EARTHQUAKES AND OTHER SCARY STUFF

I could feel the floor starting to tremble under foot, first a jolt and then a gentle tremor. I saw my office door begin to swing slowly, then I realized...  Here we go again, still another earthquake. 

I happened to be on an important telephone call at the time and as the senior manager in my building I knew I should set a good example and evacuate immediately but, even though the ceiling tiles were falling, books being jostled from the bookcase and there were sounds of screaming in the hallway, I stayed on the phone for the a couple of minutes to finish the conversation. The guy on the other end, one of my staff members, was laughing at my plight as he was safely in his office in Oklahoma, far from my Southern California location. The screaming continued, I left the office for safety outside.

When the dust settled and we received an “all clear” from Security, we all returned to the offices and I addressed the source of the screaming. I called my administrative assistant

into my office. One of her duties was “Building Safety Coordinator. I told that I had seen her grab her “hard hat” and run out into the hall as the tremor started. That was good. But, we also discussed how that it was probably not appropriate for her, as the Building Safety Coordinator responsible for an orderly building evacuation, to run down the halls screaming “Run for you life! We’re all gonna die”!!!

I suggested that perhaps it would be better for her to give up that additional duty position and to accept another duty that was less stressful.

Now I personally know a lot about FEAR. I have sampled various fears many times in many of its disguises and know it intimately.

For example, Fear comes in many disguises. What is frightening to one may not be to another. 

SKEERD?  Not Me!!!!!

Panic Sets In!!!!

Fear is irrational. I have felt perfectly safe on a very bumpy flight, experiencing heavy turbulence, while the person next to me was reduced to crying and shaking. And, I have felt inexplicable fear in a packed elevator while others crammed in next to me laughed and talked, oblivious to what was frightening me, while I was about to implode.

If fear were rational, we would all fear the same things, which proves to me that FEAR is individual and within our own consciousness.

Courageous Burmese political figure, Aung San Suu Kyi is

quoted as saying: “The only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom from fear.”   Intellectually, we know that it is important to stay calm, and we should exercise caution. Author Neale Donald Walsch says:“Caution is what causes you to look both ways before crossing the street. Fear is what keeps you frozen on the curb forever.” 

When FEAR lifts its ugly head, we all react differently. Fear and confusion often block intelligent actions, sometimes we seem to become immobile. A Flying Safety magazine article some years ago reported that the Landing Gear warning horn was so loud and insistent as his jet fighter aircraft approached the runway, creating fear and confusion in the pilot’s thinking, that ironically, he landed without lowering the landing gear.

Since fear is subjective, in our own thinking, I have often contemplated Job’s observation and its relevance to myself. In the Bible, in the Book of Job, we find:" For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me." *1  

Is the fear, that "Gear Warning Horn" so loud and insistent,   “coming upon me” because I am entertaining it, giving it place, honoring its presence by believing it? If I didn’t fear, would the “thing” happen?

Now I am not saying that my Administrative Assistant caused the earthquake!! But her reaction certainly reflected a fear that was personal to her.   BUT, what causes fear? How can we conquer it? 

It seems that FEAR is a feeling that somehow we have become separated from our Creator, that we are alone without support. We may we feel that we are adrift in this world, vulnerable to something that is about to happen, or may happen, or will happen!! We feel a lack of firm foundation, and we ACCEPT those fearful, threatening thoughts and cling to them!

But do we have to believe everything that comes into our thought, everything we see, hear and feel? Are we “authorized” to sort the thoughts that come to us, do we have permission to keep the good ones, discard the bad ones, the fearful ones?

In her book, Rudimental Divine Science, Mary Baker Eddy cautions that : “Accepting the verdict of these material senses, we should believe man and the universe to be the football of chance and sinking into oblivion'.”*2   In her Bible companion book*, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, she challenges us, when threatened by belief of disease or any erroneous belief, to guard the door of our thought: She counsels: " Reverse the case. Stand porter at the door of thought. Admitting only such conclusions as you wish realized in bodily results, you will control yourself harmoniously." *3 

God’s plan for us is never frightening, never leading to danger, doubt, discouragement, disease. We are never separate from our divine Source, never out of the Mind that holds us in His consciousness never threatened by God, who is LOVE.

