Letter to Association
10 July 18
I have been preparing to hike the Appalachian Trail after Association this summer for two weeks. Seems that my efforts are beset by resistance. So I have been working with the passages below:
Isaiah 20: New International Version: “Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
Misc. Writing 79, 5-19. In him we live and move and have our being.
“The grand verities of Science will sift the chaff from the wheat, until it is clear to human comprehension that man was, and is, God’s perfect likeness, that reflects all whereby we can know God. In Him we live, move, and have being.”
“St Paul wrote, ‘Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that us set before us;’ that is, let us put aside material self and sense, and seek the divine Principle and Science of all healing” (20:27)
“Divest yourself of the thought that there can be substance in matter, and the movements and transitions now possible for mortal mind will be found to be equally possible for the body.” (90:8)
“Correct material belief by spiritual understanding, and Spirit will form you anew.” (425:24)
The result is that I have worked through several claims: an ingrown toenail, a skin condition, a tick bite, a sore arch, back ache, difficulties walking and a fearful attitude. I’ve also dealt with the debilitating thought: “What are you thinking. This is a young man’s game. You have no business on the Trail.” Something in me is impelled to take the hike, probably because it is a challenge and an occasion to prove my faith. It is an occasion to express dominion over thoughts of incapacity, weakness, and immobility.
My journey of preparation for the hike has also taken me through a number of personal sense failings that have accumulated over time. Chief among these failings is anger, followed closely by greed, fear, egotism, and judgmental thinking. There are probably more to work on, which I plan to do on the trail.
This. I believe, is the sin that doth so easily beset me. So I have been working to acknowledge the claims of mortal mind: my shortcomings, my missing the mark, my sin and work through these claims. Mrs. Eddy says we have to go through the river of muck and can’t just take a spiritual bypass by walking over the white bridge. This, I feel, is the hard work to be done. At least it is in my case. I gauge that I am about half way into the work and still have some way to go.
This will give me something to think about while hiking the Appalachian Trail.
Sincerely,