Movement comes effortlessly and naturally at times – to some; while it requires a constant conscious effort, at times for others. Moving can be pleasant, or it can be a real drag depending on our expectation of good.

Have you ever considered how change, inertia, and fear of the unknown are mental barriers we need to overcome in order to move forward?   Putting off the old and putting on the new often involves leaving behind the familiar and comfortable.  Our harmony is neither bound to, nor governed by our history.  It makes no difference to the light illuminating a darkened room how long or how dark the room has been in the past. The history of any error is as real and permanent as a shadow…which is nothing more than the temporary obstruction of light; enlightenment and truth. We merely need to remove the obstruction.  Our task doesn’t involve a lot of “business” or searching, rather a letting go of our preconceived plans and ridding ourselves of all the mental barriers we’ve erected to prevent the revealing of Love’s infinite expression.

Asking for guidance is always a good place to start.  “Dear God, where would You have me go, what would You have me do, how can I make this day a gift to You?”  Then comes the important part of prayer: listening, listening, listening for that still small voice.  This is God’s greatest gift to us: our ability to pray, listen and reach Him in total communication. It’s like our ladder to heaven.

I love the logical progression in Mary Baker Eddy’s poem, “Feed My Sheep” —   “Show me” followed by  “Listen” followed by  “Follow” concluding with “Rejoice” or Thanksgiving.

Shepherd, show me how to go
O’er the hillside steep,
How to gather, how to sow, –
How to feed Thy sheep;
I will listen for Thy voice,
Lest my footsteps stray;
I will follow and rejoice
All the rugged way

Prayer doesn’t need to inform the Infinite of what we think He needs to know or do but rather it’s letting go and humbly stepping aside as God does all the adjusting.  After all, God is the master of details.  Prayer is ongoing, unlimited.  When we pray for things: wealth, status, possessions et cetera, we are on some level attempting to establish goals that would substitute themselves for God and always involve the past and illusions.

What are the spiritual dynamics of moving if “we live and move and have our being” [in Him]? Acts 17:28. Our movement is never dependent on others or external circumstances over which we have no control.  Our right place comes under God’s loving care in which we live and move and have our being.  We speak of our “right” place, (as if we could be in a “wrong” place).  Sometimes change is just what we need to promote growth, get us out of our ruts, expand and grow.

The science of happiness is available to each of us at all times wherever we are, mentally, physically or spiritually.  December 25th isn’t any more special than July 4th.  Happiness isn’t localized or seasonal.  To look for happiness in a person, place or thing is like trying to find Mozart inside a radio. A radio may serve as a conduit- giving form to things we cannot see, feel, smell, or hear.  Unseen radio waves are not audible sound just as people are not the essence of happiness.  They simply present ideas in a form we can utilize and appreciate at that moment. Our unconditional happiness is based only on our atonement with God and his unfailing love and care.

Mary Baker Eddy writes: “Metaphysics resolves things into thoughts, and exchanges the objects of sense for the ideas of Soul.” Science & Health 269:14.  Do we think of a car as a problematic, gas-guzzling air polluter, or as a form of transportation?  Do we think of a house, or a home:  (H.O.M.E. = Harmony Of Mind Expressed)?  “Home is the dearest spot on earth, and it should be the centre, though not the boundary, of the affections.” Science & Health 58:21.   Is a job a “9 to 5” ordeal or an expression of supply?  Is food seen as a substitute for love, or as nourishment?  Are your taxes a burden or an expression of gratitude?  Is your checking account seen as a balancing act or a place where inexhaustible Principal reigns and operates unspent?

With the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years just around the corner, let us move forward with the movements that are God-inspired, God-ordained, and God-maintained. We can do this with poise and grace, trusting God to guide us in the way we should go.  It does not have to be difficult as we have the impetus of Spirit to move us forward.  You can rest assured that every right idea, carries with it, everything necessary to complete that right idea because God takes us all the way….not half way, but all the way.  Let’s move forward, upward and onward toward a new year, full of promise, goodness, love, peace, health, harmony and growth.

Have a blessed holiday season,
Tom Taffelwithw