Christmas Still

By Yvonne Renoult

Christmas is here. 

Not just in the merriment and shopping rush. 

        or the Christmas parties and musical gatherings; 

But it is the quiet babe of healing to a world of sorrow. 

It is a revelation of an eternal gift,

not a birth of a savior

       that was absent and now appears. 

The illusions of materialism cannot hide it.  

Dark voices of false authority say in my head:

“there is no room for this precious and powerful gift

in the busy “inn” called your life. 

“You are too filled up with material demands

to make room for and to experience this message of peace, wholeness, contentment, inspiration, and spiritual sense.” 

Yet the birth of this meek idea gently persists--never stopping its mission

                    to bless me. 

There is only the most meager accommodations in my thought

          for this profound blessing.

          So ill prepared am I.

          So over-whelmed by responsibilities and obligations. 

Still the sweet idea designed to deliver me from limitation comes yet. 

Although hid in deep obscurity,

not advertised in boisterous sound bites, billboards, or social media,

                   Yet the “wiseman” in me still seeks and finds this hidden gift. 

                    The meek “shepherd” in me still sees the symbols of glorious light

                                that indicate its holy resting place. 

                    Still the songs of angel messages communicate a spiritual sense

                                within me. 

I am guided to the humble “manger” in thought

          in spite of the limitations and obstacles

          trying to prevent the birth of this promise to my life and to my world. 

The whole of creation responds and receives its grace

—    not even knowing the Christmas stillness that quietly moves it. 

YHWH IS LOVE

Galen L. Goldsmith CS

I Kings 19.11,12

Go forth and stand upon the mount before the LORD.

And the LORD passed by,

And a great and mighty wind broke the mountains

And shattered the rocks before the LORD

The LORD was not in the wind.

And after the wind, an earthquake,

The LORD was not in the earthquake.

And after the earthquake, fire,

The LORD was not in the fire.

And after the fire, a still small voice

Long ago, a still small voice spoke to Elijah.

The Bible does not tell us whose voice it was,

But leaves us to wonder, giving us pause.

A thousand years are as one day with the LORD:

So I shall tell you today

What I heard the still small voice say.

In a precious day by heaven wrought

Came that blessed, far-off little thought,

Not heard with ears, but by the mind,

“Galen, awake.”                                                (winter, 1983)

It made me think, “Who am I?”

I settled in a mountain home, and as I worked one day,

High up in my consciousness

The still small voice spoke to say,

        ‘My name is Love.”                                  (summer, 1983)

It has no accent, no tone, no sound;

It is perfectly still and very clear.

I found it is easy to understand what it said to me

For we are akin to the Divine

By a mirrored likeness of Mind.

Yes, the still small voice is Love.

Love is good, little children; Love knows no sin.

But the LORD scourgeth every one received

And loveth those who are chastened.

A mighty river of Spirit began to purify my heart,               (winter 1985-6)

Teaching me what Love really, truly is,

One might think it harsh, but I am alive to tell it.

Presently, high in the mountains where I cared for an old friend,

I saw high above that same Presence again.                         (summer 1986)

        And I knew Love had always been with me;

        Neither had Love never erred; it is always unmistakably love.

Seeing now with the mind,

        that righteous indignant act of Christ Jesus,

        overthrowing the tables of the money changers

        in the temple of my consciousness.

        and my sins were undone:

        Omnipotence

Not by dint of sheer might, but by virtue of being right,

Love was, is, and ever shall be love.

Fathomless wisdom had proved these words,

Now written in heaven for me to see;

        I AM WHO I AM

The God of Moses! I thought,

And the still small voice politely concluded,

        ‘I am God.”

My gaze beheld no earthly sight, no mountain sky and bird in flight,

But substance became transparent and willing to reveal

The home of God called heaven, where reigns the LORD of hosts.

There I saw and knew a windless calm,

The peace which comes when all accord.

In all the realm of created life,

There is just one Mind, so there can be no strife.

No thought opposes,

        No one can be,

                Lost,

        Nor separated, LORD,

                 From Thee.

Hallowed be Thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

Lead us not into temptation,

But deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the kingdom,

And the power,

And the glory,

Forever.          Matthew 6:9c-13

Your Mind cannot be compromised

By Anthony Whitehouse CS

We are always going to have an experience and a mind which either malfunctions or is subject to the vagaries and the misfortunes common to human existence until we figure out that that the mind we have cannot be compromised.

