RIGHT THIS MINUTE!!!

Lucy COME! Come here Lucy! Come on girl!

In those sincere brown eyes looking directly into mine from 30 feet away, I could see the stubbornness, the resistance, the implied statement that “I love you Daddy but I’m not coming.”  I suppose there’s nothing more stubborn than a Corgi, a sweet little dog whose main purpose in life seems to be to stubbornly refuse to do anything she is asked to do! It was time for me to call on my most very effective expression: Lucy, Come here… RIGHT… THIS… MINUTE!

And… slowly, I could see her eyes drop down, the resistance fading as she started taking the first steps to come into the house, those serious brown eyes staring up at me seeming to say, “Daddy is serious this time. Better do what he says”.   *1


Many of us have felt that drag, the resistance to doing what needs to be done, to procrastinate or move along sluggishly hoping the need for action will somehow pass us by, or maybe convincing ourselves that sometime in the future will be better. But in my experience those “take action” times seem to keep drifting just out of our reach, into the next moment, the next day, week or year, and we are only fooling ourselves by thinking that in the future we will somehow feel better, have more money, more time, more patience, be more mature, more ready, more, more, more. But always at a later time.

It is one thing when it involves just putting off painting the front porch,changing a light bulb or washing the car. Much more serious is postponing important things like considering our life purpose, where we are going spiritually, what are our life goals, or seriously addressing situations where our life and happiness or the happiness and well being of another are concerned.

Ironically, it often seems much easier to accept the dismal prospect of being sick or sinful, even being dissatisfied with ourselves, or delaying loving acts of kindness and consideration for others, resisting or delaying forgiveness, promising ourselves that in some future time we will do the right thing, maybe later we will apologize for some hurt or offense, be more helpful to others.  We convince ourselves that we will pray at some time in the future for better understanding of God’s love and its influence in our life. I have too often followed the reasoning of Felix, as described in the book of Acts in the Bible. When the Apostle Paul came to him to discuss the teachings of Jesus, “Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee. *2

I am fascinated by the lessons taught by Christ Jesus, who knew that we don’t have to wait to see God’s promise, to begin to see through earth’s sometimes dreary outlook and to grasp the perfect spiritual state which is ours to claim at this very moment. He encountered many “postponers” as he made his way through the countryside teaching his followers about Life and Love, how to understand God and how to live a pure life. And he roused them to action!!!

In one memorable scene Jesus came upon a man who had an infirmity for thirty eight years and couldn’t walk. As The Bible has it: “When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.” *3

It seems that the belief was that an Angel would come periodically and “trouble the water” and whoever first entered the water would be healed. Now this man had waited thirty eight years for a material solution, someone to help him get into the water, but Jesus said it was time to get up and move. Jesus saw through the claim of material disability and recognized the man’s spiritual identity as a child of God, not needing a material remedy but a better understanding of his spiritual perfection… and right that minute. He told the man to get up and take up his bed and go home. No waiting. No recuperation period. Jesus didn’t even touch him, he just uplifted the man’s thought by seeing him as a wholly complete and healthy idea of God.

A friend told me last month that she had been plagued with problems in the past several years and she said she decided to refuse to “drag across the timeline of the New Year the baggage of problems that she had been carrying.” WOW!!! I decided that I, too, can refuse to carry over problems from the past and to start now, immediately, RIGHT THIS MINUTE, to accept gratefully my true inheritance as an innocent child of God. It is high time to stop being burdened by worry, all of the concerns that seem to flow around us every day, and to begin loving more, caring more for others, concentrating on expressing my spiritual qualities instead of being lulled by the temptation to “do it later”, waiting on the “waters to move”. 

Those experiences with Lucy have left me with a better understanding of Right This Minute and I begin to understand John’s assertion that “NOW are we the sons of God.” *4

And, Right This Minute I am telling apathy and resistance to get lost. I have things to do!! And so I leave you with the words of one of my favorite hymns:

Make haste, O man, to do
Whatever must be done;
Thou hast no time to lose in sloth,
When all to Truth must come.

The useful and the great,
The thing that never dies,
The silent toil that is not lost,—
Set these before thine eyes.

Up, face the task and work;
Fling ease and self away;
This is no time for thee to sleep;
Up, watch, and work, and pray.   *5

Thanks Lucy, my little angel.

*1        I am not actually Lucy's daddy.  She was a stray and we adopted her and she was a precious daughter.
*2       Acts 2:24
*3       John 5
*4       I John 3:2
*5      Christian Science Hymnal  183

RONNIE RAY - Lost and Found

Ronnie is a good friend and really something special, you could call him indomitable, a really bright guy.  I have learned a lot from him.  But, recently he apparently ran into some problems.  Actually, he never acknowledged that times were a little tough, he never even seems to notice…  always undisturbed amid the sometimes frightening situations he is in, he shines right through.

