Photo by Teacher Dudes BBQ

     Routes are being changed, backpacks are not allowed on trains, security is tightened and a great watchfulness is descending upon Chicago.  Protestors are already manning the streets and engaging reporters.  There are many activists preparing for the NATO Summit – I am one of them.

     I will not be in downtown Chicago – I will be in my office in Naperville – but I will be active nonetheless.  You may not hear me or see me, but my urgings will be as heartfelt as anyone near the Summit.  My activity will be prayer.  I will be silently acknowledging God’s peaceful control of everyone in my state, especially for those gathering in the Windy City, including every participant, reporter and protestor.

     My concern and love is world-wide.  I pray each day to understand and live more fully the fact that everyone is loved by God.  God is universal – not confined to any sect, nation or race.  This universal God may be called by various names in many languages, but this Spirit is everywhere – from the Arctic Circle, to the jungles of the Amazon; in every large city, suburban area and small town; in the oceans, the skies, mountains and valleys.  It can be found in every NATO country and in every country outside the NATO alliance.  This universal God is Love. 

     From the war-torn countries of Afghanistan and Iraq; to those contemplating nuclear inclusion such as Iran; from Pakistan to Yemen; this divine Love still fills all space.  It is still protecting, guarding and guiding individuals in battle and administrative positions.  It is an all-encompassing intelligence that stifles wrong and upholds justice.  In developing countries throughout Africa and the former Soviet republic, this Love is at work.  This intelligence finds ways to feed, house, comfort and heal.  It strengthens the charitable workers throughout the world participating in His work of building up lives and bringing health to millions.

     This Love is everywhere.  God is still on the field.  Man’s purpose is to live that love.  Every individual is a child of God – no matter how poor, outcast, despicable or hateful.  We must look deeper at each one and see the child of God there.  We must pray for divine intelligence to meet the huge problems of our world.      

      Finding a way to live peacefully and respectfully for each other is vital to our survival.  Solutions to the enormous financial challenges facing practically every country on the globe need to be found.  To me, every solution begins with learning more about God and living from a greater spiritual perspective.

      A book I often use in this search is Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.  This week of the NATO summit, I am searching my heart to better accept these words, “One infinite God, good, unifies men and nations; constitutes the brotherhood of man; ends wars; fulfills the Scripture, ‘Love thy neighbor as thyself;’ annihilates pagan and Christian idolatry, – whatever is wrong in social, civil, criminal, political, and religious codes; equalizes the sexes; annuls the curse on man, and leaves nothing that can sin, suffer, be punished or destroyed” (p. 340).

     This is my protest – I protest against all injustice, greed, hate and violence.  I protest in prayer.  I align myself with God – the all-encompassing divine Love.  Won’t you join me in this prayer protest?  Let’s be part of God’s love working the necessary changes all over the world bringing justice, peace, and health to all.

Photo by Dave 77459

     Can you forgive? 

     Most of us have been hurt by others at one time or another.  We have been the victim of intentional or unintentional words of hostility; a look of disdain or hate; even physical abuse; or the sharpness of another’s neglect or disregard.  Isn’t there a way to get past the feelings of victimization, and also find the health-benefits of doing so?  Can we forgive?

     The Mayo Clinic has written that forgiveness has the following health benefits:

• Healthier relationships
• Greater spiritual and psychological well-being
• Less anxiety, stress and hostility
• Lower blood pressure
• Fewer symptoms of depression
• Lower risk of alcohol and substance abuse

     But what is forgiveness and how can we be better at forgiving ourselves and others?  An anonymous writer once wrote, “Forgiveness is me giving up my right to hurt you for hurting me.”  I like that.  Gandhi called forgiveness “the attribute of the strong.”  He further stated, “Forgiveness is choosing to love.  It is the first skill of self-giving love.”  And finally Henry Ward Beecher said, “Keep a fair-sized cemetery in your backyard, in which to bury the faults of your friends.”

