Hee Haw

             

 Click to hear "Agony"!!!!!!!!!!   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAAKPJEq1Ew

(Prepare Yourself!!!  It ain't purty!!!)

Recently while I was relaxing for a few minutes before the TV, a rerun of a silly old TV comedy show from some years back started playing.   Those who remember the late 1960s may remember Hee Haw as a show centered on country music, rural culture and corn pone humor  featuring country music and humor with fictional rural Kornfield Kounty as a backdrop.  

  

One of the weekly skits featured four  backcountry “hillbillies”  with their jugs  of moonshine  singing a depressing song expressing their gloom,  despair and hopelessness.   Years ago when I saw that show the scene was funny and brought down the house.  But through time and experience I have seen that it wasn’t too much of an exaggeration for some. 

You may remember the words:

Gloom, Despair, Agony on me;
Deep, Dark, Depression, excessive misery! (Ohhhh!)
If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all, (Ohhhhh!)
Gloom, Despair, and Agony on me…..

 What a contrast that gloom and misery is to our Christmas rejoicing, the promise of the appearing of the Christ spirit.… “Joy to the World!! The Lord is Come! 

As a sort of a wake-up call I wanted to shout out to all who are downhearted or fearful that there is no “decree” as from Caesar that we are sentenced to punishment, to suffering and distress.  No obligation to hang on to sad memories of the past, be burdened by worries of today nor fear the future.  And our lives need not be years of slogging wearily through daily life without joy in our hearts.  And we can sing happy songs without the support of “moonshine” or other material means to find  solutions which bring  peace and joy into our experience.

Throughout all time many have experienced those moments,  sometimes years of sadness, gloom and despair that seem overwhelming, particularly at Christmas and the turning of the New Year.   While many are celebrating the holidays, others sit alone, frightened,  maybe due to the loss of a loved one, a  break in a loving relationship, lack of employment, fear of the future or other thoughts that bring them down.

More and more we are realizing through our own experience and also with recent discoveries in Quantum Theory by physical scientists that we create our world in our own thought. Jesus consistently changed the human view, the gloomy conditions through understanding.  For example: A Weizmann Institute of Science recent  highly controlled experiment in Quantum Theory demonstrated that observing actually changes the result of an experiment; that  the greater the amount of "watching," the greater the observer's influence on what actually takes place.

Centuries ago Jesus of Nazareth, who certainly faced many situations which would be discouraging,  overcame, uplifted, healed and blessed those he met. His counsel was “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.”  (John 14)  

These were not just reassuring words, Jesus demonstrated what he taught or he would have been seen as just another philosopher.  His works of healing, were proofs of his understanding of God as our life.   At the tomb of his dear friend who had passed away, gloom seemed to overwhelm him for just a moment and… He Wept.  But,  death was defeated by  his understanding that gloom and despair are like ground fog, that when we rise up and lift up our head above the fog, we see more clearly where before we were blind to  our surroundings. As we lift up our thought we begin to understand  the eternality of life.  

His Spiritual view changed the material scene, Joy replaced the gloom, his understanding that Life is eternal replaced the shadow of fear and death; his Love, understanding and trust drove out the despair.

A friend of mine, as we discussed spiritual healing once said, “Well, that was Jesus.  We aren’t Jesus”!   Then I shared that Jesus not only healed but taught his disciples to heal and they went two by two out into the country and performed great works of healing and that we too were challenged to heal and uplift. 

The Bible tells of his direction to a group of seventy followers: 
“After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come.   Therefore said he unto them….

And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you:  And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.

And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.”   (Luke 10:)

 Mary Baker Eddy, religious pioneer and founder of the Christian Science movement discovered that as we develop Spiritual sense we can overcome a material sense of life and heal as Jesus and the Disciples did.  She said:

“Spiritual sense is intuition, hope, faith, understanding, fruition.

Material sense is human belief, fear, doubt, despair. “
Eddy.   (From Christian Science Journal Oct 1886) 

Jesus counseled:   “Don’t get lost in despair; believe in God, and keep on believing in Me.    I tell you the truth: whoever believes in Me will be able to do what I have done, but they will do even greater things, because I will return to be with the Father.”  (John 14) 

A poem by Eddy sums up the healing power of God on the human scene and leaving gloom, despair and agony  behind as we rise up into Spiritual sense:

Communion Hymn

Saw ye my Saviour? Heard ye the glad sound?

Felt ye the power of the Word?

’Twas the Truth that made us free,

And was found by you and me

In the life and the love of our Lord.

Mourner, it calls you,—“Come to my bosom

Love wipes your tears all away,

And will lift the shade of gloom,

And for you make radiant room

Midst the glories of one endless day.”

Sinner, it calls you,—“Come to this fountain,

Cleanse the foul senses within;’

Tis the Spirit that makes pure,

That exalts thee, and will cure

All thy sorrow and sickness and sin.”

