Go Seahawks! Also yay to TRUTH JUSTICE and KINDNESS.
When I drove by the courthouse just before noon, there was only one sign-holder there. I honked in support, then I parked my car and pulled out my TRUTH JUSTICE KINDNESS sign to join him on the corner. Dylan had started back to his bike by the time I got out of my car, but when he saw me, he turned around and came back to join me on the corner.
Dylan was so fun! I think what had brought him to the courthouse with his sign was the same thing that had brought me today – the murders in Minnesota. But, in spite of the fact that we were drawn there by tragedy, Dylan was one of those people it’s easy to laugh with, too.
I’d worn my Seahawks shirt today, and I found that when people looked grumpy at seeing my TRUTH JUSTICE KINDNESS sign, all I had to do was reveal my Seahawks shirt and yell “Go Seahawks!” and they’d start laughing and give me the thumbs up. Dylan said I should have had “Go Seahawks!” on the other side of my TRUTH JUSTICE KINDNESS sign and then I could just flip it back and forth, depending on our audience.
Not long after Dylan and I joined forces on the corner, another sign-bearer joined us: my FB friend, Tele. Now we were three! I introduced Dylan and Tele to each other and we got a group photo. Dylan had to leave to get to work then, but just about the time Dylan left, we were joined by Teri. And then Kelsey joined us. I introduced myself as the Karen in the group – because every group needs one – and we had fun putting our names together: Tele, Teri, Kelsey, and Karen. I love alliteration.
I’d been parked for an hour by then, in a spot that was limited to an hour, and it was time for me to go. But I so enjoyed connecting with Dylan and the two Ts and the other K.
I drove to Fred’s with the idea of getting a mocha and maybe a pastry. Sitting outside the store was a man, holding a sign for help. I asked him if I could get him a coffee and he said that would be nice. I asked him what kind he’d like and he said a mocha would be good.
The store was full of Seahawks fans – blue and green everywhere. I’m glad I’d worn my Seahawks shirt today.
Just inside the store was a rack of little pies on sale for 50 cents each. I got two of those – one for the man outside, and one for myself – and then ordered two mochas from the baristas.
I brought the man his mocha and asked him if he liked pies – which he did. He thanked me for the pie and mocha, and said, “God bless.” And I wished him well.
And now I’m home, watching the Broncos and Patriots do battle in the snow. Pretty soon the Seahawks will take to the field in Seattle.
Principle is my foundation. Mind is my guide. Soul is my music. Life is my friend in whom I abide. Truth is my protector. Love is my mother. Spirit is my reality. I need no other. -Karen Molenaar Terrell
Love has no choice but to love Truth has no choice but to be true Life has no choice but to live I have no choice but to do the will of my Creator to express Love reflect Truth manifest Life all we are comes from God all we can be is what God made us to be – happy, whole, healthy, and free -Karen Molenaar Terrell
An alpine butterfly flits among the flowers on Table Mountain. Photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell.
feel the almighty presence of Love enveloping you in strong Father-arms in a gentle Mother-embrace protecting, holding you close and dear
hear the voice of Life in your ear – laughing with joy, singing in sweet harmony conducting all of infinity in a symphony of never-ending celebration
see all of infinite creation within the murmuration of Mind – moving at His will never outside the One – Source of all movement and animation
smell and taste the fragrance of Soul’s creation pure and clean and kind, healthy and whole – the Word of Truth sustaining, nourishing, maintaining all that is good and true for you and all. -Karen Molenaar Terrell
“O taste and see that the Lord is good!” (Psalms 34:8)
Sunrise Over Skagit County, Washington. Photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell.
I will not fear – I feel you near. Mozzy – I sit in the room where you passed on five years ago and I feel your presence here with me. Daddy – your old backpack hangs on the wall and your hat is on the mantel next to Moz’s shoes and I feel you smiling at me. The room is cozy and warm. The cat sleeps on the back of the chair. Outside the frogs are croaking a merry tune. I feel the power of Love and Truth pulsing around me – singing of hope. I live safe in Soul’s womb.
