Having the confidence for life
Twenty-eight years ago, a recent member of our church was distraught over the sudden death of her husband. He had loved her so much; he had done everything for her. He was a very good worker where he was employed, and yet, he cleaned and cooked at home. So much so that she had never developed the skills needed to maintain and sustain the household. The couple, while he was present, attended a mega-orthodox church near their home. She came to our church just before his passing. She had heard about the church from my mother, who was already a member. It was hard to believe that the woman didn’t know how to clean or even vacuum. While she was very popular with her friends, she was totally without confidence at home. Molly was not her name but for this article that is what we shall call her.
Molly was financially unable to hire a housekeeper, but she wanted somebody to show her what she lacked in living skills. While I am not a slob, I was hardly the one to show her how to clean her house or balance her checkbook. However, I could help with the selfconfidence side of it.
Molly’s previous church had given her some assurance about her final destination after her demise but didn’t give her the life skills she needed. This is not the fault of the church; they did their job. You could blame Molly’s mother, her husband or assume Molly really liked to be treated like a queen. It was not essential to place blame. The need was to establish enough confidence that Molly could function and grow.
My mother and friends took on the job of showing Molly how to clean and maintain her home. Actually, that was the easy part. Being a fairly new pastor, it was my job to instill confidence in Molly. It was fortunate that Molly was willing to learn. All teachers should recognize that the teacher gets just as much if not more out of it than the student. I am grateful to Molly for the patience and perseverance she had to go from where she was to where she wanted to be.
Anyone who knows me or my teaching knows that I am a great believer in affirmations. The
Power of affirmations is a gift of God to all of us. We all know that Jesus said, “It is done unto you as you believe.” So the job was to get Molly to the point that her belief carried enough confidence to fulfill her desire.
Molly and I set up a weekly schedule of meetings. During those meetings we would assess her progress and upgrades, at which time we could see if we needed to adjust the affirmations or not.
Right from the start I instructed Molly to set some time dedication each day, away from the busyness of the day to reflect on them. Also, she was to repeat the affirmations every time they would come to mind. Affirmations don’t need to be complicated or lengthy. As a matter of fact, the simpler the better. We started with affirmations that best fit her needs. The following are a series of affirmations Molly used in her desire to attain a full and complete life.
“Divine Mind and Infinite Intelligence guide, maintain, and sustain me in all that I do. Within me is all I need to do and be. I am dependent on the strength within me. I have all the help I need to accomplish whatever I need.”
God is love and
Loving You Right Now!
(The Rev. Dr. Walt Sharer along with Rev. Freda Lindsay are ministers of The Religious Science Church located at 134 Whitney Alley; (760) 873-4195. Contact us at (760) 938-3221 (Rev. Walt), and 760 872-4686 (Rev. Freda). Hear us both at 6:30 a.m. on the Sierra Wave Sunday mornings.)