Jesus of Nazareth, the humble preacher centuries ago, knowing that he was ALWAYS hand in hand with his heavenly Father, faced every situation fearlessly. He said, “I and my Father are ONE.”*4   And the apostle Paul comforted us by assuring us of our inseparability from God when he said:   “In Him, we live, and move and have our being.” *5   Definitely a statement of our true, spiritual existence.



Regardless of how solid, or shaky, material foundations may seem, they are really not “the rock” that we need as

security. The assurance and peace of mind of being “at one with the Father” comes to us in a way that some of us have experienced as children when, unexpectedly separated from a parent and experiencing that sinking feeling, looked desperately for their comforting presence. Then, reunited, hand in hand with our parents, we once again felt safe and secure. That same comforting presence of our heavenly Father/Mother is always available, here and now, and will bring that same sense of peace and well being.

This poem speaks of feeling God's everpresence: 

I walk with Love along the way,

And O, it is a holy day;

No more I suffer cruel fear,

I feel God’s presence with me here;

The joy that none can take away

 Is mine;  I walk with Love today.

Come, walk with Love along the way,

Let childlike trust be yours today;

Uplift your thought, with courage go,

Give of your heart’s rich overflow,

And peace shall crown your joy-filled day.

Come, walk with Love along the way.*6

*       The Holy Bible  - Job 3:25

**      Rudimental Divine Science - Mary Baker Eddy (MBE)

***     Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (MBE)

****    The Holy Bible  - John 10:30

*****   The Holy Bible  - Acts 17:28

******  Christian science Hymnal 427

I Remember Notchey…

“What would you name a pet raccoon?’

A dear friend asked that question yesterday  as she told me that a raccoon had been sullying her garage and grounds, getting into everything, and reasoned that it was because her husband had been leaving food out for it. She is a hopeless animal lover and mused the question innocently, but it brought back memories.  

Well, I named my pet raccoon “Notchey”. Now she might technically not have been a household pet but she was precious. A dainty little girl, fleet of foot and with beautiful sparkling eyes, she was a charmer. She had a little notch in one ear, probably resulting from some scuffle with another animal and had survived with minor casualties so we named her Notchey.

We first met Notchey when she came to our kitchen door one night and I threw out a couple of pieces of bread. She returned often, timidly at first, but as the food got better, moving from stale bread steadily up the scale to meat and bones, the frequency of her visits increased in direct proportion. As our friendship progressed she became more confident and would come and knock on the back door in the early evening. 

Our relationship was almost ended prematurely by my "not so eager" wife who liked the raccoon, but more at a distance. One evening Dear Wife had been in another room and she came into the kitchen unexpectedly. Notchey and I just happened to be sitting together in the kitchen, chatting and sharing some pork chops. In all fairness, I can appreciate Gail's surprise but to me she really overreacted. You would have thought I had an elephant in there instead of a raccoon. Here you could paint a mental picture of loud screams, a frantic wife, a scared raccoon and Peacemaker Pat trying to calm everyone down and sort things out.

I will admit that no one had ever really explained to me that clearly about how horrible it was to have a raccoon in the kitchen, until Gail introduced the subject and spoke at some length in terse sentences, interjected by something that sounded like "I can't believe you let that THING in the house!!!" 

We didn't see Notchey for some weeks but then one night she came back and knocked at the back door. My heart was bubbling over as I looked out and saw Notchey with five little baby raccoons. She had given birth to darling little black eyed love bundles and brought them to visit us. We then knew why she hadn't been around much. 

FEEDING MY BABIES!

