Q & A

So does God live in heaven while I'm stuck here on earth? Does that mean I'm separated from God?

* It can sometimes seem like it, but in reality you never are.

So then, where is heaven?

* Within you. Within consciousness - within your spiritual consciousness.

Where is earth then?

* The same place. Within you. Within consciousness.

How is that possible since heaven is perfect and all-harmonious and earth usually seems like just the opposite, like a swamp of good and evil and contending forces and opinions and strife and tumult and one disaster after another?

* Not to be flip, but because, like you said, it seems that way - at least when you're thinking materially, or as Mrs. Eddy might put it "upside down." Think about these statements from Science & Health:

"What, then, is the material personality which suffers, sins, and dies? It is not man, the image and likeness of God, but man's counterfeit, the inverted likeness, the unlikeness called sin, sickness, and death."

"Delusion, sin, disease, and death arise from the false testimony of material sense, which, from a supposed standpoint outside the focal distance of infinite Spirit, presents an inverted image of Mind and substance with everything turned upside down."

"The greatest wrong is but a suppositious opposite of the highest right."

"When examined in the light of divine Science, mortals present more than is detected upon the surface, since inverted thoughts and erroneous beliefs must be counterfeits of Truth. Thought is borrowed from a higher source than matter, and by reversal, errors serve as waymarks to the one Mind, in which all error disappears in celestial Truth."

"From the infinite elements of the one Mind emanate all form, color, quality, and quantity, and these are mental, both primarily and secondarily. Their spiritual nature is discerned only through the spiritual senses. Mortal mind inverts the true likeness, and confers animal names and natures upon its own misconceptions."

"In Science we are children of God; but whatever is of material sense, or mortal, belongs not to His children, for materiality is the inverted image of spirituality."

"Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals. In this perfect man the Saviour saw God's own likeness, and this correct view of man healed the sick. Thus Jesus taught that the kingdom of God is intact, universal, and that man is pure and holy."

"God creates all forms of reality. His thoughts are spiritual realities. So-called mortal mind--being non-existent and consequently not within the range of immortal existence--could not by simulating deific power invert the divine creation, and afterwards recreate persons or things upon its own plane, since nothing exists beyond the range of all-inclusive infinity, in which and of which God is the sole creator. Mind, joyous in strength, dwells in the realm of Mind. Mind's infinite ideas run and disport themselves. In humility they climb the heights of holiness."

"Take heart, dear sufferer, for this reality of being will surely appear sometime and in some way. There will be no more pain, and all tears will be wiped away. When you read this, remember Jesus' words, "The kingdom of God is within you." This spiritual consciousness is therefore a present possibility."

So if I see things spiritually - right side up - I'm seeing the way God sees? I'm being in heaven? I'm already in heaven, right here, right now?

* Yep. If God lives in heaven (and He does), and you are His idea, His creation (and you are), then you live with Him.

Well I'm not sure it really feels like it.

* As long as you look at things "upside down" that's understandable. But what's great is that "by reversal, errors serve as waymarks" that take you home to God. So try it! Reverse your perspective. Look up! Look at your life spiritually instead of materially. Look, like Jesus did, for God's own likeness in everything and everyone around you. You'll begin to get glimpses, insights, intuitions of something "better, higher, holier" than is presented by only a mortal (dead) perspective. You can immediately change course and act from this point of view. Why? Because Heaven is your true state of being right now. To see this and to be this is to be whole, and holy, and wholly at home with God, inseparable from Him. The Lord's Prayer promises you this: "Thy kingdom come." Thy kingdom [of heaven] is [already] come; Thou art [already] everpresent - with us, in consciousness.

The test of all prayer

"The test of all prayer lies in the answer to these questions: Do we love our neighbor better because of this asking? Do we pursue the old selfishness, satisfied with having prayed for something better, though we give no evidence of the sincerity of our requests by living consistently with our prayer?"

