The greatest gift
We are coming to that time of the year when there is an emphasis on gift giving combined with a religious celebration but let us not forget the greatest gift that just keeps on giving. We know that God is Life and God is Love. One that we could not live without and the other that life is all about. Each of us has life which is of God and each of us has the capacity to love which emulates God. Life itself is God making a personal appearance by means of you. God as life is your being. God as love is your expression of that being. Some find the gift of life to be a curse because they think of life as drudgery and a challenge at every turn, but they know not the gift of love. To be sure, life is a challenge, but it is a series of overcoming that brings the rewards.
It has been said that we are never challenged beyond our capacity. Like the chick who must peck his way out of the egg, we must meet our challenges with confidence and determination. We are alive with all the power of the Universe at our disposal. We can quake in fear or rise in strength. God, the Creator, didn’t create a home for sissies. Throughout history men and women have stood out from the crowd to proclaim the Truth. As we recognize our own divinity we know that we have the power to not only change our experience but to manage it the way we desire.
The orthodox speak of a heaven that is devoid of challenges. However, I would view a life or an afterlife devoid of choice or challenge as a hellish realm. We find that challenges are absolutely essential for growth. Think about it. Every advancement or invention came about to meet a challenge. It works the same way for us. The introduction of love to every element we encounter produces the new and improved you. The love we express through appreciation and thanksgiving cements relationships, improves all manner of business, and makes you feel good, and there is never a time when you don’t want to feel good.
Let us not forget to mention the reason for the season, and that is the birth of Christ within each and every one. The Christ means the word of God manifest in and through man. The Christ is not limited to one man, even though he was an extraordinary man. Jesus said, “The things I do you can do and greater things than these shall you do.” He also said, “I have come that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” Notice he did not say we had to die to have this life.
Say to yourself, “I have a calm, inward conviction of my union with good, my oneness with God.
I have a deep realization that I am surrounded by an infinite Law which receives the impress of my thought and acts upon it.
There is nothing in me that can deny, limit, obstruct, divert or in any way hinder my use of the Law.
There is no argument, no belief, no superstition, no doubt that can cast any shadow of unbelief across my mind.
I am aware, awake and alive to the Christ which gives me the power of overcoming any and all challenges.
God is Love and Loving You Right Now!
(The Rev. Dr. Walt Sharer is minister at Bishop Church of Religious Science, located at 129 E. Line St., Bishop. Rev. Freda Lindsay and Rev. Walt officiate the weekly, Sunday services at 10 a.m. You can hear Rev. Walt’s message on “The Devotional Hour” on Sierra Wave KSRW 92.5 FM Sunday mornings at 8:30 a.m. The church can be reached at (760) 873-4195 for more information.)