I will not fear – I feel You here. – Karen Molenaar Terrell
“Whatever inspires with wisdom, Truth, or Love – be it song, sermon, or Science – blesses the human family with crumbs of comfort from Christ’s table, feeding the hungry and giving living waters to the thirsty.” – Mary Baker Eddy
And in the spirit of that quote –
Here’s a song: Here’s the first song I sang on “singsnap” – a song by Jason Mraz that feels like an anthem to the world – not just a love song between two people, but a promise to the planet: “I won’t give up on us…we’ve got a lot to learn, but God knows we’re worth it.” https://www.singsnap.com/#/d/listen/1020508
Here’s a sermon: We have just a tiny scrap of existence here – a miniscule piece of our eternity – to love and learn and live and leave something good behind. Let’s not waste it on nothings. – Karen Molenaar Terrell
In his sermon, The Greatest Thing in the World, Henry Drummond asks,“Why do we want to live to-morrow? Is it because there is some one who loves you, and whom you want to see tomorrow, and be with, and love back? There is no other reason why we should live on than that we love and are beloved.” Drummond writes, “There is a great deal in the world that is delightful and beautiful, there is a great deal that is great and engrossing, but it will not last. All that is in the world, the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life, are but for a little while…You will give yourself to many things; give yourself first to love.”
And here’s some Science: “Whatever furnishes the semblance of an idea governed by its Principle, furnishes food for thought. Through astronomy, natural history, chemistry, music, mathematics, thought passes naturally from effect back to cause. Academics of the right sort are requisite. Observation, invention, study, and original thought are expansive and should promote the growth of mortal mind out of itself, out of all that is mortal.” – from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy
Here’s an example of the use of Science for a healing of a puffed-up hand: Observation: My right hand appears to be puffed-up like a balloon. Question: Can I use Christian Science to heal this puppy? Hypothesis: If I use my understanding of Christian Science, then I will experience healing. Predict: I predict my hand will be healed. Test: I’ll use my understanding of Christian Science to heal the “ballooned” hand. Analyze the data and draw a conclusion. Present the findings:
November, 2011: I woke up to find my hand inflated to twice its normal size, and really painful – I couldn’t bend my fingers or anything. My first thought was, “Well, this is interesting.”
I got myself dressed and drove to my workplace. I figured I’d just work around my inflated hand until it went back to normal. But when I showed my hand to my co-workers to see if they’d had any experience with something like this, they were all really scared for me. One of them told me about an allergic reaction that had nearly killed her son. Three or four other people mentioned that flesh-eating disease, or other serious infections, that had nearly killed them or their loved ones. Everyone advised me to see a doctor post haste.
Well, I really like my hand, you know – and the thought of losing it was pretty scary to me. So I called our family doctor right away and left work to see him. Normally he laughs with me about stuff, but this time he was not laughing. He was pretty serious, actually. He said he thought it was either a serious infection or rheumatoid arthritis – although my case wasn’t typical of either one of those because I didn’t have any open wounds and my joints weren’t inflamed. He wanted to start me on drugs right away – some to address the one thing, and some to address the other – and he wanted to run blood tests on me. I agreed to the blood tests, but I told him I didn’t want to start taking any drugs until I knew better what was going on with me. (The one or two times I’ve ever actually taken pharmaceuticals, I’ve always had a bad side effect from them. Also, when I’m working out a problem through Christian Science, part of the process for me is real-izing the “reality” of Spirit, and the nothingness of matter – and, in taking drugs, I’d, in essence, be giving power to matter, and working contrary to what I needed to do for a healing in Christian Science.)
So I didn’t take the drugs, I went in for the blood tests, and came home and called for prayerful support from a Christian Science practitioner.
