"and may Thy Word..."

"they said
i would never make it;
but I was built
to break the mold.

the only dream
that I was chasing
was my own..."
- Alicia Keyes

My dear friend, Carol, posted Alicia Keyes' profoundly beautiful song,"Underdog," in celebration of the Supreme Court of the United States' landmark decision to uphold DACA today. It brought me to tears.

This post isn't about that decision per se. Its merits or political implications. I will not add to the opinions or rhetoric that will follow. I believe that the majority opinion by Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Sotomayor are worthy of their offices and stand on their own.

This post is simply a humble celebration of our common humanity. It is to affirm for myself, once again, that Love overrides even the most tightly held political and religious codes and creeds, when those certainties face the law of Love.

Here is the prayer - written by Mary Baker Eddy - that has held me in its steady assurance during the days leading up to this Supreme Court decision -- as well and through months of waiting for last week's ruling on workplace protections for LGBTQIA+ employees under the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

It is found in the governing document of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, The Manual of The Mother Church, which outlines the discipline of its members:

"Thy kingdom come, let the reign
of divine Truth, Life, and Love,
be established in me
and rule out of me all sin;
and may Thy Word enrich the affections
of all mankind and govern them."

This "Daily Prayer," as it is titled in the Manual By-Law -- that bears both its name and its purpose -- sustains my hope and undergirds my confidence in our common humanity. There are no underdogs. We are all worthy. And we are all governed by "Thy Word." Not the words of political leaders, pundits, or the opinions of others, - but the Word of Love operating in each human heart.

I will leave this here.

with Love,


Kate

"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

"counselor, comforter, keeper...."

"counselor,
comforter, keeper;
Spirit we long to embrace.

You offer hope
when our hearts have
hopeless lost their way..."

Yes, this is the same song from the previous post. But sometimes a song begs to be heard, until every word has blessed the listener. Selah's "Wonderful, Merciful Savior"  is one of those songs for me.

I have written about this song's lessons of redemption and mercy before. But tonight, it's all about "counselor." As someone who loves camp and couldn't be more grateful for the counselors that have nurtured my daughters over the years - I've always thought of a camp counselor when I've heard Christ referred to as "counselor."  And over the years, I thought I'd fully plumbed that relationship.

But listening to its message again tonight, I was touched by the song's call to revisit its  Scriptural inspiration -- Isaiah 9:6:

"For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given:
and the government
shall be upon his shoulder:
and his name shall be called
Wonderful, Counsellor,
The mighty God,
The everlasting Father,
The Prince of Peace."

But this time it wasn't a camp counselor that came to mind, but the defense counsel in a court of law.

I've written before about my love for law, my desire to enter the practice of law as a human rights attorney, and the moment I discovered that the word "comforter," -- as it appears in Scripture -- is translated from the original Aramaic as:

"counsel for the defense"

It was a pivotal moment in my life. One that clarified the course of my life's purpose -- forever. In that moment, I realized that as a Christian Science practitioner, I was already in the practice of law.

I had already been to law school -- through Christian Science class instruction.  I had a copy of Science and Health withKey to the Scriptures -- which continued to teach me everything I needed to know about the practice of spiritual law.  I had the Bible -- filled with every precedent-setting case I would ever need.  Yes, I was already engaged in defending the spiritual rights of humanity in my work serving the chief Counsel -- Christ.

I was not a partner in the firm -- partnership was never going to be an option.  There was only one "Counselor." At any given moment, I was the receptionist, the law librarian, the paralegal, the billing clerk in this sacred office. But the Christ -- operating in the hearts and minds of each client -- was the only "Counsel for the defense."

Since that day, almost thirty years ago, I have arrived at work each day with a clear sense that I serve in a law office. I have not modeled its operation after a clinical practice, but a law practice. This clear sense of what is practiced here has never failed to provide the structure and discipline for an office that is engaged in defending innocence, rather than fixing brokenness. Here, the Christ rests each case on cited Scriptural precedence.

Yet, even after thirty years of serving in this law office, I had not seen the reference to "counselor," -- in the passage from Isaiah -- as scriptural validation. The prophet's vision for Christ's promise, was not one of reparation, but of spiritual exoneration -- defending innocence and freedom -- for all.

The real comfort of the Comforter, is found in its coincidence with the law-based activity of the "Counselor." Isaiah prophetically brings the operation of the Comforter into partnership with the office of the Counselor.

We each face times when we are falsely accused of being mortal -- of being born into heredity, predisposed to poverty through socio-economic "beginnings," forever defined by our mistakes and choices. But Christ's love frees us from bondage. Stands with us in the court of Spirit, and defends our pre-existent, God-established, invariable perfection and purity. Christ lifts our hearts to hear the God-proclaimed verdict, "You are innocent. You are free."

Serving in this office is a joy. Opening the door each day, researching precedence, answering calls and taking messages, listening for guidance, and helping to prepare briefs [or treatments] for court - it is my greatest joy. Each client's innocence is constitutionally guaranteed under the higher law of Love. And the Christ never loses a case.