I hurried to rustle up some dinner for my guests and plopped down in the driveway feeding Notchey’s offspring while she looked on proudly, showing off her family to her friend. My neighbors thought I was crazy for getting so close to a raccoon but I love animals. I can just see my dear friend, our wonderful local Veterinarian, Doc Mitchell, the kindest animal lover in the world, peering with a raised eyebrow, giving me a quiet word of caution about dealing directly with wild animals.

Love for animals, that deep feeling of joy that they bring to so many people in the world is another proof that life is Love expressed, that above and beyond the threats and fears of this temporal dream of material existence, all creatures live in safety and harmony in the Divine Consciousness, in God, Mind.    And we can, at times, experience this kinship and sense of  “oneness” with all life right here, when we are open to seeing and listening spiritually.

True Love is always loving, always forgiving, always freeing. 

On the wall above my desk hangs a birthday gift from my forgiving wife, a very large picture, a professional photo of the most beautiful little raccoon face staring down, watching over me as I write. 

And I remember Notchey.

Dad and the Pope and the Pope

"He is complete simplicity; down to Earth, a man with the people. I know him," a CBS News Vatican consultant told CBS News shortly after Pope Francis appeared. On that exciting day recently the world's 1.2 billion Catholics welcomed a new leader. He will be known henceforth as Pope Francis Bergoglio's chosen name, Francis, a nod to the patron saint of Italy, Saint Francis of Assisi.

I am not of the Catholic faith but I watched with a warm heart and admiration for this humble man as he took office and immediately demonstrated that he was his own man, not necessarily tied to convention as he put his own imprimatur on the office.

All of the talk about the Pope brought to mind the excitement of a day years ago, a day when I met another Pope.  I was so excited and knew something good was going to happen when Dad came in with a smile that lit up his whole face.  He wanted me to come outside.  He had something to show me. 

 

The POPE - Columbia Model

I had wanted a bicycle, a real bicycle, for a long time.  I was always a short little kid but I wanted a regular size bike.  Matter of fact, there weren’t many, if indeed ANY, little bikes back then.  I doubt that training wheels had ever even occurred to the folks at Pope or Schwinn.   This was a time when there were no bicycle helmets, no extreme playground safety devices, no real worries about kids getting hurt.  If you fell down, you got up, if you skinned your knee, you got over it!!!   If you got a bike, it was get on and ride!!!! 

As we stepped outside, Dad leading the way, there it was!!   My eyes really popped open when I saw that beautiful red Pope Columbia bicycle.  I guess it really wasn’t all that pretty to some people. It was a used bike, paint not so shiny; a little worse for wear, but it was priceless to me.  

Now you’d have to picture that bicycle with me standing beside it. The bicycle was as tall as I was.  Picture a little guy whose legs couldn't reach both pedals at the same time, seesawing left to right as the pedals traveled up and down.     It proved to be quite a challenge for me to negotiate “mounting up” when my Dad wasn’t there to help. I developed a system where I would push the bicycle over to a fence, climb up on the fence, jump onto the bicycle and pedal away as quickly as possible. When it came time to stop I would slow down the bike and just as it began to teeter I would jump off and the bike would crash.

In today’s antiseptic, “don’t hurt yourself Johnny” society the neighbors may have  called the police on my Dad, locked him up and put me in Child Protective Services,  for putting me in a situation where I could learn by trying, maybe failing, then trying again. But I made it work and I loved him for it.  These lessons were so helpful later in life in the military and in business where sometimes you "just gotta’ climb that fence, jump on and pedal…",  you’re on your own, No Coddling!!!  

To me, his most wonderful example of fatherhood was that he didn't set up limitations for me. The red Pope was a bike that was available, he wanted me to have it, and he was confident that I could handle it. Isn’t it wonderful when parents don’t limit their children by their own narrow, fearful  or constricted thoughts? Dad knew that I had enough intelligence to make decisions for myself.

