What is governing your body today? Divine Mind or mortal mind?
When divine Mind is governing mind and body, the effect is very good. For divine Mind produces peace, order, dominion, health.
If mortal mind is governing the body, the effect is not so good. It may show up in the form of chaos, disorder, pain, fear, and disease.
To stay well, acknowledge divine Mind as the only power and influence over your life. Be clear that mortal mind, so-called, which is not a mind at all, has no influence over you. That you are not susceptible to fear, worry and doubt. That you are a spiritually minded child of God that hears Truth, loves Truth, and happily receives the blessings of Truth with wide open mental arms!
Mary Baker Eddy writes, “Man, governed by immortal Mind, is always beautiful and grand” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 246).
Accept that you can live a “beautiful and grand” life. You can! Under the government of divine Mind.
We all have our trials when faith is tested and truth is questioned, but divine Mind is always present to produce a good effect.
Be quick to shut down mortal mind. And even quicker to side with divine Mind and immortal Truth.
Demonstrate divine Mind’s government over mind and body, and live well!
It came to me some time ago, that it is so important to cling on to positive thoughts first thing in the morning before the negative niggling ones try to take over…. And this is what I came up with…
Mind is the manager
Principal the Path
Soul my Serenity
Spirit the only Substance
Life ever Lasting
Truth is Gods Testament
Love is the Liberator
Sometimes only one or two lifts me up…and it seems to tie in with SV today. Letting God lead. Thank you Evan and Love to all.❣️
Lovely Barbara. I like that. L. X
Thank you for sharing how you structure morning!
Oh, Barbara, I love how you have taken all of the synonyms for God
(that Mrs. Eddy) has described for us and given them your own
special meaning. Divine Mind was definitely governing your thought
with these. Thank you for sharing. You, too, of course, Evan, to start
off the week with spiritual inspiration. Not really a “morning person”,
(more of a “night owl”), but SpiritView is a wonderful way to start the
day. Thank you all – – – for the inspiration you share!
Thank you, Barbara. This is a wonderful for opening thought to receive daily inspiration with the synonyms.
Love this BarbaraUK, thank you for sharing it!
Thank you so much Barbara this is a wonderful wakeup morning thoughts.
lindalou
Thank you Evan and Barbara and all! I like to click on the blue link in Evan’s blogs when he shares a quote from S&H or the Bible to see the quoted citation in context. And when I did that today I got this paragraph:
Never record ages. Chronological data are no part of the vast forever. Time-tables of birth and death are so many conspiracies against manhood and womanhood. Except for the error of measuring and limiting all that is good and beautiful, man would enjoy more than threescore years and ten and still maintain his vigor, freshness, and promise. Man, governed by immortal Mind, is always beautiful and grand. Each succeeding year unfolds wisdom, beauty, and holiness.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 246:17)
The fact Mrs. Eddy seemed to imply a limit by specifying “threescore years and ten” always bugged me. Why didn’t she instead write something like “…man would enjoy an endless number of years and still maintain his vigor, freshness, and promise.” I remember thinking when I read this, “Should I expect my vigor to start waning when I hit 70 years of age?” which is the equivalent of “threescore years and ten”. But I had forgotten how many years “threescore years and ten” represented when I started down this path this morning (I’ve looked that up in the past) so when I looked that up again I found a reference to Psalms 90:10 that was associated with the phrase “threescore years and ten”. I don’t remember seeing that when I looked it up before. So I looked up Psalms 90:10 and found this citation (this is from the NIV which states the numbers of years in a way that was easier for me to understand than the KJV):
Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
The KJV has:
The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
Mrs. Eddy was so familiar with the Bible that I think quotes from the Bible must have come to her thought constantly. If you use Concord to read S&H you’ll see all of the icons indicating references to bible citations that Mrs. Eddy uses in S&H. Interestingly however, there is no reference to Psalms 90 in Concord to her use of “threescore years and ten” so I think Concord missed one there.
In conclusion, I now don’t think Mrs. Eddy was being limiting in her use of “threescore years and ten”. I now realize she was just thinking of Psalms 90:10 which is kind of a lament by the Psalmist that mortal existence is limited and it is the Psalmist, and not Mrs. Eddy, that was implying the strength of mortal existence seems to start to wane at 70 or 80 years of age. I now view Mrs. Eddy’s reference to “threescore years and ten” as kind of humorous sarcasm. Like she’s saying “Can you believe some people think strength and vigor have to wane just because our age is measured to be 70?” I especially think that’s what she was meaning to convey when I re-read the first few sentences in the paragraph I’ve copied above from S&H, since she clearly states in those sentences that age is no part of the “vast forever” (the true eternal identity of all).