Life had been unusually good for Ronnie, his life was bright and prosperous. Blessed with a sunny disposition and warm heart he had always been a source of inspiration to all those upon whom his light shone. He was a favorite at the beach where he frequently hung out.  And in the community he was a wonderful, valued friend to farmers, gardeners, store owners, parents and children.

But, last week we were all concerned that Ronnie had run into trouble.  No one in town could find him. He was missing for several days and folks around here were all worried.  Ronnie was the main topic of conversation, you could hear people at the grocery, the hardware store, and particularly at the Farmers’ Market in Blue Ridge,  asking what in the world had happened to him. His entire family had suddenly disappeared and concern was even expressed on the TV evening news out of Atlanta. 

But, not to worry!!!  He did show up later in the week .   Ronnie and the family burst onto the scene in a flash of brilliance, as usual.    You see Ronnie's full name is Ronnie Ray, he is a ray of sunshine.  YES!! Literally!

All the time that we had missed him, wondered and worried, sought him out, he had been busy.  While the skies had been grey and gloomy for us,

rain cascading down, the “Thunder of Thor” and the “Lightening of Zeus” flashing across the empyrean, Ronnie had been on top of the situation, calmly doing his job, just as he did every day.  He had been... well.. SHINING!!  That's all that Ronnie does, actually.  And Ronnie shines all of the time, day and night, on rainy and gloomy days, on snowy “no school” days, days when people he shines on are happy or sad, rich or poor.  He SHINES.  Even though we can't always see him,  he is there, faithfully, constantly, abundantly, like God’s Love.  

I love the thought of the sun’s rays, quietly about their task, shining, lighting up the dark places, warming the soil, melting the snow and ice, shining on birthday parties and parades, welcoming new arrivals to earth, helping the farmers, and comforting those of advanced years who may be sitting on their rocking chairs on the front porch, cherishing the warmth and the loving memories of friends and family. 

My wife is fascinated by the sun’s rays shining down through the trees in

early morning, or late afternoon.  The light filtering through the leaves, never the same, always making beautiful patterns.   As we sat on the deck one recent afternoon, I knew what she was thinking as she quietly gazed at the beauty before us.  Funny how something so simple can ignite a spark of peace, awe and appreciation.  She ALWAYS comments about the beauty of the light filtering down, you can count on it!!   I love her for that!!!

I began to wonder, are we like those rays?  I have often thought of how much like the sun and its rays are God and His precious ideas, His offspring, each one of us.  We aren't little flesh stick figures, "of few days, and full of trouble"  as Job described man born of woman.  

Aren’t we like rays of God’s goodness, similar to how the sun’s ray go out to bless the earth?  It helps me visualize how God, Love is expressed in the human view.   As God’s individual “reflections”, isn’t our job to “light up the dark places of sickness, disease and despair”?  Aren’t we here to bring the message that Life is eternal, that God is LOVE, to warm the hearts of those whom we touch, to brighten the days of the sad and sorrowing, to bring light, joy and happiness, a feeling of peace and well being to the world?     

Thinking of Ronnie Ray has helped me. He has made me realize that a real “heavenly ray” just reflects the Sun, it doesn’t come down to tell us how good it is.  It doesn’t try to convince us of its importance, or why it is better than darkness, or even compare itself to the other rays, it doesn’t have to be “The Greatest”!    It apparently doesn’t worry about how many are feeling it’s warmth or light,  it isn’t concerned about where it ends up, doesn’t know or care about the temperature of the earth or the surface it touches, needs no medicine, no drugs or stimulants, is content just to shine.   It just shines, it’s just there, just BEING…  being a sun ray.

Too, the rays of the sun, like their brothers, the rain drops, land where they are destined, humbly falling on the good and bad, never explaining or trying to convince the world that they are the REAL rays or raindrops, that their theory, creed or dogma  is the right one, that they were sent instead of some other less important ray or raindrop.  They just “ray and raindrop”,  blessing  all  by doing what they were created to do.

In her Bible companion textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy has it:  As a drop of water is one with the ocean, a ray of light one with the sun, even so God and man, Father and son, are one in being. The Scripture reads: “For in Him we live, and move, and have our being.”  SH 361

Man is not God, but like a ray of light which comes from the sun, man, the outcome of God, reflects God. SH 250

Today is the day for each of us to emulate Ronnie!!!   God provides the warmth, gentleness and the light, we just reflect.

With apologies to the popular song from the Broadway play, "Annie",  which includes the lines:

"The sun'll come out
Tomorrow
Bet your bottom dollar
That tomorrow
There'll be sun!

When I'm stuck with a day
That's gray,
And lonely,
I just stick out my chin
And Grin,
And Say,

Oh
The sun'll come out
Tomorrow
So ya gotta hang on
'Til tomorrow"

Sorry Annie!!  The sun is shining TODAY!!!!!!!  Just ask Ronnie Ray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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!!!!!!