How To Count to Infinity

Ben (6) asked me how to count to infinity.

I prayed and thought first: what would God lead me to say about such an important question?

And the idea came: "Ben, if you can count to one, you can count to infinity. Because God is All and infinite, and there is only one God and one infinity- so all you have to do is count to one!"

This made sense to him and he was satisfied with my answer, for now...

(photo credit: momo, flikr, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)

Grace in a Texas Burger King

Here I am, at a Burger King in Texas.

I'd finished my meal and was just sitting and reading Science & Health on my 5 year old original iPod Touch when two couples sat down in the booth behind me.

There was some good natured chatting and I couldn't help but delight in the famous Texan drawl I was hearing. It seems the two gentleman were wearing real-deal cowboy hats and boots.

Then I heard something that surprised me: one of the guys paused and gave a little prayer thanking God for blessings and the company of those he cared about.

After I emptied my plastic tray in the garbage I walked by and addressed the guys: "Which one of you just gave a prayer?" and one of the big guys said "It was me."

"I've never heard anyone pray before dining in a fast food restaurant in my life" I confessed, and one of the ladies started to chuckle.

"Really?" he said in a thick Texan accent.

"That was really sweet. Good for you!" I gratefully commented, and strolled on out into the parking lot.

(photo credit Mike Mozart Burger King https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)

How to Make Decisions: Motive-Seaching

There really is a way to base your decisions on prayer.

I'm speaking of the kind of prayer where you are probing your own thought to know your own motives. Because your own motives determine the outcome of whatever it is you wish to do.

If your motive is impure: involving greed, competition, comparison, selfishness, etc. then your decision and consequent follow through will in the long run prove the old axiom: you reap what you sow.

BUT if your motives are pure: involving a desire to bless others as well as yourself, to make genuine step allowing progress in some way, unselfish, generous, noble, etc. there will be blessing all around- and success. Regardless if it is ever seen or appreciated.

Another warning sign of poor motivation would be a mental dialogue of self-justification. There's just never any room for self-justification when good and pure motives are involved. It's a helpful indicator- if you're alert to it.

Shall I Profess Christian Science or Practice it!

As I've been dedicating more time to my public practice as a Christian Science healer I had a neat-o realization about the chapter in Science and Health called Christian Science Practice. 

This is actually helpful within itself, as it is not called Christian Science Profession.

It's helped me realizing more clearly that this is not so much a 'profession' as it is a practice. For example, a musician gets better or is at his best when he's playing for an audience or practicing. Practicing and playing are almost the same thing- one is just being a lot more public about it.

The Christian Science practice takes practice too- by doing it you learn it and get better at it. There's just no fool-proof way to practice Christian Science than to take a patient and pray for them- even if that patient is a public 'issue'- like praying for the Elections or the economy etc.

But do pray: take up anything and everything that comes to thought and treat it with your spiritually healing prayers as best as you know how- working closely with Christ Jesus' example and the Bible and teachings of Christian Science. Oh, and be sure to read LOTS and LOTS of testimonies of healing (in the Christian Science weekly and monthly magazines)  They are modern day precedents of healing work as Jesus practiced it two thousand years ago.

Bible Versions and Translations (part 1)

Though I consider the King James Version as my ‘home base’ of Bible translations, I’ve never shied away studying others alongside it.

Among my favorites is JB Phillips New Testament in Modern English. One verse from Romans (2:12) stands out as a favorite: “Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold.” To me this is a fine example of rendering the ancient original text into modern vernacular without losing any of the inspiration or punch, and it gave me comfort many times when I felt the need for encouragement to swim against the stream of some opposing current in my life.

I’ve also referred to the Amplified Bible countless times over the years to help me get beyond the familiar surfaces of many passages throughout both the Old and New Testaments..

I’ve also enjoyed The Good News Bible a.k.a. Today’s English Version when I absolutely want to get away from any flowery-ness of words to a bare-bones plain-ness.

