A good habit cancels out a bad habit. Develop good habits and watch your bad habits disappear.
It’s a good habit to pray, to listen for God’s direction first, to ask, “What is your will God?” and then follow through.
Selfishness, self-absorption, self-concern, feeling sorry for oneself, complaining, resenting, fussing and fuming, are bad habits and bring bad results. Cancel them out!
Develop good habits of putting God first, understanding God’s will for your day, and following through with sincere action.
Live unselfishly.
Develop good habits inspired by spiritual truth and love.
Good habits replace bad habits.
Embrace good habits!
Evan thank you, this certainly calls for a disciplined thought, yet a joyous one with great promise.
The fruit of the Spirit I’d love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,meekness, temperance, against such there no law. S&H p. 106:27.
Thank you Evan. It is a wonderful thing to see and experience.
Thank you Evan , So important, and very much in line with this week’s lesson, “Rest and proceed” with good habits!
Two thoughts for the day
TEAM – Together Everyone Achieves More,
WIN Wonderful Inspiration Now…..
Now is such a lovely word! ……Never Off Wonderful?? new definition of man??
Now is a good habit, – drops all history. NOW is a WIN WIN, May we all have winning habits! When we pray, its not dwelling on almost (sense of history) but Already..
I love all your acronyms, Ken – very helpful to think about. And the NOW is a WIN WIN, because we live in the eternal NOW as it ever has been and ever will be. It
is God expressing Himself to Himself in His infinite eternal Allness. We are all the
very expression of divine Mind, and all our thoughts come from that Mind. We can
make a habit of forever listening for our true thoughts from the One Mind, eternal
good.
Thanks for this useful reminder, Evan.I would love to hear any thoughts on good habits or practices for when one wakes and can’t seem to get enough peace to doze back off to rest for quite a while. I seem to be facing some large transitions in ny life, and need to find more peaceful/harmonious thoughts on needed steps. Praying the Lord’s Prayer is one I try to use, but would be glad to hear another idea or 2 in this or another vlog, as well as from any others. Thank you so much for sharing so many helpful ideas,
This happens to me as well. I’ve learned that I may be needing to up in prayer… something to work out in my mind, something to learn or to demonstrate or heal in my thinking. So I awake and start my personal practice for the day-even if 1:00 am or 2:00 am or whatever time it is. I use these moments/opportunities for spiritual practice. And I love the idea that “God rests in action.” Science and Health 519
Through experience I have learned to read & study the many wonderful publications, books, the weekly lesson sermon, and this forum. I do this after the family is asleep. When I have performed this I find that “Sweet secret place where God and man do meet”.
Ever read the hymnal? There’s a very special message there too. Those comforting poems are especially selected for they speak to your heart and not so much your head.
The whole point is that in so doing “mortal mind’ is quieted and not allowed to interfere with your always present inner peace. Once the intruder of thought is put out, then that graceful reassurance of ever present Love occupies all that sacred ground in thought. Then you will rest knowing that you are not only on the right track, but are the very essence of Peace and tranquility. Each time you are seeking peace lean on the power of Love and advance a rung on the ladder up to Spirit. Violet Hay is a very wonderful poet. Please read her poem in hymn 64, “From sense to soul.” How can you not enter in to that “Sweet secret place” It’s reserved especially for you!
Admittedly some times I give my practitioner a call, or a text, or just a mental supplication and simply ask, “Please tuck me in, dear Mother?” Just one though my way? That always clears my thought. Then I am a baby asleep in Her cradle.
This helps me and research shows how it helps others: consciously choosing to be grateful for very specific things that come to mind. Being grateful before going to bed and writing it down and thanking God (specific to synonyms and names for God) and God‘s qualities for those tangible experiences and expressions of divine ideas and opportunities to practice more spiritual reasoning and loving, and how those meet our needs. Being grateful that our needs and values as the call for the fruit of the spirit mentioned in Galatians and quoted by Mary Baker Eddie above.. Waking up in the middle of the night and saying, “Thank you, God!”
It prevents the bad habit of fear/worry, complaint, self-justification, clinging to personal sense and materialism, and defeatism which distract, confuse, hurt, and exhaust us. Gratitude energizes hope and trust. Gratitude inspires love and generosity. Gratitude gives purpose and meaning to one’s life with focus and vitality.
My watch has a quiet single sound on the hour to remind me to stop and thank God day and night. Making an attitude of gratitude a habit when I am walking between my home and my car, walking to the store, starting a new project, starting on a trip of any length, completing a project, and sitting down to eat, I tried to make it a habit to thank God first. Research shows that gratitude more quickly reduces stress and balances body functions than even deep belly breathing. Habits of gratitude open one’s willingness and one’s mind and heart to new opportunities for spiritual growth and generosity to others, more willingness to re-examine and change one’s thinking, to be more flexible and expensive and inclusive socially. To be more emotionally self controlled. All of these habits practiced during the day help one process and make sense of the day so one gets more value out of the food one eats (and eats less), and gets more restoration and healing during the sleep and needs less sleep, and awakes more quickly and can start the day better. “Thank you, God! I can’t wait to discover your next gifts to thank you for!“
Each step we take in prayer will help us understand our at-one-ness with God.
