Radiant inspiration
You just can’t hide inspiration. It’s like the sun, always shining.
It’s comforting to think that inspiration is what Jesus was referring to when he said: “Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house” (Matthew 5:15 ). Jesus was such a practical teacher. When he referenced “light,” he wasn’t teaching his students about the wavelengths and nanometers of electromagnetic radiation; instead, it was like he was saying to them, “Just know that when you fully acknowledge the divine source of your blessings, your very life will radiate and glow, illuminating out to all like a light high in the sky.” After all, he had just recounted to them the richness of the God-bestowed blessings that were theirs no matter what they faced in life (see Matthew 5:1–12 ).
For me, inspiration means the awareness of a profound, inseparable union, a oneness with God. Even though inspiration may appear in a moment, these moments prove our constant connection with the divine. We might compare these flashes of divine light to leaven. Leaven is a small part of the recipe of the dough, but it changes the entire mass; just so, inspiration often seems to come in small glimpses, but these glimpses evidence the wholeness of Mind.
Like light, inspiration brightens the way for everyone that’s in our “house,” which Mary Baker Eddy describes as our consciousness (see Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 578 ). Everyone discerns it, and walks more assuredly and safely as a result.
We live out in the country on what used to be a small farm, and over the past couple of years, we trimmed some trees and cleared the woods around our home. As a result, we accumulated a fairly large pile of brush. When we could no longer pile more on top, we began to stack it around the base, causing it to spread.
Have you ever asked yourself how clear of a “scientific statement of being” you’re making to your neighbor?
This past New Year’s Eve, our kids, who are married and live nearby, decided to have a big bonfire to burn off this brush pile. They invited some friends over to ring in the New Year. It was a very enjoyable evening—they even fixed about ten gallons of chicken and dumplings for everyone. To complete the celebration, one of their friends brought fire-
works—some nice ones—and at midnight it was time to set them off. They went high into the air, exploding in a magnificent show of multi-colored brilliance that cast everyone and everything all around in beautiful hues of red, green, blue, orange, and purple. It was spectacular and really drove home the point about light that Jesus taught.
These brief bursts of light didn’t just illuminate the one who brought them, or the one who lit the fuse. Each face glowed, with smiles gracing them all, showing their joy in this shared experience. Looking around at all the faces, one could easily tell each color of the many fireworks that exploded high in the air.
This quote from Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896 by Mary Baker Eddy gives a deeper perspective: “When thought dwells in God,—and it should not, to our consciousness, dwell elsewhere,—one must benefit those who hold a place in one’s memory, whether it be friend or foe, and each share the benefit of that radiation” (p. 290 ).
It’s especially comforting that inspiration, the radiation of divine consciousness, doesn’t differentiate between friend and foe. Just as our benevolent all-loving Father-Mother God “maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45 ), He also causes the inspiration He gives to us to enlighten the consciousness of all in our house.
Our lives as Christian Scientists—the lives we’re living, our demonstrations—may be as close as some people will ever get to reading Science and Health. Have you ever asked yourself how clear of a “scientific statement of being” you’re making to your neighbor (see Science and Health, p. 468 )? How clearly do our lives illuminate the Science of Christ to human consciousness?
We don’t necessarily have to shout our inspiration to others from the rooftops; our lives quietly declare the glory of God. How is this so?
Our lives quietly declare the glory of God.
As we consider that divine Mind is omnipotent, all-inclusive consciousness, then we see how Mind guards and guides our consciousness, keeping a watchful eye over it, quenching the distracting, fiery darts of jealousy, lust, resentment, envy, and fear. As we “become more familiar with good than with evil,” guarding “against false beliefs as watchfully as we bar our doors against the approach of thieves and murderers” (Science and Health, p. 234 ), our lives more clearly shine and radiate God’s goodness.
We really should be open to being inspired, really inspired, each day. To be clear, inspiration—that warm glow we feel when studying and praying—is not something we have to work to achieve, even though it often appears that way; it is our actual state of being since we are Spirit’s expression. The inspiration we gain provides evidence that God, Life, Truth, and Love is real, practical. And when others are inspired, we’re included in their enlightenment, proving the oneness and inclusiveness of God. Love is the creator of our ability to be actively inspired. And since Love is ever-active, inspiration is constant, unstoppable.
Inspiration is really the natural, constant state of our existence. You might even say that we are God’s inspiration, since He created us in His very own image and likeness.
As Mrs. Eddy says in reference to ideas in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (see Matthew 5—7): “A Christian Scientist occupies the place at this period of which Jesus spoke to his disciples, when he said: ‘Ye are the salt of the earth.’ ‘Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.’ Let us watch, work, and pray that this salt lose not its saltness, and that this light be not hid, but radiate and glow into noontide glory” (Science and Health, p. 367 ).
