With a New Year fast approaching, it can be tempting to divide our lifetime into years, and then evaluate what happens inside each of those years to decide how well life is going for us. We may or may not be happy with the results we find.
However, there’s a better way to look at life. In Truth, God is our Life. This Life of God is not divided up into years. It is a perpetual unfoldment of God’s infinite good, always available for us to enjoy at any moment of our experience.
Years have nothing to do with the joys of living the Life God has given us to live, for this Life is eternal, not temporal.
Years are irrelevant to how much of God’s goodness you can experience. It doesn’t matter what happened last year. It doesn’t matter what mortal mind speculates about the year to come. All that matters is what you have coming from God this instant. And it’s infinite good, unending blessing, an eternal out-pouring Love’s care for you.
Live in eternity, not in time, and enjoy every moment of it. It is grand.
I have known many Christian Scientists who seemingly defy all human laws of aging . They appear to be remarkably young, vigorous, engaging, insightful despite the number [age] society places next to them. A favorite idea which Mary Baker Eddy presented, and she certainly proved to be true in her extraordinary life, is found on page 246 of Science and Health: “Each succeeding year unfolds wisdom, beauty, holiness… life and goodness are immortal…let us then shape our views of existence into loveliness, freshness and continuity.” I like to emphasize that SUCCESS is unfolding!
Thank you, Evan
As always
Love
Yes Annie, me too, that SUCCESS in spiritual Growth in understanding of God as omnipotent, omnipresent divine Life, Truth and Love is unfolding! Thanks for your comment!
Thank you Evan that is so helpful especially where you said,” its a perpetual unfolding of God’s good” , that really touched my heart.
Melanie I also loved that statement, as well as, “All that matters is what you have coming from God THIS INSTANT.” This moment is really all there is, but it can appear to get lost in the hustle and bustle of doing, doing, doing and in thoughts of “past” and “future.” This whole concept of time is a very sneaky form of error. That’s why it’s wonderful to have these reminders of what is real. Evan, I accept the “unending blessing, the eternal outpouring of Love’s care“ for me and for all of us.
Thak you for your apprepriat remarks- so grateful for this blog and Evans constnt care -as well as everyone sharing- such a lovely way to start or continue the day!! Love in expression- shared and received !
A very comforting and uplifting message! Thank you, Evan
When I asked myself the question “What does the earth revolving around the sun have to do with age?” The answer was nothing? Mortal mind has claimed it to diminish our spiritual reflection of one Life. All we have is our thought which unfolds with vigor, joy, gratitude, love, and filled with blessings. Thank you, Evan.
Excellent point Bonnie. Laurance Doyle, a Christian Scientist and PhD astrophysicist has discussed this in his writings and lectures. He says that even from a scientific, material perspective it has never been proven that the earth traveling around the sun has ANY bearing on human physical aging. It’s a false belief that’s been fully embraced unquestioningly by society.
Something to remember too is that physical scientists consider that astronauts travelling faster than the speed of light would not age as people back on earth, isn’t that thought-provoking? Also, that there are animals (jellyfish) that are considered literally immortal (by physical science)–there was a cover-page article on this by Life magazine a few years back. No one has ever found one of these jelly fishes dead of old age. In fact, what the physical scientists looking into this have found is that these creatures mature to a point and then they begin… one might say “youthing” (as opposed to “aging”) – and so the cycles go on with them. Ever since I read that, I’ve been amazed that so few people know about this and it’s not even one of the major issues researched and studied by physical sciences. While this is all from physical science’s perspective, it certainly points to the Truth of Life, as a step in the right direction of understanding. But I suppose mortal thought is not enticed to accept its own mortality, namely, life eternal!
Thank you AD, fascinating stuff to ponder!
I have always loved our Leader’s definition of Day that includes: “The objects of time and sense disappear in the illumination of spiritual understanding, and Mind measures time according to the good that is unfolded.” S&H 584.
We call all expect a lot of good..
John, thank you!
