Thanks Mary for the gift of this Lift, and thanks and love to the DL community..

Thank you Mary for this great perspective. Mary Baker Eddy says,"The nature of Christianity is peaceful and blessed," Truth is given to us by reason and revelation. A calm trust in God is what allows us to demonstrate the proof of Christian Science. This is the time of year when these things should be uppermost in our thoughts-as well as celebrated! To fellow D.L. member Kathleen McNally: In thinking about your comments from the Lift of 11/28 I recently read a great article in the "Anthology of Classic Articles" The Truth About Adversity by Louise Knight Wheatley Cook page 119 (found at the c/s reading room) which may be of interest to you. A short quote from the article"Each stage of human experience through which Joseph passed, proved to be essential to the next step in his progress, and all were without exception along the line of spiritual advancement, although they appeared at the time to be exactly the opposite." Thank you.

Thank you for my first Christmas gift - I will cherish it as Dec 25 nears.

Thank you, Mary, for “The gift of peace and poise … Christ Jesus had a gift for mankind … if we’re willing to accept it … ‘peace of mind and heart’ … let’s accept it …”

This fits perfectly with what I just read in Mrs. Eddy’s Christ and Christmas. It was very inspiring to me, especially the following:

To-day, as oft, away from sin
Christ summons thee!
Truth pleads to-night: Just take Me in!
No mass for Me.

What stood out to me most is:

… Christ summons thee! … Just take Me in! No mass for Me.

Whatever else, my Christmas preparation as well as the celebration is as simple as accepting the Christ. :-)

This is COD. Christ On Delivery.

A profound gift, peace and poise! Thank you for this Lift!

Thank you, Mary. Spiritual peace is a gift to be treasured!

Hi Mary, What an appropriate message to start off the Christmas season this month! I've experienced many rushed Christmases in the past and just felt relieved when the holiday was finally over. Recently, however, everyone in our extended family has adopted the idea of simplifying our Christmas celebration and limited our gift-giving to one gift for each of us, and that has eliminated endless shopping and made a big difference in the peace we all feel. Still, around the world we see much evidence of a lack of peace. I have never actually thought of peace as being a Christmas gift to us, but Mary Baker Eddy clearly saw this concept of Christmas (My 260:21) when she wrote, "The basis of Christmas is love loving its enemies." That always brings peace, doesn't it? I'm joyfully accepting this gift today.

Dear Mary,

Thank you for that gentle reminder about leading up to Christmas. I feel this is a time of the continuing of the "Thanksgiving" season which goes on well in the New Year. It never stops.

Many thanks Mary for this great Christmas reminder. Yes. "Christ Jesus had a gift for mankind. 'Greater love for our fellow mankind.' Peace of mind and heart has us feeling satisfied and complete." "Then open wide your heart/ To Truth and Light and Love;/ You then shall know your life is hid/ With Christ in God above." (Christian Science Hymnal #201).

Thanks for the peace of mind and heart. Sometimes we get a gift and we put it on the side, because we got a lot and this one is not the priority. This time I am so glad I got it, that I put it in use rigth away. It's like realizing that you are running out a special spice and starting to get upset, because you can't go on with the recipie you thought and while looking desperately on the shelves, somebody rings the bell and is having a solution for you. Peace is like spices, you may not it/them from outside, but it gives a special taste.

—Mom, can I get a bike for Christmas?
—Is not your birthday!
—I know, but…why do we get a gift if is Jesus’ birthday, shouldn’t he get it?
—He IS the gift God (Love) gave us. He gave us peace of mind and heart, he said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” John 14:27
—Mom, not to have to be afraid is the best present ever because it last forever, right?
—Right!
—But… can I still get the bike?

ESPAÑOL
—Mami, ¿puedo tener una bicicleta para Navidad?
—¡No es tu cumpleaños!
—Ya se… ¿Por qué recibimos regalos si es el cumpleaños de Jesús, no tendría él que recibir regalos?
—Él ES el regalo que Dios (el Amor) nos dio a nosotros. Nos dio paz interior y del corazón, dijo “La paz os dejo, mi paz os doy: no como el mundo la da, yo os la doy. No se turbe vuestro corazón, ni tenga miedo” Juan 14:27
—Mami, ¿no tener que tener miedo nunca es el mejor regalo que hay porque dura para siempre, verdad?
—¡Verdad!
—Pero… ¿puedo tener la bicicleta de todas maneras?

Thank you, Mary

A gift of peace of mind and heart.

Truth, Wisdom, Love and Sincerity, to ALL mankind.

