Tag Archives: love

Meeting New Friends at the Universalist-Unitarian Church

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God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. – I John 4

The vital part, the heart and soul of Christian Science, is Love. – Mary Baker Eddy

***

Last week one of my Facebook friends asked me to list 20 albums that were meaningful to me in some way. It took me a few days to think about this. I listed the usual stuff from my generation – Grateful Dead’s Truckin‘, stuff by the Traveling Wilburys, Chicago, Simon and Garfunkle. Then I realized there were a couple albums that were meaningful to me because of the cozy memories they brought back from my childhood – albums my mom and dad used to play on their big reel-to-reel audiotape machine: Scheherazade, Marty Robbins’ 50 Guitars Go South of the Border, the Lawrence of Arabia theme song. I hadn’t heard any of that music for more than 30 years, but just thinking about those albums brought back sentimental feelings… I especially tried to remember what Scheherazade sounded like…

***

A couple of years ago I ran into the parent of one of my former students at a musical song-singing get-together – I no longer remember how I ended up there or who invited me – but I do remember how happy I was to see Sally again. One thing led to another and a couple days later I sent her a copy of my book, Blessings: Adventures of a Madcap Christian Scientist. After she read it, she asked me if I’d ever be interested in sharing my way of life as a Christian Scientist with her Universalist-Unitarian congregation, and I said sure – I could do that. 🙂

Time went by, and I sort of forgot all about it.

Then a few weeks ago Sally emailed me and asked me if I could speak today, and I said yes.

Okay, I have to admit I was nervous about this new adventure. I’d never been to a U-U church before and really didn’t know anything about it. But whenever I’d take that Belief-o-matic quiz ( http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Quizzes/BeliefOMatic.aspx ), I’d always test 100% Universalist-Unitarian, so – seeing as how I tested as a Universalist-Unitarian myself – I was really curious about U-U beliefs.

Last week, as a sort of preparation for my talk today, I attended the U-U service. Everyone was very welcoming, and I felt right at home. Several of the congregants mentioned that they were looking forward to seeing me again today, and hearing what I had to say about Christian Science.

***

Although as a teacher I’m used to speaking in front of teenagers – I’ve never given a talk to a group of grown-ups before, and certainly not about my way of life. How could I share my understanding of Christian Science in 45 minutes, without either boring everyone or looking like a complete nut? Yikes, right?!

And then it came to me – Love! Love is where I needed to start. Love is where I needed to end, too. Love is, for me, the essence of Christian Science – the essence, really, of anything and everything that matters. Now I had my topic. Sally asked me to share what a typical service might be like in a Christian Science church, and that gave me a format.

I decided to offer a sort of abbreviated amalgamation of a Wednesday night testimony meeting and a Sunday church service – and picked readings from the The Bible and the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, that went with the topic of Love.

***

The offering came before I went up to the podium to speak, and as I was sitting there, listening to Sally play the offeratory, it hit me all of a sudden that I recognized that music! Was it…? Could it be…?!!! I looked over at the program my husband was holding to see what was listed as the offeratory – and saw that Sally was, indeed, playing Scheherazade!!! Whoaaaaah, right?!!! How cool is THAT?! (Later, Sally told me that she’d never heard that song until a few months before when she’d picked it up at a music store. I love when stuff like that happens!)

And then it was my turn to speak.

I explained that I was not an official spokesperson for the Christian Science church, and was in no way representative of all Christian Scientists – that I could only share my own experience with this way of life, and my own understanding of Christian Science. I talked for a moment, too, about the Christian Science concept of “God” as Love – not an anthropomorphic being zapping his children to hell with lightning bolts. I shared the synonyms the discoverer of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, gives for God: Principle, Mind, Soul, Spirit, Life, Truth, and Love. I asked the congregation to substitute the word “Love” or the word “Truth” for God whenever I read the word “God” from the Scriptures or the Christian Science textbook. And I asked the congregation to join with me in using the service to send out thoughts of peace and love into the world consciousness. I told them we were going to heal the world today. My new friends smiled. Universalist-Unitarians are good sports. 🙂

I read a quote by Nando Parrado from the book Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home, which I think expresses really well my own thoughts about God: “I did not feel God as most people see Him. I did feel something larger than myself, something in the mountains and the glaciers and the glowing sky that, in rare moments, reassured me, and made me feel that the world was orderly and loving and good… It was simply a silence, a wholeness, an awe-inspiring simplicity. It seemed to reach me through my own feelings of love, and I have often thought that when we feel what we call love, we are really feeling our connection to this awesome presence… It wasn’t cleverness or courage or any kind of competence or savvy that saved us, it was nothing more than love, our love for each other, for our families, for the lives we wanted so desperately to live.”

