The Presence of Light

Art by Rich Urbaniak

“We are not saints, we are not heroes. Our lives are lived in the quiet corners of the ordinary. We build tiny hearth fires, sometimes barely strong enough to give off warmth. But to the person lost in the darkness, our tiny flame may be the road to safety, the path to salvation. It is not given us to know who is lost in the darkness that surrounds us or even if our light is seen. We can only know that against even the smallest of lights, darkness cannot stand. A sailor lost at sea can be guided home by a single candle. A person lost in a wood can be led to safety by a flickering flame. It is not an issue of quality or intensity or purity. It is simply an issue of the presence of light.”
—Kent Nerburn: Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace

“Light is a symbol of Mind, of Life, Truth, and Love, and not a vitalizing property of matter. Science reveals only one Mind, and this one shining by its own light and governing the universe, including man, in perfect harmony.” 

—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 510:27-1

“Come therefore unto me, and learn of the truth in you. The mind we share is shared by all our brothers, and as we see them truly they will be healed. Let your mind shine with mine upon their minds, and by our gratitude to them make them aware of the light in them. This light will shine back upon you and on the whole Sonship, because this is your proper gift to God. He will accept it and give it to the Sonship, because it is acceptable to Him and therefore to His Sons. This is true communion with the Holy Spirit, Who sees the altar of God in everyone, and by bringing it to your appreciation, He calls upon you to love God and His creation. You can appreciate the Sonship only as one. This is part of the law of creation, and therefore governs all thought.”
—A Course in Miracles T-7.V.11:1-8

Religion of the Heart

Christian Science Edifice 

Eureka Springs, AR

Painting by Julie Kahn Valentine

Many people, from lifelong Christians to adamant atheists, are talking about the Exodus from organized religion. I understand the pain involved in closing down a church. We were forced to do so a few years ago with our Eureka Springs Christian Science edifice. But according to Mary Baker Eddy, she had not wanted to start a new religion, but felt it necessary to found a church in order to insure that the book, Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures, would continue on through the years. And so to that end, she has succeeded. I’m not sure the church she founded has been successful in furthering the “cause of Christian Science”. I could speculate on the reasons, but it seems the culprit is a staid insistence on following the letter, without “imbibing in the Spirit”. With regard to other religions, I think the ones which need to flourish are those willing to reach out to “the least, the last, the lost”, and their congregations are dwindling. And it is strange (at least in my mind) to see evangelical, holier-than-thou congregations thriving. But perhaps the bottom line is that the kingdom of heaven is within, and we don’t need a building and a preacher to tell us how to love. But we do need more community, in the form of a network of people who can help those in need. So while we’re leaving religion and rebelling against rhetoric, let’s not forget the two commandments Jesus gave us: love each other and love God above all else. I hope churches which practice this precept flourish during these interesting days of change.

“We shall obey and adore in proportion as we apprehend the divine nature and love Him understandingly, warring no more over the corporeality, but rejoicing in the affluence of our God. Religion will then be of the heart and not of the head. Mankind will no longer be tyrannical and proscriptive from lack of love, — straining out gnats and swallowing camels.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 140:10-15

“Communion is impossible alone. No one who stands apart can receive Christ’s vision. It is held out to him, but he cannot hold out his hand to receive it. Let him be still and recognize his brother’s need is his own. And let him then meet his brother’s need as his and see that they are met as one, for such they are. What is religion but an aid in helping him to see that this is so? And what is psychotherapy except a help in just this same direction? It is the goal that makes these processes the same, for they are one in purpose and must thus be one in means.”
—A Course in Miracles P-2.II.9:1-8

Transformative View of the World

Reading an editorial in the Christian Science Monitor, I was again struck by the importance of this publication. I am going to quote a paragraph from it here, but the prologue to this quote is that the Boston Globe has discontinued overseas news because it’s too expensive to keep correspondents all over the globe, and they say that no one in America cares or reads news from anywhere else. Hum … I could write a page or two about that, but I won’t. Here is the beautiful sentiment Mark Sappenfield, Editor, wrote: “What does the Monitor do better than every other news organization on the planet? I would argue that it offers a transformative view of the world itself — that the human story is more interconnected and more hopeful than much media coverage would have us to believe. The Monitor can’t NOT cover the world. To focus only on the United States — or any other country — would be to misapply its mission. Quality ties like compassion, respect, generosity, and honesty know no borders, and to understand how they shape the human experience requires chronicling how the struggle over them is convulsing the world. That’s what news is.” As I contemplate these words, I visualize what a difference it would make if all media understood this and acted accordingly.