Rob Scott
Chicago, IL

Dear Mary,
That was just beautiful. Thankyou
Would love the whole world to hear those practical, loving, healing thoughts . Peace and the poise to hold to that peace from the Christ
To us all.
Pam QLD?
.

Thanks Mary . your message of inspiration and timely reminder of the true meaning of the buth of the Christ within us is a much apreciated Christmas 2012 gift .

Thank you

Saben estoy escribiendo un poema para Navidad y recién lo he comenzado aunque generalmente lo escribo de una y después lo corrijo éste me he tomado más tiempo como si quisiera saborear cada palabra con que será construido porque es más que un poema, es la Navidad misma y lo que ella trae, el más bello regalo que podemos recibir y atesorar, como la perla de gran precio dejando todo lo demás de lado, siempre el tema central de mis poemas ha sido Cristojesús, éste año sentí el anhelo de escribir sobre la Navidad, parece lo mismo, Cristo y la Navidad y bueno eso es la Navidad un regalo del Cristo es estar preparados para la paz que viene a traves de ese sentir de Él y que llena nuestra consciencia con la pureza del niño de Belén.

Navidad el capullo que abre sus pétalos
Cristo la flor que espande su aroma.

Muchas gracias Mary, en paz, gozosos.

Thanks for the lovely message and thanks to everyone for the comments. I liked very much the citation from #8:
"the basis of Christmas is love loving its enemies". Love to all, to those who are our friends, to those who help us, who understand us, and LOVE to those who are apparently against us but most of all to those who need our help and prayers. May we all accept this beautiful gift from our heavenly Father this Christmas: PEACE and POISE.

Thank you .for this lovely gift

Absolutely beautiful! What a precious gift these thoughts are. Thank you!

Thank you.

thank you for this message, this is a lovely gift I was needed during this period of our preparation for christmas. It is for a deep help. LOVELY

My most treasured gift of all, peace of mind &heart from God.
A peace that the world can not give or take away.
Have a blessed day!

Thank you Mary for speaking of this most precious gift to the world. The very gift which makes a difference to and in the world. But mankind needs to accept it. When that happens the equation is proved, complete, and we shall know the Peace of Love. We will not want for more matter to find "under the tree," but to find desire to emulate and practice more of divine Love's giving and accepting. Then we, too, will be making our difference to the community of the world. That will be the everyday gift of Christmas!

Thank you! I needed your reminder that I am loved!

Thank you Mary and other lifters for their comments. Well said Sunshine.

This lovely lift gift arrived this morning with such healing - thank you, Mary and all! Truly the gift of the Christ is special delivery each day to all, and we simply must be ready and willing to accept it! My abiding gratitude to God for the Christ gift - every day for everyone, everything, everywhere!

Thank you, Mary.
Peace, Peace, Peace!

The perfect gift!! Thanks, Mary, for this timely reminder.

I love Elena,#11, comment. Joy and laughter can heal. Be joyous and grateful that we have everything we need. "S&H 307: "It is enough that divine Love is an ever-present help; and if you wait, never doubting, you will have all you need every moment." Are you happy--don't forget to tell you face and show that beautiful smile.

Thanks Mary, I accept this gift with deep gratitude. Thanks Nela, Frank, Darlene, Sunshine, and all.

Thank you.

Thanks, Mary! I have found that, when I allow my feelings to come up from deep within, there is often a Gift in them. They let me know if I am Sad, Glad, Angry or Grieving. Then, when I can acknowledge them, feel them and allow them to be - I find they dissapate on their own. I don't need to fight with them, deny them or try to repress them. And I don't need to act on them. They need space and air to breathe and often are showing me what I need to do to take care of myself, to Love myself more - in every moment.

Wow! Just what I needed to hear and accept....thank you.

Thanks Mary for such a timely reminder. And thanks #8 as well. In my family, too, we have simplified gift giving. We take it in turns to buy one special gift for one other adult, and we set the amount of money to be spent. Everyone still feels treated but we do not have the same feeling of excess as in the past. We love having each other's company as the main focus of getting together. Mrs Eddy wanted us to have a "famine of sense" and a "feast of Soul." What a wise idea!

Mary, what a lovely Lift before Christmas! I have friends from UK sharing my little cottage, and there is such peace and harmony, it is a joy to be sharing love and laughter. And many thanks for the wonderful comments that fill each Lift effortlessly and eagerly.
Thank you Nate and your production team; thanks to the BoL and lecturers; and many many thanks for the wonderful comments after each Daily Lift.

Thank you for reminding me.

