Be thoughtful about what you do

March 27, 2018 | 24 comments

“The devil takes a hand in what is done in haste.“

~ Turkish Proverb

24 thoughts on “Be thoughtful about what you do”

  1. thank you Evan for today`s SpiritView, although I do not quite understand it as a German.

    But I am looking forward to all your comments, dear SpiritView Fans, because I hope to understand it then.

    I know a proverb like this: “if you give the devil a finger, he takes the whole hand”. But I think that is not the same.

    1. I also think the proverb has to do with seeing patience as a quality of God whereas hasty action is never good. Patience has its perfect work.

      1. Was very surprised ! There was a message to myself from myself. ❤️ Very uncommon name. For me patience has to do with trust.

    2. Good morning dear UTA. I think Charla and Annepat are correct. It seems to me that it will help you read James 1: 4-6 that patience does its complete, perfect work. And on the other hand we should not let ourselves be carried away by the human mind, we should pray to be in tune with God, before any work. In that way we will reflect Love, and Truth and the work goes well. I hope to help you UTA. Thanks Evan and participants. Excellent day to all.

  2. Dear Uta,

    The devil represents mortal mind, and so I think this message means we should not rush into decisions or actions without consulting God, divine Mind, first.

    1. Today began in a hurry. I thought I had limited time in which to complete many things. One item this morning involved part-preparing a “Get Well” card for an elderly lady to complete (hand-embellish) for her daughter who is having major surgery about now. My plan was for me to offer her several plain cards each with a different message printed on the front and also to offer various different printed messages/greetings to go inside the card so that the lady could choose which card to add pictures and ribbon to and which greeting she would like to be included inside. I had a sense that although the overall idea was appropriate, I wasn’t quite executing it right. Despite my general hurry I decided to go and find more plain cards that I might print messages on later, an interruption to the haste that paused progress for a while.
      Before I’d been able to return to this task – there having been several distractions in the meantime – I received a message from a CS friend who’d sent me a link to an interesting article. It explained my dissatisfaction with the preparations I’d started earlier. All the options I’d prepared to offer to the elderly lady implied that her daughter was unwell or needed fixing, e.g. “Get Well” implying that one is lacking wellness until some point in the future. Pausing the task long enough to receive and understand the article changed my thinking about the whole situation. Now I will also offer the lady cards featuring expressions such as “Sending Love” and “Thinking of You” on the outside instead of just “Get Well Soon” and similar. Of course the choice of which to complete and send will be her’s. Whatever she chooses my view is already refreshed and she will have a wider range of options to choose from. I’m most grateful for the message I received.

      1. Dear Mary
        Thanks for sharing your experience of
        sharing the greeting cards.
        Not in a hurry, but with thought sweetened spiritually,
        and healed of
        the sense of having to do it in haste!

  3. Dear Uta, Here is what I found on the internet and what seems to me to be this same Turkish proverb, translated into German: “Der Teufel greift in Angelegenheiten ein, sobald diese schnell und unüberlegt erfolgen.”

    I think this means, as Evan mentioned it in the title of today’s post: “Be thoughtful about what you do”, that is not to do things in haste and without thinking.

    1. No, I do not believe in any devil. There is no devil. It’s a metaphor for things going wrong when they ought to be going right.

  4. Such love and helpfulness being expressed here by all . . . .Know how much you are all appreciated! Happy Day!

  5. Thanks Evan for sharing the thought to be thoughtful about what we do. And that “Haste makes waste”.
    When God’s help is at hand and we get the best results by leaning on Him for guidance, then why make hasty decisions?? It’s indeed worthwhile to wait on God. ” Wait patiently for Divine Love to move upon the waters of mortal mind and form the perfect concept. Patience must have her perfect work.”

  6. Uta,
    I agree with what Annepat has said. If we rush decisions instead of being mindful of that still, small voice, those decisions may not come with peace. Mortal mind likes to make suggestions and we need to determine if thoughts are from mortal mind or God by determining if they are Truth. Mortal mind is always a liar. If suggestions come and are not loving, not harmonious, not healthy, not good, we can identify them as not from God. Stop them at the door. God’s thoughts are loving, good, harmonious, healthy and peaceful.

  7. Hi SpiritView friends,

    thank you all for your very helpful and manyfold interesting explanations of today`s SpiritView. I do understand now what is ment. And you all are right with what you say!

