A patient was lamenting what appeared to be a major physical ailment to overcome. To keep her spiritual perspective intact, and to not be impressed by what appeared to be a “big deal,” she recalled a riddle she had learned from the past:
“What is big and gray and doesn’t matter?
“An irrelephant.”
There is a fun side to metaphysics. Let’s all commit to not being impressed by any “irrelephants” that appear to be relevant to material sense, but are not existent in God’s allness!
Humor and healing
https://journal.christianscience.com/shared/view/22c991n8f7m?s=e
THANK YOU FOR THE HUMOR AND HEALING LINK.
Thanks once again Evan.
Martine, the article sent vibes of light hearted joy through the caucus of a challenging Monday.
People are reaching out to me to solve difficulties in industry. I was distressed with all those demands, not wanting to disappoint but to once again perform for the good of everyone.
Time to be joyful! Have a good time achieving that which is necessary. that puts a different spin on it. A lifting article. Thanks for finding it for us.
You are most welcome David, for me I am so often helped by your uplifting comments and remarks. A joyful day to All contributors and to Evan for his endless inspiration.
People are reaching out to God! And God is never distressed and couldn’t possibly disappoint. How wonderful all you have to do is effortlessly be a clear window pane for God. I have to remind myself of this constantly. God wants us to feel happy, light, lifted. Nothing can mar our joy! It’s a gift from God. But you already know this.
Like it!
Ha ha, I think humour is essential. Thank you for that.
Just love this!
Thank you Evan and all.
Wishing you all a day full of smiles❣️
I laughed out loud! Will print the picture as a reminder.. Thank you.
During a regularly scheduled dental cleaning, a dentist said there was a cavity to be filled. Although I made a future appointment to have a filling, I prayed. At one point the thought came “Whole, not hole” (See Sentinel 12/12/2011). Because I thought this was funny, I didn’t think it came from God. I mentioned the instance to a practitioner, who declared “God has a sense of humor, too, you know.” I accepted that, and when I returned to the dentist he found no cavity to fill.
Helpful healing thank you for sharing above regarding the tooth.
Evan- thank you for the post- what a great image to demonstrate metaphysical humor to heal!
Russell, Your thought, “whole, not hole!” reminded me of a time when I was troubled by what appeared to be a lesion forming across the bridge of my nose; I was praying about it of course. One day tho, while I was on a distance trip in the high and remote mountains of BC, the area seemed to worsen, the spot becoming tender, reddened. Suddenly coming up, in nowhere, out of nowhere, a single building & dirt parking lot at roadside – a tavern. Also, guess what?!? Incredibly a pay phone – in the darned middle of nowhere, right there on the dirt lot – off the porch. There was no-one around, at all – no cars, no people – a few birds in the sky. Felt like I was the only person in the world…I’d been traveling solo along this route.
So, pulled over, called from NoWhere BC down to Indianapolis IN, a mentor/friend of mine, a CSPractitioner. Told her my story of woe, fear. Listening patiently til I finished, she said simply, “Connie! There IS NO SPOT WHERE GOD IS NOT!!!!”
I hung up feeling some disappointed – got in the car, drove on in the wilderness. I’m thinking, “I get her on the phone from way up here to way over there: that’s all she’s got to say?!” Not just disappointed, I felt deflated.
Having known this woman for many years, I knew her realization of Truth practiced to result in often instantaneous healing. She was near legendary in the region where she lived. Peel’s book, ‘Spiritual Healing in a Scientific Age’ includes an affidavit on the healing she’d experienced (of tuberculosis) in the late 20’s. This healing brought her into CS.
When I arrived at my lodgings for that night & checked in. Not even thinking about it as I prepared for bed later, brushing my teeth & absent mindedly glancing into the mirror – realized with joy, THE SPOT WAS GONE!!!
Soon after, when back at home in Etobicoke, ON I gave testimony. My rascally friends in church burst out laughing at me. I’d blurted out, “The place on my face was gone!” They thought that was pretty FUNNY! They rejoiced in gratitude with & for me tho too!
