"Precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little." Isaiah 28:10
"Precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little." Isaiah 28:10
The following harvest for the Association fruit basket, is one which I offer with deep gratitude as it is something that has been ripening for several years, and when the harvest did come, it came so gently and sweetly.
For the last twelve years or so, I have struggled with a particular friendship, which often left me nursing feelings of inadequacy, frustration or just deep seated hurt. I would find myself replaying various scenarios which had occurred between the two of us, wishing I said this, that or the other and inner turmoil would abound.
I had often tried to ‘right’ my perception of the situation and the individual, but a lot of this was based on human efforts and never really lasted; ultimately I would find myself feeling useless and angry all over again.
About 6 months ago, after years of biting my tongue, a certain comment from this individual saw me suddenly flare up, something I had never done before. I felt mortified afterwards and made things ‘right’ as soon as I could. The first lesson it seemed had just been learnt; I couldn’t solve this on a human level. I vowed to address this on a much more spiritual level, aiming to consider how God saw this individual and allow that to fill my thought. Progress was readily seen. Within a few weeks, it seemed however that mortal mind was having one last ‘party’ at my expense, and I found myself relaying to my husband, in a somewhat judgemental tone, several things this individual had said. At this point, this dear, gentle man turned to me and pointed out that he had listened patiently to all the human too-ings and fro-ings surround this relationship for a long time, and wasn’t prepared to hear anymore. Lesson number 2 was unfolding!
From that point forward, I quietened my thought, made ‘self-righteousness be still’ (Hymn304), reached out to God with everything I possessed, and listened … to Him. Beautiful thoughts regarding this individual filled me and a deep-seated peace followed. In the weeks that followed, my prayers led me on what can only be describe as a wonderful adventure as I looked out for opportunities to cherish this individual and witness their God-given qualities. And … it was easy. Gone was all the human effort to ‘be better’, to ‘try harder’, all the hurt, all the false pride. I felt freer, more energised and joyous. As Mrs Eddy points out in Miscellaneous Writings p.115:27 ‘God will give the ability to overcome whatever tends to impede progress.’
I am truly grateful for this ongoing adventure and for all that I have learnt since our last joining together at Association.