‘Prayer changes us and we change things’
By Diane Bishop
I love this quote by Mother Teresa:
“I used to pray that God would feed the hungry, or do this or that, but now I pray that he will guide me to do whatever I’m supposed to do, what I can do. I used to pray for answers, but now I’m praying for strength. I used to believe that prayer changes things, but now I know that prayer changes us and we change things.”
Don’t know what a world that works for everyone looks like? Let’s start with the basics: food and shelter. In San Luis Valley, Colorado, 1 in 4 children live in poverty. I can affirm in prayer – referred to as spiritual mind treatment in Religious Science – that all children have access to healthy food, then I can do my part and contribute to the food program at my local elementary school. In Religious Science we call this “treat & move your feet.”
I love that the church I attend provides opportunities to give back to the community throughout the year. We don’t get preached at about what we should do, but we are given opportunities to make a meaningful difference in ways that call to us.
Diane Bishop is editor-in-chief of Guide for Spiritual Living: Science of Mind magazine where her interview with author Elizabeth Gilbert appears in the November issue (and for full disclosure she is also the Beloved of Harv Bishop).
The concept of “Treat and Move Your Feet” comes to mind here. Isn’t the essence of New Thought teachings that each of us is both an inlet and an outlet to Spirit? So what else can we do but develop our minds to fully realize our own unique potentials?
I think that confusion arises when we try to balance this concept with unifying with others for causes of one kind or another. Or when we do not fully value ourselves as being capable of making wise choices. So the ongoing practice is in developing and realizing what is already true about each of us and all of us – that we have access to whatever we need to express who we authentically are. That is what I see in the quote from Mother Teresa above. New Thought teaches us how to claim our own power and then to surrender to it. The tricky part is knowing when we have claimed what we need so that our surrender is into a greater reality, not a regression into a consciousness of “not enough.”