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

 

"to know the Truth..."

"You are the one that we praise,
You are the one we adore,
You give the healing and grace,
our hearts always hunger for..."

Selah's recording of "Wonderful, Merciful Savior" was just the simple message my heart was hungering for today.

I have been thinking about two Scriptural messages this afternoon:

"Ye shall know the Truth,
and the Truth shall make you free."

and:

"Be still and know,
that I am God."

These are simple messages. And this is a simple post. I have spent the last few years quietly aware of the difference between thinking and knowing. For me, thinking happens in the head, while knowing is a presence in the heart. Thinking is the human mind doing what it love best -- reasoning, assessing, processing. While knowing is the silencing of the human mind and giving space to the radiance of divine Truth flowing from the kingdom of God -- within.

I have become keenly aware of how often the human mind wants to justify itself by thinking about God. But Consciousness is not waiting for the engagement of the human mind. Consciousness -- the ever-presence of the divine Mind - as impartial and universal Love -- is not contingent upon an engaged human thinker -- any more than the law of gravity is contingent upon our thinking about it's operation, in order for us to be held to the earth.

Mahatma Gandhi wrote:

"Whether mankind will every consciously
follow the law of Love, I do not know.
But he law will work, just as
the law of gravitation will work,
whether we accept it our not."

The egoic human mind loves to think that it is a vital partner in the operation of divine law. It needs to feel that its cooperation is necessary for God to be God. But whether we are thinking about God, or just letting God be All-in-all to us, it doesn't change this ever-operative law of Love.

I read, I pray, I study, I worship -- because I love God. Not because God needs my consent in order to be God to me. I love reading about His nature, listening for His voice, hungering for ways to celebrate my love for Him. Loving Him is what I know in the very deepest part of me. It is not something I have to think about. I just know it. And what I know, frees me from what I think.  


offered with Love,

Kate

"Everywhere..."

"I need you everywhere,
and as long as you're beside me
I need never care
For to love you is to
have you everywhere..."
-     John Lennon

I know that the original lyrics to Lennon's "Here, and There, and Everywhere," were written for a girl...but, that's just not the way I hear it these days.   Please forgive the liberty I have taken here....again.

It all started last fall, when I was writing a post about the omnipresences of Spirit, sharing a healing I'd experienced on the heels of realizing that any suggestion of something -- good or bad -- being exclusive to one location, person, body part, activity, etc....and not to another...is a lie.  A lie.  The opposite of the truth.  Not even a little bit true.  Not containing even one tiny molecule of truth.  No matter how good it may look, or how bad it may feel, it is a lie.  Period. 

Mary Baker Eddy promises in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures that:

"Love (God) is impartial and universal
in its adaptation and bestowals."

In the study and practice of Christian Science, the word "Love," when capitalized, is another name for God...along with Principle, Mind, Soul, Spirit, Life, and Truth.  These terms, or names, are synonymous - meaning that they are interchangeable...that the presence of one, directly implies the presence of the others. So, for example, if Love, as Eddy promises, is impartial and universal, so is Principle (order), Soul (beauty), Life (vitality), Mind (intelligence),  Spirit (substance), Truth (health).

I have come to see that this law of universal impartiality is the truth about God's relationship to each of us...individually and collectively.  It is a law that is reliable and foundational to our trust in Him as our Father...a Father who has no favorites. He never plays one child against another in His universal family.  And this truth holds us in a closer, gentler bond of sweet union and affection ...it embraces us in the gospel (the good news) of His generous, impartial Love.  The children in this family never need to compete for their divine Parent's affection, attention, resources, or time.  What a wonderful place to grow up!

I wonder sometimes, though, if we really live out from the liberty that this truth affords.  We talk about Spirit, God, being All-in-all.  And our prayers sing of a God who is omni-present...both present - as in everywhere, and present - as in always,  "now," in this moment.  But do we really trust these promises? Do we rest our hopes, our expectations,  and our freedom from the fear of "well, that's great for him/her...but not for me," upon them?

The other day I was listening to NPR (National Public Radio) on my drive across Kansas.  Reports of a stalled financial recovery and the ongoing collapse of the housing market, were followed by stories of congressional resistance to extended unemployment benefits, corporate corruption that continues to result in exorbitantly inflated bonuses for CEOs, and then, a heart-rending account of a young father who'd been the responsible provider for his family, until his middle management job had been cut and the loss of income was forcing them out of their home. Here was a man who desperately wants to work, but can't find a job...any job. 

My heart was sick, and soon my tummy was feeling sick, too.  I could easily see the cause-and-effect connection that wanted to present itself: "See Kate, you are completely upset by the ample evidence that God's love for humanity is partial and exclusive...resulting in growing a socio-economic caste system of haves and have-nots, therefore you are experiencing this unsettledness as an upset stomach."  But I knew that this kind of reasoning would get me nowhere. I needed to start with the truth of being, not lies, if I was going to get anywhere in addressing this turmoil.

