Margaret Furr

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As I explore spiritual healing, multiple faiths, and learn to appreciate broader views around the power (or lack of power) in churches and church divides across the world and its languages, I cherish inspiration that motivates and empowers work, health, life, and community engagement. I share inspiration in blogs below.


Steward of the Earth

59 days of throwing pieces of trash up when seeing them on the ground outside to be a steward of the Earth.


Inspiring Passages on Light from the Holy Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures - Week of August 24, 2021

Genesis 1:3-5, 14-18

Inspiring Passages on Creation from the Holy Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures - Week of August 11, 2021

Genesis 1:1, 11, 21, 27-31

Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures p. 257: 12-21

Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures pp. 270-271: 31-6

Inspiring Passages on Oneness from the Holy Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures - Week of August 10, 2021

Genesis 11:1, 6

Science and Health with Key tot he Scriptures pp. 68-69: 29-2, 13-16

Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures p. 112: 16-22

Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures p. 114, 19


Education and Spirituality

As a graduate of UVa, I was most passionate about religious liberty and lifelong learning. I expressed curiosity about the meaning of ‘freedom of the press’ and ‘freedom of speech’. I think it’s cool that beliefs of the original founders, some good, and some evil, given to people by mankind’s Creator gave way to the possibility for people to become free of limtiations and engage in a higher version of spirituality.

As a woman, I have had a challenging time feeling confident in understanding nuances in politics, history, and culture. Because I struggled with communication in person, I turned to digital communications to compensate. Sometimes I shared ideas like ‘you are good’ to people treating me terribly and laughing. Sometimes I wasn’t expressing clear ideas at all.

Important values of the United States of America are the pursuit of liberty, justice, and happiness. I believe that public or private education supports this pursuit. I believe that writing supports a democracy. I believe that without the beliefs of the original founders in architecting religious reliberty, Mary Baker Eddy would not have been able to do her work. The founders were not perfect. I believe that all people outside of a professional freelance job, outside of a church, and inside of democracy should feel liberated to write. What is freedom of the press to you? What is freedom of education? What is freedom of speech? How does writing in a democracy flow to church? My original discovery and thinking was correct. I loved the idea of COEXISTENCE, respecting other faith backgrounds, and understanding the Decalogue in relationship to Christian Science.

Much of my work in this life has centered around the study of history and education. Most people in our society expect women to work in education. I also love teaching, so I am passionate about finding ways to support teaching.

While working with EVERFI, my original intent was to grow out of a belief of animal magnetism’s power through compassion. When I woke up to the Truth, I could not clearly discern how EVERFI related to Christian Science. It did in some ways, but it did not in other ways. I was trying to take a stance for the Christian Science Community, and report the power of Science. Christian Scientists do not actively teach the Matthew Code. Christian Scientists do not actively teach how to report gender-based harassment. Christian Scientists teach forgiveness. Christian Scientists teach The Golden Rule.

I am sorry I reacted to you. I believe that interests I have relating to spirituality and morality will continue to unfold, and I don’t know how they take shape. I still believe lifelong learning supports freeing the human mind. I also still believe that appreciating the faith of people in other churches and sometimes not even speaking the words Christian Science is the best way to engage with people from other backgrounds.

I am sorry to react to you. My original intent was to commit to Christian Science, learn to articulate ideas better, and see people correctly.

It was humbling to me that music in the Church community inadvertently arrested me mentally around having a crush on someone, pointed me to my ancestors who discovered some pathways through the country, and pointed me to understanding some nuances of political and cultural history.

On page 106 of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy writes, “Like our nation, Christian Science has its Declaration of Independence. God has endowed man with inalienable rights, among which are self-government, reason, and conscience. Man is properly self-governed when he is guided rightly and governed by his Maker, divine Truth and Love.”

because I LOVE that education, religious liberty, freedom of the press, democracy promote freeing ‘the human mind from the snares of mortal mind’

In the Spanish Version of page 106, Mary Baker Eddy writes in Ciencia Cristian con Clave de Las Escrituras “Como nuestra nacion, la Ciencia Cristiana teine su Declaracion de Independencia. Dios ha dotado al hombre con derechos inalienables, entre los cuales se encuentran el gobierno de si mismo, la razon y la conciencia. El hombre se gobierna a si mismo debidamente solo cuando esta dirigido correctamente y gobernado por su Hacedor, la Verdad y el Amor divinos.”