This text (found in the book Science & Health) completely changed the way I was recently praying about 3 upcoming public speaking engagements that I was dreading. Encountering it was really like a smack in the face. I had been so focused on my own fears and trying to overcome them that I was failing this most basic test (as Mrs. Eddy phrased it) of all prayer. It caused me to completely rethink things - taking my thought off myself and instead onto praying to answer the needs of the different audiences I would be addressing. What would bless them? what could I say that would help them? Refocusing on these 2 questions changed everything (including most of my PowerPoint slides).

Almost a week has gone by now since I completed the last (and longest and most complex) address. What a stark contrast between these 3 events and previous ones. Because I took my concerns off myself, turned my prayer to focus on blessing my audience, the events were satisfying, successful, and helped the audience understand things important to them in our work together.

Think how this test applies to the Lord's Prayer. Immediately you notice that the Lord's prayer is unselfish. It doesn't say "me," "my," or "I" anywhere in it. It is always "our" or "us" - it includes everyone, all of creation. It is unselfish. It seeks to bless, heal, and save everyone. It is not "My Father which art in heaven" it is "Our Father." It is not "Give me this day my daily bread" it is "Give us this day our daily bread." When you pray the Lord's Prayer, you pray to heal the world, to correct the seeming imposition of evil and separation for everyone - which of course includes you in that healing.

This is a key point, the true test of all prayer. And as I learned with my little public speaking challenge, it makes all the difference.

Kingdom = Presence

"Abide with me; fast breaks the morning light;
Our daystar rises, banishing all night;
Thou art our strength, O Truth that maketh free,
We would unfailingly abide in Thee.

"I know no fear, with Thee at hand to bless,
Sin hath no power and life no wretchedness;
Health, hope, and love in all around I see
For those who trustingly abide in Thee.

"I know Thy presence every passing hour,
I know Thy peace, for Thou alone art power;
O Love divine, abiding constantly,
I need not plead, Thou dost abide with me."

Hymn #7, Christian Science Hymnal

This hymn helps me understand the 3rd verse of the Lord's Prayer more deeply. I think it describes what "Thy kingdom come" means to us. And the last verse especially echoes Mrs. Eddy's spiritual sense of this verse: Thy kingdom is come; Thou art everpresent.

God's kingdom is His presence in our heart, our thought, our life. Think about His presence being with you right now, right where you are, no matter what your circumstances are like. Consider what that means, what that feels like, what that looks like. How would you feel, think, act, if you just accepted that God is already here, present with you right now? Wouldn't you relax? wouldn't you let go of any fear? any fear of being alone, of being unloved, of being responsible for everything? Wouldn't you be thrilled and grateful and happy and joyful? Wouldn't you be more conscious, more aware of your oneness with divine Love? of your incredible worth as His perfect child? Wouldn't all thought and fear of separation from God, from good, from Love - just simply evaporate? And wouldn't you glimpse that you don't have to somehow earn this Love? Wouldn't you sense you are already in the presence of God, already loved by Him?

Who feeds you?
Who forgives you?
Who leads you away from deception, delivers you from evil?

Only someone who loves you would do all these things, only someone who truly already loves you: your Divine Parent, your Father-Mother God, all harmonious - who is already with you, right here right now.

As the hymn says, "I need not plead, Thou dost abide with me."

"Thy kingdom come."
Thy kingdom is come. Thou art everpresent.

Thy kingdom come

"Thy kingdom come."
Thy kingdome is come. Thou art everpresent.

Here, Jesus' prayer leads you to invite the kingdom of God to come to you. So think about what this means for a minute. What is a "kingdom" anyway? The 1913 dictionary defines kingdom as the quality or attributes of a king: the king's authority, and his sovereign power over the territory subject to him.

But how did Jesus define this idea of God's kingdom? He said God's kingdom does not come with observation, that it is not some physical place, but that it is within you. Then, in light of that, what are the implications of this verse for you?

You have already glimpsed your relationship to God as your Father-Mother in the 1st verse. You have already bowed before God's beautiful nature in the 2nd verse. And now you are inviting His presence into your heart. Isn't this verse bringing you to the point of opening? Isn't this bringing you to the point of receptivity? to the point of surrender? to the point of true humility?

Thy kingdom come - within you.
Thy kingdom is come. Thou art everpresent - in consciousness.

