What’s your goal for life? Is it finding comfort in matter or discovering Life in Spirit? There’s a difference.
If one is looking for comfort in matter, they may seek money to build a house, build up a savings account, and look forward to retiring from work someday expecting to be sustained by their material acquisitions. This appears all well and good from a material point of view.
But the downside of seeking comfort in matter, is that someday, that comfort will vanish, for material things are temporal. We leave them all behind, and any comfort associated with them is left behind too.
The wiser way to live is to seek Life in Spirit that is eternally ours to enjoy. It’s the goal Jesus Christ taught us to follow.
“Follow me” (Luke 9:23), Jesus instructed, and he meant “Follow me” to heaven where Life is spiritual, a place of eternal comfort that is never lost or left behind.
We do not lose out on anything good when we make seeing Life in Spirit a priority. A place to live and money to pay the bills appear when our priorities are right with God. However, finding spiritual Life doesn’t happen when thought rests in a material place. It happens when one is actively seeking a deeper understanding of God.
Understanding God is the highest goal one can set for life. It’s where we find Life in Spirit.
Mary Baker Eddy writes, “The way is straight and narrow, which leads to the understanding that God is the only Life. It is a warfare with the flesh, in which we must conquer sin, sickness, and death, either here or hereafter, — certainly before we can reach the goal of Spirit, or life in God” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 324).
Seek the worthy goal—Life in Spirit—and prosper for eternity.
Thank you, Evan! Life IS spiritual! My thought for today, to be thought often and with conviction.
Excellent post, Evan. Thank you!
In the Thanksgiving lesson-The human capacities are enlarged and perfected in proportion as humanity gains the true conception of man and God. S&H p. 258:21
Thanks so much Evan and everyone.
Thank you….I Love all the quotes that include in proportion. <3 <3
Since all is Spirit,, God, Jesus was showing us the true life where abundance, joy, health reign supreme and are ever present!! Matter is a dream full of false promises , lack and limitations. Looking to God for our good is the security we can count on! Goodness is spiritual and ever present! I feel this is what Jesus was showing us with the loaves and fishes and of course his healing ministry. Gratitude brings it into our experience.
Thank you Evan for your inspiration! I love it! “ a priority to seek Life In Spirit that is eternally ours to enjoy”.
It has been said many times, Spirit is universal power to all, no matter what religion belief Or not belief you belong. “today those leaning on the sustaining infinite, today is big with blessings.”( Eddy) Spirit always ready to bless, so can we connect?
Yes, so simple, what a blessing for all!
Life in Spirit.. a very worthy goal! Thank you, Evan and all. A bit of humor from Evan’s
“But the downside of seeking comfort in matter, is someday, that comfort will vanish,
for material things are temporal. We leave them all behind and the comfort associated
with them is left behind, too”… Of course we believe in Life (in Spirit) going on to
another realm we can’t see from this human perspective, but the saying, ” you can’t
take it with you”, goes along with “You never see a hearse with a luggage rack on it”.
And no matter how big your house is, how long your stretch limo is, or how huge your
bank account is, our graves will always be the same size. A “mortal” way of saying,
mortal “things” (or being) are fleeting, but with Spirit, our lives are eternal, reflections
of God’s ever-presence and abundance of Good. Comfort in all things spiritual is
divinely everlasting and that is a wonderful thought to hold on to today and always.
Keep your eye on the “high goal”! by Mary Metzner Trammell:
https://sentinel.christianscience.com/shared/view/2k2o5zrwh92
Thank you, Evan and thank you, J for the link to that excellent article!
Thank you, Evan! Never an end to what really sustains!
