Good Morning Garden

Everyone on the spiritual path has found that it happens occasionally in the early years, and not often then, that he suddenly finds himself almost or quite unable to pray. Often it seems that he cannot get any sense of contact with God. This naturally depresses him and sometimes leads to greater fear and almost to despair.

Now, these severe reactions are not necessary, once you know that everyone goes through them.

This trouble is caused by overdoing. You have been praying too long or too hard, or you have been giving too much time to spiritual work exclusively, instead of having other interests in your life too. It is really a condition of staleness and psychological congestion. The medieval mystics called these times “seasons of dryness” and suffered severely because they believed them to be sinful.

The remedy is not to struggle, but to know that this dryness will surely pass, and your spiritual joy return. If you cannot pray, do not try, but think, “God is so good that I need not pray; he will take care of me anyway.” (Of course, this itself is a wonderful prayer.) On a long motor tour, it sometimes happens that you come upon a piece of rough, bad road. For hundreds of miles the going has been perfect, but now you are shaken and bumped badly, but you do not worry, because you know for certain that it will only last for a few miles. Indeed, there is probably a notice saying “Pavement ahead.”

…weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning (Psalms 30:5)
We all face times when our path is seems so rocky that we will surely fall. And sometimes we can face such great odds, that it seems like God has abandoned us. We can even be angry at God, or feel so alienated spiritually that we can’t go to him in prayer.

Expecting joy,
Z gardener

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If you pray for yourself in the right way every day, you will find that the minor things of life will gradually fall correctly into place of their own accord without any trouble on your part. Contrast this with the usual method of trying to get everything right by separately organizing a thousand petty details, and you will appreciate how wonderfully the new spiritual basis sets you free.

If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light (Matthew 6:22).

The eye symbolizes spiritual perception. Whatever you give your attention to, is the thing that governs your life. Attention is the key. Your free will lies in the directing of your attention. Whatever you steadfastly direct your attention to, will come into your life and dominate it. If you do not direct your attention consistently to anything in particular, and many people do not, then nothing in particular will come into your life except uncertainty and suspense.

If the Glory of God comes first with you, and to express His Will becomes the rule of your life, then your eye is single and your whole body, or embodiment, will be full of light.

Many of us bemoan the crises that come into our lives and then wander around lost; questioning why life is so unfair. These broken and unfortunate souls then sink blinded into the mire of self-pity and resignation.

Seeing single,
Z gardener

Author’s Note: Today we welcome the 100th member to the Good Morning Garden. He demonstrates his faith professionally in the realm of public policy, advocating for education and many other good causes. In his personal life, he has dedicated himself to his wife, his family and their cause in way that inspires and humbles all who know him. His tireless advocacy and efforts to preserve their life together, lifts up not only his family, but many others who face the same challenge. A challenge that together, they overcome each day in strength, hope and perseverance. This writer is blessed to call him friend and to witness the light shed by his single eye. And, this Garden is remarkably brighter for his presence here with us each day. Welcome to the Garden, Brother.

Z

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Matthew 6:16-23
16 “A)”Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they a]”[a]neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. B)”Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 17 But you, when you fast, C)”anoint your head and wash your face 18 so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your D)”Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
19 “E)”Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves F)”treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; 21 for G)”where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 “H)”The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is b]”[b]clear, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if I)”your eye is c]”[c]bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

Footnotes:
Matthew 6:16 Lit distort their faces, i.e. discolor their faces with makeup
Matthew 6:22 Or healthy; or sincere
Matthew 6:23 Or evil

If your consciousness is right, that is, if you have a good understanding of God as the loving Source of your boundless supply, you will always be able to demonstrate whatever money or goods you may require. You cannot want for anything when once you truly realize that in divine Mind demand and supply are one. And, on the contrary, until you do realize this, you never will be really safe from want. In the long run, no one can retain what does not belong to him by right of consciousness, nor be deprived of that which is truly his by the same supreme title.

If you are looking to outer, passing, mutable things for either happiness or security, you are not putting God first. If you are putting God first in your life, you will not find yourself laboring under undue anxiety about anything, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

To eliminate those things in our lives we do not want, and to secure those things we do want and need; first we must create a consciousness that is in accordance with God’s will. All outer things are but a reflection of inner things. So to change our world, we must first change our hearts, minds, spirits and thoughts. Then the words and deeds that flow from the inner will achieve the desired effect on the outer.

