Tough Cookie to Crumble

Three years ago, Doug and I moved from southeastern Washington State to upstate New York; from a dry sparse desert environment to wet flourishing woods; from a place where we had to irrigate everything we wanted to grow, a lot, to a place where it rains, a lot. A bountiful array of fruits and vegetables can be grown in Washington from April until October, whereas here in New York, maple syrup and grass flows and grows along with a few basic items harvested from July until September.

To my head, the local farmers markets in upstate New York are so puny, I don’t make an effort to patronize them regularly. The markets consist of about a dozen vendors with maybe a dozen different items, but mostly baked goods, honey, and woolen socks. The vendors are lucky to earn $75 in 6 hours. When I hear the remark, This is the best farmer’s market in the area, I nod my head and smile.

I remember the days I managed the Pasco Farmer’s Market back in Washington State. I was in charge of 400 farmers who came to sell truckloads of produce as their crops ripened. We’d have up to 70 vendors during peak season. Thousands of customers came to the market and went home with everything from asparagus to novel green beans to melons to purple potatoes to cherries, berries, and spinach. Farmer could easily collect $450-$750 within 4 hours. It would be silly to try to explain my view of a real farmer’s market to someone here who hasn’t seen anything else. An explanation would be words floating away with the nice cool breezes they do have here in New York. Similar to an explanation to the desert living folk back in southeastern Washington State describing New York markets would be vapor that immediately evaporates in the 103 degree weather we all worked in. There is some validity to, Ignorance is bliss. Not knowing any different about certain things can actually stymie complaint. But usually, ignorance or unawareness is an open door for dilemmas galore as we accept what is put in front of us as fact, without question. From Science and Health, “Because of the human mind’s unawareness of spirituality, there is an unawareness of divine Principle, Love. As a result, the Father of all is represented as a corporeal creator and therefore human beings recognize themselves as merely physical and are ignorant of themselves as God’s image as eternal incorporeal beings. The brains electrochemical functioning is ignorant of the world of Truth—not wired to the reality of our existence—for the world of materiality is not cognizant of life in Soul.”

But, when we do know different, either through science or experience, a spark ignites and a quest is undertaken to achieve the better. For example, I’ve realized that the brain is not the mind, and spiritual mindedness has the capacity to heal. Furthermore, there have been more than enough times when I’ve glimpsed the naturalness of physical healing through the action of spiritual power that I’d be a tough cookie to crumble to believe otherwise.

What seems so prevalently real, that we are souls in a body prone to sickness and problems, no longer grabs my attention. Not that I try to avoid sickness and problems. My glimpses and experiences of spiritual power do not signify avoidance but less fear, or more courage to pioneer to the spiritual mindedness that allows for stronger evidence of what I feel is real, a messianic consciousness that triumphs over the limitations we call physical existence. Even though I have setbacks, I can’t help but agree with this comment from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, first written by Mary Baker Eddy in the 19^th century.

“The physical healing of Christian Science results now, as in Jesus’ time, from the operation of divine Principle, before which sin and disease lose their reality in human consciousness and disappear as naturally and as necessarily as darkness gives place to light and sin to reformation. Now, as then, these mighty works are not supernatural, but supremely natural. They are the sign of Immanuel, or “God with us,”—a divine influence ever present in human consciousness and repeating itself, coming now as was promised aforetime.”