Good Morning Garden

In a certain museum in New York there are a couple of dinosaur’s eggs on view. This exhibit appeals to the imagination. Visitors say, “Those eggs were laid millions of years ago, and here they are today untouched!” These people are apt to overlook the fact that for the dinosaur in question they represent complete failure. After all the trouble of laying those eggs nothing ever came of them.

It is surprising how many otherwise intelligent men and women waste the best days of their lives laying dinosaur’s eggs that never hatch out. Either through lack of energy, or lack of intelligent planning, or failure to make God a partner, or more often sheer muddle headedness, they lay an excellent egg and then stroll away and forget it. Do not start a plan unless you really think it is worthwhile, do not rest until you have brought it to fruition.

And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God (Luke 9:62).

How many times do we have a great idea, start a worthwhile project or make a decision to do something good and then walk away without completing it? How would our lives be different if we finished all those things? Think of the man who writes a great book but refuses to finish it. How many lives would be changed by reading it, how many enlightened or entertained; and what about the author himself. What would his life be like if the book was finished and became a best seller. Or, if not a best seller, at least the book became a completed project and demonstrated the writer’s self respect and worth to himself and others.

Gardening hardy,
Z gardener

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Raised Consciousness

THE FIRST COMMANDMENT

I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me (Exodus 20:2,3).

Moses lived in Egypt over three thousand years ago, and he led some six hundred thousand people out of Egypt and through the wilderness. That is historical. But, Moses also stands for a faculty in yourself, and the things that Moses did typify your state of mind.

The mountain means prayer—the elevated consciousness. We are told that the general public were not allowed to go up Mount Sinai, but that does not mean that certain people were not good enough to go up. It means that if we want to go up the mountain—if we want to raise our consciousness, if we want to get closer to God—we must prepare ourselves by prayer. If we want to go up the mountain, we have to become a high priest spiritually and we must rid ourselves of our faults and weaknesses—otherwise we cannot elevate our consciousness and get our contact with God.

Moses had his revelation, and then he realized it as the experience that God and man are one. When he got that revelation, Moses brought back the laws of life, beginning with the First Commandment, as we call it..

What is the beginning of the First Commandment? I am the Lord thy God. Our trouble in our religious life nearly always is that we think, “In the beginning Me.” That is very human but is does not get us the revelation that Moses got. After affirming I am the Lord thy God… the First Commandment says thou shalt have no other gods before me.

The “me” God is the one that most often presents an false idol for us. When we are consumed with the “me”, we have no room for the “us” or for God. Unless we rise above the self, put God and others first, we will never get past this primary obstacle of self-worship.

Z gardener

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Mental relaxation is just as important as right mental activity. Wise relaxation and wise activity are the balanced poles of all true actions. Many people are constantly subjecting their minds to totally unnecessary wear and tear.

We speak colloquially of “taking the train” somewhere and actually many people who ride in trains do take the train mentally the whole journey. Many years ago I noticed that when a train arrives in the terminal after a long run, the locomotive men always seem to come off the train looking fresher than most of the passengers; although they have been working and the passengers have not. The explanation is that for the engineer and fireman it was only a routine day’s work. They did not “take the train” mentally – they let the engine take it.

The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms…(Deuteronomy 33:27).

Worry, stress, fear, anxiety, doubt and all the other useless and harmful wear and tear we subject ourselves to affect more than just us. It subjects those we love to the same mental friction. It also degrades our total environment. Mental relaxation applies to more than turning off our minds or meditating on peace. It also means affirmatively refusing to allow unnecessary negative mental activity to infect us.

Laid back,
Z gardener

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Look where you are going because you will inevitably go where you are looking. Where your attention is, there is your destiny. Attention is the key to life. Whatever you really give your attention to, you become. Whatever you really concentrate upon will come into your life. The Bible says, For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he (Proverbs 23:7). It does not say simply as a man thinketh, but as he thinketh in his heart, and this means thinking with interest or feeling.

This law is often illustrated most amusingly in practical life. The “horsy” man with his equine looks is known to us all. Kipling speaks of a Newfoundland fisherman who appeared for all the world like a great codfish himself; and Dickens speaks of a pedantic old lawyer who looked just like an animated roll of parchment. Keep your eyes open for these amusing dramatizations, and be sure to take to heart the tremendous lesson that they teach.

There are so many sayings that reflect this truth in life. “keep your eye on the ball, watch where you are going, stay focused” are just a few. In spiritual matters, and in all matters, we will inevitably follow that upon we we focus our attention. Similarly, when we focus on ourselves, we will tend to exclude others. This will lead to self-centeredness, self-pity and self-recrimination. On the other hand, when we focus on others it will lead to selflessness, gratefulness and self respect.