As long as we think we have a personal private mind then that mind can be compromised because we see it as OUR mind and therefore capable of being compromised.

However when we realize that Mind is God and not really capable of being reduced to personal sense then that Mind and all its faculties just cannot be compromised. It cannot malfunction because what we are operating with IS God.

If this is not our experience it is solely because we entertain the belief that Mind is capable of being compromised. Obviously it is not but the belief would hold otherwise and as a result we suffer the consequences.

So “ rise in the strength of Mind to reject all that is unlike God” and you will experience your new found understanding in a Mind that cannot be compromised .
It also helps to digest that Hassidic maxim that God cannot be served without Joy. The Hassidim go as far as to say it is a SIN to serve God without Joy. When you understand you have a mind that cannot be compromised you will necessarily have a much greater sense of joy about life.

So if you are struggling with a so called unhealed issue or incurable disease, abject poverty or a life full of pain just consider this simple fact: These things are but the product of the false belief that Mind can be compromised. It cannot be because Mind is God.

Something gleaned from Psalm 145

By Stirling Watts, CS

9. The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.
10. All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord; thy saints shall bless thee

If God is good to you, this goodness is continual because God never pauses in being Himself. You ARE his work. Not sometimes but at every moment. His work is perfect. Then what is it that feels imperfect? It is certainly NOT you, the perfect work of God! Nothing exists but God and his works. His works (i.e., YOU) praise Him by BEING that goodness and expressing it. That being cannot be stopped, any more than the image in a mirror can stop reflecting what is in front of it. That expression IS a healthy and happy you. You don't see it because false belief tries to put up a block between you and God. But that block is only a transparent belief and a source of distortion, not a divine power.

A sickly and a sad you is NOT God's likeness. You see yourself that way because of this blockage in thought. That blockage is human perception. Human belief adds a false distortion to what you really reflect. So, the sick image is a human thought image, a distorted view of you. The perfect spiritual you is already there, behind the blockage that adds the distortion.

Think of a circus mirror that makes us look exaggerated or tall or fat or skinny. You would not think of changing that reflection to look normal by working on the reflection itself. You would, instead, replace the distorting mirror with a normal mirror. The circus mirror only makes the image you see an untrue image, and it is telling a lie about what you are. But does the circus mirror have the authority to change what you are? Did you really become bloated or tall, or do you realize that this image is a product of the faulty mirror?

In the same way, we see the distorted picture of a diseased person or of our own self through the distorting view of the human mind. The human view has added the lies of discord, disease, sin, war, etc. to the image. These discords are lies, deceptions added by human belief. The real happy and healthy person is still there, and can be seen by viewing them through the reflection presented by the divine Mind. Using this point of view removes the lies.

Virtually the entire world, however does believe the lies, the distortions created by human sense. It sees this distorted human mind view of man, and mistakenly believes it to be God's image, not realizing that human thought and belief have introduced erroneous distortions to the picture. The world believes that the ugly images it sees through human sense need to be worked on. The real solution lies in ceasing to look through human sense, and seeing instead with divine understanding. Because the world is convinced that what it sees is true, it invents intricate and complex technical medical methods to fight that which it does not understand - namely, the deception of evil, lies contrary to God's loving nature and principle.

Realize that, and understand yourself to be God's image. When you feel it, it becomes experience.

Christmas Poem

By Ken Cooper

When all around seems bleak and cold

Remember please this story old:

Midst Roman rule and Herod’s law,

And poverty that made men sore,

A light shone forth in dark of night

That told of God, the one true Might.

And three wise men beheld this sign,

Responded to this light divine,

And came with gifts to recognise

The gift of God before men’s eyes.

The baby Jesus, innocent,

The problems of the world would rent.

Sin, sickness, death he would dispose;

God’s love for you and I disclose.

That light still shines, it never went,

For it was from heaven sent.

So this Christmas, through the year,

If ever doubts and fears appear,

Remember please this story old:

The Christ is here. Look up! Behold!

©Ken Cooper 2011

Heaven: A place free of failure!

By Anthony John Whitehouse CS

Until we are aware of it , we have really no idea how much of a role the belief of failure plays in our lives: the belief of past failure , the belief of impending failure and the belief of endemic failure.