This is a true story – even tho it sounds like a ‘tall tale.’ Since, I’ve learned that praying about something isn’t the same as ‘unseeing’ it. Praying about the problem never results in healing!
CMVictoria
I was working on a home project the other day replacing deck boards with pressure treated material. The old boards were firmly attached to their joist connection making the job difficult to remove. Then an old joke came to mind that I heard while working as an engineer.
A company bought a new machine for its production department having experience an increase in demand for their product. After getting the machine on line with production, the machine started having issue requiring a service rep to do some repair. The service reps charges $125 for each call plus materials. Well the service rep came to the factory asking the production manager to start up the unit so that he could listen and observe what the problem was. Which they did. After a few moments the service rep went to his tool box, picked out a hammer and hit the machine with it. The machine started making the parts perfectly. The service rep told the production manager that it would cost $625 for the repairs. Surprised the production manager as why so much as the cost were to $125 plus parts. to which the service manager replied, A $125, for the call and $500 for knowing where to hit the machine.
As I remembered this joke and time was drawing near the end of the day, I had many nails to pull but with the trouble to get at them from above the deck, I cut the boards on each side of the joist. I took my hammer and stuck the remaining attachment around each nail connection stating to myself that God knows where to hit. The nails were exposed forthwith and I was able to finish my work before dark have a little extra time to put my tools away. For me the idea that came to me and the reliance on God for guidance is beyond any other means. There cannot be any task too simple or too complex where God’s guidance isn’t the best solution. What a joy that experience was with a little humor too to ease the difficult task.
Thanks for the reminder that we shouldn’t take error too seriously, Evan; it feeds on that kind of attention! This morning’s posting reminded me of a story a church friend shared with me many years ago. When she was a young woman in Boston, she took public transportation to work. There was a man who almost always was on the same conveyance (don’t recall if she said bus or streetcar) every morning who kept staring at her in a provocative way that made her feel uncomfortable. After she decided that this wasn’t going to stop on its own, she told her mother, a practitioner, about it. Her mother said that the next time it happened, she should just laugh, “error hates to be laughed at!” She did so the next morning and the unwanted attention stopped immediately and permanently.
I’ve never forgotten that line, “error hates to be laughed at”! While it would be inappropriate to laugh at a patient who seemed to be suffering, it’s good to remember not to allow an erroneous suggestion to impress…and eventually depress…us!
Robyn, I loved, “error hates to be laughed at.” So true, it wants to take our attention away from God good and make us feel dark, heavy and too serious. Laughter is lighthearted and fun, it expresses our God-given quality of Joy,
I once heard a TV evangelist say if things seem to have gone very wrong and you feel despair, start laughing and the devil will get very confused and upset and flee from you quickly.
Thanks, Rose, I began picturing a very confused, befuddled devil – the idea made me laugh. Probably a morbid thought, but, ah well.
Also reminded me of a Martin Luther anecdote – One night he saw the devil sitting on his bedside – Luther turned his back to him and said: “Oh, it’s you again,” and went to sleep.
Thanks, Rose! (And you, too, Brigitte!). Love the anecdotes…good reminder that nothing can rob us of our joy if we don’t permit it!
HaHaHa!!
❤️ So perfect
McKenzie -San Diego
Today a friend mentioned she was better.
I said, how could you have been un-better.
There can be no, un-better in His kingdom
where we reside.
Un-better or even better. It is all God.
Loved this Evan. Humour is often a vital part of ‘breaking the dream of error’. My mum had a lot of funny and quirky sayings which have often come back to me in various situations. Her own CS teacher was also a humorous man and one of his sayings which healed an eating disorder was “get it past your neck and forget it”. So grateful for your blogs and vlogs and for all the comments made daily which are also helpful.
Mrs. Eddy said “I agree with Rev. Dr. Talmage that ‘there are wit, humor, and enduring vivacity among God’s people.’” Mis. 117:10.
I had taken my beloved dog Molly to an emergency vet because she was screaming, it seemed in pain, for a prolonged period, and I couldn’t reach a practitioner. I was so upset I left the car running in the parking lot.
I handed Molly over to the vet with the instruction to give her no medication without consulting me. Then I sank down on the floor in tears in the middle of the busy vet office.
