Today is about Nourishing Ourselves. When we arise in the morning we may begin our day with breakfast. We think about what would be good to sustain us until lunch time. We may start with a glass of orange juice or fruit in season, then yogurt, cereal or eggs and toast or instead a protein drink. These are some healthy choices to consider.
There is another kind of way to nourish ourselves which begins with what we are putting in our mind. Jesus told us in Matthew 15:11: “It is not what enters into the mouth which defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, that is what defiles a man.”
Then in verses 17-20, “Do you not know that what enters into the mouth goes into the stomach, and thence, through the intestines, is cast out? But what comes out of the mouth comes out from the heart; and that is what defiles man. For from the heart come out evil thoughts, such as fornication, murder, adultery, theft, false witness, blasphemy. It is these that defile a man; but if a man should eat when his hands are unwashed, he will not be defiled.”
Jesus the Christ is saying that it isn’t what we put in our mouth that defiles us but what we think and speak or comes through and out of us. That its more important to mind our thoughts; pay attention to what our thoughts are saying. Back in his day, unwashed hands was considered breaking a law, a sin. They had some 400 laws to follow each day to make their way to heaven. Our fearful, stress driven, or guilty thoughts can do so much more harm to our body. Thoughts held long enough become spoken and acted upon can also do much harm to other people.
I’ve had to stop thoughts that have taken up residence in my mind by saying “cancel that thought” or “there’s no truth in that.” Then replace the thought by taking a good deep breath and affirm some truth.
We make choices about what we eat, but what about what we think upon. The words going through our mind are they supporting us? Are they sustaining or degrading our energy? Are they making us sad or happy, angry or peaceful? What is the quality of our thoughts? Something to think about.
What about that screen whether it’s a TV show, computer game, cell phone app or social media? It’s even called the “feed,” we’re feeding ourselves with all this information, disinformation, ads, and just plain nonsense that is constantly flowing by. Our mind is taking it all in both consciously and at an unconscious level.
People hypnotized can recall the tiniest details that they would normally not have remembered. That’s tapping into the subconscious level of mind that stores everything whether its true or not. The subconscious doesn’t care, it has no discernment. It’s our conscious mind that has the power to discern and choose. But it is up to us to be present in the here and now to be able to discern and choose what we want to put into our mind and store in our subconscious mind.
Another distraction are daydreams. I remember, as a teenager, sitting in the classroom starring out the window daydreaming. I certainly wasn’t hearing what the teacher was talking about. It was like being in another world. This daydream could be longing for something I wanted, or about how someone hurt my feelings, or that boy sitting across the room.
Again, we are in our subconscious level of mind allowing all this stuff to pop up and play like a movie in our mind. We can see, hear, and even replay the feelings. We’re allowing ourselves to be replaying our past thoughts and re-experience painful memories again and again.
Have you ever been one of those drivers in autopilot? Autopilot is when we’re driving along and thinking about something other than driving. We’re in our head someplace, or out-of-body, and suddenly we realize that we’re at our destination. But how did we get there? We were on autopilot.
There was this one time while living at North Lake Tahoe, and I was driving home from work very upset about something. It took three times passing the same street before I finally made it home. Each time before getting to the street, I would be thinking about what upset me. Then I would realize I had passed the street to make my turn to go home. Three times having to turn around before finally getting home. Now that’s not being present.
Sometimes while driving, I think about if the other driver speeding down the road is present, daydreaming or even asleep. Today they’re also on their phones. It’s a wonder that more people aren’t in car accidents.
Being in our conscious level of mind requires us to be paying attention, to be fully awake and present in the here and now. How else can we make conscious choices? I’m reminded of the old time computer that required that we type in our commands for the computer to execute. If we mistyped the command, we referred to that as “garbage in garbage out.” If we’re not being fully present then we have a lot of garbage going in and out.
When we give our full attention to what we are doing, then we get the desired results. When I’m preparing a talk or article for our newsletter, I have to sit down in front of my computer, tune everything else out, and just be present. In this quiet state, soon a word comes, then another, and soon a stream of connecting thoughts that become written paragraphs and pages.
One may ask, where did all these words come from. Some are from the subconscious and may also come from what we refer to as Super consciousness or Christ Mind. Yet it is our conscious mind that is discerning and editing what is coming through and being written. Does it align with what I understand as truth, is it helpful, does it make sense to the reader or listener? These are questions I ask myself.
These same questions are good to ask when we are reading the news or our feed, or any new information; is it aligned in truth, is it helpful, does it make sense to me. When I began studying spiritual books, I would ask these things, and sometimes it was above my understanding, but I knew it was Truth and that my soul would know what to do with the material. Then I would just take a few sentences in and mediate upon them, and let it go.
Nourishing ourselves with spiritual works grounded in Truth, these feed our soul and nurtures our body. Meditation, to take quiet moments to just reflect and silently listen. Quieting the mind opens us up for greater truth.
Praying the Divine Science way is life affirming. Reminding us of what is true. We are bombarded with what is not true, and to remember what is true is transformative and healing. We feed our mind by reading, taking classes and studying Truth Principle. What we put in must come out, and we do this by practicing what we have learned. Eventually we become a clear vessel, a bright light that shines for others seeking their own light.
Nona Brooks tells us in her book Mysteries that the morning hour just before rising out of bed is a good time to set our inner thermometer, before all the busyness of the day takes over. We have our first thoughts on God, making God first in our day.
We can choose to start our day first by thinking about God; having gratitude for this day, for all that we have and for just being alive; and setting our intentions for the day. This is our new diet.
I like to keep my bedroom blinds open, so that when I open my eyes in the morning I can see the sky. I then thank God for my life, and this beautiful day set before me. I move into gratitude for everything else in my life. Then I still my thoughts and have quiet time. By the time I get out of bed I feel so much gratitude and ready to experience and live the day.
Find what makes your first hour of the morning special for you, that nurtures your soul. And then nourish your mind and feed the body. Take quiet moments throughout the day for spirit to renew body and soul. It is also best to end our day with some quiet moments and gratitude.
What are we thinking about when we are eating? It is important to pay attention to our thoughts while eating, and even prior to our first bite. We have so many thoughts and beliefs regarding the food we eat. Is it good for me or bad for me, or who cares I’ll eat it anyway? What we think about our food is important to how we digest it. I like to go back to basic principle, all is God.
Science tells us raw foods have more life or Chi energy than cooked. Air has the highest chi energy, then water, fruits and vegetables, less is fish and meat least. When we cook food it dissipates its life force energy. There has been scientific tests done that measures this energy when cooked. They also found that when we focused our thoughts with love and gratitude towards water and food that it raised its life force Chi energy.
The practice of saying a prayer, grace, having gratitude before taking that first bite at mealtime has a purpose. First it sets our focus on God, the source and substance of all food. Respect the food we partake in by gazing upon the table enjoying its beauty and all the aromas. Next we have gratitude for those that grow, prepare and bring it to us.
We are also grateful for those joining in this meal with us. When we are doing this prayer with full attention and intention we are raising our love vibration and that of the meal before us. This is truly blessing our food. Even while we are eating to slowly chew enjoying the taste and texture of each bite, making it even so much more beneficial.
The following is an example of a mealtime prayer:
The food of which we are going to partake is your gift, O God, and the fruit of the labor of many beings. We are grateful for it and bless it. May it give us strength, health, joy – and may it increase our love. So it is, Amen!
Every moment of everyday is an opportunity to nourish ourselves and make sacred. Tending to our thoughts while doing our work, our personal care, our playtime and prayer time are all opportunities to have intention and being present. In doing so raises the vibration of our consciousness and quality of life.
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