Isn’t it true that we should never feel guilty or depressed about what we do? Oh no! I’m looking for a job. How awful, I’m just wallowing in matter. I should be on some island just praying and not needing to eat. Oh no, I’m making dinner, I’m clothes shopping, I’m going on vacation, working in my garden, decorating for Christmas. What a pathetic mess I am so full of materialism.. But wait! Jesus said he came so we could have life more abundantly. We are here to glorify God in everything we do. Two people can be doing exactly the same thing, and one will be glorifying God and the other not. Two boy scouts can be helping a woman to cross the street. Looks the same from the outside, but one just wants to help and get nothing in return and one knows his scoutmaster is looking and wants to earn a badge by performing a good deed. The question we should be asking ourselves is how do I go through my day glorifying God? Martin Luther said a milkmaid can milk cows for the glory of God. We should never judge ourselves or each other on what we are doing outwardly. Oh, they are decorating for Christmas, I’m way past that. That person could be filled with joy and led to express it in that way. Then they may be led to plant flowers in a garden. They may be filled with joy at the beauty. A recent podcast featured a practitioner who felt guilty for going on vacation. What we need to learn is that it’s God doing all this. Then we will take all the joy and beauty with us. We will go from strength to strength. The house is a mess? Pray to know God’s order is there and ‘how do you want me to express your order today Father? Listen and obey and joyfully reject arguments that it’s not enough or will not be permanent. Order is always permanent. We will never lose order. Its not outside God or us, since we’re one with God. So you clean out the drawer for the glory of God.
Yay for Kay! Love your clear reasoning!!!
Thank you Kay, I related to everything you said. All that we do can be to the glory of God, to express the joy of God– if we go about our day with that kind of spiritual consciousness.
I keyed in on your comments about order and a messy house. My husband and I finished a big clean up, re-organizing, decluttering, donating, repairing, refreshing of our apartment a couple of weeks ago. We had some special visitors coming and realized that things had gotten into a state that we were not comfortable displaying to guests. It was a big job and lots of prayer was involved to keep going and not succumb to time pressure and overwhelm. There’s more to go (a bedroom where we stashed/hid all the last minute stuff) but we got it to the point where we felt proud to have our visitors come. It was a revelation to let go of unneeded things and know that our home can be nice for us too and not just for visitors, to always reflect the order, cleanliness, balance and beauty of God. Like you said, order, as a quality of God, is permanent.
When you mentioned clothes shopping I had a harder time seeing how that could be an expression of God as opposed to a material pursuit, but on further thought again it comes down to the consciousness with which the activity is performed. Perhaps there is joy expressed in creating attractive outfits, expressing a put together harmonious appearance or buying gifts for others. I work part-time in a large department store and this way of looking at shopping is a good expansion of my thought on the subject. Thank you again for your inspired comments.
Beautifully and thoughtfully said Evan and Kay. Thank you!
Thank you so much Evan. This was so helpful today.
Thank you Evan and all
This is so useful to me. The only life that rewards man is spiritual. Spiritual living is all we need.
In pondering this topic more – I had drifted along for quite a few years with really no
spiritual growth. Although always working hard, I thought my life was rather
comfortable in matter and fairly secure, until, then… suddenly, it wasn’t. I was forced to
return to the better way – seeing things in God’s control, not any one elses or my own.
It is not always easy to understand what is going on, especially at the time.
I think when we are comfortable (in matter) there doesn’t seem to be a need for spiritual
progress. We seem to be gliding along and things are being taken care of and handled as
they arise, through God’s guidance, in specific instances, although because everything is
okay, we don’t think that much of the big picture – Until we are sometimes jolted into it.
It is easy to become complacent especially when things are going well and it seems we
are on Easy Street, just sailing along. But are we like, having our cake and eating it too?
Do we have an incentive to change, to pray, when we are content in matter? It is the
challenges that sneak up on us that nudge us into seeking a more perfect and Real and
permanent sense of comfort. As the saying goes, “There are no atheists in foxholes”.
Anyway, coming here has surely helped in growing in God’s way, more. I had a
beautiful experience today when my neighbor had put together a platter for me, from
her family’s feast yesterday, and brought it over, which was so sweet of her.
It make so much sense, thank you Carol .
God continues to bless all the way!,
Thank you Evan and everyone.
