Archive for World turmoil
Tea Bag Christians in Hot Water
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Boiling Tea by Vincent Ma
David remembered his Sunday School teacher told him never to be one of those “tea bag Christian Scientists.” Say what? I said. These are the folks who wait until they’re in hot water to activate their faith, he explained. I was especially interested because David had just gone through an unusual financial challenge in having to close the bank where he was CEO and then having to find another job pronto. (See previous blog, A Bank Not Behaving Badly.) And now, over honey- baked ham and sides, he was telling us he’d found another fine job at a different bank in our community. We rejoiced with him. He had prayed and his prayers were effective.
We all know David’s no “Tea Bag Christian Scientist.” Long before the hot water poured down he’d been praying consistently over daily challenges. His very sick puppy was healed through prayer, and prayer brought about a remarkable recovery for his mother who’d broken a hip. His earlier bank problems were resolved ethically and harmoniously and he credits prayer for each step. Others were also praying along with him during these times.
Now I hear my friend Cindy, a practicing Christian of another denomination, has also been praying for a better personal economy. Her “hot water” situation was that she needed more income, and fast. As a self-employed housecleaner, Cindy needed more clients to replace those who’d found they could no longer afford her services. Cindy is a faithful churchgoer and constantly brings prayer to her concerns about family and relationships. She’s no Tea Bag Christian.
Soon Cindy’s prayerful, expectant attitude revealed practical, helpful ideas. She asked her son who was employed by a large automotive service if he could suggest any business people who might need cleaning services. He could and they did! One has already employed her to clean two of his buildings and Cindy’s excited about new ways to reach others.
What if you’re not a “prayer type?” Hold that thought. Your expression of gratitude for good already received, your humility, your careful listening for good ideas and willingness to act on them—guess what? That’s prayer! You don’t need to wait for hot water to bring out all these wonderful spiritual qualities. You can lean on them now.
“To those leaning on the sustaining infinite, to-day is big with blessings.” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, Pref. vii) So lean.
The Thing about Thank-You Notes
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Well, it's the thought...or is it? Photo by daBinsi
Still, you know how good it makes you feel to thank Aunt Tillie for even the ugly sweater or the pink bunny pajamas, now famous symbols of Hated Gifts. But did you know what else gratitude can do? It can actually increase your own good, even to the point of enriching you in literal, tangible ways. (See disclaimer, NOTE TO SELVES*)
Try John Kralik’s approach in A Simple Act of Gratitude, as reported in Parade Magazine January 1. In the doldrums due to divorce, downward spiraling finances, and excess weight, Kralik turned himself around and began writing thank-you notes to everyone he could think of.
“I heard a voice. It said I shouldn’t focus on what I… had lost but should be grateful for what I had. This project [of writing thank-you notes] transformed my life. I saw how much I had been blessed by so many people…and acknowledging their blessings seemed to make them multiply. After I thanked colleagues for directing cases to me, they referred more. When I expressed gratitude to clients for paying promptly, they began doing so even more quickly.” In other words, the love he extended came back to him in tangible and much needed supply.
Kralik’s project lasted about a year, and his book tells all. His example illustrates a truth expressed beautifully in Christian Science, founded by Mary Baker Eddy: Our gratitude is riches, complaint is poverty. (Hymn 249 by Vivian Burnett)
*NOTE TO SELVES: This praise for the power of gratitude is not for the purpose of enriching our pockets. It’s simply an admission that any one spiritual quality blesses one and blesses all. When gratitude governs, everyone is included.
NOTE TO SELF: Express gratitude for your readers and the opportunity to write about what you love. Thank them for their kind and helpful responses to those efforts. Listen up, people: this is a thank-you note!
To Tebow or Not to Tebow
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Santas Tebow-ing, Photo by M.V.Jantzen "Dear God, let us win!"
First, a disclaimer. I’m a practicing Christian myself and a sincere believer in the power of Christ’s salvation. As a member of the Christian Science church, I share Tebow’s enthusiasm in wanting others to know the love of Love, God, and be saved from their suffering through an understanding of the Christ as it has touched and healed me. But like many others of strong faith, I might not make public, attention getting gestures about it, and in any case, I’m not a famous football hero. Something quieter suits me better.
Christian Scientists are taught to respect others and their boundaries when expressing their faith. They are not to proselytize. They have no missionaries in the usual sense of personal pastors sent to convert. They have simply their lives as witnesses.
Centuries ago someone wisely cautioned us about being forceful or showy, no matter how good the cause (St. Paul, 1 Corinthians 13). Even if we have a talent for public speaking, he said, we might sound more like gongs and off-key cymbals unless we have love. Even if our faith is large enough to move mountains, without love we are nothing. Genuine love, it is assumed, is not puffed up and doesn’t push it.
Tebow may keep on tebow-ing. If his now-viral fame continues, if his sincerity and enthusiasm match that, or even better, if his commitment to live love and do good is long-lasting, he could have a life-changing effect on many. We quieter Christians can bow the knee in private and say humbly, Thank You, Friend, for this friend.