Then I read the passages I’d picked out from the Bible and Science and Health; read the words to Mary Baker Eddy’s poem, Love; played In His Eyes by Mindy Jostyn  on the CD-player; and, at the end, invited the congregation to join me in a rousing rendition of “We Shall Overcome.”  And they did!!!

There was power in that room. A flood of hope, joy, love,and  courage was sent out into the universal consciousness by my new friends at the U-U church.

Did you feel it? 🙂

***

Love

Brood o’er us with Thy sheltering wing,
’Neath which our spirits blend
Like brother birds, that soar and sing,
And on the same branch bend.
The arrow that doth wound the dove
Darts not from those who watch and love.

If thou the bending reed would break
By thought or word unkind,
Pray that His Spirit you partake,
Who loved and healed mankind:
Seek holy thoughts and heavenly strain,
That make men one in love remain.

Learn, too, that wisdom’s rod is given
For faith to kiss, and know;
That greetings glorious from high heaven,
Whence joys supernal flow,
Come from that Love, divinely near,
Which chastens pride and earthborn fear.

Through God, who gave that word of might
Which swelled creation’s lay:
“Let there be light, and there was light.”
What chased the clouds away?
’Twas Love whose finger traced aloud
A bow of promise on the cloud.

Thou to whose power our hope we give,
Free us from human strife.
Fed by Thy love divine we live,
For Love alone is life;
And life most sweet, as heart to heart
Speaks kindly when we meet and part.

“Love… blazons the night with starry gems”

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 It is Love which paints the petal with myriad hues, glances in the warm sunbeam, arches  the cloud with the bow of beauty, blazons the night with starry gems, and covers earth with loveliness. – Mary Baker Eddy

Arctic regions, sunny tropics, giant hills, winged winds, mighty billows, verdant vales, festive flowers, and glorious heavens, – all point to Mind, the spiritual  intelligence they reflect. The floral apostles are hieroglyphs of Deity. Suns and planets teach grand lessons.  The stars make night beautiful, and the leaflet turns naturally towards the light. – Mary Baker Eddy

***

Just took the dog for her nightly walk. It is freezing out there. The lawn is sparkling with frost, and the sky is sparkling with stars…

I heard stories today – scary stories about people doing scary things – hurting each other, showing no kindness or care for their fellow man. I admit that for a while I felt overwhelmed by the sadness of those stories. Helpless to make things better.

But when I looked up at the stars tonight – their far-away light reaching us through milliions of miles and thousands of years  – I felt as I always feel when I look out at the stars – like I’m part of something really amazing. Like there’s a majestic purpose to it all, and we’re all of us a part of that purpose. 

And my thoughts went to those people doing the terrible things to their fellow man. I wondered if they were looking up at the stars, too – or if, at some point, they’d stopped looking at them. I asked them, in my thoughts, if they realize how amazing they are, and what an amazing world they are a part of.  I found myself hoping that they would look up at the glittering sky and share in what I’m feeling right now – share in the joy, share in the love – know their beauty and nobility as Love’s children.  I found myself hoping  and longing for all of creation to see the universe through the eyes of Love.  As Mary Baker Eddy writes in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures:  “It is Love which paints the petal with myriad hues, glances in the warm sunbeam, arches  the cloud with the bow of beauty, blazons the night with starry gems, and covers earth with loveliness.”

There’s an oft-repeated line from the movie, Clash of the Titans: “Release the kraken!” And it came to me yesterday that it’s beyond time we “Release the peace!” instead. Our world is long past krakens. We all deserve more than myth and hatred and violence.  It’s time we recognize who we each are as the children of Love, made in the image and likeness of Love.

