Authentic Health New Mexico

In his latest blog, “Being Safe on Campus,” Tim Mitchinson shares an experience of the power of acknowledging God as a very present help in trouble to keep us safe in every situation. Tim’s blog was published on Patch.com on October 26, 2017. Here’s Tim ~ 

College-life can be an extremely exciting time. It opens the door to unlimited opportunities to learn and to grow. But unfortunately, college life can sometimes expose one to violence. According to a study led by Christopher P. Krebs, PhD for the National Institute of Justice, one in 5 women and one in 16 men are sexually assaulted while in college.

In a college newsletter for students, the University of West Virginia offered various tips for preventing sexual assault, including staying with friends at parties, not accepting drinks from anyone, keeping your cell phone charged and with you, and making sure you have a ride home. These tips can help reduce one’s susceptibility to attack.

I have found another way to reduce one’s vulnerability – becoming conscious of the protecting power of God. I spend a lot of my day praying for others – and seeing the healing results of those prayers. I’ve learned a lot about successful praying through the study of two books: The Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy. They have taught me that acknowledging the healing presence of God in any situation can bring protection. One line from Science and Health that I have found very effective speaks about God as Love. It states, “Clad in the panoply of Love, human hatred cannot reach you.”

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Divine Love is always at hand to help, says Valerie Minard in her most recent blog.  But, she asks, “Why wait until the big problems come up to pray?”  Valerie’s blog was first published in MyCentralNewJersey.com on October 11, 2017.

For some, prayer may not play a big part in their life until a life-threatening situation arises. That was certainly borne out recently when hurricanes Harvey and Irma struck the mainland United States. There were millions of prayer requests on Google.

But is prayer just a shot in the dark or a last resort when all else fails? As a Christian Scientist, I’ve come to see prayer as that which opens my eyes to the ever-presence and power of God — not “a God who is presumed on occasion to set aside laws of nature,” but “a God who is infinite Love acting through immutable spiritual law” (Robert Peel, Spiritual Healing in a Scientific Age, Harper & Row, 1987.)

Former Monmouth Beach resident Joanne Ivy Stankievich didn’t hesitate to pray during Hurricane Irma. She was confident that turning to God would bring safety and protection.

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In his blog “How do you worship God?” Tim Mitchinson describes how he prayed when in great pain. The result of his prayer was the wonderful discovery that “Christian healing is not only the outcome of worship; it is worship itself.” I know you’ll want to read Tim’s whole article which was first published in the Peoria Journal-Star on September 13, 2017.

People all over the world worship God in many different ways.  For many of us, worship includes maintaining a consistent awareness of God’s presence and love, and having an impact on the world by living from that basis.  It includes words and deeds of kindness and grace.

As we humbly learn more of God and recognize Him as a constant presence–the presence of infinite Life, Truth and Love–moments of inspiration often result in the healing of physical illness.  So, Christian healing–feeling the love of God that heals disease and sin–can be an increasingly important and reliable outcome of our worship of God.

For instance, recently I woke up feeling quite ill.  I was tired, in pain, and felt burdened by a day of job and family responsibilities.  I struggled with getting the kids off to school, then sat at my desk, and before beginning my day of writing, I opened a tract of inspirational articles.  I quietly prayed with each sentence, hoping to just feel inspired and unburdened.  One article quoted this from the Bible: “…the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16).

This Bible verse was a reminder to me that turning to God in a time of need was a good thing – availing health, joy and salvation.  In other words, instead of thinking of myself and my ailments, I needed to recognize a greater adoration, love and wonder of God.  After an hour, I realized I had better turn on my computer and get to work.  As I rose from the chair I’d been sitting in, I realized I felt well.  As a matter of fact, I felt great. I was not only physically well, but mentally clear, full of love and joy, and extremely grateful to God.

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Kay Stroud, my colleague from Australia, shares a wonderful example of even children understanding the natural connection between sports and spirituality.  Kay’s blog was first published in the Sunshine Coast Daily on September 13, 2017.

