Photo illustrated by Erinn Coventry
A guest post written by Susan Spears
Christian Scientists work every day to see God’s inspiration in their daily lives. With this in mind, the founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, counsels us that “we take the inspired word of the Bible as our sufficient guide to eternal life.” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures)
I know that everyone has at one time encountered inspiration in his or her life. A testimony was given recently at our church about looking up the definition of inspiration. It turns out that Webster’s says it’s: “a Divine influence or action on a person believed to qualify him or her to receive and communicate sacred revelation.” Wow! Divine influence. It is also ordinary people doing extraordinary things. I started thinking about inspiration in my life, and I can think of many things that inspire. Music and natural beauty being two of my most cherished subjects. Another is inspirational writing. When I was in the 6th grade, my Language Arts teacher introduced me to Max Ehrmann’s prose poem, Desiderata.
Talk about inspirational. I absolutely loved every single verse in that poem and each sentence had such a clearly expressed thought. These are all examples of Divine influence. Perhaps a good summary of Ehrmann’s poem would be Mary Baker Eddy’s idea in Science and Health: “Undisturbed amid the jarring testimony of the material senses, Science, still enthroned, is unfolding to mortals the immutable, harmonious, divine Principle, — is unfolding Life and the universe, ever present and eternal.” The amazing thing about inspiration is that it brings each of us closer to God because it opens us up to the wonder of God expressed in everything.
Link to Desiderata
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Thank you for this lovely, INSPIRATIONAL article!
I love these inspired thoughts. Thank you! Particularly helpful to me was the quote from Science and Health that begins with “Undisturbed amid the jarring testimony. . . .”
That is just beautiful. An hour ago I was reading in Science and Health (p. 326) the line, “All nature teaches God’s love to man….” and noticed that it doesn’t say “for” man but “to” man, a little preposition that indicates God loves not just man but EVERYTHING He made “very good,” including His precious animals, who are definitely a “divine influence” in my life.
What a nice, gentle respite from a day at the computer – a talk with God and Her gracious means of communicating!
I love this new avenue for us to read and share with others that have questions. Thanks for this inspiring, gentle Truth, made available to all!
Lovely inspiration, thank you! The Desiderata offers beautiful, wise counsel.
This message is like a breath of fresh air blowing into a room though an open window. Thank you.
Strong, peaceful, firm, but very powerful, thank you!
Thanks for your post Susan and the thoughtful link between the two verses. Several of my classmates memorized the Desiderata and we took turns reciting it during our high school graduation ceremony. It provided uplift for all to go out and bless and be blessed! At the time, as a fairly new student in the Christian Science Sunday School, I remember thinking of Mrs. Eddy’s words that offered such promise: “Whatever inspires with wisdom, Truth, or Love–be it song, sermon, or Science–blesses the human family with crumbs of comfort from Christ’s table, feeding the hungry and giving living waters to the thirsty.” It’s such a blessing to know that as Christian Scientists we can be open to finding these “crumbs of comfort” throughout the day and in turn share them with others as inspiration and prayer leads!
I heartily agree Pat. Thank you Susan for introducing me to such a beautiful and inspirational poem and for connecting it to the quote from Mrs. Eddy. I loved the quote you provided too Pat and the idea of sharing “crumbs of comfort” as Susan has done. Beautiful thoughts to uplift and enjoy!
Thanks for the inspiration of your article on Inspiration. A friend once pointed out to me the root of the word is to inspire which relates to breathing and inhaling…..so one could say that inspiration is the very breath of our lives–as natural and necessary to us as breathing itself.
Thanks also for the link to Desiderata.
I am new to this site but loved this offering of inspiration that certainly showed Divine Influence in many different forms of thoughts and expressions.
I am also drawn to the little icons next to each responders name. They look like little quilt squares, and as a quilter, I love the idea that we are all woven together, each unique, necessary and part of “one stupendous whole”.