Values of a democracy are not professionalized. Intellectual interests promote democracy. A true education frees the mind from boxes.

In reality, I was working to commit to the Christian Science Church, not depend on the Christian Science Church, and take a stance at one point.


Love’s Debut, Love’s Marriage

Some people in the American culture enjoy debuts and weddings. Other people feel like debuts and weddings exclude portions of the population. Throughout my entire life, I have felt excluded from proms, date functions, debuts, and weddings. As people in my age bracket have announced the big news of marriages and new babies, I have done my best to express happiness for people, but I have become so angry around limiting ideas in the world that I engaged in criminal acts and became a prisoner in my own home. Some patterns of behavior of always lurking online to look for a boyfriend grew louder. After breaking down mentally multiple times over these issues, marriage has come to me to feel a little bit like a joke, and I am having a hard time moving past seeing marriage as something sacred.

This is a poem I wrote capturing the sacredness of Male-Female relationships. God spoke to me through a dark period. I do not always reflect all of these qualities, but this poem captures the True Self being radiated from the True Man and True Woman.

Love’s Debut, Love’s Marriage She’s quiet, She’s humble, She’s light-hearted, and smiling.

She’s musical, She’s forgiving, She’s dancing, and modest.

She’s inclusive, She’s articulate, She’s thoughtful, and wise.

She’s all-embracing, She’s resilient, She’s grateful, and at home.

She’s merciful, She’s modest, She’s open-mind, and mindful.

She’s a searcher for humanity in the darkest areas of the world. She’s a lover of Jesus and Mary Baker Eddy. She knows that Love has the throne and that Love is Life’s true crown and glory.

He’s thankful, He’s gracious, He’s joyful, and kind.

He’s trustworthy, He’s satisfied, He’s helpful, and strong.

He’s embracive, He’s courageous, He’s free, and aware.

He’s adventurous, He’s ordered, He’s hard-working, and secure.

He’s a lover of mankind, and inclusive of all. With a passion for Church, He’s a searcher for Truth in all areas of the world. He knows that Divine Mind has the throne and that reflecting Principle and expressing joy is the Way. God is the source of her peace, and speaks to her with the still, small voice.

She knows that what blesses one, blesses all. She’s consistent, precise, persistent, and dedicated. She’s graceful, balanced, life-giving, and free.

He provides strength and structure. He’s law-abiding and principled. He’s eternal, and omnipotent.

She’s a searcher for humanity, and a seeker of the light in the darkest areas of the world. She uses Truth’s double-edged sword to end human strife. She’s self-complete and wedded to the author of the universe. She holds her covenant with all mankind.

She’s creative. She’s poised. She’s independent. She’s listening. She’s thoughtful. She’s perceptive.

Literally, I have reached a point recently where I feel hate towards Christian Science Movement because I feel like I can’t express a voice and I have felt some objectification of womanhood and manhood.

There’s a lot of talk right now in our culture about gun violence and crime. As a White Woman, I have engaged in criminal acts. I have threatened to kill people over anger around male-female relationships. How are people supposed to respond to crime? It is so difficult. I once sent gun images to people, and I literally felt the gun weighing on my head for a while. It was awful to be the prisoner of sin, anger, and bad decisions. I admitted to the crime, read prison ministry books, and then sought to help other people in the community to get back up. While praying, I saw the light in the darkness as the prison ministry teaches to do. Always, God’s light is shining through the darkness somehow. I was grateful to engage with the community, and I have been grateful since college to repent and go out with Black men on outings to let go of prejudices, discover how life-giving the African American community is, and learn more about the true substance being reflected through them. I won’t necessarily date or marry a Black man in the long-term, but I am grateful for all the Black men I have met to learn about their individualities.


Keep on Going

Keep on going You are growing

Keep on singing You are being

Everything’s going to be ok Everything will fall into place There is going to be a way


Interfaith, and Renewal of Faith and Understanding

Background

I have grown up around multiple faiths and religions: Catholic, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Christian Science, Orthopaedics, Jungian Psychiatry, Judaism and I have desired to understand Buddhism. I interned one summer with the Christian Science Mother Church, even if peers, or my inner critic thought that “Christian Science is weird”, “not a real Science”, or “not powerful enough to heal truly”. Since entering the workforce outside the church, I have wrestled with what is true in sciences, faiths, religions, and socially intractable problems.