How lovely and appropriate. I know this will bless many people around the world as Christians celebrate the birth of Christ Jesus. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. This Lift reminded me of Mary Baker Eddy's words in the collection of her writings called The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany (page 262):

I love to observe Christmas in quietude, humility,
benevolence, charity, letting good will towards man, elo‐
quent silence, prayer, and praise express my conception
of Truth's appearing.

Thanks Mary and thank you to our generous, ever present all giving Father-Mother Love for this precious gift of the Christ Truth all year, forever, here and near, now. AND thanks everyone for your gifts in responding and Nate and your DL team for these weekly, daily gifts.

Thank you! I wrote it in an affirmation to carry with me throughout this season. I love the idea of spiritual poise and it reminded me that Bible study reveals that "Be ye therefore perfect" is speaking of being spiritually mature (not humanly flawless), thus operating from Spirit, responding from Love and reflecting the Mind of Christ.

What a beautiful early Christmas present! Thank you so much Mary. I've already opened mine.
In making up my Christmas present list, I like the idea of giving of your self.
An idea from Science and Health expands on this idea:
"The poor suffering heart needs its rightful nutriment, such as peace,
patience in tribulation, and a priceless sense of the dear
Father's loving-kindness." (pg. 365)
This list might be hard to fill in the stores;
1. "...The joy and strength of Truth."
2. Defence against "...hypocrisy, stolidity, inhumanity, or vice...."
3. A "...temple of the Holy Ghost, - the patient's spiritual power to resuscitate himself."
4. "A pearl of great price."
And why not add a bike to the list?

Thank you so much, Mary. This is something I have struggled with in the last few years. This Daily Lift has just given me a gift -- reminding me of Christ's gift of "peace of mind and heart." Now I am actually looking forward to the holiday and to practicing this peace and poise. This Daily Lift has also perfectly filled in the "blanks" for my window display at our Reading Room. Double thanks! Blessings to all on the Daily Lift team and to all of its readers and contributors around the world.

Hi Mary,
Thanks for this peace-full encouragement.
And thanks to the Board of Lectureship for this ongoing, wonderful gift of the Daily Lifts.
Love to all of you who present it, produce the program, and those who tune in all around the world!
Also loved Elena's little joke :-)

I accept it! Wonderful... thank you for this warm and loving lift!

Thank you for that lift Mary and as always, thank you all for your comments... the best gifts and all treasures!

This running to and fro, from store to store or from web site to web site, is not and never was supposed to be practicing the Christmas Holiday. It is and should be the quiet solitude between you and God, praying and blessing the whole world with Love and understanding what that power can do for oneself and the world, making it better for all. This is really how to celebrate the Holidays.

Thank you, Mary, what a valuable and practical reminder at this time of year.

Mary,
I loved your emphasis on accepting the peace that is Christ.

Thank you for summarizing it so beautifully.

THANK YOU! The Poise that comes attached to Peace is such a clear and calming sense.

A lovely Lift that helps us realize our God-given right to peace and joy at a time we need it most. Thank you for this helpful message.

So lovely said Mary. Thank you very much for reminding us of this precious gift of Christ received. May you too, always be surrounded by peace and poise. Many loving thoughts going your way from Canada.

Thank you, Mary Just beautiful!!! I accept this gift and treasure it always
Love to all my Lift family!!!

What a beautiful Lift gift entering the Christmas season Mary--sharpening the focus on the Christ celebration that is Christmas!

peace and poise ... peace and poise ... peace and poise ... a gift that keeps giving to one & all ... Merci beaucoup!

Thank you, Mary for reminding us about what real gift-giving is and where it comes from, and to whom it is given. We simply have to accept the gift! Thank you to all the commentors and to the DL team. I get so much inspiration from these Daily Lifts!

Oh, Mary this reaches my heart.

Many Christmas's ago, I desired the gift of a fuller understanding of the Christ. It was a sweet time of study, pondering and great gain. Yes, peace and poise are expressed in the Christ, the real man, each holy day. May our spiritual gifts "radiate and glow into noontide glory." (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures pg. 367)

Lovely! Yes! We have to! There is one baptism, one covenant, one faith, one promise; we have to, there is not a choice. Chioce, free-will, self-will; that is the old covenant, teeth set on edge. The new covenant, Principle of Christian Science is as Ms. Eddy states in S & H, expounded in the book of Hebrews, the last will and testiment of Christ Jesus; there is no choice! love ggz (cprt euphonic)

Thank you and all who take time to comment.It is very inspiring to know these lifts reach around the world.

That was so lovely and calming. Thank you. Just the best Christmas gift ever!

