When praying for someone stuck in a coughing fit, the thought occurred to me, “Coughing is complaining.”
I thought about times when food got stuck in my throat, and I started coughing to get it out. “Yep,” I thought, “Coughing is complaining.” Physically speaking, it can be the body complaining that something is wrong and needs to be adjusted for the restoration of harmony. It’s a type of protest.
I wasn’t praying for someone dealing with food in their throat. It was a much more aggressive physical belief than that. But as I started to see this person as a child of God wholly loved by divine Love, cared for in every possible way, not lacking anything in their life to be healthy and well, and fully provided for without a single thing to complain about, I found my peace about their situation. The coughing ceased.
When it feels like coughing is a form of complaining, pray to see why there is nothing to complain about. See being in Spirit where harmony and peace reign, where one is purely spiritual, living out the harmonies of Truth and Love.
When there’s nothing to complain about, there’s nothing to cough over.
That is a very interesting spiritual interpretation of the problem.
Evan, and it makes sense. It shows me more clearly how we
need to turn away completely from the body, and seek the
spiritual counter-fact that is always present and dissolves the material
belief.. Christ,Truth is always the victor, of that we can be certain.
I translate COUGH to “Call Out and Up to God for Help!” This allows me to get past any annoyance or focus on the noise to see through to God’s ever present love and support.
Heyyyy! I like that!
What a wonderful thought, Laurel! I love that!
Thank you Laurel for your comment which i s very helpful and comforting!
Sometimes I notice when I am giving forth an opinion (most always s negative one), something feels like it is stuck in my throat, and I have to stop and clear the dryness or whatever to go on. I have noticed this more and more and I think it’s a suggestion from God to literally let go and stop what I am saying! I am so grateful to God for this gentle nudge of grace !
Thank you, Angela, for this little wake-up call ❣️
Just woke up this morning, and this was precisely what I needed to see! Coughing IS complaint. It can be so tempting to take the approach of “trying to make sick matter better.” But that is not really what we should be after: Jesus said the Kingdom of Heaven is not a faraway locale to be pointed out with observation or the notorious human measurements of time. It is right HERE, and within us. It is NOW – because the only time, per se, is NOW. ☝️1️⃣
Thank you Evan and all. This is so helpful. This is a good thing to put into practice. Keeping heavenly thoughts about things and others,, keeps us free from complaining and material thinking.
Become conscious for a single moment that life and intelligence are purely spiritual neither in nor of matter and the body will then utter no complaints. I am having to know these Truths about someone currently and praying to see God’s plan for them unfold. The complaints were nonstop and now the coughing appears non stop. I pray to see God’s love for them.
Reminded me of the second verse of Hymn 249/250 and how important it is to replace complaining with gratitude for the good/harmony we learn in CS God manifests freely through us all.
Our gratitude is riches,
*Complaint* is poverty,
Our trials bloom in blessings,
They test our constancy.
O, life from joy is minted,
An everlasting gold,
True gladness is the treasure
That grateful hearts will hold.
Too “funny!” Earlier I thought of this Hymn of Gratitude, copied and printed it,
put it on my Office wall!!
Had not thought of it for years.
Hard to ever believe there is not just One Mind!! Of course There Is!!S
Thanks for today’s Spiritview re complaining and coughing. I also need to be alert know that there is no complainer. No one complaining and no one or nothing to complain about.
Thank you Evan and all. I find the statement above very helpful,
“See being in Spirit where harmony and peace reign, where one is
purely spiritual, living out the harmonies of Truth and Love”.
A while ago, I was eating an orange and a piece had gotten lodged
in my throat. It was quite alarming as it seemed life threatening at
the time. The dogs knew something was wrong. I think it was their
unconditional Love that helped dislodge the mortal “sense” of a
seemingly dire problem and what a relief to know … actually Know
that Love is always with us, regardless what the “problem” seems
to be. Seeing ourselves or others as mortals, needing to improve
matter is a challenge we can overcome when we actually Know our
true Being is not material, with all the baggage that entails, but spiritual.
Thank you, dear Evan and all. Many years ago, when my children were
little, one of them was having coughing problems in the night and
waking me as well, so I would begin praying and it came to me that
this was just error being noisy, looking for attention. That was the
healing. So grateful for many years of C,S, healings and blessings.
Interesting idea, coughing=complaining. Then recognizing that the child of God has all their needs met so nothing to complain about. This spiritual logic could be applied to any so called physical complaint that tries to get our attention on IT and away from our wonderful spiritual reality. As Barbara put it, “error being noisy, looking for attention.” Without our attention and interest it is destroyed.
This is a very helpful spiritual translation, Ethan. I had sometimes thought of coughing as mortal mind trying to disrupt, but complaining is a disruption (or rather negation!) to harmony. It makes me think how to adapt it to other challenges such as a skin rash. I would welcome ideas from other members of the SV family. Can a skin rash be seen as a type of complaint too? As a rejection of something, an expulsion of something, an attempt to purify from unwanted substances (thoughts)?
Thank you very much Ethan and everyone in the SV family for lovingly sharing your helpful insights and resources.
The air has been very smoky here from wildfires in Canada. People are complaining about smarting eyes and coughing. Complaining that the atmosphere is material and polluted will not solve the problem.. But holding to the truth, that if the atmosphere is mental, and God is the only Mind, it cannot be polluted with thoughts opposed to good. “The breath of the almighty hath given me life.” Breathing in gratitude gives me life….I saw streaks of yellow flash by my window. Goldfinch’s from the feeder I put out just for them. It was a call to strive to focus on the soaring movements of freedom and beauty by those perfectly cared for expressions of life. To hold my thought to specific gratitude for God’s breathing out to us His atmosphere of love, joy, beauty and protection, and release complaint.
Kay, thank you for this sharing of inspiration, literally.
“In atmosphere of Love divine we live, and move, and breathe, “Thy glory fills the sky” from the Christian Science Hymnal.
I liked Evan’s comment: “Physically speaking, it can be the body complaining that something is wrong and needs to be adjusted for the restoration of harmony. It’s a type of protest.”
This comment reminded me of the article I posted on 7/10 from Elizabeth Crecelius Schwartz. She also talks about issues (like the healing of the withered hand in the Bible) as being a mental error demanding correction. What an inspiring paradigm shift.
Hi Family!
While reading this week’s Bible Lesson-Sermon on the Subject, “Life,” I thought I’d re-word it
for my own clarification. When I read it aloud to a friend, she insisted that I publish it. What do you think of it? (If you’ve a minit!)
Life
“I AM Your divine Principle…
The Way you work.
Your “How-to,” Your “Tao,”
Your Strength, Your Helper,
Your Right Hand!
I AM your Light in the darkness,
Your Help when faint;
Your Courage when afraid;
Your Wisdom and Knowledge,
Stability and Joy!
I Am Your place of broad rivers and streams;
Your peace and Saving Grace.,
Your path to quietness and assurance, forever.
I AM your Home and Resting-place..
I AM Your Mind and Your God,
Forever and Ever and Ever. Amen
(From the Christian Science Bible Lesson, Life;
Responsive Reading July, 2026 An Adaptation)
Susan Krevitt
Susan Krevitt