The whole of human experience cries out “ you have failed and mankind has failed”. And since such beliefs have to find expression in our experience then we see the organs of our body failing , our church failing and our government failing.

At this time in the US, the country seems perplexed by failing political institutions and the effect of this paralysis. But where does the problem lie ? Oddly enough it lies in our own belief of failure. If we take the beam of failure out of our own eye we will see improvement in every aspect of our lives. Not only in our physical bodies but in the body politic and corporate bodies.

It is an easy trap to fall into unfortunately. It probably comes from those years spent in school where we never scored 100% in our tests. Inevitably we ended up with the sense that , in certain areas , we were failures. And personal sense reinforces that sense of failure by furnishing evidence of failed marriages , failed careers and failed attempts at healing.

But in Isaiah 40:26 we find a wonderful antidote to such satanic edicts..
Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.

This culture should warn us against holding ourselves to be human rather than spiritual because failure is endemic to personal or human sense. Within the human selfhood failure is always going to be manifest because the belief of having been born ( a prime factor in being human ) is always going to carry with it ultimate decline or failure in death.

But we can overcome this culture of failure by operating not from a sense of selfhood but from a sense of Mindhood. Yes.. I had to make the word up because it does not exist. But it signifies the extent to which we are a condition of mind rather than self. And we need the word. Why ? because without it we cannot really get a handle on our right sense of being. With a sense of being as Mindhood we will function correctly.

The function of words and finding the right words for a particular facet of spirituality is essential to attaining the kingdom. If you cannot seize a concept mentally you can never makes it yours. Heaven has to be closer to us because someone coined the word serenity to indicate a state of consciousness which is totally sublime, calm and placid. It is not a word which appears in the bible and without it our sense of heaven is not complete.

For this reason we need to understand the nature of our Mindhood because without seeing ourselves as a condition of mind we are not going to taste the real nature of our Divine Science. When Mrs Eddy says that “Science is an emanation of divine Mind, and is alone able to interpret God aright.”, we do not really experience the full impact of that statement if we are thinking out from a sense of selfhood. But from a sense of Mindhood it makes perfect sense.

Abigail

By Ken Cooper

1 Samuel 25

NABAL:

I am rich.

I have three thousand sheep, a thousand goats.

That sets me well apart from other people.

My money lets me buy and get myself out of any problems.

What I think and do is all that matters,

- and that includes anything concerning my wife, the beautiful Abigail.

She loves me, as is her due, and I deserve no less.

Abigail:

I love him for his good qualities.

And I love him because he is my husband.

Sometimes, nay, too often, he fulfils the attributes of his name.

But he needs my wisdom to counteract his foolishness.

I will be loyal to his goodness, the tenderness he occasionally shows.

But I shall have respect to my virtues

And seek to instil them in my man because I love him.

NABAL:

A band of ten young men have sought my presence.

As something to do, I deign see them, these servants of this David.

I have heard of him, but I shall nevertheless demean him in their eyes,

Make him out as nothing, a nobody, and them therefore as worthless knaves.

They seek to share my riches! Let them grovel with their empty request.

The custom of hospitality is for fools.

I shunt them away with my words.

One of my servants dares approach to speak on their behalf. I know his face but not his name. He is a slave, nothing more. I wave him away with a flick of my hand and snap my fingers for my wine cup to be filled.

The insult enrages David.

Four hundred men get themselves armed

Gath’ring their pace towards Nabal

For he and all his will be harmed.

Abigail:

One of our servants, Shammah, comes running to me, bows and begs my attention.

His words run through me like a sword. Oh Nabal! Nabal!

We are all in peril for our lives.

There is no time to lose.

I order a feast of supplies, done quickly, sent on before me.

There is no time or wisdom to tell Nabal. The servants leave. I follow.

An angry David leads his men

Their swords are drawn and blood-ready

But laden asses cross his path:

Abigail’s resolve holds steady.

Abigail:

Gifts from our best produce mellow his wrath.

I meet the proud David, falling at his feet, beseeching him.

I take upon me full responsibility for all that has made him angry,

Offering my life to spare the foolish life of Nabal.

I appeal to his reason, to his innate sense of justice and mercy.

I see in him what I would see in my own husband, despite my admission of his folly Nabal name.

An underlying strength of purpose born of love for both men flows out from my heart,

Gives me a power that seems divine and omnipresent.