"Spiritual poise is steady". Reminds me of "the calm, strong currents of true spirituality" of which Mary Baker Eddy speaks on page 99 of Science and Health. Thank you so much, Mary, yes as #56 says so dearly: "Oh, Mary, this reaches my heart." Thank you for a message that calms and steadies us through this season. Love to all and peace and joy and power too!

poise = "graceful and elegant bearing in a person; composure and dignity of manner. Origin: from the notion of equal, weight, balance." Christ within and witnessed without plain for all to see acknowledge, realize, accept.
Thank you Mary and all for reminding us of Mary Baker Eddy's celebration of Christmas:
"I love to observe Christmas in quietude, humility, benevolence, charity, letting good will towards man, eloquent silence, prayer, and praise express my conception of Truth's appearing.
My 262:27

Wonderful reminder. Thanks! (=

Thank you for the very special Lift. This is an especially good time to take pause and listen carefully for the "still small voice" that is there for each of us.

Grateful doesn't begin to acknowledge the joy and blessings I have received this past year from the study of Christian Science.

Spiritual poise - now this is the Christmas gift I want to have and want to share. The Christ is here! giving us the peace of God.

thank you for your thoughtful lift-- am grateful to receive it.
we are as I understand it -- the Christ consciousness--
peaceful, calm, and confident as reflections of God--
Very grateful indeed.
Thanks again...

I THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Translation to #1, Nelly, Uruguay (sorta)
You know, I am writing a poem for Christmas and I just began, though I generally write it at once and then I correct it, this one took me longer, as if I wanted to savor each word of it, because is more than a poem, is Christmas itself and what it brings. The most beautiful gift we could receive and treasure, like the pearl of great price, leaving everything else aside. Jesus has always been the central theme of my poems. This year I felt the desire to write about Christmas. It seems the same, Christ and Christmas, and well, that is Christmas, a gift of the Christ is to be prepared for the peace that comes through feeling that He fills our consciousness with the purity of the Bethlehem child.
Christmas, the but that opens its petals
Christ, the flower that spreads its aroma.

Thank you Mary, in peace, joyously.

Mary, thank you for your dear, comforting lift. It is a special one. Also, thanks to Martin (#2) for the quote you shared. I will look up that article as well. And thanks to Elena (#67) for your thoughtfulness in translating Nelly's message.

To Steve in NJ: In case you haven't seen it, I added a late response to the DL from 11/20 (re: "Open Doors") in which I wrote a message to you. Also, I've been meaning to thank you for leading me to the CS Perspective in the 10/29 CS Monitor. It was/is perfect for me. Love, gratitude, and blessings to you!

Sending love worldwide to all.

Thank you Mary for this precious gift. It is so needed when some seem swamped with shopping for and planning food for families. And thank you for remembering those who feel unloved and alone. They have the gift too, and are able to accept it. This gift is for the whole world, and how lovely it is to read the omments from near and far.

Thank you Mary, for the guidance and inspiration in this Daily Lift.
To gain a deeper understanding of 'accept' I looked in 2 dictionaries and found the following helpful meanings:-
consent to receive; answer affirmatively; to give admittance or approval to; to receive as true; understand; to make a favourable response to.

I needed that, Mary. Thank you!

Yes, peace of heart and mind - my daily goal, or better: doing! Thank you so much!!!
And the comment # 12 gave me a lot of fun!
Merry Christmas to all lifters und commentators.
Best wishes from Heidemarie in Germany

Peace and Poise...now that's a winning combination! Thanks so much.

Good Work, your thoughts will be treasured!

what a beautiful lift! Truly the right timing for this message.
to get a better understanding of the word poise as it relates to this lift, here is what the
dictionary says:
Poise: composure,equilibruim,balance.
These are God's qualities - these are graceful qualities!
Thank you Father for being such a generous giver!

Thank you for this gift of your lift. I am listening to it all week. Donna

The great thing about the Truth that heals is its reliability.
Thank you Mary, for this Daily Lift.
We are assured and re-assured, that the manna falls daily, yet we do not always recognise it.
Daily Lifts, in down-to-earth, everyday lingo, help us to see what we might otherwise brush aside, in our haste to get things done !
May all the blessings and lessons of the season be with you all !
Thanks, Mary, for the lesson !

Thank you Jayne #68, I did respond to you in the Doors DL from Mary Alice Rose..

Reflection is a wonderful process, a full of wonder state of being.
My reflective state of being has been immeasurably enriched just by reading the range of comments on this 'Lift'.
Thank you ,Mary, and thank you each !