"imposible - until it's not..."

"There’s light in the night,
from stars long gone;
A half-formed thought,
becomes a song;
We rise from our grief,
and go on;

It’s impossible. impossible.
Impossible, until its not..."

This afternoon I have been listening to a number of cuts from Carrie Newcomer's newest CD, "The Point of Arrival." But it was her song,  "Impossible Until Its Not," that stopped me in my tracks. It spoke to questions that, as a Christian Science practitioner, I hear all the time. Have you ever seen evidence of this particular healing, transformation of character, challenge overcome? How many times?

This is one of the reasons that I love understanding Christian Science as a law - rather than a therapeutic system of treatment for fixing problems.

As in the practice of criminal justice, one precedent-setting case is all that it takes to establish the inviolability of law. A good attorney knows his/her law library well enough to cite precedence when arguing his/her case before a judge. Once precedence has been established - and cited - the point at issue does not need to be argued. One rests one's case, and moves on.

I can't describe how many times a day I return, confidently, to this point of law. And I love that Mary Baker Eddy states in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures:

"When disease is once destroyed
in this so-called mind,
the fear of disease is gone,
and therefore the disease is thoroughly cured."

and

"When once destroyed by divine Science,
the false evidence before the corporeal senses disappears."

Just once. All it takes is one precedent-setting case of spiritual superiority, and you can rest your case upon the inviolability of that Law -- for everyone. Wow!

I think about this all day -- everyday. I search the Scriptures and read little else in a desire to more fully steel myself against any lie that would say that God is not "supreme in the physical realm, so-called, as well as in the spiritual."

A burning bush that is not consumed -- the precedent for unconsumed resources. A once-dead son returned to his widowed mother's household -- a precedent-setting case that Jesus rested his own demonstration of eternal Life upon.  Proof of Life -- once-seen as spiritual law -- demonstrated as resurrection.  A limited sense of supply, eclipsed by Love's unwavering flow of individual and collective goodness.

In countless Bible stories, the chapter "Fruitage" in Science and Health, as well as in each recounted healing in Mary Baker Eddy's other writings, the articles and testimonies found in the monthly and weekly periodicals - the Christian Science Sentinel and Journal, healings shared during Wednesday testimony meetings -- all are precedent-setting cases that we can rest our trust upon.

Last week there was a story in The New York Times - "A Woman, 71, Doesn't Feel Pain. Now, Scientists, Know Why: Mutation." It caught my attention immediately. Ahh yes, another recorded instance of the superiority of Soul over sense -- precedence.

Whether or not "scientists" had assigned a reasonable narrative to her lifelong freedom from pain -- relegating it to a gene mutation, or not - it has happened.  The article goes on to discuss Ms. Cameron's genetic predisposition to painlessness and her freedom from anxiety.  I loved hearing this.  We are all Genesis-predisposed to this God-given peace.  And it comes with this scientific assurance:

"And God saw everything
that he had made
and behold,
it was very good.

Thus the heavens and the earth
were finished."

Finished! There is no more to our story.

Because this painless sense of being has happened for one of us -- it is precedence for all of us. I'm resting my case upon it. God created us filled with peace - not pain. Peace is feeling the presence of God's love. This peace must be experienced - impartially and universally. There is no personal mutation. We all have the right to a pain-free, anxiety-free existence.

John gives us the perfect benediction on this promise in the last chapter of Revelation -- which is the last book in the Bible. Here he assures us:

"And God shall wipe away
all tears from their eyes;
and there shall be no more death,
neither sorrow, nor crying,
neither shall there be any more pain:

for the former things are passed away.

And he that sat upon the throne said,
Behold, I make all things new.

And he said unto me, Write:
for these words are true and faithful.

And he said unto me, It is done.
I am Alpha and Omega, 
the beginning and the end.

I will give unto him that is athirst
of the fountain of the water of life freely."

It is done. The gift of grace. Not something earned. Not a reward for our good works - but the impartial, impersonal, universal law of Love.

I love the practice of this Law.  Impossible things are happening every day.

offered with Love,

Kate

"Your love defends me..."

"Your love
defends me..."

A friend's recent inspiration, along with Matt Maher's beautiful song,  "Your Love Defends Me,"  brought to mind an earlier post from 2008 titled,"Our Meek and Bold Defender..." I'm reposting the substance of it here as a reminder of Who it is that does the defending of our spiritual rights in the court of Spirit. I hope you will find it helpful:

I had always wanted to be an attorney. A civil liberties attorney to be specific. I wanted to argue cases in defense of human rights and social justice.  I wanted to stand with those who were facing intimidation and persecution -- before a judge, and a jury of their peers. I wanted to be Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Don't get me wrong, teaching school, book and media publishing, practicing spiritual healing, and volunteering in my community, were all wonderful chapters in my life story, but someday - sigh.  Yes, someday I would graduate from law school, take the bar exam, and hang my shingle. I couldn't imagine anything more fulfilling than defending the innocent, and defeating injustice.