     It takes great courage and strength to forgive.  To some it may be easy, to others, much more difficult.  But to take responsibility for another’s faults and carry them around is not our duty.  Forgiveness is a commitment to changing one’s thinking.  The Mayo Clinic also shares a few ways to reach that state of forgiveness.  They are:

• Consider the value of forgiveness and its importance in your life at a given time.
• Reflect on the facts of the situation, how you’ve reacted, and how this combination has affected your life, health and well-being.
• When you’re ready, actively choose to forgive the person who’s offended you.
• Move away from your role as victim and release the control and power the offending person and situation have had in your life.

     I love the thought of MOVING ON.  Each of us has the opportunity to go forward in our lives and release the past to the past.  Sometimes we need to let go of a wrong done to us, and reach forward to something else to think about.  We need to grab onto love in order to forgive.  We need to love ourselves, and look deeper at the one who has hurt us.  The jealousy, anger, lust or other emotions they felt that made them act so cruelly was the real culprit.  Our forgiveness may be the step they need to help them better control their actions and resolve their feelings. 

     You are not responsible for changing another.  You are only responsible for yourself.  Forgiveness will help you feel better – both spiritually and physically.  It will resolve bad feelings and emotional upset.  It will put a smile on your face, and calm in your heart.  You deserve to feel better, you can forgive and MOVE ON!

     I would like to share the experience of Corrie ten Boom, as given in Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul edited by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Patty Aubery and Nancy Mitchell.  Ten Boom’s experience is a wonderful testimony to the healing power of forgiveness:

Corrie ten Boom and her sister Betsie had been imprisoned in a Nazi death camp.  Corrie survived, Betsie did not.  Corrie ten Boom spent many years lecturing on forgiveness. 

     “It was in a church in Munich that I saw him – a balding, heavyset man in a gray overcoat, a brown felt hat clutched between his hands.  People were filing out of the basement room where I had just spoken, moving along the rows of wooden chairs to the door at the rear.  It was 1947 and I had come from Holland to defeated Germany with the message that God forgives.

     “It was the truth they needed most to hear in that bitter, bombed-out land…

     “The solemn faces stared back at me, not quite daring to believe.  There were never questions after a talk in Germany in 1947.  People stood up in silence, in silence collected their wraps, in silence left the room.

     “And that’s when I saw him, working his way forward against the others.  One moment I saw the overcoat and the brown hat; the next, a blue uniform and a visored cap with its skull and crossbones.  It came back with a rush: the huge room and its harsh overhead lights; the pathetic pile of dresses and shoes in the center of the floor; the shame of walking naked past this man.  I could see my sister’s frail form ahead of me…

      “The place was Ravensbruck and the man who was making his way forward had been a guard – one of the most cruel guards.

     “Now he was in front of me, hand thrust out: ‘A fine message, Fraulein!  How good it is to know that, as you say, all our sins are at the bottom of the sea!’

     “And I, who had spoken so glibly of forgiveness, fumbled in my pocketbook rather than take that hand.  He would not remember me, of course – how could he remember one prisoner among those thousands of women?

      “’You mentioned Ravensbruck in your talk,’ he was saying.  ‘I was a guard there.’  No, he did not remember me.

      “But since that time,’ he went on, ‘I have become a Christian.  I know God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there, but I would like to hear it from your lips as well.  Fraulein’  – again the hand came out – ‘will you forgive me?’

      “And I stood there -…and could not forgive. 

      “It could not have been many seconds that he stood there – hand held out – but to me it seemed hours as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I had ever had to do.

      “For I had to do it – I knew that.  The message that God forgives has a prior condition: that we forgive those who have injured us.  ‘If you do not forgive men their trespasses,’ Jesus says, ‘neither will your Father in Heaven forgive your trespasses.’

