Category Archives: politics

Love Has Been Preparing Us

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Mary Baker Eddy wrote in Science and Health (p. 107): “God had been graciously preparing me during many years for the reception of this final revelation of the absolute divine Principle of scientific mental healing.”

What did this “gracious” preparation look like? Well, let’s see… she was widowed at the age of 22, when she was pregnant with her only child. Her son was taken from her when he was four and she didn’t see him again until he was grown. Her second husband was a philanderer and they divorced. She suffered from debilitating illness from an early age. And at the age of 45 she slipped on an icy sidewalk and was so severely injured the doctor declared she was dying.

Maybe God has been “graciously preparing” all of us for what we’re facing now. Think back to all the challenges you’ve faced – the times you were terrified, the times when things seemed hopeless – and then remember the Father-Mother Love that brought you through. Remember the healings. “Hold fast to that which is good.” (Thessalonians 5:21).

I think Love has been preparing all of us – each in our own way, each with our own lessons, giving each of us our own gifts to use right now.

Dear Friends Who Support the Current Administration

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Dear friends who support our current administration –

I feel the need to clarify my feelings and thoughts about what is happening in our country right now. Some of you have accused me of hating our president, and have been puzzled about why I want to pay taxes on what you call “wasteful spending.” Here are my thoughts:

1) No, I do not hate our current president. I do, however, hate what our current president is doing to our country.

2) I actually feel good about paying taxes that support our federal workers, our federal infrastructure, and the well-being of my fellow Americans. For example: I don’t mind paying taxes to support our veterans; those who need medicaid to stay alive; the air traffic controllers who get us safely to our destinations; the rangers who maintain our parks, and rescue our kiesters from our misadventures; the FEMA workers who help our loved ones rebuild their lives after natural disasters; the scientists and researchers of NOAA who help us deal with climate change; or the farmers who, through USAID, provide food for those who are starving. I do not consider any of this “wasteful” spending.

I do not, however, feel good about paying taxes to give tax cuts to billionaires, or to subsidize their private companies.

Karen

“I’m Right Here.”

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I woke up at 2:00 in the morning, feeling scared for the world. I went downstairs to commune with the Cosmos and the cats. Sparky cat settled onto the sofa next to me, and blinked his reassurance. I heard Love say, “I’m right here.”

I went back to bed to sleep a little more, and when I got up I drove up to Fairhaven for my walk on the boardwalk. I haven’t been there for a week and I’ve really missed it. But it seemed empty when I got there – almost like a ghost town. I wondered if maybe the cold was keeping people away, or maybe we aren’t getting as many Canadian visitors as we normally do. It was kind of weird. But then a young woman carrying a cup of coffee smiled at me, and I heard Love say to me, “I’m right here with you.”

I took the boardwalk down to the coffee shop in Boulevard Park and ordered a mocha. I sat on my favorite high chair and swung my legs back and forth while I sipped my drink and toodled around on my phone and watched people. When I left the shop, the baristas called out, “Have a good day!” I thanked them, and then called back, “You, too!” They laughed and nodded their heads. And Love said, “I’m still here.”

Going back on the boardwalk towards Fairhaven was warmer – my back was against the wind. I saw a man coming my direction turn around and walk backwards, and I smiled at him and said, “That’s better, isn’t it?” He grinned and nodded and said it was great exercise to walk backwards, and it was also a lot warmer.

A sweet pup named Remi approached me for a scratch behind the ears. He looked like he was hobbling a little and his human explained that he’d just been through two surgeries – one for his hip and another for his back. She said he’d been paralyzed at some point. But here he was – walking! I told Remi’s human that I was glad he had her, and she said she was glad she had him.

And Love said, “I’m right here.”

I had already decided I was going to treat myself to a breakfast at the Colophon. I hoped I’d get my favorite seat in the corner – but I’d take whatever I was offered. I also hoped Taryn would be there – she always makes me smile.

The hostess recognized me and welcomed me in. She asked me if I’d like my favorite seat in the corner! Then Taryn appeared – she was going to be my server! And THEN – when I got situated in my corner seat, the Four Tops came on the background music channel, singing, “I’ll be there…” and I started cracking up.

I love when the Cosmos has fun with me.

It Ain’t Easy

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Okay. Here’s my current struggle: I’m trying to keep my wall kind and joyful; I’m also trying to be an ally to those in need of allies right now; I’m trying to nurture the good in people and trying not to feed what’s bad (and this includes myself); I’m trying to trust in Good – trying to trust that my fellow humans have the wisdom and courage to see and do what’s right and decent even when the odds are against them. And when I bring all of this to my wall it looks like a hodgpodge patchwork of swans and smiling pups, political insanity and heroism, frustration, anger, Christopher Walken and Borowitz. It’s a little messy right now.

I apologize. I’m trying to bring order out of chaos here and it ain’t easy.

If nothing else, please know this: I love you. I honor the good in you. The world needs all the good you have to bring to it right now.

Note to a Friend

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Note to a friend:

I know that God loves you no less than She loves me. I know that God loves all of Her children without limit. And I trust that She is continually leading and guiding each of us down our own paths in life, with our own lessons waiting for us – and it’s not my business to decide how you should think or feel or be. But it IS my business to follow God’s direction in my own life – and that includes taking a stand for what I know is honest and right, and confronting evil when I see it.

In love, Karen

Staying Sane, While Staying Informed (Revisited)

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I originally published this post in 2012, but I found myself revisiting it this morning.

…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, p. 97

***

A friend posted a great cartoon (by David Sippress) on Facebook the other day. It shows a man and woman walking down the street, and the woman is saying: “My desire to be well-informed is currently at odds with my desire to remain sane.”

