"I hear lots of people talk about living in the now, but does anyone do it?"

"It's impossible if you're being literal. As the Dalai Lama says, 'now is just a point where future becomes past.' Who could, or even wants to, live on a point?"

"Living now means focusing on the current situation and removing attention from the future and the past."

"Then it's like the 12-step idea of 'one day at a time.'"

"Yes, but we still have a past and a future to deal with, unless we're in serious denial. Wouldn't it be better to just handle scientifically whatever drifts into mind from the past or the future? That way we'd have a present healing understanding of what's still haunting us from the past or making us apprehensive about the future."

"It seems to me we're talking about two different concepts of now. One is a point on a timeline. The other is an awakening to divine reality."

"Ah, very good. Where'd you come up with that."

"Well, for one thing I looked back at our notes on this same subject from the meeting of [#topicd=20030724#], and I also looked at a Parabola from the Spring of 1990 issue on 'Time and Presence.' The sense of a divine now is accessible as we leave the mortal basis of belief with its dualities and unite with divine Mind."

"Have you ever thought that our present human situation is always the highest right under the circumstances, and why that would be the case?"

"I certainly wouldn't tell anyone that who's suffering."

"I wouldn't either. But if I were working for them, or myself, in Science, it might be very helpful to recognize what kind of beliefs we're holding to and why these are placing us just where we are and indeed have to be!"

"And you'd work to break those beliefs, right?"

"Yes, and promote better beliefs by concentrating the metaphysical work on the absolutes of being."

"Absolutes of being! I like that — and it's so now."

"Would anyone like to talk about their experiences with the now?"

"Sure. I was living in LA on 9/11 and my daughter was going to school here in New York. I worried a lot about her safety and being so far from her. Things started changing in my life — there was a lot of pressure on the job and out of the blue my landlord raised the rent. I was getting very uncomfortable in LA".

"Did you see that as an indication you should move?"

"Not at first. I'm a Christian Scientist, so I prayed to bring out harmony — and listened. I began to hear a still small voice reassuring me but the work and living circumstance in LA didn't improve. One day it came to me to ask an employment agency in New York for some leads. There was an immediate response and job offer! A place to live here also opened up without effort. I figured I should go towards the open arms of New York, particularly since LA seemed to be pushing me out."

"So the move went off without a hitch?"

"Pretty much. I've had my fears, but I just keep paying attention to the presence of God and new wonders unfold. Just this week I have found a job here in the city — a few blocks from my home. For the last few months I've been commuting to New Jersey an hour and a half each way."

"Hey, that's a terrific demonstration. Anyone else?"

"I had something interesting come up on the way over here. I was rushing and worried about being late. Suddenly I thought, 'How ridiculous. Here I am going to a meeting about now; do I really want to fret over being late?' With that I spontaneously slowed down and a wonderful childlike appreciation of everything took over. I was entranced by the traffic lights and the shop windows. People became adorable."

"That's called a satori in the East."

"It sounds like what I used to experience with pot."

"But this was a natural high — a complete surrender into now, or the divine now overwhelming any sense of time."

"I'd like to try it."

"The only directions I can give is to just slow down and start trying to look at things the way a child would. I've also got something deeper going on. As I said last week my life has fallen apart the last year. That includes marriage, finances and mental health. I suffered a deep depression but refused to take antidepressants. I sought out non-drugging psychotherapists and found some of them base their approach on spirituality. That brought me back to Christian Science which I was studying years ago. Now I just want to heal by spiritual means and let God open up and direct my life's course."

"Could you tell me more about the therapists you've been seeing? Maybe later at dinner."

"Fine."

"I'd like to give a testimony. I had a run-in with someone trying to burden me with guilt, which clearly was not mine. I saw through the attempted delivery and returned it to sender — one hopes for appropriate disposition. The interaction did alert me to other issues lying just below the surface. I was able to tap into shame which I'm sure I've used guilt to defend against in the past. I can see why — I feel like I want to sink through the floor when I'm in shame-mode".

"Did you pray about it in Science?"

"Well, in a way yes. I allowed myself to sink into the floor emotionally. And do you know I sank so low I fell through it and right into infinity! I got a very expansive and healing realization of God's presence. I also discovered in this incident — as my healing interlocutor pointed out — I have a penchant for psychobabble, doubtless as a defense against real feeling. I'm still working on that one."

"I'd like to talk about something that happened this week. For many years I've wanted to go on a bridge cruise. Last spring I talked to a woman who hosts these cruises and pre-registered for one in January of '05. She said she'd call me in early September to complete the registration. When she didn't call I called her and found the cruise was fully booked. I was really disappointed because these cruises are rather rare — I might have to wait a year for another one to develop. Thankfully I saw right away that my disappointment could spill over into depression, sleepless nights and so on. So I prayed fervently to get my spiritual sense back. Pretty soon I was calm and had the feeling of, as they say, 'one door closes and another opens.' The whole thing went out of mind. That very afternoon however the phone rang and it was a Gay travel agent asking whether I was interested in a cruise he was putting together. It's not a bridge cruise per se but will include a number of people of my age group and I'll definitely be able to scare up some bridge games as well as lots of other activities."

"We're getting close to the end of our meeting. Does anyone else have something?"

"Well, I was talking to a non-Christian Science friend the other day about God and decided to let him have full rein in describing God's nature. You know, he pretty much came up with the God we'd recognize in Science — all good, all present, all powerful — the source of us and the universe. Oh, and very intimate. This kind of exploration and exchange is my current church and so different from what I used to participate in through a branch church. I laugh now at my last interaction with church members who'd just excommunicated me. We were outside and a few of them were casting final taunts at me as I prepared to leave. Just then a pigeon pooped on my head; the chairman of the board stepped forward and said, 'I guess God has spoken.'"

"On that profound note, I'd like to ask if we have a suggestion for next week's topic."

"I was thinking today about all the little healings I have every day. Could we do something along that line?"

"Like Healing?"

"Or maybe Daily Healings — with people keeping a log of their healings and the work they did to bring them through."

"Is it agreed — Daily Healings?"

"Yes."

"OK."

"Fine."