Climatologists say we have big environmental problems, yet effective responses look difficult, and people are feeling anxious as a result.
How about looking to God for answers? I find that looking to God is not a desperate act of blind faith. As the divine Mind and Principle of the universe, God is the source of all true consciousness, and by opening ourselves up to this fact, we find positive changes and answers.
To heal our whole earth, we’ll need more than some hope and a few lifestyle adjustments from a few concerned citizens. So how about teaming up to find God’s grand action in our lives – letting God lead us to find healing ways of relating to one another and to the Earth and climate? Then we’re opening our thinking to a God-based, or Spirit-based, view of life and the universe, and in this way, we’re spiritualizing our consciousness and enabling an experience based more deeply on God’s good nature.
The Christian Science Monitor founder Mary Baker Eddy wrote from her own experience, “To the material sense, everything is matter; but spiritualize human thought, and our convictions change: for spiritual sense takes in new views, in which nature becomes Spirit; and Spirit is God, and God is good” (“Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896,” pp. 217-218).
In many ways, it looks as if the nature and behavior of material elements determine our lives. So, we feel defined by problems related to the limits of material conditions, problems like neediness, carelessness, and vulnerability. And indeed, the problem of global warming. But as people’s spiritual experiences evidence, we’re essentially always dealing with thoughts, with consciousness. Allowing God’s influence on consciousness lifts our thinking into a new experience, one that is more aware of our own wholly spiritual nature as God’s expression and the spiritual nature of the world. From this spiritual standpoint we see that both are really good.
Jesus knew of the divine Spirit and its all-good impact, and he was always prepared to experience more of it and help others do the same. For example, we read in the Gospel of Luke, “He went into a ship with his disciples: and he said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth. But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy. And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm” (Luke 8:22-24).
I have never had an experience in which it felt as if my prayers stopped a storm, but I have had a couple of times when after a deep and prolonged focus on trying to learn about God and what God does in our lives, I had a very different sense of the whole environment. For a time, the world seemed to kind of glow. Even when it rained, it just seemed so pleasant.
As we gain a stronger awareness of the divine Spirit and its qualities, we find healthy experiences and helpful purposes. We get a better feeling of having a good place in the world where we can express these qualities of Spirit. As this awareness expands to a collective level, we’ll see improvement. We’ll find ways to relate better to our world, and this will inspire behavior that translates into a healthy world and climate.
The qualities of love, intelligence, harmony, and purpose are always in consciousness to be revealed in our lives and in our environment. Jesus’ spiritual consciousness not only ensured his provision of all that he needed, but enabled him to share with others. We, too, can rise above the upheaval of feeling so material and defined by limits, imbalance, and uncontrollable forces, by honoring God as Jesus taught and demonstrated.
God is the source – the infinite source – of all good ideas or qualities, and these are always available and active. Therefore, God is the real doer, initiator, creator of the universe. Our divine source enables a peaceful and sure consciousness and productive and healthy experiences, and He will lead the way in ensuring that this plays out as a balanced and helpful environment.
