“Your influence for good depends upon the weight you throw into the right scale. The good you do and embody gives you the only power obtainable.”
~ Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 192
Are you having a good influence on people around you? Are they benefited by your presence?
“The good you do and embody…” has unlimited potential for blessing your family, workplace, neighborhood, country and world.
Thank you. “My prayer some daily good to do to thine for thee, an offering pure of love where to God leadest me. “
Evan, your example of this statement says it all!
Thank you.
Felt this idea in so many ways, simple things, like playing the tape deck for the church service Wednesday, then listening to outstanding testimonies of healing from the congregation. Each time I read the daily Monitor, inspiration for ways to see and express good are poured out. My early thought each day is the Daily Prayer, which ends ” and may Thy
24 Word enrich the affections of all mankind, and govern them!” This declaration sets the tone in my thought of who’s in charge.
“”Goodness never fails to receive its reward, for goodness makes life a blessing. As an active portion of one stupendous whole, goodness identifies man with universal good. Thus may each member of this church rise above the oft repeated inquiry, What am I? to the scientific response: I am able to impart truth, health, and happiness, and this is the rock of my salvation and my reason for existing.” MBE (My. 165:15-22)
I have always treasured this statement regarding goodness by Mary Baker Eddy. I love the thought of being “an active portion of one stupendous whole”!! The entire “acknowledgement” is worth a read.
Happy day!
Thank You, Evan, for being an “Influence for Good”!!
Thank you all. Sharing God’s goodness by expressing Him in our lives is what our world needs. As a favorite Hymn (58) says “In Thy house, securely dwelling, Where thy children live to bless, Seeing only Thy creation, We can share Thy happiness.”
Last weekend, I was out in the country when I stopped at a gas station. As I was filling the tank, a man asked if he could pet my dog who had her head out the backseat window taking in the views. After petting her, he worked his way around the vehicle until he stood a few feet from me and said “I should take myself out with a bang by driving into a telephone pole and taking out electricity for half the town.” After a pause, I asked him “Why would you want to inconvenience people like that?” But, I was thinking, why would you want to hurt people instead of bless them? Here was mortal minds stereotype, staring me in the face…white middle-aged man who appeared to have no purpose other than seeking attention…the mind of a 2-year old toddler in a man’s body but instead of throwing toys for attention, he had access to vehicles and guns. I was silent and all of a sudden he said. “I am not one of those disgruntled employees that takes out his coworkers.” With that, he got in his truck and drove off. Did he wake up and realize he was actually entertaining thoughts that were leading him down that road though? I have been thinking about this during the week and praying about it. I read an lecture by Arthur C. Whitney, C.S. titled “How Divine Love Heals in Christian Science.” What a great article and what stood out was the part he said about the second commandment – when Jesus was instructing the lawyer about who his neighbor was – the parable of the good Samaritan. I thought about the man over the weekend. If I accepted mortal minds picture of him, wasn’t I passing by him on the other side of the road? Instead of thieves who beat him up and stole his money, here was a case of identity theft – a man listening to the wrong station and not knowing he was God’s child with a purpose of helping and blessing others. The answer to self worth was right there for him the whole time. Right there, where mortal mind was tempting me to see an evil personality, I could see a child of God who was just mesmerized by the wrong station. He was listening to a station of lies about his identity and about what his purpose was. All he had to do was tune into God’s station and he would see his true purpose. This station is always available to him as it is to everyone. Error is impotent and once the dream of animal magnetism is broken and seen as a lie, it no longer holds any power over that person. But, I was being tempted to break the first commandment by seeing an evil personality and believing it could ever be a power that could oppose good. I don’t think so.
Good for you! We never know how much good we do by silently reversing sad, angry, etc things that come into our lives. I think every mention of suicide should be taken seriously and denied, even if that is simply done in our thoughts and not spoken. Years ago I learned (much after the fact) of what happened between two friends of mine. One was thinking about killing herself one afternoon. The other felt strongly that was a possibility, and prayed long and earnestly about it. The first friend reversed her thoughts, and continued to live a long useful life, including being there for her two children.
Curran,
What a wonderful demonstration! 🙂
I agree it needs to be taken seriously. It is a call for help. I felt like he was searching for a connection and a sense of community but even more that he was searching outward for a sense of self worth. He was a stranger and I did not know what was going on in his life but, I believe, as Evan has so clearly stated in this Spiritview, that we can benefit and bless everyone in our local and world communities.
Thanks so very much, Kirsten, for sharing this experience of yours.
What has been amazing to me is how you can reverse a past situation by seeing it as error and replacing it with the truth. One of my first teachers, Dr. Tom Hora, said we need to be beneficial presences in the world. I always liked that.