Think about what this means: that God is present with you right here where you are right now. Invite this idea of Immanuel - "God-with-us" - into your heart and thought right now. Let it in. Feel His warmth. Know that the Love of the Infinite Adorable One is embracing you right where you are.

You don't have to wait for something to happen. You don't have to learn a bunch of intellectual stuff or repeat the right words or try to make God love you. You just have to open the door of your thought, accept His kingdom, His presence, already within you, within your heart, within your thoughts, at work in your life, awakening you to who you truly are as His child within His kingdom, under His all-powerful care.

Mrs. Eddy says it this way: "When speaking of God's children, not the children of men, Jesus said, 'The kingdom of God is within you'; that is, Truth and Love reign in the real man, showing that man in God's image is unfallen and eternal. Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals. In this perfect man the Saviour saw God's own likeness, and this correct view of man healed the sick. Thus Jesus taught that the kingdom of God is intact, universal, and that man is pure and holy."

God's kingdom - His power, His sovereign authority, includes you, covers you, secures you. In fact, your spiritual consciousness is His reflection, His territory, His kingdom.

Thy kingdom come.
Thy kingdom is come. Thou art ever present.
Thy peace is come.
Thy joy is come.
Thy power is come.
Thy Love is come and is everpresent - within you, already within your consciousness.

The Adorable One (part 2)

"Hallowed be Thy name."
Adorable One.

The Oneness of God is His power. There is no "other." No other god before Him, no other power, no other attraction, no other Ego. God is the One, and the only One to be adored - respected, loved, listened to, reflected, worshipped.

When you look in the mirror, what does your reflection look at? You. Only you. You could say that your reflection has 100% focus on you. It doesn't look away - in fact, it can't look away. It can't be distracted. It can't look at something or someone else unless you do. In a way, you could say of your reflection, that you are its adorable one.

So should God be able to say of you - if you are His reflection (and you are). And then since you are His reflection, its natural for you to focus on God, to listen to Him, to let His light shine in you and through you, reflecting Him as He is. This is how you hallow His name, His nature, because you focus completely on Him, you seek only to know and reflect Him, shine forth what you know and feel of Him. You then are adoring the One God, the Great I Am, the only I or Us.

And this Adorable One is conscious of you - and of everyone. He knows you by name. He loves you, deeply, perfectly, completely. When you feel and understand this, then you begin to feel and understand that "Thy kingdom is come; Thou art ever-present." Everpresent where? In consciousness. Here, right where you are, right now.

Feel and understand this. Think about how naturally you want to live in accordance with Love's all-harmonious nature. Feel this as your authentic being. Know that this enables you to comprehend that "as in Heaven, so on earth, God is omnipotent, supreme." This is a communion that awakens you to your unity with God, divine Love, that gives you grace for today, feeds your famished affections - and enables you to feed the famished affections of everyone around you. This is Love being reflected in love, Love forgiving you of all your so-called mortal history, all those heavy debts of false beliefs about yourself and others, all those temptations to think that you are "special" and separate. Love's forgiveness awakens you to what's already always true, delivering you from the so-called duality of good and evil, the Adam dream of wilfull, ignorant, or even seemingly fatal mistakes.

How? because our Adorable God is One. He delivers us. How? Because He is the only real power there is. And our Father-Mother God is the only presence there is, the only substance, the only intelligence there is - the only Life, Truth, Love, the only glorious All.

And He is focused on, reflecting on, you. You are His image, His likeness, His reflection, His precious child.

Hallowed be Thy name, dear Father-Mother God. You are the Adorable One.

The Adorable One (part 1)

This adorable all-harmonious God leads you out of the dream - the temptation - to think you're a separate little ego, lost, all out on your own, abandoned, unloved, alone. Your adorable all-harmonious Father-Mother delivers you from this dream - nightmare - of sin, sickness, discord, death, evil - delivers you WAKES YOU UP to find yourself as His own likeness, already present with Him, already all-harmonious and adorable also - because you are His reflection. Here. Now.

