Removing the burden of pressure
So little time. So much to do. And it all depended on me - so I thought. I was rushing around, cleaning, cooking, making preparations for my son's homecoming from a great distance. He and his bride would be arriving that evening for a lengthy visit.
In my work in the dining room I bent over at one point, and there was a sharp pain in my back. I could not stand up straight.
As a Christian Scientist, I have learned to pray about discordant situations, not to passively accept them. And I have proved innumerable times that it is mental causation we really need to deal with, not what appears to be physical causes. Our bodies are responsive to our thoughts, and we should be alert to this. ''You embrace your body in your thought, and you should delineate upon it thoughts of health, not of sickness,'' n1 says Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science.
n1 Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 208.
What were my thoughts right at that moment? They were anxious in the face of all my chores. I was feeling that I was a burdened, pressured, apprehensive homemaker, caught in the trap of having too many things to do and not enough time. The need was for a sense of peace and joy within.
I thought of Jesus. Did he ever feel pressured? The Bible doesn't indicate that he did. Always there was time for everything that needed to be done. On his way to heal a dying twelve-year-old girl, making his way through a throng, he stopped to care for a woman who had touched his garment and was healed. n2 Before he went to raise Lazarus from death, he stayed two more days where he was. n3
n2 See Mark 5:22-43.
n3 See John, Chap. 11. Jesus said, ''My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.'' 4 This unceasing work was untroubled and unlimited because the Master was working with God, animated by the divine source of his being.
n4 John 5:17.
Looking away from the physical condition, I saw myself from a higher viewpoint. I claimed the fact that I was the calm, orderly expression of the one supreme creator; the intelligent idea of infinite Mind; the loved child of our Father-Mother God. I realized that I was actually dwelling in His kingdom where all being is complete and where all good is already accomplished.
Wasn't this whole day actually filled with happiness and expectation, with the desire to serve and share with others? Is there a time limit on the unfolding of good? No! It is continuous and without measure.
''Love makes all burdens light, it giveth a peace that passeth understanding, and with 'signs following,' '' n5 writes Mrs. Eddy. I saw that it wouldn't be reasonable to identify myself as the manifestation of divine Love and yet feel burdened about making preparations for loved ones.
n5 Miscellaneous Writing, p. 133.
In less time than it has taken you to read this article, I was able to stand up straight, with no pain, and go about the joyful task of preparing for this special visit. And there was plenty of time.
Paul tells us, ''Let all your things be done with charity.'' n6 I felt bathed in our Father's dear love as I went about my day, and I loved everything I did!
n6 I Corinthians 16:14.
DAILY BIBLE VERSE Cast thy burdon upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. Psalms 55:22
