Questions & Answers
John the Baptist who baptized Jesus and heard the voice from heaven, imprisoned in a moment of uncertainty, sends his disciples to ask, Are you the Christ, the one we’ve been waiting for? Silent, the Master does his work heals the tormented the suffering the unclean. Then the answer comes: Go and show John again those things which you hear and see: the blind receive their sight the lame walk the lepers are cleansed the deaf hear the dead are raised up and the meek in spirit have the gospel preached to them— and blessed are they who are not offended in me.
My Father-Mother speaks: “You are Mine. ” Perfectly conceived in Mind, Meticulously drawn by the hand of Love, Inscribed on the Spirit-paper of purity, And embossed by Soul.
You, Jesus, were speaking to Jairus, healing his daughter, knowing all along that what you said and did would also be for me and mine and all. And still today, your divine with-us presence comes to put fear and all doubt out.
Daniel’s challenge: a den of lions, the pride of power, the untamed manes of animal prowess. Today I seem to face them, too: Injustice, illness, anger, sorrow— each one lurking near; each one a fatal error.
what a thing it is to discover that you were never ever in a day responsible for the revolutions or distributions of the world o sweet witness hush be still behold consider the steady hands at the helm divine Love “kindling the stars, rolling the worlds” 1 the whole world (and you) minutiae to magnitude in Love’s everlasting loving arms —Joni Overton-Jung 1 Mary Baker Eddy, Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, p. 332.
I’m searching for my Promised Land Where milk and honey flow Where I with God walk hand in hand And children safely grow I long to end my slavery To weakness, want, and sin To see the part in my Red Sea And freedom from within On bended knee I make my vow And gratefully, humbly weep Although I don’t know when or how . .
It was a stable, not a mansion It was a star, not a parade of dignitaries It was quietude, not a party of notables It was animals, not the masses And yet, It was safety It was protection It was a divinely provided sanctuary It was exactitude It was divine placement It was Love’s gift to humanity It was the coming of the Christ It was the magnitude of divinity recognized It inspires our story, also, if we live in stable quietness, allowing the Christ-idea to animate our thinking and actions And that is bringing the Christmas story daily in consciousness It is not allowing the noise in the inn, the human story of mortality, to dominate our thought It is Christmas to be seen and felt It is seeing our divine oneness dawning It is staying out of the inn and in the stable —Melissa Baker.
How near is God to me? So near there is no near Only Her presence, eternally here. How deep is God’s knowledge of me? So deep there is no deep Only Her infinite knowing, complete.
Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, “the form of the fourth,” 1 and me, and you .
Sometimes I feel like an acorn scattered by a great oak washed down hillside and ravine eluding raven, rodent, rot eventually nestling safely in God’s dear bosom Long I lay dormant, wordlessly nourished by His wisdom watered by His truth warmed by His love patiently, expectantly awaiting His Word Then one day a great stirring a light from within, a newness as I shyly peek through the soil as my tender stem and branches reach meekly skyward and my tiny leaves unfurl Each morning I greet with hope and purpose lodging bird and bee breasting breeze and torrent enduring drought, beetle, blaze unfolding more of the wisdom, Love, and grandeur from which I’m fashioned As my true selfhood dawns trunk and limbs grow strong roots firm and deep canopy broad and majestic no longer looking up from earth but out from on high silently thankful for my humble station and for God’s unwavering, tender care for all His creation. —Chris Jones.