Strongest deliverer, friend of the friendless,

Life of all being divine:

Thou the Christ, and not the creed;

Thou the Truth in thought and deed;

Thou the water, the bread, and the wine.

God Bless You and Happy New Year!!

PEACE… AND LETTING GO OF THE CONTROLS

Sometimes current events in the human situation cause us to lose a sense of peace and comfort.   When we read of terrorism, workplace violence, corruption and any number of troubling situations, we are tempted to lose our composure, our sense of peace and security,  and act out behavior that doesn’t reflect who we really are.     A recent short article by a dear friend, Laura Moliter,CS   on maintaining a sense of peace reminded me of an incident that I had some years ago flying a light airplane. But first, I invite you to read Laura’s inspiring words.

Only God gives inward peace, and I depend on him.”

(Psalms 62: 5, Contemporary English Version)

We all naturally seek peace. We know that we function with more freedom and are able to think more clearly and act more wisely when we are peaceful. We can attempt to gain that serenity, that quiet confidence, in many human ways. We can seek another’s opinion to assure us or look for a situation to change in order to feel better.

But these assurances can be variable and conditional. The outward may change but the inward composure is not truly there, real, and lasting. God, divine Love, alone can give us this “inward peace.” This is our true reliance and He is faithful to us. God’s presence  is  peace, and He is everywhere, actively being and expressing goodness, comfort, Life, and Love.

Mentally step away from the mortal mind’s conversations and complications. Listen to God’s voice of what is real and true—the genuine condition of things as He caused them to be. Give up the need to seek peace through material means and people and circumstances. Your loving God is at the ready, deep within, revealing His presence in your heart and His wisdom in your thought. Receive the richness of peace without argument. It is yours freely, now and always.

Laura’s article on letting God bring a sense of peace reminded  me of a lesson in “Letting Go” that I learned while learning to fly. 

I was piloting a small 4 place Aero Commander aircraft flying out of Dayton Ohio.    One day, early in my training, the air was pretty turbulent. In the light plane you notice turbulence more than in a large airliner. As I flew  the air currents juggled me around, the left-wing would dip down, then the right wing would dip, the plane was rocking from side to side as the turbulence affected the aircraft.  

As an astute and eager young pilot, wanting to impress my instructor that I was ready to “solo”,  I was furiously correcting the rocking with the controls, adjusting every two seconds trying to maintain level flight. I glanced over at Gary, the instructor and a very experienced pilot,  who was cruelly laughing at my plight and my solution!!  

He finally said, “Pat, just take your hands off the wheel.”

Of course I did as he suggested and it was amazing. The wings were still going up and down, the plane gently rocking in the turbulence,  but correcting itself and the trusty Commander 100 maintained level flight without all the human effort I had been expending to remain stable. The wings were not going up and down any more than they had before but I was able to sit back relax with my hands off of the controls and let the aircraft just fly in peace. It felt like the plane was smiling and loved being left alone to do it’s job.

I suddenly felt that PEACE that comes from letting go of the controls as Laura described.  We can FEEL that PEACE when we trust God, our Father, the Creator of the universe to govern our lives, letting go of the need to force things, to impose human will, to "make it happen". 

What a lesson that was for me. I still sometimes must relearn it over and over, not in an aircraft but in life.    But then I remember those flying days and how without my human intervention, the plane flew on a steady course easily handling the small bumps and updrafts.   It was a good example of how, in like manner,  when we take our hands off of the controls, dropping human will and outlining, we can trust the Father to keep our human wings and life level as we soar life’s’ airways.

The Bible has the prescription for overcoming turbulence and upheaval in our human activity.  It is “letting go of the controls” and embracing a spiritual sense of existence as Galatians 5 has it:   But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

A hymn in the Christian Science Hymnal (216)  gives also us reassurance…

O he who trusts in God’s protection

And hopes in Him when fears alarm,

Is sheltered by His loving-kindness,

Delivered by His mighty arm;

If ye God’s law can understand,

Ye have not builded on the sand.

O wait on Him with veneration,

Be silent in humility;

He leads you after His own counsel,

His will is done and still shall be;

All good for you His wisdom planned;

O trust in God and understand.

PEACE BE UNTO YOU. (Christ Jesus)
*******************************************************************
Article: Only God gives inward peace, and I depend on him.” Psalms 62:5
By: Laura Moliter, CS Christian Science Practitioner
www.beingfreenow.com
www.lamolitercs.wordpress.com

Christmas Without or Within – A Review of a Tradition

Christmas is a time of  celebration, worship, gift giving and wonderful hymns describing the JOY which came to the earth centuries ago as a result of the birth of Jesus.  Many hymns proclaim the wonder of that day, the birth of a babe that, even at the time of his birth,  was to be recognized as a sign from God, one who would enlighten the understanding, bring peace and healing  to thought, lead the nations, deliver Israel from bondage  and become King of  Kings

But, as part of my "Review",   I must admit that I am troubled by some of our traditions today.   The first part of my review I call  "Christmas from Without".

