A friend was complaining about how hard it was “to be spiritual.” She was having a hard time seeing herself as spiritual and understanding what that meant.
I said to her, “It’s much easier to be spiritual than to be material. To be material is to buy-in to all the suffering mortal mind attaches to mortality and then live it out. That’s no fun. Sickness, disease, pain, etc., are all part of the package-deal mortal mind attaches to “being material.”
I went on to explain that in truth, we are spiritual. God made us spiritual, and we have a grand beautiful spiritual life to be living in harmony with God. The more we see ourselves as spiritual, and engage with expressing unselfed love, grace, gratitude, spiritual mindedness, and their kin, the better we feel, for we are living true to what God created us to be. It feels good to be spiritual, I assured her!
My friend agreed and decided to give it a try. Rather than fretting about “being material,” she focused her energies on being spiritual. She practiced expressing more unqualified love toward others, being consciously grateful for all the obvious good, and relaxing into a deeper trust of God’s ability to take care of her. Her thoughts went to far better places, and her days were filled with more light and joy. Being spiritual wasn’t as hard as she thought.
It’s easy to be spiritual. It’s the way God made us.
This is lovely Evan. Thank you. L.x
So helped my focus on what is the ‘good and the true’’ today. Thank you so much for all your sharing here with us Evan..❣️
I was lying in bed last night wondering how I could better spiritualise thinking and therefore behaviours and outcomes particularly rejecting physical claims of bodily malfunction. Ponder and – importantly – put it into practice I thought, although I generally find this easier said than done. And I asked God, loving Father-Mother to help me.
Then I read today’s SpiritView – an answer to my prayer. A beautiful, wonderful answer.
I am so gratetul to you Evan – today’s SpiritView is perfect: inspiring and do-able.
I will watch my thinking and stop “fretting” and move towards a “grand beautiful spiritual life to be living in harmony with God”
Thank you Evan, thank you Father. I am so grateful.
I read a talk, which isn’t authorized literature so I won’t share it; but in it the speaker asked, “How many of us have even once today declared we are immortal?” In the talk, she quoted Mrs. Eddy’s wonderful reply to a letter in Miscellany p. 242:8: “You can never demonstrate spirituality until you declare yourself to be immortal and understand that you are so. Christian Science is absolute; it is neither behind the point of perfection nor advancing toward it; it is at this point and must be practiced therefrom. Unless you fully perceive that you are the child of God, hence perfect, you have no Principle to demonstrate and no rule for its demonstration. By this I do not mean that mortals are the children of God, — far from it. In practicing Christian Science you must state it Principle correctly or you forfeit your ability to demonstrate it.”
Isn’t it wonderful to know and declare, “I am immortal, SPIRITUAL, the perfect. loved child of God!” Even if we don’t fully understand it at this moment, we can trust, “Spirit imparts the understanding which uplifts consciousness and leads into all truth.” (Science and Health 505:16) Thank you dear Evan for your selfless giving and uplifting encouragement!!
Dear Sharon
Thank you for these very helpful ideas
Love
Love this Sharon, thank you! ❣️
Another keeper. Thank you!
I know that error can’t have a reality of its own for there can be only one reality that being God’s provided as our expression. With that understood, I’ve shared this thought with some of my friends who resist Christian Science perspective. I rather be one step ahead of the devil with him poking me in the butt with his pitch fork, than one step behind him. Two totally different experiences. Yes, we are challenege, but God’ always provides us with the answer to our learning situations and challenges.
Wonderful Evan! Such perfect timing! I was truly just sitting here frustrated with all the commercials telling me I’m an aging mortal, subject to this, that and the other…….and took a moment to see myself (and others) as God sees me. Not as an aging mortal but as an ageless and complete idea/thought, full of energy, vitality and all that God is as his reflection. Which is a lot!!!
Thank you to everyone for your comments as well. ❣️
Thank you Evan! I always had difficulty with Mrs.Eddy’s statement “Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love.” I studied every day but still struggled with feeling happy. I listened to a CS lecturer describe God as “ radio waves” instead of a man on a throne. An omnipotent force that was ever present. This helped me understand I could connect with God easily. This changed the way I prayed and in turn immersed me in Spirit. And now my happiness is truly born of God’s grace.