A new friend in Africa who’s just finished reading my book, Blessings: Adventures of a Madcap Christian Scientist, sent me a lovely message this morning. This part of his message especially touched me: “i now feel like you are an African and i can boast of having a new and a good friend…” I love that! I love being seen as an African by an African. That has got to be the highest praise.

I know my new friend looks up at the stars when his part of the world is dark. And I’m sure that he feels what I feel, too, when he gazes on them. I know he looks up at the stars through Love’s eyes.

I’m so very glad to know we are dwelling under the stars, and amongst them, together.

Midnight foretells the dawn. Led by a solitary star amid the darkness, the Magi of old foretold the Messiahship of Truth. Is the wise man of to-day believed, when he beholds the light which heralds Christ’s eternal dawn and describes its effulgence? – Mary Baker Eddy

 

Hear what Love is saying…

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Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.  – I John 4

***

I’ve been performing a sort of experiment the last couple days.  The experiment started when I was conducting the service yesterday morning, and reading with my way cool podium partner, Liz.  Yesterday’s Bible Lesson was on the “Doctrine of Atonement” – or, the doctrine of “at-one-ment” – the concepts of Love and unity and one-ness filled every section of the readings.  And, as I was listening to Liz read her citations from The Bible, I found myself mentally replacing the word “God” in the citations with the word “Love.”

Liz read (from Deuteronomy 6): “The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord they God with all thine heart, and with all they soul, and with all they might… Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you…” and I heard: “God is one Love: And thou shalt love Love with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might… don’t pursue, seek, follow, or desire anything but Love…”.

Liz read (from Ezekiel 33): “Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the Lord.” And I heard: “Come, I pray you, and hear what Love is saying…”.

Liz read (from Psalms 77): “Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God. Thou art the God that doest wonders…” and I heard “Love’s way is the way to find peace: who and what is so great as Love? Love performs wonders.”

Liz read (from Jeremiah 32): “…the Great, the Mighty God, the Lord of hosts, is his name, Great in counsel, and mighty in work…” and I heard “Love is mighty, strong, and powerful.  To follow the counsel and course of Love and to perform the work of Love gives us power.”

This experiment has been a revelation for me.  It has added, for me, a new depth to the First Commandment: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”   If you think of “Love” as the “me”, then what that first commandment is really saying is “Don’t put anything else before Love. Don’t make anything else more important in your life than Love. Don’t worship any power but Love.”  And duh, right? Haven’t we all found that when we pursue money, prestige, position, material possessions, political power – when those things are our goals – we’re never really satisfied.  I have learned through my own life experience that to follow after anything but Love is not going to bring me joy, or peace, or wholeness.

In the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy writes: “Dost thou ‘love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all they soul, and with all thy mind’? This command includes much, even the surrender of all merely material sensation, affection, and worship. This is the El Dorado of Christianity.” And in Matthew 6, Jesus tells us, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Replace “kingdom of God” with “Love” and see where that leads you. Whoahhh…. right? 🙂

Jesus tells us (Luke 17: 21), “Behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” Love is within us.  We don’t have to die to experience the kingdom of God.  It is ours to claim right now. Love lived is heaven on earth.

I know this has been said a gazillion times before, but that doesn’t make it less true:  It – everything, life itself – really is all about Love, isn’t it? Love is the purpose. Love is the solution. Love really is the answer.

I used this hymn – with words by Mary Baker Eddy – during the service yesterday.  I believe Eddy’s words totally capture the power of Love:

Brood o’er us with Thy sheltering wing,
’Neath which our spirits blend
Like brother birds, that soar and sing,
And on the same branch bend.
The arrow that doth wound the dove
Darts not from those who watch and love.

If thou the bending reed would break
By thought or word unkind,
Pray that His Spirit you partake,
Who loved and healed mankind:
Seek holy thoughts and heavenly strain,
That make men one in love remain.

Learn, too, that wisdom’s rod is given
For faith to kiss, and know;
That greetings glorious from high heaven,
Whence joys supernal flow,
Come from that Love, divinely near,
Which chastens pride and earthborn fear.

Through God, who gave that word of might
Which swelled creation’s lay:
“Let there be light, and there was light.”
What chased the clouds away?
’Twas Love whose finger traced aloud
A bow of promise on the cloud.

Thou to whose power our hope we give,
Free us from human strife.
Fed by Thy love divine we live,
For Love alone is life;
And life most sweet, as heart to heart
Speaks kindly when we meet and part.

