32 thoughts on “Don’t fear reaching out to those struggling in darkness”
It’s indeed such a joy to reach out to those who are struggling in the darkness and make them see the light. Recently I heard a talk where somebody who was in depression was healed by daily doing deeds of kindness. This brought about a total turn around in the situation and the person’s life was filled with happiness. Loving, sharing, helping can only bless. ” God never punishes man for doing right, for honest labour n for deeds of kindness.”. So never miss the golden opportunity to extend your helping hand to a person in the dark. Pulling him out of darkness, enabling him to see the light and lightening his burdens will fill your life too with smiles, bliss and true happiness
Have you ever imagined what it is like to be a light? It wouldn’t matter if you are a fluorescent light lighting an office building, a big mercury vapor lamp illuminating a street corner, a battery powered lantern brightening up a campsite, or even a 60 watt bulb hanging from an electric wire in a dingy workshop. None of these lights ever give any thought to darkness. In fact, a light can never actually experience darkness because all of the space surrounding a light is filled with light. A light never spends time diagnosing darkness, never tries to find the cause of darkness, never considers how long some darkness may have appeared real, never worries that it won’t be able to dispel darkness, and never frets that its light won’t benefit others. A light just emits light, knowing constantly that that is its purpose and joyously understanding that its light does benefit others. If someone with whom the light shares light does not express gratitude for the light, that doesn’t cause the light to dim. A light just shares its light with everyone without expecting anything in return. A consciousness filled with a knowledge of God and God’s right ideas is exactly like a light. This consciousness cannot help but to dispel error and benefit others by doing so.
Wow Brian this is a brilliant explanation of light simply emitting light without expecting anything in return. So helpful – & a great analogy of what our lives could and should be.
Thank you, Brian, your comments about the nature of light are beautiful and clear as a bell. Light cannot help but be light even if not appreciated. Light just emits light no matter what.
This couldn’t be more perfect! I JUST emailed a friend our beautiful hymn “Come Walk With Love Along The Way.” The last stanza is especially relevant:
Give of your heart’s rich overflow:
And peace shall crown your joy-filled day.
Come, walk with Love along the way!
My friend is very giving so, I thought, although she says she doesn’t believe in God this message would help her feel more peace and lighten her darkness. Your blog this morning, dear Evan, reminds me to TRUST the power of this right idea/the power behind the right desire to share light. Thank you and thanks to all for their loving inspirations.
THANK YOU for this brilliant, simple analogy to light bulbs Brian. It is great fuel to go forth into the day, and naturally, easily, shine ! Dianne in Canada
Thankyou so much for this wonderful SpiritView, Evan – and to you, Brian, for enlarging on it so helpfully.
I shall certainly print this out and keep it by me.
Yes! as I commented yesterday, spiritual teaching is best done with symbols, as Christ Jesus did! Thanks for sharing your light, Evan, Brian, all of you!
This page is such a daily joy to me! It’s so cheerful and filled with light which is pure understanding. Brian you are such a clear ray of light, thank you and Evan for making our day a brighter one, I’m indeed so grateful! Love and light to everyone today! I’m going to go out and help someone out of any dark thought that binds the head and heart.
What a good thought. Even if nothing is said, aloud, we can reach out in thought. I’m realizing more & more how important it is to be sure I’m seeing & thinking about my fellow man. I appreciate each day’s reminder and my felllow bloggers. Much gratitude to all.
Thank you Evan for this call to help our brothers and sisters in need with today`s SpiritView.
Nergish is very right; loving and helping others out of their problems will bless yourself, even heal yourself from seeming struggles.
It is very interesting what Brian comments. However let`s not forget that real Light comes from God, is God, Spirit which enlightens our spiritual understanding of Christ, Truth. As you read in 1. Genesis: and God said “let there be light”. and there was light, and God found the light good.
That means for me metaphysically: if you take the hand of someone in need, you pull him out of his seeming darkness into the shining light of God, where healing happens!
Please check me on this! To see anyone in need of anything is a violation of the 9th commandment. If God is all and All is Good; where is there a needy person? To see or believe there is a needy person is a belief in something other than God– possibly a violation of the 1st commandment. It seems the only thing we can do is see everything as God sees it; as it is or can ever be, Perfect and True. Any thoughts? Thanks for this great blog.
In absolute Truth, yes, i think you are right. Jesus saw the perfect man where others saw the imperfect man and thats how he healed so quickly. Jesus was also compassionate, wanting to alleviate suffering. We have to be careful not to just write off suffering as unreal, not ignore it. So i think we are all striving to see as Jesus saw while remaining compassionate to the human condition
I agree with Linda. If someone ran up to you afraid of being chased by a ghost, you wouldn’t believe they were really being chased by a ghost. But you shouldn’t ignore them either. You should compassionately use your understanding of reality to help them understand there are no such things as ghosts. In Christian Science we don’t heal sickness, disease, sin, etc. We heal the belief of sickness, disease, sin, etc. We heal illusions. And you don’t have to believe the illusion in order to help someone else see their way free of it.