Dr. Bob's gift

I'd like to share something my good friend Dr. Bob wrote. He's also studying the Lord's Prayer and he said it would be OK for me to share what he sent me. I know you'll find it as inspiring as I did. Here it is, complete:

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December 30, 2007

As the year 2007 closes, and my thoughts of accomplishments and challenges are reviewed, I set forth a particularly prevalent approach to healings in my experience during the year. Reading Mary Baker Eddy’s “…spiritual sense of the Lord’s Prayer”, found on pages 16-17 of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, elevated my understanding of Jesus’ teaching. I contemplated each line, stayed with it until I gained a higher sense of how to apply a deeper meaning of the Prayer to overcome mortal mind’s attempted intrusion into the sunshine of peaceful experiences.

The following is typical of my desire to use the strength and certainty of God’s infinite power to deliver me closer to man’s true nature as His cherished child:

(“Our Father…”) Father, I know that you love me, and you know that I love you. I understand that you are Principal, Mind, Soul, Spirit, Life, Truth, Love, substance, and intelligence. I understand that each of these synonyms has endless attributes which apply effectively to any need I have.

(“…which art in heaven,…”) I realize that heaven is where you dwell, and that dwelling place is everywhere, and that I am there also, because within it you created me. It is a peaceful atmosphere, harmonious, and mighty, with no threat of weakness, confusion, uncertainty, hostility, anger, or dismay..

(“Hallowed be Thy name.”) Father, you are what you are, the supreme reason for Life, and I adore and honor you. It is awesome to recognize your power and your governance of the universe.

(“Thy kingdom come.”) Since you are all, everywhere, and all powerful, there is no waiting for your kingdom to come. I am already within it. In it is where you want me to be; with you, right now.

(“Thy will be done in earth…”) Spiritually earth is an eternal place where there is no fear, only joyous avenues, boulevards, mountains, and trails to travel and explore that have no ending.


(“…as it is in heaven.”) I don’t have to wish or hope for your will to be done, because I know and understand that your work is finished. Your will is done. It is my spiritual consciousness.

(“Give us this day our daily bread;”) I am supplied every moment of every day with an abundance of perfect ideas guiding and guarding every promising step in my journey.

(“And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”) Sometimes I seem to make mistakes when upset or confused, but I don’t want to act intentionally to hurt or harm another, or myself. I trust that I am able to express your love and as I am forgiven and corrected others will do the same. Harmony among your children is normal. Sometimes animal magnetism tries to block my perfect reflection, but vanishes as my thoughts turn to spiritual ideals.

(“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”) I have real comfort in knowing what you will not do and what you will do. Pleading or begging is not what you want from me. I realize that I must make the decision to turn away from temptation and allow your floodtides of good to deliver me from evil. I know that you will show me how to turn away from sin, disease, and death.

(“For thine is the kingdom,…”) Your heavenly kingdom surrounds me and gives me courage.

(“… and the power,…”) I have the inner strength of conviction to demonstrate the fallacy of mortality, and to the reject the illusion of any other power but thine.

(“…and the glory, forever.”) Through your glorious grace, protection, and unconditional love, I AM HEALED.

Thank you Jesus for the Lord’s Prayer.
Thank you Mary Baker Eddy for the spiritual sense of the Lord’s Prayer.

Love and hugs

Which came first, the love or the hug?

The love. The hug is the love made manifest. So it is with God and Christ. God is Love. Christ is Love made manifest. In fact, you could say that Christ is God hugging the world.

"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus."

Let this Mind embrace you as it did Christ Jesus. Let this Spirit, Life, Truth, Love embrace you as it did Christ Jesus.

The funny thing is, you can embrace - hug - love, without really knowing what love is. But by the mere fact of embracing love whenever you can however much you're able, again and again, you begin to learn what love means. By doing so, you discover that you're embracing love in your heart.

Then you begin to feel love and to recognize it. And now you are embracing love in your heart and in your thoughts. You begin to actually look for love. And you begin to wake up to understand that all that time, all through all that struggle, you were just letting go of your sense of separation. Divine Love was actually hugging you the whole time.

