The JSH-Online audio podcast “Overcoming traumatic memories fully and finally” has just been posted at the Sentinel Watch section of the Christian Science Sentinel.  Rita Polatin interviewed Erin Powell and me about how the Christianly scientific understanding of our indestructible relationship to our Father-Mother God—a relationship that is our only history—frees us from the lies and bondage of so-called traumatic beliefs: lies that would attempt to keep us from going forward as healers in the way of God’s appointing!  Lies that are null and void!

You can hear it at: https://sentinel.christianscience.com/sentinel-audio/sentinel-watch/overcoming-traumatic-memories-fully-and-finally?s=sc

Enjoy!

“What furnace?” you may be asking.

Well, though it’s been a pretty cold winter in the northern climes and our furnaces have been in active use keeping us warm, I’m not talking about those devices.

No, I’m speaking of the fiery furnace that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into as a punishment for not worshipping pagan idolatry (The Book of Daniel, Chapter 3).

You’ll recall that despite Nebuchadnezzar’s fury and wrath which led to their being condemned to death in the furnace—a furnace that had been superheated seven times more than normal—these three devout men would not yield to error’s threats.  They would not bow down to evil.

They would not forsake their worship of God!

And God did not forsake them—no, not for a moment!

They emerged untouched by the flames.  Bodies unharmed.  Not a single hair on their heads singed.  Not even the smell of fire had passed on them.

Without a doubt, this was a wonderful example of the power of our omnipotent and omnipresent God to deliver us from any and all claims of evil.

But the account doesn’t stop there.

After the fiery furnace, not only was Nebuchadnezzar’s position on the Hebrew God radically reversed, but Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were also promoted in their service to the king.

This is an important lesson for us all.

We cannot be made to go back into the furnace after God has lifted us out of it!

You might be wondering: “Why would I want to?”

Well, I certainly hope you wouldn’t.

But the subtleties of the serpent are, by their very “nature,” not always obvious.

Let me give you some examples of what I’m talking about.

Perhaps, you’ve experienced a bad marriage or relationship that has ended—a relationship in which the other individual has been abusive in some form, or has indulged in infidelities.  Are you feeling such a vacuum, such a sense of loss and loneliness, that you find yourself wistfully missing that individual—even glossing over their erroneous actions?

Or maybe you’ve had to leave an employment position due to either the employer’s or your fellow employees’ aggressive responses to you—no matter how much you tried to resolve it spiritually.  Are you yearning to prove to them in some fashion that you were right all along—in some misguided sense of validation?

Or are you tempted to mentally “relive” the darkness of an illness that you’ve already been healed of—a temptation meant to engulf you in a twisted and deluded sense of nobility or courage about how hard it all was?  About all that you had to go through?

And finally, do you find yourself feeling any emotional reaction to or fear of the “memory” or images of these things—responses other than supreme gratitude to your Father-Mother God for saving you, and for teaching you whatever spiritual lessons you needed to learn?

If the answer is “yes” to any of the above, you can be sure that the carnal mind is tempting you to jump back into the flames—is working overtime to have the smell of fire be upon you.

All to what end?

To keep you living in the belief of the past—a belief of separation from God.

To prevent you from going forward in your God-given mission to serve Him by healing the sick and reforming the sinner.

Let’s not forget that the Apostle Paul wrote:

…forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14)

That prize of the high calling of God—in the way that Jesus demonstrated God’s allness—is what we should be reaching for.

Not the furnace door!

By now, most of the world knows about the false nuclear missile alert that was issued this past Saturday in Hawaii and which unleashed such panic and fear on those affected by it.

The cause?

At the beginning of the morning shift, a presumably intelligent employee at the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency sat at their computer to initiate a scheduled internal missile alert test—something that was supposed to only test the system, nothing more.  They opened the drop-down menu to see two choices: “Test missile alert” and “Missile alert.”

They were supposed to pick the first, but chose the second—even though they knew better.

It all happened in a matter of moments.

Just moments!  And we know the result.

“So, how could this possibly happen?” you may be asking.

Perhaps they were distracted by something there, or maybe they had something else on their thought.  We’ll probably never know the specifics.

What is important, however, is that we recognize that the “cause” was the carnal mind or mortal mind, which for that brief moment had mesmerized that person’s thought.

A moment that achieved its goal: pandemonium!

