The lonely precincts of the tomb gave Jesus a refuge from his foes, a place in which to solve the great problem of being.
~ Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 44
If you’re ever feeling alone, deserted, ignored, or forgotten, savor the opportunity to learn valuable spiritual lessons that bring you closer to God and work out the problem of being.
The ultimate gain from any worldly experience, is to grow spiritually out of the dream of life in matter into a full realization of Life in Spirit. The faster, the better!
There is certainly a place for relationships with others, but if there appears to be an empty hole, have no fear of it. Capitalize on it. Make the most of it. Fill it with rich spiritual growth that takes your perspective to higher elevations than ever before. Discover your wholeness and completeness in Spirit, where there are no empty holes. Continue to live and prosper.
Thank you, Evan – such a comfort to know. It brings to mind the following from
Science & Health:
” Would existence without personal friends be to you a blank? Then the time will come when you will be solitary, left without sympathy; but this seeming vacuum is already filled with divine Love. When this hour of development comes, even if you cling to a sense of personal joys, spiritual Love will force you to accept what best promotes your growth. (page 266:6-12)
Much appreciated. After all, this is earth’s preparatory school and we have many opportunities to practice what we’re learning. Never a dull moment since there is much to be done.
Grow by planting in the hole. Filling the space unknown with sure Love and hopefulness that the fear can be solved. Healed. We are reminded gardening is a mindful exercise each day in the news. Amen!
So many delightful responses to today’s topic.. I especially enjoyed “Planting in the whole.”
Just think of the traditions Jesus disciples or Mrs. Eddy’s followers gave up to gain spirituality..
Truly “Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity.” MBE
Thank you so much. ❤️ I really needed this.
Yes, this was great!
I love this, Evan. Thank you so much. What a comforting, promising, encouraging insight. It is so very helpful and meaningful. I am grateful.
Thanks, Evan, “ discover your wholeness and completeness
In Spirit”. Not so long ago, I like to see “God “ rather as” my road companion, “almost literally, like a Person who share responsibility with me in this life. Equally ( 50% each) not God (51%)and me (50%) , because of my reflection we are both responsible.Sometimes, the word God has been misused; God here and there in so many situations… by personalizing God’s picture As Eddy gave us 7 synonyms, I think we too can find our own comfortable approach . So For me with my “road companion ” I see more my own realty I can talk and share with, and less as an abstract divinity, sometimes really far away. Thanks To Evan and all true searchers.
❣️
Perfect timing! Thanks.
Gives me a warm feeling! And puts a smile on my face.
We must remember it is God giving us love and guidance. He is with us and always there.
Thank you!
❣️
Love it…no empy holes…we are whole. Thanks for the reminder.
❣️
Who among us hasn’t at one time or another felt the emptiness that Evan describes
above .. “feeling alone, deserted, ignored or forgotten” ? It seems a part of our
awakening to what Life is really about. Filling that hole of emptiness with Love’s sweet
being propels us forward into more of an understanding of perspectives we maybe have
never thought about or experienced before. I once had a dear friend who had told me,
from her spiritual wisdom … certain experiences teach us that we mustn’t get too
“comfortable in matter”, but each experience that we conquer – elevates us into a much
better place… a place of true fulfillment that never falters, but is filled with divine Love,
a blessing so satisfying, so lovely, it heals those pangs of want and woe.
Thank you, Evan.
Thanks Evan, for this pointer, and for reminding us that “the sooner the better”. We don’t need to wait for a particular experience to push us forward, but can address it now, for ourselves and for everyone.
“From loneliness to permanently companioned” by Martha Sarvis:
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/A-Christian-Science-Perspective/2020/0514/From-loneliness-to-permanently-companioned
(**Hoping this opens up completely, but if not you can also listen to it.)
“Peck and shed” by Lona Ingwerson:
The goal,
it seems to me,
in this human experience
is to simply grow closer to God—
to grow in grace,
to see God, good, more clearly in everyone,
to see His hand in everything.
Easy for some?
A bit of work for most of us,
but
the nice part about this opportunity,
if I may say so,
is that it makes all the difference:
A chick does have to peck at that egg shell;
the butterfly does need to shed what needs shedding;
so we need not resist or resent
our need to peck and shed.
Thanks again J. Yesterday we mentioned the challenges of findling fully openable articles to share. Here is a source I have looked at that may be helpful to you and anyone else.
Website of Mary Baker Eddy Library – marybakereddylibrary.org
Click on the link for the Authentications section. When they discuss different things that Mrs. Eddy may have or have not said or written there are often links to full articles. May require some hunting around, it is a fascinating site.
Happy hunting to all.
Evan thank you so much for this message. It reminded me of something one of our contributors, Edie, wrote a while ago. She spoke of being upset about an estrangement from someone dear to her and how she realized that instead of worrying and forcing things humanly, the best thing was to step back and work on getting closer to God, getting a better spiritual understanding of her relationship and closeness with Him. That gave her peace about the situation.
I have felt the feelings of aloneness, separation, isolation, it is no fun. It is of course error hinting the falsehood that we can be isolated or separated from God.
Evan thank you for turning what I thought of as a negative into a positive with your wise statement, “…have no fear of it. Capitalize on it. Make the most of it. Fill it with rich spiritual growth that takes your perspective to higher elevations than ever before.”
Thank you for sharing that Rose, and for each and every one of the other shares.
I, too, have felt those negative feelings and it can sometimes take over many thoughts and
even has felt overwhelming at times. This way of thinking tries to put us in a place of
despair and sometimes not even wanting to come out of it for a while. I guess you could
call it the “poor me’s”, where we feel justified to walllow in self . It is not a good feeling and
so much better to try to stay on top of thoughts that would drag us down, even if we think
we have a rationale for feeling that way. Divine Love is Always with us, even in those
trying times and we can never really be apart from the One Spirit, Truth, Love that unites us
and brings us such contentment. As Evan mentioned above, even Jesus had his alone times,
asking the disciples at his loneliest hour, could they not watch with him one hour?
Such a wonderful , meaningful, productive thought to use in any experience! At any moment , no less! Are we not grateful to know that it is impossible for us to be ignored, lonely, or forgotten when all we need to do is go to our “Pastors”.
Thanks Evan!
Thank you Evan, this message is so timely and appreciated. ❤️
wow I love this so much. thank you for this deep spiritual insight!