A patient was striving to find more peace during some serious struggles she was facing. To sort out the struggle from the peaceful spiritual reality she knew was hers to enjoy as a child of God, she came up with the below analogy. I thought it was illuminating and wanted to share it with you. She consented.
She wrote,
The thought came to me that oil and vinegar don’t mix.
To have an oil and vinegar dressing mixed, the combination must be shaken before pouring over the salad. In the same way, mortal mind must keep us “shaken” to make us believe we are material, or a combination of the spiritual and material.
Being “shaken” may appear as pain, disease, lack, hunger, division, violence, intolerance, and any other form of evil that would make us feel separated from our peaceful reflection of God.
Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27). To me, this means that the Christ peace is now, eternal, unvarying, permanent. It cannot be shaken or disturbed by anything that happens in mortal mind’s world. Mortal mind cannot enter that peace or take it away from me. The oil of Christ does not mix with the vinegar of mortal mind. The vinegar of mortal mind cannot permeate my oil with Christ.
Well said! The error of mortal mind cannot permeate your peace with Christ today either.
Perfect! Thank you. Blessings to all.
Of course!
OIL. Consecration; charity; gentleness; prayer; heavenly inspiration.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 592:25)
Oil also represents gratitude and gladness.
These are all sweet qualities that belong to us as spiritual ideas forever, ever free from, never mixed with mortal bitterness.
Very good analogy…. be still, and let the oil of Christ float above it all…
Evan, I loved reading the inspired thoughts shared by your patient,. The idea that we cannot be shaken or disturbed by mortal mind made me think of two favorite bible verses that affirm our natural state of stillness. “Be still, and know that I am God,” (Psalms 46:10) and “Peace, be still” (Mark 4:39).
Lots of Love to all you lovely SpiritViewers!
That does hit mortal mined a hard blow. My Mother used that saying often when referring to human conflict.
Shaken together and poured out for our consumption, Material evidence would be taken in if not that Scientists didn’t recognize it.
Thank you, “I needed that.”
Great, and thanks Evan for sharing
Great! Wonderful way to think about things. Thanks for the daily inspiration.
Excellent metaphysical thought. Thank you for sharing this spiritual idea for us to ponder and utilize in our daily lives.
Thank you for passing this on. It tells me two things.- that when a patient calls on a practitioner, she opens the door to let in Christ-healing and inspiration while practitioner acknowledges, as he should, that the door opens to the patient’s own consciousness and awareness of good. The other thing – because she took time to write her thoughts, they shine for us her blessing as well and I thank her cheerfully for her analogy. I’m in the kitchen a lot these days.
Thank you Evan and to your patient for sharing her thoughts with us, most helpful!
Rose, your comment reminds me of a post I saw years ago:
Be still and know that I am God
Be still and know
Be still
Be
♡
Beannachd
Perfect Shelagh, I love that addition and I am familiar with it. After I submitted my comment I was thinking that I should have added it. You read my thought, thanks!
Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
(Hebrews 12:26, 27)
Christ’s Peace assure us that we remain “undisturbed amid the jarring [Really Shaken Up!] testimony of the material sense….”
Thank you, and your patient, for this vigorous visual- such analogies help us see more clearly what we are working to know— the more oil we have, know, express, there is less room for any vinegar .
Love everyone’s thoughts and inspiration. Thanks Annie for your sharing of expressing,or filling up with, more Christly oil, so that there’s no room for the vinegar/negative aspects of this human life. When I taught the youngest classes in Sunday School, I would pin a label on the back of their shirts “Made of 100% pure goodness”. This is also true of our families, our communities, our entire environment. Love to all!
Thank you for the beautiful spiritual lesson. I have been feeling shaken that the past year has separated out the true friends from the, well, maybe not so true. And the analogy of oil and vinegar helps. We all need people in our lives who supply us with spiritual support, kindness, goodness. Thanks for reminding me that goodness never leaves us.
Thank you for the beautiful spiritual lesson. I have been feeling shaken that the past year has separated out the true friends from the, well, maybe not so true. And the analogy of oil and vinegar helps. We all need people in our lives who supply us with spiritual support, kindness, goodness. Thanks for reminding me that goodness never leaves us.
To Evan and everyone that supplied comments this morning, thank you.
Ditto! A wonderful post and comments. Much appreciated.
Same thoughts here…thank you Evan and everyone. Blessings to all❣️
What a great analogy. Thanks for sharing it. And the “peace of Christ” is a spiritual GIFT of Love that is given to each one of us, for always, and “not as the world giveth” because it is permanent and spiritual.
“Entirely separate from the belief and dream of material living, is the Life divine, revealing spiritual understanding and the consciousness of man’s dominant over the whole earth.” S & H page 14:25
Thank you very much Evan, and thanks to your dear patient for these truth thoughts!
That is right, you cannot mix error with spiritual Truth, so as you can mix oil with vinegar. Thank God for it! So wonderfully calming and comforting what St. John said in chapter 14, verse 27!
And thank you all for your inspiring and lovely comments! 🙂
Oh, in the second line of course I wanted to say … so as you cannot mix oil with vinegar …