Great advice and if only everyone would do this , but so many people ( even adults) are still shy or lacking in confidence so others need to help to boost that for people who need it.
Yes everyone waits for the other person to take an initiative to become friends. If we make the first move and say “Hello”, there is so much joy and satisfaction. The other person opens up and then there is no turning back…the convesation goes on and results in good friends.
We are all one big universal family with God, our father and mother. All are united in the one big embrace of God…so why shy away from saying Hello and making friends?
Friendship is a precious gift from God to us. So let’s make the best of it and be the first to say “Hello” and welcome a new friend in our life. Very soon we will have many good friends for life.
Thanks so much Evan for encouraging us to go ahead and lovingly welcome friends in our life. Friends are so vital for loving, sharing and caring. Many a times our friends understand us even better than family and stand by us in our hour of need.
Thank you Nergish. Thank you Evan, how good it makes us feel to be loving , I experienced this today. Love to all who share , and “Hello” let’s be friends.
I can be the first to begin my day, each project, trip, and interaction affirming that God‘s in control, blessing all and that each and every person who comes into my life in any way is the perfect gift and opportunity for me to practice Christian Science, knowing we only have one Mind, seeing their spiritual qualities and me practicing them, loving them, lifting away the burden, practicing The Golden Rule and Matthew Code.
Part of being a friend is giving people grace, forgiveness, and support. I can be the first to forgive. I can be the first person to give gratitude in advance. I can be the first person to get out of the mortal story and into God’s glory. I can be the first person to practice moral and physical courage and integrity. I can be the first person who is receptive to the Christ’s prophetic rebuke of me and demand for repentance and social justice, social change. I can be the first person who practices regeneration in society and environment, and healing. Each of these is a way to be the first person to love because God is the Source of infinite love to, through, and for each of us.
“Love is reflected in love” and we are all children of God. I have found
that if we smile at someone, like in a store, they most often smile back,
reinforcing this divine Love towards each other. There is an older lady
who works in a large grocery store, that I always enjoy talking to when
I see her there. We never know how the simplest gesture can affect
someone. I had been chatting with her and later saw her again
and told her I so much enjoyed our conversation and it “made my day”.
Her face lit up, she touched her heart with such joy and I think just
telling her that simple comment, perhaps “made her day”.
I Love the friendship shared here and the love expressed. It is a real
treasure I cherish. Thank you all! : )
Carol, you are so right! A smile can make such a difference in someone’s day–and my day, too! I’ve found the smallest compliment can just light up a person’s face–I often admire someone’s name, their hairdo, their lovely nails, etc., or just tell them I appreciate their being there to assist me–and it’s genuine, not forced. To see how it breaks the ordinary routine for a few moments is pure gold. Isn’t it wonderful how Evan’s ‘grocery store’ of good ‘thought food’ has such great ’employees’ to make OUR day.
I so love having the Holy Spirit within. Many years ago, He lovingly directed me to smile at everyone whether I knew them or not. What a joyous reward that is. Oftentimes it results in a comfortable “hello”followed by a momentary and fun conversation which seems to bless me. Moreover, when standing in a food line, the Holy Spirit has encouraged me to buy that stranger’s coffee, or even their meal. What a most surprised yet, wonderful response from them and a fond memory for me. I silently say to myself, “thank you Lord”. I’ll be looking for you along life’s pathway and smiling.
Dear Carol, Rose and J,
It wasn’t until this morning that I read your warm and loving responses to my post yesterday. Thank you all for the empathy you express, the prayerful support I know you give, and the sharing of experiences that are of such great value to me and the group. In this SpiritView fellowship unselfed love is never an abstract thing… It is a tangible, feelable, empowering, and progressive force.
During a conversation yesterday, from the tongue of an angel on the scene, a very generous offer was made to me to help settle the situation, and insure “poise, grace, and dominion” going forward. The compassion, honesty, integrity, and respectful views expressed, as well as the problem solving ideas presented, had divine Mind written all over it!! A sense of peace came over me,- a healing calm. Gratitude to God!!
To be a part of this forum is such a blessing. I am the grateful beneficiary of your insights and love. Thank you my spiritual companions from the deepest spaces of my heart.