As Linda mentions, you are correct in an absolute sense. To help another out of the belief of need, we pray to see them fully supplied and cared for in divine Love, and we hold this ideal steadfast in thought as the reality for every child of God. But we can’t “have our head in the clouds,” and ignore the human need on earth, as Mary Baker Eddy once said in chastising a student who was spouting absolute truths without understanding, We are to “love our neighbor as ourselves.” Or, in other words, we must take what we know to be true in absolute Truth, and demonstrate it in meeting practical human needs.
Jesus saw the human need, but supplied it with his understanding of spiritual truth. His example of how to help was a perfect blending of spiritual understanding with human compassion and healing works.
Thank you Linda, Brian, Evan and Uta for your time and wisdom. What I am taking away from this is; The very best we can ever do for another is see them in the Perfection of their being (divine science). After all, observation has effect on “reality” and the observer sets the measurement for the collapse of the wave function (mental science). When the tide rises it lifts all boats (physical science). The hidden variable is found in degrees of understanding Truth; we can only demonstrate what we understand but whatever we do– do it with love. Have a great day.
yes, Kenny, in principle you are so right. Everybody who pulls someone out of darkness to spiritual light, should know the Truth about the needy person. But we also should be very compassionat and help each other, so as practitioners and CS nurses are. For me that also means to love our neighbor as ouself.
For instance, sometimes we cannot leave a person alone who is injured and cannot help himself presently . Those friends need temporary help. There our CS nurses are happy to help lovingly and compassionately.
Of course a Practitioner is needed to pray , too for the healing.
Oh Kenny , I hope it helps you
Thank you all. So wonderful all the comments….Brian and all….!!! Such healing truths!!!!
I found this this morning and have had it for yrs apparently…typed on a small piece of yellowed 🙂 paper. Have no idea where it is from or who wrote it….but so good and just what I needed this morning and goes with Evan’s blog on light.
“Others may be art glass
Of rainbow hue
I choose to be a window pane
For the light to shine through.
A clean pane, a clear pane
Is what I would be
Unconcerned with temperament and personality
I would have love shine through me
So that my friends would say:
Not ‘What a lovely pane of glass’
But ‘What a lovely day.’”
I agree with Maximo. Very beautiful. I found this poem referenced in a lecture by Paul Stark Seeley that can be accessed via the link below. In the lecture write up, the author of the poem is listed as Katherine Collins.
Oh, thank you Brian…so good to know who wrote the poem….and Paul S Seeley was my CS teacher’s Normal teacher. So cool.. thank you for his lecture, too!
Thank you to everyone that shined their lights of appreciation in my direction today. I too enjoy and appreciate the comments of everyone that contributes to this blog! I am so very grateful to Evan for the wonderful messages he shares with us 5 days each week and for allowing us to share our comments with others.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Matt 5:16
Thank you all for your insightful comments and questions in the discussion today. I wanted to share an article on JSH that I have found very helpful in regard to how to reach out to others who appear to be struggling. It is called “How can I pray for people in desperate straights?” It is a short yet insightful example of compassionate love. https://sentinel.christianscience.com/shared/view/1i6qa80yjzs?s=e
I love this. Sometimes we are hesitant to reach out when someone appears to be in the darkness. We forget that getting into our prayer closet and knowing the truth about God’s man reaches everyone in our thought. It is, essentially, reaching out. The concept that everyone is God’s spiritual idea, whether they know it or not, really helps me to “reach out”.
Thanks to Brian and others for all the helpful comments, and to Evan, of course! Everyone here is letting their light shine by sharing such great ideas with all. Continue to be “the light” and shine on, my friends!! Let’s be the light to dark places and always be on the lookout for opportunities to lift another. Let’s make our own light so very bright that it enables others to easily recognize the light within them! Thankful to all who share – it adds so much to our spiritual journeys. Appreciate you all!!
