According to studies in recent years, the average person has thousands of thoughts daily, and most of them are repetitive.
It’s important to consider which thoughts we’re welcoming and nurturing and which we’re turning away. Why? Because the thoughts we entertain make a difference in our experience – and beyond. In the Christian Science textbook, “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” Mary Baker Eddy writes, “The act of yielding one’s thoughts to the undue contemplation of physical wants or conditions induces those very conditions” (p. 413).
A thought that is nurtured is certain to expand and grow. So we want to be sure to nurture only thoughts that will bless, help, and heal.
Along these lines, and in the same book, is this instruction to the reader: “Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true, and you will bring these into your experience proportionably to their occupancy of your thoughts” (p. 261).
Downward-spiraling thoughts can often seem enduring, but God is all good and eternal Truth, so any thoughts that are fear-inducing or that make evil seem real don’t come from God and are therefore not true. They have no staying power, so we can turn them away, preferably without an initial welcome.
Uplifting, Godlike thoughts are the actual, real, and enduring. They comprise our very being and show God’s presence. These are the thoughts we benefit from as we entertain and nurture them – as we notice and ponder them and understand God, divine Mind, to be their source.
In the course of my volunteer work as a police chaplain, I’ve seen the healing power of yielding to thoughts from God and turning away downward-spiraling thoughts. Once while I was on a ride with a police officer, we were called to respond to a man who was acting erratically and violently, screaming at people and kicking doors. The short, fast ride to the scene was tense.
The thought came to me that this situation might not go well and that the use of force was inevitable as the only way to keep others safe. But I wasn’t interested in entertaining this downward-spiraling thought.
I reached out to God and listened for an upward-soaring thought. Immediately, the phrase “God’s everlasting arms” came to me, calling to mind this Bible verse: “The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33:27).
I clung to this idea, affirming that God’s eternal, loving arms were surrounding everyone involved – the neighbors, the officers responding, and this man. I knew God’s love didn’t include violence and could never harm.
When we arrived, the officers spoke quietly to the man, letting him know that they were there to help him. He responded by throwing a punch at one of them. For a moment it looked as though the situation might go very badly.
Right then, the same officer who’d narrowly avoided being hit managed to maneuver behind the man and throw his arms around him, continuing to speak calmly and assure him that they were trying to help him. The man furiously tried to free himself from the officer’s grasp, but the officer would not let go. Eventually, the man, though still struggling, was secured in the back of a police car and transported to a hospital.
As all this was happening, groups of neighbors gathered outside and started taking videos with their cellphones. They yelled at the officers to “give us something.” They didn’t get the dramatic response they seemed to want, and I knew the everlasting arms of God were protecting these neighbors, too.
Later, in a move that I found very unusual, some of the officers sought me out to tell me they had been sure this incident was not going to play out well. I felt their gratitude and even awe for the effect of prayer in keeping all safe and free from harm, even though they didn’t use those words. I was certainly grateful for and in awe of the power of God’s everlasting arms embracing everyone involved.
Human thought is supposedly a mix of bad and good. But God’s creation is not part good and part bad – not a little spiritual and mostly material or even mostly spiritual and a little material. Like our creator, who is Spirit, we are purely good and completely spiritual. This means we can own only upward-soaring, Godlike thoughts, which can lead only to peace.
By yielding to God, we can nurture God-sent thoughts, bringing big blessings to us and to others.
Adapted from an article published in the Oct. 7, 2024, issue of the Christian Science Sentinel.
