CONCERNING SOFT MIND CONTROL AND HARD CORE HYPNOSIS

"Because simple prayer offers a measure of protection for the mind, the occult sees Christianity as its mortal enemy. Investigate deeply enough into the occult, and you will see that it is working secretly, aggressively, silently to bury Christianity, because when one holds firmly to Biblical truths and such facts are present in conciousness, that mind is difficult or impossible to influence hypnotically."
Ann Beals from Christian Science And The Threat Of Mind Control

Food For Thought

I'll be brave today and post these radical statements by Mary Baker Eddy. Error or evil takes many forms. It can present as sickness, lack or any type of inharmony. It can sometimes disguise itself with cloaks of "good". We are living in the time where Love and staunchness of faith are critical to embrace. Here are some powerful statements from Mary Baker Eddy.

"Hold on and persist for good, because there never is a hopeless situation. When error(evil) meets with resistance, it begins to be scattered. Where a situation seems unbearable, it is because error is letting go. We must go ahead of error, and keep ahead of error all the way. Error is nothing but erroneous thought, and we must never give in to it. Mental activity must be tranquil - not lazy; it must express force;be exact, and it must know the reality of man's oneness with God, and the utter unreality of evil in all it's forms of beliefs."

An evil-doer is losing his own selfhood; he is becoming a nonentity, harming himself more than he can harm any other person. What then is success in evil? It is downright defeat. The greater it's success the surer its defeat. Error is self destroyed.

WHERE IS GOD?

The following essay needs to be heeded. I believe that we are part of God...that we are God's expression or reflection. We are made in God's image and likeness...which is SPIRIT. BUT we only live up to this reflection to the degree that we are open to God's presence and Guidance. You have probably heard this analogy before....that it is similar to tuning in to a radio station...you don't get the complete benefit unless you are finely tuned in. We all need to adjust our tuners from time to time :>)

Why do we need mediums,saints, priests, ministers, channelers, enlightened beings or aliens to save us or to help us connect to God...when we already have a direct connection? "In God we live and move and have our Being. In reality we are already one with God.....so actually we don't even need a connection...so to speak. "The kingdom of heaven is within us." It is my feeling that we are looking for God in all the wrong places. So...I guess my point is that we can never be the totality of God. I begin to get uncomfortable when we call ourselves gods. I just thought of a quote I'd like to share which actually relates to the post below. I am quoting Mary Baker Eddy again because that's what I am familiar with and to me it makes sense.

" The Jew who believes in the First Commandment is a monotheist; he has one omnipresent God. Thus the Jew unites with the Christian's doctrine that God is come and is present now and forever. The Christian who believes in the First Commandment is a monotheist. Thus he virtually unites with the Jew's belief in one God, and recognizes that Jesus Christ is not God, as Jesus himself declared, but is the son of God. This declaration of Jesus understood, conflicts not at all with another of his sayings: "I and my Father are one," .... that is, one in quality, not in quantity. As a drop of water is one with the ocean, a ray of light is one with the sun, even so God and man, Father and son are one in being. The Scripture reads: "For in Him we live and move and have our being."

Remarks from CBS Sunday Morning - Ben Stein

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.

My confession:
I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against.. That's what they are, Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu . If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from, that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her 'How could God let something like this happen?' (regarding Hurricane Katrina). Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?'

In light of recent events... terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said okay.
Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.'
Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.
Are you laughing yet?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit.
If not, then just discard it... no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.
My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully,
Ben Stein

Wartime : A Beautiful Example of Protection and Guidance

The following testimony from the book "A Century Of Christian Science Healing", has always been special to me. I feel that now is an appropriate time to share this.....not for the purpose of promoting any specific religion but to illustrate how turning to God, with complete trust and surrender, will see us through difficult times.....and even bless others as we go. In the midst of seeming terror we can feel and experience God's loving protection and guidance. As you will see this is not some head in the sand pollyanna ideology but is spiritually practical and gently powerful.

In Truth there are no enemies.

The following is transcribed from a tape recorded account.

" I was living in Austria , it was the year 1942. At the time I was in Stalag17A. It was a prisoner of war camp on the Hungarian border. There were also young people there like myself whose parents were known to have worked in the underground.

Because I had very poor eyesight I was given 2 weeks of absence to seek the services of an eye specialist in Wiesbaden. The gentleman was quite a prominent doctor. I had corresponded with him and asked if I could come and see him. When he first examined me, he told me that he couldn't do anything for me, that what I needed was faith in God.

My answer was"How can I have faith in God? Do you want me to take it out of the air? And he said no, that he would give me a book to read, and that if I could understand God I could have faith. So he gave me the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health With Key To The Scriptures" by Mrs Eddy, which was in German and in English.

I didn't read it. I wasn't interested in religion. I didn't want to know anything about God. But every day, every time I came to see him, he asked me if I had started reading the book. Finally I started reading it. And I think that the 2 things that startled me, that made me think that this was something tremendous, were, first of all, the definition of God. I thought that if a God existed, He would have to be the way Mrs. Eddy defined Him in the beginning of the chapter of Recapitulation. And the second thing was the idea that good had more power than evil and that we could prove this in our lives. To me this was tremendous because we seemed to be surrounded by the power of evil and nothing else at all.

So when I had to return to the camp, I wanted to take the book with me. At first the doctor didn't want to give me the book, since you couldn't buy books at that time. He offered to send me quotations, but I wanted the book. So he gave it to me and also a Christian Science Herald, a German Herald.

I returned to my camp and just the little bit of reading I had done-- about a week of reading----was enough so that the expression on my face had changed so much that some of the people in the camp didn't recognize me. I also picked up a bible on the way to the camp, and when I got back, I started studying day and night. It just absorbed all my thoughts. I sat in this one room that we had - twelve women in one room-- with one lightbulb on the ceiling. I sat on the floor and just spent every minute studying that I possibly could.

I first recieved the book in Sept. of 1942, and sometime in January,1943, I was studying and all of a sudden I caught a glimpse of what man is: the spiritual image and likeness of God. It was just as if a fog had been let open and I saw that man....as he really is....cannot be detained in a prison, he cannot be confined in a camp, but he is as unlimited and unbounded as God. It practically seemed ridiculous to think that you could keep man behind barbed wires, or confined within anything.

