ANIMAL PHOTO OF THE DAY - Running the Race- Let's SLOW DOWN!

The Bible has such great instruction for us, TODAY, in the 21st Century!! The counsel is timeless!!!   Like this, as quoted from the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures":

"St. Paul wrote, “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us;” that is, let us put aside material self and sense, and seek the divine Principle and Science of all healing."

" If the disciple is advancing spiritually, he is striving to enter in. He constantly turns away from material sense, and looks towards the imperishable things of Spirit. If honest, he will be in earnest from the start, and gain a little each day in the right direction, till at last he finishes his course with joy."


Sooo, little chicken, no need for a skateboard to "run the race that is set before us" !!!

Slow Down!!!

We can each "run the race" with patience, putting aside the "Worry, Worry, Hurry Hurry, Skelter and Scurry of a whirlwind material existence!!!"

Let's patiently Trust God.. and wait on Love's Still, small voice"  to guide us.

ANIMAL PHOTO OF THE DAY...- Blanket Coverage

Maybe David, as recorded in Psalm 4 in the Holy Bible, did not exactly have "godly" birds and doggies in mind when he wrote his beautiful Psalm, but it seems to apply.

These little birds seem happy to be protected by, and to lie down in peace and sleep beside, their "protector!!

The text shows that today, as in ages past, God watches over all who Trust in Him:

As David has it:

"But know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the Lord will hear when I call unto him."

"Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still."

"Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the Lord."

"I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety."

                 ***************
I think Doggie is working for the Father in carrying out his protective duties, sort of a “blanket coverage”!!

Good Dog!!!!  

HAPPINESS FOR TODAY!!

This happy frog with that beautiful wide smile reminds me that we are here, today, God's ideas, the outcome of His Divine Mind.

The Bible reminds us that "NOW ARE WE THE SONS OF GOD"!!! (I John). Obviously the Happy Frog understands that!

Mary Baker Eddy, in her Bible companion book "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" reassures us what is most important in Life:

"Beauty, wealth, or fame is incompetent to meet the demands of the affections, and should never weigh against the better claims of intellect, goodness, and virtue.

Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love.

It is unselfish; therefore it cannot exist alone, but requires all mankind to share it."

We have a CHOICE today!! Are we to be pulled down by the seeming problems of the world and our own daily challenges? Or are we open to God's promise that TODAY we are His children, that we CAN be happy, and can look for God's blessings every moment of the day? 

Let's choose to be Happy and to share it!!! 

Thanks Mr. Frog!!!!

I WONDER...

I am just an ape and I have heard that some humans believe that man evolved from my species whose members are known as Great Apes or Hominids. 

Supposedly humans represent an advancement in Evolution over my ancestors.

I guess that means when we apes and chimpanzees advance to the point of having guns, bombs, weapons of mass destruction, when we murder and discriminate against each other and have endless conflicts, we will be more advanced.

I am not real eager for that advancement. I confess that what humans have become makes me frightened. Maybe someday they will find out the "God is Love" and that they should..." Love One Another" as one of their prophets advised long ago.

I would be happy just to have a banana.

ANIMAL PICTURE OF THE DAY

Gentleness, a quality of a loving God, is reflected in all Creation.

In a world that sometimes seems so harsh, cruel and unloving, a world where LOVE often takes a back seat to selfish interests, human opinion, will power and the daily challenges of this world, sometimes a simple photo showing Gentleness and what Life is really all about can awaken us to a higher view.

I love this little innocent angel gently cradling a baby with tenderness. It reminds me of a favorite hymn. The words of this ancient hymn from The Sarum Gradual, date back to 1527 AD, and are now contained in the Christian Science Hymnal as hymn #316.

The poem helped me so much as a Dad years ago when I sometimes got upset with one of my rascally children!! I guess gentleness was a good thing even way back then and the words still mean a lot to me.


"Speak gently, it is better far
To rule by love than fear;
Speak gently, let no harsh word mar
The good we may do here.

Speak gently to the erring ones,
They must have toiled in vain;
Perchance unkindness made them so;
O win them back again.

Speak gently, ’tis a little thing,
Dropped in the heart’s deep well;
The good, the joy that it may bring,
Eternity shall tell."

This is a suitable "prayer" for today. May we all "speak gently" and listen for Divine Love's tender message of "gentleness".

WHAT IS BEAUTY?

When I first saw this lovely doggie, I wanted to squeeze him. This boy could be considered beautiful by some, maybe not so pretty by others, I expect. It made me think about what real beauty is. AND, where do we look for it... within or without?

Mary Baker Eddy defines beauty this way in her book, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures", a companion to The Holy Bible:

"Beauty, as well as truth, is eternal; but the beauty of material things passes away, fading and fleeting as mortal belief." Immortality, exempt from age or decay, has a glory of its own, — the radiance of Soul. 

Immortal men and women are models of spiritual sense, drawn by perfect Mind and reflecting those higher conceptions of loveliness which transcend all material sense."

"Comeliness and grace are independent of matter. Beauty is a thing of life, which dwells forever in the eternal Mind and reflects the charms of His goodness in expression, form, outline, and color. It is Love which paints the petal with myriad hues, glances in the warm sunbeam, arches the cloud with the bow of beauty, blazons the night with starry gems, and covers earth with loveliness."

