Category: From Students and Guests

Forever Young 🎧

From Christiane Smith: “I love the words of ‘Forever Young’ by Bob Dylan”. 

May God bless and keep you always
May your wishes all come true
May you always do for others
And let others do for you
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young.

May you grow up to be righteous
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you
May you always be courageous
Stand upright and be strong
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young.

May your hands always be busy
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful
And may your song always be sung
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young.

Truth Extinguishes Every Form of Error

By Dyan Wingard

Truth extinguishes every form of error.

The flames of Love can not be retarded. They reach the heights of heaven in purity and Love. No material flames can tarnish or desecrate God’s man. No fire (no matter its size, burn time, etc.) can overshadow the enormity of God’s good. We dwell under the shadow of the Almighty. The same fire that Moses was led to respond to and recognize as the burning bush, the fire that led Moses and the Israelites out of Egypt by night, and the fire that did not singe a single hair or leave a smell of smoke on Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego is the only fire that exists.

Do I Expect Healing? 🌺

By Duffy

It seems simple, but I caught myself the other day doubting my healing work for an issue I was working on. I caught myself thinking, “That won’t work.” The important part, though, was I CAUGHT MYSELF!

I immediately corrected my thinking, kicking out the error in my thoughts – telling those negative thoughts to “Go away – stop it! You are no part of the one Mind and my thinking.”

My work is powerful and based in God, Love, Principle and law. IT WORKS AND HEALS. I don’t have to “do” or make something happen – that is God’s work.

But I simply must have confidence in the healing. I must keep my thinking uplifted. I must have confidence in God’s unlimited healing power. I must feel divine Love’s presence embracing me and be receptive to that presence. I must listen for the angel messages coming to my thought. I must know God! LOVE! Truth!

My dedication to this work cannot fail. The healing is complete. What matter and the 5 senses tell me is illegitimate – complete falsities. I am so grateful to know this and for this self-correction.

Thank you Father Mother God!!

The Christian Science Reading Room: A Safe Place To Ask, To Be, and To Know

By Karen Joyce Lloyd

11/15/2018

I never know who or what I’ll encounter when serving in the Reading Room. I’m always amazed by how God shows up at just the right time in the form of ideas and words, which come through when assisting Reading Room visitors in person and on the phone.

This week, while serving in our branch church Reading Room, I had been studying and reading aloud to myself the weekly Bible Lesson on “Mortals and Immortals.”

A man and woman who identified themselves as “houseless (not homeless)” came in, sat down, and immediately engaged me in conversation about a distressing situation.

The women expressed concern and anxiety about a male friend who she said had been repeatedly robbed by others. She did not understand why these thefts continued to happen to him, especially since her friend is a good and kind man, and always “turns the other cheek” without defending himself. She thought of her friend as stuck in his situation and not able to change it.

I shared my understanding that, whether or not I am conscious of my beliefs, what I believe creates my experiences because the choices I make are based on my beliefs. I suggested that even the thought of her friend being stuck is, in itself, a belief that is creating an experience. When beliefs change and are replaced with understanding, experiences change.

I asked her how she would answer her own question about why her friend continues to be robbed. She said, “I don’t know.” However, I saw this woman and her friend as intelligent, and told her so, because intelligence is always present and being expressed.

She repeated her question several more times, each time with the same perplexed tone of voice. I felt an escalation in the intensity of her concern.

I heard her need for protection and security.

I spontaneously replied, “Be still and know that I am God!”

She smiled, relaxed, and beamed, “that’s my favorite quote!”

Her companion then enthusiastically recounted the Bible story he loved of how Jesus slept soundly on the boat during the life-threatening tempest and, after being awakened, stilled the storm.

I asked the woman to look around the Reading Room at all of the books and magazines on the shelves. I said that the room was filled with answers to important questions like hers that many others had asked and written about. I invited her to come to the Reading Room any time it is open. She asked what hours it is open, and I pointed to the times posted on the front door and told her what they were.

I expressed that the Reading Room is a sanctuary and haven—a serene and safe place to be still and know God.

I thanked them both for coming in, and they thanked me for spending time listening and talking with them.

I am grateful for the ideas that come effortlessly when I take the time to engage in prayer, study and service in the Reading Room, one of my favorite places to be still and know God!

The Treasures of Truth

Mortal existence is an enigma.  Every day is a mystery. The testimony of the corporeal senses cannot inform us what is real and what is delusive, but the revelations of Christian Science unlock the treasures of Truth. 

Science and Health p. 70

I have been seeking truth since I was a teenager.  My library is filled with books which provide glimpses of truth.  I am so grateful to have found Christian Science several years ago when I stopped in the Santa Rosa Reading Room, after picking up free literature on one of my walks downtown.

A copy of Science and Health was purchased and a lovely talk with the receptionist followed. The book would never be described as a quick and easy read, but I understood it and more importantly, believed it and recognized it as truth!

Bodily aches, pains, minor injuries and worries began to dissolve quickly without a trace. I cherish the enhanced perspective I have on God, spirit, matter, the universe, etc., and look ever forward to a deeper and richer understanding of the marvelous truths discovered and articulated by Mrs. Eddy.