     “I knew it not only as a commandment of God, but as a daily experience.  Since the end of the war I had had a home in Holland for victims of Nazi brutality.  Those who were able to forgive their former enemies were able also to return to the outside world and rebuild their lives, no matter what the physical scars.  Those who nursed their bitterness remained invalids.  It was as simple and horrible as that.

     “And still I stood there with the coldness clutching my heart.  But forgiveness is not an emotion – I knew that too.  Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.  [God] help me!  I prayed silently.  I can lift my hand.  I can do that much.  You supply the feeling.

     “And so woodenly, mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me.  And as I did, an incredible thing took place.  The current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm and sprang in my shoulder, raced down my arm and sprang into our joined hands.  And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes.

     “’I forgive you, brother!’ I cried.  ‘With all my heart.’

      “For a long moment we grasped each other’s hands – the former guard and the former prisoner.  I had never known God’s love so intensely as I did then.  But even so, I realized it was not my love.  I had tried, and did not have the power.  It was the power of the Holy Spirit as recorded in Romans 5:5 ‘…because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”

     This same power is in you – helping you to forgive and love, and MOVE ON!

Photo by Shakroth Dabiri

     The American Healthcare Association (AHCA) has announced that this week, May 13 – 19, is National Nursing Home Week.  The theme for 2012 is: “Celebrating the Journey”.  This week is designed to recognize individuals in long-term care settings and the dedicated staff who care for them.  It encourages every resident of a nursing home to live life to the fullest. 

     This observance hopes to involve families, community members, youth and others in a wide-ranging show of support to residents in care facilities.  The AHCA hopes that this week will encourage volunteerism and intergenerational contact.  Over 1.5 million Americans live in nursing facilities, assisted living residences, and homes for persons with developmental disabilities. 

     I served as a volunteer chaplain at the DuPage County Convalescent Center in Wheaton, IL, for almost ten years.  I learned many lessons in my years of service, but the most important lesson was that the individuals I worked with should be treated with dignity.   I quickly realized that these were people with full lives – many experiences and much wisdom, courage and love. 

     My job was to provide church services for them on Saturday mornings.  I learned to respect everyone’s wishes, and never talked anyone into attending our services.  I was always happy to help others come to our services, and learned to maneuver wheelchairs fairly well.  I had regular attendees who were advanced in age and others who were closer to my age – I was in my early thirties at the time.  But the joy and love I felt for each one I met was certainly not dependent on age. 

     I remember one Saturday, a regular church attendee had her head in her hands.  When I approached her, she smiled at me, but said she was quite ill.  I told her that she did not need to attend church services, but she insisted.  I brought her to the service with the most tender care I could, and I kept her in my prayers during that service.  After the service, she lifted her arms, gave me a hug and thanked me profusely.  She said she felt well.

     A smile is certainly worth a million words, and for those patients who could not talk, I would speak slowly and wait for a sign of recognition.  It usually came.  My co-volunteers and I looked beyond the physical difficulty to see the child of God.  This was far from depressing work – each Saturday was filled with God’s joy and peace.  I have always felt that prayer is health-giving. As I prayed throughout my years there, I felt I was in a small way helping everyone to do the best they could.

     One year, I even booked the community band I played in to do a Christmas concert for this facility.  It was well received.  What fun it was to see the residents sing and clap to the beat while they enjoyed the music.

     Thinking back, I received more than I gave when volunteering at this nursing facility.  I worked very hard to treat every patient with dignity and respect; and in return I was given smiles, waves, hugs and tears of gratitude.  The funny thing about dignity and respect is that when you give them, they return in the most wonderful ways.

Photo by Katie Ring

     My mom was pretty amazing.  She was a great cook and baker.  She kept our home clean.  She was always there for any of her children, to wipe away a tear or give us encouragement.  We loved her dearly.

     When I was fifteen and my sister was thirteen, my dad passed on.  My mom became the head of the family.  She was used to caring for our home and taking responsibility for the bills, but she didn’t drive and hadn’t been employed since marriage.  She took over and was a rock of strength for my sister and me.  And although she never did learn to drive, she did become employed. 

