Article March 22, 1999 Issue

Reality check

Ask yourself, "What's God's view of the situation?"

By Judith Haugan Ryan

My Daughter Recently came home wearing a new necklace, a gift from a friend. It was a circular, green, enameled pendant with a bright purple check mark in the center. When I asked her about it she said, "It's a reality check." Sure enough, it even said so on the back of the pendant. "What a great idea," I replied. "I know it's probably not what the manufacturer had in mind, but it's a great way to remind yourself to do spiritual reality checks."

How does one do this? I like to ask the question "What does God know about this?" And to keep in mind the Bible's statement "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good" (Gen. 1:31). God knows us as He created us, in His perfect image and likeness. That's definitely "very good." God's man expresses the honesty of divine Truth, the activity of divine Life, the charity and kindness of divine Love. Because God is omnipresent, man can never be outside of His presence. God's man can never be in a place where safety is not assured, where health can be threatened, where life can be anything less than all good. Because God is omnipotent, no power can intrude to threaten the peace of His beloved child. And because God knows all of these things about His creation, we can know them, too.

Another reality check I've used is to add the phrase "saith the Lord" to whatever I'm thinking. If what I'm thinking isn't in keeping with how God sees His creation, then the thought doesn't carry the significance of spiritual reality.

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