Seeking God’s treasure,
Z gardener

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Really there are only two feelings that a human being can have, namely love and fear. It is generally supposed that the kinds of feeling we may have are legion, but this is an illusion. All other feelings, so-called, will turn out upon analysis to be either love or fear.

What about anger? Well, anger is really but fear in disguise. In chemistry we occasionally find the same substance occurring under completely different appearances. For example, black lead is exactly the same substance chemically as a diamond, different as they look. They are said to be allotropic forms of carbon. In the same way, anger, hatred, jealousy, criticism, egotism, are but allotropic forms of fear.

Joy, interest, the feeling of success and accomplishment, the appreciation of art, are allotropic forms of love. The great difference between the two feelings is that love is always creative, and fear is always destructive. It is for us to decide which of these two feelings shall hold sway in our lives.

God is love; and he that dwelleth in God, and God in Him (1 John 4:16).

Whether it is love or fear we feel, the feeling itself is our choice. No one and no circumstance dictates how we feel. Of all the things in the world that we can not control, what we think and how we feel is totally under our control. Granted, there are circumstances in which is is extremely difficult not to give in to fear, and many in which it is equally difficult to feel love. Yet it is incontrovertibly true that we have a choice. It is equally true that without God’s help, strength and guidance, we will many times be unable to choose love when we want to fear.

Z gardener

Author’s note:We are blessed to be joined in the Good Morning Garden by a new group today. They are young men and women who put their faith into practice by doing good for others in Christian brother(and sister)hood. They are a credit to their faith, families and communities and will be for many decades to come. Welcome to the Garden brothers and sisters. May your presence here be a well-deserved blessing to you. It is to this author.

Z

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Jesus said, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God (Mark 10:25).

The simile used by Jesus was a graphic one for his listeners. In those days every important city was surrounded by a wall for defense. There would be a large gate in the wall and this would be closed at sunset and placed under an armed guard. There was usually, however, a low wicket gate known as the needle’s eye, set in the big door. When a laden camel arrived after sunset the only way it could get in was to be unloaded of all merchandise, whereupon it would squirm on its knees through the needle’s eye.

Unload your camel if you want to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. You do this, of course, not by getting rid of conditions in themselves, but by getting rid of your sense of dependency on them. Very often you will find yourself so glad to be without a lot of that merchandise that you will never put it back.

How many times have we said to ourselves, “well, yes I love God, but I am not going to _______”. Things that can be used to fill in that blank are well known to us all. Many of the most common are; forgive someone again, give up doing this or that, admit we are wrong, do the right yet difficult thing, etc.

Unpacking,
Z gardener

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We live in the Presence of God. The Bible says, In him we live, and move, and have our being (Acts 17:28). This limitless Power, which is Intelligence and Love/God, can be contacted at any time by turning to Him in thought, and allowing Him to fill our hearts. Whenever we do this He at once begins to influence our lives for peace and harmony and freedom.

A party of shipwrecked sailors were drifting in an open boat on the Atlantic Ocean. They had no water, and were suffering agonies from thirst. Another small boat came within hailing distance, and when the shipwrecked mariners cried out for water, the newcomers said, “let down your bucket.” This sounded like cruel mockery. But when the advice was repeated several times, one of the sailors dipped the bucket overboard, and drew up clean, fresh, sparkling water!

For several days they had been sailing through fresh water and did not know it. They were out of sight of land, but off the estuary of the Amazon, which carries fresh water many miles out to sea.

Closer is he than breathing; nearer than hands and feet. Tennyson

When we depend solely on our own abilities, powers and understanding; we limit ourselves to those things of which we are humanly capable of accomplishing. Yet, we are taught in the Bible that we are children of God and through God are capable of infinite accomplishment. In order to access the God within us, we must overcome the limited self and open ourselves to God’s power operating through us. To do this we must think on and realize God’s presence. When we let down our bucket into our soul for God’s help, we draw up and can use God’s power to accomplish that which we can not do alone.

Rising above,
Z gardener

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Many people would like to attend what they call an advanced class in metaphysics; but what could an advanced course include that would not be in the ordinary lessons?