     Even though she loved my dad, we never saw her cry or bemoan her fate after the funeral.  She may have shed many tears after we left for school, but she never showed them to us.  She wanted our lives to be happy and fulfilled.  Her laugh was contagious.  She had a wonderful sense of humor. 

     She began each day after sending us out to school reading her Bible.  She had great faith in God.  She read the Christian Science Bible lesson every day as well as the religious periodicals of the Church.  She knew that her strength came from God.  Raising two teenagers as a now single mom was a huge responsibility for her and she instilled in us the importance of prayer.

     She felt her mothering skills came from her prayer – that God was the source of love, caring and compassion, as well as strength and intelligence.  She even thought of God as the Father and Mother of everyone.  Each day she prayed to know that we would feel God’s Fathering care now that our dad was gone, and she also prayed that we would feel God’s Mothering love and guidance too. 

     One of her favorite hymns stated, “O Love, our Mother, ever near, To Thee we turn from doubt and fear! In perfect peace our thoughts abide, Our hearts now in this truth confide:  Man is the child of God.”

     I was in my twenties when she passed.  I missed her then and think of her often now.  At her funeral, one person stated, “Everyone who knew Mary loved her” and another said, “I cannot ever recall her saying anything mean or nasty about anyone, she just loved everyone.”  I wish my children could have known their grandmother.  She was quite special.

     I hope everyone feels that way about their mom, but I know they don’t.  Mother’s Day can be a time of great memories, but it can also be a time of heartache over a loved one now gone or of a painful past.  That is why the thought of God as the Mother of all of us is special.  It can help everyone realize that the love they desire is right with them.  God’s love is unconditional and available for all.  This love comforts, inspires, encourages and supports.  It’s like having loving arms around our being, and embracing our thinking.  The God of Love is also the God of intelligence and wisdom.   

     Anyone can turn to this Mothering Love at any time – it is never too late.  No matter our past, present or future, God’s love is here for all.  It’s time to turn away from any painful memories and turn to the God of Love. 

     Being a mom is a very special responsibility.  This Mother’s Day, I will be thinking of my own mom and thanking her for her years of love and support.  I will also be thinking of God and Her love for all of us.  No one is outside of this Love and it makes every day happy, productive and fulfilling.

Photo by Madmcmojo

      This is National Nurses Week.  The theme for this year’s observance is: “Nurses: Advocating, Leading, Caring”.  I have known and observed many nurses in my lifetime.  The best are like swans – they are graceful and dignified on the surface, but underneath the water, they are paddling furiously.  In other words, the best nurses I have seen have been extremely busy, but at the same time courteous, intuitive and kind.  I admire them greatly.

     Like many occupations, nursing can be very stressful.  Nursezone.com recently posted a few key ways that nurses can help de-stress their lives.  They included the following:

1. Think positively
2. Identify stressful situations
3. Collaborate with administrators
4. Take time for oneself
5. Support each other
6. Adopt healthy habits
7. Try yoga therapy
8. Give back to others through charity work
9. Find joy in life

     I can add one more thing to that list: pray for yourself daily.  By putting God in the picture of our lives, we are connecting with a great source of strength, intelligence and endurance.  I think these words of St. Paul are a wonderful prayer for anyone facing a busy life: “It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Phil. 2: 13).  This acknowledges God as the source of our integrity, courage, love and patience.  Actually the love we feel for others – and the stamina to continue to express it – comes from God, Love, itself.

     Praying in this way enables us to help others effectively without sacrificing ourselves to burden and fatigue.  The Bible assures us that God’s grace “is sufficient for thee” (II Cor. 12: 9).  The love and wisdom God gives simply cannot be used up.  Instead it continually provides us with the buoyancy to stay underwhelmed and unpressured.  Christian Science healer, Mary Baker Eddy wrote, “Love inspires, illumines, designates, and leads the way.  Right motives give pinions to thought, and strength and freedom to speech and action” (Science and Health, p. 454).  That is, the ability to say the right thing, and the strength to do whatever our job demands that we do.