So, I picked up the Bible, Science and Health, my German Herald, and a few personal things, and I walked out of this camp by broad daylight. I didn't try to hide anything. I just walked out the one street ...there was only one road out of the camp. There were watch towers, there were continually soldiers on duty, and they had trucks and armed vehicles. But I went down on foot for about 2 hours and a half to the closest railroad station, and I took a train to Vienna. No one came after me; no one even saw me walk out.

My motive, my only desire was to learn more, to understand more of this teaching. It seemed to me that I couldn't understand the explanations about God. I couldn't understand the explanations about spiritual existence, because all I had known was material existence....what we can see and feel and hear with our 5 senses.

So I tried to find my father, who at the time was working in the underground against Hitler, and I got hold of him for half an hour in a street. I told him very quickly that I had found this teaching and I thought it was tremendous. I had a terrific urge to find out more, and I absolutely needed some money from him to go and find people that could explain this to me. He thought that this was something to beware of, but he did give me the money I asked for. It was the last time I saw my father.

I took the money and put it in a little postal book, which you can take to any post office and draw out what you need. And with the German Herald in hand, I systematically tried to find a Christian Scientist somewhere that would help me. I started with Vienna, and I couldn't find anyone except Mrs------- who at that time was living with Princess---- in her palace as her companion. She was willing to see me.

She told me that the Christian Science movement was not permitted - that they were not not permitted to practice or speak about Christian Science in the Third Reich; and that there were churches and they were closed,that there were Reading Rooms and they were closed. She thought that the best thing I could do was to study, listen and ponder. She assured me that what Science and Health contained was the truth and for me to just go ahead and study quietly and not talk about it. She said she couldn't see me anymore.I still felt such a need to speak to somebody that I decided to go north to East Germany and find some of the of the people who were listed in the German Herald. I went eventually to Breslau.

I should say ,too, that after leaving camp I didn't have any identity card. It was absolutely necessary in the Third Reich to have an identity card, because you were continually checked on the trains, in the street cars, on the streets. But I was never checked. No one ever seemed to ask where I came from or what I was doing, although I was really of an age where people had to work or they had to be in some form of effort to win the war. I also never had a food ration card, because you could only get the food ration cards by having an identity card. But I always had a meal when I needed it. Not having an identity card also meant that I couldn't go to a hotel. I couldn't go to boarding houses. But at that time the station had quite adequate deck chairs, because everyone was on the move. There were many soldiers coming from the front, there were people who had lost their homes through air raids, and there was a continual movement of people who didn't have homes, so it was quite normal to spend the night in a railroad station and wait for another train. No one ever questioned me.

By this time, through reading the Christian Science textbook I had recieved a conviction that God exists; also that He is very willing to take care of us, and that we can ask Him for advice and guidance and that we would get answers. I found that I would get very direct answers and very apropos.

I remember in Breslau I had no idea where I was going to go. So I just turned to God and said: What do I do now? And the thought came to me that I should go to Berlin. That was in 1943 when th air raids were quite frequent. But I followed the inner voice. I got a ticket for the night train. It was all blacked out because of the air raids, and the person standing closest to me was a soldier who had just returned from the Russian Front. The train moved and as we stood there hour after hour, he started pouring out all the experiences that he had had at the front. This sort of intimate communication from the heart prompted me to tell him about Christian Science, to tell him that somehow I felt it was a tremendous thing, but that I couldn't find anyone to explain anything to me; and yet that I had had proofs, and so I thought it must be true. It was such a wonderful thing if it were true,I said, and if I could only find someone to talk to, to find out if people really lived this teaching. And he said Chrisitain Science! I've heard of it somewhere. You know I think I have an aunt and she has a friend, and I think that friend is a Christian Scientist, and her name is Miss........ and she lives in Rostock. Go and see her.

So after spending one day in Berlin in different air raid shelters I went back to the station and made my way to Rostock, which is northeast of Lubeck, in northern Germany, a very small town. I found the lady. She lived at the address that was given to me. She was in her eighties at the time. She was a lovely person. She was not afraid. She was a Christian Scientist. They had a small informal group in Rostock. They were never molested and their books were never taken away. They didn't hold any meetings at the time, but they did have all the literature. She said that I could come and that I could talk to her, and she would give me any of the books that I might want.

I learned about the Christian Science movement from her. She tried to answer all my questions, and when I think about her - it was the erectness and the love she expressed which really impressed me, and the complete lack of fear. She did what was right, what she felt was right , in spite of threats......she didn't recieve any personal threats, but I mean it was well known that you just didn't talk about Christian Science. She couldn't house me because she was living with a sister in a small apartment but she told me that I could come and talk to her anytime I wanted. So I thought it was important to find living quarters close to her, but I couldn't live in any hotel or boarding house or anything like that.

So as had become my habit, I stood in the street and I asked God what I should do. The thought came to me to go to this hardware store and buy something very small. As I entered the door,I greeted the storekeeper in my Austrian way of greeting. Two gentlemen leaving the store stopped short. They had recognized my Austrian accent, and asked me if I was Austrian. I said, yes. They told me they were, also, and that they were working up there in the war effort. They were both Nazis, and they also had a car. They asked if they could do anything for me because I was a fellow countryman of theirs and up in the northern Germany was sort of far away from Austria. And I told them very frankly that I needed living quarters.

They thought they could find them and they took me to Warnemuende which is a resort on the North Sea. It was filled with boarding houses and hotels. They all stood empty, because everyone had been evacuated. It was a war zone up there, for fear that the British might land any minute. So they thought that I could just take any boarding house that I wanted and live there. However, as we drove there---to me it was just the working out of love again----they talked to each other and they thought it really wouldn't be too good if I just lived alone in a boarding house. And they thought of an elderly lady that owned one of these boarding houses, that had refused to leave. She just wanted to stay where she had always lived, and the police left her there. She was about the only inhabitant of Warnemuende at the time. So they took me to her and asked her if she could put me up. She was delighted to have a boarder, and she gave me the best room she had, on the first floor with a view over the canals and the ocean and a big, nice chair to sit in and think, and a nice comfortable bed. I stayed with her until August of 1943, going three or four times a week to Rostock, talking to miss ----, getting new books from her and taking long walks along the ocean to read them.