It’s indeed such a joy to reach out to those who are struggling in the darkness and make them see the light. Recently I heard a talk where somebody who was in depression was healed by daily doing deeds of kindness. This brought about a total turn around in the situation and the person’s life was filled with happiness. Loving, sharing, helping can only bless. ” God never punishes man for doing right, for honest labour n for deeds of kindness.”. So never miss the golden opportunity to extend your helping hand to a person in the dark. Pulling him out of darkness, enabling him to see the light and lightening his burdens will fill your life too with smiles, bliss and true happiness
Have you ever imagined what it is like to be a light? It wouldn’t matter if you are a fluorescent light lighting an office building, a big mercury vapor lamp illuminating a street corner, a battery powered lantern brightening up a campsite, or even a 60 watt bulb hanging from an electric wire in a dingy workshop. None of these lights ever give any thought to darkness. In fact, a light can never actually experience darkness because all of the space surrounding a light is filled with light. A light never spends time diagnosing darkness, never tries to find the cause of darkness, never considers how long some darkness may have appeared real, never worries that it won’t be able to dispel darkness, and never frets that its light won’t benefit others. A light just emits light, knowing constantly that that is its purpose and joyously understanding that its light does benefit others. If someone with whom the light shares light does not express gratitude for the light, that doesn’t cause the light to dim. A light just shares its light with everyone without expecting anything in return. A consciousness filled with a knowledge of God and God’s right ideas is exactly like a light. This consciousness cannot help but to dispel error and benefit others by doing so.
I love, love, love this, Brian! Thank you so much for these thoughts! … and thanks to Evan for today’s post, which triggered these reflections!
Wow, powerful thought!! Thank you for sharing this. Great subject today.
Wow Brian this is a brilliant explanation of light simply emitting light without expecting anything in return. So helpful – & a great analogy of what our lives could and should be.
Thank you, Brian, your comments about the nature of light are beautiful and clear as a bell. Light cannot help but be light even if not appreciated. Light just emits light no matter what.
This couldn’t be more perfect! I JUST emailed a friend our beautiful hymn “Come Walk With Love Along The Way.” The last stanza is especially relevant:
Give of your heart’s rich overflow:
And peace shall crown your joy-filled day.
Come, walk with Love along the way!
My friend is very giving so, I thought, although she says she doesn’t believe in God this message would help her feel more peace and lighten her darkness. Your blog this morning, dear Evan, reminds me to TRUST the power of this right idea/the power behind the right desire to share light. Thank you and thanks to all for their loving inspirations.
THANK YOU for this brilliant, simple analogy to light bulbs Brian. It is great fuel to go forth into the day, and naturally, easily, shine ! Dianne in Canada
Thank you, Evan, for the beautiful words of inspiration! Thank you so much, everyone, for your thoughtful reflections.
Thankyou so much for this wonderful SpiritView, Evan – and to you, Brian, for enlarging on it so helpfully.
I shall certainly print this out and keep it by me.
I would also like to express my thanks for this blog and to Brian for expanding on this thought so clearly. I appreciate all of the comments.
Yes! as I commented yesterday, spiritual teaching is best done with symbols, as Christ Jesus did! Thanks for sharing your light, Evan, Brian, all of you!
This page is such a daily joy to me! It’s so cheerful and filled with light which is pure understanding. Brian you are such a clear ray of light, thank you and Evan for making our day a brighter one, I’m indeed so grateful! Love and light to everyone today! I’m going to go out and help someone out of any dark thought that binds the head and heart.
What a good thought. Even if nothing is said, aloud, we can reach out in thought. I’m realizing more & more how important it is to be sure I’m seeing & thinking about my fellow man. I appreciate each day’s reminder and my felllow bloggers. Much gratitude to all.
Thank you Evan for this call to help our brothers and sisters in need with today`s SpiritView.
Nergish is very right; loving and helping others out of their problems will bless yourself, even heal yourself from seeming struggles.
It is very interesting what Brian comments. However let`s not forget that real Light comes from God, is God, Spirit which enlightens our spiritual understanding of Christ, Truth. As you read in 1. Genesis: and God said “let there be light”. and there was light, and God found the light good.
That means for me metaphysically: if you take the hand of someone in need, you pull him out of his seeming darkness into the shining light of God, where healing happens!
Thanks to all for your comments!
Please check me on this! To see anyone in need of anything is a violation of the 9th commandment. If God is all and All is Good; where is there a needy person? To see or believe there is a needy person is a belief in something other than God– possibly a violation of the 1st commandment. It seems the only thing we can do is see everything as God sees it; as it is or can ever be, Perfect and True. Any thoughts? Thanks for this great blog.
In absolute Truth, yes, i think you are right. Jesus saw the perfect man where others saw the imperfect man and thats how he healed so quickly. Jesus was also compassionate, wanting to alleviate suffering. We have to be careful not to just write off suffering as unreal, not ignore it. So i think we are all striving to see as Jesus saw while remaining compassionate to the human condition
I agree with Linda. If someone ran up to you afraid of being chased by a ghost, you wouldn’t believe they were really being chased by a ghost. But you shouldn’t ignore them either. You should compassionately use your understanding of reality to help them understand there are no such things as ghosts. In Christian Science we don’t heal sickness, disease, sin, etc. We heal the belief of sickness, disease, sin, etc. We heal illusions. And you don’t have to believe the illusion in order to help someone else see their way free of it.