Times were tough in the United States following the Wall Street crash and subsequent depression and World War II, forcing Dad to quit high school in the tenth grade to help support his family.   Everyone had to pitch in to support large families.  

But, Dad didn’t recognize that obstacles were in his way.  With only a limited formal 

Paper Machine - Dad's Specialty

education he worked hard, became a mill manager in the paper industry and ended up as Manufacturing Vice President for a prominent paper manufacturer. An entire chapter of the book “Paper with Presence”, a history of the Gilbert Paper Company was devoted to Dad and his talent and skills as he became the first person from the large corporation that bought Gilbert Paper Company to go into that newly acquired company and take over operations. The chapter was titled, not surprisingly, “The Diplomat”.  

It was probably a miracle that I had this man for my Dad.  There had been incidents when things could have gone the other way. For example the time when I was helping him shingle the roof. I was pretty young but he let me carry a few shingles at a time up the ladder to the roof. On one occasion just as I was climbing up the wooden ladder he had set up on the roof, Dad hit his finger with a hammer and he shouted out a bad word.  My rather injudicious response was to scramble down the ladder as fast as I could, yelling at the top of my voice to my Mother that Dad had cursed.    It could have turned out a lot worse.   I have always respected him for not throwing me off the roof when I sheepishly rejoined the project!!

When I was in trouble, infrequently but too often for Dad, he was always there, supporting, encouraging trusting.   He exemplified the description one Cardinal made of Pope Francis, “Setting an example of wisdom and humility.” 

As I have learned more about God, the infinite Father/Mother, from whom all life and being originate, I see how much Dad reflected those nurturing qualities, and how much greater are those "fathering" attributes of our Creator.  I can see how completely we can trust our Forever Father, and All we need to do is ASK.. and then LISTEN.   Jesus painted a picture of God as a giving, loving, comforting, always available presence when he compared dads to God:   “what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?  Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?  If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?”   Matt 7:9

Thanks Dad, for being an example, a gentle, constant beam of God’s Love, shining brightly in a small child’s life, and glowing even into maturity.  God must love me very much to have made me your son.     And… Thanks for the bike!!!

Leap-The-Dip

Who thought it was a good idea to sit here in the front row? My stomach feels like a thousand butterflies are fighting to get out. I had a feeling that this was going to happen when I was standing in line. 

 When I was young I had heard about the Leap-The-Dips, a roller coaster built in 1902 at Lakemont Park in Altoona,  Pennsylvania and it sounded like such great fun, I had always wanted to experience that. But after standing in line for some time at this newer, higher, more modern roller coaster in Ohio, seeing how high the structure was, my resolve was starting to weaken. Now, in a front row seat, looking ahead at the tracks climbing skyward, reaching almost to the puffy clouds overhead it seemed, I wished that I could jump out of the car and run back to the ice cream stand that we had just passed.
I consoled myself that the Leap-The-Dips had survived for many years and I hadn't heard of anyone getting hurt badly. Before I could ruminate and build the level of fear any further, the car had filled and we started to roll slowly, clank, clank,…. clack, clack… and my heart was echoing that rhythm, beat, beat,... beat beat... inching our way up above the midway, the entire amusement park appearing below. Just when I wondered if the car would make the summit, suddenly the bottom dropped out and we rocketed down the other side of the coaster, going faster and faster, ears filled with screams of those on board, the funny, queasy feeling in the stomach, me not knowing whether to laugh, scream or cry and with a wrenching jerk we bottomed out and started up the next hill, heading towards another adventurous descent and a sharp curve at the bottom.

Thinking back, I am glad that I experienced that ride and a few other similar rides in following years. It was a great preparation for life. It’s funny how similar many of life’s experiences can be to those roller coaster rides, the ups and downs the fear and exhilaration, the moments of expectation and anticipation sometimes followed by fear and regret, that we face as we go through life.