During that time I always had a meal, although I had no food ration card. and sometimes I got a meal in a rather strange fashion. One day somebody gave me a bread card for a whole month -- just gave it to me, and I never saw the person again. And another time a policeman stopped and asked me if I already -- it was a Sunday, and I was going along the ocean with my book -- and he asked me if I already had eaten, and I told him I hadn't. He told me about a lovely place where they served gorgeous meals. Meals were sort of important at that time, because you didn't get to eat too often with food ration cards -- I mean good things. So I thanked him for the information and he left. I knew I couldn't go there. But then he came back on his bicycle and said: "I thought perhaps you didn't have the necessary tickets." And he just gave me exactly enough for the meal. He tore it off his meat card and his bread card, and card where you get butter and that sort of thing -- just enough for that one meal. I never forgot this, because here I was without an identity card and he could have arrested me; but instead he gave me enough tickets to buy a meal with.

It was a very fruitful time up there. I think I gained a great deal. I think the ocean and the wideness and the peace and quiet helped me greatly to understand the greatness and the wideness of God. Towards the end of July I noticed two young men who had brought me there. They were living in a different place and sometimes I met them in the street. It seemed like they asked me an awful lot of questions and they looked at me in a strange way. I had a feeling that perhaps I had better leave. I didn't feel completely welcome or safe up there anymore, so I took leave from my landlady and I thanked Miss.......... for the many hours she had spent with me.

When I left Rostock, I went to Hamburg. I arrived in Hamburg at the end of July 1943. That night a week long air raid started. I think the British came by day and the Americans by night or the other way around. They came continuously for one week until the whole city was razed to the ground. The suffering was abominable. Everything was burning. This was the first time I could really prove the efficacy of Christian Science. I was led to the 91st Psalm. Later I found out that the 91st Psalm is the psalm of protection. I didn't know it at the time yet this is where my Bible opened. With this 91st Psalm, not only was I comforted and protected; also the other people around me were comforted and protected. I read it to them in one of these air raid shelters.....it really wasn't a shelter, it was just a basement, and they were peaceful and quiet. But then the house collapsed on top of us, and we had to leave that shelter too.

It must have been the next morning, which was Sunday morning (the smoke was so thick that we never saw the daylight). The suffering being so extreme, I felt that I must go and help. I found a crew of young people which was something like the boyscouts except it was an organization formed by the Nazi youth. They were going into the cellars trying to dig people out, and they laid them out on the street. Anyone who was willing to help was put into service. It was like nursing really. What you were supposed to do was to see if these people were living. If they were living, wash their eyes and their nose....wash the dirt off so they could breathe and open their eyes. And if they were dead, just go on to the next one. We were very short of water. I only had one canteen of water. I had been studying so much and I was so sure of God's presence and His help and His love, I guess death didn't really enter my thought. I knelt down by the first one and I talked to him about God, that He was Life, and that they reflected this Life. I just knelt there and talked to them until they opened their eyes. Then I washed their eyes and their nose and I went on to the next one.

Now there was another crew of people working, and they took the people who had opened their eyes and were obviously alive, and they put them on a truck. Then the truck took them outside of Hamburg into the surrounding villages, where the people had all opened their houses and took in these people from Hamburg and fed them and let them come to. I remember well that long line of people in the middle of the street, and there were two rows of burning houses. I just knelt down beside each one and told them about God and about Life and it was so natural, the whole thing. They opened their eyes and then I washed their eyes and went on to the next one. I don't know how long this went on...maybe a day, maybe two days.....and about that time it was Tuesday and someone took me and put me in a truck and said:" You've had enough". The truck took us outside, and I, myself, was taken to a small village. There were some people who took me in, and they fed me juices to drink. We all had very thick lips from all the smoke, and swollen anles, but otherwise I was fine.

I slept for the night, and the next morning I woke up and I wanted to help, I wanted to do something. So I went to the Red Cross and I asked them if I could help and they said yes. They put me into a schoolhouse that was converted into a hospital. There were just rows of people, lying on the floor, mostly with wounds of burning, and there was a doctor, two nurses and myself. We had 140 people to look after. My experiences at this time in being able to comfort, help, and heal slowly showed me that the Truth did work. I could practice it. I could prove it.

Well, this is practically the end. I returned to Vienna towards the end of the year. I was in my early twenties then. I was married by that time, and my husband was at the front. In the spring of 1945 the Russians came to conquer Vienna. They had conquered Budapest, had fought in Budapest for two months. It was rather a ghastly fight with alot of cruelty and barbarism. The radio was full of all the things they had done and that everyone should try to get out of their reach before they came. Also there was alot of word of mouth stories, because many of the Hungarians had come west and had brought their horror stories with them.

Now I denied those stories simply on the ground that I felt whatever was true was true about everybody regardless of nationality or friends or enemies. I was not willing to accept anything I knew was not the truth from the point of view of God's perfect creation. But I would have liked to leave Vienna naturally and one morning a friend of my husband's came with a truck and he said: Quickly, quickly, pack something. I'm going to take you over the border. I'm going to take you away from Austria, if possible, over the border into Switzerland." It seemed wonderful at first, because I had been brought up in Switzerland and it was a free country, and no war; it just seemed like a dream. And I ran back into the house to get some things together and thought this was the answer to my prayers. But I had constantly been confronted with such big decisions. I was so used to turning to God before anything I ever did, that I stopped in the hallway and said spontaneously: What shall I do?" And the answer came as fast as the question had been asked: Whom are you running away from? There are no enemies. " I saw that in God's creation there are no enemies, and there is no need to run.

So I went back to this young man, and I told him that I wouldn't be going with him, that I was going to stay right here. He tried to persuade me. Naturally he thought he had an obligation towards my husband, who was his friend, to take me to safety, and he thought I was just being very foolish, stupid. But I stayed, and I felt quite sure that this was it. By that time I knew that if I heard God's voice, I would obey it, and I stayed. By staying I gave a home to a cousin of mine who had lost hers, and to some others, also.

