Here are my offerings today, culled from my newly-published book of poetry, A Smile from the Cosmos.
We have just a tiny scrap of existence here
– a miniscule piece of eternity –
to love and learn and live
and leave something good behind.
Let’s not waste it on nothings.
– Karen Molenaar Terrell
Several friends have reached out to ask me if I have any thoughts about how Mary Baker Eddy might have responded to our current conflicts. What would she have thought about all that’s going on right now in our nation and our world?
I think it might be helpful to remember that Mary Baker Eddy (1821-1910) lived through tumultuous times, too. When she was born, slavery was still legal in this country, and by the time she died women still didn’t have the right to vote. During her lifetime there was the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, the impeachment of Andrew Johnson, the Teapot Dome Scandal, the Trail of Tears, the assassinations of presidents Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley, and the arrival of “Yellow Journalism.” Tensions were building around the world at the time of her death, and within just a few years after she died, WWI began. I don’t think she’d be surprised by anything that’s happening today. In fact, I believe she was preparing us to meet the challenges of today with her work, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.
Below, I’m going to type in 15 quotes from Science and Health that have been helpful to me as I’ve prayed about current events. These are quotes that bolster my courage, give me guidance in my actions and words, and give me hope. I jotted down these quotes as I was reading through the book a year ago, and I didn’t put down page numbers. I’ll leave that to you.
1) “Mortals must find refuge in Truth in order to escape the error of these latter days.”
2) “Tyranny, intolerance, and bloodshed, wherever found, arise from the belief that the infinite is formed after the pattern of mortal personality, passion, and impulse.”
3) “Error or any kind cannot hide from the law of God.”
4) “Though error hides behind a lie and excuses guilt, guilt cannot forever be concealed. Truth, through her eternal laws, unveils error. Truth causes sin to betray itself…Even the disposition to excuse guilt or to conceal it is punished. The avoidance of justice and denial of Truth tend to perpetuate sin, invoke crime, jeopardize self-control, and mock divine mercy.”
5) “Covering iniquity will prevent prosperity and the ultimate triumph of any cause.”
6) “Ignorance, subtlety, or false charity does not forever conceal error; evil will in time disclose and punish itself.”
7) “It requires courage to utter truth; for the higher Truth lifts her voice, the louder will error scream, until its inarticulate sound is forever silenced in oblivion.”
8 ) “Neither sympathy nor society should ever tempt us to cherish error in any form, and certainly we should not be error’s advocate.”
9) “Obedience to Truth gives man power and strength.”
10) “Truth, Life, and Love are the only legitimate and eternal demands on man.”
11) “Your influence for good depends upon the weight you throw into the right scale. The good you do and embody gives you the only power obtainable.”
12) “No power can withstand divine Love.”
.
13) “Christian Scientists must live under the constant pressure of the apostolic command to come out from the material world and be separate. They must renounce aggression, oppression, and the pride of power. Christianity, with the crown of Love upon her brow, must be their queen of life.”
14) “At all times and under all circumstances, overcome evil with good.”
15) “Love must triumph over hate.”
And okay, I’ve got to bring in one more:
“During this final conflict, wicked minds will endeavor to find means by which to accomplish more evil; but those who discern Christian Science will hold crime in check. They will aid in the ejection of error. They will maintain law and order, and cheerfully await the certainty of ultimate perfection.”
Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 97
I had such fun today!
I started my to-do list with a trip to the bank. There was a man with a Latino accent next to me at the counter, and we made small talk for a while while the bankers took care of us. We both finished our business at the same time, and exited the bank, smiled and wished each other a good day. And then he put out his arms for a hug! I was so touched by this. We hugged and then I unzipped my fleece jacket and showed him I was wearing my “EVERYONE IS WELCOME HERE” shirt. His face lit up in a big smile and he thanked me.
After the bank, I drove into Mount Vernon and parked near the Red Apple market. I brought out my “TRUTH JUSTICE KINDNESS” sign and brought it with me as I walked, first, to the courthouse – to put my school levy ballot in the courthouse ballot box – and then down to the Co-Op for a breve.