And then by being open to practicing love yourself, you wake up to what has really always been going on: Love, God, embracing YOU, God's own precious spiritual creation. Then you not only know love in your heart, and in your thoughts, but inevitably, in your arms - embracing all those around you, fulfilling God's commandment: love another as yourself.

You could say that this is Christian Science "practice."

"Forgive us our debts (our seeming lack of love) as we forgive our debtors (forgive those that we think haven't have loved us)."

Love is (always) reflected in love.

The 10 Promises

When Moses climbed Mount Sinai to receive the 10 Commandments, the Bible says that "...the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaks unto his friend..." (Ex 33:11). Imagine hearing God so clearly! Moses just lit up so powerfully brilliant and beautiful were his conversations with God.

In this gloriously inspired light Moses heard the 10 Commandments as God's own Word. And it is in this same gloriously inspired light that you should read and understand them.

If you do, you'll see that the 10 Commandments actually do more than tell you what to do - or not to do. They define your actual identity, your actual nature as God's image and likeness. The 10 Commandments are the original definition of the man and woman of God's creating. They don't require you to do anything but to live in complete alignment with your real being as God's perfect child. They are God's promises to you about who you really are.

Think about what it says in Genesis 1:27. God says "Let us make man after our image, after our likeness."

What does that mean? What would it be like, to “look” like God, infinite Spirit? What do you think you would be like if you lived and moved and breathed and acted like the actual mirror-image of Divine Love? – like the God Jesus' life defined as completely Good, as Truth and Life, as Love itself?

Does God kill? Does God steal? Does God covet? Does God commit adultery? If you're not sure, look at the life of Jesus for your answer, and that answer is No. So neither can you – when you honestly accept that you are His reflection and act accordingly. Then you’re obeying – living – your true nature as God made you. Then you are living – obeying – the Commandments. God's promise to you is "thou shalt not..." ever be anything unlike Him, because He made you in His wonderful beautiful likeness.

Sure it takes practice - a lifetime of practice - but that doesn't change the fact that the 10 Commandments are the only accurate definition of who you really are. They are God's promises to you about your true spiritual nature as His reflection, as His child. You are their meaning. Your life is their fulfilment.

Since the 10 Commandments are God's promises to you, it's natural for you to love them. It's natural for you to live them. They are your authentic God-like nature. They are your core being. And you can trust God to help you learn and live them authentically and completely.

"Thou shalt have no other gods before me."

"Hallowed be Thy name" - Thy nature - in me, as me.

Adorable One.

The Great I Am

God, the Great I Am. Let only the Great I Am be heard!

Fortunately, there is but one I or Us and that is the Great I Am that Moses first heard and recognized as God (thank you Moses!). The little personal human "ego" clamors for attention, claims to be a cause, a creator, a personal author, a privileged originator - but it is a liar and the father of lies because God is the only Ego there is, and His idea, His creation is His reflection - the humble servant of the restful Mind. Don't think you're Cause when you're actually only effect (and that's a good thing). Give God the credit due and then let your reflected light so shine as to glorify Him.

Hallowed be Thy name (not my name).
Adorable One.

Hallowed be Thy name.

"Hallowed be Thy name."
Adorable One.

This has unexpectedly become my favorite verse (if that's even really possible) of the Lord's Prayer. Maybe it's because I really had to dig into it, think hard about what it really means. And I've come to see it as a very transforming verse - one which really prepares us for the rest of the prayer, one that prepares us for healing.

And that's because it demands you to stop. It demands you to stop and consider what God really is. It shows you why "What is God?" is the most important question in the world.

In the first verse, you acknowledge your true relationship to God, and glimpse something true about what God is (our Father-Mother) and where He lives (Heaven - and you get to learn more about Heaven in the third verse).

But "Hallowed be Thy name" makes you stop. It makes you think: what is it to "hallow" God's name? what does it mean to "adore" the One God?

Hallow has these meanings: to make holy, to consecrate, to treat or keep as sacred. It's interesting too that the word "holy" shares its Anglo-Saxon origins with our words for health, and wholeness, and carries the significance of salvation.