     We can find God-given joy in serving others, even when tasks feel difficult or menial, tedious or thankless.  The good we do for others brings peace and satisfaction.  God showers blessings on the caregiver and the cared-for.  A good work is never in vain.  It brings its own joy.

     At one time, nurses were called “angels of mercy”.  I think that title is still appropriate today.  Happy Nurses Week – and thank you for the love, care and dedication you bring to those who need your help.

Photo by Horia Varlan

     One of the most beautiful pieces of music ever written is playing in the background as I write this – the Aragonaise from Carmen, Suite No. 1, by George Bizet.  I love how the melody carries from the flute, to the clarinet, to the French horn, to the bassoon, to the whole orchestra, then back to the clarinet and finally ends with the flute.  The clarinet player in me responds to this piece of music.  I love it.

     I also loved reading a recent column from the Huffington Post by Amanda Chan about the bodily benefits of music.  She commented on a recent study by the Mayo Clinic that points out that music can have wide-ranging effects.  The research suggested that listening to music boosts heart health, eases anxiety in cancer patients, helps memory, reduces pain and protects our ears’ sound-processing ability.  We often see reports on the health benefits of music, and it was a good reminder about the importance of something I love so much.

      But actually, I have known this for years.  I have found the healing power of music many times in my life, especially from singing and listening to hymns.  Not only does singing hymns bring inspiration into our lives, but it can actually heal disease.  There have been many times when I have been in pain, especially headaches, and have turned on a recording by Christian singer, Larry Groce, and have felt calmer.  But even more than that, the words often speak to me in an embracing way and I feel a healing power enveloping my body.  As a result I have been released from the pain of headaches, back aches, sprains etc. through the healing-power of this kind of music. 

     This meant a lot to me during my adolescent years when I was trying to find my place in the world.  Listening to hymns gave me a sense of peace and joy, and an assurance that there was a power greater than me, loving me and guiding my life.  I vividly remember various times when I would have a rough day at school or just be depressed about a friendship going wrong, and listening to Larry’s recordings would bring me the joy and peace I needed.

     Today, my music repertoire includes all sorts of music, including much of the music of the 1970’s and the orchestral music of Ravel, Holst and Bizet among others, but when I am ill or confused, give me a recording of hymns!  They are not only comforting, but health-giving!

Photo by Photo by Frederic della Faille

     Charles Colson passed on recently.  In the 1970’s he was incarcerated for his illegal activity during the Nixon administration.  After his release, he spent the next 35 years ministering to prison inmates.  In 1993, he stated, “I shudder to think of what I’d been if I had not gone to prison.  Lying on the rotten floor of a cell, you know it’s not prosperity or pleasure that’s important, but the maturing of the soul.” 

     Colson’s transformation made an impact on my life, and inspired me to spend almost 10 years as a volunteer Christian Science chaplain at the Cook County Correctional Facility in Chicago.  As important as Colson’s example was to me, I felt serving in this way was obedient to Jesus’ parable that rewards charitable and loving actions – including a jail ministry.  He stated, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (see Matt. 25: 40). 

      It was a privilege to travel to Chicago on Monday nights and join a friend of mine as we gave a church service in Division 5.  I met many men humbled by their new surroundings and overwhelmed with fear and foreboding.  We distributed many copies of the Bible.  We assured the inmates that they would find comfort, hope and healing in this book.  Our sermons were always a Bible-based lesson.  We shared familiar passages and reassuring stories, such as the account of Joseph’s imprisonment (see Genesis 39-41).