Of course, there was no question -- I would continue practicing spiritual healing part-time -- weekends and evenings. Hadn't I always held more than one job?   This chapter would be no different.

A few decades ago, everything seemed poised for finally realizing this dream. I was between secondary careers. I thought I had it all figured out.  I would shift my practice of spiritual healing to a more part-time schedule.  A schedule that would blend with the demands of law school.

Having passed the LSATs, I found a law school within a reasonable commute of our home.  I filled out the application, and was accepted.  All I needed to do was send in the enrollment deposit - which would hold my place while I sought financial aid, loans, scholarships, grants, etc.  I was ready to do whatever it took. But that's right where God jumped in and stopped me in my tracks.

It was a clear, crisp winter day. I had spent the morning studying Scripture, praying for clear direction, and listening for inspiration. It seemed as if the way was clear for taking the next step. I pulled my checkbook from the desk drawer, wrote the modest deposit check to the University for what - at the time - seemed to be so much more than we could afford.  I popped it in the pre-addressed envelope, and pulled on my jacket before heading down the stairs.  I almost out the door and on my way to the post office. It was just a baby step, but I was ready to take it.

As I headed down the long flight of stairs - from our loft to the street level entrance of our building - an inner voice suggested, "Why don't you look up the word "Comforter" in Strong's Bible Concordance before you leave?"

In my Bible study that morning there had been a citation that included a reference to the promised "Comforter." As I'd read it, it had occured to me that I had never really gotten a solid sense of the word's meaning in the original language - as it related to the context of Jesus' message.

At the time, I had been too busy thinking about law school, and whether we could afford for me to write that deposit check. Much too busy in my listening for direction, to stop and grab the concordance off the shelf. I'd do it later. And here it was, later. But now I needed to get to the post office, or I might never - again - have the confidence to even begin thinking that I deserved to live out this dream.

As I continued down the stairs, and placed my hand on the doorknob, it was as if someone had wired that doorknob with an electrical current. As I grabbed it, the voice came again. And this time, it was so forceful that it seemed almost audible, "Go look up the word Comforter!" Well, I may be headstrong, but I am not disobedient.

I sprinted up the stairs.  Now in a hurry to do what I was being strongly urged to do -- since I still needed to get to the post office before the end of the day so that the deposit would reach the University before the deadline. So, I pulled the heavy volume off the shelf, quickly finding the related Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic definitions of the word "Comforter."

As my eyes fell on the last definition, I almost gasped. It read, "counsel for the defense". I sat back, heavily, in my chair, and folded my hands in my lap. A stillness descended over my shoulders like a soft mantle of clarity and peace.

"This is the kind of Law I really want to practice," I thought. "This is the Law I believe in and love. I can work in this Law office forever."

I could see that God, divine Love was the only Law. And that the Christ was the Comforter, -- the "counsel for the defense." I could be working for this law office from that day forward. From then on, my spiritual practice was no longer modeled after a healthcare provider/clinic, but a law firm -- no longer therapeutic, but constitutional.

It was easy to set aside my dream-practice with the American Civil Liberties Union. For me, this was the ultimate practice of defending human rights and advocating for Truth. This would be like clerking for the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. And yes, I knew there would be moments when I would be the receptionist, then the stenographer, the bookkeeper, the public relations liaison, the office janitor, the law clerk - with her head buried in the law library. But I also knew that the Christ would always be the head of the firm -- the one and only Chief Counsel.

As I looked at the books lying open on my desk that day -- the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy -- I realized that I had a complete law library sitting right in front of me. The Bible gave me a complete and comprehensive resume of precedent setting cases to cite in the court of Spirit. And Science and Health told me how to write a brief -- a treatment, in defense of man's inalienable spiritual right to freedom from sin, sickness and death.

Years earlier, I had taken two weeks of class-instruction with an experienced and wise "law professor," a teacher of Christian Science. This "law school," had fully prepared me for hanging my shingle. I would work for the one, and only, original Public Defender.

I never sent that check to the University. And I have never regretted it. I committed my life to an unwavering career in spiritual law, from that day forward.

In the ensuing decades, I have enjoyed a rich and satisfying career in this practice of spiritual Law. Each client who has crossed the threshold of this office has had the benefit of being lovingly cared for by our Chief Counsel - divine Truth and Love. As the receptionist I hope that I have received each client warmly and with grace. As His paralegal, I have taken careful notes that I could go over with Him, in prayerful consultation within the sanctuary of His chambers. As His law clerk, I have never found the Bible wanting, as I searched for a precendent-setting cases to cite, when defending our client's divine rights in the courtroom of Spirit. As His billing clerk -- well, I am still learning much -- as this is the job that I have struggled with most.

I love this office. I have a great boss who cares for His clients' spiritual liberties with a Father-like devotion to justice, and a Mother-like perseverence in defense of Her children's divine rights. I serve a Chief Justice who never leaves anyone languishing in prison because of an unjust sentence. And even when a harsh sentence might seems reasonable, He lovingly reminds us all that justice is always "the handmaid of mercy."

So, it's back to work.

offered with Love,

Kate