I float in the current of Love
carried and buoyed above
all doubts and fears
and pain and tears.
God loves me! – and I feel
the presence and power
of Love unfolding healing
in me. Joy abounds!
I arrive and walk
on holy ground.
– Karen Molenaar Terrell
I wake with a sense of Love
surrounding me –
a palpable presence, lifting
me from my bed –
leading me to a place of peace
and joy.
Always with me. Always here.
Protecting, guiding Be-ing.
-Karen Molenaar Terrell
“The lightnings and thunderbolts of error may burst and flash till the cloud is cleared and the tumult dies away in the distance. Then the raindrops of divinity refresh the earth. As St. Paul says, ‘There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God’ (of Spirit).”
-Mary Baker Eddy, S and H, p 288
(The audio podcast for this post can be found at this link.)
Feel Love’s presence.
Feel the power of Love.
Listen to Love’s voice:
You are so loved.
You are My precious child.
You are always with Me.
And I am always with you.
You are Love be-ing.
The belief that you can ever be separated
from Me is a lie,
for you are embodied in My Body.
You are one with Me.
You are in the womb of Love.
There is no power that can usurp My government
or the governing of My own ideas,
for I am ever-present,
all-powerful,
glorious,
magnificent,
never-ending Love.
Amen.
There are nobler things than “shows
of strength,”
stronger things than greed,
more worthy things than ego,
better things to feed.
There’s Love and Truth and Life itself –
all-power, always beautiful, always here.
Greed and ego don’t have a chance
against the Love that we draw near.
-Karen Molenaar Terrell
“Draw nigh to Love and love will draw nigh to you.”
-James 4:8
Pep talk to myself during these strange and really surreal times –
The Awakening
Fear not. Feel the movement of the universe
endlessly adjusting, unfolding, winging like
a great murmuration of birds in flight – moving
as one body in waves of Love on winds of Truth,
winking and twinkling in the joy of the Cosmos.
Unwinding, untangling, unfettered and free-flowing-
always moving towards Love, towards Truth,
towards Life – irrepressible, unstoppable, the mighty
inexhaustible, relentless power of justice, of wisdom,
of kindness and peace. All of creation pulled together
and pulling together – The Awakening.
Amen.
-Karen Molenaar Terrell
(Photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell. Skagit County, Washington.)
Went to pay the bill for my internet provider today. And ohmygosh! It was like going to a free comedy show! There were two women behind the counter and they were like a comedy team. The one on the left (I can’t remember her name and you’re going to understand why that’s really embarrassing in a moment) looked up at me and said, “Karen, right? I can’t remember your last name, though…” My mouth fell open. How in the world did she even know my first name?! Wave Broadband has, like, thousands of customers, right? So I told her my last name, and then asked her how she knew my name – told her she was brilliant. And this is when the woman on the right started shaking her head and made some crack – basically, agreeing with me that her partner is a genius – but agreeing in such a comical way that I started laughing out loud.
I mentioned that I’d heard they were moving tomorrow to a new location. And the one on the left – the brilliant one – said, “Yes, we’re moving to the main street – right across from where you used to go for your coffee…” Again, my mouth fell open.
The woman on the right shook her head again, and said, “Kind of creepy, isn’t it?” and got me laughing again.
And then the one on the left said, “I have a really good memory, and I especially remember the people who are nice to me.”
“I was nice to you?” I asked, trying to remember…
And she said, “Yes, one time you got here just as I was closing the office to go to lunch, and you were really understanding about it. A lot of customers get angry, but you were really nice and just said you’d come back later.”
The one on the right said something else to crack me up at this point – she had that straight-faced dead pan humor – and we all wished each other a good day and parted with good will towards each other.
It’s amazing the power in kind moments.
Take possession of your body, and govern its feeling and action. Rise in the strength of Spirit to resist all that is unlike good. God has made man capable of this, and nothing can vitiate the ability and power divinely bestowed on man.
– Mary Baker Eddy
Class –
There is a big difference between flirting and harassment. Flirting is a back-and-forth thing and both parties walk away feeling good about life. Harassment is not a back-and-forth thing – one human being is saying or doing something to another human being without concern for the other person’s feelings or well-being. It is disrespectful to the other person, and it leaves the victim feeling disgusted and/or humiliated and/or helpless. It stinks.