Maybe you’re thinking: “OK—that’s all very interesting, but what’s the take-away for us?”

Well, once again, I’m glad you asked!

We need to be praying without ceasing to stay awake and alert to mortal mind’s constant effort to keep us asleep in the dream of life and intelligence in matter, of separation from God.  A hypnotic state that would have us constantly making wrong choices based on the utterly false evidences of the material senses—senses that are always, and under every circumstance, liars.

Senses that Mary Baker Eddy declared “…originate and support all that is material, untrue, selfish, or debased,” and whose intent is to “…put soul into soil, life into limbo, and doom all things to decay.” (Science and Health, p. 318)

And each of us who are Christian Scientists are not only responsible to stay alert through prayer, but we are fully capable of doing so if—if—we’re relying on our God-given innate spiritual senses.  Senses that include spiritual vision, discernment, perception, comprehension, judgment, and understanding.

Senses that by their very awareness of the ever-presence of God shine a spotlight on the error lurking in the dark places of thought.  On evil in all its forms and subtleties.  On the whisperings of the serpent.

On the fog and confusion of Genesis 2!

Mrs. Eddy lovingly warned us, in no uncertain terms:

Christian Scientists cannot watch too sedulously, or bar their doors too closely, or pray to God too fervently, for deliverance from the claims of evil. Thus doing, Scientists will silence evil suggestions, uncover their methods, and stop their hidden influence upon the lives of mortals. (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 114)

It doesn’t get much clearer than that!

So, which choice on the drop-down menu will you select?  Clarity or confusion?

Truth or error?

Well, yes I am—to answer the question in the title.  But that’s not the reason for the question.  No, it’s specifically about pages 390-393 of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy in which the author states a number of commands—commands such as:

Rise in the strength of Spirit to resist all that is unlike good. (p. 393)

Instead of blind and calm submission to the incipient or advanced stages of disease, rise in rebellion against them. (p. 391)

Banish the belief that you can possibly entertain a single intruding pain which cannot be ruled out by the might of Mind, and in this way you can prevent the development of pain in the body. (p. 391)

And since Science and Health was dictated to Mrs. Eddy by God, aren’t these commands directly from Him?  Of course they are!

But who is being addressed?

Could it be some abstract, hypothetical third-party?

On the contrary, they are directed towards each of us.

It is we who have to fulfill every one of these obligations.  It is we who have the responsibility of proving the rules established in this book—this book that provides the answers for the salvation of humanity.  It is we who have to demonstrate the power of Christian Science by healing the sick and reforming the sinner!

And it is we who have to realize that it is not a personal, erroneous human sense of self that could ever accomplish these dictates!  Far from it!  Rather, as the Apostle Paul declaimed:

…it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. (Philippians 2:13)

And as Jesus righteously declared:

I can of mine own self do nothing: (John 5:30)

That’s right; of our own selves we can do nothing!

Now, let’s be absolutely clear about this: we are not helpless victims cast adrift on the seas of error trying to rise above its tumultuous waves.  No!  We are the heirs of God—heirs whose right and responsibility it is to overthrow every “ill that flesh is heir to” by virtue of our being His image and likeness—His entirely spiritual reflection.

And because this is so (and it is!), we are necessarily empowered by Almighty God to accomplish all that He has for us to accomplish.

Mrs. Eddy stated:

The Principle of Christian Science is divine. Its rule is, that man shall utilize the divine power. (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 69)

Now here are some questions we need to ask ourselves—and you knew they were coming, didn’t you!

• Am I rising in rebellion against error?  Or am I submitting to error’s so-called rule of tyranny?
• Am I rising in the strength of Spirit to resist all that is unlike good?  Or am I acquiescing to error’s lies?
• Am I banishing the belief that I could possibly entertain a single pain—or for that matter, any belief of error?  Or am I inviting the insidious suggestions of the carnal mind into my thought to have a “tea party”?

And most important: Am I obeying the rule of Christian Science by utilizing the divine power?  Or am I letting it lie fallow—and then wondering why I’m not progressing?

Which of these will it be?

And, yes, I am talkin’ to you!

No, I’m not talking about the Internet.

I’m referring to the net that Jesus told his disciples to cast on the right side (John 21).  The net they had to bring into shore.

Think about it for a moment.