I didn't have much food. No one had any food at that time. But at the corner of my street only a few houses away, there was a grocery. And the grocer was a very heavy, big man who would come to my apartment for peace and quiet, and rest. It was rather amusing because he was twice my size and twice my age, and he would come and say: "This is like an oasis." And evey time he came, he brought something -- a loaf of bread or something else. Other people that came, too, would say: "There is so much peace here." And everyone brought something. You know, I always had enough food for the people that I had to feed, including myself.

There was alot of fighting in the streets when the Russians came. Most of them were Asiatic Russians, who have customs that date back to the Middle Ages. When they come to a city, for three days they have complete freedom to plunder, to loot, and to do anything they want to. Even their commandant couldn't do anything about it, and told the population of Vienna that the only thing we could do would be to shut ourselves into our houses. And there were lots of Russians that came to my house, and I was completely without fear. I was so convinced of the truth that there is only one man, the man made in God's image.

They might have come to steal, but they finished up with one of those Russian dances to amuse my cousin and myself and they left slapping us on the shoulder and calling us "Mamuschka." So actually it was complete protection. And they brought food, too, so we had enought to eat. Some of the people on my street noticed and said: "You and your house, you are the blind spot in the eye of every Russian."

Mrs. L. Adrienne Vinciguerra
Santee, California

ARE THINGS REALLY WHAT THEY APPEAR?

By Marjorie Tietjen

What is the true nature of our existence? The "world" seems to have most of us pretty convinced that we are finite creatures with a definite beginning and a final ending. That we are nothing more than a collection of material body parts and uncontrollable animalistic urges. The media today is obviously promoting the baser side of human nature.

Whatever happened to shows such as Leave It To Beaver and Andy Griffith, which emphasized and brought to light man's inherent goodness and dignity? Do we tend to aspire to what is expected of us or to what we expect of ourselves? It seems we no longer have positive....really helpful role models. Actors, athletes and rich corporate executives are touted as figures for us to emulate. Instead of society encouraging good thinking along with kind words and deeds, we are basically conditioned to believe that true success consists of acquiring more money, fame and material goods. And of course, this mindset leads to all the corruption our world seems to be facing. Many of us have been told or feel that the thoughts we entertain really don't count. That we can have hateful revengeful thoughts as long as we don't act them out. Well.....somewhere in the Bible it says...."As a man thinketh in his heart...so is he". In other words our thinking....on many different levels.... definitely affects ourselves and the world we live in. We are the thoughts we hold in our hearts.

I think many of us who already have a few years under our belts often find ourselves thinking or expressing the thought that while our physical bodies are apparently aging, we really don't feel any different inside. If mirrors were not available or if we lost our eyesight we may never even become aware that materially we seem to be growing older. It is only our physical senses which tell us we are aging. Our intuition is whispering that we are eternal.

Do you ever feel as though who you are....your essence, conciousness, or soul, could never be extinguished? Well, maybe we all have these feelings because these feelings express reality. However, society does not encourage this view. We are conditioned to disregard these natural, universal feelings or "knowings". We are often told by science that "nature" provides these feelings for us to help us survive. Is nature an impersonal uncaring force or is nature another word for God? If nature is an unintelligent uncaring force, why would it matter to nature whether we had any survival mechanisms at all?

I think we need to pay close attention to these stirrings inside which seem to be inherent in all of us.....and take them seriously. Why should we believe others over what our intuition tells us is true?

Taking the aging aspect one step further.....modern physics and many great religions provide the idea that there is no time....at least not time as we know it. We all know the calendar is a manmade device, but that we seem to need it to function in a material world.


How can the infinite ever begin or end? We are part of the infinite universe. Is conciousness a "thing" that can die? Can we see conciousness? Does conciousness age?

It seems to me that greed , fear and all the "evil" acts which are caused by them.....have their root in the thinking that this material life is it...that we go no further so we might as well make the best of it while we can and work very hard to accumulate wealth and fame. When this is our focus....how can we expect our higher qualities or nature to be expressed?

We don't have to accept the false mesmeric picture of man which tells us we are nothing more than organs, blood and bones subject to evil deeds, decrepitude, sorrow and death. Maybe if we all try to see and "know" the Truth that our true nature is Spiritual.....inherently good, whole and beautiful that it will become more evident in proportion to our belief. As quantum physics is telling us.....essentially there is no matter and our experience is but an objectification of our conciousness.

"Ye shall know the Truth ( the truth about man's spiritual nature) and the Truth shall make you free." Christ Jesus

Purifying Our Environment

By Marjorie Tietjen

The mainstream media has recently been predicting dire consequences for the world's environment if immediate steps are not taken to curb pollution.

What steps are being considered by those in power?

From what I understand, the main "plan of action" would be to grant unlimited powers to the United Nations, to enforce global environmental laws.

What would this mean?

Who would be in charge?

Would we have any say in the election of those who would be in control of our destiny?

It is becoming rather obvious that the more the power is consolidated, the more rights the people lose. We don't want to trade one problem for another......pollution for tyranny. From the beginning of it's organization, the main goal of the United Nations has been to form a One World Government. We need to carefully observe the current situation in which our President is ignoring environmental concerns and maybe even intentionally contributing to them in order to further a more hidden agenda.. Perhaps "Problem - Reaction - Solution" may be playing a role in this scenerio.

Here is a quote by George Bush senior, who of course is the father of our current President. "We have before us the opportunity to forge for ourselves and for future generations a new world order, a world where the rule of law, not the rule of the jungle, governs the conduct of nations. When we are successful, and we will be, we have a real chance at this New World Order, an order in which a credible United Nations can use it's peacekeeping role to fulfill the promise and vision of the U.N's founders."

I think it would be naive to suppose that that our current president did not have the same aspirations or agenda as his father. I feel it is possible that our president could be playing his role as the "Problem" by contributing to the environmental crisis. In the meantime the media is provoking the public into a "Reaction" by telling us the world is on the verge of catastrophic collapse, due to nuclear and environmental concerns, partially caused by the ruler of our country. I believe we may be expected to react by demanding that the United Nations take control of the situation, which is the ultimate goal or "Solution" of those in power. Some of you may think this is far fetched and some of you may even think it's a good idea. However, it would seem prudent to keep these ideas in the back of our minds as we watch events unfold. This particular scenerio has been predicted and appears to be playing itself out. Gorbachev has stated that the environment will be the cornerstone (fear inducing factor) of the New World Order.