Be kind to one another.
– Mrs. Terrell
“Simply count your enemy to be that which defiles, defaces, and dethrones the Christ-image that you should reflect. Whatever purifies, sanctifies, and consecrates human life, is not an enemy, however much we suffer in the process.”
– Mary Baker Eddy
For four days this week I was shuffling around like Tim Conway playing his “oldest man” character (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOwmSbD20aQ). My back was all askew and akilter, and I was listing severely to starboard. I was a hurting buckaroo.
My friends at work could see I was struggling, and one kind soul offered me an Ibuprofen – although she wasn’t sure if it was okay to offer this to me, seeing as how I’m a Christian Scientist and everything. (It was okay. 🙂 It showed she cared.)
I declined the drugs- not because “it’s against my religion” or because I have a martyr complex or anything – but because I know, from years of personal experience, that the simplest and most effective way for me to have healing is to figure out what I need to correct in my thoughts. For me, whenever I’m faced with some physical challenge there always seems to be something going on mentally – fear or anger or frustration or whatever – that needs to be cleaned out.
On the fourth night, as I prayed about my situation – opened my thought up to whatever Love might reveal to me – it came to me that I was feeling that I, and another person close to me, were under attack by a person who’d been a part of our lives since childhood. And, almost simultaneous to that revelation, this phrase came to me: “Those whom we would call our enemies are really our best friends.”
I remembered, then, reading something similar to that phrase in a chapter titled “Love Your Enemies” in Mary Baker Eddy’s book, Miscellaneous Writings. I turned on my Kindle, found the chapter, and began to read it. And ohmygosh. What a perfect chapter for my needs!
Check it out: “‘Love thine enemies’ is identical with ‘Thou hast no enemies.’ Wherein is this conclusion relative to those who have hated thee without a cause? Simply, in that those unfortunate individuals are virtually thy best friends. Primarily and ultimately, they are doing thee good far beyond the present sense which thou canst entertain of good…Whatever envy, hatred, revenge —the most remorseless motives that govern mortal mind —whatever these try to do, shall ‘work together for good to them that love God.’…We must love our enemies in all the manifestations wherein and whereby we love our friends; must even try not to expose their faults, but to do them good whenever opportunity occurs…Hate no one; for hatred is a plague-spot that spreads its virus and kills at last. If indulged, it masters us; brings suffering upon suffering to its possessor, through-out time and beyond the grave. If you have been badly wronged, forgive and forget: God will recompense this wrong…Never return evil for evil; and, above all, do not fancy that you have been wronged when you have not been.” – Mary Baker Eddy
When I finished reading that chapter, I felt a burden lift from me and I felt enveloped in light and joy, and filled with love. I knew I was healed. I realized that nothing and no one had the power to change who I am, make me angry or afraid, or take away my joy. I realized that no one is my “enemy.”
The next morning I woke up with my back straight and in no pain. Better even than the physical healing – I woke up filled with joy and love for mankind. I went through the day with a bounce in my step and a song in my heart. I greeted the students as they arrived at the school – “Hi! Good morning! Welcome!” and they smiled and gave me friendly “good mornings” in return. I did twirls and leaps down the hall for Pete, the maintenance man, to share my healing with him – and he laughed and congratulated me. My colleague, Edith, and I exchanged a morning hug. Elizabeth, and Linda, and I sang songs from Fiddler on the Roof during lunch, and teared up with sweet and poignant memories when we got to “Sunrise, Sunset.” Kay told me about her kitty, Violet, who turned out to be a Henry. Every single person I met seemed ready and eager to celebrate life with me – it was like everyone was just waiting for the opportunity to smile and laugh and enjoy each other.
For the first time, it became really clear to me that I have – we all have – the ability to create our own atmosphere for ourselves – sculpt our own environment – our own dwelling-place. As I approached the world with joy and love, the world responded in kind. It became very obvious to me yesterday that people are drawn to joy and love – and that the people who have the real power in this world – who are the real leaders – are those who are able to walk through life with love, and irrepressible, unstoppable joy.
I’m very grateful to be free of pain, of course. But I’m even more grateful for the insights and wisdom I gained from this whole experience.
photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell
Just had to share. 🙂
Adventures of the Madcap Christian Scientist 