Handle Serpents as an Eagle

Most people are startled by snakes, or are at least given the creeps. Including myself. It probably has to do with the collective mentality setting up snakes as lurking evil. In the Bible, there is a story about Moses who had a staff and was told to throw it down on the ground. Moses did. The staff turned into a serpent. Moses was scared. However, he was then told to pick up the serpent. Moses did. The snake turned back into a staff.

A staff is something we lean on. A support. A tool to help us in our daily work. But the staff can’t be leaned on so heavily that it becomes deformed and useless. A staff also can’t be guarded and horded so closely that we neglect to use it properly.

Staffs come in a plethora of forms. They can be books, social status, economic schedules, diets, time, and so on.

We do not need to fear casting down our staffs. Because we do not need to fear the serpents. A snake is defined in Science and Health as subtle deceit, a lie. And, lies will grow, and bite, and sting, if truth is not known and acted on.

As revisionist of Mary Baker Eddy’s Science and Health, I had to learn this lesson. A few of the staffs I leaned on were: 1) the book Science and Health; 2) a moral lifestyle; 3) church membership.

When I threw these staffs down, a glaring nest of serpents surprised me, lies such as: 1) Science and Health is not to be revised; 2) an immoral lifestyle disallows spiritual healing; 3) the church has a monoply on Christian Science.

I then picked up the serpents, with trepidation and after much research, and discovered powerful facts to work with. These facts are: 1) Science and Health states that revisions are “requisite,” necessary; 2) Science and Health was written for the public, not a church; 3) everyone, EVERYONE, has the ability to discover and understand the divine Science interpreting God and harmony. Divine Science doesn’t come through a book.

Well, I need to sign off here and get back to work. But, just a reminder, don’t be afraid to throw down what seems like such a wonderful support. Be strong as an eagle and take those serpents back up. God, divine Spirit, is right here, right now, guiding, guarding, and renewing us. And, we will find a more reliable human staff to lean on. A staff that includes everyone.

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Unraveling the Snarls in Religion

Religion is associated with mixed emotions, usually depending upon how God is defined. Religion can bring great comfort, but it can also stir ire. The twists and turns of religion is due to the fact that religion is not stagnate, certainly not stable, therefore it is susceptible to getting snarly.

I crochet. And, to my incredulity, the skeins of yarn often somehow turn into wads of knotty pathetic snarls. Because movement IS, in other words, there is no stagnation, more often than not, I pick and gently pull apart the yarn to unravel the mess, making the yarn usable. Sometimes however the knot is so tight, I just throw the wad out.

Religion is generally a means of worshipping God. If it becomes the worship of a human being, a religious organization, a book, or a useless god, snarls emerge because those items of worship are directionless.

Now, this spiel doesn’t address those of you who profess no religion, but we do not have to live with snarls. On the topic of religion, we can redirect the movement of worship to respect and love God, divine Love, universal Truth, and eternal Life which unravels snarls and makes religion useful.

However, when religion resembles a tight-waded insular mess, generally it’s not religion in its broader sense, but fundamentalism, a firmness in opinion or strict zeal that isn’t focused on the big picture but is obsessed with a human ideology. Throw it out. Religion, and even science, do not produce fundamentalism, but fundamentalism tries to snarl up religion and science, which are movements of discovery and usefulness.

“Narrow systems and theories, concerning God, human being’s, health, and a religious society, are restrictive…As the true knowledge of God becomes evident, the concept of God as the Lord, or only a mighty hero or king, will continue to vanish…It requires mental restructuring and reorganization before we can adopt scientific religion and the divine healing.”–21st Century Science and Health