Sacrifices of Joy

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God, Grand Canyon, joy, Lightning Source, Mary Baker Eddy, Memory, North Rim, Psalm 27, Sacrifice, tabernacle, vampires, Vantage Point Books, witches

Many of you already know, the original title of Memory Lake was Sacrifices of Joy.   To me, this does not mean we need to give up joy to be closer to God.  It means, the mere act of expressing joy when we least feel like it places us in God’s presence.  Whenever life’s difficulties leave me alone on a jagged rock in the middle of a crashing surf, with no way off, I think of Psalm 27.  I smile and close my eyes, and feel the sun on my face, whether it is there or not, and say,  “…Now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea I will sing praises unto the LORD.”  Instantly, I feel elevated off that rock to a high mountain, surrounded by a clear blue sky, hearing joyful laughter bouncing and echoing off white, marble walls and pillars.

Aim for the tabernacle… (view of journey from South Rim to North Rim of Grand Canyon, USA)

It is a lesson I need to learn over and over, and a practice I need to repeat quite often.  And, it is a prevalent theme in Memory Lake.  I would have liked Sacrifices of Joy to be its title, but as my publisher of the First Edition, Vantage Point Books, sagely advised, “Sacrifices are for witches and vampires, and Joy is for cooking and sex.”

“The understanding of Truth gives full faith in Truth, and spiritual understanding is better than all burnt offerings.”  Science & Health, 286-6, by Mary Baker Eddy

The Eye of the Needle

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Around the Year, Bible lesson, Camel, Emmet Fox, God, Jesus, Needle's Eye, Old San Juan, possessions, Sewing needle, Sunday School

Imagine a camel trying to fit through the eye of a sewing needle!  It is impossible. Or, so I always thought as a kid in Sunday School whenever this lesson rolled around.  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).  I usually told my parents on the drive home from church, “We need to give up all our possessions.”

A Needle’s Eye, Old San Juan, 2010, (KT’s sis-n-law and I)

One day,my mom shared Emmet Fox’s little sermon on the subject.  It’s not impossible, she explained.  It’s just a lot of work.  “…Every important city was surrounded by a wall for defense.  When a laden camel arrived after sunset,” after the large gate had closed, “…the only way it could get in was to be unloaded of all merchandise, whereupon it would squirm on its knees through…” a low wicket gate known as the needle’s eye.  (Around the Year with Emmet Fox, p.133)

As a newlywed in the 1980s, I was very interested in gaining possessions to furnish our new home and to keep up with our peers.  I devoted a lot of time, energy, and thought toward this.  I began having a reoccurring dream.  I was always waiting in line to board a lovely aircraft for an exciting journey to a new destination, where I really wanted to go, from which I would never return.  As my turn approached, I worried about where I’d left my purse, my keys, my suitcase, that new vase, the little oriental rug I loved.  An overwhelming need to bring these items along always sent me running from the line, hollering, “Please wait! I’ll be right back!”  I always missed the plane.  I always woke up very perplexed.

I mentally practiced walking away from these things.  I got the house where I wanted it, then moved on.  I went back to school.  I stopped comparing our home to others.  I started caring more for friends and family.  The reoccurring dream remained a constant warning.  Then, one night I boarded the plane.  I have no memory of what happened after that, except I awoke with the most peaceful feeling.  I never had the dream again. I’d like to think I’ve found the way through that needle, by devoting more thought and energy to friends and family, than possessions.  Thank goodness I have not yet reached the other side!

A special thanks to one of my favorite blogs for reminding me of this lesson.  Yes, life is simpler in the wilderness, (another lesson from Memory Lake).  http://malcolmscorner.wordpress.com/2013/01/20/how-many-things-dont-you-want/

“The Captain is on the Bridge.” Emmet Fox.

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believe, Captain, civilization, Emmet Fox, God, prayer, President, sunrise

Regardless of news reports, “The world is not going to the dogs.  The human race is not doomed.  Civilization is not going to crash.  The Captain is on the bridge.”

Sunrise or sunset?

The Captain is not President, Congress, Prime Minister, Parliament, or Pope. Emmet Fox reminds us, “God is still in business.”  It may seem incompetent buffoons are in charge, and we have little say in how they govern us; except to vote every so often and write a letter or two.  In truth, when all of us band together and “…realize the Presence of God where trouble seems to be,” we can affect change.  Close your eyes, breath deeply, smile because all is well, and mentally put God in charge.  That’s it.  You have just prayed for your country. Believe it. God is on the Bridge.

What’s in your nucleus?

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art, artist, awakening, center, creativity, death, Divine Mind, faith, Family, God, grief, Home, infinite, inspiration, loss, loving, mom, mothers, nucleus, Parenting, Religion and Spirituality, Social Sciences, source

While a writer was awakening in me, an artist was awakening in my sister.  In these unexpected ways, we blossomed after our mom died eleven years ago.  We adored her and she adored us.  She charged us full of confidence, prayers, and joy.  We had depended on her like protons depend on a neutron.*  When she died, we fell apart.  But, somehow we pieced it all together to come back even stronger.  How did we do this?  This question has puzzled us for years.

Had we become self-centered in our pursuits?  Had we substituted ourselves where she had been?  No.

We had learned that relying on an individual to complete one’s universe is a risky, limited engagement.  When we fell apart, we saw her life’s example at our incomplete center.  She had never placed her mom, husband, or children in the center.  She had placed there a Divine Mind; a very loving God.  This had been the source of her strength.  As soon as we followed her example, we began to heal.  By placing this infinite presence in our center, we formed an even stronger nucleus.  We became charged with a limitless source of creativity and inspiration.

We are all God’s art.  Never doubt it.  Claim your center with “God which art in heaven,” and you will thrive and blossom.

Next time I’ll show you my sister’s art.  (This is not it.)

* photo altered from swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com. Chemistry advice provided by daughter, KT.