New every morning

Imagine an artist having to use the same sheet of paper over and over. When inspired to begin a new drawing, he would either have to erase the previous day's work or draw over it. But that's unnecessary. For today's drawing, he naturally avails himself of a new piece of paper.

We might think of each day as a fresh piece of paper - as a clear, uncluttered occasion to spiritually perceive and bring to light more of God's beautiful, wholly good creatIO mhich seems so obscure to the physical senses. We can begin each day with a new, undamaged surface of thought upon which to behold our flawless, true being as the image of God, which the Bible declares man to be.

The unspotted purity and unlimited opportunity for good that await us each day are more than the proverbial clean slate or new leaf. This merciful morning view is not just the result of being awake at 6 a.m. in a fairly good mood.

In the Biblical context, morning often signifies a dawning of spiritual light or insight. This sense is brought out in the spiritual dafinition of ''morning'' found in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy:n1 ''Morning. Light; symbol of Truth; revelation and progress.'' n2 It's spiritual enlightenment, a perception of what is true of God and man, that brings freshness and progress to our days.

n1 Mrs. Eddy is the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science.

n2 Science and Health, p. 591.

At one period, I noticed that when I woke up some mornings, I was mentally struggling with yesterday's duties and needs. One day I woke reluctantly, not feeling particularly refreshed or eager for the day's activities, to say the least. My thoughts consisted of a long list of things I needed to do or keep track of. It occurred to me that my thought seemed as rumpled as my bed!

What should our morning thoughts be like? God-inspired freshness should characterize them, whatever the needs of this or any day. How can we experience this freshness? By realizing through prayer the truth of our being as His offspring.

God is infinite Love, as the Bible reveals. He is the one supreme Mind, causing His image, man, to express perpetual creativity, order, and intelligence. Gaining even a glimpse of this truth, we won't be mentally consumed by yesterday's, tomorrow's, or today's needs. ''It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed,'' the Bible tells us, ''because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning.'' n3

n3 Lomentations 3:22, 23.

There are no indelible faults or ugly elements to spoil the eternal newness and nowness of spiritual creation. There is no hatred or despair to darken it.

''That's a nice philosophy about God's nature,'' you might respond. ''But what about mine? My life doesn't mirror such tranquillity and perfection!''

I know what you mean. That's just what I felt that morning in that rumpled mental state. But the truth of God's nature and what it had to do with me broke through to me in this passage from Science and Health: ''The rays of infinite Truth, when gathered into the focus of ideas, bring light instantaneously, whereas a thousand years of human doctrines, hypotheses, and vague conjectures emit no such effulgence.'' n4

n4 Science and Health, P. 504.

I realized that the weariness and baffling difficulties I had been running up against were the result of merely human-based efforts. I needed to see that God, infinite Truth, divine Mind, was at that moment sending me light, inspiration and spiritual ideas. I had to open my eyes and heart to this light and at the same time turn away from the notion that I was a limited, mortal personality responsible for generating and implementing ideas. I had to follow the example of Christ Jesus, who called upon us to express the spiritual light that heals, that dissolves the shadows of mortality.

A lovely feeling began to dawn on me. I bounced out of bed with all sorts of ideas coming into focus!

There are no limits in any direction to how often our thoughts can be brojght to ''morning'' newness. It can happen every time we turn to God for a pure, uncluttered dawning in our hearts of what He actually is and does. DAILY BIBLE VERSE My voice shalt thou heat in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayerunto thee, and will look up. Psalms 5:3