My feet have been attached to sandals most of the summer (fear of stepping on prickles in bare feet). But on the first day of autumn I walk barefoot in the field, and it tickles my sole and my soul – where the grass is green I feel my feet sinking into its soft sheen and where the grass is dry I expect it to feel brittle and scratchy, but it doesn’t! My feet are walking on golden velvet. It feels luxurious. My feet are stretching like happy cats on the grass underneathe them. -Karen Molenaar Terrell
Karen in her twirly dress. Photo by Xander Terrell.
Perfect September morning. A soft breeze ruffles the changing leaves – rubies and gold are just starting to jewel the trees – and there’s just enough chill in the air to make me tingly aware, refreshed and waking from the semi-hibernating of a long, hot summer. – Karen Molenaar Terrell
Photo of Lake Padden reflection by Karen Molenaar Terrell.
Mind is infinite never-ending intelligence,wisdom, intuition, memory without limit or restriction not dependent on “brain, blood, bones and other material elements.” *
I am the reflection of infinite Mind – the expression of eternal Intelligence – without cracks, gaps, holes, or dents – whole and complete – the image of Love, not physique. *
Matter can’t destroy Mind or usurp Mind’s governing of Her own creation – for Mind is the one and only causation and Mind is Spirit, and Spirit is Mind – and matter and Spirit never intertwine.
I am never outside infinite Mind – never separated from the infinite Source – infinite gigabytes of memory – the Force that guides and directs all Her creation in perfect, harmonious murmuration. -Karen Molenaar Terrell
* “Man is not matter; he is not made up of brain, blood, bones, and other material elements. The Fleshly factors unrealScriptures inform us that man is made in the image and likeness of God. Matter is not that likeness. The likeness of Spirit cannot be so unlike Spirit. Man is spiritual and perfect; and because he is spiritual and perfect, he must be so understood in Christian Science. Man is idea, the image, of Love; he is not physique.” -Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p 475
“If delusion says, ‘I have lost my memory,’ contradict it. No faculty of Mind is lost. In Science, all being is eternal, spiritual, perfect, harmonious in every action. Let the perfect model be present in your thoughts instead of its demoralized opposite. This spiritualization of thought lets in the light, and brings the divine Mind, Life not death, into your consciousness.” – Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 407
Aunt Junie told me she’d heard these words once in a CS lecture: “It is never too little; too much; too late; or too soon.” And now, as I wake in the middle of the night, these words dance in my thoughts as I gaze up at the moon.
I am never too old or too young, too heavy or too thin, with too little time or too much to do what Love needs me to do, or to feel the power of Love’s touch.
I’m neither too rich or too poor, too masculine or too feminine, too dark-skinned or too light to be the perfect expression of Good right NOW I’m just right.
-Karen Molenaar Terrell
An alpine butterfly flits among the flowers on Table Mountain. Photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell.
I wake in the night to a light coming through the curtain I pull it aside and see the moon shining down on me and a bright star underneath her I watch the moon move slowly from one side of the window pane to the other and feel connected to the moon and the star and the universe beyond the star and my home 2500 miles away We are both travelers – the moon and I – traveling companions in the night -Karen Molenaar Terrell
in the quiet stillness of the morning a lone duck grooms himself on a rock near the shore of a lake as smooth as obsidian gold reflections of the forest swirl around him as he plucks his feathers and then leans over to drink from the lake and then throws his whole duck body into the cool water for a morning bath it is just him and me – me and the duck – in companionable quiet, enjoying the peace of the morning together -Karen Molenaar Terrell
Below: Lone duck at Lake Padden, Bellingham, Washington. Photos by Karen Molenaar Terrell.
mountain blueberries, tangy on my tongue, I stretch my arms wide and let the fir-scented alpine breeze swirl around me and lift the hair from my neck shoes on rock, hands finding a hand hold to pull me over a three-foot step, butterflies dancing in the wildflowers and a creek laughing around the boulders in its path – I am exactly where I’m supposed to be -Karen Molenaar Terrell
Mount Baker from the Table Mountain Trail in the North Cascades.
Today I heard, again, the story of the servants who were given a sum of money by their master, with the expectation that the servants would increase the sum and help their master prosper while he was away on a trip. There are times when I’ve heard this story and felt sympathy for the man afraid of loss – who buried his talent, afraid he would lose it, afraid of his boss. There are times when I’ve looked at the other servants – the ones who increased the talents they were given and wondered how they’d done that – had they gotten involved in pyramid schemes or the stock market or gambling or something?
But today when I heard the story again, another thought came to me: What if the talents symbolize life itself? What if we’ve all been given a life – one life, let’s say – do we bury it in the dirt like the scared servant – afraid of losing it? Is that the way? Or do we let go and release ourselves from fear and witness the good increase – watch it unfold and appear – as we invest our lives in love, joy, truth in the now and here. -Karen Molenaar Terrell
An alpine butterfly flits among the flowers on Table Mountain. Photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell.
I sit in the shade of alder trees A soft breeze off the lake fans my face and arms Sky blue dragonflies wing in a dance among the tall grasses beside the water Peace
It says 3:33 on the clock beside the bed and when I look at the clock sideways I see birds flying on the canvas in my head. I think, “Somewhere in the world a new life has just been born!” I’m filled with hope – not “hoping-for-the-best” hope, but expectancy- of-good hope – hope bigger and vaster, reaching me faster than the speed of light. -Karen Molenaar Terrell
Love’s celebration feel the joy surrounding you never-ending Life -Karen Molenaar Terrell
Adventures of the Madcap Christian Scientist 