Then my cellphone rang – it was the practitioner. We spoke for a few minutes snd she said something that made me laugh out loud.
The next day when I called the vet first thing in the morning, I was told that Molly was fine and had eaten a big breakfast. The vet told me that they had never seen a dog come in in such distress, and then recover with no medical treatment.
I think when the practitioner made me laugh it broke the belief of a fatal ailment. Anyway Molly was completely healed and delighted to see me when I picked her up. and my gratitude to God was unlimited!
Irrelephant and irreverent in a good way. There’s a book GOD IS NO LAUGHING MATTER by Julia Cameron who wrote the classic THE ARTIST’S WAY. Cameron thinks, too, that God has a sense of humor and spirituality can be fun. When I was in college, I was with my C.S. teacher at the grocery store, and I slipped a 6-pack of beer into her grocery cart when she wasn’t looking as a joke. So, when this sweet, unsuspecting lady pulled it out of the cart and put it on the belt, she gasped. She had probably never touched a can of beer ever, and she was a grandmother by then. Then she started laughing. I asked what she thought, and she said, “I was wondering how I was going to talk myself out of this one.”
When faced with a whale of a problem, we can always remember that a “wail” is best and quickly replaced by a laugh, even the joy of Soul’s full expression. Let the funny/joyful side be the only side!
I’ve been meaning to thank you, Evan, for all of the wonderful pix you
compliment each blog with. They add so much to the entire thought, but
today’s in particular was a hoot!
I am reminded of hearing of a friend years ago struggling to find out why a
strand of Christmas lights wasn’t lighting. He had checked each and every
bulb to no avail and was getting quite frustrated. His wife walked in and he
lamented his dilemma. They were a fairly new set and should have worked.
His wife picked up the cord, Plugged it in and voila! It worked. The irony was
that he was an electrician.
Happy day to you all, with love.
Thank you Evan for this delightful posting.
Also Russell Whittaker “Whole not hole”.
M says Never un-better.
Linda Cheshire “get it past your neck and forget it”.
Molly sweet healing!
Josef, and Robyn, “error hates to be laughed at”.
All of these thoughts where very helpful and filled with humor…
Ditto Renis. Love all the comments and stories!
Ditto, J.
Laughing and chuckling felt so good today.
Thanks all
A number of years ago I picked some wild mushrooms from the woods near our home. I had ( I thought) carefully followed the procedure for identifying them as edible. My wife and I prepared them for lunch and we both had a generous serving. Within hours, we both were feeling seriously unwell. I felt considerable fear and personal responsibility for this unhappy event and called a practitioner as we felt in no fit state to reason through this ourselves. Upon first speaking to the practitioner, she made some jocular play on the word mushroom. What I immediately sensed in her remark was her instantaneous rejection that there was anything to fear and absolute certainty that we would soon know it also. That broke the fear and our recovery was prompt.
It’s been said that laughter is the best medicine. When error starts seeming real, a good laugh often snaps us right out of the spell we seem to be under and brings us back to the present moment. Great day to all of you!
Loved the illustration and will pass this on!
My brother used to say that he became a politician
because he had to talk down 5 sisters.
A good listener means a lot!
Thanks all, we need some fun!
If y’all knew me, you’d sure know why I sure do love this Whole SV Post and Comments today!!
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhaahhahahahahahahahahonyou,oleun-humorous-error!!!
Thanks Evan ‘N Friends!!
I needed this!) Especially the Irrelephance of seeming-problems!
:<)))))
P.S. Now I will go to Concord n look up "laugh!"
OK, Concord gave me plenty of Food for Thought on the subject of Laughter!
(btw, If you don’t use Concord, you are missing a Wonderful CS Study Tool!)
Psalm 2:4 “He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh,,,”
Job 8:19-21 “God will not cast away a perfect man, neighther will he help the evildoers: Till he fill thy mouth with laughing, and thy lips with rejoicing.”
Psalm 37:13 “The wicked plotteth against the just,…The Lord shall laugh at him:…”
Psalm 59:8 “…thou, O Lord, shalt laugh at them; thou shalt have the heathen in derision.”