As I walked to the Co-Op with my sign, a couple of people honked and gave me a thumbs up, and one person yelled out her window, “I love your sign!” That made me smile.
I passed a shop window with wedding dresses topped with Seahawks t-shirts, and that made my smile even bigger. 
When I got to the Co-Op, I gave my breve order to a cheery cashier named Annabelle. When Annabelle asked for a name to put on my breve, I cringed and said, “Karen. It’s so embarrassing.”
Annabelle started laughing and said, “So you know about that?” And then she said, “But you’re one of the nice Karens.” And then, of course, I had to take her picture because she was so cool.
Annabelle told me my drink was going to take about ten minutes – they were very busy at the Co-Op today – and I let her know that wasn’t a problem.
As I’d been walking to the Co-Op, I’d gotten it into my noggin that I wanted a picture of me holding my sign underneath the painting of my friend, the late great John “Peace Wizard” Bromet, that was hanging in the Co-Op. I trusted I would find the right person to take the picture for me when the time came. And I did! As soon as I started up the stairs to the loft, I spied a man sitting at a table facing me, and I just knew he was the man I needed for this job! I approached him and asked him (I learned his name was Andy) if he could take the photo for me. Andy smiled and said of course he could do that for me.
Then I went back downstairs to see if my breve was ready, and this is when I heard someone calling my name. I looked over to see my old friend, Pat, sitting at a table with a buddy. Pat introduced me to his friend, Nils, as the daughter of Dee Molenaar – Nils is a mountaineer and had heard of Dad. He asked my name and I said, “Karen. Because every place needs a Karen, right?” Nils and Pat laughed and we chatted for a while, then my breve was ready, and I brought it with me back down the street to the courthouse for the noon rally.
I saw the regular noon rally crew there – Marilyn and John and Ginny – but there was a whole host of new people I hadn’t met before, too. Across the street there was a young man dancing to music and holding his rally sign, and I just had to join the “dancing man.” I learned the dancing man’s name is Isaac, and that he’s involved with the Community-to-Community organization. Isaac had picked out the music that was playing over the loudspeakers and it was great! One of my favorites was “A Change is Gonna Come.” How perfect!
Such joy! I can’t remember ever having more fun at a rally. The Canadians hosted the gathering at Peace Arch Park today and they always pick the best music: Stand By Me, Bridge Over Troubled Water, We Are the World, You’ve Got a Friend, What a Wonderful World.
There’s something really cool about Americans and Canadians standing shoulder-to-shoulder in unity at our border. The lines into Canada were packed today – I saw license plates from Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, and British Columbia – cars full of smiling people of every color and race – giving us the thumbs up, cheering, honking, waving. I was so inspired by the positive energy and kindness I witnessed today.
At one point I strolled three yards to the Canadian side of the border marker in the park, just to see how things were going up north. Then I traveled back to the States, where my fellow American, Steve, asked me how my travels to Canada had gone. I told him I’d had a great trip.
I ran into our old Bow neighbors, Carol and Don, who used to own the Rhododendron Cafe. It was so good to see them again! They live not far from Peace Ark Park now, and this isn’t the first Peace Arch rally they’ve attended.
And – get this! – I saw someone who looked very much like my former student, Hector, waving and grinning from one of the cars in the line to the border. I grinned and waved back – but I thought, “Nah. That can’t be Hector. What would he be doing here?” Later, Hector texted me to confirm that it was him!
As I was leaving the rally, holding my TRUTH JUSTICE KINDNESS sign so it faced the lines of cars – cars were still honking at me, and people were waving. The support today was so encouraging!
**
At one of the rallies I participated in last week, a tall young Black man joined us and we exchanged “how are you doing?”s. We both decided to cross the road at the same time. As we crossed, he looked down at me and grinned and said, “I’ll protect you.” I looked up at him and smiled and said, “And I’ll protect you!” It was such a lovely exchange. Just had to share.
