{"id":1387,"date":"2012-09-25T08:52:36","date_gmt":"2012-09-25T12:52:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/everydayspirituality\/?p=1387"},"modified":"2016-10-19T08:29:49","modified_gmt":"2016-10-19T12:29:49","slug":"defending-the-bigger-picture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayspirituality\/2012\/09\/defending-the-bigger-picture.html","title":{"rendered":"Defending Reality"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As damaged as humanity is, endlessly bombarded with terribly bad news and idealistic or stupid entertainment, we can\u2019t help but notice there is a vital core within us all that hungers for reality. We know the difference between what makes headlines and the abstract world of challenging living. Many of us are either tired of, or never got involved with, Hollywood hype, New Age spirituality, or consumerism. We can turn off our cellphones and TV\u2019s and computers and solve problems before they become problems or we can at least fix problems pragmatically, getting at the root.<\/p>\n<p>Cynicism or naivety surrounds literature when the words are interpreted to mean what a self-select group of people want them to mean or what they can convince others the literature means. For example over the last century, the readership of Mary Baker Eddy\u2019s <em>Science and Health <\/em>dropped off dramatically when the words no longer had meaning practical to<a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/everydayspirituality\/2011\/08\/getting-back-up-after-being-shot-down.html\"> today\u2019s realities<\/a>. I\u2019d remind myself to study <em>Science and Health<\/em> with appreciative attention rather than as if it was an empty mansion, ripe for occupation by bellicose forces of interpretation. It was inappropriate to use the content to justify church organization or a belief system suited to a culture living in a romanticized past.<\/p>\n<p>When studying <em>Science and Health <\/em>in the late 20<sup>th<\/sup> century<em>,<\/em> I found deeper and broader and more effective meaning than what the current mass consciousness was reading. It became apparent the book needed revising and updating, a task Eddy accomplished over-and-again during her lifetime. Thus, I produced <em>21<sup>st<\/sup> Century Science and Health, <\/em>now in its 4<sup>th<\/sup> edition. The task is unarguably a great adventure pushing consciousness to find more meaning in everything I read or experience. I meet people on a daily basis who practice the principles taught in <em>Science and Health<\/em> whether they read the book or not<em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>This new brighter picture emboldens me as I give mental treatment and I feel greater healing. The God of Love becomes accessible even tactile. The Christ of Truth, not a human personality, is validated and freeing.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As damaged as humanity is, endlessly bombarded with terribly bad news and idealistic or stupid entertainment, we can\u2019t help but notice there is a vital core within us all that hungers for reality. We know the difference between what makes headlines and the abstract world of challenging living. Many of us are either tired of,&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":429,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,5,6],"tags":[624,622,623],"class_list":["post-1387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community_world","category-christian-science","category-spiritual-leaders","tag-religon-and-science","tag-right-to-defense","tag-world-adventure"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Defending Reality - Everyday Spirituality<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayspirituality\/2012\/09\/defending-the-bigger-picture.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Defending Reality - Everyday Spirituality\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As damaged as humanity is, endlessly bombarded with terribly bad news and idealistic or stupid entertainment, we can\u2019t help but notice there is a vital core within us all that hungers for reality. We know the difference between what makes headlines and the abstract world of challenging living. Many of us are either tired of,&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayspirituality\/2012\/09\/defending-the-bigger-picture.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Everyday Spirituality\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-09-25T12:52:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-10-19T12:29:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cheryl Petersen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@cherylpetersen\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Defending Reality - Everyday Spirituality","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayspirituality\/2012\/09\/defending-the-bigger-picture.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Defending Reality - Everyday Spirituality","og_description":"As damaged as humanity is, endlessly bombarded with terribly bad news and idealistic or stupid entertainment, we can\u2019t help but notice there is a vital core within us all that hungers for reality. 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