Override Human Imprints

Grandma made me smile. Almost one hundred years old, she was lucid and bright as we caught up on the family news. Then after a bit, Grandma paused before thoughtfully telling me, “Cheryl, our human minds make us stupid, so pay attention and don’t follow its impressions, follow Love and wisdom.” She backed up her philosophy with a story. Grandma told me, “In the early 20th century, getting a gas powered vehicle was a milestone on the farm. Cheryl, you can’t imagine how much more useful a truck was compared to using horses. Why, my personal mind was so impressed by that vehicle that I didn’t even notice it was open air, or exposed, until I saw our neighbor driving a new enclosed vehicle.” Grandma then hesitated before confessing, “And, all I could think when I saw them inside their truck was, that they were pansies.” She continued, “Years later, after buying an enclosed vehicle, I was ashamed of myself for thinking badly about our neighbors.” Grandma learned rather quickly in life not to think so highly of her own personal impressions that she might regard anything else as inferior. Consequently, Grandma naturally impressed people with an active Love and wisdom for a long time. Spiritual thinker and leader, Mary Baker Eddy wrote in Miscellaneous Writings, “…where heart meets heart reciprocally blest, drink with me the living waters of the spirit of my life-purpose,—to impress humanity with the genuine recognition of practical, operative Christian Science.” Maybe Grandma knew that I needed this little lesson. It is too easy to follow the human mind’s impressions. I admit. I’ve been impressed by people devoted to a classic vehicle; even though while driving on the road those vehicles can sometimes be a menace. They are impractical. Obsolete mechanical problems can make the vehicle unfixable, junk. Or the classic vehicle can be maintained to be adored by a small group of Antique lovers. Either way, the original meaning of the vehicle gets lost and no real work is accomplished. Unfortunately, our human mind is constantly being impressed by physical things, personalities, or mortal history. Sometimes human impressions can become such a big distraction that the reasonableness and effectiveness of Love and wisdom are neglected. For example, words. Human words are tools used to understand or communicate ideas. However, if the human mind is overly impressed by words, as though the words are the understanding, impracticality and bickering set in. Words, assumed to contain meaning, no longer mean anything, or are used incorrectly. And sure enough misunderstandings come about. Humanity gets further impressed with stupid messy misinterpretations. But we can instead impress humanity with practical and operative Love and wisdom. This allows us to break away from human impressions, no matter how dear or dreadful those imprints are. Our consciousness then becomes insightful. We become familiar with that which is sensible and serviceable. As we no longer insist on impressing humanity with idealistic (unrealistic) human lifestyles, or with outdated ideologies imprinted on the brain, we will more generally feel the impressions of Love and wisdom. We will realize the importance of flexing to the truth that, what is practical to one person, may be completely impractical to another person, so progressive answers must be acted on. We can trust that Love and wisdom cause us to have behavior that shows unfeigned compassion for our neighbor. Human imprints have no lasting manifestations to maintain. They are not worth insisting on, or defending, as though they are a cause. In fact, people who insist on impressing humanity with impractical and defunct notions exhibit an egocentric and flaky concept of spiritual satisfaction, happiness, compassion, intelligence, and growth. On a whole, humanity is unimpressed. Only the impressions of Love and wisdom are real, realistic, and full of impetus. Grandma’s philosophy has proven very helpful to me. Humanity can be impressed with Love and wisdom as Love and wisdom are paid attention to, or expressed.