Although there’s no template or anything for Christian Science healing – sometimes healing can come so quickly – instantly – with just a quick change of thought – that there’s really no process involved. But I usually start my treatments with an affirmation of God, Good, Love, as the only power, the only reality. My application of Christian Science to this problem probably went something like this:
I am the idea of Love and Truth and Life – eternally perfect and whole, healthy and active, unchanged, undimmed, loved, loving, intelligent, alert, aware of all good. The belief that I can ever be less than my perfect, ideal self, is a lie. The belief that I can ever be separated from Love, Good, God, is a lie. As an idea, I dwell forever within the consciousness of Love. I am the image and likeness of Love. I am the perfect child of perfect Love. I reflect nothing but Love, Spirit, Life, Truth, Principle, Mind, Soul. There’s nothing about me that is imperfect, for there’s nothing in my Father-Mother out of which imperfection could come.
And, for the treatment of my hand, I definitely handled the fear in my thought. As Mary Baker Eddy writes in the Christian Science textbook: “Fear, which is an element of all disease, must be cast out to readjust the balance for God… 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… ”
The next morning my hand was even MORE puffed-up. But the fear in my thought was completely gone, and – even though my hand didn’t appear better – I knew I was healed. By the second morning my hand was completely back to normal.
When I called the doctor’s office to find out what the results of the blood test were, the receptionist said that one of the markers in the blood test indicated rheumatoid arthritis, and they wanted me to set up an appointment with a rheumatoid arthritis specialist. I told her my hand was completely fine now. She was really surprised by this, and called a nurse to the phone to talk to me. I told the nurse the hand was deflated, and there was nothing wrong with me at all. She didn’t say anything right away – I could imagine her trying to process what I was telling her. She finally said okay, that if anything changed to let them know, but she guessed they wouldn’t “go any further” with it right then.
That was ten years ago and there’s been no return of the condition.
Feel God as infinite Love, infinite Truth – all-power, all-presence, filling all space; protecting, guiding, guarding. There’s nowhere and no one living outside of Love’s embrace. No one is ever separated from Love’s power and presence and protection. No one is ever outside of Love’s realm.
Know yourself as God’s child. You are God’s reflection, expression, manifestation, image and likeness. All you can be is what Love made you to be. All you can know is Love’s presence and power. You are strong and brave and whole and beautiful and healthy and confident. You are what God made you to be.
Love is all-in-all.
“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” – Isaiah 41: 10
“For with God nothing shall be impossible.” -Luke 1:37
all we can be is what Life-Truth-Love made us for and wants us to be -Karen Molenaar Terrell
“Man is idea, the image, of Love; he is not physique. He is the compound idea of God, including all right ideas; the generic term for all that reflects God’s image and likeness; theconscious identity of being as found in Science, in which man is the reflection of God, or Mind, and therefore is eternal; that which has no separate mind from God; that which has not a single quality underived from Deity; that which possesses no life, intelligence, nor creative power of his own, but reflects spiritually all that belongs to his Maker.” -Mary Baker Eddy
An alpine butterfly flits among the flowers on Table Mountain. Photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell.
A prayer. Love, Truth, and Life fill all space. Love, Truth, and Life fill every moment. Love is always with us. We are never outside the reach of Truth. Life never ends. Love, God, is the only Mind, the only Intelligence, the only power.
Mankind is the expression, reflection, and manifestation of Life, Truth, and Love. All we can know is what Truth knows. All we can feel is what Love feels. All we can be is infinite Life living Itself.
The belief that bureaucracy can interrupt the flow of Truth is a lie, for Truth is the only power – nothing has power over Truth. The belief that disease can stop Life is a lie, for Life, God, is never-failing, never-ending, always present and full – nothing has power over Life. The belief that cruelty can touch any of God’s children is a lie, for all of Creation lives safe in Love, hid with Christ in God.
There is no spot where Truth is not. There is no moment when Love is not. Nothing can usurp Love’s control over Her own Creation. Love is here right now, forever and always: Endless joy; forever Love; never-ending Truth. Amen.
Sunset over flooded fields in Skagit County, Washington State. Photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell.