As part of a Bible study group, I recently looked more closely at Jesus’ parable of the kingdom of heaven being “like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away” (Matthew 13:47, 48).
This started me thinking about what I had been doing of late—dragging up old memories and sorting them: the good, spiritually based ones to keep, and the hurtful, mortal ones to let go. And studying this parable helped me understand better Mary Baker Eddy’s direction to “stand porter at the door of thought. Admitting only such conclusions as you wish realized in bodily results, you will control yourself harmoniously” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 392). Sorting my thinking so that the only thoughts I accept are ones that uplift, purify, and help others as well as myself, while I reject fear, anger, revenge, hate, jealousy, and other mortal thoughts as unworthy, frees up room for more good thoughts and helps me see the way ahead in my spiritual journey.
For instance, I had been harboring angry thoughts about a woman who had told my wife lies about me. This memory robbed me of my normal happy disposition. I needed to forgive not only this person for lying, but my wife for initially believing the lies. I held on to this anger for some time. But later, after considering more deeply the parable of the net, I dragged these memories to the surface again, and I was able to deny that they were true or could hold me down. Instead, I accepted God’s law of peace and harmony as actual, and shortly peace and harmony were reestablished in my daily experience and our home, and all anger over this memory was gone.