There are many more too, but these versions stand out as having served me well through many experiences.  

(photo credit: David Masters, Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)

Dream-like Nature of Pain Demonstrated

One afternoon a few months ago I lay on my bed for a much needed nap.

I drifted off easily and dreamed that I was walking down a forest path when suddenly I twisted my ankle! The pain was so vivid that it startled me back awake.

But it didn't end there. My dream-self's ankle that was twisted and painful was for a few moments co-existing with my waking-self's ankle right there on the bed! I was conscious of my mind trying to automatically superimpose the painful ankle onto the untwisted ankle. And for a few moments it did 'take on' the pain as if it had happened to my waking self!

As I quickly started to realize what was going on-- that i was in fact on the bed trying to have a nap and that the experience of hurting my ankle was a dream--the pain almost instantly dissipated and vanished.

This reminded me of Moses' experience as told in Genesis in the Bible. It's written God told him to place his hand in his tunic and remove it. He did and his hand was suddenly infected with a terrible skin disease. Then God told him to put his hand back in and pull it out again. This time his skin was back to normal. In her book "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" Mary Baker Eddy wrote of this text:

"It was scientifically demonstrated that leprosy was a creation of mortal mind and not a condition of matter, healed when Moses first put his hand into his bosom and drew it forth white as snow with the dread disease, and presently restored his hand to its natural condition by the same simple process. God had lessened Moses' fear by this proof in divine Science..."

A couple of weeks ago I was outside jogging after work when one of my feet landed half on the sidewalk and half onto a lower part of someone's lawn, causing me to twist my ankle and almost fall. The pain was vivid.

My first thoughts were all fear-based: "oh no, I've just started to establish a jogging routine and now I'd have to take several days off to heal" "...how am I going to go to work tomorrow?" "...How am I going to help take care of the family if I'm stuck in a couch with my feet up all day..." etc.

Also I realized that I'd been feeling a little proud of myself about my new jogging routines- a bit of pride had crept into my thought.

Of course too, I recalled the twisted ankle dream. The pain was basically the same variety that I was experiencing here on the sidewalk in my 'awake' body.

That was my first step toward experiencing a healing, a lessening of my fear. I already knew that matter is not everything it's cracked up to be. I've had many spiritual healings already in my life through practicing the teachings of Christian Science which have proven reliable from flu to plantar warts. I've seen how God is Spirit and how I'm his reflection and likeness as it says in Genesis chapter one.

The next morning i was in the couch with my leg resting. I had emailed a Christian Science practitioner for prayerful help. I was thinking maybe I should stay home from work and was ready to call in sick. Then I got a reply from the practitioner that we should strive for an immediate healing. I loved that idea, responded to it by immediately getting up for work.

Work began well, but a few hours into my shift as a Christian Science nurse the ankle started hurting again. I thought I'd better get busier in guarding and disciplining my thinking. I didn't want to rely merely on the inspiration of my practitioner and needed to do more of my own mental work or praying.

So I did more 'leaning' on God, and not feeling so personally burdened or responsible about things on my job or in feelings about my personal life, but to adjust my thinking more to be in line with the idea that I was reflecting God and not carrying on all by myself according to my own efforts etc.

The pain receded noticeably and within the hour I caught my self mid-stride realizing that I was leaning on God, and that the healing was complete.

After my shift I did a four kilometer jog and have done so almost every day since without any restrictions in how I jog or walk.

photo credit: keven ryder, flikr, public domain

Injured Ankle Quickly and Thoroughly Healed with Prayer

A file in my drawer has handwritten testimonials of times I applied the practical rules and concepts of Christian Science in my daily living and experienced physical healings.

The following was one of a healing I had of an apparently sprained ankle back in the summer of 1994.

It was while I was co-director of a Youth Camp in Ontario’s Algonquin Provincial Park on the beautiful shores of Whitefish Lake. It was not uncommon to wake up in at base camp to find a moose or two standing nearby munching on vegetation.