Oh, Dear Linda,
How wonderful to hear of your demonstration! I am so happy for you and I am
sure the peace and calm that you are feeling is God’s dear Love expressed in so
many ways, but even more so, for you today. Your faith and trust in our
Father/Mother/God has been rewarded for all of the good you do. Divine Mind
Is always in control and you certainly have proven it.
I’m sure everyone here at SpiritView rejoices in your good news. I have “been
there” with the (mortal mind) angst that can be associated with what you
seemingly had been going through before your demonstration of God’s
power was realized, and know the feeling of relief you must be feeling.
Again, I am so happy for you!
I work in a large department store and I experience firsthand how grateful customers are when I express kindness, friendliness and helpfulness toward them. I pray each day to express these God qualities and any others that may be needed in any given situation. I’ve had some truly amazing conversations with people over the years, Generally speaking I’ve found that people just want to feel acknowledged and cared about, and sometimes the smallest thing makes a big impression on them. It’s a blessing to have the opportunity to connect with these people (who I may never see again) and have that great interaction that blesses us both. The store used to have this motto for the employees, “If the customer walks out feeling better than they did when they walked in, then we have worked our magic.”
I often smile at myself in the rear view mirror when I find traffic unbearable.. It sure changes my attitude. Have you ever smiled at yourself in the mirror when you were feeling angry or frustrated? Try it if you want a refreshing laugh. It’s my way of loving my neighbor as myself.
I used to be one of those , shy to be the first to say “Hello”, but I read a Christian Science article that reminded me that ” there is only one MIND”, not multiple! What Joy I find now to make the first friendly move, without fear of my warm felicitation being rejected, as I hold steadily in my thought the Truth that ” We are all One”, Reflections of God”, “One Ego” which Is GOD.
Thank you Evan and all. Being the first brings Wonderful experiences. I remember a friend I met in high school. We were having lectures in a big hall. We were more than 1000 students. Everyday at the start of the lesson I will look behind to see if the lady was already in class. Everytime I looked for her our eyes met. I had planned to meet her outside when the class ends but we would always miss each other, because we were taking different directions. After one week I was determined to get to her. When the class was over I trapped her at the end of the stair case As I greeted her she returned my greetings with love. She said she wished we could be friends and I said I wish the same We became friends and benefited from each other and our friendship has lasted since then. .
To be first is something spiritual. God, Spirit plans it and brings His children together.
Heartfelt thanks to you again Rose and Carol. Yes, Rejoicing in divine Love’s gracious provision!!! Wishing you all a happy day, filled with the loving friendships and harmonious relationships we gratefully receive from our Divine Source.
I wander through my thoughts enjoying again all of these precious
remarks and do feel Divine Love’s presence …
so peaceful and special! A delightful weekend to all!
I also love the idea of making friendswhen giving joy to others when being kind and friendly to them in the grocery etc.
And it’s very nice to be friends in this SpiritView Blog. And indeed we can know that so, as here is so much Kindness and love expressed between us all. I am very grateful for that!♡
On the other hand, in Wedness nicht after church I thought I was alone in my street, but surprisingly a young woman passend me me, smiling at me and saying very friendly “good evening”. I was so touched by her kondless and I joyfully replied her kindness with a bright smile ! So she made me very happy and now I know for sure that we can make our fellowmen with some lovingkindness glad and happy as well. Perhaps with some kindless there goes along healing here and there.
Thank you dear Evan that we ponder this topic alltogether this weekend!♡
On a Bible-based website not long ago, I saw a photo with the acronyms WWJD and HWLF together. I knew the acronym WWJD stood for “What would Jesus do”, and out of curiosity looked up HWLF. It also referred to Jesus and stood for “He would love first”.
This is a great article, J, Thank you!
I think the most important thing in any situation is to just
“be ourselves”. One of the blessings of CS is to see everyone
as God’s perfect child, expressing His/Her qualities and
individuality. We don’t need to try to impress anyone, but
just to act naturally which is reflecting qualities that we find
most endearing … to treat each other as we would “old friends”.
Old friends are not judgmental but accept others as they are
and in God’s universe, that is as perfect in Love’s reflection.