They were professional fisherman taught by their fathers, and their father’s fathers for generations.  They knew how to fish.  Why would casting the net on the right side of the boat suddenly change everything?  To human sense it would make no sense.  Were there no fishes on the left side of the boat but only on the right?!  Was there a line right down the middle?!

Yet even though they were not sure that it was Jesus who had instructed them, they recognized the voice of the Christ.  They yielded to the command.  They cast off their material knowledge—the material modes of thought, the evidence of the material senses.

And the result?

The net was completely full!

But they didn’t stop there.  No, the Bible states that they had to drag it to shore—no matter how difficult that may have been.  And when they got there, the Master—who already had fishes on the coals—asked them about their catch.

Now, why would he do that?  To see if they understood what had happened, that’s why!

“OK, so what has this to do with me?” you may be asking.

Simply this.  It’s not enough to say that we’re going to cast our net on the right side—that of Truth, of God—we have to first abandon the false knowledge and methods of material sense, just as the disciples did, be obedient to the Christ, and then bring our catch—our healings—to shore.

To what end?

To use the spiritual understanding that we’ve gained from our own healings, insights, and revelations in order to heal the sick and reform the sinner—that’s to what end!  And without doing that—without sharing the truth that heals “all the ills that the flesh is heir to,” without using the power that Christian Science reveals and bestows upon us: without proving our catch—aren’t we then just keeping all of the fish to feed ourselves?  Aren’t we then just being selfish?

And if that’s the case—and it is!—how can we possibly go forth and feed His sheep?!

Mary Baker Eddy declared:

The Principle of Christian Science is divine. Its rule is, that man shall utilize the divine power. (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 69)

The choice is yours.  What will you do with all of those fishes that you’ve hauled in?

The JSH-Online audio podcast “Our thought or worldly thought?” has just been posted at the Sentinel Watch section of the Christian Science Sentinel.  Rita Polatin interviewed me about how we spiritually discern the difference between the two, and how doing so leads to healing.

You can hear it at: https://sentinel.christianscience.com/sentinel-audio/sentinel-watch/our-thought-or-worldly-thought?s=sc

Enjoy!

The title of this post comes from a sentence on page 11 of Mary Baker Eddy’s Unity of Good that states:

Jesus taught us to walk over, not into or with, the currents of matter, or mortal mind.

And it’s a statement that we dare not forget to be obedient to given the political and societal turmoil in our country and the storms that would seek to attack our nation—all swirling about in their boisterous clamor to gain our attention.  A din that would seek to enslave us in its mesmerism!

An uproar that would have us forget that:

Christian Science explains all cause and effect as mental, not physical. (Science and Heatlh, p. 114)

Mrs. Eddy went on to declare in Unity of Good that Jesus:

…demanded a change of consciousness and evidence, and effected this change through the higher laws of God. (p. 11)

Laws that do not partake of any material belief!

Laws that supersede any so-called “natural or organic forces”!

Laws that completely and utterly annihilate all such claims!

Laws that are always in effect and always supreme!

In referring to Jesus’ healing of the man with the withered hand, she rightly proclaimed that:

Jesus stooped not to human consciousness, nor to the evidence of the senses. He heeded not the taunt, “That withered hand looks very real and feels very real;” but he cut off this vain boasting and destroyed human pride by taking away the material evidence. (Unity of Good, p. 11)

So, are we going to accept the vain boasting that is being presented to us by mortal mind—by the false evidence of the material senses—via the constant barrage of all forms of media and through the suggestions of error voiced by family, friends, acquaintances, and by the world?

Boasting that claims God is not in control of His creation?

Swaggering that brags God allows these evils to exist or that He visits them upon humanity to punish or test us?

Whisperings that assert that God is in the earthquake, wind, and fire?

The bottom line is, as Christian Scientists we need to ask ourselves: “Could any of this possibly be from God?”

The answer, of course, must be a resounding “No!”

And because it isn’t from God, it therefore has no power, no presence, no intelligence or Science, and no activity.  Which means it cannot and does not exist since God is All-in-all and there is none else!

But you may be thinking: “All of this turmoil looks so real though!”

Well, let me ask you this question: If someone came to you with a severe gash on their arm and asked you to pray for them, would you exclaim: “Oh wow—that looks really bad!  That must hurt a lot!”

Not if you expected to heal them, you wouldn’t!