I’m not really interested in Mary Baker Eddy’s personal life. Does that make me, like, a bad Christian Scientist?

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“Those who look for me in person, or elsewhere than in my writings, lose me instead of find me.  I hope and trust that you and I may meet in truth and know each other there, and know as we are known of God.”  – Mary Baker Eddy (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, page 120: 2)

 “… follow your Leader only so far as she follows Christ.” – Mary Baker Eddy (Message for 1901)

So I got this flyer in the mail today, telling me about a good deal on biographies about Mary Baker Eddy’s life.  And… I found I wasn’t at all interested in it.  And I’m wondering… does that make me a “bad” Christian Scientist?

The thing is, I’ve always been someone who’s more apt to follow ideas than personalities.  I cherish the ideas that Mary Baker Eddy, the discoverer of Christian Science, brought to us.  I am beyond grateful to Mary Baker Eddy for the sacrifices she made in her life, and the challenges she had to overcome, to bring her discovery to the world – and I know enough about her life to know that those sacrifices and challenges were immense – her early widowhood, the betrayal of friends and family, poverty, her young son taken from her when she was ill, trumped-up lawsuits, hatred, bigotry, prejudice…

But…

In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, the textbook for Christian Science, Eddy writes: “In founding a pathological system of Christianity, the author has labored to expound divine Principle, and not to exalt personality.”

I don’t believe Eddy wanted adulation. I do not believe she wanted those who consider themselves Christian Scientists to worship her, or to focus on her personality.

Eddy writes in Science and Health: “People go into ecstasies over the sense of a corporeal Jehovah, though with scarcely a spark of love in their hearts; yet God is love, and without Love, God, immortality cannot appear.”  And later she writes: “It was now evident to Peter that divine Life, Truth, and Love, and not a human personality, was the healer of the sick and a rock, a firm foundation in the realm of harmony… In an age of ecclesiastical despotism, Jesus introduced the teaching and practice of Christianity, affording  the proof of Christianity’s truth and love; but to reach his example and to test its unerring Science according to his rule, healing sickness, sin, and death, a better understanding of God as divine Principle, Love, rather than personality or the man Jesus, is required.”

So there you go.

The healing Truth, Love, is what a Christian Scientist follows, right? Not a human personality. Not a man. Not a woman. But the Christ – Love and Truth and Life.

In one of my favorite books, The Greatest Thing in the World, a sermon on I Corinthians 13, Henry Drummond writes: “‘Love rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with the truth.’… for he who loves will love Truth not less than men. He will rejoice in the Truth—rejoice not in what he has been taught to believe; not in this church’s doctrine or in that; not in this ism or in that ism; but ‘in the Truth.’ He will accept only what is real; he will strive to get at facts; he will search for Truth with a humble and unbiased mind, and cherish whatever he finds at any sacrifice.”

I love that – “…he who loves will love Truth not less than men.” It seems to me that thought is really the basis for all Science.  I believe that to be a true Christian Scientist one must seek Truth,Christ, not human personality.

Sheer shameless schmaltz…

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A year ago a friend of mine introduced me to the music of Jason Mraz. It is sheer shameless schmaltz and, being the schmaltz-monger I am, I love it.

One of his songs is called “I Won’t Give Up” and when I heard the chorus I realized I was listening to more than your basic love song. It seemed clear – to me, at least – that this was a promise to our world, and a love song to humanity:

I don’t wanna be someone who walks away so easily
I’m here to stay and make the difference that I can make
Our differences they do a lot to teach us how to use
The tools and gifts we got, yeah, we got a lot at stake
And in the end, you’re still my friend at least we did intend
For us to work we didn’t break, we didn’t burn
We had to learn how to bend without the world caving in
I had to learn what I’ve got, and what I’m not, and who I am

I won’t give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I’m giving you all my love
I’m still looking up, still looking up.