Each year we took a mid-week 3 day canoe trip to the ‘interior’- inaccessible by car or motor boat. The group was of about 20 people spread over several canoes and one kayak.

Early on in the trip we had a 1.7 km. portage. After my first drop off I returned to the beginning of the trail to get another load to carry when I suddenly twisted my ankle. Oh no! I thought- I still had 2 trips to make, and there were two more portages to go before reaching our site on a pristine interior lake.

Fears immediately began to set in. I didn’t want the whole trip spoiled- nor did I want to be a burden on my fellow campers. But it was an ideal opportunity to put Christian Science to good use in praying for the situation. So I reached out mentally and earnestly to God (I didn’t record what ideas I worked with at this point of my account, but likely it was as simple as knowing that God was Love, and Love was ever-present and surrounding me, and that man is made in the image and likeness of God- as mentioned in chapter one of Genesis). It helped me enough to take my thought off of the ankle. Correspondingly I was able to continue the long arduous portages without too much trouble- delivering more packs and paddles to the other end of the portage.

But that evening at our destination site I started limping severely. Instead of helping cook dinner I thought it wise to do some metaphysical/prayerful work and let the other directors look after things, and they were supportive.

I went to my tent and studied my Christian Science Bible Lesson, consisting of citations from the Bible and also from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. It’s the same Lesson covering a weekly topic that is read Sunday in Christian Science churches around the world.

I was so tempted to just fall asleep in my cozy retreat but I fought the tendency knowing I really needed to do the ‘mental work’ that would potentially heal me from my physical problem- which really has its roots in the mental arena as the body so often manifests the conditions of one’s own thinking.

This ‘mental work’ to me is really is the ‘working out of [my] own salvation’ spoken of in the Bible: that being on earth is an opportunity to grow spiritually– to overcome problems and challenges that are unique to individual thought through better understanding my own nature as God’s reflection and likeness and His spiritual creation.

There are so many times that it’s tempting not to stand up to fear. I love the story of David and Goliath as it clearly illustrates the possibilities of relying on God to guide us as we face giant-seeming situations that try to dominate our lives. I needed to tackle my Goliath right there in the tent: a giant-sized fear of being a ‘cripple’ for the remainder of the trip!

So I studied and prayed for about 2 hours: digging into the spiritual ideas of these books- for inspiration and insights that would free me.

A breakthrough idea dawned and resonated through me (and I noticed- though I wasn’t looking for it- a sensation of the immediate mending of my injury)- – that God, being Spirit, was my support and that spiritual substance was infallible, because I was inseparable from God as one of His spiritual ideas- and that was my true substance. Matter really had no lasting part of me if I was God’s perfect spiritual man.

Also the concept of flexibility was of great help to me as I prayed. It would seem that my ankle was a picture of inflexibility as I had been keeping it rigid to help me get around.  But flexibility is a spiritual concept and can’t be opposed by the material picture of things. God, Spirit was more powerful and substantial and long-lasting than matter.

I had an overwhelming sense of gratitude during these clearer realizations of my relationship to God and emerged from the tent feeling completely unafraid and fully confident that I was healed.

I was God’s flexible idea and I could lean on the substance of Spirit to maintain and sustain me.
I shared an idea for an evening activity and it was went over well and we all had fun.

Afterwards I sat on at the edge of a rock with a co-director and friend as the loons called hauntingly and beautifully on the placid small lake. I remember looking up to the evening stars twinkling clearly and brightly above.  We had a great conversation and I could feel a change had gone on in my thought- like some attitude-adjustment was going on.

The next day I was consistently strong and able to function normally. I even did two more portages in which I solo-carried a canoe over my head- something I’d never done before- and I felt so especially grateful to be expressing such dominion.

The rest of camp had many had many more activities that I participated in without a hitch, including volleyball. The ankle had healed so fast and thoroughly that I had an aura of amazement and gratitude for Christian Science for the remainder of the camp.

(photo credit: Jeremy Hung, kayak, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)