Then why would any of us buy into the lies that are being presented to us about these storms and other forms of turmoil?  Why?

Could we possibly begin to “…hold crime in check…” (Science and Health, p. 96) if we are believing in its reality?  And make no mistake; this turmoil is a crime against God, against man in His image and likeness, and against all of God’s creation!

Remember, Mrs. Eddy demanded that we:

Blot out the images of mortal thought and its beliefs in sickness and sin. (Science and Health, p. 391)

So, if you’re tempted to even dip your toe into those tempestuous currents of mortal mind, remember to walk over them by instead following what our Leader admonished us to do on page 406 of Science and Health:

Resist evil — error of every sort — and it will flee from you.

And that, my friends, is an incontrovertible spiritual law.  A law that we are each capable of fulfilling!

A law above those currents!

A law of God!

Ah, the asterisk!  That simple, starburst-like character that is used in writing to denote a qualifying limit to a term or to replace a letter or letters of a word.

And it’s the latter that I’m talking about today.

That euphemistic symbol (*) is thought by many to be a clever way of communicating a word without actually writing it.

“Why would that be a problem?” you might be asking.

Well, it becomes one when the word in which the asterisk is employed is a vulgarity or a profanity. Somehow the writer or the promoter of it has deluded themselves into thinking that they are either being polite by not writing the fully offensive word, or that by utilizing the asterisk(s), they are absolved of any wrongdoing in expressing it, since they didn’t “really” utter the whole word—as if the reader didn’t know and mentally hear what was intended.

You still may be thinking: “So? What’s the big deal?”

The big deal is when not only the public is doing this, but when Christian Scientists are regularly involved with it on social media such as Facebook—either originating the foul content themselves or by sharing another’s posting.

“And just why is that such a problem?” you may still be wondering.

Because as Christian Scientists we’re supposed to be keeping ourselves above the world’s way of doing things, that’s why!  We’re supposed to be healers who heal the sick and reform the sinner. And delving into the depths of—and let’s not beat about the bush here—gutter and grossly sensual language does not and cannot promote healing. It is the antithesis of a Christly mentality!

Now, some may be protesting, “But everyone uses these expressions!  It’s just modern parlance.  And in order to seem normal and interact properly—and maybe even reach these folks—I need to speak in their terms—on their level!”

As my grandmother use to say, “Rubbish!”

Such a rationalization is the carnal mind’s ploy to get us to join in with this moral offense.  And its underlying serpentine claim is that the real God-like communication cannot reach others—cannot penetrate through the mesmerism that has taken over these individuals’ experiences.  It would assert that Jesus’ declaration that “they shall be all taught of God” in the Gospel of John is not true.

Claims and assertions that are utterly false and without any foundation whatsoever!

And here’s the thing: those Christian Scientists that have adopted these erroneous methods—or who are actually voicing the complete profanity, or using acronyms as substitutes (as if that made a difference!)—are totally unaware that they are being wrongfully influenced by the carnal mind’s urging to accept this form of evil.  And make no mistake, that’s what it is!

And it’s one that is being promoted heavily by psychology and psychiatry (both of which are forms of materia medica) as a means of relieving stress through venting such unseemly utterances.

A claim that simply doesn’t hold water!

I mean, really, could embracing one form of dissolute error possibly alleviate another? Could that in any way be considered Christianly scientific?

Does Mary Baker Eddy have anything to say on this subject?

Oh, yes!

Floating with the popular current of mortal thought without questioning the reliability of its conclusions, we do what others do, believe what others believe, and say what others say. (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 228)

So before you’re tempted to indulge in this form of sin, consider which path you should be taking—the strait gate that leads to salvation or the wide one that careens to destruction of which Jesus stated “…many there be which go in thereat”! (Matthew 7:13)

The JSH-Online audio podcast “How can we make God-inspired decisions?” has just been posted at the Sentinel Watch section of the Christian Science Sentinel. Rita Polatin interviewed me and I also answered a variety of questions sent in by listeners on this very important and timely topic.

You can hear it at: https://sentinel.christianscience.com/sentinel-audio/sentinel-watch/how-can-we-make-god-inspired-decisions?s=sc

Enjoy!

The re-airing of my Daily Lift “Listen up!” was just posted today. You can hear it at:

http://bit.ly/2nre8WD

Enjoy!