Perhaps you are familiar with this poem by Mary Baker Eddy, but in actual fact you have never heard it before, because your heart and soul have never been where they are now, as per God's law of progress.

View this superb explanation of "Seek ye first the kingdom of God" by Jordan Peterson, an academic who here has risen above the limits of academia!

Then imbibe this gem attributed to Mary Baker Eddy:

"Be this the stars of our night, that God is Love, that every step of goodness is a departure from material sense and self, and the entrance into man's spiritual selfhood." (ESSAYS AND OTHER FOOTPRINTS, aka The Red Book)

When Nicodemus asked what was his secret, Jesus answered:

"Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again." (John 3)

It might be news to many, but being good is not the goal of the Christian. In fact Jesus lay that one to rest when he rebuked the one who addressed him as Good Master. “Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God:” (Matt. 19:16)

According to our audio selection today, you can speak beautifully, be able to prophesy about the future, have a great understanding of metaphysics, etc., faith to move mountains!!, generous with your money, even sacrifice your body - but without charity, it is worth zippo!!

I Corinthians 13

A certain prominent politician referred to a large segment of the population as “the deplorables.” Why? Because they did not get it. They did not grasp the politician’s highly intelligent view of the world and what was needed to make it a better place. “Snowflakes” is a term bandied about to describe those young people who care intensely about the underdogs in society but are all wrong on what to do about it.

It is a great step forward when we learn to "hear" the accuser, and recognize it for what it is, and neutralize it, defang it, destroy it.

The accuser can be quite subtle, but when it is found out, it is the great red dragon, which accuses day and night, as described in Revelation. Today, people take prescription drugs to assuage the anxiety, and this makes the red dragon very happy because the victim is in its grasp, self-absorbed.

Praise Him, praise Him. Bring something to praise Him with, gratitude that will bless the hearers.

If someone loves to love, does that mean they believe in God? Of course we are not talking about the sham of personal affection which fluctuates depending upon circumstance - but about the universal love which loves no matter who is there, no matter what.

When Jesus said that the first commandment was to love God above all, he then made the astounding declaration that the second commandment, to love your neighbor as yourself, was like unto the first - in other words loving your neighbor as yourself equates to loving God!! To make it abundantly clear, Jesus followed with the parable of the Good Samaritan: a Levite and a priest, both professers of loving God, avoided a beaten up and robbed man alongside the road, while the Samaritan, of a despised class of “non-believers”, stopped to help the victim, took him to an inn, paid for his stay as long as he needed it. The Samaritan did not know the victim from Adam, yet risked his own well-being to help him.

The takeaway is that the Good Samaritan demonstrated his love of God, while the Levite and priest, though esteemed religionists, demonstrated that they did not love God at all. Profession counts for nothing before the Judgement Seat of Love.  

This morning I opened to this:

"The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath." (Mark)

After scanning through this article this morning: How Syria Came to This(warning! a heavy trip), after considering the virtual civil war in the US, etc., what can we do about it?! More often than not governments exacerbate the problem, and religions? forget about it!

Is there a difference between "God loves us" and "God is love?"

Acknowledging that God loves us can be comforting, strengthening, but if it leaves the door open to perhaps He does not love someone else, then it is personal. It is more difficult to conceive this kind of love covering each and every one. Nonetheless, there is a place where the idea of God loving me meets the need of the moment.

From the standpoint of God, the all-knowing, infinite, we are confronted with the following: God knows evil and therefore predestinates it, OR "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity:" (Habakkuk)

God is a jealous God, so the Bible says, absolutely intolerant of other gods. It also states that God is love. Contradiction? Or perfect sense?...my ramblings:

Wherever there are principles or fundamental laws, in math, music, etc., you could say there is intolerance to deviation from these principles, could you not? A little mistake here, a little mistake there just does not cut it. Even though you cannot see these principles, it is understood that they exist, and they are unyielding.

I Corinthians 13 revisited.

Though I am a superb lecturer leaving my audience uplifted and inspired,
Though I have a profound understanding of metaphysics and the Bible, etc.,
Though I have a tremendous healing record,
Though I am incredibly generous with my wealth helping those in need,
Though I am willing to sacrifice my body in service to others,

... and have not love, it is all worthless. WHAT???? I thought all this WAS love. What is going on here?

Would you consider a mistake in math an option? Of course not! So with love. Should I love, or should I not? Dumb question. Here are some of the dumb excuses:

1. Can't love unless I am feeling it.
2. I have loved so-and-so many times, but no reciprocation - so forget it!
3. I am not going to love an obnoxious person.
4. I need love far more than he does.

Supply and demand are widely accepted as economic drivers, but not so much in our daily living. Maybe they should be.

Divine Love is universal. God does not know Jew, Christian, Muslim, etc.

Today someone was telling me that she had to overcome certain negative personality traits. It sounded like a rather heavy trip - sort of like trying to be redeemed from original sin!

I suggested she not talk about this overcoming thing, all the while embracing the traits - but rather quietly declare that, since God never made them nor gave them to her, they had no real legitimacy, because she belongs to God. 

We have just cut over to our refurbished website. Glad to be able to share these snapshots. The wonder of the perpetual originality and beauty of creation leads us to the Psalmist’s: “Be still, and know that I am God.”