That is beautiful Carp; Thank you and all contributors. I am very grateful for this get-together. Smiling at people is such an easy thing to do. I recall one time many years ago, I was taking a walk during my lunch break. there was an obviously homeless man approaching me. As we passed he said to me “Keep smiling!” That made my day and, I would think, his too. I have tried to follow that advice ever since. God does work in us at all times.
Just this moment, I read your contribution; WHAT A GREAT acronym HWLF is not one I had ever heard, read, thought of, or used. The thought fills our need this Sunday, as I substitute for First Reader. HWLF is a gem which settles my thinking about how I will read.
I have always found that a friendly joyous greeting followed by a compliment of some sort is deeply appreciated and has always been answered by a joyous response back to me. it is so gracious to share the love and caring with those we meet during our God directed day:)
I’m sitting here smiling whilst reading all the comments today…lovely ideas and article for the weekend….so thank you Evan and all.
One of the great benefits from dog walking is that everyone says Hi as they pass you by,….
What a pleasure to spread a little Love❣️
An interesting opportunity came up yesterday. I found that while chatting with my neighbor, he carried a negative attitude on people. He said that people are not honest. He asked, What is this world coming to? I reminded him that we are good people and we need to show and spread that goodness around. He smiled. I saw such a sweetness in his face. This showed us that we are all God’s children.
Being friendly and talking to people in a store is great. I do it all the time.I have”trouble ” with my daughter because she tells her children not to talk to strangers.Her daughter says “but G-dad does”
Great advice and if only everyone would do this , but so many people ( even adults) are still shy or lacking in confidence so others need to help to boost that for people who need it.
Yes everyone waits for the other person to take an initiative to become friends. If we make the first move and say “Hello”, there is so much joy and satisfaction. The other person opens up and then there is no turning back…the convesation goes on and results in good friends.
We are all one big universal family with God, our father and mother. All are united in the one big embrace of God…so why shy away from saying Hello and making friends?
Friendship is a precious gift from God to us. So let’s make the best of it and be the first to say “Hello” and welcome a new friend in our life. Very soon we will have many good friends for life.
Thanks so much Evan for encouraging us to go ahead and lovingly welcome friends in our life. Friends are so vital for loving, sharing and caring. Many a times our friends understand us even better than family and stand by us in our hour of need.
Thank you Nergish. Thank you Evan, how good it makes us feel to be loving , I experienced this today. Love to all who share , and “Hello” let’s be friends.
Thank you Evan and Nergish. We all need and value friendship and this encourages us to be friends first!
I can be the first to begin my day, each project, trip, and interaction affirming that God‘s in control, blessing all and that each and every person who comes into my life in any way is the perfect gift and opportunity for me to practice Christian Science, knowing we only have one Mind, seeing their spiritual qualities and me practicing them, loving them, lifting away the burden, practicing The Golden Rule and Matthew Code.
Part of being a friend is giving people grace, forgiveness, and support. I can be the first to forgive. I can be the first person to give gratitude in advance. I can be the first person to get out of the mortal story and into God’s glory. I can be the first person to practice moral and physical courage and integrity. I can be the first person who is receptive to the Christ’s prophetic rebuke of me and demand for repentance and social justice, social change. I can be the first person who practices regeneration in society and environment, and healing. Each of these is a way to be the first person to love because God is the Source of infinite love to, through, and for each of us.
“Love is reflected in love” and we are all children of God. I have found
that if we smile at someone, like in a store, they most often smile back,
reinforcing this divine Love towards each other. There is an older lady
who works in a large grocery store, that I always enjoy talking to when
I see her there. We never know how the simplest gesture can affect
someone. I had been chatting with her and later saw her again
and told her I so much enjoyed our conversation and it “made my day”.
Her face lit up, she touched her heart with such joy and I think just
telling her that simple comment, perhaps “made her day”.
I Love the friendship shared here and the love expressed. It is a real
treasure I cherish. Thank you all! : )
Carol, you are so right! A smile can make such a difference in someone’s day–and my day, too! I’ve found the smallest compliment can just light up a person’s face–I often admire someone’s name, their hairdo, their lovely nails, etc., or just tell them I appreciate their being there to assist me–and it’s genuine, not forced. To see how it breaks the ordinary routine for a few moments is pure gold. Isn’t it wonderful how Evan’s ‘grocery store’ of good ‘thought food’ has such great ’employees’ to make OUR day.