      It was always inspiring to see fear lift and tears disappear as we assured them that God was with them now and always.  We prayed with them.  Some inmates we saw week after week; others only once.  We knew every contact could bring healing, courage and strength.  We valued this experience as a gift that we might give to help others overcome temptation, discouragement or hopelessness. 

     One night an inmate came up to me after the service.  He said he was deeply depressed.  He had not been out of his cell for the past few days and refused to eat.  He was very scared.  He didn’t know how to proceed with his legal options.  He said he had a Bible in his cell.  I gave him a copy of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy – a book he had heard referenced and read from during our sermon.  I turned to page 578 and showed him the 23^rd Psalm viewed in the light of Christian Science.  We read it through together slowly. 

      Here it is:

“[Divine Love] is my shepherd; I shall not want.

[Love] maketh me to lie down in green pastures: [Love] leadeth me beside the still waters.

[Love] restoreth my soul [spiritual sense]: [Love] leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for [Love] is with me; [Love’s] rod and [Love’s] staff they comfort me.

[Love] prepareth a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: [Love] anointeth my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house [the consciousness] of [Love] for ever.”

     Then he was called by the officer in charge to return to his cell.  He left with the open book in his hand.

     When we returned the following Monday, he ran up to me in the chapel and thanked me profusely.  He said that as he read from Science and Health, he felt God’s love quieting his fear and giving him the intelligence he needed to go forward with his life.  He even brought his two fellow cellmates who were astonished at the change in his demeanor.  I gave them both copies of Science and Health also. 

     God loves everyone.  This love is unconditional and can break through even the most guilt-ridden or anger-infused life.  God’s wisdom encourages, comforts and helps break the entanglements of sin and addiction.  No one is lost.  No one is expendable.  Everyone is truly a child of God.  There may be punishments to be served; compulsions and cravings to be quieted, and even injustices to be overcome; but God’s power truly is omnipotent. 

     The latter part of Chuck Colson’s life is an inspiration.  May our lives serve God in a way that helps others who are struggling.  After all, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”

Photo by Chicago Man

     Last Saturday, Phil Humber, pitcher for the Chicago White Sox, threw a perfect game – only the 21^st time that feat has been accomplished in major league history.  (A perfect game is where 27 hitters come to bat, and 27 are retired – no hits, no walks, no runs.)  As an avid White Sox fan, I congratulate Phil – well done!

      Watching him interviewed on ESPN2, Humber said, “This is awesome.  I’m so thankful.”  After thanking his teammates, including A.J. Pierzynski, Brent Lillibridge, and Alex Rios, he remarked, “It was a well-pitched game.  Definitely something I’ll never forget.”  And neither will we.  Thanks Phil, and GO WHITE SOX!!

     The pursuit of excellence is a great thing to watch – whether it is in the sports arena, in music, theater, education, business or the healing arts.  It takes great dedication and a lot of practice.  It may take years of study and persistence.  There may be many failures before a level of excellence is reached.  When someone achieves excellence it is often not just a one-time occurrence.   Often people who excel feel a deep-down urge to continue at a high-level of accomplishment.

     But what about pursuing excellence in the way we live?  What if everything we did – from driving a car to raising our children to our work and play activities – was done with dignity and excellence?  Is there a way that we can have poise and intelligence embed themselves in everything we do – from the little minutiae of life up to the largest challenges we face?  I think there is – and it doesn’t come from micromanaging every circumstance that we face and feeling overwhelmed if we “let go” a little.

     Instead it comes from realizing that a power greater than us exists, and we can express that power in a more spiritual life.  In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gave us lessons for how to live from this spiritual vantage.  Whether someone is Christian or not, whether you believe that Jesus is the son of God or not, this Sermon has a lot to share on how to live with dignity, grace and respect – with excellence.  In other words, this sermon teaches how to have dominion over jealousy, anger, and other emotions that can tear us down.