A Bank not Behaving Badly
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Not so Piggy Bank, Photo by Teresa Gibbison
Banks haven’t exactly been everyone’s BFF lately. Does anyone even “like” them? According to journalist Nicholas Kristof, former banker James Theckston even admits that bankers are mostly to blame for the nation’s housing disaster. (New York Times) Since banks are today’s bad boys, wouldn’t some cheer to hear that one had gone out of business? Maybe, but not so fast. What if that one actually cared and proved it? What if that one put principle before profit?
Last week one North Carolina bank demonstrated integrity so strong it put honesty and accountability above its very survival. Finding it was in financial difficulties and engaged in unsustainable practices due to real estate lending, CEO David Rupp and his team saw that they shouldn’t even be in the business. Consequently, specialty bank Greystone put itself out of business after settling its loans and turning in its license. In so doing it modeled a unique and nearly ideal exit strategy. As Rupp puts it to journalist David Ranii, “(We) worked voluntarily and cooperatively with the Commissioner of Banks and the FDIC to liquidate (our) assets and pay (our) liabilities without loss to the deposit insurance fund.” (Raleigh News&Observer, December 3)
Rupp is a practicing Christian Scientist and turns instinctively to prayer for the solution to problems, including how to manage his bank ethically. At a recent testimony meeting in our local church he shared how this unorthodox solution —putting oneself out of business—was the right one for his bank. Prayer revealed the harmonious proceeding of each step toward the final outcome. Thad Woodard, president of the NC Banking Association, praised the bank’s actions as “a classic example of fulfilling their responsibility.”
Now David Rupp is a former CEO. He needs a job. Not to worry; he knows what to do. He’ll pray.
E.Coli: What We Can Do to Decontaminate Food
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Perfect Peppers, Raleigh Farmers Market Photo by (Sean) Fotodawg
It’s barbecue and picnic season, but the spoiler is the recent outbreak of E.Coli from contaminated foods in Europe. Northern Germany is cited as the source, and sprouts and other veggies the supposed culprits. The contamination is serious, having caused thousands to be ill and a few to die.
Can we do anything but be afraid to eat? Yes, we can. We can recognize the role our thinking has to play in all this, and then act up to the highest, purest, standards of that thought. Experts tell us to: 1/ wash all produce before eating; 2/ wash our hands before preparing; 3/ wash utensils carefully; and 4/ keep utensils separate (meat from veggies, beef from chicken, etc.) These practical and preventive behaviors begin with thought—the purest, cleanest and most prudent thought. It does not have to be fearful thought, however.
More importantly, we can recognize this thought process as the basis of prayer. We are appealing calmly and confidently to a source of wisdom greater than mere human intellect–you might say to Infinite Mind itself, a power many call God, Good. After all, we were promised dominion over all the earth from the very Beginning (See Genesis 1).
This appeal to a benign Creator is successful and has Biblical precedent in the story of the poisoned vegetable stew that Elisha’s followers feared. (See II Kings 4:38-41). Not only were they not harmed when they appealed to the prophet for help, but so today people have been freed from food poisoning when they have appealed to the Creator in like manner. I have read of many such experiences in the Christian Science Sentinel and Christian Science Journal, and have also experienced healing myself of some mysterious food-caused ailment through prayer alone. This approach to prayer is taught by Mary Baker Eddy, the Founder of Christian Science.(See Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures) Although many critics believe this view is a bland denial of reality, in fact she shows us how to experience a deeper and more trustworthy reality, the one God gave us. God’s reality displaces what appears to be inharmonious, and health is restored.
I love our Farmer’s Market here in Raleigh, North Carolina, and look forward to their famous sweet potatoes, corn and blueberries. All good!
Dear Joplin… with Love, North Carolina
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Joplin Falls: Head for Higher Ground, Photo by BenSpark
People sometimes ask, “What do Christian Scientists do to help others in times of trouble?” They may have the idea that, since we are a “prayerful” people, we don’t take practical action to demonstrate our love and support. In fact, Mary Baker Eddy, the Founder of Christian Science, gave us one example of Christian compassion when she donated money for shoes for all the poor children in her town. Today our world headquarters, The Mother Church in Boston, Massachusetts, maintains a disaster relief fund as many other denominations do. The Christian Science Monitor is publishing articles of practical ideas for rebuilding. Most importantly, there is always the first response of individual prayer,–that instinctive plea, “Father, help us.” Dear Joplin, here are eight simple prayers from your friends in North Carolina. We are holding you in our hearts daily.
1. God will guide you every step of the way so you come out of this furnace fire without even the smell of smoke.
Sarah, Raleigh
2. God, divine Love, has the whole world in His hands and the wind in His fists. No one is ever outside the shelter of His tender care, steadfast love, and unfailing goodness.