When you put it like that, the choice is so clear. I would so much rather focus on being spiritual!
Thank you for another wonderful truth about our reality.
Looking for qualities all the time. Every right activity, every interaction with others demonstrates divine qualities whether we are aware of them or not. They are God in action. The synonym poster in many Sunday Schools or Reading Room certainly changes how we can look for various qualities.
Thank you, Evan
I live in São Paulo, Brasil, everyday I real your post and I share it with others brazilian Christian Scientists.
Thank you Evan. This gives a perfect explanation of what being spiritual is.
It is not what we are wearing or conforming to the latest fads or artificial
anything, but it is what is in the heart and soul (the core) of our thinking
and actions, that is important.
Are we breathing in matter or material remedies to whatever appears
be the problem? A mantra of things – giving mortality our power is still
believing in a false sense. Matter = matter, no matter how it is packaged.
I had an example where there seemed to be a mouse chewing on something
in the very difficult to get to, crawl space. Rapping on the wall did not help
alleviate it. Continued rapping did not do any good, but just became more
frustrating. The thought came that maybe it was the (battery operated) clock
that normally is quiet, but whose battery needed to be changed – the “heart”
of the problem. This discovery (investigating the root cause of the issue)
brought about harmony where over and over repeating and making real,
or giving our power to the “materiality” of the problem did not. This spiritual
view is really the only way. Material ways are temporary and not permanent
solutions and always leaves one not totally satisfied.
Thank you Evan. This is so powerful and so important to understand.
Your message reminds me of a similar account I read many years ago. A young woman was complaining to a Christian Science practitioner saying, “It’s hard to be a Christian Scientist.” When the practitioner didn’t respond right away, she repeated her comment. After another brief period of silence, the practitioner softly replied, “Well it’s harder not being a Christian Scientist.”
Thank you Evan, and love all the comments. I really liked Evan’s thought: “She practiced expressing more unqualified love toward others”… aka “unqualified” meaning no conditions or requirements needed for expressing love. I probably have attached this article before, but if you haven’t read it, it’s new to you. 🙂
“Spiritual healing, independent of material evidence” By Kristin Fiuty. From the January 2023 issue of The Christian Science Journal:
https://journal.christianscience.com/shared/view/axhya08kbc?s=copylink
p.s. Sorry, rushed… meant to say “unqualified” to me meaning no conditions or requirements needed for expressing or receiving love.
I really appreciated this article because it heightens my thinking. But I do have a question. If we are not to have “dependence on material evidence,” why do we then have so many testimonials that speak of material evidence of healing?
Please know this is a clarifying question for me, not an antagonistic provocation .
Rejoicing in Truth.
Yeah that can be confusing…it was for me when I was new to Science. But in actuality, each testimony should convey — directly or indirectly –:that “this healing (so-called) PROVES that only Spirit is true and permanent, not matter (so-called).
No HEALING actually took place! A REVEALING took place and replaced a distortion; that’s all that seemed to take place. “Science knows no lapse from nor return to harmony …” (471:2)”
Hello all
All good ideas from everyone this morning. I love how Evan gets us all thinking and virtually working to help each other demonstrate our spirituality.
In my part of BC it seems the world is blowing smoke again. Then I realize I am spiritual and live in a divine atmosphere where errors smoke has no reality.
What God cannot experience neither can I.
This is so helpful, Evan. This is similar to something that was said in our testimonial meeting last night. Instead of am paraphrasing, but generally the idea is, ‘rather than trying to heal the sin, injury or illness, realize health here and now.’ I’m so grateful for continuing spiritual growth in the Truth of Christ.
Numbers never AGE.. in childhood, the mantle piece over the fireplace always held images so treasured and never moved, held with great care and dusted underneath.
the image just flashed reading this mornings wonderful Reality Head-line,
we are All above, in the tender care of Divine Love..we can close off all the out dated mortal packaging….Do Not Open.. in fact the box being empty, as All is Spiritual..
The nothingness of nothingness has no weight..rip the box down..any mortal dates have expired…..Light and Lively thank you for inspiring expressing vitality, Spirit on