Yesterday, as I was standing on the corner in front of the courthouse with my TRUTH JUSTICE KINDNESS sign, a man who was stopped in his car at the stoplight, honked and gave me a “thumbs down.” I pointed to each word on my sign, smiling and with my eyebrows raised in question. Truth? Thumbs down. Justice? Thumbs down. Kindness? Thumbs down. And now I was laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes. What the heck?! Seriously?! What the heck?! The man holding a sign next to me started laughing, too. It was just too classic, you know? And we stood there, together, laughing at the sad ridiculousness of it all. I haven’t had such a good laugh in days. “Bless his heart,” I said, and we laughed some more.
But the thing is, I really meant that: Bless his heart. I found I wanted nothing but good for the thumbs-down-man. Bless his heart. Help him find himself as God’s innocent, loving child again – the child, expression, manifestation, idea, image and likeness of his Creator – Love and Truth – never separated for a moment from all that’s good.
Bless us ALL. Each and every beautiful one of us. Heal our hardened hearts. Help us to know ourselves as the precious children of our Father-Mother God – as the reflections of Love.
Amen.
(Still laughing.) 😀
My thanks to employee Robby at Fred Meyer’s who stopped what he was doing to come help me get the item I wanted from the toppiest shelf. Robby was very cool.
I took a moment to tell a father with an unhappy child in his cart what a good job he was doing – I saw his patience and calm as he talked his son through a difficult moment. He grinned and thanked me for noticing.
As I was going through the checkout I chatted and connected with my cashier, Patty, who is a former neighbor of mine. Then I turned to the woman sitting in a wheelchair behind me in line, and said, “Hello!” I think I took her by surprise because she got a big grin on her face before giving me a hello back. The man who was with her – her son maybe? – smiled at me, too. The woman said to Patty (referring to me), “She’s chatty.” And Patty laughed and explained that we used to be old neighbors. “We go waaay back,” I said, laughing.
I got to the door to exit, and there was another woman there, preparing to head out into the parking lot. It was dumping rain out there, and the woman and I looked at the rain and then at each other and started spontaneously laughing. “Hoods up!” I said, bringing my hood over my head. She pointed out that she didn’t have a hood. I gave her a quick nod, like we were comrades going into battle, and wished her good luck. She smiled and returned my good wishes.
His words angered the bigots,
the bullies, the hateful, and greedy.
When he forced them to look
at themselves and see their own flaws,
he triggered their hate.
When he told them to love
their neighbors, feed the hungry,
welcome the stranger, and heal
the sick, they accused him
of all the evil they saw in themselves.
He agitated their egos,
stirred the stagnant waters,
brought cleansing sunlight
to the mold of their thoughts.
And their little egos were not happy
about this.
“What have we to do with thee?
Leave us alone!” they cried.
But he loved them too much
to be silent and let them be.
His unyielding love for all God’s
children exposed their own hate
and incensed them.
He was spat on, struck, ridiculed,
and crucified for his love.
But he rose on the third day
and made breakfast
for those who loved him.
Because Love always wins.
– Karen Molenaar Terrell
“If you venture upon the quiet surface of error and are in sympathy with error, what is there to disturb the waters? What is there to strip off error’s disguise?
“If you launch your bark upon the ever-agitated but healthful 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.”
– Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 254
“The “still, small voice” of scientific thought reaches over continent and ocean to the globe’s remotest bound. The inaudible voice of Truth is, to the human mind, “as when a lion roareth.” It is heard in the desert and in dark places of fear. It arouses the “seven thunders” of evil, and stirs their latent forces to utter the full diapason of secret tones. Then is the power of Truth demonstrated, – made manifest in the destruction of error.”
Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 559
Something changed in my thought today, and I’m not sure I’m going to explain this well, but the change in my thought brought me a weird sort of comfort. I stopped being disappointed in my country, and found myself disillusioned instead.
It came to me that this vision I’ve held of my country as a noble place of freedom and “the land of opportunity” has always been an illusion. We’ve never been that. There have been good people in this country, for sure – people of courage and integrity, kindness and compassion – but there has always been racism and bigotry, greed and me-first-ness in this country, too. My nation isn’t unique in this – most every nation on this planet has dealt with the insanity we’re seeing so brazenly exhibited in the U.S. right now. But today it became clear to me that we’re no better than any other country, and sometimes we’re a lot worse.
