During a short lecture trip to Roseburg, Oregon, recently, I stayed a night at a Courtyard Marriott up north near the Eugene airport.
After I unpacked and ironed my clothes for the lecture the next day, I set up my computer at the desk, and settled in for an evening of answering emails, returning phone calls and giving treatments for patients.
As the hours progressed, a father and young son moved into the room next door.
How did I know?
Well, the little boy had a very exuberant and loud voice!
“Hey dad, look at this! Hey dad, let’s bounce on the bed! Hey, dad let’s go swimming. Hey dad…” He was having a grand time in the hotel, and I could hear almost every word of the conversation.
I was so absorbed into my metaphysical work, that I didn’t pay much notice. I chuckled a bit to myself, rejoiced in the young one’s joy and innocence, and was happy that dad could spend some time with his son.
Another hour or two passed…
As 10:00 p.m. approached, I finished my work, shut the computer down and sat a few minutes in silence planning next steps.
I noticed that the boy was as talkative and as loud as ever.
Suddenly, I started to feel annoyed. Critical and judgmental thoughts toward these neighbors dominated my point of view.
“It’s almost bedtime,” an inner voice fumed. “They should be quieter. They should respect their neighbors. Don’t they realize this is a hotel? Maybe I should change rooms?….” And so on, were swelling to unpleasant mental heights.
“Wait a minute!” I protested. “These aren’t my feelings.”
And I went on to remember that for 2 or 3 hours the noise hadn’t bothered me one little bit. I was aware of it, but hadn’t let it become an issue in my mind. I had sent love their way, and continued in love in my own prayerful work. I had been very peaceful all evening, despite the bedroom playground operating at full bore next door.
Why the sudden change in sentiment? I asked.
It was malicious animal magnetism at large, I agreed.
Malicious animal magnetism is a term used in Christian Science to define all the evil in the world that would wipe out harmony, love and peace in people’s lives, if not resisted.
I needed to resist malicious animal magnetism, I could see.
So I prayed to see the opposite.
I remembered that there was one God in both of those hotel rooms. It was also managing the atmosphere and conditions of the whole complex. There was one Mind reflected by me and by my neighbors, I knew. And that meant that we all got along with each other, that we understood each other, that we respected each other, that we were thoughtful toward one another, that there was no competition between us, and that we all could sleep in harmony that night with no source of conflict to cause any type of discord, unrest, or obnoxious noise. All of God’s children live in harmony with each other, I accepted.
My thought got lost in these truths. I continued to pray, brush my teeth, and get ready for bed.
By the time my head hit the pillow, I realized the noise next door had totally stopped. They were in bed, too, and quietly so.
We had a very peaceful night.
What a beautiful reminder about how to handle animal magnetism coming in the form of upheaval and disturbance — through the realization of Mind’s oneness and government. Thank you so much for these inspiring and practical thoughts. I’m printing this one! With love,
Wow! The way you handled this “temptation” is a real big lesson to me. Thank you sooooo much. I needed that, and will remember.sas
What immediately came to me was. Love thy neighbor, you did and the results were rewarding
Perfect example in the life of a fine Christian Scientist
“at large.”
Thanks, Evan!
Happy NOW Year, everyone,
Sue
:<))
This is just what I needed today. I had an unpleasant argument yesterday and while all is peaceful and resolved today with this person it reminded me of unresolved thoughts I’ve had with someone from my past. This person has passed, yet I find myself struggling with old conversations and actions from years ago. Your statement about animal magnetism really hit home for me about this issue and I now am looking at these things as “the noise next door”. It brings it down to the nothingness it really is. While pondering this the thought came “do you want to end the pain or be right”? I thought it was referring to the other person but I realize now the question was for me. I’m so grateful for these insights and your sharing of this idea. Thank you!! …and Happy New Year! M.
This is beautiful! Thank you so much! How often have I felt upset by noisy neighbours…. Your humility and loving prayer are a big lesson for me. Hopefully, I shall be able to remember it and put it into practice!
Thank you for all your posts! They are a daily light!
I wish you a blessed New Year!
Béatrice
Evan – this is great – we don’t have actual problems with noisy neighbours as we live in a rural area and have lots of space to ourselves, but your blog resonated with me with some “noisy neighbours” going on in my head – these neighours are going on and on about difficult financial issues. They may as well be noisy neighbours! So I shall resist them, pray to see the opposite, and have a peaceful night. Thanks so much as always, and happy New Year from Australia!
Kate
I recently had a similar experience the night before attending my Association. Only with me, it was two busloads of teenagers! Talk about noisy and exuberant! Added to that I wasn’t feeling well, so seemed to have quite a lot to deal with. At first I prayed for myself, and kept thinking they weren’t really bothering me. But as the evening wore on, like you, I begin to be upset with the noise and considered my options. The best one was to pray for them. I did. And came to the same conclusion, although worded a little differently in my thought. The result was a decent night’s rest!
Thank goodness for Christian Science!
These are great insights in dealing with noisy neighbors. These are very helpful and effective in settling such dispute. Thanks for sharing.
One night? Are you kidding???? Wait until you’ve dealt with this for 10 years, then let’s talk. If you will Google “noisy upstairs neighbors” you will find people literally harassed by their downstairs neighbors for months to years on end. Just last night my neighbors literally jumped up and down directly above me and laughed. When I moved to another location in my house, they shuffled right above me (on their hardwood floors in shoes) and did the same thing. This happens all day that I am at home, all hours of the night, all morning long. While I am asleep, they walk outside their condo and stand outside my bedroom window and hit the side of my window with a heavy object usually around 1:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. (just once, but that’s the time frame that it happens.) They also drop heavy objects above my bedroom onto their hardwood floors. I see that this is Christian Science. Not sure what that is all about. I am Pentecostal and I pray. I also think positive thoughts and pray for these upstairs neighbors. I am dealing with this every day of my life and I promise you, neither my mind nor my thoughts brought this about. So now what?
Hi Pamela,
Oh yes, you are certainly right! Obnoxious neighbors can be a big issue for some people. There was a time when I had very loud neighbors in an apartment complex I lived in. The noise and racket and loud stereos late at night and during the day went on for months. Every human attempt to fix it failed, and the noise got worse. Finally, I decided only prayer could heal it. I didn’t just pray for the neighbors to be kind, but for harmony and peace in the whole apartment complex. I prayed to see that we were all living under God’s government and direction. Also, I prayed to get all negativity out of my thought, all criticism, annoyance, and resentment. I prayed for a pure consciousness of divine Love’s omnipresence. It took me a couple of hours each day to find my peace when I prayed, but each time I stuck to my prayer until I found total peace with God, despite the loud noise coming from outside the walls. I lost all ill-will, all anger, all irritation. I was able to just love, love,love, no matter what was coming at me through the senses. To my delight, and surprise, honestly, within 3 weeks of this consciousness raising, all three of the worst offenders moved out of the apartment complex. And it became a very peaceful place to live, not just for me, but for all the remaining neighbors too.