Heather, Highlands
3. The knowledge of God’s everpresent love, guidance and peace is controlling all. Rest in his omnipresence.
Barb, Highlands
4. Ages have seen His might,
Father we call His name;
Nights of our mourning and sorrow end,
Light blesses opened eyes,
Joys like the dawns arise
As we see Him our God and Friend.
Russ, Wilmington (From “Crusader’s Hymn” by William P. McKenzie)
5.”Be still, and know that I am God…” (Ps 46:10) is hard to fathom in difficult circumstances. But when there are few material answers, it can be the comfort we need to go on. Godspeed.
Dick, Salisbury
6. Father-Mother God, we know that when Christ Jesus commanded one form of natural condition “Peace, be still,” he meant that command for all natural conditions for all mankind for all time. As your loving children, we claim that eternal stillness for ourselves and our neighbors here and now.
Dane, Salisbury
7. Trust in the Lord from whence cometh your help. God is with you.
Chuck, Wilmington
8. Only the power of omnipotent Mind reigns, for God holds the wind “in His fists.” … The Christ, Truth, alone declares to the storm, “Peace, be still.” Each of God’s ideas is embraced in this love and protection.
Sharon, Hendersonville
Joplin friends, while you begin your rebuilding we pray you will some day soon see yourselves as untouched and lovely as these Falls. All the best…
After Bin Laden, A Time for Thinkers
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Photo by Smithsonian American Art Museum, SAAM
Now we adjust to another “new normal:” a world without Osama bin Laden. How will we respond? Will the US and Pakistan continue to hurl counter accusations about slack security vs. violation of a country’s sovereignty? Will the “birthers” become “deathers” in refusing to accept the facts of the tyrant’s violent end? Will flash mobs of jubilation spark more violent reaction in the Middle East? In other words, will reason prevail over fear and group-think? An answer may be found in practicing the spiritual qualities we learn in the best teachings of our faiths.
One eloquent voice from Greenville, North Carolina spoke with wise restraint and simple decency. He wrote in Raleigh’s The News & Observer:
“Rarely is news so breaking that people halt everything just to follow it. Sunday’s [May 1] news regarding Osama Bin Laden was at such a level. I am sure my fellow countrymen felt a sense of relief.
“Being an American Muslim I felt two forms of relief. First, I was relieved that the man who was responsible for making the “Muslim” synonymous with “terrorist” within the American psyche was finally put to rest. Secondly, I was relieved because a major threat to my country has been diminished.
“Whether this development will put a damper on terrorist activity or inflame them even more is yet to be seen. At any rate, as a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA, I would like to reassure my fellow countrymen that they have nothing to fear from us. We take the advice of the Quran to obey those who are in authority among you seriously and have proved ourselves to be loyal American citizens since we first established ourselves in this county in the early 20th century.”
Hassan Ahmed, Muslim Writer’s Guild of America http://www.newsobserver.com/
I like the way my countryman Mr. Ahmed appeals to a faith of reasonableness. As a Christian Scientist, I’ve always liked Mary Baker Eddy’s urging, “The time for thinkers has come.” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Pref. vii) No extreme or violent emotion here, no settling for what everyone else thinks or does. Each must listen to Divine Mind,–the highest idea, the God-like idea, before acting. First, we must be thinkers.
Mothers Day Secured
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Darkest Hours, Courage
Osama Bin Laden is gone. He cannot threaten anyone else again. But one of the hateful doctrines he represented is still alive and well, even thriving across the globe: the disrespect, demeaning and diminishment of women.
As this Mothers’ Day arrives, thoughtful men and women can remember the facts presented by Raleigh’s InterAct, a North Carolina agency that supports victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, primarily women and their children. One in four women suffers domestic violence in her lifetime according to InterAct. Many of these women are mothers.
A horrifying description of young mother Lara Logan’s recent sexual assault in Egypt illustrated this threat on last Sunday’s 60 Minutes. On assignment as an international journalist for CBS, Logan fortunately survived her ordeal, thanks to the quick thinking of some veiled Egyptian women who grabbed her and held her safe from her captors. But not before unspeakable indignities and severe beatings had taken place. She remembers wanting fervently not to fail her two children by giving up her life.
An early supporter of women’s rights was Mary Baker Eddy, the Founder of Christian Science. When other denominations diminished and demeaned the role of women in the church and in society, some still doing so today, she did the opposite. She wrote, “Civil law establishes very unfair differences between the rights of the two sexes. Christian Science furnishes no precedent for such injustices.” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 63) She referred to God as Mother, a ground breaking teaching for Christianity in 1875 when her book was published.
To honor the huge contribution that mothering makes to our daily lives, consider this variation of Biblical scholar Eugene Peterson’s rendering (I Thessalonians 2)
With each of us, God is like a [mother] with [her] child, holding our hand, whispering encouragement, showing us how to live step by step before [her]…into this delightful life.” (The Message, p. 433)
Out of love and respect we honor mothers, mothering qualities and God as Mother on Mothers Day. Have a happy and safe one this year.
Photo by K-ideas, Kempton
