We had one Divine Science minister many years ago. We were doing a critiquing session. She said that she was always so tired after the lessons on Sundays and Wednesday nights. She just couldn’t understand it.

When she got up there, we were supposed to watch her to see what she as doing. She got up and stood behind the podium and sighed. Then she started to talk. She said, “Tonight we’re going to learn about spiritual law.” By the time she got through a couple of sentences, you were tired, too. We have a frown and a deep sigh.

My third daughter was 5 years old and hard of hearing. I didn’t know this. I had taken her to the doctor on several different occasions because I thought there was something wrong, but I couldn’t define it.

They’d given her ear tests. The doctor had held up something by her head and clicked it. He said, “Tell me when you can hear that well.” She had good peripheral vision. She could see his hand moving. She could see when it got close.

I told him after the third or fourth time, “Let me stay in here with you. I want to see what’s going on.” He said, “Okay.” He sat down and said, “Bonnie, do you have a brother?” Her little bright eyes said no. He said, “Bonnie, do you have a dog?” She said no. He said, “Bonnie, do you go to school?” She said no. She was reading his lips. She knew he had asked a question.

The doctor said, “I don’t understand this. We’ve tested her. She always gives us the answer.” I said, “But she’s not giving you the right answer.”

When we got home, she was standing at the window, and I was calling her for dinner. I called her, “Bonnie, Bonnie, Bonnie.” About the fifth time, I said, “Bonnie!” She heard me that time and turned around. She said, “Why are you always angry at me?” I said, “Did you not hear me tell you it was dinnertime? Come on.” She said no.

I called the doctor and said, “We’re going to get something done. This is important. She can’t hear. Whether you believe it or not, we have to do something about it.”

These are the kinds of things we live with in our families. We have to look at these things and say, “How am I treating my family? How am I treating the people around me? How am I treating those who want respect?”

Do we not have this right to claim respect and give respect? Do we not have the obligation to our children to give the same respect that we want them to give us? We have to do this.

We have to teach the little ones as they’re coming along just exactly what integrity is, what respect is, what discipline is and what setting your own boundaries is, so when they grow up, we have access to the multitudes of children who are making decisions to live a life that will be happy, productive, loving and kind.

I was at a dentist’s office. The dentist was running very late. I was there with my granddaughter. She was not too happy because she had other things she wanted to do.

A little girl came in right after us. The receptionist said, “We’re running about 30 to 45 minutes late.” The little girl turned around and smiled at her grandmother. Her grandmother said, “That’s right, honey. You’re always gracious.” I thought, “What a beautiful thing to teach a child.” The words that we use impress the children.

This part of Texas, the South, is known for graciousness, or used to be known for graciousness. People seem to be happier here. When people are happier, they’re more gracious. They don’t get upset as easily.

The people who get upset are the ones who create problems because they love drama. If you have people who are into drama, let them go. That harms relationships and all of the people they know, which also affects you.

We are constantly moving along, onward and upward, to be happier, more harmonious, more loving, kinder, more glorious and more gracious in all of these ways to let our attitude say and speak for all of the things we want in our lives, all of the things we want for our children and how we want to come across to the people around us, which is successful, joyful, peaceful and loving.

Everything in this world is being guided to. If we don’t do something about living this kind of life, and reaching out to others, how are we going to make the changes, and what is the world going to be 10 years from now unless some of us stand up and say, “We’re going to make a difference”?

Anne

I want to give you some tips today that have always helped me. Love is gentle and kind. That’s in Corinthians 13 in the Bible. It’s used a lot in wedding services. It also needs to be used after the wedding services to keep that gentleness and kindness in.

I’ve seen people who use either sarcasm or abruptness in public that embarrasses the other partner or the children. We have to know and understand that when these things occur, we have a responsibility to let out family know that they come first in our lives.

Even when we don’t get along or see problems or there is something going on, we can back away and not constantly say, “You should be doing this. You ought to be doing this.”

We should say, “I love you the way that you are. I love you unconditionally. You can be angry with me, and I’ll still love you. You can do things that I would not have done myself, and I’ll still love you. You can be anything you want to be, and I will still love you.

“I don’t always have to agree with you. I will set boundaries of what can go on in my house about what I do not choose to have in my life, but I’ll still love you,” and keep a smile on our faces.

Some of the things people, especially children, don’t realize about love from parents is that there are some of us who constantly wear a frown.

I was taking one of my daughters on her first day of school. She was afraid. I went in with her, and she was holding onto me and trembling. She wasn’t normally afraid of anything. I kept saying, “Honey, what’s the matter?” She said, “She doesn’t like us.” I said, “Who doesn’t like you?” She said, “The teacher.”

The teacher had been late getting in. They usually have a sign posted outside of that room that lists all of the kids. She hadn’t had time to put it up, so as the children came in, they would call out their names.

She was flipping through this list to check off the names. She had this frown on her face. Every child in the room was deathly afraid because she was frowning. She was frowning because she was concentrating on the names on the list.

Frowns make a difference in our attitudes. It’s hard to be happy and radiate love when you’re frowning. Try it. Keep a smile on your face. After awhile, it becomes normal. You will feel better when you’re smiling.

I took two of my daughters shopping one day as teenagers because they were eighteen months apart. After about three hours, they had found absolutely nothing that fit right. I said “Let’s go home.”

We went out to the car. I sat down and said, “Whew!” They both said, “What did I do?” I said, “What do you mean?” She said, “What did I do? You always sigh when you’re angry.” I said, “No, I sigh because it feels good.” Take a deep breath and let it out. It feels good. Other people see it in a different way.

Anne