Harvesting Health
PLOWING was always one of my favorite jobs while working on the farm. I loved to see the plow blade cut into and turn over the hard ground, bringing up fresh soil. New seed is planted in the soft soil to ensure productive growth.
I haven't plowed on a farm for a few years, but am still plowing- -mentally. Hard clods of human will and fear, for example, are broken up as I turn to God and pray for a deeper sense of the infinite. Sometimes, though, I feel I plow and plow and plow! The harvest of spiritual growth and mental peace seems so far away. In the book of Amos, from the Bible, I found a promise. It reads: ``Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed'' (9:13). I saw from this that spiritual plowing and harvest are simultaneous. The harvest of the true idea of God and man in complete harmony can be felt now, as anything unlike God is broken up.
In his parable of the sower (see Matthew, chap. 13), Christ Jesus explained, the seed is the Word of God. What God is declaring as truth is true about all His creation. This seed, God's Word, is nurtured and productive according to spiritual understanding, not time. Jesus persisted in spiritually educating his hearers, knowing this to be the preparation of a good soil.
Mary Baker Eddy, the Founder of the Christian Science Church, understood the importance of cultivating and purifying thought. Through spiritual sense we learn more of God, infinite Spirit. Mrs. Eddy writes in her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, ``In the soil of an `honest and good heart' the seed must be sown; else it beareth not much fruit, for the swinish element in human nature uproots it'' (p. 272). Our ``heart,'' or thought, is prepared only as we gain a higher perception of infinite God. Understanding God to be intelligent Mind, tender Love, and mighty Spirit naturally annihilates condemnation, pride, and immorality because God is all- present.
Man's true nature is discerned in the comprehension of God. God causes us to reflect or express Him in such qualities as intelligence and moral strength. These God-given qualities abound in unselfish thought. Being honest to God and our fellowman refreshes thought and reveals the truth of spiritual existence, harmony. Here's an example.
I was working with heavy concrete blocks, and one dropped onto another with my fingers in between. Silently I affirmed that God includes intelligence and strength. A separate existence susceptible to a mishap or mistake was denied. The pain diminished. I did not talk about the incident with others or seek sympathy for what had happened. It wasn't easy! I continued praying the best I could. And I thanked God for being all-present. There were children playing nearby, and I began appreciating the joy and activity they were expressing.
The next day I realized I had been using those fingers fully, without a vestige of soreness. The truth that God can and does perfectly uphold and maintain all expressions of joy and strength was unquestionably evident. No self-pity had been able to uproot this truth. And the healing hadn't taken a great deal of time. I could see so clearly from this that God is perpetually bringing about freshness, joy, and wholeness. This is seen by spiritual sense. And, as spiritual sense is utilized, evidence from material sense is displaced.
The physical senses try in vain to make us believe that spiritual existence or complete harmony is dependent upon time. That someday we will be safe in God's arms. But God is giving us infinite good, health, joy, vitality, here and now!