Many of us can relate to that roller coaster ride. There are so many examples of the ups and downs that we face every day... the abrupt stock market fluctuations, perhaps our personal finances, strained relationships among countries in the world, our relationships with family and friends, or seemingly serious health situations involving our loved ones. Just as a roller coaster works because of gravity, a force that pulls things down, most often just when they are at the height of their climb, there is a sudden downward pull which frightens, discourages and at the least causes abrupt and sometimes extreme changes in our circumstances, our relationships and general quality of life.

At one time as I was working in an automotive manufacturing company.  The plant where my data center was located was an automotive stamping plant and this particular plant manager was being honored by the Corporation for excellent profitability, productivity and safety numbers.   Sitting in his office that day I congratulated him for the recognition and he told me, “Pat, in this business, when things look really good on paper they’re not as good as they look. And when our plant looks bad on paper it’s not really as bad as it looks.” And isn’t life like that?!!

That to me was helpful and I think of that often. That roller coaster, that juxtaposition of happiness and sorrow, of exhilaration and fear, of confidence and doubt are extremes which should be smoothed out by a calmer sense of what’s really going on in life. 

As I go back to my Personal User Manual, the Bible, I find such calming examples of how others in history have actually been able to smooth out the bumps and see life in a more spiritual context, see that relying on a spiritual view of life, as opposed to the discouraging and disappointing views that matter gives us, can solve our problems in practical ways. 

Christ Jesus was a great calming influence to his disciples and to others who were with him. In the midst of a storm at sea, the height of fear, when his disciples were sure that tragedy was imminent and Jesus was asleep, they awakened him and he immediately calmed the storm. To me, his action calmed their thoughts, removed their fear, as when a young child is fearful during the night and the father or mother goes into the bedroom to reassure them that all is well and that they are safe. 

In instance after instance, Jesus demonstrated in practical examples that the roller coaster of events in life can be smoothed out by reliance on God, our spiritual source, to provide food, drink, health, sanity, life where their opposites appeared to be. His greeting was usually, “Peace be unto you.” 

Another Biblical example was an occasion when the King of Syria was very upset with the prophet Elijah and sent a great number of men, horses and chariots to find Elijah and bring him back to the king. Elijah’s servant was very afraid as he awakened to see that they were surrounded by the king’s army. But, Elijah, a prophet that trusted in God’s care and protection reassured his servant. “And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha."    II Kings 6: 14

I am sure many have prayed to understand, as I have, 'What can I do to place myself on a more even keel? How can I experience more consistency, more harmony, less upheaval?'     Now we may not be surrounded by chariots and horses, but what if we could see the serene, calm picture of spiritual thought,  could see that the storm we are facing can be stilled, the multitudes of our needs can be fed, the illness healed, the tears turned to laughter, the turbulence smoothed by the calm abiding? How can we be a “God listener?"   See through the fog?  

Recent events in my own personal experience have reinforced the conviction that we can indeed slow down the coaster, quiet the fear, feel confidence and trust by turning to God for guidance. My solution is to turn to the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, a Bible companion used by people of many religions.

One of my favorite Bible “calmers” is found in Psalms 91.

"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday."        I like to add here, “Nor for the roller coaster of emotion”!!!

When our thought is safely cloistered within that “secret place” where we are listening to God’s thoughts for us, quietly contemplating our oneness with God, our eternal Father, Creator, the source of all being, we can relax, get off of the coaster.

Mary Baker Eddy, an influential American author, teacher, and religious leader, noted for her groundbreaking ideas about spirituality and health, which she named Christian Science, counseled this: "Man is not a pendulum, swinging between evil and good, joy and sorrow, sickness and health, life and death."      "Stand porter at the door of thought. Admitting only such conclusions as you wish realized in bodily results, you will control yourself harmoniously." * 

We can turn the roller coaster into a gentle carousel, smooth the ups and downs, listen to the calliope playing a cheerful melody as we feel God’s calming reassurance.

* Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures - Mary Baker Eddy