Everyday Spirituality

Pain comes in many forms. It can be physical or mental. Either way, most of us don’t like pain and are thankful when it can be reduced at any level.

I am a freelance writer and always am on the look-out for a story. Yesterday, I was driving to a school to pick up a story about children gardening. I passed a row of unusual looking trees, and a man walking alongside the road. His clothes were dirty and he looked a bit disheveled, but I turned my car around and drove back to talk with him.

I introduced myself as a newspaper writer and wondered if he knew anything about the trees planted alongside the road. He spoke with a heavy Italian accent, and affirmed, he was the one who planted them. Then he asked if I could drive him home because his foot was hurting really badly.

He was out on his 4-wheeler and the motorcycle got stuck. Walking home was torment because he recently had broken his foot. He had a sense of humor as he stuffed himself into my little car, but was so thankful for the ride, that he apologized for being so big.

I drove him to his house, on the hill. We made a deal that I’d come back in one hour to talk with him.

His love of the land kept him outside working in the dirt, planting trees. After talking with him, I discovered he was a wealth of joy. I will write up his story of someone who decided to keep planting trees.

Yesterday day went on for me. I had to cover a Village meeting in the evening. These meetings are notorious for being inefficient and long. Another reporter and I sat together. Although, that reporter and I basically write for competitive local newspapers, no one would know it because we were there supporting and helping one another through the long evening.

In light of the pain in the world, I hold to my gratitude for anytime the pain is reduced.

If I had two wishes, I know what they would be
I’d wish for roots to cling to, and wings to set me free;
Roots for inner values, like rings within a tree,
And wings of independence to seek my destiny.

Roots to hold forever, to keep me safe and strong
To let me know you love me, when I’ve done something wrong;
To show me by example, and help me learn to choose
To take those actions every day to win instead of lose.

Just be there when I need you, to tell me it’s all right
To face my fear of falling when I test my wings in flight;
Don’t make my life too easy, it’s better if I try
And fail and get back up myself, so I can learn to fly.

If I had two wishes, and two were all I had
And they could just be granted by my mom and dad;
I wouldn’t wish for money or any store-bought things
The greatest gifts I’d ask for are simply roots and wings.

“A Child’s Bedtime Song” by Denis Waitley

key·stone  /ˈkēˌstōn/  A central stone at the summit of an arch, locking the whole together. The central principle or part of a policy, system, etc., on which all else depends.

A few young men, practicing their masonry, began constructing a rock arch here in town. The comment made was, “It’s really important to have a proper keystone.” The keystone set the sight. It was used as a starting point to work from.

“Building the arch was like putting a puzzle together, but we had a good keystone to start with, so the project is moving along nicely,” added the journey mason. Is this similar to forming our spiritual power and spirituality?

When practicing spiritual healing, the keystone must be truth, life, and love. Then our building will not be in vain but will be formed into a symmetrical life, albeit with our own beauty, individuality and character. It takes time, but time we have, to start with the divine and work from the divine.

We read in 21^st Century Science and Health, “The voice of God in behalf of the people is reverberating around the world, sounding the keynote of universal mental freedom. A fuller acknowledgement of the rights of man and woman as useful spiritual beings demands that the terrors of sin, sickness, and death be exterminated from the human mind.”

“Scientific metaphysical practice begins with Christ’s keynote of harmony, ‘Do not be afraid!’[1]”

The other night before bedtime, I was reading the Gospel Luke and trying to make a connection between increased faith and getting our work done. From Luke 17:

And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

“Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’

It occurred to me that the human psyche has a habit of thinking it has done enough. “Did my job, good to go,” kind of attitude. However, was Jesus pointing out that this can indirectly lead to a feeling of unworthiness?

Christ Jesus lived a faith that reflected a worthiness of God’s great goodness, ever blessing us with health, joy, and courage. I think I’ll aim to do more than what is “required” or “expected” by human beings, and with great faith work for my God-given goodness.