One of my favorite gifts received at Christmas this year was a clock sent to me by a couple of appreciative SpiritView readers.
The face of the clock includes the phrase, “The time for thinkers has come,” which is a very familiar phrase to me, quoted on the first page of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy.
I hung the clock on my office wall, directly in front of my desk, so I see the words often.
A few days ago, as I pondered their deeper meaning, a recharacterization of the words formed in my thought.
In the past, I had always seen the quote as a call to think about God and gain an understanding of spiritual reality. To me, the words signified that it was not okay to be ignorant of God and expect to slide into heaven in a state of ignorance. One needs to think and learn about God to get their thought into the realm of understanding, and not expect to get very far riding on the coattails of complacency or apathy.
As I pondered the need to be a spiritual thinker, I realized that the quote was also a call to not use your time in unproductive ways, like indulging worry, fear, illusive ideals, vanity, or dead ends.
The quote doesn’t read, “The time for worriers is here,” or “The time to fear is now!” It reads, “The time for thinkers has come,” meaning every moment is a moment to think about God, to grow in spiritual understanding, and to experience what it means to be an enlightened spiritual thinker, reflecting God’s presence in productive meaningful ways and living the Good Life God has given you to live.
What are you doing with your time today?
P.S. If you’d like to get your own clock, I think you can custom order one at www.johnborin.com. Borin made the one I received, and by-the-way, there is no ticking noise! The movement is silent, which I thought was awesome.
“I realized that the quote was also a call to not use your time in unproductive ways, like indulging worry, fear, illusive ideals, vanity, or dead ends.” this is so important. I remember Glenn Evans saying to me: “Fear is distrust of God. Worry is habitual distrust of God.” Thank you Evan for this timely reminder.
Thank you Evan! This is so good. Love everything you share with us…always, ALWAYS, helpful. This is priceless and “timeless” 🙂 Thank you!
Thank you for this inspiration. I have not long been aware of your blog, Evan, and I am finding it very helpful, along with all the enlightened comments and love shared.
I love the idea of the clock – much for thinkers to ponder.
The following quotations from the Bible and S&H came to mind:-
“…. he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”
(II Cor. 6:2)
“Now,” cried the apostle, “is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation,” — meaning, not that now men must prepare for a future-world salvation, or safety, but that now is the time in which to experience that salvation in spirit and in life.
(SH 39:18-22)
So, to me, it says that now is the time to be rid of the belief that time is ticking away our lives in a false material sense of being, but to rejoice that we are spiritual, perfect, timeless, ageless and greatly beloved of our Father in the ETERNAL NOW.
Thank you Evan and Maggie so much for these spiritual insights!
Thanks Evan, very nice idea. Would like to have such a clock in my one room and therefore just ordered such a clock. Specially good that it is ticking silently.
Thank you very much for the enlarged spiritual ideas you are giving us about this sentence from
Science and Health by Mary Baker Eddy . Very good ideas to ponder!
Thanks Maggie for the passages about the eternal NOW!
by the.way, for your info, this clock can be ordered with a text of ones own choice. You will see when you go to that web-site Evan mentions in above SpiritView.
Oh boy , now I know what a valuable and gorgious clock that is what you got Evan, that’s wonderful for you.
While studying your SpiritView text more thoroughly and thought about your question, ”what are you doing with your time today?” I am aware that I must spend more time with studying in Science and Health and MBEddy’s inspiring and healing literature. I feel somehow guilty, but I can do better, will let God guide my day.
How cool is that clock? Thank you for sharing. How precious also are your thoughts on thinkers. The nowness of right thinking. And how do we think rightly? We turn to God and He supplies us with right ideas and spiritual concepts.
Awesome!! Seize the day, not the dismay. Carpe diem, not carpe me-um. OK, clearly I have seized the cliche.
You have a great sense of humor! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Awesome! Off to “not waste my time unproductively”.
Great post! I have a question on “thinking.” In a paper titled The Body– Mary Baker Eddy says,”Man does not create anything. He only sees that which eternally is, which is God manifest, and calls it good or evil according to his own development. Paul tells us, ” not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God.” (2 Cor 3:5) She continues, “Our sufficiency to think is of God; our ability to form thoughts and opinions is of our own ignorance, our belief in duality, but our power or sufficiency to think is when we think with God, as God.”
Does anyone have any ideas on what is meant by “think with God, as God?”
Kenny, I would love to have the source and date of this paper. Can you provide it? In answer to your question, I have given much thought to this sentence in SH: “There can be but one Mind, because there is but one God; and if mortals claimed no other Mind, and accepted no other , sin would be unknown.” Pg 469 To me, this means that the quality and quantity of my thoughts, feelings, and abilities must conform to what God’s thoughts, feelings, and abilities are. I cannot entertain negatives, lacks, limitations, resentments, failures, nor react to them, nor consider that anyone rlse is doing so because these are not God’s way of thinking. I am thinking as God thinks because God is truly the only real Thinker. We all are God’s thoughts and His expression of thinking, seeing, feeling, hearing, and speaking. We have access to a perfect, infinite, harmonious Mind at all times.
Hi Cindy,
The following article by Mary Baker Eddy is verified-Registrar of Copyright, Congressional Library. Washington, D. C. January 19, l886. (This article found by Lyda Sandifer Hord, CSB)
Also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu7B112nMxw
Thanks for the reply. The thing that I find interesting is when she says “our ability to form thoughts and opinions is of our own ignorance and belief in two powers.” this suggests that God doesn’t think like we do. My opinion, we have a 5 sense mind and think in contrast; God doesn’t know duality only the absolute. We think with black letters on a white background; God thinks with white letters on a white background.
The time for ‘listeners’ has come; is now.” Isn’t this what Christ Jesus was naturally doing as he was listening to Christ, Truth?
Hi Ginny,
Yes, I think you are correct. To the best of my understanding, the Christ is the interpreter that makes Divine Idea intelligible to the human. Do you know what it looks like when Divine Mind takes over the scientific government of the body? Help!
An excellent idea. It is a good reminder to continue to watch our thinking. Thank you Evan for providing daily inspirations.
Thanks, Evan, and all. I love to ponder the ideas. We live in the NOW where there is no time—no past, no future, only eternity. We live in the eternal Mind, God, where only good is happening. Anything other than good that seems to be in our life is a mirage, a false picture, that can be erased by recognizing where and who we really are.
This was a good exchange of ideas.Thank you Evan for starting this and for all the wonderful that were said.
things I meant.