A friend was lamenting to me how they felt invisible to others around them. They were doing many good deeds, making wise decisions, and helping many people out of trouble, but there was no noticeable acknowledgement of their significant accomplishments.
As I was listening to her story, I thought of a passage from Isaiah, which refers to the work of Christ on earth, “He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street” (Isaiah 42:2). This same verse in The New Living Translation reads, “He will not shout or raise his voice in public.” I interpret these words to mean that Christ-motivated works are never about seeking glory for oneself. The good accomplished is the reward. I also see in these words the possibility of the good accomplished, not being noticed by those who are busy with worldly priorities. They may go unseen in the public eye. Yet, they still exist and have a good effect.
My friend and I talked about how pride, ego, and self-righteousness are often the seekers of fame and glory, and these are never our friends. They are enemies to spiritual growth and progress because they keep us focused on mortal self, rather than on God.
The reward the sincere doer of good seeks comes from God, we agreed, and that reward comes no matter how many other people recognize what we do.
Sometimes it’s okay to be invisible, we decided—invisible, that is, to matter-based thinking that is preoccupied with material wants and goals. But we’re never invisible to God. God knows the good we do and rewards it accordingly.
“Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth” (Matt. 5:5).
Brilliant, Evan! I have been invisible for many years and have just recently become visible “for the glory of God” and it is a good thing, too. Love the picture of the owl who blends in.
Love this Lisa❣️
When we get self our of the way, then His true light can shine through. We are a transparency for His love we are not the source.
This reminds me of something I wrote years ago. “When this you see, remember me and bear me in your mind. Let all the world say what they may. Speak of me as you find.” I’m also reminded of an acronym that I use for EGO…Easing God Out! Let our selfless works shine to brighten up another’s experience.
Thanks for the wise acronym Bruce:
EGO:
Easing
God
Out
Ego is about focusing all our attention on a separate “me” that doesn’t actually exist. We are spiritual individual expressions of God (Divine Love, Divine Mind), full of humility. There is no humility in ego..
Thinking about the belief in a self separate from God or ego, made me think of this quote from Wei Wu Wei in the book Ask The Awakened:
“Why are you unhappy? Because 99.9% of everything you think and everything you do is for yourself — and there isn’t one.”
Following spirit and doing good is its own reward ecompassing both the giver and the receiver.
That’s a great thought about being invisible. It’s freeing to pray the line from Mrs. Eddy’s hymn: “My prayer some daily good to do to Thine for Thee, an offering pure of love whereto God leadeth me.” It’s an adventure to ask God daily what can I do to thine for Thee today. Show me how You want me to use the gifts you gave me to bless others. Then we are led to use our talents wisely. In Misc. Writings page 250: 21 a description of affection appears: “As a human quality, the glorious significance of affection is more than words: it is the tender unselfish deed done in secret; the silent ceaseless prayer; the self-forgetful heart that overflows….” One lesson that life teaches us over and over is that our worth, or sense of it, doesn’t depend on what others think of us. Sometimes I used to do more than others, and do others work for them, to be a good person. Then I realized the Golden Rule from the Bible was love others AS yourself not more than. So, being led by God as to what His divine will wants us to do for others is so helpful. Then there’s satisfaction in feeling this is what God wants me to be doing, improving the talents He gives us, and blessing others as we have been blessed, so the reward is in that and it’s freeing not to care about the human response to it. We know this is what we’re supposed to be doing. Maybe being invisible is like being a transparency for God to shine through, a transcendence. Like a ray feeling the warmth of the sun shining through blessing the earth. Instead of feeling like a limited mortal trying to get a sense of worth from out there or others, it’s so satisfying and freeing to feel like the image of an infinite God with unlimited, divine worth and possibilities for expressing God. The joy is in the expression, feeling the divine power, that sense of oneness with God.
thank you Evan and Lindajane. Very helpful
Thank you for this wonderful message and I love the camouflaged winged
angel thoughts in the owl photo. It is a great representation of how we are hid
in Christ and God’s Spiritual owl’s-eye view is felt in our perfect .. as we are …
reflection, blending in, but with our divine Comforter surrounding us.
