Peace. Be still. Listen.
Do you hear the song of Love
calling to your heart?
Do you feel the cool breeze of kindness
blowing over our humanity’s fevered skin?
Do you see the kinship in the sun
and moon, oceans and air we all share?
Does the sweet fragrance of spring remind you
of things more important than hate
and fear and war?
The call to Love is universal
and irresistible. It will not be ignored.
-Karen Molenaar Terrell
Photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell.
I wake in the early hours of the morning –
all is still and dark. I try to identify my feelings.
I am scared. I’m scared for the people detained
unlawfully in prisons. I fear for those in danger
in lands at war, and in my own nation. I’m scared.
I reach my thoughts out to my God, to Love.
The voice says, “I’m Here.”
Like, “I’m here with you.”
But also like, “I am Here – that is My name.”
And I respond, “I’m here, too.”
And for just a moment I have a glimmer
of the God Who is Here – all-present,
filling all space, always, with no possibility
of separation between Creation and Creator.
I see nothing can separate any of us from Love –
not governments, nor presidents, nor kings,
nor war.
I feel a weight lift from me.
I feel the power of Love with all Creation
and know no one is outside
the power of that Power –
the power of Here.
I wrap myself up in the peace
of the early hours of the morning
and rest in the arms of Love.
– Karen Molenaar Terrell
Dear ones,
I’m not sure you realize how powerful and important your kindness has been to me, and this world. Trust me. You’ve made a difference.
Karen
Sparky cat stares, transfixed,
at the Christmas tree
and shares the stillness
of this solstice morning with me.
I’ve plugged in the lights –
red and gold, green and white –
and I sit on the couch with my feet
on the coffee table, embraced
in the peace of the solstice morning-night.
– Karen Molenaar Terrell
Truth is the only power and presence – the Creator of all that is real. Love fills all space, reaching to infinity. Life is infinite and universal and eternal. All that Love creates expresses Love. All that Life creates manifests infinite Life. All that Truth creates is the reflection of Truth. All that is good comes from God, and God is all. All is good.
We are the image and likeness of Love; the reflection of Truth; the manifestation of Life; the children of the one Mind. We are the expressions of Good, God.
The belief that we can feel fear, anger, hate, or confusion is a lie for we are made by divine Mind and all we can feel is what divine Mind feels. There isn’t the teensiest, tiniest part of us that can feel fear or anger or hate because we are made wholly in the image and likeness of divine Mind. The belief that we have our own little mortal mind is a lie. Mortal mind is no part of our real identities as God’s children. Fear is no part of us. Hate is no part of us. We were made by Love and for Love, and anything that’s not of Love is a lie and has nothing to do with us.
God – Life, Truth, Love – governs the universe in perfect, indestructible harmony. God governs Her creation with the unfailing, unceasing, irrepressible, unstoppable, insurmountable power of Love. The belief that God’s government can be usurped is a lie for nothing can usurp Love’s governing of Her own creation. Nothing has the power to usurp Truth’s government.
Feel the presence and power of Love enfolding you in Her loving embrace. You are safe. You are loved. You are Her precious child, never separated from all that is good.
-Karen Molenaar Terrell
I had this moment yesterday – sitting in the Colophon Cafe in Bellingham – that was perfect. I felt my whole body just relax, and this big sigh came out of me, and my eyes closed and I listened to the folksy music playing in the background, and the conversations and laughter of the diners around me, and – for just a glimmer of a moment – I was sitting in heaven. I’m trying to find the words to describe it, and I’m trying to find the words to help me get back there, but I don’t think there are the just right words that fit that experience. I think that moment was beyond words. But here are the words that come closest: For a brief moment I felt no time, no hurry, no schedule, no expectations, no past, no future, and nothing crowding in on me. I felt joy, peace, love. I felt space. I felt in the present. I felt safe.
There were three people sitting at the table across from me – maybe my age or a little younger. And I felt this positive energy coming from them. (If I were more educated about this stuff, I might say I felt “positive auras” surrounding them – but I don’t know enough about auras to use that word and really know what I’m talking about.) I think they were having a business meeting of some sort. I’m hard-of-hearing, and couldn’t pick up on all that they were saying (ahem… not that I was trying to eavesdrop or anything), but these snippets reached me:
Woman with curly silver hair in a high pony tail: People tell me they sometimes have to take a break from me because of my energy. (Laughing.) And I understand that, but I tell them if they think it’s hard being AROUND me, can they imagine what it’s like to actually BE me? Sometimes *I* need a break from me!
A little later…
Pony-tailed woman: It seems as we get older we go one of two directions – either we become more crotchety, more crabby, more…
Woman with dark, shoulder-length hair: (Laughing.) We become more of what we already are.
The iron-haired man sitting next to the dark-haired woman – her husband maybe? – winced at this and started laughing, and I found myself laughing with him.
It got me to thinking. What direction am “I” headed? What am I becoming more of?
And how can I bring more of these perfect moments into my life?
-Karen Molenaar Terrell
“Heaven is not a locality, but a divine state of Mind.”
-Mary Baker Eddy
It’s dark and still when I wake
I feel wrapped in soft velvet
No hurt feelings or rejection, no pain,
discouragement, disappointment, or dismay
Before I let the news or messenger or FB
Determine my day
I let myself bask in the love of Love
For a moment – feel the peace and joy
And all-encompassing beauty,
Of the one Mind, Life, Love.
I have no opinions of my own,
No personal beliefs or feelings –
No fear, indignation, or dejection-
All I can feel is what Love feels –
I am Her reflection.
– Karen Molenaar Terrell
And now a poem-
Imagine a world without labels
Imagine a world unboxed
Imagine a world where people
Don’t assume to know you
Before you’ve had a chance to talk
Karen Molenaar Terrell
Googling Hamas, Israel, Gaza,
Harris, Trump, polls,
politics, war, peace, causes,
Ukraine, Russia, death tolls,
species endangered,
glaciers receding,
earth’s poles melting,
I’m adrift and seeking,
googling for inspiration,
googling for help,
googling for answers,
googling myself.
But none of what I’m looking for
is housed in this computer –
not peace, not hope, and not myself –
nor the guarantee of a future.
To find those things I’ll need to stop
and get off of my whirring laptop.
I breathe in deep, and close my eyes,
and feel Love pulsing around me.
Right here. Right now. As near as my thoughts –
the Good I seek is right here with me.
– Karen Molenaar Terrell
The rain is back –
my familiar old friend –
and I settle into my comfy chair
with a mug of cocoa
and a cinnamon roll and watch
the raindrops hit the deck
making tiny splashes
and tickling my soul
with their happy pattering.
This is peace. This is joy.
-Karen Molenaar Terrell
Adventures of the Madcap Christian Scientist 