At this point in time things appear particularly discouraging and hopeless. However, nothing is ever hopeless. The following is a quote from an article in the May 4, 1970 issue of The Christian Science Monitor entitled "Higher Thinking, Better Living", by Joseph G Harrison

"Man's attitude towards the environment, like his attitude towards his fellowmen, stems from his own view of himself and of his relationship to life's whole. Pollution is not something that springs up automatically and unavoidably as an economy broadens or as human activity increases or as population multiplies. Pollution comes from the quality of men's thinking about themselves and from their overall concept of what life does and should include."

It is becoming clear to many people that the further we move into materialism, the more we separate ourselves from our true spiritual nature. In this process of consuming ourselves with mainly material objectives, we begin to lose our sense of connectedness to God and along with this apparent loss of connection, we also lose our sense of intuition, discernment, wisdom, caring and compassion, which have their source in God.
We become more concerned about material gain. When our main desire returns to spiritual gain then society's compulsion for overconsumption and competition will fade away and more spiritual humane interests will then become our focus.

Pollution of thought is at the root of pollution in all types of media and entertainment. It is also at the root of polluted morals and is definitely reflected in the pollution of our environment. Instead of the environment surrounding us, we will become increasingly aware that we embrace our environment in our conciousness.

"If our purpose is to stuff our environment with more and better matter instead of knowing purer and higher concepts, we shall be disappointed. We might succeed in gaining materialistic goals, but they would never unfold the atmosphere that constitutes man's spiritual environment. Heaven's door would be closed to us until we changed our objective to a spiritual one." Helen Wood Bauman

So, let's not give our power and responsibility away to some Think Tank because we feel there is no hope. The real hope for the world lies within each and everyone of us. Attitudes and values can and do change but first we have to acknowledge that this is possible. The Bible tell us that with God all things are possible. Then shouldn't this be the source we all turn to for lasting solutions?

We all have different concepts of what God is to us. The point isn't to try and define God but to "know" that we are all connected to this wise loving intelligence and it is here where we have our access to right ideas that will heal the world.

Physics Leading the Way to Metaphysics

By Marjorie Tietjen: Daystar1952@yahoo.com

"Traditionally, religion has looked on the world of natural science as opposed to the world of Spirit, but paradoxically, today, it is the world of science that is unwittingly preparing human thought for this breakthrough, by uncovering the ephemeral nature of matter at it's basic levels, and showing the relationship between mind and matter. This makes it easier to concieve of a mental or a transcendent reality. Thought is more prepared to consider the spiritual foundations of theology, and eventually to connect with the creative governing intelligence of the universe, that we call God." Mindpower and The Spiritual Dimension" by Richard Haw

We are all aware of the many trials and tribulations that our world is presently experiencing. Evil, in the form of pollution, crime, hatred, greed, and moral decline, seems to be increasing in proportion to the current materialistic outlook. It would seem then that the remedy for these ills is not more materialism, but a looking away from matter towards Spirit, towards the true nature of our relationship to the Infinite Source of All Being. This wouldn't mean that we ignore our present basic material needs but when we turn to the "Divine Mind", the Collective Conciousness, or Spirit (God), whatever term one wants to use, then, and only then will we find true, practical and lasting solutions which would benefit everyone involved. I've seen this principle demonstrated and therefore know it to be true.

Einstein once said that anyone studying physics long enough is inevitably led into metaphysics.

The original Webster's Dictionary defines metaphysics as the science of the principles and causes of all things existing; hence, the science of mind or intelligence.

Christ was the greatest metaphysician. Through his miracles he proved the supremacy of Spirit over matter. He showed us by His works that there are spiritual laws, which are above material laws, that govern the universe , and when understood, they can be demonstrated as dependable, practical and absolute.

Quantum physics has come to the realization that , basically, there is no matter. It is believed that the seeming reality of our material world is nothing more than the extension or manifestation of our thinking. Thought produces energy and energy produces mass. Several great religions have acknowledged this concept all along. Now, physics is coming to the same conclusions.

Sir James Jeans wrote "We live in a gossamer universe; pattern, plan and design are there in abundance, but solid substance is rare." "Even the elements of the atom itself are only waves of energy void of solid substance. The particles of the atom have no more tangible substance than a thought or a feeling. Gradually matter as a solid thing, has vanished from our concept of the universe - replaced by a basic atomic unit, composed of space and non material charges of energy. This non material nature of the atom is a most essential point in relating the physical universe to the Spiritual Dimension." "The Spiritual Dimension"....by Ann Beals

Many people, including myself, at times, see modern technology as a threat to our freedom and even our health. Everything that man seems to create can be used for good or evil purposes. So, it really isn't the technology that is the problem but it is the thinking behind it. Maybe instead of dreading, fretting, and worrying...and perhaps creating the very reality we fear, we should try and view certain technological developements, such as frequency medicine, computors, cellphones, security cameras, television, micropchips....even the ability to control the weather, as a step toward overcoming the seeming limitations of the material world. When we see a trend towards using these technologies for nefarious purposes, each and everyone of us can always turn to the One Supreme Intelligence for harmonious solutions.

A friend once said to me, "Piece by piece, everything human beings have trusted is being revealed as completely untrustworthy: governments (services), finance (capital), industries (goods), schools, media, entertainment, medicine, etc. Everything with which we use to organize socially and politically is being stripped of value and rendered useless for anything but control through intimidation, coercion and indoctrination. We will have nothing upon which to rely for self preservation or social and political identity. Everything that humanity has willed into being is being used to ensnare us into consenting to slavery. We can not "will" this situation away. We can only surrender to God.

We can only empty our will to God's will, to God's Love and allow God's love to transform us. Once we are transformed with God at the concious center of our lives, the world and it's affairs will be transformed by the energy of love, which is infinite and always there.

