2. The Promise of Progress

Progress has always been part of humanity. It is an important part of evolution. There is progress in how we developed from insects into human beings, according to Darwin’s theories. And we find progress in the way we move and think in and of the world. Our tools have much improved from spears and rocks to laptops and i-pods. And with it, also thought has changed. The way we think and see things around us is very different now. Values and norms have transformed. Our concept of the world goes not untouched when a person on the other side of the world is only one click away, or when we are informed about every place in the world through a little electronic screen. Distances have changed because you can step in a plane, leave a cold winter, and arrive in a tropical place a few hours later. It undoubtedly influences on how we perceive the world.

The progress in our history books is usually written down as inventions, new methods or discoveries. Inventions of new tools which leads us into new methods and approaches. And discoveries of new places on the earth, new planets, new plants and animals, or even discoveries of extinct creatures or lost worlds. These new inventions, methods and discoveries result in new lifestyles, new ideas. The woman found a new freedom when the first household tools were sold, releasing her of some of the labor she had to do in the house, enabling her to do other work. Or when the discovery of a round earth was generally accepted, it inspired travelers to sail new routes and to explore the world for unknown lands. The fear of the sea and to fall off the earth had gone. Another freedom was attained.

But even though they resulted in new experiences, the appearing of these inventions and discoveries came firstly through new ideas. Many new tools were described and portrayed in books and films, before they were ever made. After the initial idea, came the elements to make it. The wheel would have not been invented without a need for better transportation. We would not have airplanes if man would not have dreamt to fly like the birds. It is the desire that opens up the possibility.

What it takes, is to ‘think outside the box’. The box is the whole set of rules and limitations that we entertain. It is a collection of the general thought telling us what is possible and impossible. They are traditions of our thoughts in which we get stuck. Few dare to take a peak out of it and live differently. Thought that does not fit inside the box thought is attacked and opposed strongly. To think and live differently has no place in the box. This box changes as the progress pushes us to think and live differently. What is accepted now, was not accepted before.

So we learn that progress comes first through ideas of those individuals who are able to step out of the accepted ways they live in. The new ideas are not easily accepted. New inventions or discoveries are at first often opposed with fear, and unbelief. It is considered a threat to the box thought. One needs to redefine what has been found ‘normal.’ Only after a few generations the new ideas are entirely accepted, and they become part of the general human experience. Once the new ideas are accepted, the earlier way of living is found primitive and in some occasions even barbaric. Think of the medical treatments that were used in the Middle Ages. No one today would like to receive a treatment from those days. It is generally accepted that electrocution is not the best way to treat mental illness, for example. Or how funny is it to us to think of a flat earth? And why would white people be entitled to own a colored man as a slave? It is hard for us to understand how the old ideas were considered normal and how new ideas could have been resisted strongly.

After looking at many examples of progress of the past, let us look at what is to come. Our box of limited thinking will be challenged too. Futures generations will have different understanding of what we consider to be normal now. Our ways and experiences will be considered primitive and even barbaric. Dare we consider that possibility?

Be assured, progress is not a possibility, it is a promise. For as long as we find ourselves in disharmony we will keep looking for improvement. New ideas will keep coming up, challenging our thoughts and lives. Progress will keep pressing us to move forward and upward.

While moving forward and upward, where will all the progress lead us to? What is the final point one can achieve, if there is a final moment at all? This eternal changing and moving would make us wonder if there could be a moment without progress. But there must be that moment, because we can hold now the idea of perfection and harmony. The idea, and the desire inspire us to move on gently. What we know now can hold pieces of beauty and harmony. Yet, complete and absolute perfection seem impossible to us now, which brings us to think it cannot be found. But let us remember that impossibility is part of the earlier described ‘box thinking.’

If absolute perfection and harmony cannot found in a box, where can it be found then? In God and God only. Perfection is only possible if God is. Only God can represent true perfection and everlasting harmony. God does not progress. God needs no improvement. God is unchangingly itself. This means that progress to higher views is not creating or improving something we call god. Progress is only in the human experience, the revelation of God, the unchanging Truth. It is the veil lifting up in front of our eyes, showing the spiritual reality of things. Nothing new gets ever created or invented. It is the same thing overturning and overturning in our consciousness, getting defined more clearly and correctly, until what is left is God and what God expresses only. “I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him” (Ezek. 21:27).