I turned off the radio.  And as I began to pray for peace in my heart...and my tummy...I was reminded of the healing I'd experienced last fall, and the truth of God's universal omnipresence I'd come to trust, return to, and rely on, pretty consistently since then.  I reminded myself that if something...good, or bad...seems localized, it is a sure sign that it is a lie.   Truth, being synonymous with Spirit, cannot be contained, personalized, partial,  portioned, isolated, or exclusively experienced...by a segment of society, or a body part.

I prayed out from God's impartiality.  I claimed that the only things that were, or ever could be experienced as true and real, were those things that can't be localized.  Things like joy and peace...have you ever tried to feel peace only in your ear or your elbow, affection only in your wrist, or hope in your little toe.  But, even though my tummy was soon feeling well again, I couldn't seem to let the sense of sorrow go.  I found myself wrestling even more vigorously with the evidence of socio-economic inequity all around me.   I knew it wasn't going to dissolve without clear spiritual reasoning, so I persisted, continuing to go back to two of my base spiritual truths... over and over again:

"The starting point of divine Science is
that God, Spirit, is All-in-all,
and there is no other might, nor Mind."

and that:

"Love is impartial and universal
in its adaptation and bestowals."

As I prayed for clearer insights and spiritual guidance, I saw that although I loved these statements from Science and Health,  somehow they weren't quite enough.  I wanted scriptural bedrock...the inspired word of the Bible as a place to build my mental house on. This was what I knew I was reaching for. 

As a spiritual law student, the Bible is my constitution...it constitutes the foundation on which I build, and rest, my case in defense of our God-given liberty as spiritual thinkers.  It is my divine law library where I can often be found, at all hours...day and night...seeking precedence for placing unshakeable trust on the timeless, irrefutable laws of Spirit.

Persisting in prayer throughout the day, God led me quietly, and quite forcibly, to the exact Biblical truth that would ground my faith, and steel my trust.

It's probably important to explain, here, that as a student of Christian Science, I accept the premise that the first Chapter of Genesis (through the third verse in Chapter 2) is the spiritual record of Creation.  And the fourth verse of Chapter 2 through Chapter 5, as allegorical examples of how the opposite of truth...or the opposition to truth...would present itself to our thinking, and thereby color our experiences.

And in the midst of my Scriptural study I found this:

"We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, 'Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die."

YES!  Because this statement appears in the second chapter of Genesis, the record of creation that we believe is a lie...we get to thumb our nose at anything that mocks divine Love, anything that parades itself in front of humanity as injustice, inviting us to limit our hopes and defile our view of our Father and His love for us.   This false story refers to, and tries to get us to accept the false premise of a partial God, with a "special" tree.  It asserts that good and/or evil could be localized in one exclusive, and isolated, tree.  A lie.  And the fact that this story was placed in this "lying" second chapter of Genesis gives us the Biblical basis, the scriptural authority, for dismissing it as a fallacious tale...as an inversely instructive fable.  And by inversion, by stating what the lie, the opposite of the truth, looks and sounds like, it serves to point us towards the truth, God's impartial love...constitutional law for every citizen of the kingdom of heaven.  It gives each of us authority for rejecting this suggestion of divine selectivity, out of hand.

If something tries to say that goodness is here, and not there; that health is in one body part, but not throughout the entire system; if it tries to convince you that some have, and some don't, or that one person/group deserves good..justice, mercy, joy, peace, prosperity, wellness...and another doesn't, it is a bold-faced lie.  If you buy it in any form, it will come sneaking in through the back door of your experience, and bite you in the proverbial donkey.

Dismiss this lie of partiality with as much conviction as you would reject an imposed penalty for breaking an inhumane and unconstitutional law...therefore, a law that was never really a law to begin with...a law that never has, never is, and never will be... a law!  Dismiss it as confidently as if your neighbor came up to you one day and said that you were going to prison because you smiled on a Tuesday.  Well, you know, with absolute certainty, that there is no law that prevents you from smiling on Tuesday...so smile, laugh, kick up your heels, dance in the streets...you are free.  You are always free...impartially, universally, absolutely, spiritually, Biblically, joyfully free.

with Love, 
Kate
Kate Robertson, CS

[photo credit: Nathaniel Wilder 2010]

"our meek and bold Defender..."

"for God is all, and Christ the way;
our meek and bold Defender,
has cleft the night and lo, the day
bursts forth in might splendor..."
L.C.Nourse

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.

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.

Everything seemed poised for finally entertaining this dream a few decades ago. I was between secondary careers. I thought I finally 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. 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 in His chambers. As His law clerk, I have never found the Bible wanting, as I searched for a precendent-setting cases to cite to 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.


with Love,


Kate Robertson, CS - Esq.
Kate