Ahem. And it just so happens that my dear friend, Kathi, from Nova Scotia turned me on to a karaoke site last week… and it just so happens that Jason Mraz’s melody was on there!… and soooo… one thing led to another, and the next thing you know… yeah… here I am in all my schmaltzy glory:

http://www.singsnap.com/karaoke/watchandlisten/play/c386693c8

I won’t give up on us. 🙂

The Yearning for At-One-Ment

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Death ends a life, not a relationship. – Jack Lemmon

Lately I’ve found myself thinking of the final scene in that 1984 movie, Places in the Heart – the scene where all the characters in the movie are brought together in their neighborhood church to share in communion. As the wine and bread are passed around amongst the congregation we see a husband and wife who had come close to breaking apart, tentatively reaching out for each other, and then clasping hands. The camera pans down the pew and we see other characters, some of whom had been antagonists in the movie, sitting side by side, and sharing in the communion.  The camera continues to pan, and now we see characters who had died in the movie sitting next to their loved ones once again. And it suddenly becomes clear that this communion is not your typical communion. This isn’t just church tradition and ritual – this is a coming-together, a beautiful depiction of love.

Recently I’ve felt a sense of separation from people I love. There’s been death. There’s been physical distance. And there’s been estrangement. And I’ve felt these yearnings to draw close to those dear to me, and to commune with them, and to re-connect with those with whom I’ve been separated.

Life seems to be a process of embracing and letting go, and embracing and letting go. The embracing-part is easy for me. The letting-go-part has been a little more challenging.

I think I’m making progress, though.

Here’s my latest thought about it all: I think the love we create in our relationships with others continues on, forever and ever, even after we’re “separated” from each other, physically, and even after we’re gone from this world.  And maybe the love we create with each other adds to the world’s collective consciousness of good and its human stockpile of kindness and compassion – maybe the love we express to each other helps bring the waves of love ever closer to the shore of the human yearning for peace.  I don’t believe the love we share with each other is ever wasted.  Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of the Christian Science church, writes in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, the textbook for Christian Science: “Human affection is not poured forth vainly, even though it meet no return. Love enriches the nature, enlarging, purifying, and elevating it. The wintry blasts of earth may uproot the flowers of affection, and scatter them to the winds; but this severance of fleshly ties serves to unite thought more closely to God, for Love supports the struggling heart until it ceases to sigh over the world and begins to unfold its wings for heaven.”

Do all men and women have a yearning to connect with one another? Does all of mankind feel a yearning for atonement – at-one-ment – with Love? I know I do. And I know I’m not alone in this yearning.

In the Christian Science church we don’t have the wine-and-bread kind of communion.  Mary Baker Eddy writes: “Our Eucharist is spiritual communion with the one God. Our bread, ‘which cometh down from heaven,’ is Truth. Our cup is the cross. Our wine the inspiration of Love, the draught our Master drank and commended to his followers.”

“ATONEMENT,” Eddy writes, “is the exemplification of man’s unity with God, whereby man reflects divine Truth, Life, and Love. Jesus of Nazareth taught and demonstrated   man’s oneness with the Father, and for this we owe him endless homage. His mission was both individual and collective. He did life’s work aright not only in justice to himself, but in mercy to mortals,- to show them how to do theirs, but not to do it for them nor to relieve them of a single responsibility… Are all who eat bread and drink wine in memory of Jesus willing truly to drink his cup, take his cross, and leave all for the Christ-principle? Then why ascribe this inspiration to a dead rite, instead of showing, by casting out error and making the body ‘holy, acceptable unto God,’   that Truth has come to the understanding? If Christ, Truth, has come to us in demonstration, no other commemoration is requisite, for demonstration is Immanuel, or God with us; and if a friend be with us, why need we memorials of that friend? If all who ever partook of the sacrament had really commemorated the sufferings of Jesus and drunk of his cup, they would have revolutionized the world. If all who seek his commemoration through material symbols will take up the cross, heal the sick, cast out evils, and preach Christ, or Truth, to the poor, – the receptive thought, – they will bring in the millennium.”

Oh my. For me, there is a sense of urgency to those words. It seems imperative, for the good of mankind, that we seek at-one-ment with Love.  And now would be a good time to do that.

We worship spiritually, only as we cease to worship materially. – Mary Baker Eddy

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 3: 38-39

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uQCyxBL2O8

The Great Heart of Love

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Come when the shadows fall, 
And night grows deeply dark;
The barren brood , O call
With song of morning lark;
And from above,
Dear heart of Love,
Send us thy white-winged dove.