     It is found in the Bible, Matthew, chapters 5, 6, and 7.  It instructs that humility, love, and purity are not passive, but powerful.  It advises that the high caliber of life includes empathy, moderation, righteousness and charity, thus deserving respect.  These are the virtues of excellence. 

     It’s not easy to live the Sermon on the Mount – it isn’t easy to pitch a perfect game.  But who doesn’t want to live a better life? If you are like me, you may find many times a day that you are not living up to your highest potential when it comes to living a higher sense of excellence, but to try is doing much.  The sermon ends with the story of two houses: one built on the sand and one built on a rock.  Both houses encounter a storm, but the one on the rock endures.  Jesus said the life built on his teaching in this Sermon is like the house on a rock – it endures through the tough times and comes through with dignity and strength.

     Christian Science writer, Mary Baker Eddy once wrote to her Church, “To my sense the Sermon on the Mount, read each Sunday without comment and obeyed throughout the week, would be enough for Christian practice” (Message for 1901, p. 11).  

     Do you want to live your life from a higher perspective?  The Sermon on the Mount may be something that will help you smooth out the rough edges of temper, envy and distrust.  To live our lives with greater grace will help us in our own personal pursuit of excellence.  Although we may never pitch a perfect game, we can excel in love, honesty and trustworthiness – then, we will shine in the game of life.

Photo by Homer4k

 Stop the bullying!

     My writing usually addresses issues of individual health.  Today I would like to address a national disease: bullying.  In his recent book, The Time of our Lives, NBC Broadcaster Tom Brokaw wrote, “Now there’s a new form of injustice in schools across the nation: the anonymous taunts and vitriolic mocking designed to hurt and belittle a target for his or her adolescent awkwardness, sexual orientation, or ethnicity.

      “There have been bullies as long as there has been adolescence, but the Internet tools of videos, anonymous postings, and profane attacks have taken this ancient cruelty to a new level.  It is an appropriate subject for parents, schools, communities, and grandparents to take up with the youngsters on the giving and receiving end” (p. 255).   It is also an appropriate subject for this column.

     In the past few weeks, two incidents have caught my attention.  The first being the account of Stuart Chaifeitz, who after placing a recording device on his autistic son, realized that this 10-year-old was being verbally abused by aides in his classroom.  The second was about a young man in Iowa who committed suicide after being cyber-bullied.  Fourteen-year-old Kenneth Weishuhn, Jr., killed himself as a result of death threats on his cell phone and being bullied by a Facebook hate group.  Another Facebook group has set up a memorial space for this young man and one post commented, “Unfortunately, the culture most of us have been raised in has been the mindset that you get ‘picked on’ in school and that’s just part of growing up.” 

     As a parent, I am outraged by both events.  Now I am not naïve, I know that gang activity, rivalries and the desire to find one’s self-esteem at the expense of others, can produce an emotional environment of jealousy and anger – but bullying should not have to be part of any child’s life – especially in school.

      What happened to common decency?  Why is it so easy to judge others?  As a writer on spirituality and health, I feel this issue needs the attention of everyone.  I also feel that no matter our religion or feelings about God, the words and life of Jesus have particular meaning as we look at bullying.  His teachings are still revolutionary.  They teach respect and courtesy for others – lessons more important than ever for all of us – no matter our religion or even our fervor for agnosticism or atheism. This is basic human decency.  He taught the virtues of humility and love, not one-up-man-ship.   It is cowardice that hides behind a camera or computer and projects images – both written and visual – of others.  We do not all look alike, act alike, or think alike.  It is time to recognize that fact and respect our differences, as well as our similarities. 

     My freshman year of high school was not an easy time for me.  The school was out of control – I saw violence in the halls, drug deals in dark corners, and the smoking area outside wreaked of pot.  There were no closed halls – everyone roamed where they wanted, whenever they wanted.  It was chaos.  One particular gang rambled throughout the school finding someone weaker than themselves.  They would follow them, get them alone and beat them up.  One day I was their target. 