    And of course we do not believe in devil – it is just another name for the temptation we have to resist as also Jesus had to resist the devil in the desert.
    The resistance against the devil, error or what you will call it, is to see it as nothing and let Truth take over, and then the angels will serve us as they did with Jesus in the desert.

    Thank you Gustavo, and James 1: 4 is enough, that says I understand now, what Evan means.

    thank you Evan for this lively, lovely and blessing blog!

    Love and a happy day to a l l 😉

  8. Wonderful to ponder this. I makes me realize that when I’m in haste, I[‘m in fear.
    I’m fearing what people will think, I’m fearing I’m not in control, I’m fearing I shouldn’t have procrastinated or dawdled, I’m fearing that everyone and everything will conspire to keep me from getting where I need to be or doing what I need to do. It makes me impatient and even rude. Not good!

    But fear is a faith in evil — and that never accomplishes good. Instead I can have a complete faith in Love. The truth is, that God, Love, guides every idea in perfect harmony.

    So spending the time — not in fear — but in gratitude, appreciation, obedience, patience, faith, –can reveal God’s wonderful plan, and I can even smell the roses along the way.

    God fills all space. So God is where I’m going and where I’ve been and who will be there when I arrive. God has already done what needs doing. My work is to eliminate all personal ego, all personal sense of doing or praise, respond to God’s ideas, and rejoice in and praise the Creator.

    I must hasten to do what God impels, as Mrs. Eddy says, not delaying at all. But that expresses eagerness, not fear. “Be sure that God directs your way;” she writes, “then, hasten to follow under every circumstance.”
    Mis. 117:31

    I remember a wonderful testimony of a friend who wanted to go to the Annual Meeting of the Mother Church. She had to work until a certain time, and the bus she took was scheduled to arrive well after the meeting was scheduled to start. But she held to the fact of God’s perfect timing and that if God wanted to her to be there on time nothing could stop it. She refused to accept any thought than that she would be there on time. And she was! The bus arrived more than an hour ahead of schedule!

  9. Thanks to all. I think it means to do things without thinking first. In her beautiful address on “Obedience” Mrs.. Eddy says “Be sure that God directs your way; then hasten to follow under every circumstance.” (Mis 117:31)

  10. I had to laugh to myself a little bit about this quote. It’s something I’ve recently started working on at work. My list of things to do seems as though it’s ever growing and never caught up. Everything has a deadline and though I can arrive at work with a list of things to do and a plan for the day it may go completely different than that if there are emergencies to take care of. I got myself into a habit of constantly rushing around feeling stressed and very anxious and it affects how I work with people both the people I serve and my coworkers, not to mention how awful it feels for myself. That’s not what I went there to work for, anxiety and stress. I went there with the desire to help people. I have been really working hard with thoughts from the weekly Bible lesson and listening to God’s angel messages so I can claim my god-given, inherent peace. I am so grateful to report that it’s working. I feel better, I am more calm and patient, I can tell by what comes out of my mouth that it is God working through me because I’m allowing it and not shutting God out. People are responding to me more positively. Last week I got a really clear message, it said: “you have time to be God’s expression.” I am so grateful to be learning more about God and our true nature as his already whole, perfect, complete, children, to be a “scholar of Truth.” What an awe-inspiring inheritance we’ve been given. We just need to quiet down to see and accept it. Thank you Evan, SpiritView commentors, and readers.

  11. I know when I am rushing and anxious I am not listening to God but mortal mind. I think this is what you are saying.

  12. Thank you Evan for reminder about patience. Annepat and Nergish say it all for me. Mary H. thank you for relating your story about the greeting cards. Great news Trista. Thank you all. I am so grateful for SpiritView.

  13. I was asked to perform a task that I was given in order to help the tax department. I had never done anything like this before. I followed the instructions as best I could and returned the whole stack of papers, proud of myself. When the whole stack was returned for correction, I was perplexed and I turned to God and asked, “Okay, if everything is perfect, what happened here?” God said as clearly as could be: “Nothing is wrong. You are learning patience.” I was thoroughly satisfied with this wonderful idea. I learned something of patience.

  14. Lately, I’ve been more receptive to considering options in whatever situation. I enjoy the angel messages that come to thought and am finding I choose those that just let me be myself. Your email today rings true, as I tend to be rather impatient. Okay, slowing down now, deep breath. . . . .Thanks.

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