Anyway, sorry for the long post, but I just wanted to share what I learned this morning from looking deeper into this quote and how that cleared up a misconception for me about this paragraph from S&H. Happy Monday everyone!
Here’s a link to Psalms 90:10 from The Message that I thought to look up after submitting my comment above. I think this version of Psalms 90 makes what the Psalmist was trying to convey clearer than either the KJV or the NIV.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2090&version=MSG
RobertH, THANK YOU for your long post, including all S&H and Bible research and insightful thoughts!!
. . . and thank you Evan and all, for today’s post and heartfelt comments!
Wishing us all a week of joyous unfolding of Life and Good❣️
RobertH – Mrs. Eddy, I think, was referring to a Bible story, and was not suggesting that
we are limited by age beliefs , but showing us that there are no limits, because as comes out in her writings, we are spiritual and ageless. Here is a short piece to what iI think she was referring.
“¶ Then the children of Judah came unto Joshua in Gilgal: and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite said unto him, Thou knowest the thing that the LORD said unto Moses the man of God concerning me and thee in Kadesh–barnea. Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh–barnea to espy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart. …….
…. …And now, behold, the LORD hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the LORD spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness: and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old. As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in. (Joshua 14:6, 7, 10, 11)”: end of quote.
So aged forty to material sense when he set out to do his right work,
to the present time he was referring to – another 45 years, – that made
him 85. And he said he was still as agile and active that day as he was
when he did his duty. And as he continues to do what is right, he will
continue to be active and ageless.
Thank you Maggie!
Thank you, Evan and all, for the loving view!! For me, SpiritView is the daily gift that keeps giving (with all the comments). It’s the highlight of each morning!
Bless you all!
After reading SpiritView this morning—
I went about my daily business.
I was suddenly struck with painful stomach cramps.
I remembered today’s spiritual nuggets on SpititView.
“God is governing my body, not me, not matter, not mortal mind,” became a mantra and within a few long moments, the pain dissipated.
I am so very grateful♥️
Great work Murph! Happy to hear that you put the truths shared today to immediate use, with good results. CS is so practical and always available, reminding us that God and His care are never more than a thought away.
“Man, God’s undistorted image” Sometimes the stress and challenge of daily life distort our view of who we really are: the loved children of God. By Moira Davidson, from the December 11, 1989 issue of The Christian Science Sentinel:
https://sentinel.christianscience.com/shared/view/1338z4arj0k?s=copylink
I came across this life expectancy graph a few years ago that shows life expectancy over time. I thought it was interesting that life expectancy was flat for many years and then it starts to increase right about the time Mrs. Eddy discovered Christian Science and published Science and Health.
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/life-expectancy
Love “wide open mental arms”!
Evan, glad you mentioned both mind and body in your message today There is much concern about mental health these days, so many people are struggling with these very challenging issues.
CS teaches us that we don’t have to accept mental health problems to be a true part of ourselves, we don”t have to consent to them or identify with them (or anything unlike God). We have the Mind of God, all good, as our only Mind, to lean upon. As you said, we’re not susceptible to fear, worry, doubt, and can “Demonstrate divine Mind’s government over body AND mind and live well.”
Also the idea of Divine Mind’s Government is equally important to remember when praying about our human government leaders and world affairs. Good (and calming) to know what’s really in charge.
Been listening to the beautiful hymn 519 which begins with, “Lean on the sustaining Infinite and blessings will be yours….”
https://www.christianscience.com/additional-resources/churches-societies-and-groups/resources-for-hybrid-services-and-activities/music-for-branch-church-services/hymns-500-601
That was lovely, Rose. Thank you for sharing that link. What a resource we have with the information on ChristianScience.com. Thank you Evan, RobertH, J, and all the others who share their insights. It is all appreciated.
Let us rejoice that we are subject to the divine “powers that be.” S&H p.249:8-9
Divine law , government, Principle is all we are subject to and follow. Any temporal, material “law”, government, executive order, decree, action not in accordance with Divine government/law must not be accepted, followed, believed. Indeed it must be resisted as Jesus did with the money changers, rabbinical edicts, hypocrites and Pharisees.
Dear All: Thanks for your thoughtful comments. I like to think of the significance of the word “more” in light of Mrs. Eddy’s paragraph on page 246:22. Giving thought to it is very reassuring.Jim Anderson
I love how all of the comments above are leaning on the sustaining infinite of Truth
and so helpful in understanding our God-given expressions, each in our own way
of being governed by divine Mind through our ageless, childlike, innocent of the
past (because there is only NOW) and beautiful articles and words of Love.
Dear Murph – how great your instantaneous healing! Thank you for sharing, as
it is always so inspiring to hear how practical this Truth really is. Thank you all.