HI Kenny,
As Linda mentions, you are correct in an absolute sense. To help another out of the belief of need, we pray to see them fully supplied and cared for in divine Love, and we hold this ideal steadfast in thought as the reality for every child of God. But we can’t “have our head in the clouds,” and ignore the human need on earth, as Mary Baker Eddy once said in chastising a student who was spouting absolute truths without understanding, We are to “love our neighbor as ourselves.” Or, in other words, we must take what we know to be true in absolute Truth, and demonstrate it in meeting practical human needs.
Jesus saw the human need, but supplied it with his understanding of spiritual truth. His example of how to help was a perfect blending of spiritual understanding with human compassion and healing works.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Thank you Linda, Brian, Evan and Uta for your time and wisdom. What I am taking away from this is; The very best we can ever do for another is see them in the Perfection of their being (divine science). After all, observation has effect on “reality” and the observer sets the measurement for the collapse of the wave function (mental science). When the tide rises it lifts all boats (physical science). The hidden variable is found in degrees of understanding Truth; we can only demonstrate what we understand but whatever we do– do it with love. Have a great day.
yes, Kenny, in principle you are so right. Everybody who pulls someone out of darkness to spiritual light, should know the Truth about the needy person. But we also should be very compassionat and help each other, so as practitioners and CS nurses are. For me that also means to love our neighbor as ouself.
For instance, sometimes we cannot leave a person alone who is injured and cannot help himself presently . Those friends need temporary help. There our CS nurses are happy to help lovingly and compassionately.
Of course a Practitioner is needed to pray , too for the healing.
Oh Kenny , I hope it helps you
Thank you Evan, Brian and Linda for this wonderful post and clarifying comments. I so look forward to SpiritView every morning.
Thank you all. So wonderful all the comments….Brian and all….!!! Such healing truths!!!!
I found this this morning and have had it for yrs apparently…typed on a small piece of yellowed 🙂 paper. Have no idea where it is from or who wrote it….but so good and just what I needed this morning and goes with Evan’s blog on light.
“Others may be art glass
Of rainbow hue
I choose to be a window pane
For the light to shine through.
A clean pane, a clear pane
Is what I would be
Unconcerned with temperament and personality
I would have love shine through me
So that my friends would say:
Not ‘What a lovely pane of glass’
But ‘What a lovely day.’”
Wow…Kathyw…This is such a
beautifully profound poem,,,
Thank you
I agree with Maximo. Very beautiful. I found this poem referenced in a lecture by Paul Stark Seeley that can be accessed via the link below. In the lecture write up, the author of the poem is listed as Katherine Collins.
https://cslectures.org/seeley/cs-the-science-of-true-accomplishment-seeley.htm
Oh, thank you Brian…so good to know who wrote the poem….and Paul S Seeley was my CS teacher’s Normal teacher. So cool.. thank you for his lecture, too!
Kath W. Thank you for sharing this poem and Evan, thank you for making this blog possible.
Thank you to everyone that shined their lights of appreciation in my direction today. I too enjoy and appreciate the comments of everyone that contributes to this blog! I am so very grateful to Evan for the wonderful messages he shares with us 5 days each week and for allowing us to share our comments with others.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Matt 5:16
Thank you all for your insightful comments and questions in the discussion today. I wanted to share an article on JSH that I have found very helpful in regard to how to reach out to others who appear to be struggling. It is called “How can I pray for people in desperate straights?” It is a short yet insightful example of compassionate love.
https://sentinel.christianscience.com/shared/view/1i6qa80yjzs?s=e
Hi Karen,
that’s a really wonderful article with much Love expressed for God and His idea. It’s worth reading. Thank you very much for it!
I love this. Sometimes we are hesitant to reach out when someone appears to be in the darkness. We forget that getting into our prayer closet and knowing the truth about God’s man reaches everyone in our thought. It is, essentially, reaching out. The concept that everyone is God’s spiritual idea, whether they know it or not, really helps me to “reach out”.
Thanks to Brian and others for all the helpful comments, and to Evan, of course! Everyone here is letting their light shine by sharing such great ideas with all. Continue to be “the light” and shine on, my friends!! Let’s be the light to dark places and always be on the lookout for opportunities to lift another. Let’s make our own light so very bright that it enables others to easily recognize the light within them! Thankful to all who share – it adds so much to our spiritual journeys. Appreciate you all!!