I am reminded of Hymn #370,
“We are hid with Christ forever In the Father’s holy plan. In this pure eternal union
We behold the perfect man; And we know that sin can never
Overthrow the sacred rod Of dominion over evil; We are hid with Christ in God.
Hid with Christ in God, O gladness; O the meekness and the might,
When the risen Christ has lifted All our thoughts in to the light,
Light of Truth wherein no sadness Dims the radiant peace we find,
As we set our whole affection On the beauteous things of Mind.
“Ego-man, the Reflection of Ego-God” by Joanne Shriver Leedom, From the June 1967 issue of The Christian Science Journal:
https://journal.christianscience.com/shared/view/16vpws5nj5a?s=copylink
Thank you Evan. To dear J,that was a wonderful article.It made me realize that I have lessons to learn.
Gosh, such great stuff awaits at this internet address, thank you all.
I know that I can see now, that when I wanted recognition for a job well done, it was my feeling of pride that was doing the wanting.
I do not mean infer that I am completely “cured” but am forever thankful for Christian Science and Mary Baker Eddy’s writings, and the dedication to their preservation and broad availability.
Before my discovery of Christian Science, I plodded along at the mortal level and suffered accordingly; and categorise that as “the baptism of repentance” See MBE’s Pond and Purpose, Ch VII of Miscellaneous Writings. This article has been a faithful companion in my advancement of seeing the Truth.
I did locate a link to the writing, https://journal.christianscience.com/issues/1892/8/10-5/pond-and-purpose
Thank you all so much for your inspirations!
Thank you very much for your wonderful SpiritView today, dear Evan. I just got the simple thought, partly from the Bible. “Humble yourself under the mighty Hand of our God.” If we do lovingly good to our neighbor in divine secret – everybody can be our neighbor – God gives us Joy abundantly!♡
I love that one of the definitions of “meek” in the Webster’s 1828 dictionary is “submissive to the divine will.”
Thank you J and John B, for the articles and links. I’ve always love Mrs. Eddy’s Pond
and Purpose in her writings … and especially where she refers to the pond as being
the “smile of Christian Science” and in ehoing Solomon, “As in water face answereth
to face, so the heart of man to man”. One can not actually “see” this refection of God/
Truth, but it certainly can be felt. It is the image and likeness of perfect Mind, Spirit,
Life, divine Principle, Love … the Soul of being. As in the Journal article, “man’s true
selfhood as reflecting the nature of his Father” … “God’s selfhood reflected”.
Very lovely.
Thank you, Evan, this has been very helpful. As professors, we believe that students should always acknowledge or recognize the knowledge we impart to the. But God recognizes our work as teachers and rewards us in many ways.
thank you everyone.. hymn 370, wow..
‘entertaining angels unaware’…if as Spirit..?
Spirit entertaining Spirits… surrounding and within each other?
Un conscious.. since mortal theory has no recognition of whats really going on..
worthiness of God, or good, such measurements and sense of time, as if later, or maybe.. is such an exhausting stigma..
Evan, can you send the light on the ‘Angels entertaining angels unaware..’.?
.Thank you God for raising me, …
thank you neighbours for being on the same Trail.
Thank you Heaven for being Home
Thank you so much for contributing your thoughts about this Evan. As a Christian Science nurse, doing good deeds often in the background of the interaction between the Christian Science practitioner and the patient is common. To combat the temptation to feel like one should get recognition, I tell myself to just be the best example of God’s unconditional love as I can. When I do that, I know that God is looking out for me, as well as the patients.
Thanks, Evan,
I have often wondered about not getting recognized for all the good that we do here on earth, by those around us, and by those receiving the blessing. It has sometimes left me sad and, even though I am sure that God appreciates my efforts, and that the Bible speaks of our being rewarded in Heaven, this kind of thinking kept me looking for Life after death.
Thank you, Evan, for opening my eyes to the fact that God is the source of all the good even the good deeds we do, and that we should be thanking God, for imparting to us, this goodness. instead of looking for others to thank us for it.
Thanks to all of you who testify of God’s goodness. Your testimonies are so helpful and lifting. For this I meekly thank God.