–Mary Baker Eddy

How wonderfully bolstering it is to recognize ourselves surrounded by the playful, joyful, comforting, cozy, warming, light-filled, splendid, unconditional and unchanging presence of Love. Our hearts are thirsty for it. To know we are loved, to know we are valued, needed, and precious gives us hope, bolsters our courage, and supports and inspires us to reach beyond our human sense of limitation and lack. Love gives us a mission, and gives us the resolve, courage, and wisdom to accomplish that mission.

We’ve probably all had times in our life when we’ve felt unloved, unlovable, and unloving. And maybe most of us have at times felt alone, or wondered if we’d ever find someone to share the joys and challenges of life with. I know I’ve experienced those times in my life. But what I’ve found as I’ve grown in my understanding of Love is that if I‘m not so concerned with whether or not people are showing love to me, but instead am focusing my energies on trying to show love to others, I find myself just naturally immersed in love – in a joyous universal celebration of Life.

Love is not dependent on other people, you know? We don’t have to wait for other people to love us, to express love to them. And we don’t have to wait for other people to be somehow “deserving” of our love. Every single one of God’s creations is deserving of love. No exceptions. And no matter what label people have stamped on themselves, or had stamped on them by others, everyone – young, old, monied, homeless, jobless, corporate executive, conservative, liberal, Christian, atheist, Buddhist, pagan, Muslim, Jew – was born deserving of love.

In his wonderful book, The Greatest Thing in the World, Henry Drummond writes: “God is love. Therefore love. Without distinction, without calculation, without procrastination, love. Lavish it upon the poor, where it is very easy; especially upon the rich, who often need it most; most of all upon your equals, where it is very difficult, and for whom perhaps we each do least of all. There is a difference between trying to please and giving pleasure. Give pleasure. Lose no chance of giving pleasure.”

And in the book of Matthew, Jesus admonishes us to love our enemies, to bless those who curse us, and to do good to those who hate us, “That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matt 6: 45)

Now I’m not saying it’s always easy to love without discrimination.

I remember, for instance, that the first time I saw the movie Gandhi I was so inspired by the love Gandhi expressed to everyone around him that I decided to be just like him – I was determined that I’d go through the whole next day without feeling animosity or ill will towards anyone else – in the same way that Gandhi did. This lasted about twenty minutes. As soon as the guy in the blue truck cut right in front of me and then proceeded to go under the speed limit, I completely forgot about the pact I’d made with myself. Afterwards, I felt terribly remorseful and discouraged with myself.

But here’s a cool thing: If sometimes we mess up, worry not – Life provides us with limitless opportunities to love. Every moment we have a new opportunity to discover and feel and prove the power of love. Isn’t that awesome?!!!

Drummond writes: “The test of religion, the final test of religion, is not religiousness, but Love… For the withholding of love is the negation of the spirit of Christ, the proof that we never knew Him, that for us He lived in vain. It means that He suggested nothing in all our thoughts, that He inspired nothing in all our lives, that we were once near enough to Him to be seized with the spell of His compassion for the world.”

***

You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments that stand out, the moments when you have really lived, are the moments when you have done things in a spirit of love. – Henry Drummond

The vital part, the heart and soul of Christian Science, is Love. – Mary Baker Eddy

(This was originally published on my blog in February, 2012 – but it felt like it was the right time to bring it up again.) ❤

Beliefs and Actions

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‎”I care not what you believe; not one atom do I care; the one important thing for me to know is this – that you are entitled to my compassionate consideration; you are entitled to my respect; you are entitled to my applause for all that you do that is in the right direction. You are entitled to my kindest wishes, to my deepest encouragement; and you are entitled to nothing from me but that which means love and charity and loving kindness, and you must not get anything else from me.” – Edward A. Kimball

I came upon the above quote  this morning as I was looking through Kimball’s book, Lectures and Articles on Christian Science, and felt it immediately resonate with me. Kimball’s words ring true, for me, on so many levels.

How many times have discussions about our beliefs led to a place that is the exact opposite of what we espouse to believe?  “I believe that God is love,” we might say, and then find ourselves getting all worked up and angry and unloving when someone disagrees with us about our concepts of “God” and “love.”