The usual metaphysical classes teach that God is the only power, and that evil is insubstantial; that we form our own destiny by our thoughts and our beliefs; that conditions do not matter when we pray; that time and space and matter are human illusions; that there is a solution to every problem; that man is the child of God, and God is perfect good; that Jesus Christ is the one who taught the full truth about God, and actually demonstrated it.

Once the student has obtained a correct intellectual comprehension of these facts, and digested them”at least partially”, the only thing that remains for him is to develop his understanding by demonstrating them in practice.

So we see that the real advanced course is the one we give ourselves by demonstrating over the practical problems of everyday life.

Faith without works is dead (James 2:20)

While we all need to know as much as possible intellectually and subconsciously about spiritual matters, it is in the application of our faith that we grow spiritually. It is through acting on our faith that we mature and grow spiritually stronger. The child who is taught the principles of walking will never walk unless they hoist themselves up and take the first step. Even then, it is only through greater and more ambitious action that a toddler advances form the first step to walking, climbing, running and jumping.

Acting faith,
Z gardener

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When you fight a thing you antagonize it and it hits back. The harder you fight it the harder it hits. When you give your attention to anything, you are building that thing into your consciousness, for good or evil.

A story is told about William Penn. He had been accustomed from boyhood to carrying a sword because it was part of the dress of a gentleman at that period. One day it occurred to him that this was inconsistent with his Quakerism; but on the other hand he knew that he would feel extremely embarrassed without it. So he consulted George Fox, never doubting that his leader would say, “You must stop wearing it.” George Fox was silent for a few moments, and then said, “Carry thy sword until thou canst no longer carry it.” A year or so later Penn discontinued the practice quite easily.

When you are faced with some negative condition, withdraw your attention from it by building the opposite into your subconscious. Then the undesirable thing falls away like an overripe fruit.

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things (Philippians 4:8).

There is a great and simple truth in these words. If we fill our minds with all that is good, there will be no room left for that which is undesirable. Nonresistance does not mean quitting or giving in to a negative condition. It does mean that God’s way of solving that which is negative is the only true way to conquer it.

Thinking on love,
Z gardener
Author’s note: This will be the last message for this week. The author will be walking with God and the Boy Scouts in the wondrous creation God gave us. Have a great week.

Z

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Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:48).

Consider carefully what Jesus is saying. He is commanding us to be perfect, even as God Himself is perfect; and, as we know that Jesus will not command the impossible, he has here given his authority to the doctrine that it is possible for man to become divinely perfect. And more than this, he is putting it forward as a thing that will have to be actually done.

Now, if we really are the children of God, capable of eternal and flawless perfection, there can be no real power in evil, not even in sin, to keep us permanently in bondage. So now let us lose no further time before commencing our upward march. Let us now, at this very moment, if we have not already done so, rise up, like the prodigal son amid the husks of materiality and limitation, and cry, with all confidence in the teachings and promises of Jesus:

I will arise and go to my father (Luke 15:18).

This writer has said many times that we are incapable of living according to God’s will without divine intervention. Yet here, we are being told to be perfect. As impossible as this sounds, with God’s help, we can become perfect in love. This does not mean we will be mistake free. It does mean that we can overcome our mistakes and turn them into blessings if we think, speak and act with love. It means we can rise up and go to our Father through obedience and perseverance in love.

Perfect in love,
Z gardener

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Read Matthew 5:43-47.

But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 5:44-45).

Right reaction is the supreme art of life, and Jesus compressed the secret of that art into a sentence when he said: Resist not evil. A correct understanding of this commandment will regenerate your body, liberate your soul, and remake your life.

Love is God and is therefore absolutely all-powerful. Meeting hatred with love is the perfect method of self-defense in all circumstances. It renders you absolutely invulnerable to any kind of attack.

If you receive bad news, if you are unhappy in your work, or in your home, feel out mentally for the Presence of divine Spirit, all around you; affirm its actuality; and claim that God has dominion over all conditions, and you will soon be free.

And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God loves his brother also (1 John 4:21).

We have now gone from tough to nearly impossible. It is only with God’s help that we can love and bless those who hate, use or persecute us. God’s Holy Spirit and the power of God/Love are the only things that can fortify the human spirit enough to meet the standard set by Jesus’ example and his last commandment. However, with God’s help we can rise above our human spirit and return love for hate.

Z gardener

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