So , this is our task: to surrender our will, to allow God's love to fill us and overflow into our world. This and this alone is how the world is changed. "

It is clear to me that our world needs a different approach. This approach, that many are recommending, is not some ethereal head in the clouds type of approach but it is the same potent and loving approach demonstrated by Christ Jesus. He certainly wasn't wishy washy in his methods. He commanded the waves to be still and the storm to cease. He did cast out the money changers in the temple. He raised the dead. He healed withered limbs, fed the five thousand with only a few loaves and fishes, turned water into wine and passed through angry crowds unseen. He said "I of mine own self can do nothing, it is the Father in heaven that doeth the works"....and again, promised that we could do the same. The same power that was available to Him, is available to all mankind throughout all eternity. I believe this was one of Christ's most profound teachings to humanity. Many feel that Christ's crucifixion was not an example of defeat but that his resurrection was the supreme demonstration of the unreality of matter. He proved that Life is eternal and doesn't depend on material circumstances.

There is concern today that because we are seemingly composed of energy or certain types of frequencies, that our true nature can be manipulated ( through energy weapons), by those who wish to control. If we take a step back for a moment and look at this objectively, we will perhaps come to the conclusion that the seeming "powers that be" are trying to create fear and that it is really only the fear itself that we have to fear. Fear closes us off to our connection to God. God is spiritual. He is all good and he encompasses ALL. "In Him we live and move and Have our being". The Bible says we are made in His image and likeness. Therefore, we are also spiritual. Spirit is the opposite of matter. The two are totally separate. One cannot affect the other. In fact, if Spirit ( God ) is ALL then, like physics is now saying, there is no matter. Therefore, even energy is a form of thought. Ultimately material energy has no power over our true being....once we realize this. And this can translate into protection here and now. God/Good is the only power in control...but we have to acknowledge this, feel it and know it before we can see it becoming evident in our experience.

I would like to close with several paragraphs from "The Spiritual Dimension" by Ann Beals

" I began my search during the gentle world of the fifties - a world that has since given way to revolutionary changes. A new society has emerged, one that has shattered the values and ethics of the past, overturned educational and cultural patterns, changed business, government and economy. While we recognize that many of these changes threaten the future of humanity, there appears to be no solutions to them. There are no simple or immediate answers to the complex problems we face. But this does not mean there are no answers. In time we will discover that an understanding of the structure and content of the spiritual dimension will provide answers to those problems that are beyond the realm of science and technology. The discovery of this spiritual dimension marks the end of one age and the beginning of another. This new age will meld together science and religion into one harmonious whole, and transform the world conciousness. It will fulfill the prophecy of John in Revelation, when he wrote of the coming of a "new heaven and a new earth".

"I thought of this "new heaven and new earth early one morning as I waited for the sun to rise. Outside my window there was only the silent night. The winds whispered. The clouds drifted by. Nothing seemed to change. Then a soft light began to dawn, outlining various forms in deep shades of gray. The first rays of the dawn brought an iridescent glow to everything. Then the sun rose, revealing a landscape that was beautiful, complete, perfect in every detail - and yet so hidden in the darkness a short time ago. The change was effortless. In this transformation, the dawn had not created a thing. It had only brought to light that which already existed. As I watched this transformation, I thought, "How so like the coming of this earth's Spiritual Age."

Realizing The Presence of Good

By Marjorie Tietjen

"We are not infintesimal beings on a small planet in a remote corner of the universe. Somehow the universe merges with us and in this new vision we can understand how there can be a creator of the universe who holds in his hands the farthest reaches of the stars and at the same time stands close to each of us as a loving Father ready to strengthen and sustain if we turn to Him.

We see that literally the kingdom of heaven is around us and within us, that there is a spiritual domain with a reality far deeper and more significant than anything tangible and visible. And we see that this domain is where we live and move and have our being. We see that the ultimate power of the universe is not in the shattering power of the atom but in the vitalising power of love, the love of our creator for us, the love that we should have for Him and our fellow beings." From Mindpower and The Spiritual Dimension by Richard C. Haw

At this point in history mankind is experiencing the good and bad aspects of living in the Information Age. We are being constantly bombarded, saturated and overwhelmed with endless images of fear and evil....so much so that we are beginning to believe that this is the true reality of existence. To some extent we do need to know about the subtle methods that error/ evil/ the human mind uses to decieve us so that we can properly address these deceptions materially but even more importantly to address them spiritually. We need to realize their ultimate powerlessness.

We need to ask ourselves, are we spending more of our time affirming and investigating into the supposed power of evil than we are in realizing the omnipotent presence and power of God Good? If it is true that our beliefs and thinking determine our experiences then hadn't we better watch closely what we are giving our time and attention to? Many have observed that the more we concentrate on inharmony/evil, the more we become influenced or affected by it.

I particularly like the explanation Richard Haw gives for the world's increasing turmoil. "The primacy of Mind (with a capital M) as the creative governing power of the universe, appears to be dawning in human conciousness while materialism fights it's rearguard action. Could it not be this factor that is related to the ferment in the world's thought? The conflict in the human mind between the opposing evidence of the material senses and the increasing recognition of spiritual reality may be manifesting itself outwardly in turmoil. This could come about because what we are seeing as material phenomena are actually subjective, and we tend to see and experience what we believe. The turmoil is then the objectification of the mental conflict, due to the resistance of materialistic thought to new ideas challenging it. "

Physicists and philosophers have shared their thoughts on the subject of the nature of reality. Many are beginning to or have already glimpsed the idea that our experiences are our conciousness objectified. We experience what we think. The Bible tells us "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he."

It follows then that the more we dwell on "good" the more good we will experience. This of course doesn't mean we will be able to avoid all of life's problems and learning experiences but as we grow spiritward they can become less and less evident. And when we do find ourselves in the midst of a struggle, we will be shown the way through it. If we don't take the time to contemplate the good and beautiful then we will have no foundation or basis from which to draw on to enable us to express this goodness in our daily lives.

While expressing a human sense of goodness is very helpful and commendable, the gentle healing and protecting power of spiritual goodness can only come to us through our realization that all true good has it's source in God and that all of this good is ours to show forth.