Wow are here inspiring and helpful comments, and the most helpful was “J’s” article by Mary Metzner Trammell! Thanks dear “J”!
Thank you dear Evan for this so important and wonderful topic, and the lovely foto of the sweet praying child which matches perfectly with today’s SpiritView! “Understanding God is the highest goal, one can set for life. It’s where we can find life in Spirit.” Thank you very much indeed, Evan; SV is very healing. And this SV and “J’s” article is what meets my needs.
Am deeply grateful for this blessing Blog and the wonderful comments! Much Love to all!!♡
I commented, that SpiritView is very healing. And it also is demanding of us to do right, to follow Christ, to seek spiritual Life with God. This evening, sunday evening at 11pm I read this weekend-SpiritView again and more thoroughly and pondered it more deeply. And I am very grateful how distinct and very loving Evan is treating this matter of living our spiritual life and teaching us the right, the spiritual way of Life with God. Thank you very very much Evan.
Yes, we need a home, cloths and food, yes and also friends. However the Bible advises us to trust and love God with our whole heart and soul and strength and put God first, then all these needed things shall be given unto us. Evan also says,” a place to live and money to pay the bills appear when our priorities are right with God.” And what I already said in my above comment, what Evan recommended: “to seek a deeper understanding of God.”
Oh, that is so very desirable!
Again, dear Evan, thank you deeply for helping us walking on the right – spiritual – track!♡
The article by Mary Metzner Trammell ( Thank you, dear J ), brings back the time I drove
down to visit my uncle, several hours away. I was unfamiliar with the roads and before
cell phones. I had seen on a map the route I needed to take, which connected visually
where I needed to go, but when I got to that point, there wasn’t a sign directing me to
it, thus I ended up in an entirely different state (- it was a tri-state area), on a congested
highway with exit only lanes and much traffic speeding by, drivers honking and angrily
glaring at me. It was horrific not knowing where I was or where I was going and prayer
was the only thing I could turn to in moments of panic. Trying to navigate traffic, look
for road signs and be in the right lane was definitely not easy, especially not used to
driving in experiences like this.
I don’t know how I survived, but like with so many other situations, somehow I did..
with God’s guidance, of course. I eventually found a hidden, small sign from this
different direction, that I needed to take, like a ray of sunshine on a dark day and all
was well.
This experience and the topic of not finding comfort in matter, proved, like so many in
life, that true and lasting happiness can not be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or
consumed. Although not always easy, True happiness is the spiritual experience of
living every minute with Love, Grace, Gratitude and Truth.
Thank you Carol for your comment, showing how God is always leading the right way.
I experienced tue same several times. When I could not drive my usual way because of street repair, and I did ot know the street I had to follow, I prayed and said, dear God, you know exactly where to drive. And I was very thankful when I reached my Goal at the end.
Yes, you are right, it’s good living every minute with Love, Grace, Gratutude and Truth, that is, with our everpresent, allknowing allseeing and all loving GOD!♡
Your comments are so welcomed, like a ray of moonbeam on a long, dark night, Uta!
Thank you for your lovely and true thoughts. You knew the feeling of trusting God, in
your quest for the right roads to follow, as I did. Very comforting to have a power much
greater than we, to turn to, especially in times like we had .
Ironically I had chosen the route mentioned above, because I thought it would be
easier than a major highway I used a couple times before. One time … another
blessing that I actually got there with down-pouring rain the entire way, wall to wall
traffic, tractor trailer trucks splashing and swerving in and out and way above the
speed limit. When I finally got there, I almost had to pry my hands off the steering
wheel and Thank God in prayer that I made it! God certainly was in control. Before
I had cause to forgive my uncle for a past issue with my Grandfather and saw him
as a good man. He went on to a higher realm and I am glad I got to see him the
times I ventured there. His daughter found him calmly with a half eaten bowl of
cereal. He was rewarded with Peace. And I was, too, in not holding a grudge from
those years before.