Hitch your wagon to a star

They fought from heaven; 

the stars in their courses….

--Judges 5:20

I say,

Be allied to the deific power,

and all that is good will aid

your journey, as the stars

in their courses fought

against Sisera.

Hourly, …

man thus weds himself to God,

or rather he ratifies a union

predestined from eternity;

but evil ties its wagon-load

of offal to the divine chariots,--

or seeks so to do,--

that its vileness may be

christened purity,

and its darkness get consolation 

from borrowed scintillations.

Jesus distinctly taught

the arrogant Pharisees

that, from the beginning,

their father, the devil,

was the would-be murderer

of Truth.

A right apprehension of

the wonderful utterances of him who 

“spake as never man spake,”

would despoil error

of its borrowed plumes,

and transform the universe

into a home of marvelous light,--

“a consummation devoutly to be wished.”

THE WAYS HIGHER THAN OUR WAYS

By Mary Baker Eddy

.

Chilling autumn rains

curtain Mount Fuji, then make it

more beautiful to see

~~Basho

I have seen Mount Fuji

after a storm had hit

the surrounding land,

and the waters of the ocean

were covered with debris, --

after the turbulence

stillness set in, and

the air was clear,

as I flew over it

on my way to Tokyo.

Eva-Maria

Sing, O heavens;

And be joyful, O earth;

And break forth into singing

O mountains:

For the Lord hath comforted

His people,

And will have mercy

Upon his afflicted.

--Isaiah 49:13

CHRIST

Jesus instructed


Whereby to heal.


He knew


The Christ,


God's ideal,


Ruled supreme


In him


And revealed


His forever unity with God—


God and His perfect man


As one in Love sealed!

"My sheep hear my voice,


and I know them,


and they follow me."*

Let us pause—be still—and pray


To hear the Christ


Speak


And feel the mighty strength


Of humility,

The power of kindness


And of constancy,


As a joyous


Gracious heart


Receives

A wholly loving God


And His Christ.

That means


For you and me—


In truth


Ever one with God, living as


His pure, perfect idea—

Healing

And

Peace.

Eva-Maria Hogrefe

Published in The Christian Science Journal

For I am the Lord, I change not

--Malachi 3:6 

A very blessed Christmas Season to YOU!

Give us grace for to-day; feed the famished affections;

          A spiritual stillness within gives us an entrance to the prayer of love.  Each of us, consciously or unconsciously, prays the prayer of love.  In its stillness we feel a deep yearning ... to love, and to be loved.  The response to this yearning is found in the Christ-consciousness, Jesus pointed to, “. . . behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21).  I understand that to mean, the kingdom of God is the consciousness of God as Love.  When we are able to be conscious of God as Love … wherever we are … we’ll see the manifestations of Love everywhere, and a spiritual optimism will take hold of us to help us smile, especially at challenging times.  "As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man" (Proverbs 27:19). 

A Christian Science practitioner, new on the job, was called to see a patient, and so he went and ... found his patient on his deathbed.  Surprised, the practitioner leaned over the man, smiled, and said, “You can’t do this to me you are my first patient.” 

The man opened his eyes, looked at the practitioner, smiled back, and then he started to laugh, and he continued to laugh, and laugh … LOL!   He was a changed man … he got off his deathbed, and was healed! 

--Eva-Maria Hogrefe, C. S.—

A picture I took of the mountains around the Lake Lucerne in Switzerland ... 

it was a rainy day ... but beautiful ...

photos by EMH eccept the last photo by SW

For the last time he gained the mountain's height:

         The plains beneath him lay:  we know he paused,

         Now at the summit of his earthly path,

         And gazed once more adown the dimming years:

                 How long he dwelt in silence none may know:

         Till through the silence did the voice of God,

         First faint yet sweet, come clearer and more clear,

         Then louder with the thunder of the sea,

         When Moses turned and earth fell from his sight;

         Lost in the majesty of good, he saw

         The wonder of the Infinite, the peace,

         Turned wholly unto God and walked with Him!

--Alice Jacqueline Shaw, "Moses on Mount Nebo" (1923)—

No mortal sense can still or stay

The flight of silent prayer,

Unceasing, voiceless, heart desire

That seeks God everywhere.

The heart’s own longing lifts it high

Where words can never reach,

Though human lips may never form

That glory into speech.

The voices that are worldly wise,

With mortal modes in tune,

Are mute in that transcendent hour

When God and man commune.

--Samuel Greenwood—

Mrs. Eddy speaking of one of the underpinnings of Christianity, pointed to the 91st Psalm. 

She explained that this Psalm “contains more practical theological and pathological truth 

than any other collection of the same number of words in human language except 

the Sermon on the Mount of the great Galilean and hillside Teacher,” 

She also said “that the first verse of this Psalm emphasizes an essential point 

of Christian attainment—dwelling ‘in the secret place of the most High’," and then she asked,  

“But what is the sacred secret of the Almighty?  

So far as experience teaches and truth has unfolded its immortal idea through spiritual sense, 

this secret is spiritual Love, whereon David has based all Christianity, all healing, all salvation.” 

(Christian Healer, p. 172/173).

--Eva-Maria--

He  that dwelleth in the secret place

of the most High 

shall abide under the shadow

of the Almighty.

I will say of the Lord, 

He is my refuge,

and my fortress: my God; 

in him will I trust.

 …

--The Bible, Psalm 91--

In the language of the Bible, 
the 91st Psalm gives us a brilliant example of God as Love.  
When spiritually perceived, the Psalm inspires in us 
a greater certainty of the blessings gained from turning to the
 might of spiritual Love.  
Our prayer—is our way of communicating with Love -- 
and gives us an opening to perceive Love’s might -- 
and what do we see?  We learn to recognize the strength of 
holiness, wisdom, justice, peace, perfection, and so on.  
All these mighty qualities are not in conflict with one-another 
… instead these beautiful tones of spiritual Love enrich 
us moment-by-moment, and spiritually enriched 
we approach God and His reflection – 
His creation, including each of us -- not timidly but joyously.  
And we discover that He not only gives us
 a spiritual understanding of self, real peace, and security, 
but He is our real security and peace!  

Eva-Maria

“To sense, the lion of to-day is the lion of six-thousand years"
-- Rudimental Divine Science. p. 8, by M.B. Eddy. 

“Our Master taught his disciples one brief prayer, which we name after him 
the Lord’s Prayer.

OUR FATHER WHICH ART IN HEAVEN,

            Our Father-Mother God, all-harmonious,

HALLOWED BE THY NAME,

            Adorable One.

THY KINGDOM COME.

            Thy kingdom is come; Thou art ever-present.

THY WILL BE DONE IN EARTH, AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.

            Enable us to know, -- as in heaven, so on earth,-- God is omnipotent, supreme.

GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD;

            Give us grace for to-day; feed the famished affections;

AND FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS, AS WE FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS.

            And Love is reflected in love;

AND LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATON, BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL;

And God leadeth us not into temptation, but delivereth us from sin, disease, and death.

FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOM, AND THE POWER, AND THE GLORY, FOREVER.

For God is infinite, all power, all Life, Truth, Love, over all, and All.”

--Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 16-17, 

by Mary Baker Eddy--

"Be honest, 

be true to thyself, 

and true to others; 

then it follows thou wilt be strong in God, 

the eternal good.  … 
Heal through Truth and Love; there is no other healer."

--Rudimental Divine Science, p. 8--  

photo by Susannah West

In speechless prayer and reverence

            Dear Lord, I come to Thee.

--Hymn 151--