Recently I've heard people express the thought that sometimes it is necessary to carry out evil acts in order to accomplish good in the long run. For example, there are apparently those who feel that it is necessary to extinguish 90% or so of the earth's population in order to save humanity and heal the earth. Doing evil for the purpose of accomplishing good is an impossibility. Evil can never produce good. This is one of the greatest deceptions. In Matthew 7: 17-20, we read.... "A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Wherefore, by their fruits ye shall know them." God's plan for good could never include harming any of His creation. When we sincerely and humbly turn to God/Spirit for answers to the world's problems, we will recieve answers which benefit all of creation, not just part of it at the expense of others.

When we make the effort to see and appreciate the good surrounding us, little by little more good will be made manifest in our lives and the world. As we practice this spiritual "seeing" we become so grateful for our blessings that goodness , joy and love just naturally bubble up and out of us, surrounding all those whom we come into contact with or whom our thoughts rest upon. This has a definite beneficial healing effect on ourselves and the world. Others can tangibly sense this good which has it's source in God. Through practice, this expressing of spiritual goodness and love can become natural and effortless.

Joel Goldsmith says this beautifully in his book "The Infinite Way". "When conciousness is afire with Truth and Love, it destroys all sense of fear, doubt, hate, envy, disease and discord - and this pure conciousness is felt by all whom we meet, and it lightens the load they carry. It is impossible to be "The light of the world" and not dispel the darkness of those about us."

As I already mentioned, we musn't ignore these evil suggestions which are constantly paraded before us but we need to deal with them appropriately, first on a spiritual level and then take the human footsteps as we are guided.

"In order to be free of discord, let us never forget that it is necessary for us to know the nature of error (evil). Now in our meditation we are going to be so conciously one with God (good) that eventually error never comes near us, it fades away automatically even as we approach it. Until that time, let us not hesitate to talk about the nature of error and what we are to do about it as we see evidence of it. "Conciousness In Transition" by Joel S. Goldsmith.

As we uncover the methods of deception, we must be careful not to become overly immersed or wrapped up in the analyzing of what we are trying to discern the unreal nature of. By resisting (fighting against), fearing or worrying over certain evils or inharmonies, we tend to make them more real in our conciousness and as a result we become more affected by these fears and beliefs. Plato told us "What thou seest, that thou beest." Shakespeare said "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."

When we carry forward with the human footsteps for the purpose of keeping law and order, we must not do so with feelings of hatred or revenge. When we proceed with right motives and keep a receptive heart, God/Spirit will gently but yet firmly adjust or correct inharmonious situations by directing us in the proper path.

All this good, which in reality is already present, will most likely unfold to world conciousness by degrees, according to our receptivity and willingness to abandon the gross materialism we are currently steeped in.

Milton Simon tells us in his book "All The Way" "What seems to be disturbing does not exist in reality for God's allness cannot be invaded - it seems real only to unenlightened thought. It is rectified or eliminated, as the need may be, by our correction of our erring sense of it with the understanding that everything that has presence or existence is good. We can see through evil's machinations to man's true selfhood, as never expressing any sort of imperfection. Indeed we can be alert to every attempt of evil to decieve or irritate. In our true being we are sensitive to good alone."

God is everpresent good. Therefore if Spirit/God is everywhere, then in reality "good" is everywhere.

"God saw all that He made and behold it was very good." Genesis 1:31

Isn't it our job to also see God's creation as good and perfect?

"Finally bretheren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things." Philippians 4:8

"Be not overcome of evil but overcome evil with good." Romans 12 :21

Lyme Disease....A Death and Resurrection

By Marjorie Tietjen

My life had never been particularly difficult. In fact, I often felt guilty that others appeared to be struggling so, while for the most part, I seemed to sail smoothly along. Of course I had my little ups and downs but never really experienced the tragic in life.

About 17 years ago, as I was driving to work one day, I vividly remember a conversation I had with God. Dear God, I said, I am truly grateful for all the good in my life but I feel as if I am spiritually stagnant, not growing, learning and helping others the way I feel I should be. So...if I need an experience to help me evolve and grow, please....just don't make it too difficult to bear. Looking back, I can't believe I was saying this! Little did I know what I was about to experience.

As the year progressed, I gradually began to acquire odd unexplainable symptoms, such as tingling and numbness in various parts of my body, lower back pain, headaches, stiff and painful finger joints and fluctuating anxiety.� I remember visiting our general practitioner for tingling and numbness in my arms and hands. Without testing of any sort I was handed valium. Of course, the valium did not help.

During this time I was working in the cafeteria where my small children attended school. This worked out well as I had the same schedule as my children. �When school let out for the summer that year, we looked forward to our traditional activities....camping and boating. �I will never forget the camping trip where my life was changed forever.� One morning I woke up in our camper and felt extremely ill. �It seemed as if I had the flu but the symptoms were in some ways atypical. I was very weakened and sick but yet I could not sleep. What was the most unbearable to me however, was the free floating anxiety or panic....for no discernable reason. �I would find myself pacing the floor, desperately trying to get away from it. I remember saying to myself that I would not wish this experience on anyone...not even my worst enemy.

In the weeks and months to follow, I would plead with my dear family, who was so supportive and understanding (even though they couldn't really understand), to just put me away in a mental institution because I felt as if I was losing my mind and I did not want to be a burden. I made an appointment with our family doctor and was given three weeks of antibiotics...just to be sure.....in case I had Lyme Disease. This was around 1989. They did not test me for Lyme at this point. I was told that it would be too early to show accurate results. It was assumed that if I did have Lyme that it must be from a recent bite. However, I feel the illness had been simmering in my body for quite some time.