If I feel a loss of rest / sleep my thought would formally have felt a material lack /frustration with this situation. However, I now realise that ANY spare moment , brief or prolonged, is truthfully the opportunity to pray and experience what God needs us to know. Personally I have the weekly ( full text ) Bible lesson always to hand . Plus, Spirit View is so full of helpful inspiration. Wishing you much progress…
Hello Still Learning. What wonderful responses you received! Loved the gratitude list and the singing of hymns! I thought of this article that has been helpful to me….Evan is also a contributor to this article.
Is there more than one way to pray?
https://journal.christianscience.com/shared/view/154cg54zz8?s=e
Excellent article Syl, thank you for sharing!
And here is something else which was given to me many moons ago. I have seen this pop up in various places including in one of Evan’s blog.
ESTABLISH DAILY
I am the place where God shines through,
For He and I are one, not two.
He wants me where, and as I am,
I need not fret, nor fear, nor plan.
If I will be relaxed and free
He’ll carry out his work through me.
Author unknown. (Could be Neil Patrick or Carrick)
Love this!
Singing hymns in my thought and saying the Scientific statement of being and daily prayer quiets me down from those repetitious concerns and lists that try to keep me awake. Then I fall back to sleep peacefully.
“Shepard show me how to go” is a favorite. O Gentle Presence” another.
“O gentle presence, peace and joy and power
. O Life divine that owns each waiting hour,” Poem by Mary Baker Eddy.
etc.
Still Learning, I also sometimes wake too early and feel some agitation. I heard a good thought, pretty sure it was here on SpiritView, that if we awaken too early or can’t fall asleep that means someone, somewhere needs our prayer, so we can reach out and pray for their peace and inseparability from God, even if we have no idea who it is. I also sometimes call one of the Christian Science phone lines and on speakerphone listen to the weekly Bible lesson read by the readers from the Mother Church, very comforting, and often fall asleep well before the end (in US the number is 1-323-805-8700).
Evan said we should listen for God’s direction FIRST and to develop good habits of putting God FIRST. Yes, that is why it is the FIRST commandment. “I am the Lord Your God…you shall have no other gods before me.” Also Matthew 6:33 – “…seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” And “O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You” (Psalm 63:1). Love to all!
Still Learning – it can feel as if fearful thoughts can rob us of our peace & harmony. In this article by Hildegard Arnesen she talks about fear: “When I have patients who are afraid, I assure them, “God loves you, and in His love—Her love—you are safe. God’s love is all around and in control.”
“Spiritual healing”:
https://journal.christianscience.com/shared/view/cwcvzlpbds
Good always bear repeating. Expressing the good in our lives does more than all else. Linda
As a coach I often tell my athletes that life is habit forming. Thank you, Evan.
I’m gathering my thoughts from today’s topic and the following comments. This is what I have to share. It’s called Christian Science “practice”. The SprintView family is our team, our coach and assistant coaches all wrapped into one. We have our team practice and we have our individual practice. I love the Daily Lift that comes from Boston but I miss the opportunity to share comments like this, that it use to have. Thank you Evan and to all the SprintView teammates.
Yes Jim, I remember when the Daily Lift allowed comments, I do miss that too. I also remember there was a Question of the Week that many people replied to, not sure if they still have that. Thanks for your team analogy of SpiritView with individual and group practice, we are all on God’s team.
Friends, these verses are some of the very first our dear leader, Mary Baker Eddy has let us in her timeless work.
Science and Health, page 4 line 12, “The habitual struggle to be always good is unceasing prayer.”
Science and Health, page 11 line 27 – 32, “Prayer cannot change the unalterable Truth, nor can prayer alone give us an understanding of Truth; but prayer, coupled with a fervent habitual desire to know and do the will of God, will bring us into all Truth. Such a desire has little need of audible expression. It is best expressed in thought and in life.”
Say “Thank you, FatherMother God” for EVERYTHING ❤️ Every good thought, every memory of a loved one, every example of kindness we see, every answer which comes (and answers come because Mind has them all), for the Sun, our family, our pets and animals, all of nature, love we know, have known- and have ever known. Our loved ones reside eternally in Love and we are together.
Our hymn from Mrs.Eddy’s often carries me back to sleep “O Gentle Presence, Peace & Joy & Power…” as well as other beloved hymns. Our hymns are one of the most comforting resources we are given to help in every situation.
Counting blessings is a full time occupation!
Thank you today, Evan, and all my teammates! Loving you. Go Team!
