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Inviting God into your day

A Christian Science perspective.

  • By T. Jewell Collins

How many times do we vow to do better, to be kinder, to speak more gently – even to be nicer to ourselves?

And then our resolve dissolves in the heat of the moment or we capitulate to the pressure that provides us with an excuse for our lapse.

I recall arising one morning and promising myself that today I was not going to raise my voice, be critical, or put myself down. As well intentioned as this declaration was, I realized that it lacked the divine impulsion that would ensure its success.

More was needed. I prayed to be receptive to God’s direction, knowing Him as ever available to help whenever called upon. This Bible verse came to thought, offering a model I could emulate: “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer” (Psalms 19:14). A peaceful calm replaced the self-determination I had been feeling.

That morning, with renewed inspiration, I approached two situations that had been troubling me. A travel plan that seemed stuck in an unacceptable pattern was resolved. With that encouraging sign, the solution to a computer problem that had baffled me for several months became evident. I viewed these small but gratifying resolutions as modest answers to my prayers.

With a greater daily awareness of God with us, we can view challenges as opportunities to acknowledge His active presence and its accompanying assurance that He “pours the riches of His love into the understanding and affections, giving us strength according to our day” (Mary Baker Eddy, “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” p. 5). We can gratefully accept every evidence of these “riches of His love” as proof that He is causing and supporting our good intentions, setting them on a course guaranteed to be satisfying and fruitful.

Right intent directs our thoughts into selfless, productive channels. With God in our day, we are motivated not only to do the right thing, but to want to do it, sincerely and genuinely. His presence aligns our aims with their original purpose, to let His light shine through everything we say and do.

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Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

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