And accepting that – accepting that we’ve always been flawed – has sort of relieved the stress of trying to “get back to” what I thought we were. Now I’m looking forward to moving past what we’ve always been, and helping my country progress towards what it could be. The time has never been more ripe for progress in the United States, and in the world.
“You were chosen. All of you. Not because of who you are, but because of who you might become.” (A line from Now You See Me 2)
Quiet and still,
before the family is up,
I turn the lights on
the Christmas tree
and sit in its cheery glow.
I wrap myself all up
in the soft blanket of Love
and feel Her enveloping
the world in peace and hope.
I sip my lemon ginger tea
with honey, and contemplate
Christmases past when the sons
were youngsters, and my parents
were still with us.
Yesterday I was feeling sad
about the absence of parents
and friends who’ve gone on –
but in this moment I feel them
still with me and I hug them all
in my thoughts and smile
at their still-nearness.
Love is never lost.
All the good of then
is still with me here.
Karen Molenaar Terrell
On December 11, 1982, I met Scotty for the first time. We were at a wedding – he was the photographer and I was the wedding singer. Here is our how-we-met story…
***
Okay, so there was this woman I knew. She was not a girly girl. She’d been raised with brothers, a mother who had no interest in accessories or luxury, and a mountain man for a father. Cosmetics and frou-frou clothes were not a part of her life as she grew up. Instead of a purse, she had her faithful hiking backpack. Instead of high heels, she had her tennis shoes and boots.
She was what you would call a late bloomer in the romance department. She was awkward around men and very self-conscious about any feminine wiles that might inadvertently peek out of her persona. Feminine wiles were not highly valued in her family and it was a little embarrassing to have any. There were young men who were attracted to her, but in her teens and early twenties she was mostly oblivious to their attraction or scared of it. There were young men to whom she was attracted, too, of course – but she mostly enjoyed fantasizing about them from afar, rather than having an actual relationship with any of them, and on those rare occasions when she took it in her head to try to flirt with one of them she had no idea how to go about it.
There came a day, though, when for the first time our heroine took interest in a male thigh. It was in the mountains of Colorado and the man who came with the thigh was young, confident, and easy to flirt with. Our heroine was twenty-two and for the first time realized that there might be more to find in the mountains than a good hike.
Not long after her epiphany about male thighs and other things male, a Dutch jazz musician entered her sphere. Now here was someone expert with the ways of romance. They spent almost a year together, culminating in a trip to The Netherlands to spend time with his family.
The Netherlands was the home of our heroine’s ancestors, and she felt a certain kinship with the people there. She loved the land – the tangy, saltwater smell of it, the wide open flatness and the canals, the black and white cows, the white lace curtains, the brick streets, the oldness and history. But, alas, there were no mountains to climb there. And, further alas, the Dutch jazz musician became someone she didn’t know when he stepped back onto his native soil.
In an autumnal Dutch wood on a sunny Dutch day, they both agreed that a certain kind of love and a certain kind of hate are very closely related and snipped the cords of their romance.
The relationship had to end. Our heroine knew that. But knowing it didn’t seem to make it any easier. It felt like someone she loved had died. She came home from Europe with her tail between her legs, dark circles under her eyes, and weighing about the same as Tinkerbell.
I think most people have experienced heartbreak at least once in their life. It’s a part of growing-up really. Makes us more empathetic to the pain of others, makes us more compassionate, and that’s a good thing – a blessing. And as Mary Baker Eddy writes in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, “Every trial of our faith in God makes us stronger.”
***
It took our heroine a few months to recover and then she earnestly entered what she has come to call her “dating phase.” She was meeting men everywhere – parking lots, the supermarket, the workplace, hiking, through friends. These men were talented, witty, and smart – a German physicist, a teacher-cum-comedy script writer, a sweetheart of a man who introduced her to cross-country skiing for the first time – and it was a heady thing for her to have them all show an interest in her.
