Energized now!
Energy – teens, athletes, parents, businesspeople are bombarded with ads for supplements, drinks, and pills that promise consumers this much sought-after commodity. The claims are quite compelling. But for the upsides of these promises, there are also downsides. The effects of the products fall short of expectations, and the manufacturers’ labels warn of unpleasant side effects.
Might there be a better way to go? Mary Baker Eddy, an ardent student of the Bible, offers a healthy alternative in the textbook of Christian Science, “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.” She writes: “Let us feel the divine energy of Spirit, bringing us into newness of life and recognizing no mortal nor material power as able to destroy. Let us rejoice that we are subject to the divine ‘powers that be.’ Such is the true Science of being. Any other theory of Life, or God, is delusive and mythological” (p. 249).
Feel the divine energy of Spirit
Whenever I need to feel energized, I turn to the Bible and to Science and Health and other writings by Mrs. Eddy. In these books I find ideas that inspire me and elevate me to look at things from a scientifically spiritual perspective.
I love Webster’s definition of the word “spiritual,” which includes such terms as incorporeal; refined; divine; pure; holy; pertaining to the renewed nature of man; not material, sensual, temporal, or fleshly. So, for me, divine energy comes from turning to God and looking at that which is spiritually normal and eternally good. It also involves stepping out of self-limiting material, sensual, temporal, or fleshly thoughts of myself and others.
Subject to the powers that be
The master Christian, Christ Jesus, knew God to be his Father and the source of all good. He claimed no power of his own. He said, “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me” (John 5:30).
The Bible teaches that God is Spirit. Divine Spirit is the source of all activity, vitality, and momentum. Spirit is the sustaining power, and man is the inexhaustible expression of God. As God, Spirit, is indefatigable, so am I as His expression. And so are you. As God, Spirit, is infinite in scope and capacity, so am I. And so are you.
We can rejoice!
It is normal to be active and joyous in expressing good. Who doesn’t have the energy to accept an infusion of joy in his or her day, or to express a bit more love? Acts of joy and expressions of an energetic love liven up any day. This is God’s standard of normalcy, and it is steadfast, sure, certain. But burdensome thoughts of life on a limited, material timetable – a fearful sense of a past, present, or future without Spirit’s ever-renewing resources of divine good – would drain one’s energy.
A plaque on the wall in our kitchen reminds us: “The time to be happy is now. The place to be happy is here.” With God there is no future good. God, infinite good, is always present. Now is God’s timetable. Now is the time to know, see, feel, and express His goodness, power, presence, strength, joy, and love. The fact is, we own no material past to regret, no material present to be aware of, and no material future to be anxious about.
Renewed selfhood
Mrs. Eddy explains: “The energy that saves sinners and heals the sick is divine: and Love is the Principle thereof. Scientific Christianity works out the rule of spiritual love; it makes man active, it prompts perpetual goodness, for the ego, or I, goes to the Father, whereby man is Godlike. Love, purity, meekness, coexist in divine Science.
Lust, hatred, revenge, coincide in material sense. Christ Jesus reckoned man in Science, having the kingdom of heaven within him. He spake of man not as the offspring of Adam, a departure from God, or His lost likeness, but as God’s child. Spiritual love makes man conscious that God is his Father, and the consciousness of God as Love gives man power with untold furtherance. Then God becomes to him the All-presence – quenching sin; the All-power – giving life, health, holiness; the All-science – all law and gospel" (“Message to The Mother Church for 1902,” pp. 8-9).
Does this spiritual practice of the consciousness of God as Spirit, and the expression of energetic love, take effort and demand consistent practice? Sure! Most things that are worthwhile do. But the payoff is spiritual power that exceeds expectations and produces only healthy side effects. That is a winning combination that is hard to resist. And you can begin it right now!
From the Christian Science Sentinel.