Recognizing People for Who They Are

It’s good to be able to recognize people for who they fully are. It’s good to be able to check assumptions, unconscious biases, etc. Martin Luther King, Jr., systems analysis

Healing Testimony

During and outside work, I have meditated and watched thoughts with inspiration, though sometimes it feels like I am struggling to find breath and full health. In situations when it feels like death’s shadow controls me, I have slowly turned to God, or “God Consciousness”, where there might exist hope to free oneself from human cycles and finite senses power; when I discover with God’s help that I dwell within His loving consciousness, I see more of Divine Life’s infinitely expanding expression.

When I had a headache during summer 2018 at a company palooza, rather than drinking more water or taking medication, I decided to practice Christian Science treatment; I stated a few times the following: “There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all. Spirit is immortal Truth; matter is mortal error.” Rather than not go to a company party, I went to the party with this prayer in my heart – I went to the party praying that all unlike God in my life and socially intractable problems can clear away with God’s all-one-ness and power – to God, there is no problem because Man is made in God’s image and likeness with joy, freedom to move, the ability to express, and perfect health*. I felt so joyful at the party and free to dance without any self-consciousness.

Since then, I’ve continued to experience waves of doubt in my daily walk; but I work with spiritual teachers to find freedom, and I wrestle through conversations with the divine power that says, “Peace, be still” and “Rejoice”. I believe in the beauty of a broader Life that can be expressed through this world with divine-motivated dedication to practicing love and generosity, seeing a world more bright, and feeling the divine universe’s control unconditionally.

Onward

While I have moments when I feel anger, frustration, or despair, with a spiritual foundation, I continuously renew love for myself, this world, and work being done across worldly divisions.

Recently, in moments, when I feel like I really cannot breathe, I consciously breathe humanly, and I also affirm that the “Christ animates me” and that the Holy Spirit, Holy Ghost breathes through me. Affirming this gives me more fullness of breath. The Holy Spirit, Holy Ghost daily inspires us with great thoughts, good vibrations, the ability to move, and Life’s breath.

I will use this page to share heavenly inspiration that can empower us all through overdoses of material medication, death’s shadow, and the most terrorizing, abusive traps in our lives.

A Note on Multiple Faiths and Religions

The study of Buddhism helps me understand Christian Science. The study of other scientific, technological, and metaphysical theories encourages me to think hard about whether I truly believe Christian metaphysics is the Truth. My attendance at Catholic mass and Presbyterian and Episcopalian church services strengthens my heart and mind when I hear the power of their prayers. The study of Christian Science illumines the light on existence, on Buddhism, and on prayers that church attendees sing in a diversity of Christian sects. The study of Christian metaphysics enlightens psychiatric, psychological, and philosophical theories. With daily wrestling, I begin to realize that we all are coexisting whether we want to or not in one universe – and with one Truth, one Father, one Breath, one Spirit, one Creative Power, one Life, one Science of Being, and one Source of Hope, where we cannot clash, multiply divides, fight, or experience eternal destruction.


Good Work

I not only had doubts about my ability to find a first job but I also felt intimidated by what seems like a male-driven and surveillance data-driven workplace. Something bigger than myself, however, included me in a perfectly coordinated plan where I could share my interests and skills to serve mankind in an uplifting and healthy way.

In Christian Science, there exists something that spiritual followers call “angel thoughts”. Mary Baker Eddy defines “angels: as “God’s thoughts passing to man. spiritual intuitions, pure and perfect; the inspiration of goodness, purity, and immortality, counteracting all evil, sensuality and mortality” with the function of uplifting, inspiring, guiding, or correcting (Science and Health, p.581). At a moment when I had no idea where I would find a job and not only experienced temptations to commit suicide out of a feeling hopeless but actually did attempt suicide for the third time in my life, I felt an intuition from the omnipotent source of intelligence, God, nudging me to look up a job that had opened up online at a business with which a family member had been wanting to connect me. I was so grateful for this good idea coming to me; and despite attempting suicide around the same time I had applied to the job, the business offered me a job.