I don’t think our beliefs and opinions about stuff are important. I think it’s what we DO with those beliefs and opinions that’s important. If our beliefs – whatever they are – lead us to be kinder, gentler and more loving – if our beliefs lead us to express integrity and wisdom in our lives – then they’re cool. If we allow our beliefs to lead us the opposite direction – towards anger, hate, bigotry, and condemnation – that is not so cool.

In Prose Works, Mary Baker Eddy writes:  “We should remember that the world is wide; that there are a thousand million different human wills, opinions, ambitions, tastes, and loves; that each person has a different history, constitution, culture, character, from all the rest; that human life is the work, the play, the ceaseless action and reaction upon each other of these different atoms. Then, we should go forth into life with the smallest expectations, but with the largest patience; with a keen relish for and appreciation of everything beautiful, great, and good, but with a temper so genial that the friction of the world shall not wear upon our sensibilities; with an equanimity so settled that no passing breath nor accidental disturbance shall agitate or ruffle it; with a charity broad enough to cover the whole world’s evil, and sweet enough to neutralize what is bitter in it, – determined not be offended when no wrong is meant, nor even when it is…”

And to this, I say “Amen.”

There are hundreds of paths up the mountain, all leading to the same place, so it doesn’t matter which path you take. The only person wasting time is the one who runs around the mountain, telling everyone that his or her path is wrong. –  Hindu proverb

 

“It just doesn’t matter…”

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“It matters not what be thy lot

so love doth guide,

for storm or shine pure peace is thine

what e’er be tide.” – Mary Baker Eddy

In the last couple days a scene from Meatballs has been playing in my mind: Bill Murray is giving a pep talk to the campers at a summer camp who are feeling a lot of angst and anxiety and worry because they are about to compete against the rival camp in the annual athletic competition, and they know they’re going to lose. Bill Murray tells them it “just doesn’t matter.”  It doesn’t matter if the other team has more money and better athletes, it doesn’t matter if they lose, and it doesn’t matter if they win. It just doesn’t matter.

Weirdly, that scene really inspires me. 🙂

It just doesn’t matter. All the failures, and screw-ups, the petty rivalries, the jealousy, anger, bickerings, and slights, all the nonsense of our lives just doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things,  We’ll learn from all of it, and progress – and that’s all good. And really, the only thing that matters is the love in our lives – the love we express, the love we share, the love we feel.

I’ve got to get going here – have to get on with my day. I will probably screw-up today at some point. Mistakes will probably be made. And it just doesn’t matter. Because Love will be there, no matter what else befalls…

I love you!

“Where there is love, there is life.”

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Heart-breaking. A grief so deep, there are no words. I over-heard someone say: “I bet they’ll find out the mom is to blame.” And THAT crushed me, too. Finger-pointing. Finding someone or something to blame – the young man’s mom, the season, God…

And none of that is going to make things better for the parents of those children who lost their lives. I know the solution isn’t to be found in hate. That’s pretty much the ONLY thing I know for sure right now.

Yesterday I went to my blog, hoping I could find something to say there that might somehow help the people who are grieving the loss of their children – and I found myself reading other peoples’ blogs about the tragedy – everyone in deep shock and mourning.  I realized I wasn’t ready to post anything right then. It felt like anything I had to say would be self-indulgent and me-centered – MY feelings, MY grief, MY horror, MY shock.

Today, I still don’t have the words that are going to fix everything and make it all better.  There are no words that will do that.  But if any of the parents of the children lost in Newtown should stumble upon this blog, I want them to know that they’re not standing in their pain alone – there’s a world full of people who care,  who want to help, who want to reach out and offer what comfort they can – there’s a world full of people who WISH they could fix this, and make it all better.

Mahatma Gandhi said, “Where there is love, there is life.” The love we create with the people in our lives still lives on – even after they’re  no longer with us – nothing can destroy that love. The joy-filled memories of our loves ones – those with us and those no longer with us – we still have those memories, too – no one else’s hatred or insanity can take those from us.  We embrace them, cherish them, and keep them alive.

May the love shared and created, and the memories made,  bring comfort to those who are grieving unthinkable loss right now.

***”

“Death ends a life, not a relationship.” – Jack Lemmon

 “At all times and under all circumstances, overcome evil with good.”  – Mary Baker Eddy

“…I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 8: 37-39