Thank you for sharing Carol, and reminding us how to reach out to others.
I so love having the Holy Spirit within. Many years ago, He lovingly directed me to smile at everyone whether I knew them or not. What a joyous reward that is. Oftentimes it results in a comfortable “hello”followed by a momentary and fun conversation which seems to bless me. Moreover, when standing in a food line, the Holy Spirit has encouraged me to buy that stranger’s coffee, or even their meal. What a most surprised yet, wonderful response from them and a fond memory for me. I silently say to myself, “thank you Lord”. I’ll be looking for you along life’s pathway and smiling.
Dear Carol, Rose and J,
It wasn’t until this morning that I read your warm and loving responses to my post yesterday. Thank you all for the empathy you express, the prayerful support I know you give, and the sharing of experiences that are of such great value to me and the group. In this SpiritView fellowship unselfed love is never an abstract thing… It is a tangible, feelable, empowering, and progressive force.
During a conversation yesterday, from the tongue of an angel on the scene, a very generous offer was made to me to help settle the situation, and insure “poise, grace, and dominion” going forward. The compassion, honesty, integrity, and respectful views expressed, as well as the problem solving ideas presented, had divine Mind written all over it!! A sense of peace came over me,- a healing calm. Gratitude to God!!
To be a part of this forum is such a blessing. I am the grateful beneficiary of your insights and love. Thank you my spiritual companions from the deepest spaces of my heart.
Linda thanks for letting us know of the wonderful new developments and peace you are experiencing. Lots of gratitude to go around. God is All.
Oh, Dear Linda,
How wonderful to hear of your demonstration! I am so happy for you and I am
sure the peace and calm that you are feeling is God’s dear Love expressed in so
many ways, but even more so, for you today. Your faith and trust in our
Father/Mother/God has been rewarded for all of the good you do. Divine Mind
Is always in control and you certainly have proven it.
I’m sure everyone here at SpiritView rejoices in your good news. I have “been
there” with the (mortal mind) angst that can be associated with what you
seemingly had been going through before your demonstration of God’s
power was realized, and know the feeling of relief you must be feeling.
Again, I am so happy for you!
Linda, what a wonderful outcome, and so happy to hear.
I work in a large department store and I experience firsthand how grateful customers are when I express kindness, friendliness and helpfulness toward them. I pray each day to express these God qualities and any others that may be needed in any given situation. I’ve had some truly amazing conversations with people over the years, Generally speaking I’ve found that people just want to feel acknowledged and cared about, and sometimes the smallest thing makes a big impression on them. It’s a blessing to have the opportunity to connect with these people (who I may never see again) and have that great interaction that blesses us both. The store used to have this motto for the employees, “If the customer walks out feeling better than they did when they walked in, then we have worked our magic.”
I often smile at myself in the rear view mirror when I find traffic unbearable.. It sure changes my attitude. Have you ever smiled at yourself in the mirror when you were feeling angry or frustrated? Try it if you want a refreshing laugh. It’s my way of loving my neighbor as myself.
Terrific idea,LOVE – thanks
Yes I do when I pass my mirror, I do smile at myself, mostly when I find I am somehow ugly that day, haha.
I used to be one of those , shy to be the first to say “Hello”, but I read a Christian Science article that reminded me that ” there is only one MIND”, not multiple! What Joy I find now to make the first friendly move, without fear of my warm felicitation being rejected, as I hold steadily in my thought the Truth that ” We are all One”, Reflections of God”, “One Ego” which Is GOD.
Much Thanks Evan for the Lovely reminder
Thank you Evan and all. Being the first brings Wonderful experiences. I remember a friend I met in high school. We were having lectures in a big hall. We were more than 1000 students. Everyday at the start of the lesson I will look behind to see if the lady was already in class. Everytime I looked for her our eyes met. I had planned to meet her outside when the class ends but we would always miss each other, because we were taking different directions. After one week I was determined to get to her. When the class was over I trapped her at the end of the stair case As I greeted her she returned my greetings with love. She said she wished we could be friends and I said I wish the same We became friends and benefited from each other and our friendship has lasted since then. .