The job was not humanly perfect in every way - there were challenges and opportunities for growth; but as a Christian Science practitioner helped me to acknowledge daily, God placed me there for His perfect reason, and the reason was good. For a little over two and a half years, I worked in what to me felt like a designated place to support diversity and inclusion, the teaching of African American history, digital literacy, and the human prevention of alcohol abuse, other substance like opioid abuse, sexual assault and harassment, and later suicide with my skills in writing and data analytics. Also for a little over two and half years, I prayed with a Christian Science practitioner daily to overcome depression and suicide attempts.

There were mornings when I did not want to get out of bed, and I remember texting the Christian Science practitioner how I was praying so that I could overcome the depression and suicidal thinking. I remember praying to recognize that every morning I woke up, got out of bed, and went to work, I not only was overcoming suicide and depression for myself, but I was overcoming suicide and depression for a world of people battling similar challenges. Besides “angel thoughts”, my other favorite idea in Christian Science is that I can “rise up and walk”, so every morning I would “rise, get out of my bed and walk” despite the depression with hope for myself, the people around me, and the people in the world. I was grateful I could commit to the job for over two and a half years.

To be honest, I still face depression and suicidal thoughts today, and for three years after working in this job, I have been unemployed. I also reacted and retaliated to Christian Science practitioners in criminal ways after seeing the exact same hymns I prayed with in my job shared in a JSH article and after feeling frustrated by unsolicited advice and being called the wrong name


2019: Year of Peace

The holiday season ideally reflects light, community, and celebration. This December, I felt much of our country’s distress and chaos. The common buzz, #Stress and #GovernmentInstability, flew around like a mosquito sucking traces of life out of everyone, and leaving marks on those who noticed. Moving into 2019, something shifted within me, and the new year brought new insights on Jesus Christ’s words, “Pease, be still”. The “demons” - anxiety, distress, and chaos - don’t have to reign; peace can reign in 2019 in our hearts and minds (see Cleanse the Lepers, Casting out ‘demons’).

With 2018 ending, after thinking about Christ’s words, I began to renew appreciation for how spiritual teachers, across multiple religious groups, promise peace. When I heard talk about how “busy” and “time-pressed” people claim to feel during the holiday month, I started to focus on “Nirvana”, “Shalom”, and peace in the “Kingdom of Heaven”. Rather than react to a negative event, I let the feeling of peace reign in heart and consciousness. One night, after a meditation meetup group, a taxi cab hit me while walking across the street. While being hit, I affirmed that harmony reigns within, I barely reacted to the accident, I stood up freely, and I felt pain vanish in all body parts hit but my arm. I devoted energy to focus on what right happened in the situation rather than what wrong, celebrating the inherent ability to stay calm.

Moving into 2019, I focus this new year on peacemaking and freedom from distress. In all situations in 2019, I set the intention to learn to recognize, celebrate, feel, ane make peace! On New Year’s Day, while setting this intention, and expressing gratitude for any new insights I gain this year, I purchased a book, God in the Qur’an. The book compares Bible passages with Qur’an passages. I left the bookshop and headed to the coffee shop with love directed to interfaith, diverse cultures, and the Qur’an’s spiritual message; as taught in the Qur’an, “Allah”, “God”, exists as a compassionate and merciful source of life, and Allah, as a force, embraced both my body and mind in that moment. In the shop, I met a homeless man, who asked for money to go to a homeless shelter an hour away. I did not have cash, but I asked if I could help him pray about the situation. When he said he would be glad if I could pray, I responded with the inspiration, “Love (Divine) is guiding you, always, and you’re unconditionally blessed.” As soon as I said this, he started holding my hand and recalling how he finds “listening to the Qur’an” healing. As we talked, another man from the Islam faith overheard and joined the discussion. We had a great conversation about Allah, the prophets in the Qur’an, including Jesus, the Galilean prophet, and comparisons between Christianity and Islam. We all learned from a peaceful dialgoue and found our individual needs met. The man from the Islam faith ultimately provided the money to the homeless man. What a great way to kick off the new year! It helps to live with more conviction, and I look forward to seeing what unfolds this year.


Gratitude List - Creative Writing


Healing is Messy

“healing yourself can be messy

seeing yourself through honesty can be jarring and tough, it can even tmeporarily cause imbalance in your life

it is hard work to open yourself up to release your burdens

like removing thorns from your body, it may hurt at first, but it is ultimately for your highest good

the dark clouds of rainfall are necessary for new growth” -Yung Pueblo