Good Morning Garden

If somebody comes into the room at home, or into the office or shop, looking as if he meant to make trouble, just try switching your attention straight to the Divine, instead of squaring up aggressively to meet the difficulty or shrinking away to avoid it, according to your temperament. You will be amused and gratified to see the anger fade from the subject’s face (which will mean that it has faded from his heart too) and quite a different expression take its place.

I have myself seen several cases where men, and on two occasions, children, were actually fighting, and upon a spectator’s “turning the cheek” the strife ceased like magic. Animals respond even more easily to this treatment than do human beings. I have seen two instances where dogs were fighting savagely and all efforts to separate them had failed, when the realization of the Presence of God’s love in all His creatures restored peace. In one case it took several minutes’ work; in the other it was practically instantaneous.

Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21).

This is a tough one! It is a real challenge for one to realize the presence of God when someone is trying to start an argument with them. However, doing so has two major benefits. It stops the offense from escalating further into a confrontation and it usually eliminates the existing conflict. The natural human response is to fight or run. Neither response solves the problem or returns the environment to a positive state.

Heaping love,
Z gardener

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Read Matthew 5:38-42.

But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil. (Matthew 5:39).

Jesus is a revolutionary teacher. He turns the world upside down for those who accept his teaching. When once you have accepted the Jesus Christ message, all values change radically.

The old law was that whatever man did to man, he should himself be made to suffer by way of punishment. If he put out another man’s eye, his own was put out by the officers of justice; if he killed, he was killed.

The desire to “get even,” to get one’s own back, to level things up somehow or other, when we have been hurt or have suffered injustice, or witnessed things of which we did not approve, will remain with us until the time when we definitely take ourselves in hand and destroy it. “Revenge,” said Bacon, “is a kind of wild justice.”

Now Jesus reverses this and says that when someone injures you, you are to forgive him. No matter what the provocation may be, and no matter how many times it is repeated, you are to loose him and let him go, for thus only can you be freed yourself.

The best ways to compound the damage done by a hurt or an injustice is to hold a grudge, try to get even or strike back. As much as we may want to judge, exact revenge or “make things right”; the simple fact is that these actions will make things worse for the aggrieved.

Rising above resistance,
Z gardener

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Read Matthew 5:33-37.

But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, Nay; for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil (Matthew 5:33,37).

Swear not at all, is one of the cardinal points in the teaching of Jesus. It means, briefly, that you are not to mortgage your future conduct in advance; to seek to fix your conduct or your belief for tomorrow while it is yet today. Rather you are constantly to keep yourself an open channel for the pouring out of the Holy Spirit into manifestation through you.

Of course, Jesus does not mean that you are not to enter into ordinary business engagements. Nor does he mean that the ordinary oath administered in a court of law is inadmissible. These things are matters of legal convenience. The Sermon on the Mount is a treatise on the spiritual life, for the spiritual life controls all the rest.

This writer has often commented that words are more powerful than bullets. Here the scripture is reminding us not to use words that can trap us into a rigid, self-ascribed behavior instead of being open to God’s will. It is self-elevation and denies that change is the nature of the universe. Most of the time their is a strong element of pride and ego involved as well.

Obediently,
Z gardener

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And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell (Matthew 5:29-30).

The soul’s integrity is the one and only thing that matters. And so Jesus insists that positively no sacrifice can be too great to insure the integrity of one’s soul. Anything that stands in the way of that, must be given up.

Whatever is standing between us and our true contact with God; sin, an old grudge left unforgiven, stark greed for the things of this world, must go. Such things, however, are so obvious that at least the transgressor is aware of them; it is the subtle things like self-love, self-righteousness, and spiritual pride that are most difficult for the self to exercise.

There is nothing we can give up; no price we can pay that is greater that that which we receive by following God’s will. For when we overcome the “selfs” (self-love, self-righteousness, etc.); we open our spirits, consciousness and will to God’s Holy Spirit, Divine Will and Universal Consciousness. This opens the path for God to manifest His will through us and express God’s will into the physical world through us.

Z gardener

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Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart (Matthew 5:27-28).

In this unforgettable paragraph, Jesus stresses the master truth, so utterly fundamental, yet so unsuspected by the world at large, that what really matters is thought. People have always been accustomed to suppose that as long as their deeds conformed to the law, they have done all that can be reasonably expected of them, and that their thoughts and feelings are their own business. But the type of thought that we allow to become habitual will sooner or later find expression on the plane of action.

The logical consequence of this fact is very startling. It means that if you entertain covetous thoughts for your neighbor’s money, you are a thief, even though you may not yet have put your hand in the till. The adulterer at heart is corrupting his soul even though his impure thought is never expressed on the physical plane. Lusts, jealousy, vengeance, mentally entertained, carry the soul’s consent, and this soul-consent is the malice of sin.

Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life (Proverbs 4:23).