Eyes on the prize,
Z gardener

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For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. (Matthew 25:29).

This great text has been a stumbling block to many. It looks like injustice. It sounds like cruelty. Yet Jesus said it, and we know that he was always right.

The explanation is logical when you have the key to life. Your experience is the expression (pressing out) of your state of mind or consciousness, at any time. When your consciousness is high, everything goes well. When your consciousness is low or limited, everything goes wrong.

When trouble comes the usual thing is to meet it with fear, anger, disappointment, self-pity, or brutal will power. This naturally lowers the consciousness a good deal more, and things get still worse. From him that hath not (much) harmony, shall be taken away even that which he hath.

Harmony and joy naturally raise your consciousness and your faith in God still higher, and so things improve further. Unto everyone that hath shall be given and he shall have abundance. This is a simple statement of natural law. Let us thank God that this wonderful law exists.

Let us this day, meet both trouble and treasure with joy, hope, anticipation and thankfulness. Let us think, speak and live in certainty and peace and in the comfort that God will reward these actions with greater understanding, blessings and miracles.

Absorbing and radiating good,
Z gardener

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A Young doctor and his wife were entertaining an elderly aunt. After-dinner coffee was served, whereupon the visitor said excitedly, “John, you know I cannot drink coffee! The nicotine in it keeps me awake all night.”

The nephew said, “ I assure you, my dear aunt, there is no nicotine in this coffee.” The aunt replied, “There is always nicotine in coffee, and it keeps me awake the whole night.” The host then said, “My dear aunt, I assure you upon my word of honor as a doctor, that there is no nicotine in this coffee.”

The old lady, who had the highest regard both for her nephew’s professional qualifications and for his personal integrity, was satisfied; and thereupon drank three large cups of coffee, enjoyed them immensely and slept like a top all night.

Naturally, there can be no nicotine in coffee; the old lady meant caffeine. Of course, one does not approve of the deception employed – deception is never legitimate – but the story illustrates perfectly the power of good and bad suggestion. The old lady first made a law of limitation for herself, and then repealed it without any trouble. Why not start today and repeal some of the many such laws you are sure to have made for yourself.

If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth (Mark 9:23).

Sometime we create false realities for ourselves that imprison and blind us to the true beauty and happiness God has planned for us. We establish priorities, make plans based on those priorities and then may feel like failures when those plans and priorities do not materialize or don’t turn out as planned.

Persevering in faith,
Z gardener

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When you go down to the seashore, you find what is practically an unlimited supply of sea water at your disposal. There are billions upon billions of gallons there, but the amount that you can carry away will depend upon the vessel with which you have provided yourself. If you take a ten-gallon can, you can get ten gallons, but if you take only a pint pot you can take away only a pint, and if you have nothing bigger than a thimble, you would not be able to take away more than a thimbleful.

So it is with divine abundance. The only limit is the limit of our capacity to receive.

Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing (Psalm 145:16).

This raises the obvious question of “What kind of vessel are we”? Do we really believe that infinite abundance is available to us? Do we truly feel that we deserve infinite supply? Do we feel that unlimited blessings will be good for us?

Growing the vessel,
Z gardener

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Never look back. Always go right ahead. Even if you are quaking, go right ahead. Jesus said the man who puts his hand to the plow and then turns back, is not worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven. He also said: Remember Lot’s wife (Luke 17:32).

No matter how unattractive or how dangerous the road ahead may be, it is better than the road back. The road ahead may be veiled from sight – but you must teach yourself to regard the unknown as friendly. Remember that God is always on the road ahead.

…cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee (Psalm 143:8).

Of course, the statement above assumes right actions. Those activities which are good, God-centered and positive. That does not mean we should never look back when engaged in bad behavior. In fact, the quicker we turn back from such thoughts, words and deeds, the better.

On course,
Z gardener

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Perhaps the second best prayer ever written is the Scotsman’s Prayer – “Lord give us a good conceit of ourselves.” You cannot have too much respect for yourself. You cannot have too much confidence in yourself. You cannot claim too much for yourself. But remember that you must realize these things as being the expression of God in you and not independent qualities of your own. You must also accept them as being true for every other human being.

Nothing but failure can come of self-depreciation. Of course, it is true that stupid people can get the malady called “swelled head” – and this ends in a fall – but the realization of one’s divine selfhood never gives swelled head. It gives wisdom, balance, poise, and steady progress. Think, talk, live your divine, glorious selfhood, and it will demonstrate itself in your life.

I have said, Ye are Gods; and all of you are children of the most High (Psalm 82:6).

Yes, brother and sisters, you heard that right. You are a God! Within each of us is the spark or seed of the divine. And just as our children have the seed or spark we planted in them, so do we all have God’s spark within us.

Still plowing,
Z gardener

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