To be first is something spiritual. God, Spirit plans it and brings His children together.
Heartfelt thanks to you again Rose and Carol. Yes, Rejoicing in divine Love’s gracious provision!!! Wishing you all a happy day, filled with the loving friendships and harmonious relationships we gratefully receive from our Divine Source.
I wander through my thoughts enjoying again all of these precious
remarks and do feel Divine Love’s presence …
so peaceful and special! A delightful weekend to all!
PS. Happy Father/Mother’s Day to all
we ever Wonderful Children of God!
… Alleluia!
Yes, God is the best Mother ever – so happy Mother’s day ♡♡♡
I also love the idea of making friendswhen giving joy to others when being kind and friendly to them in the grocery etc.
And it’s very nice to be friends in this SpiritView Blog. And indeed we can know that so, as here is so much Kindness and love expressed between us all. I am very grateful for that!♡
On the other hand, in Wedness nicht after church I thought I was alone in my street, but surprisingly a young woman passend me me, smiling at me and saying very friendly “good evening”. I was so touched by her kondless and I joyfully replied her kindness with a bright smile ! So she made me very happy and now I know for sure that we can make our fellowmen with some lovingkindness glad and happy as well. Perhaps with some kindless there goes along healing here and there.
Thank you dear Evan that we ponder this topic alltogether this weekend!♡
Please excuse my many ortographical mistakes. I always meant ,”kindness”.♡
Thank you Evan, and great comments!
“Greetings—without fear” by Russ Gerber:
https://sentinel.christianscience.com/layout/set/print/issues/1992/12/94-51/greetings-without-fear
On a Bible-based website not long ago, I saw a photo with the acronyms WWJD and HWLF together. I knew the acronym WWJD stood for “What would Jesus do”, and out of curiosity looked up HWLF. It also referred to Jesus and stood for “He would love first”.
Yes, “J” thanks a lot, am also looking forward to read it tomorrow.
This is a great article, J, Thank you!
I think the most important thing in any situation is to just
“be ourselves”. One of the blessings of CS is to see everyone
as God’s perfect child, expressing His/Her qualities and
individuality. We don’t need to try to impress anyone, but
just to act naturally which is reflecting qualities that we find
most endearing … to treat each other as we would “old friends”.
Old friends are not judgmental but accept others as they are
and in God’s universe, that is as perfect in Love’s reflection.
Perfectly expressed Carol! I just love these thoughts – such a great directive for making interactions with others easier, warmer, genuine, etc.
That is beautiful Carp; Thank you and all contributors. I am very grateful for this get-together. Smiling at people is such an easy thing to do. I recall one time many years ago, I was taking a walk during my lunch break. there was an obviously homeless man approaching me. As we passed he said to me “Keep smiling!” That made my day and, I would think, his too. I have tried to follow that advice ever since. God does work in us at all times.
Just this moment, I read your contribution; WHAT A GREAT acronym HWLF is not one I had ever heard, read, thought of, or used. The thought fills our need this Sunday, as I substitute for First Reader. HWLF is a gem which settles my thinking about how I will read.
I have always found that a friendly joyous greeting followed by a compliment of some sort is deeply appreciated and has always been answered by a joyous response back to me. it is so gracious to share the love and caring with those we meet during our God directed day:)
J,–Thank you!
Look forward to reading “Greetings–without fear” this weekend. Have a lovely one!
I’m sitting here smiling whilst reading all the comments today…lovely ideas and article for the weekend….so thank you Evan and all.
One of the great benefits from dog walking is that everyone says Hi as they pass you by,….
What a pleasure to spread a little Love❣️
An interesting opportunity came up yesterday. I found that while chatting with my neighbor, he carried a negative attitude on people. He said that people are not honest. He asked, What is this world coming to? I reminded him that we are good people and we need to show and spread that goodness around. He smiled. I saw such a sweetness in his face. This showed us that we are all God’s children.
Being friendly and talking to people in a store is great. I do it all the time.I have”trouble ” with my daughter because she tells her children not to talk to strangers.Her daughter says “but G-dad does”