would give me hope.

So I am very familiar with this statement. But in the quiet and stillness of last night, I got a new insight. What I realized is that this statement of God’s law illustrates  the coming together of the spiritual fact and the human experience. This is what Mary Baker Eddy describes as the human and divine coincidence.

John saw the human and divine coincidence, shown in the man Jesus, as divinity embracing humanity in Life and its demonstration,–reducing to human perception and understanding the Life which is God.

Ooooooh, “divinity embracing humanity” in every good activity, every day. This is how we perceive and understand the all power of God. Not in some ethereal way, but in a practical, hands-on experiential way. (Hmmm, it just hit me that not only do individuals need this evidence, God needs us to know this so that we can know Him!)

This coincidence is not chance or capriciousness or fluke. This is the law of spiritual being that everyone can rely on. It is the assurance of every divinely-led cause having a positive effect in one’s actual experience.

What’s important to know, however, that the realm of the spirit is in thought, not in physical activities. So what happens before the physical effect conforms to harmony is one’s thought aligned (conforming) with the Divine consciousness: thoughts of goodness, compassion, purity, selflessness. When any thoughts unlike God are eliminated, replaced by what is good and right, thought is now open and receptive to divine ideas. These ideas guide us to right actions, to create new programs, to connect with helpful people — whatever needs adjusting from inharmony to harmony.

The “divine embracing humanity” is the law of coincidence or agreement/meeting between God and each of His children. Simply look to Divine Love for inspiration and you will feel and see Love’s effect in your life.

Life guidance

I have been thinking lately about the work transitions I have had that have been most meaningful. And the most interesting thing about each of them — the common denominator actually — is that they were (initially) unplanned, unappealing and unwanted. But they each turned out to be the best experience (at that stage in my life) and the most rewarding.

Here’s another common denominator: these experiences required me to dig deep into my spiritual study and development in order to overcome the many challenges. What comes first, the challenge or the deep study? I kind of think it is like a metaphorical staircase where the study to find peace in a particular challenge actually prepares you for a bigger, ummm, opportunity.

My favorite spiritual author, Mary Eddy Baker,  writes in a sermon “…Heaven’s favors are formidable: they are calls to higher duties, not discharge from care…”

I remember reading this several years ago and thinking “Huh?! You mean there is no break, no relief, no coasting?” When I finally realized that the whole point of living is to understand who God is and my relationship with Him (my spiritual development), then I changed my thinking. I didn’t WANT a break from that or coast into placid, calm waters that weren’t taking me anywhere.

One of my biggest challenges was getting involved in web development well before few people really knew what the web was all about. This was in the days when it took a LOT of money and newly-formed expertise to get a website going. We gave it our best shot, but it was uphill all the way. I prayed for spiritual guidance constantly — and many of my prayers were, “Please God take me out of this! I don’t want to do it anymore!”

I listened every day for spiritual ideas, which did come. None of them, by the way, were even remotely related to “You are out of here!”. In fact, the ideas were leading me into more web work. I learned more as everyone in the field was learning. And gently, gently, I was led into new career opportunities that incorporated everything I had learned in my whole career to that point: Advertising, Marketing, Web.
Then, out of the blue, I was offered a job on the East Coast. Not just any job…it was for an organization and mission that I am totally committed to.

Oh no! I thought…I had just reached the point of (what I thought was) life perfection: great job in San Francisco, great place to live, great life. I knew there was no choice but to take it — to leave everything I thought was happiness. But a wonderful thing happened: as I prayed for peace about this decision, I heard an “angel message”: The God who gave you all this happiness here in San Francisco has even more happiness for you in store. Why would the experience be anything less? Of course.

After several months it was so clear to me that this move and this work was what I had been preparing for all my life. And then an even more wonderful thing happened. I was asked to develop a website on spirituality, a virtual gathering place for all readers of Science and Health to share ideas, evidence of healing, and questions of each other.

Oh! NOW I knew why I was needed to learn about web development…to prepare for this incredibly enriching work. This web work was better than anything I had imagined before…because it blessed so many people around the world.

Now I am praying about another opportunity…another challenge that I am not rushing toward :-).  But I have to be firm in knowing that everything I do is about God’s business, His will, which is to love Him with all my heart…and to love and serve my fellow man.

I was reading a Bible verse today from I Corinthians:

Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.

The Message Bible interprets this passage like this:

God’s various gifts are handed out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s Spirit. God’s various ministries are carried out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s Spirit.

All good and positive activity is in God’s kingdom and is blessed by Him. So, whatever I do when my motive is to do good for my fellow man, God directs. Happiness must come with this.

No death is justified

Is it just me or is anyone else rattled by the recent Chinese “death by bad business” events?

Just the other day the CEO of the company that manufactures Sesame Street and Mattel toys in China committed suicide because the toys’ paint contained lead, causing a massive recall and financial ruin for the company. Evidently, the report indicates that it is common for disgraced officials to commit suicide in China.

Last month, the former head of China’s State Food and Drug Administration was executed for taking bribes linked to sub-standard medicines, which caused several deaths.

There is no doubt that bad business decisions that cause the deaths of innocent people should be punished in some appropriate way to enforce right decision-making. But death?

Whether the death is self-inflicted or at the hands of the State, it is not legitimate or justified. It is not a “punishment” that should be tolerated. First, what does it say about a society that believes that death results in good?? Death is bad, any way you look at it. What possible good can come from something so bad?

Second, is it really an effective deterrent to bad business decisions? In the situation of the toy manufacturer, he relied on his supply chain for the paint. It wasn’t even his decision. Has the guilty paint manufacturer committed suicide? Evidently not as no one is really sure where the paint came from so the guilty party is effectively hidden. Since he is hidden, I guess he doesn’t feel compelled to off himself. Hmmm. You gotta get caught. Too bad for the Drug Czar — he got caught.

See, it always comes back to enforcing a MORAL code as a defense against bad decisions….enforcing a desire to do RIGHT. And this only comes from the understanding of good and its benefits. A society that uses death as punishment is pretty far from understanding and encouraging good. (Hey, I am not singling out China here, BTW.)

In any progressive society, IMHO, there needs to be an ethical standard that is the basis for the “rule of law.” This ethical standard comes from a collective acceptance. Now, the standard is likely comprised of many elements, but there is one that is pretty darn commonly accepted among a majority of people. And that is, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”

I’m not saying everyone follows this (heaven!!) but most people KNOW it…and various laws are established to ensure that societal behavior approximates this standard more often than not.

Think how different it would have been for the Food and Drug Czar if he had been morally bound to “Do to others…” No amount of money would have compelled him to allow sub-standard meds to get out into the marketplace because he would never have wanted someone to do that to himself or his family. And the toy manufacturer would have required verified lead-free paint to ensure the best quality for his products.

“Do to others as you would have them do to you” is a spiritual law. A death penalty cannot enforce a spiritual law. They are two totally different realms: night from day, bad vs good, darkness and light. The spiritual law must come from a spiritual context of life; there is no allowance for death in that.

I am not pointing the finger at China and saying “Fix that.” How could I? I live in a country that has an astounding “rule of law” enforcing fairness, yet has multiple Enrons…and supports the death penalty?

Rather, I am despairing that we haven’t enough critical mass living — hey DEMANDING — lives according to the Golden Rule. It’s right there in front of us, we know it is the best way to live….why is it so hard?