This is the core truth at the center of the philosophy and theology of the Good Morning Garden. The simple fact is that we become what we think about, and that our attitude and point of view shapes our reality . The only thing we can truly control in this world is what we think. When faced with this truth, we might ask, “how can I keep every thought pure”? The answer is that we can’t and we are not expected to have all good thoughts. However, with God’s help we can limit bad thoughts and overcome the ones that do get in.

Keeping the heart with diligence,
Z gardener

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There Is …
By Emmet Fox

There is
no difficulty that enough love will not conquer;
no disease that enough love will not heal;
no door that enough love will not open;
no gulf that enough love will not bridge;
no wall that enough love will not throw down;
no sin that enough love will not redeem…
It makes no difference how deeply seated may be the trouble;
how hopeless the outlook;
how muddled the tangle;
how great the mistake.
A sufficient realization of love will dissolve it all.
If only you could love enough you would be the happiest and most powerful being in the world.

This poem from the author of the first part of the God Morning Garden messages. It sums up the philosophy of our daily messages succinctly.

Peace,
Z gardener

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By coming to terms with the adversary in the first place, that is to say, by getting our thought right immediately concerning any difficulty, we incur no “costs” and the transaction remains a simple one.

Suppose that you find yourself sneezing. If you say: “There, now, I have caught cold again; I am in for it!” and then proceed to dwell upon the thought that you have caught cold, you are giving the trouble the opportunity to dig itself into your mentality. People often indulge in quite a meditation upon colds. Instead, if at the first moment that the possibility of catching cold occurs to you, you immediately reject it and affirm the Truth, the whole thing will be over in a short time.

Or perhaps upon opening your morning mail you find a notice informing you that your bank has failed. Many people in such a case would saturate themselves with the thought of ruin by rehearsing every kind of difficulty that might come. However, the proper thing to do, immediately upon becoming aware of the news, is to turn to God “your real support” and refuse to accept the suggestion of trouble as binding; literally drive the thought of loss, fear, and resentment out of consciousness. If you do this, working steadily until peace of mind is restored, you will presently find that in some way or other the trouble will disappear. Either the bank will speedily recover itself; and there is no reason at all why one person’s prayer should not save the bank and the fortunes of thousands;or, if this is not possible, you will find your loss equalized in some other way.

…whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Romans 10:13).

This is not to say that we should ignore sickness or other serious circumstances. The real lesson here is the benefit of refusing to project catastrophe on ourselves when faced with negative indications. Further, if we refuse to be fearful and anxious, we can open our thoughts to potentially positive outcomes; thereby converting a potentially negative circumstance into a positive outcome.

Calling on the Lord,
Z gardener

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Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.

Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing (Matthew 5:25-26).

Jesus is stressing here the instruction contained in his injunction to “watch and pray.” It is ever so much easier to overcome a difficulty if you tackle it at its first appearance than it will be after the trouble has had time to establish itself in your mentality; to dig itself in, as the soldiers say. The moment a difficulty presents itself to your attention, quietly affirm the Truth, giving it no chance to dig itself in.

On the other hand, by thinking about your difficulty, you incorporate it into your mentality, and if you go on doing this long enough, it may be exceedingly difficult to get rid of it.

Jesus, when he wished to drive home a particularly important point, employed a graphic illustration from everyday life. In those times the law governing debtors was extremely severe. When a man found himself in debt, it behooved him to come to terms with his creditors as quickly as possible. Even at the present day it is important for the debtor to keep his case from coming into court, for the longer the case drags on the more lawyers’ fees, court dues, and expenses of various kinds accumulate, all piled on top of the debt proper. So it is with the various difficulties that present themselves to us in our daily lives.

It is easier to put out a fire in the wastebasket than in the whole house. Conflict is like a fire, the sooner we put water on it, the lesser will be the damage. When conflicts arise between us, let us work fast to find a solution and apply it. When no solution is available, then we must minimize the damage and repair that which has been done.

Just a closer walk with thee,
Z gardener

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Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire (Matthew 5:21-22).

The Old Law said “Thou shalt not kill,” but Jesus says that even to want to kill, nay, event to be angry with your brother, is sufficient to keep you out of the Kingdom of Heaven. It was a distinct gain when primitive people could be persuaded not to murder but to develop sufficient self-control to master their anger. Spiritual demonstration demands that anger itself be overcome. It is simply not possible to get any experience of God worth talking about, or to exercise spiritual power until you have gotten rid of resentment and condemnation. You can have either your demonstration or your indignation, but you cannot have both.

That which we carry in our hearts, will be that which we live in our lives. If we are bearing resentment, anger or hatred in our thoughts, we will express them in our words and deeds. Then our lives will be condemned to demonstrate those inner experiences in our outer reality. In other words, we will ourselves poison our gardens with the very things we hate and which lock us out of the garden God created for us.

Z gardener

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