The treatment did not seem to touch my symptoms at all and in fact, I felt worse. The panic/anxiety became so intense that I was prescribed tranquilizers.
For several months, when I was at my lowest point, I was unable to care for myself or my children so we temporarily moved in with my husband's parents while my husband stayed at our home to continue working. Then the doctor decided that depression must be my problem so he prescribed antidepressants. He informed me that if needed, I could take up to three at a time. That night I did end up taking three pills because they didn't seem to be working and in fact ended up making the situation worse. I woke up in the early morning in a state of fear and with the thought that I needed help. As I went to the top of the stairs to call for assistance, I fainted and fell down the stairs. My seven year old son called the ambulance which took me to the hospital. At the hospital the doctors performed several tests, including a CAT SCAN of the head. When the doctor found nothing obviously wrong with me, I was asked what I liked to do in my spare time. I told him I enjoyed boating with my husband. His only suggestion, before he sent me home, was to take more rides on the boat with my husband and that this would most likely make me feel better. When summer came to a close, it was time to return to work at the school. I was barely able to function but wanted to press on for fear that if I gave up and quit that my life would be over. At least this way, I thought I could keep up some sort of normalcy. My coworkers were not very understanding.....to say the least. At times, I was so lightheaded and weak that I would immediately have to lie down on the cement floor in the stockroom to get the blood flow back to my head. With me, it wasn't a matter of sleepiness but a simple inability to stay upright for very long. The women I worked with would say to me...."well , we get tired too sometimes you know, but we don't have to lie down!"

Time went by, as I struggled every day to function, and I was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Even though there was no cure, it felt good to have some diagnoses besides depression. I knew something was seriously wrong with me and that it wasn't just "all in my head". Actually, most of it was in my head, but in an organic way...not psychologically. Every couple of weeks a strange new neurological symptom would add itself to the others already in my repertoire. One of the most difficult parts was that most people just did not understand. How can anyone be so sick for so long while the doctors can't find any concrete cause? I can't blame them really. One has to have had this disease to appreciate the full implications of its diabolical fluctuating nature. Because I didn't want people to feel that I was lazy or mentally ill, I set out to prove that I was really and truly organically sick. This drive led me to begin researching the vague diagnosis of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). I would bring all my research to my doctors, hoping desperately that they would take an interest. My family doctor was very supportive but all the specialists I was sent to told me to accept my diagnosis, that I was depressed and why was I doing all this researching? The doctors would tell me that diabetics for instance...they accept their disease and get on with their life so why couldn't I do the same. My neurologist told me that I should stop all the researching because I wouldn't want her to get the wrong idea and that other doctors would also get the wrong idea about me. She was insinuating that I was crazy. I went home that day in tears. No one who is sick should have to be treated this way. Many patients with vague diagnoses , such as CFS and Fibromyalgia, often express the idea that they almost wished they had cancer so they would be taken seriously. Some have even expressed the thought that at least with cancer, many die and get it over with.

After 8 years of having "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome", my research led me to Lyme Disease. I noticed the symptoms of CFS and Lyme were extremely similar and decided I wanted to check this out. I made an appointment with a Lyme literate doctor and began my still ongoing recovery. I was tested for Lyme Disease by this doctor but the results were negative. However, I was treated anyway based on my history, symptoms and the fact that I lived in a very endemic area. At first my symptoms became worse, as I was warned. I was told that this was a good sign and meant that the antibiotics were hitting the target. I was on a high dose of oral doxycycline and it took four months before I even began to see any improvement and then finally, little by little, some of my symptoms began to fade away. It was a very slow process with many setbacks and flares....but each month these cycles of flares would be reduced in severity. I learned that the setbacks and cycles were almost always temporary. I would often tell myself not to worry when an old scary symptom would reappear. Usually in three to four days the particular symptom would disappear and another one would take its place. Again, in my experience, each month the symptom cycles were less and less severe.

After 4 months of antibiotic treatment, I was retested and was now positive. The explanation I was given for this, which makes sense to me.....is that those who are the sickest, most likely have the heaviest load of the Lyme bacteria. Many times all of one's antibodies are tied up to these bacteria in immune complexes. When the bacteria begins to be killed off, this frees up some of the antibodies which can now be measured. So...in other words....it is often those who are the sickest and chronically ill who test negative for Lyme Disease when using antibody testing.

Two years ago I had to switch to another doctor who specialized in Lyme Disease. I was beginning to slip backwards because of breaks in treatment. I had never really been on consistent long term treatment. This new doctor had me tested with the Bowen test and I tested positive for Lyme and Babesia. Now that I am finally being treated consistently for the Lyme and the first time for Babesia, I feel as though I have my life back.

During those many years in limbo, I felt as if I had lost my connection to God. Lyme Disease had pretty severely affected by brain and nervous system which made it difficult even to think....never mind to experience spiritual feelings. I couldn't understand why I would have to go through a trial or experience which would make it so difficult to feel God's presence.

As my thinking became clearer with treatment, my feelings of spirituality gradually began to reappear. I spent more and more time reading inspirational books. I wasn't trying to be healed nor was I asking or seeking anything else material or specific. I just wanted to feel and be aware of the presence of Spirit or God. I wanted the joy and love and goodness I was receiving from God to flow through me and envelope those around me. As I focused in this way, I felt as if I have emerged from an egg into a new world of excitement, happiness, joy and love. So many wonderful people have crossed paths with me and for this I will be eternally grateful.

Intuition seems to have increased, synchronicity abounds and everyone I come into contact with is trying to serve humanity in their own special way. I have improved a great deal and seem to have acquired new abilities that I had never even dreamed of. It's like watching a play unfold....a good play. I now feel as if I have a purpose in life. The thought of growing older and losing vitality now never crosses my mind. I am finding just the opposite to be true. Not that I will now be free of all problems nor am I totally cured but this illness has brought me to a point where I appreciate life and those around me...so much more.

While I personally don't believe that God sends evil or trials to us, I think our experiences reflect the degree to which we try to abide in Spirit. We all have a desire to know God and to feel God's love so perhaps when we are focused on the wrong things something inside us creates circumstances to head us in the right direction. So, despite the fact that I still have memory and organizational problems and the world seems to be falling apart around us, I am experiencing a more consistent joy and assurance that in reality God is on the scene but that our real need is to open our awareness to this fact.

Lyme can be a devastating disease but there is always hope....especially when we look for it in the right places. I am sensing...along with a growing number of others, that despite what the media is telling us....more and more people are coming together in the spirit of love and cooperation. This spirit of love is the only thing that will truly heal our lives and the world. While, as many of you know, I feel we need to expose the corruption which is seemingly taking place all around us.... it musn't be with a sense of hate, fear or revenge.

I can actually say, even though the Lyme journey has been a very difficult struggle, that if I could, I wouldn't want to change a thing. I feel that the Lyme experience has brought me to a whole new place....one of wonder and amazement.