In the book Living in Grace by Beca Lewis, one of the Seven Keys to Grace is a “Shift
to Spiritual Perception.”
You may have heard me talk about my experience of growing up in the Lutheran church,
and how I found it to be a “Sunday morning only” religion. I never could really feel it as a way of life. (In no way is that a bash—I honor and celebrate the experience, because it was necessary on my path to bring me to where I am today.) But that is one reason why I so love our teaching of Religious Science—it is a moment-by-moment experience in the recognition of our oneness with Spirit.
We are told in the New Testament to seek first the kingdom of God, “and all these things shall be added unto you.” What is the kingdom? It is the complete awareness and consciousness of the presence of Spirit in every area of our lives. I believe “the kingdom” starts with our recognition that God (Spirit, the Universe, our Higher Power) is a power, not a personality, that loves us unconditionally and always responds
to us as we believe. Where is the kingdom? Jesus said it is within us. How do we access the kingdom? We must seek.
“Seek” is an active word. It does not mean we can just hang out and wait for something to happen. It does not mean we can wait for someone else to save us. It means we must be (or become) consciously aware that the kingdom, or the allness of Spirit, is always within us and always available to us.
Often our “seeking” requires us to do our spiritual practice—meditation, spiritual mind treatment (affirmative prayer), and being active in our spiritual community. It is a shift into remembering that “I can have peace instead of this” as A Coursein Miracles reminds us.
What are we seeking today? “The kingdom” is not just our daily bread—it is a quiet, calm assurance that our Good will continue to flow to us as it flows from us, when we remember that Spirit is our source.