We can all expect a lot of good!!
Thank you for the reminder of Mrs Eddy’s definition of DAY. Spiritual understanding and good unfolding.
Thank you Evan and all for sharing Love’s inspiration. We are all blessed….. eternally. I was going to wish a Happy New Year but will say Happy Nowness always!
SUCCESS is unfolding. Love that thought. Thanks to all❤️
Time is relative, eternity is not.
One of mortal mind’s ploys is to argue that our good is in the future and our happiness is in the past. Through prayer and standing porter we can expose this deceiver and claim our present oneness with infinite Good as the only truth of our being. It is our birthright as the perfect expressions of divine Mind to recognize the preciousness and goodness of life as God knows it to be. Time has no place in eternity.
Thank you Evan and everyone for your comments. The line “It doesn’t matter what happened last year.” jumped out to me.” That idea is especially useful to the blog topic yesterday, “Good Mental Health”. When I was a young adult I suffered from depression because of my dwelling on some negative past experiences. But through Christian Science based prayer I’ve realized that a material past is just a “record of dreams” as Mrs. Eddy wrote in Retrospection and Introspection (pg 21) and I don’t need to dwell on a supposed dream of material history any more than I dwell on a night dream after waking up. Once I wake up and realize a night dream isn’t real, it is easily dismissed from thought, So I think realizing a material history “isn’t real” (i.e., it never really happened as part of our spiritual unity with God), is the key to overcoming the belief in a material life history.
Below is a link to Sentinel article that brings out our Eternal unity with God and how realizing we have no material past can be a key to healing.
JUSTIFICATION
https://sentinel.christianscience.com/shared/view/2cwzzkcht1u?s=e
Thank you RH for sharing this ~~ very helpful!
Loved this article RH, thank you so much for sharing it!
Thank you, Evan. A “timely” reminder that Life is whole and complete, not segmented. Always.
Thank you Evan, and I am very glad and thankful you give us always the absolute Truth which is healing and comforting and does me very good!
With Love to you and everybody♡
Dear SpiritView Family and Friends, I thank you all very much for a wonderful year of lovingly commenting so inspired together and am looking forward to greater spiritial learning!
The sentence Josef wrote here I learnt like this: “Time is relative, Eternity is absolute.”
Thank you Evan for this most needed pointer that you so beautifully and effectively conveyed. I’m printing it out and keeping it handy. Understanding the lie of time to me is almost like the canvas for our Scientific work. Yet it’s so easy to forget and wish each other happy mortality!! (happy new “solar measurement of time”!) and this despite knowing that “Time is a mortal thought, the divisor of which is the solar year.” as included in Mrs. Eddy’s definition of “year” (S&H 598)
Instead of happy new year, I find that “happy eternity” is a nice and well-received alternative, but there surely are infinitely more!
Also thank you to every member of this generous family of earnest seekers for all comments. The Love reflected in love shown in this Spiritual View family is a most precious gift.
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
Revelation 21:3-4
Now is the only ….
Thank you Evan and all❣️
In a 1979 Christian Science journal regarding Eternity by Geoffrey Barratt he states “Eternity is not a form of time, nor is it outside of time, or a refinement of time. It is INSTEAD of time. !” Can’t get any clearer than that can we! I want to add my gratitude for your excellent directing for all of us in helping us find our way through Christian Science and the true Christ coming to all in all places and in all ways.
Dear Ellen, Are you able to give the reference to the article on Eternity by Geoffrey Barratt that you mention? I have searched in JSH but came up with a blank. Thanks.
Here’s a link to the article Gerald.
What Is Scientific Treatment?
https://journal.christianscience.com/shared/view/1xz803ter0k?s
Acting / dressing youthfully, and overhearing snide remarks from others about “that man should dress or act his age!” ?
Just thank them for the good advice, and know that you are certainly doing that. 🙂
Thank you Evan. Thank you everyone. Life is just a moment. It is just now. We are living only now. A moment is seen only in the good we do,