From Jennifer 🌸

Sign up to be Notified of New Posts! 📝

Hi friends! There are still only a few who have signed up to be notified of new posts. That is the best way to be reminded to read the great material in our blam, and to participate by sending comments and contributions. With our busy lives we need these gentle reminders!

OK.  Here is how to sign up. You can do it right now– at the end of this post.  At the bottom of each post is a comment section. You can either “leave a comment” or read comments already posted.  Click on the comment section  and the screen shown below will appear. At the bottom of the screen, after “POST COMMENT”  are two boxes to check. The first box says “Notify me of follow up comments by email”. The second box says “Notify me of new posts by email”. Click the second box for posts, and both boxes if you like.

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I hope that this explanation of the sign-up process makes it quick and easy, but if you have questions, please contact me by email or telephone: Jennife574@aol.com or  707-758-8024.

Pam’s special blam will be especially fun and rewarding with a high degree of participation. Let us hear from you!

Jennifer 🌸

Living God’s Story

From Cindy

 

I was recently led to think about life in a clearer way.   I am beginning to see that it is not about what God means to me nor what God can do for me.  It’s really about Love’s unfolding.  My life isn’t about plugging God in when I need Her or when I am trying to be good.  It is about living God’s story, letting God lead in every minute decision, turning moment by moment to God and really listening, and being willing to do what I hear.  

 

Each morning as I study the Bible Lesson, I wait for the “morning moment” of inspiration and guidance.  And, key to that listening, is being willing to use the morning moment throughout the day, especially when the minutiae of daily interactions, the push and pull of human reactions, and  sometimes a feeling of apathy, try to sideline my demonstration.  Willingness and persistence have really kept me in God’s story and out of the drama of mortal mind.

 

This week I had an example of living God’s story and seeing the protection it includes.   I was riding my young horse down a paved road, which we have done many times.  This time, however,  a bear came out of the pond behind us and my horse took off at a gallop.  Nothing would dissuade him from the fear that gripped him.  We were careening across slippery leaves, cement driveways, and the road, heading toward a busy 60 mph road.  This normally thoughtful horse was “out of his mind.”  

 

As this was happening, I felt no fear.  I was confident that God’s story is always good for all.  Humanly, I could have executed a one-rein stop which causes the horse to turn and stop, but we had a fence on one side and pavement on the other.  That kind of turn would not be safe.  Instead, I turned to God, stayed there and just worked the reins back and forth.  Before we got to the busy road, we were well in hand.

 

To me, the experience was profound, because I was not thinking separately from God, I was one with God’s thoughts.  There was calm, trust and love.  I hadn’t tried to get God to help separate me in a dangerous position, but rather, I understood God, Love, as my and my horse’s life and mind.  All is well always.

“There Is No Out There!”

By Kit Kurtz

A few weeks ago, in the middle of praying to consistently see God’s presence, but also to feel closer to God, I felt an angel thought (a message from God) flood my thinking, “There is no out there!” I understood immediately that I was never outside God’s consciousness trying to get back in. There is not a place outside what God knows. I was not ‘out there,” metaphorically working and praying and hoping to find just the right inspiration to feel my closeness to God. I, and all God’s children, are always on the inside, are always right with Mother Father God.
I was so grateful and am so very grateful for this gift of Christian Science that teaches us the practical fact that God is all there is and that God is very very good. When we look, we see God’s presence operating everywhere in our life

A couple of days before we were to leave on a big trip I was working at our reading room. I joyfully applied the concept that there is “no out there” for our church, our community, and all the world.

I almost immediately saw this fact of God’s loving presence in action. I left the reading room at 2:15, just in time to be home when my son arrived home from his day program. But, as I pulled out from the parking lot my car started to shake violently and all the lights on the dashboard started to flash. It was very scary. Flooding my thought was, “Oh no. It’s Friday afternoon. How will I ever get the car fixed? I am leaving on a trip in a couple of days. Will I need to get a rental car? How will I get home to be there for my son?” Then the message came again, “There is no out there.” I stopped human planning and was still. I reminded myself that I was always and only in God’s consciousness and I should just relax and see the order of Principle, God, in action.

I then calmly drove down the street to a repair shop that I have used before, eager to see what God had planned. Their parking lot was empty. “Oh no, are they open?” I thought. Yes they were open. But the place was empty except the service manager and another man. I explained my car trouble and time sensitivity. The man next to the service manager immediately went out to check my car. In a few minutes he had discovered the problem and they said they could fix it in an hour. My check maintenance light had been on. They could fix that in an hour too. God guided me to call a church friend to meet my son when he got home. She lovingly dropped everything and drove up to our home just as my son arrived.

In talking to the service manager I discovered the reason that they were able to promptly fix my car. Their company was sponsoring a daylong Christian worship musical event the next day, and they had cleared their schedule in preparation. Also, the mechanic was in the process of going home as I drove in and they got the needed parts before the parts house closed early to check inventory. No details left out of God’s plan.

While we were talking, the mechanic came in to inform me that my back brakes were metal to metal, not a surprise as we live on a steep mountain-side. They could fix those within the hour too.

In the consciousness of Love, all is in order. The car problem was fixed, the maintenance done, and the brakes changed, and I got home within an hour and a quarter to see my son happily reading books with my friend. As a side note, the name of the repair shop is Akua Automotive. Akua means God in Hawaiian.