     That night amidst tears, embarrassment and complete lack of self-esteem, I turned to my Bible for comfort.  What I found instead was shocking.  These words of Jesus challenged me, “You have heard people say, ‘Love your neighbors and hate your enemies.’  But I tell you to love your enemies and pray for anyone who mistreats you” (Matthew 5: 43, 44).  I couldn’t believe that was my answer – after all, I was the victim! 

     I threw the book across the room and turned off the light.  But those words continued to haunt me until I realized that really was the answer for me.  I needed to pray for this group. Anger, disillusionment and a lack of respect by others was what they were feeling also.  I resolved to overcome my fear with love.  It wasn’t easy.  But one day they cornered me again.  This time as one of them punched me in the stomach, I actually felt no pain, just an overwhelming sense of love.  The gang member looked at me puzzled, and then said, “Let’s get out of here!” and they took off.  That was the end of the attacks on me.

     I continued to pray for the school throughout the summer.  The following school year everything had changed.  There was a new administrator, the halls were clean, there were rules, and they were enforced.  Halls were closed during  class times, and the gang was no where to be found. 

     THINGS DO GET BETTER.  Prayer is effective.  I am praying every day for our schools, universities and young people growing up in an internet age.  Our schools, churches, and communities need to be places of respect and love for all.  Let’s stop the bullying!          

Photo by Gail Johnson

     I overheard two men having a discussion yesterday.  They were talking about prayer.  One man dismissed a woman’s account that her prayer helped her find a lost article.  He smirked when he repeated her assertion, “God helped me find what I lost!”  The other man joined in the discussion.  He stated that his whole congregation prays that no more soldiers will die overseas, but each month there are more causalities.  His final remark was, “What kind of a God helps a woman find a lost article, but lets soldiers die?”

      I spend a lot of time writing about prayer in this blog.  I hope others do not find my hope in God simplistic.  Prayer is much more than pleading with an anthropomorphic, or man-like manifestation of uncertainty.  Prayer should not be a gamble of misplaced hope and ambiguity.  The notion of a humanistic God that helps sometimes, but is untrustworthy at other times is wrong.  Christian Science teaches that God is divine Principle.

     There is a law of God always available to help in the most inconsequential things as well as the monumental dangers of a battlefield.  Prayer is bringing our lives into accord with this law of God.  What seems to obscure this law from being clearly observed or felt is often fear.  Fear doesn’t void the law of God, but it tends to have us turn aside from understanding God’s care.  What destroys fear?  Prayer.  That is its value.

     Prayer helps make the law of God clearer in our experience.  When we acknowledge God’s love and presence in our lives, we are able to think more clearly, feel His protecting power and make wiser decisions.  It even makes us healthier.  God’s law brings peace into our lives and corrects bodily malfunctioning.   Christian writer and healer, Mary Baker Eddy, wrote these words that have helped me understand prayer and its effects better: “Like a legislative bill that governs millions of mortals whom the legislators know not, the universal law of God has no knowledge of evil, and enters unconsciously the human heart and governs it.”  She continues, “Mortals have only to submit to the law of God, come into sympathy with it, and to let His will be done” (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 208).    

     I have found that it is not God’s lack of power or understanding that makes my prayers seem to fail at times.  Instead, it is my lack of putting myself fully under His law.  At times I have just been too afraid or willful to fully let God’s good will overtake my experience.  Prayer is an art.  It needs to be cultivated in the easy things so that we are well-skilled when times are difficult.  A child’s prayer is sometimes more effective than an adults, because it is naturally innocent and loving.  We can learn the art of prayer from children, as well as from each other.

      Praying together, supporting each other’s prayers, listening and encouraging each other are ways to perfect our art.  Just because our prayers may not seem productive or successful now, don’t stop.  Placing ourselves under God’s law of good produces in us joy, humility, strength, health, and love, and will bring us the protection and supply we need.  Why bother praying?  Because it works!