"Christmas from Without" is seeing Christmas as a time for "getting", maybe even a little selfishness cranked in.  Now I certainly have no problem receiving presents, and I love the excitement of thinking of great gift ideas,  imagining that wonderful moment on Christmas Day when the eyes of our loved ones open wide as they unwrap their gifts and see all the wonderful things we have selected for them.    But there are many struggling families do not have that privilege.  Okay, there’s troubling Problem Number One.   Our celebrating with gifts while others have no gifts, perhaps even going hungry and with little to celebrate, weighs on our hearts. 

Another  thing that bothered  me  while raising a family of four children, was  lying to my children about  Santa.  Now you are really going to cast me in the role of SCROOGE on this one!!! Such an innocent "white lie" you may say.  But listen and consider.   We tried to be good role models and to teach our children to always tell the truth, to be honest.  As a matter of fact, if they acted dishonestly, stealing a piece of gum or candy from the grocery for example, we took them down and had them meet face-to-face with the manager to tell them what they had done.  Tough Love!!

These practical lessons were beneficial, showing our "little angels" that  being honest, even if it means facing up to something we've done wrong,  brings a sense of relief and joy, guilt giving way to a peaceful conscience.   Then comes that horrible moment when you have to admit to the children that there IS no physical Santa Claus, confessing that you misled them all those years.  It can undermine a lot of trust and credibility.   That’s the Second Problem.  And I am not even going to go into detail about  the fact that one of my children could hardly sleep at night for weeks before Christmas, fearing that Santa was peeking through the window, spying.  I had never really considered the consequences of “He sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake”, planting a fear in a child’s mind.  But how can you tell them no one is peeking in the window when you have told them Santa "knows all"?

Problem Three.  The building of expectation about the gifts the children want and hope to receive.   The wonderful old movie, The Christmas Story, tells  the tale of Ralphie, a small boy whose heart was set on receiving a BB Gun.  The entire story encapsulates the scene I am describing here of a Christmas based on “getting things”!!  For weeks the children dream of receiving all kinds of wonderful things and so many times it results in some sort of disappointment.   Generally on Christmas Day, at least in our little family which I really believe was as loving as any, there were tears when gifts that were not really wanted were received… “MOM… You got me UNDERWEAR?????  I wanted  a cosmetic kit!!!”   A pile of gifts under the tree representing money spent that we didn’t really have,  and a most disappointing moment was when one of my children, after the kids had opened many hundreds of dollars worth of gifts said, “Is that all?”

I guess similar things may happen in many households.

But all in all, the season is joyous and wonderful and our Christmas days were fun.  We loved each other and we frequently met with other family members exchanged gifts or enjoyed a meal together with many hugs and well wishes.  But there were still those underlying concerns, about truth telling, about those who couldn’t celebrate like we were, like ingratitude amidst  the pile of presents.     But even these things pale in comparison to the fact that the real meaning of Christmas was sort of overlooked, inadvertently.

And now for “Christmas From Within”.   The real meaning and joy of Christmas is in realization that Christmas day celebrates the birth of the most spiritually gifted man ever to trod the earth. His life was a demonstration of God’s presence in his consciousness,  God’s influence and guidance  in his life and everyday activities.  Jesus’  life and teaching  reflected how life can be for ALL OF US as we come to understand that we are spiritual beings, not little blobs of matter with legs, that we can rise above materiality as he did, that “life in matter” is  a dream that results from our own thinking.  AND, that spiritual joy beats "material things" every time.  This celebration of Christmas requires NO gifts, no hustle bustle, no last minute scurrying and pressure.  It is a celebration from Within. 

We may not have sheep and donkeys living in our bedroom or wise men coming from afar,  probably no frankincense or myrrh under the tree, but we can all receive that most precious gift that God provided centuries ago.   God’s Love, Peace, Joy, Spiritual understanding… gifts which cost nothing but moments of listening, praying, trusting.  They are free... to give and receive.

One of the most faithful followers of the teachings of Christ Jesus said: 

Christmas to me is the reminder of God's great gift, — His spiritual idea, man and the universe, —a gift which so transcends mortal, material, sensual giving that the merriment, mad ambition, rivalry, and  ritual of our common Christmas seem a human mockery in mimicry of the real worship in commemoration of Christ's coming.

I love to observe Christmas in quietude, humility, benevolence, charity, letting good will towards man, eloquent silence, prayer, and praise express my conception of Truth's appearing.

This time of year our thoughts turn naturally to the healing Christ. It’s sweet refreshment  amidst the “mad ambition, rivalry, and ritual of our common Christmas.  In fact, this is the perfect time to reflect with gratitude on the past year’s healings—for ourselves, for friends and family, in our churches and communities, and in the world."  (Mary Baker Eddy, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 262).

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!