A better view of problems

May 26, 2010 | 7 comments

A patient asked, “Will you pray with me again today, or are you tired of hearing about this trouble?” She had called me a couple of times in the past on the same issue. Progress was occurring, but still more to be made.

Without hesitation I replied, “Of course I’ll be happy to pray with you. I never get tired of loving!”

After I hung up the phone, I thought, “Now that’s the way all problems should be viewed, not as troubles to get anxious about, but as opportunities to love more.

Do you view troubles in your life that way?

Do you see them as opportunities to love more? Or do you use them as excuses to complain more? There’s a big difference.

The choice you make determines how fast you get to a solution.

7 thoughts on “A better view of problems”

  1. Thank you for this, Evan. In the past, I have had difficulty asking a Practitioner for help because I felt that voicing the problem would be making it more of a reality. One time I mentioned that to my Teacher, and he told me I was only telling him a dream, not a reality. That really helped me see that Practitioners love, love, love, and help us wake up from the dream of whatever the problem seems to be. I’m so grateful for ALL the Teachers and Practitioners who are there to help!

  2. Can you please explain what you mean by love more in reference to problems?I don’t follow.

  3. Thank you,
    I find that Love, God divine Principle is the only way to solve problems in general. I’m currently praying with this idea in a relationship issue, were it seems that sometimes mere human affection is either non-existent,or wavering to and fro. It takes meekness, willingness and self-forgetfulness to love unconditionally as Jesus taught.

  4. Thank you so much Evan. I recently
    lost a beloved brother, and thinking of him at a Sunday service, feeling I had a ‘hole’ in my heart… the message came: “don’t weep for me… I’m rising, rising.” I realized the joy and love we had for each other, that we could never lose, and my grief simply disappeared. God truly is our Life always, and in all ways.

  5. To above,

    How to love more…?

    It’s all on how you view life! If you see yourself as a mortal, you’re likely to live a struggle filled life, going from one problem to another. But if you understand yourself to be immortal, a child of God, constantly discovering something new and wonderful about God’s glorious creation of Good, challenges are not troubles, but opportunities to see more good. It’s an opportunity to love more…to express more patience, humility, wisdom, and intelligence…to move past the “trouble” and prove the presence of good.

  6. Thank you for sharing your “loving” response to the caller’s question, for I, too, have been reluctant/embarrassed to call a practitioner for help on the same problem “again”. How nice to know that you don’t see it that way at all. Also, I loved your answer to the commenter’s question. I know we are to view problems as “opportunities”, not “trials”. But I had always thought of the opportunity as simply one to heal. Now I see it’s really about “loving more” (with patience, wisdom, trust and joy). Healing is not the goal, but the outcome of loving.

  7. Reluctance to call again baffles me. Seems like the patient is feeling it’s their fault the issue hasn’t been healed. The personal sense argument can be flipped around … the practitioner might feel it’s THEIR fault the issue wasn’t healed. Imagine we need to get past blame on either side.

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