As we talked through the half-time state of play of his soccer match, my grandson expressed an openness to some helpful ideas I shared with him. He went back on and scored a goal immediately, and soon after I saw him patting a team-mate on the back following a similar success.

Rather than counselling on techniques or from a sports psychology perspective, I’d focussed his attention on the spiritual nature of the game: had he noticed that when they worked together as a team quite a big change occurred? I shared how love for individual team members and joy in the game itself is what brings success. When he felt a teammate wasn’t working as a team-player my grandson could go out of his way to applaud his efforts, even if his mate wasn’t reciprocating yet. On this otherwise unremarkable Saturday morning, a spiritual approach to his soccer match had transformed his game, and the score.

The extensive scholarly literature about sport and spirituality reports experiences by many thousands of athletes, with and without religious affiliations, that are frequently described as spiritual. They are collectively called “being in the zone.” Sports psychologist, Mark Nesti, has identified that spiritual experiences in sport have much in common with feelings of intense love.

Learning how love, joy, compassion, strength, balance and respect lead to sports success is important. Even more important, is to know that the source of our ability to express them is divine. Athletes who know this might practise these five essentials.

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In his recent timely blog “Is there a cure for racism?” Eric Nelson challenges us to seek that deep sense of divine Love that enables us to see beyond surface differences of skin color or culture to each one’s true identify as the loved child of God.  Eric’s blog was first published on Communities Digital News on August 28, 2017

“I’ve heard some people that I know and like saying quite offensive things,” said Carol Lindsay, a white, 80-year-old Londoner speaking with NPR about the uptick in racially motivated hostility she witnessed following last year’s Brexit vote. “You know, just nastiness. I think it’s like a contagion.”

Given the universal aversion to disease, Lindsay’s analogy is unsettling. Chances are, though, that on average we do far more to protect ourselves from the common cold than the temptation to see people of another race as a threat to our personal well-being.

“Floating with the popular current of mortal thought without questioning the reliability of its conclusions, we do what others do, believe what others believe, and say what others say,” cautioned Mary Baker Eddy in her Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896, addressing what she understood to be the root of all sickness, both moral and physical. “Common consent is contagious, and it makes disease catching.”

The question then becomes, how do we prevent the spread of racism? How do we alleviate the sense of mistrust born of an all-too-common failure to realize or to admit that we all share the same divine Creator? How do we treat this disease, if you will, that appears to have infected nearly every corner of the globe?

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Tim Mitchinson writes of a prison inmate finding his way out of crime to a productive life by understanding his true spiritual identity.  As Tim says, “This inner voice [of Christ] speaks to everyone, telling us of our worth and essential goodness as a child of God.” Tim’s blog was first published in Illinois’ Daily Herald on June 29, 2017.

Good news for New York can be good news for Illinois. New York City has achieved one of the lowest crime rates the metropolis has ever seen. Last year, gang-related killings were down by almost a third from the year before. Police Commissioner James O’Neill credits a new approach for offenders: “Either be arrested or seek help for their problems, such as job training, counseling, or mentoring.” This is evidence that we can help individuals leave behind illegal and degrading ways and find a progressive and moral life.

The recent book, Place Matters: Criminology for the Twenty-First Century by David Weisburd and others, explains a shift in attention “from people to events, from those who commit crimes to the crimes themselves.” It appears that more and more law enforcement officials are discovering the effectiveness of separating the crime from the criminal. In other words, if we can learn to treat the offender and help him find a better sense of himself, we can bring healing into many lives, and decrease crime itself.

This differentiation between the individual and the sin is not a new way of thinking. As a matter of fact, it was practiced successfully over 2000 years ago by Christ Jesus who brought reformation and healing into the lives of those he met. It seems to me the reason he was called the “friend of publicans and sinners” is that where most of us would see someone as dirty, criminal or unworthy, Jesus saw a child of God and this divine understanding and love brought changes in the individual’s character and lifestyle.

The same is true today. Louis Fuentes can attest to that. Incarcerated in upstate New York for crimes committed under the influence of drugs, he desperately wanted to heal the dishonesty and addictions that had run rampant in his life.

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