Yes, be “filled up full “ with thoughts of God ( paraphrase of Joy Dueland’s children’s book Christian Science publishing , Boston 1974)
Thank you Evan and all powerful truths from readers !
So grateful for all of the spiritual ideas and comments expressed. Yesterday on SpiritView Rose posted a link to a wonderful talk that had been posted by M on Tuesday’s SpiritView. It can be found on YouTube, The talk is extraordinary and will break any negative mesmerism. It is given by Marjorie Dagnall and is entitled You Are Not a Commentary.. The link is https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Tek9zBpsEZ0&noapp=1
Wow, what a blessing today! You are so right, Syl,, these comments are so helpful! From Christi, David, Edith, Barbara from UK, Joseph, Rose and all of you. I can feel so much uplift already, and after reading some helpful articles, actually dozed back off until I saw all these healing ideas, that I know will bless each one on here today and forward!! So many comforting ideas to help, I’m overjoyed with gratitude for God’s angel ideas this morning and can’t wait to have on hand to use tonight, as well as the rest of the day, listening to every idea for each step and direction, literally as I move ahead!! Words cannot express my gratitude for Evan and all of you today! May you all have a blessed day! Thank you!
Thank you for your gratitude and Love expressed, Still Learning. I always feel I am still learning even though I was raised with Christian Science.
As far as good habits Evan, it has taken me until 2015 to get into the habit of taking advantage of a spiritual breakfast each morning. I can remember coming out to the Kitchen when a little child and seeing my dad sitting at our small corner breakfast table with his bowl of cereal and the books open reading the lesson. In all the years since that time, raising a family and keeping up with chores I would maybe take time to get some of the lesson each day. and study harder and calling a practitioner when there was a need. I didn’t put daily study first. What a difference when I started doing that. This blog and comments is a great tool plus all the technical ease of getting to the articles, lessons, church services, that the Mother Church provides us. Sometimes a couple of hours streams by before I start my chores for the day in harmony. Todays Daily lift goes so well with this subject. Much love to you all.
Sometimes when awakening anxiously during the night, it can feel like one’s thought is caught off guard in a dream fog of mortal mind aggressive suggestions, ruminating on past history, regretful actions and reactions, questionable decisions made, or seeming physical distress. This “dark pile of human mockeries” can be lifted by first recognizing that this is the malicious workings of error that would claim separation from divine Mind. It helps to start with affirmations of Truth, even when the pull of mortal mind’s negativity seems like the “strong man” spoken of by Jesus. Think of all the names for God as taught in Christian Science, and the qualities they express. Then you will begin to feel the infiltration of divine Love’s harmony and inspiration, lifting thought to the spiritual sense of being, and peaceful sleep will come. Like Jacob who struggled with and conquered this false sense, you could awake at the break of dawn with a new name.
Beautifully written and expressed Linda—deeply grateful for your comment.
Thank you so much Evan and all!
I love this reminder from Mary Baker Eddy:
“The real Christian Scientist is constantly accentuating harmony in word and deed, mentally and orally, perpetually repeating this diapason of heaven: “Good is my God, and my God is good. Love is my God, and my God is Love.”
Beloved students, you have entered the path. Press patiently on; God is good, and good is the reward of all who diligently seek God.”
(Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 206:19–26)
Linda this was a perfect description of unreality that try to disturb your sleep and the perfect remedy. Thanks.
Each day I write in my journal a spiritual affirmation for the day. Today’s now is “I am developing good habits inspired by spiritual Truth and Love. Thank you, Evan, for this inspiration.
Hi, I should sleep , it is 4 am here.
However am very grateful for this very very lively SpiritView with so many wonderful comments.
Edith, you are bringing it to the point with your comment about Gratitude. Thank you for it. Gratitude is a vital aspect in the healing work! We can be always grateful as it is a beautiful quality of God.
And thank you “J” for the link to the Interview with Hildegard Arnesen. It is a very helpful article how to heal in CS.
Regarding to today’s toppic I remember that the teacher in Berlin where I took the CS class asked in the applicationForm for His class from what we want to be healed. And I wrote “from all my bad habits”. Today my habits I pray to do better are different than in the past. And I am very thankful to Evan, because he goes a big step further. He advises us to embrace good habits. Yes, we can do that, wonderful! Evan also advises us lovingly, to develop good habits of putting God first, understanding God’s will for our day and following through with sincere action. .
I can always thank you very much for this uplifting and healing blog.
Your spiritual views together with all the great comments is a helpful treatment – loving thanks to you all !♡♡♡
I just think, a very good habt is, to study daily the weekly lesson sermon. That brings our thinking in line with divine Truth.
Here is a story a read about some years ago, a girl was hunted by a aggressive gang, alone with this gang she suddenly shouted out like Jesus did, Get behind me Satan, one og the gang Replay, oh she is cracy lets leave her, an they did 🙂