And Mrs. Eddy did not mean "cutesy" when she understood this verse to spiritually mean "Adorable One." In her day adore meant: to love in the highest degree; to regard with the utmost esteem and affection.

In fact think about it: if you adore someone, don't you hang on their every word? don't you follow their every movement? don't you just LOVE being around them? wouldn't you do anything they ask? isn't it completely effortless and joyous and fun to be near them - and don't you want to be as near them as you can possibly be? Isn't that how you should be relating to God? Isn't this what it is like to really bow before Him, honor Him, to accept your sacred holy healthy whole (unbroken) relationship with your Father-Mother, the all-harmonious adorable One?

But wait. Why does Jesus say "Hallowed be Thy name?" Why not just say "Hallow God" and be done with it?

Because our Lord's Prayer moves you beyond just a kneejerk blind "acceptance" of God as God. His prayer moves you to think about something deeper: the name of God. What does it mean to hallow and adore His name? What is a "name" anyway?

The dictionary says a name is that "by which a person is known or designated." But it also refers to that which defines a person's character and actions.

Is Jesus then telling you to thoughtfully, prayerfully hallow, honor, respect, maybe even understand / appreciate / love, God's nature? His character? His qualities?

Yes. Because as you begin to think about God's nature, His character, His qualities, you begin to grasp what God is. That He is Love, therefore His nature is loving not vengeful. That He is Spirit, therefore He is spiritual not material. That He is Truth, therefore He includes all reality. That "God is Light and in Him is no darkness at all." I John 1:5

So, if God's nature is completely loving, spiritual, real, and luminous - what does that say about you as His image and likeness?

By honoring God's true name and nature, you begin to learn who you really are as God's creation. You begin to change the way you think about yourself. If you're honest about it, you also begin to change how you act, how you live, how you love. Can you really hallow, honor, respect, appreciate, love your Father and His Name and Nature, and then go off and think, live, and act in some opposite way? But if you do begin to knowingly live as best you can according to your understanding of how God really made you, then you are living authentically.

It's interesting to think about all the places in the Bible where people did exactly this. And as they woke up to their true spiritual nature as God's own image and likeness, and lived accordingly, things changed - sometimes radically. In fact, in the most dramatic cases, their names changed because of their spiritual awakening: Abram became Abraham, Jacob became Israel, Saul became Paul. These are all dramatic examples of how people are transformed when they truly hallow - honor, yield to, reflect - God's true Name and Nature.

So as you pray this verse, think about how adoring God's Name moves you into your natural wholeness - holiness! Into a bigger understanding of yourself as His image and likeness. Into living authentically. That as you hallow, honor, respect, appreciate, love, adore what you are learning about God and His true nature as revealed by Jesus, you begin to understand who you really are as His reflection. You start dropping all the negative things you may have thought about yourself, all the hateful things that may have been said about you, all the societal misconceptions that may have labeled you. And instead you wake up to your true nature as God's likeness. Your true nature is actually just like God's: loving, spiritual, healthy, whole - holy - because that's the way God made you! And nothing can ever change that.

Wake up to this truth that Jesus gives us in his Prayer. Let His likeness shine as you, His Life flow through you, His Love move in you. Let His Love soften you, strengthen you, show you that your innocence is unimpaired. Let His Love calm and purify your heart. Let your words and actions temper as your thoughts move off yourself, and out toward your Father-Mother God.

Let the Lord's Prayer help you to understand God's true nature, help you to love God for who He really is: Love itself. Let the Lord's Prayer teach you to love who you really are as God's own likeness. Let the Lord's Prayer help you to love your neighbor as yourself - love the true God-like nature of those around you. Let the Lord's Prayer help you bow humbly to (as Mrs. Eddy says) "to receive more of His reappearing." This is acknowledging the Name of God. This is adoring the Adorable One. This is hallowing His Holy Name.

What is God?

When I was in College, I wasn't really sure I believed in God. Sure I'd gone to Sunday School from the time I was 3 and had memorized the books of the Bible, the 10 Commandments, the 23rd Psalm, the 91st Psalm, the Beatitudes, the Lord's Prayer, and various other things, but was there really a God out there somewhere? I just wasn't all that sure.