At first the dating phase was great fun. Because her life wasn’t committed to one person she had the freedom to go and do what she wanted, meet and date all these interesting men, take road trips on impulse, head for the hills on a whim, with no one else’s schedule to have to negotiate.
But about the time she turned twenty-six something began to change in her thought. Singlehood began to lose its charm and these men she’d been meeting all started to seem the same to her. Dating became a little monotonous. She felt unsatisfied with the lack of direction in her life. She was beginning to feel it was time to get serious about this relationship thing and stop dinking around.
In a moment of self honesty, she admitted to herself she’d been going out with the wrong kind of men for what she now needed and wanted in her life. Mary Baker Eddy writes in the chapter entitled “Marriage” in Science and Health: “Kindred tastes, motives, and aspirations are necessary to the formation of a happy and permanent companionship.” And so our heroine made a list of qualities that she wanted to find in someone: She wanted to meet a man of compassion and integrity; If this man was going to be a part of her life he’d also need a sense of humor, believe me; And he’d have to love the mountains, of course; and she’d really like him to have some kind of a creative, stimulating occupation; And, as a last whimsical thing, she decided that he’d come from either California, Colorado, or Connecticut. She’d gone out with short men, tall men, blond, dark, wiry, and sturdy – and they’d all been attractive to her. But an image of The One came to mind: He’d be about six feet tall, lanky, have brown hair, and glasses.
***
In December of ‘82 a woman named Peggy, whom our heroine had met a couple of years before through the Dutch jazz musician, invited her to her wedding. To be honest, our heroine had no intention of going to this wedding, not wanting to mingle with all these people she’d met through the Dutchman. But on the eve of the wedding the woman who was scheduled to be the wedding singer got laryngitis and asked our heroine if she could take her place as the singer. She’d never sung at a wedding before, but asked herself, “How hard could it be?” and agreed to sing a song or two.
***
She spotted him as soon as she got there. The wedding was an informal affair held in a living room, and this man with a camera – the wedding photographer, she guessed – was weaving his way through the people who were seated and waiting for the wedding. Everywhere he stopped to chat, people would start chuckling. She surmised he must have a sense of humor. And he had a great smile – the full-faced, crinkly-eyed kind.
She found herself instantly attracted to him.
The wedding began, the ceremony proceeded, she sang her song (a little nervously), and kept her eyes on the man with the camera.
After the ceremony she, who had until now always been the pursued rather than the pursuer, walked up to him and introduced herself. He blinked behind his glasses, probably surprised at her directness, and grinned down at her. “Scott,” he said, shaking her hand.
At the reception, held in a local community hall, they talked and got to know each other better. She asked him if he liked the mountains. He said yes. She asked him if he’d ever climbed any. Yes, he said, Mt. Baker. She mentally put a check by the “loves mountains” on the list of qualities she was looking for in a man. Their conversation continued. She learned he was a newspaper photographer and checked off the requirement for “stimulating, creative job.” She saw how he opened the kitchen door to help an elderly woman with her hands full. “Compassionate” was checked off her list.
He asked her if he could fetch her something to drink. She told him she’d really just like some water. He nodded his head.
“Wadduh, it is,” he said.
“Wadduh?” she asked. “Are you from the east coast?”
“Connecticut,” he answered, grinning.
***
A year and a half later Scott got a call from Peggy. Our heroine answered the phone. She told Peggy that her husband wasn’t home right then, but could she take a message? When she heard the caller’s name she let her know her own. Peggy admitted she’d heard rumors that Scott and she had married. She was happy to have had a part in their meeting each other.
Scott and our heroine have been happily married for almost 42 years now.
And our heroine realizes that she wouldn’t have been blest with her love if she hadn’t first met the jazz musician. From cursing to blessing. It’s all connected.
– excerpt from Blessings: Adventures of a Madcap Christian Scientist
(Last year Peggy sent me pictures from that day! She sent me another one, too, of me with a Santa hat, probably taken around the same time.)
Adventures of the Madcap Christian Scientist 