It lends eloquence to my words, and a surety that he will respond truly.

Like melting mist his anger gone

Replaced as warmth of rising sun

He blesses me with generous word

And thanks me for a deed well done.

Abigail:

I return back to Nabal, quite oblivious of what has passed, and find him feasting to glut.

He is beyond reason, senses dulled to nothingness in the excess of self-gratification.

I will tell him when he is sober what has come to pass, for it is right that he knows and understands.

And in the morning, when the sun’s rays lifted the dark, I told him everything.

As I spoke the light of Truth shone steadfastly through my words and the error of his ways touched me no more.

His heart turned to stone in the cold realization of all he had done,

And for ten long days I nursed him as one would a newborn babe.

Ten days of utter dependence, enforced humility, his wealth irrelevant, my love all.

On the tenth day I wiped a tear from his eye, and he passed from my company.

I knelt once again before God and He comforted me

So Abigail was left alone.

Days followed, and the news soon spread:

It reached to David, now contrite,

That churlish Nabal he was dead.

Abigail:

I prayed for my departed husband, and I also prayed for myself.

God rewarded my prayer, for this David sought me as his wife, not in conquest but in love.

I found a richness in living that surpassed the empty richness of wealth,

In humility I was led to grandeur, and gave all I had.

So in love was tender blessing,

No more held by what was wrong

Both were blessed by love’s new caring

In deep respect, their marriage strong

So the evil that was deadly

Overcome by action fast.

She did quickly what was righteous.

Good did win. And good will last.

© Kenneth G Cooper 2011

Love is the only activity

By Anthony John Whitehouse CS

Occaisionally one is struck by a notion of such simplicity and import that one finds it difficult to realise that in one short phrase the kingdom of heaven unfolds itself .

In this one notion " Love is the ONLY activity " one finds exactly that combination of power and import that transforms mere consciousness from simply thought into the very activity of the Christ.

Mrs Eddy tells us that " All that really exists is the Divine Mind and its idea and in this mind the entire being is found harmonious and eternal" . The exact power of that statement eluded me until I understood that Love is the only activity because within the ambit of that truth lay the reallsation that God, the divine Mind HAD to be present as the operation of Love , was present as the operation of Love and there was nothing else was operating because only God, the Divine Mind alone was capable of operating.

The "aha" moment comes in all this when we realise that what appears NOT to be the operation of Love has to be the operation of Love when we realise that Love is the only thing that can operate. You could be standing at the foot of the cross at the time of crucifixion and might be excused for wondering how this event could possibly be the operation of Love.

Although it looked like the crucifixion what was really happening on the cross was Jesus demonstrating that death actually has no power over us. Seen simply at the crucifixion the event looks like an appallling miscarriage of justice. Seen through dictum "Love alone can operate" it is seen to be the singular most important event in human history. Love transforms the horrow into sublimity.

So if you are going through an experience which appears to evidence an encounter with pure evil, or which manifests no sense of love, harmony or heaven insist on the divine maxim that Love is the only activity and " you will entertain an angel unawares" as Mrs Eddy puts it. It is our ability to do this, to insist on God or love being present or active which makes us the Christ.

Jesus was the greatest exponent of this maxim whoever ever lived. Knowing that Love, God was ever actiive and the Sole activity allowed him to walk on water, feed the five thousand and raise the dead. It allowed Mrs Eddy to understand that a dry well did not have to be that way.

The great difficulty we face humanly in all this is that we just cannot understand how what looks like the appearance of evil could possibilly have any relationship to the divine. If we are struggling with unemployment , poverty and ill health how could these things possibilly have the taint of love about them ? Well , if they force us to abandon the idea that we are human beings , if they are the evidence of our own sloppy ideas that we are separated from God then surely they serve a purpose ? Surely we can say like the prodigal son " I really need to leave this place" knowing that the Love of God will aocomodate us in our right place.

The mere fact that we insist that Love is the only thing that can operate means the transforming power of that realisation must operate for our benefit even though we do not need to know how it will operate. Its like the time I found myself stuck at a train station in London last winter. My train to Paris had been cancelled and I had no where to go. There appeared to be no human solution but I knew that Divine Love had to be the only thing that could operate even though all the evidence was that it was apparently not operatng.

