Spiritual Solutions

There are three simple things that can bring you newness of life by adding life to your years. First of all, live in what Emerson called “day-tight compartments.” Regardless of your age in years, you have the same twenty-four hours to live as has a young child. See the importance of living one day at a time. Don’t let the weight of many yesterdays bow you down. Today is the only time in eternity. “This is the day which the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it.”

It may be well to remind yourself from time to time of the Sanskrit proverb, “Yesterday is but a dream and tomorrow is only a vision. But today well-lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope.” As someone has said, “On the great clock of time there is but one word – now!”

Secondly, don’t allow yourself to get into the position where you have nothing in life to be enthusiastic about. Enthusiasm is the fire and flame of life, and without it you only half live. Youth is not a time of life. It is a state of mind. Eric Butterworth was fond of saying, “My age is none of my business.”

Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. When Charles Fillmore, co-founder of the Unity movement, was well into his nineties, he made this statement: “I fairly sizzle with zeal and enthusiasm, and I spring forth with a mighty faith to do the things that need to be done by me.” When have you ever started your day with that kind of consciousness?

Someone said, “We don’t cease playing because we are old. We are old because we cease playing.” The old traditional thought, “Act your age,” should be shunned as a plague. Don’t “act your age;” act your youth! Take a thought such as “I’m alive, awake, joyous and enthusiastic about life.” It doesn’t make any difference how old you are. The important thing is, are you young enough to make such a statement and believe it?

Third, keep your sense of humor. Mark Twain said, “Humor is the great thing, the saving thing. The minute it crops up, all our irritations and resentments slip away, and a sunny spirit takes their place.” As someone said, “The sense of humor is the just balance of all the faculties of man, the best security against the pride of knowledge and the conceits of the imagination, and the strongest inducement to submit with a wise and pious patience to the vicissitudes of human existence.”

With maturity and adulthood in life come certain sometimes serious responsibilities and we shouldn’t become an escapist. But the serious business of life can best be done by the person who has a lightness of touch. As Plato once said, undoubtedly with the need for a sense of humor in mind, “It is important to be serious without always being solemn.”

We read in the Bible, “A cheerful heart is good medicine.” This is a prescription that contributes immeasurably to physical and mental health.

Bruce Barton tells a story about a cabinet meeting at the White House during the Lincoln administration, in one of the most critical hours in American history. Around the table the various Secretaries were gathered solemn-faced and silent. To their amazement, Mr. Lincoln, instead of turning to the business at hand, began reading aloud a chapter from the humorous works of Artemis Ward. The cabinet members were too astonished to speak. Stanton was tempted to leave the room in protest. The President, unheeding, read the chapter through, and then laying the book down, he heaved a great sigh and said, “Gentlemen, why don’t you laugh? With the fearful strain that is upon me night and day, if I did not laugh, I would die, and you need this medicine as much as I do.” And with that, he took from his tall hat The Emancipation Proclamation.

So, why not determine that you will experience newness of life by being truly alive as long as you live? First of all, live in “day-tight compartments,” one day at a time. Second, always keep something in your experience that you can be enthusiastic about. And third, keep a sense of humor. Let your life be made new today, for today is the first day of the rest of your life!

Remember, God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham
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Rev. Alan Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-eight years, invites you to enjoy more articles and/or subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, “Spiritual Solutions,” at www.spiritualsolutionsblog.com

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ZEAL

14th Day, Thursday. Read Luke 10:30-42; 11:1-4.

Zeal is the affirmative impulse of existence; its command is, “Go forward!” Zeal is the mighty force that incites all things to action; the eternal urge behind all things. To be without zeal is to be without the zest of living. Zeal and enthusiasm incite to glorious achievement in every ideal that the mind conceives.

Zeal should be tempered with wisdom. Some persons get so fired with zeal when they first tackle a job, that they quickly grow tired, and fail to carry it through to completion. The need is for control, equalization.

Watch the pull of a giant locomotive; note how it slowly but steadily moves forward, almost by inches at first but gradually increasing until its mile-long train swiftly disappears in the distance.

“The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up” means that the zeal faculty has become so active intellectually that it has consumed the vitality and left nothing for spiritual growth. Excessive zeal in religious forms of worship eats up the purely spiritual. When we become very zealous in observing the rites of the church we are prone to forget the church itself, which is Christ.

The divine command is, “Take time to be holy.” I am quick to do the bidding of Spirit and use a portion of my zeal in establishing God’s kingdom within me. I do not put all my enthusiasm into helping others; my own unfoldment is of great importance to me. I love to aid my brother, but I do not allow that idea to rob me of the power to demonstrate Truth for myself.

I affirm: “My zeal is tempered with wisdom, and I maintain a perfect balance within and without.”

Questions:

1. Define “zeal.”

2. What part does zeal play in achievement?

3. Can zeal become excessive? Explain.

4. For what purpose should a portion of zeal be used?

Father-God, I pray for zeal to motivate me to achievement, and for wisdom to keep me steady, strong, and true to divine principle.

Remember, God is Blessing You, Right Now!

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 Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-eight years, invites you to subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, Spiritual Solutions.

Please feel free to publish this article in your blog or newsletter or share it with a friend, as long as you include this resource box.

 If you’d like to receive weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at Rich Words.

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When Samuel when he was very young and was in training with the priest Eli, the scriptures tell us that Samuel was asleep and he heard a voice calling him, “Samuel, Samuel!” He rose up and said, “Here I am, Lord.” He went to his teacher, his priest Eli, and said, “You called me?” Eli said, “No, I didn’t call you. Go lie down, go to sleep.”

So Samuel went back and lay down again. The voice came again, “Samuel, Samuel!” Samuel got up again and went to Eli, saying, “Here I am. You called me.” Eli said, “No, I didn’t call you. Go and lie down.”

So Samuel went back and lay down again, and the voice came again, “Samuel!” He jumped up again and went to Eli. This time Eli perceived that the Lord was calling Samuel, the voice of God was speaking to him. So he said, “I want you to go back and lie down, and if that call comes again, just say this: ‘Your servant hears. Speak, Lord.”

So Samuel went back, lay down, and the voice came again, “Samuel, Samuel!” He said, “Your servant hears, Lord. Speak.” And God showed him a vision of what his future was to be at that time.

When the prophet Isaiah was young, he had a vision and he heard a voice saying “Whom shall we send? Who will go for us?” And a voice within Isaiah prompted him and he said, “Here I am, send me!”

In other words, “Count me in, God, count me in!”

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