I happened to mention this to an old Sunday School teacher of mine, Mrs. Reyerson, when she and I happened to be chatting out on the Quad at the college I was attending. Mrs. Reyerson was one of those people who knew God well and so was wise enough to let inspiration guide her conversation. And that's what she did on this occasion. There was no insistance that I must believe. There was no doctrine thrown in my face. She just asked me some questions. She said,

"Well, the question "What is God?" is the single most important question there is. So what is a "god" to you?"

And I said, what do you mean? And she said "Isn't a god something you worship? isn't a god something that is the most important thing in the world to you?"

And I said, I guess so. And she said, "So what do you worship? What is the most important thing in the world to you? "

And I said, I don't really know. And so Mrs. Reyerson said "Imagine you're stuck all alone out on a desert island out in the middle of the sea. What would be the one thing - if you could have anything - that you could have with you that would make you excited to jump up out of bed every morning and be glad to be alive?"

And I said, "Well I don't really know that either." Then she said, "Think about it. Really think about it. And then let me know what your answer is."

And she gave me a hug and walked on her way.

I have to admit at the time I rarely felt like jumping out of bed in the morning, let alone jump out feeling glad to be alive. So I spent the next 3 days wondering what would that be like? And what would it be that, if I had it out there all by myself on that desert island out in the middle of the ocean, that it would be the one thing that would make me actually want to jump up with joy out of bed, glad to be alive?

So I ran through the usual suspects: a good book. The Good Book. A survival kit. A knife so I could whittle. A radio, a journal, a deck of cards, my dog Rusty. On and on I kept thinking these would be good to have - but would they actually make me want to jump out of bed in the morning, glad to be alive?

No.

Then after a couple of days, it dawned on me: my friends. If I could have my friends with me out on the desert island, I would definitely jump up out of bed every morning, glad to be alive.

And I thought that was it. I could feel the warmth of this answer, being out there with my friends, out on some crazy desert island, cooking up an escape plan, exploring, building a raft, having fun, doing more than just surving, but having an adventure and being together.

As it turned out I was going to see Mrs. Reyerson the next day, so I was glad I had an answer. But as I got ready for bed that night, a question popped into my head: "what is it about your friends that makes them the single most important thing that would make you glad to be alive? what is it about your friends that has to do with this question of what God is?"

And it dawned on me: it is their love. It is love that actually lights them up as my friends. It is the love we live and express to each other that makes us friends. It is feeling that love that actually makes me want to jump out of bed in the morning, glad to be alive.

And all of the sudden I thought of that phrase from I John 4:8 that I've seen written up on the wall of my church every Sunday since I was a toddler: "God is Love." God is Love. God is not some guy up in the sky to believe in or not. God is Love itself, the Love that showers down on the just and the unjust, the Love that is impartial and universal, the Love that heals, redeems, saves, the Love that my friends reflect, the Love that actually is God.

And when I put that feeling of Love into every time I read the word "God," the Bible suddenly lit up for me. I glimpsed something of what God really is. I felt a little bit of what God really is. I no longer doubted God's existance, I began to understand something of how we manifest - reflect - Him. I began to glimpse what God really is.

And I tell you, if you ask yourself "what is the most important thing in the world to me? what makes me jump out of bed in the morning, glad to be alive?" and actually honestly think about it as deep down as you can, I think you too will find out what God is to you. And if you do, it will change everything. God will be real to you, a living power and presence in your heart, a wonderful companion, closer than your own thoughts.

And maybe you will even find yourself actually jumping out of bed in the morning, glad to be alive.

"Our Father which art in heaven."
Our Father-Mother Love, all-harmonious.
Our Father-Mother Life, all-harmonious.
Our Father-Mother Principle, all-harmonious.
Our Father-Mother Soul, all-harmonious.
Our Father-Mother Spirit, all-harmonious.
Our Father-Mother Mind, all-harmonious.

Oh, and Mrs. Reyerson was glad I'd found my own answer. It happened to be the same as hers.