I was standing in front of customs section of the station. The station was organised like an airport because it was dedicated to international travel. In my need I reached out to apply the laws I knew to be true. I insisted that Love was the only thing that could operate. As I was insisting on this, the door to the customs department opened but there was no one around. Through that door I could see the platform to the trains. I just walked through to the plaftform area and shortly afterward was able to board a train. The ticket inspectors completely ignored me. I was even able to get a seat on an otherwise very crowded train. Miracle ? No.. it was the operation of divine law, the law that Love has to operate because it is the only law that can operate.

The only mistake we make in life is not understanding that Love is the only power than can and does operate.

Moving from Sense to Soul

By Dee Mahuvawalla CS

In today’s day and age, where we hear about people moving from location to location due to natural disasters, political uprising, marriage breakups, job downsizing, seniors moving into retirement homes and other unexpected crises that come up. The issue of moving deserves a lot of prayerful thought and urgent attention before, during and after the move.

Mind directs each one of us and prepares the way, for the move. As we continue to listen the directions become clearer. Mary Baker Eddy writes in our textbook, “When the destination is desirable, expectation speeds our progress.” (S & H 426:8). In reality we are not moving from location to location but from sense to Soul, from uncertainty to certainty, from fear to freedom, and from limitation to abundance.

There are three stages involved in each move. First is the, spiritual preparation and practical planning for the move; second is the move itself; and third, the settling-in and the adjustment process.

1.     The Spiritual Preparation and Practical Planning

In the book of Psalms, the psalmist asked the question, “Whither shall I go?” (Psalms 139:7). As we pray to be guided to find our new location and home, the Christ goes before us to prepare the way for us. We are listening to this Christly message to make the move a harmonious, restful and effortless process without any stress or strain. Hymn No 51 reads “Love and Love’s work must fit”.

The buying and the selling process takes place as God attracts us to the right party and the transaction takes place smoothly without delay, disturbance or distortion. Every transaction takes place honestly with equality, joyous expectancy, humility, safety freedom and gratitude. In the book of II Corinthians, we read “For I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened: But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality.” (II Corinthians 8:13-15) This spiritual preparation forms the basis for a safe and peaceful transaction.

2.     The  Move itself

The spiritual foundation laid in preparation for the move makes every detail of the move unfold in a very progressive and systematic way, making the whole move a safe one., free from anxiety, pressure or fear, as “God rests in action”. (S & H 519:25)

“And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God. I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick…; I will feed them with judgment.” (Ezekiel 34:13-16)

3     The Settling–In

Drop Thy still dews of quietness,

Till all our strivings cease;

Take from us now the strain and stress,

And let our ordered lives confess

The beauty of Thy peace. (Hymn No. 64:1)

God’s Law of Adjustment is operative and demonstrated to meet every human need in a very effortless way. There is a saying that reads “Man shapes into God’s plan as water shapes into a vessel.”This Law of Adjustment operates smoothly, helping each one of us to express dominion and gratitude for a safe move and for the adjustment.

A favorite hymn reads -

From sense to Soul my pathway lies before me,

From mist and shadow into Truth's clear day;

The dawn of all things real is breaking o'er me,

My heart is singing:  I have found the way. (Hymn No. 64:1) 

A Realtor's Psalm

(Based on Psalm 23)

by Dee Mahuvawalla

  

Divine Love, God, is my Realtor,

I shall not be delayed, dismayed, discouraged or disappointed.

Love maketh me to dwell in comfort, safety and surety-

Without any want or woe,

Where the rivers of milk and honey flow.

Love leadeth me where I can be blessed and bless others,

Where living waters and Principle’s prompting flows.

Where all human needs are met.

And Love’s calmness and confidence is restored,

Love leadeth me in the paths,

“Which the vulture’s eyes have not seen” (Job 28:7)

Love furnishes a banquet of bounty and plenty,

Amidst gloom, doom, or scanty.

Yea, though I walk through the valley

Of the shadow of confusion, chaos, uncertainty,

I will be fearless and confident

Because God is with me.

Love’s rod directs and points the way, and parts the Red Sea,

Leading me safely into the Promise Land.

Love anointeth my head with the oil of gladness and gratitude.

Surely, Father-Mother God attracts and unites the buyer and the seller effortlessly in sync with Soul.

My tithing runneth over as I dwell in the consciousness of Love forever.