Let us therefore take this gentle journey that redefines and reveals to us true perfection. Let us shift our base to the endpoint, that stable treasure. Then the storm of change and progress will not fear us. Then we can open our eyes and hearts to the promise we are yet to receive. Our view today towards the summit of our journey is described in I John 3: “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” This will be the final stage of the ultimate progress. We do not yet know what it shall be like, but what we do know, is that we will be like him and we will see him as he truly is. This is nothing to fear about. We can rejoice in this promise. It holds ultimate liberation and eternal harmony revealed unto us, as it is. But it will not be revealed until we are ready for it.

As Love,
the Hanna

1. The Aim for this Blog

What is the aim for starting this blog? I am starting this blog to find and be as Love. It is Love that prevails all error and hate. It is Love that comes from true wisdom. It is accurate, honest, and shows us the harmony of the heavens as available to us right now.

Everyone searches for harmony. Even a burglar does: he thinks he can add more harmony to his own world by stealing from others. It is his misunderstanding of true Love and harmony that allows him to take actions that seem to benefit himself, and seem to hurt or disappoint others. It is his misconception of Love, that makes him think goods and money are more important than honesty. His concept of love is limited, and it results in the decisions he makes. His human sense of love is a love for his own material comfort. Yet, this is the negation of true Love.

If now this same man would realize the true nature of God and man, and the true elements that shape the universe, he would not work from misunderstanding, but from understanding. His actions would change instantly, without any forced effort and hard disciplined will power. He would find himself free, in a world he thought was cold and limited. And his new actions would not leave him poor.

Understanding Love changes how we perceive the world. It destroys suffering, it lifts up the morality, and shows us a realm free from human limitation in a safe and stable environment. Harmony is what we all look for. Even for those who are stuck in addictions, those who are depressed, or those who are making the streets unsafe. The world as we know it now is operating from the desire for harmony. When ill, we search to regain health. When in great loss, we try to replace the loss. No one can escape the desire for harmony. Many have given up hope to find harmony. Rebellion and optimism for improvement are usually changed for the realization that life simply cannot offer us the harmony and contentment we look for. As a result, we accept it and settle for less or some even consider to give up life as they know it.

It is good to have a desire for harmony. If we give it up, we miss out on something that transcends misery and disappointments. It is not Love that gives us suffering, but it is the false belief of love that results in suffering. Again, it is the understanding of Love that destroys any of the worlds false beliefs of love. It is the misunderstanding of Life and of being, that needs to be replaced by the right and truthful concept of Life and being. Once we start realizing this, and aim only to do it for good and harmony, our perception and experience of Life and Love will change.

Many times have I found relief and even great joy, when suffering seemed to prevail. Many times was limitation replaced by a better understanding of unlimited Life and Love. Such newfound understanding does not leave me in a situation where I become careless or in danger of foolhardiness. Working to find the satisfying living water is not a floating fantasy world. It is the most secure and stable place to build upon. It is found in the spiritual realm, as soon as we are willing to let go of material concepts and beliefs. And this change must happen gradually. It is not wise to drop all at once, unless we already have nothing left to hold on. We do not forcingly drop unless we understand why. It is Love and our increasing understanding of Love that will guide us in the journey. Gently, we move and rise up higher.

With this blog I want to share and show the lights I have found in this journey. It is with a constant care that I work solely to gain the highest insight. I look for pure Love and Truth as it is, not for what I want it to be, free from human opinion. This individual journey is free from the influence of human organization, movement or church.

The teachings and works of Jesus, the Christ, and Mary Baker Eddy are pivotal in this journey. ‘The way is straight and narrow.’ The marriage of both teachers, show us the full revelation in finding and understanding Truth, Life and Love.

I hope you will enjoy this blog and gain from it as much as I do, so that the gentle presence may guide us to higher views, leaving us fulfilled instead of disappointed.

My only Love,
the Hanna