"The embellishments of the person are poor substitutes for the charms of being, shining resplendent and eternal over age and decay." (S&H page 248)

In an age when physical beauty, glamour, sculptured bodies, flawless skin, luxurious hair, petite body size and all of the other mortal measurements are "siren songs", alluring the unwary to worship the external, we sometimes glimpse where real beauty, lasting beauty, resides.

I love you "Wrinkled Doggie" and thank you for reminding us where to look for real beauty!!

GIVEN UP? GIVEN IN? OR GIVING?

"If a dog barks his head off in the forest and there is no human to hear him, is he still a "bad dog?"

I love dogs. I have found dogs can teach us wonderful lessons in love, obedience, gentleness, and on occasion, the not so wonderful traits of stubbornness and senseless barking!!!

Thinking about this cute picture and the idea of a doggie barking in the forest, unheeded, made me think of my life over the past year. .

For various reasons, reasons disturbing to me, including my deep concern over the contentious political situation in my country, the threat of terrorism, the plight of immigrants in America, the continuing warfare, extreme poverty and hunger in a number of countries, and on and on, I realized that amidst all of these problems I have been complaining, arguing, blaming, becoming a noisy combatant like that bad doggie barking in a forest where there is no one to hear or care. I had begun to feel like that “bad dog”. All bark and no solutions! I prayed to be freed from the “barking”.

Recently, as prayer and deep desire often bring, a totally strange and unexpected thought came to me. I didn’t really know what it meant.

It was: Do I Give Up? Give In? Or Give? 

Here’s some background. My wife and I volunteer at a weekly “Food Pantry” in a nearby community and at two “Free Meal” venues close to our town in eastern Florida. We supply canned goods, vegetables, meat, bread products and other food items supplied by generous grocery stores and restaurants at the Food Pantry. Then, we feed hot meals to the hungry, homeless, downtrodden, poor, unemployed and other sad cases at the Free Meal locations. 

As I have served there and talked to some of the wonderful folks passing through the line,

Hungry People Grateful for A Hot Meal

learning their names and finding out a little about their lives, I found we could almost see three categories, the three categories that had come to my thought earlier! Although seemingly totally unrelated to my personal struggle with the complaining, criticizing and barking in the forest, it started to become clear. 

Given Up, Given In and Givers.

Some of our “clients” seem to have “Given Up.” Their blank, expressionless faces reflect defeat and sadness, they don’t seem to have any fight left in them. These men and women of different ages, races and nationalities shuffle along as if life were such a disappointment. Some may have drug addiction, no employment, no prospects, no inspiration, no families, no smiles. They do often “light up” as we talk and as they feel the respect that we have for them. I have found that sometimes the lack of being loved is a more acute problem than their lack of food. Perhaps they don’t get much respect in their daily lives.

Others seem to have “Given In”. They appear to be accepting the idea that they are supposed to be in this somewhat dismal state, that they almost deserve to be homeless, or helpless. They are somewhat more open than the “Given Up” folks and we converse more, but most apparently don’t see much of a future and appear to be resigned to their situation as being normal for them.

But then there are “Givers”. Those of us who are Volunteering to prepare and serve the Daily Hot Lunch on our appointed days or distribute the food each week at the Food Pantry are now joined by some of those who actually receive food and meals but want to Give as well as receive. These people, apparently nearly Given Up or Given In when we first joined the ranks of the volunteers are now busily setting up tables, unloading food donations and getting prepared for when the rest of the people come to pick up food for their families.

What a delight it is to see them going from the state of receiving to active giving. I’m sure their financial situation may not be much different than it was earlier but they have responded to the love and care of the Volunteer Group and they are now Givers!

Interesting to me is that these wonderful folks are more outgoing, happy and seem to glow from their own efforts to Give. They jump at the opportunity to help in any way that they can, serving in the line, washing pots and pans, cleaning tables, setting up tables and anything needed. They may not have food to give but they have the willingness to give what they have. In their current state of need, they don’t fume or fuss but accept gratefully the good that is coming their way.

And, the active Giving by these dear ones has helped me see the way to get out of the forest of concern and disappointment with the current world situation, to do less complaining, and to do more listening, praying and expressing more gratitude... and more Giving.

Oh, it was very easy for me to get distracted, to be dragged down by a sense of injustice, riled up and barking my head off like the little puppy. But, the Great Physician, Jesus of Nazareth demonstrated every day what living according to his teaching involves.

He was a GIVER.

He 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.”

He certainly didn’t Give Up or Give In. He faced life’s challenges, and there were plenty for him, he overcame by Giving.

He didn’t GIVE as the world viewed Giving. While he did do some great “Food Pantry” and “Food Kitchen” things like Feeding the Multitudes and getting tax money from the mouth of a fish, his giving was sharing the key to eternal life. He fed the world with wisdom. He shared his wisdom in the form of the Beatitudes and simple parables describing the way in which we should live and conduct ourselves. He counseled, taught and healed.

He didn’t complain about taxes.

His advice in politics was Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.

His gentle counsel included no senseless human arguments, distress, disappointment or the equivalent of  “barking in the forest”.

When confronted by hate or threats, He remained

calm and composed. In one instance, when he was teaching, many of the listeners became upset at him. According to the Bible, they: “rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he passing through the midst of them, went his way.” (Luke 4:29-30)

As a lasting reminder he told his disciples, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father." (John 14:12)

So, with all due love and respect for my little doggie friend in the picture, I thank him for the Lesson Learned and hope to set a good example for him.

No more senseless barking. We have work to do.

Good Doggie