More….. Mis. 126:27 Mis.238: 25 Mis 338:15
Wonderful, huh! :<))))))
Thank you, Evan, and all of you for your comments.
Sense of humor comes from God. It is a great spiritual weapon to break mesmerism. King Salomon understood this perfectly:
“A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones” (Proverbs 17:22).
Wow thank you very much, dear Evan! I think we all need good healing humor in CS. I do very much!
Mrs. Eddy loved humor and was humorous herself, as I read in a byography of her.
When I told a church friend about my worries she mostly laughed and then I said to her “thank you that you laughed at the error” as it is nonsense in CS.
Thank you SpiritViewFan for the wonderful Bible verses about a “laughing God”. I love that very much!
Thank you all specially today for all your inspiring and very helpful comments!
I am grateful for the healing SpiritView! ♡
Oh yes, I laughed a lot about the funny picture up here; it is awefully funny. Thanks for it, Evan!♡
Evan, the picture is “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!!”, from the movie Mary Poppins.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZNRzc3hWvE
Thank you so much, Linda – it was lovely and very uplifting seeing and hearing that song performed
once again so brilliantly performed,.
In the Harry Potter series there is a magical protection from harm called something like r”Ridiculoso!” (ridiculous oh-so) In which they waive their wind at whatever was so terrifying and it becomes something very funny to the viewer and so loses its power by not having the ability to scare and confused.
I think that my coping mechanisms through daily abuse was to be still look at her Roeck and self disciplined and firm, and that now I need to be more playful which comes from feeling more trusting and adventurous and flexible and curious and capable, or at least better relying on God be in capable and willing. It helps to see how ridiculous mortal mind is and have a gentle compassionate laugh and mental hug at our shared dear humanity.
In my experience, all of mortal mind’s landmines are preposterous and hypocritical and need to be seen for their irony and illegitimacy. And I have found that humor breaks the mesmerism needed to confuse and scare us. All my experience with abusers and oppressors has shown that they don’t want us to have a sense of humor or faith in God or a strong sense of community support and independent thinking with self-respect and a commitment to living a reverent life that respects all life.
I think it was summer of 1996 that my landlord had offered me a different place to move to and we were not familiar with that part of town so I had the paper with the address of my hand on the steering wheel and was trying to read the addresses of the houses. Suddenly my 10-year-old son screamed and yelled hysterically that he was not going to move Unless there was a Tyrannosaurus rex next door. That was so startling and bizarre that I kind of snorted a laugh and I said, “It’s right there.” thinking the address of the house. And then right where my finger was pointing was a two-story Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton made of white pipes. It was so unexpected that I and my two year old and Six year old girls burst out laughing. Of all the things my son could’ve said and all the timing to say that and have the most unexpected sight none of us ever imagined. To this day my daughters and I think it’s funny and my 35 1/2 year-old son does not. But for me the amazing humor of the one Mind broke the mesmerism I was suffering from and believing of a we’re-damned-if-I-do-and-damned-if-I-don’t, lose lose, catch 22. It opened my mind and heart to trust God‘s guidance in the details no matter how unexpected like that two-story Tyrannosaurus rex. I decided to except the house the landlord offered and every day for at least three years my son walked past it to and from school. It turns out I had taken the wrong street for the most efficient way to get to our new house but the perfect street for that timing for us to allow humor to liberate us. Or at least three of us four. Years later the owner of the T Rex moved and another neighbor down our street closer to us adopted it and then years after that 17 neighbors carried it a mile or two to its current front yard where again I was startled to see it unexpectedly at the perfect time when I was feeling so distraught by some thing else. I was leaving a thank you note with my family story of the tea Rex for the new owner when she went to her driveway and we had a lovely several hour conversation that was full of inspiration. The humility began with humor. The healing begin with Being startled out of the lie and surprised by the truth. The healing Involved trust and Reverend all of God and a willingness to recognize the joke’s on me.
Thank you, Edith – a wonderful experience, and a good example of how humour wins the day.
As I see it, if we laugh we are showing that we are not believing in what the material senses are presenting to us, and so the fear is gone, and so the illusion vanishes.