I can really relate to this cartoon.

The desire to be a responsible and contributing citizen means that I want to be aware of, and informed about, the challenges my nation faces. But how does one stay informed about these challenges, without feeling overwhelmed by them? Sometimes the fear and hate that seem to permeate our atmosphere can seem impossible to overcome, and I find myself getting pulled inexorably into the brouhaha. I see inequity and unfairness, hypocrisy and bigotry, and it makes me really angry. And the angrier I get the more real and powerful the inequity and bigotry seem to me, and the less powerful I feel in being able to make anything better.

In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy writes: “We may well be astonished at sin, sickness, and death. We may well be perplexed at human fear; and still more astounded at hatred, which lifts its hydra head, showing its horns in the many inventions of evil. But why should we stand aghast at nothingness?” (p. 563)

I can imagine someone reading this quote by Mary Baker Eddy and shaking his head, wondering how anyone can write off all the hate and fear as “nothing.” And I can imagine someone reading this quote and comparing Christian Scientists to those three monkeys who “see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil.” But that’s not what Christian Science is about at all.

Eddy writes: “Expose and denounce the claims of evil and disease in all their forms, but realize no reality in them. A sinner is not reformed merely by assuring him that he cannot be a sinner because there is no sin. To put down the claim of sin, you must detect it, remove the mask, point out the illusion, and thus get the victory over sin and so prove its unreality.” (Science and Health, p. 447.)

Note that when Mary Baker Eddy writes about exposing evil and removing its mask, nowhere does she say we do this in a spirit of anger.  In fact, earlier in Science and Health, she writes, “The way to extract error from mortal mind is to pour in truth through flood-tides of Love.” (Science and Health, p. 201.)

I believe our purpose here is to love – love is what gives meaning to life. And so it doesn’t really make any sense for me to be angry about anger, or to be unkind in the name of kindness, or to feel hate about those who hate – because anger, hate, and unkindness defeat the whole purpose of it all.

I really like the thoughts Kathi Petersen, a spiritually-minded friend from Nova Scotia, sent me earlier this week: “Is there something wrong with wanting to concentrate your mind and energy on positive things? Are we shirking our responsibilities somehow, not being actively embroiled with the downward tendency of our society? Does it somehow help the planet if we spend our days alarmed and shouting about what is going on? I feel so much that the opposite is true … That what the world needs most is people who can spread some Joy … Maybe every village needs its Joy-spreaders, and we should be given some kind of stipend to concentrate on good and happy things …”

Isn’t that a wonderful idea?!

I want to be one of the Joy-spreaders. I want to completely overpower the feelings of gloom and doom, of hopelessness and anger and fear and hate, with joy and good cheer and love.

I started off this blog with a quote by Mary Baker Eddy. The one word that stands out to me, as I reread it, is the word cheerfully.  She tells us that Christian Scientists will “aid in the ejection of error” and “cheerfully await the certainty of ultimate perfection.” Isn’t it great that we don’t need to give up our joy to overcome evil? In fact, maybe the only way we can overcome evil is with joy and love.

***

At all times and under all circumstances, overcome evil with good. – Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health, p. 571.

The good you do and embody gives you the only power obtainable. – Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health, p. 192.

Look for the Good in Others. Look for the Good in Yourself, Too.

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Note to self: Be patient with others, and with yourself, too. We are living in a society where people will assume the worst of others, and attribute the worst intentions to each other. People are on the defensive and in pain – shattered from years of being bullied and shamed and denigrated. Be patient. Be kind. Look for the good in others. Look for the good in yourself, too.

We’re all doing the best we can.
-Karen Molenaar Terrell

Things I Learned on the Amazon Discussion Forums

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Things I learned on the Amazon Discussion Forums (the forums were on Amazon from 2007 to 2017 and I was involved with the forums from 2007 to about 2011):

1) Read and reread and edit. You don’t have to shoot from the hip. The beauty of written discourse is that you have time to think about what you want to say in your responses to others. Don’t be afraid to use the delete button.

2) You actually don’t have to respond at all. Just because someone has tagged you in a comment or a post doesn’t mean you have to invest time and energy in responding. You get to choose how you want to spend your time.

3) If you’re going to respond to someone, take the time to actually read their comment/post and try to see their perspective. See if there’s something you can learn from them.

4) Don’t be afraid to apologize if someone catches you in a mistake. Humility is a beautiful thing.

5) When possible, bring humor into the discussion, and especially don’t be afraid to laugh at your own foibles and flaws. We all have them.

6) If you find yourself launching a personal attack on someone – delete, delete, delete. Personal insults never ever ever solve anything or make anything better.

7) If you see someone being bullied, step up and come to their defense.

8 ) Do not take offense. Do not get all fluffed-up and indignant if someone disagrees with you or appears to be criticizing your beliefs. Don’t take any of that personally. People will disagree with you sometimes, and it’s okay.

9) Don’t expect everyone to have the same beliefs as you, and don’t think that they’re “stupid” if they don’t. There are as many perspectives as there are people on the planet.

10) Be kind.

Going Minimalist

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Going minimal-
ist. My only task in this
moment is to breathe.
-Karen Molenaar Terrell

Let Every Hour Be Your Finest Hour

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My dear Humoristians –

Go out there and live this day like this is the last day you have to live. Show kindness with wild abandon. Look for every opportunity to express Love. Share laughter with people in desperate need of a good laugh. Lift hearts. Bring joy. Give hope. Let every hour be your finest hour. Treasure every moment you’ve been given.

Go out there and work your magic!

Karen