“You may know when first Truth leads by the fewness and faithfulness of its followers. Thus it is that the march of time bears onward freedom’s banner. The powers of this world will fight, and will command their sentinels not to let truth pass the guard until it subscribes to their systems; but Science, heeding not the pointed bayonet, marches on. There is always some tumult, but there is a rallying to truth’s standard.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 225:5-13

“All this beauty will rise to bless your sight as you look upon the world with forgiving eyes. For forgiveness literally transforms vision, and lets you see the real world reaching quietly and gently across chaos, removing all illusions that had twisted your perception and fixed it on the past. ³he smallest leaf becomes a thing of wonder, and a blade of grass a sign of God’s perfection.”
—A Course in Miracles T-17.II.6:1-3

Thank You For Lying

Over 70 years ago, a young Chicano woman had a baby out of wedlock. She kept me for two months before her family forced her to give me to her Tia Sophia, who was 40 and had always wanted a baby, but she and her husband could not have children. And so they took me as their own, changed my name and birthdate, and moved to a state where no one knew them. I found out about these events as my dad was on his deathbed, and it came as quite a surprise. I was disappointed and angry because they had taught me to be incredibly honest, and it felt as though my whole life had been a lie. It didn’t take too many years for me to see the wisdom of their ways. In the 1950s, an illegitimate child carried quite a stigma; perhaps an adopted one did, too. Looking back on the situation, I have nothing but gratitude for the people who educated me, loved me, and provided me with an understanding of divine metaphysics which could not have occurred in most households in Arkansas. Thank you greatly …

“Physical birth is not a beginning; it is a continuing. Everything that continues has already been born.” 

—A Course in Miracles T-5.IV.2:4-5

“Citizens of the world, accept the ‘glorious liberty of the children of God,’ and be free!”
—Mary Baker Eddy — Science & Health 227:24-25

Unity in Times of Turmoil

The people of Ukraine have discovered their unity in surprising ways. One woman’s church was hit by a Russian missile. She told of people coming to clean up the debris and salvage what could be saved. She said neighbors who were self-proclaimed atheists were working side by side with the parishioners of the Transfiguration Cathedral. She was crying tears of joy because of the newfound camaraderie with her neighborhood. The reporter who wrote the article interviewed many older citizens who had always spoken the Russian language, but have recently learned to speak Ukrainian in solidarity with their fellow countrymen. There is a youth camp in Odesa where it’s recognized that children need to be children, and here they are free to laugh and play. At the same time, they realize many of these kids are emotionally troubled by what they have experienced, and they address the problems head on. In reading the many instances of people becoming stronger and more compassionate because of the daily battles, there was a realization that the people of the United States are finding ways to stand in solidarity, too. It’s been a tough decade. We’ve been lied to, manipulated, mocked, and it has been relentless. We need each other. We need to recognize our similarities while we heal and find our footing again. There is much work to be done, but let’s not forget to share joy with our neighbors. It’s cleansing and energizing!

“If you would look upon love, which is the world’s reality, how could you do better than to recognize, in every defense against it, the underlying appeal for it? And how could you better learn of its reality than by answering the appeal for it by giving it? The Holy Spirit’s interpretation of fear does dispel it, for the awareness of truth cannot be denied. Thus does the Holy Spirit replace fear with love and translate error into truth. And thus will you learn of Him how to replace your dream of separation with the fact of unity. For the separation is only the denial of union, and correctly interpreted, attests to your eternal knowledge that union is true.”
—A Course in Miracles T-12.I.10:1-6

“Unity of spirit gives new pinions to joy, or else joy’s drooping wings trail in dust.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 58:2-4

How Can I Help?

Characters in Ted Lasso

Most of us have friends who are experiencing maladies of a physical, mental, and/or emotional nature. We all have roles to play in the care and comfort of these friends. My main focus has always been on seeing through the material illusion to the spiritual truth. But recently I’m finding myself called to address, one-on-one, situations with people who need help in various physical ways. Of course, every situation is individual and many factors come into consideration. Whereas, I may be able to joke with one friend about her memory loss, another one might be in denial or take offense to me making “light” of it. One friend and I can laugh about cancer and the effects of chemotherapy, but another might burst into tears at the thought of their possible demise. Our conversations with others is not a one-size-fits-all response, and a good amount of empathy is required in any given moment. I’ve never been one to ignore the elephant sitting in the middle of the room; I like to talk to it and ask if there’s anything I can do for it. And so I find myself finding ways to commiserate and care without exacerbating the problem by heaping on excess sympathy. Every day brings new ways to express Love!

“‘Many are called but few are chosen’ should be, ‘All are called but few choose to listen.’ Therefore, they do not choose right. The ‘chosen ones’ are merely those who choose right sooner. Right minds can do this now, and they will find rest unto their souls. God knows you only in peace, and this is your reality.”
—A Course in Miracles T-3.IV.7:12

“The rich in spirit help the poor in one grand brotherhood, all having the same Principle, or Father; and blessed is that man who seeth his brother’s need and supplieth it, seeking his own in another’s good. Love giveth to the least spiritual idea might, immortality, and goodness, which shine through all as the blossom shines through the bud. All the varied expressions of God reflect health, holiness, immortality — infinite Life, Truth, and Love.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 518:15-22

Effects Without a Cause

 

Creation of Sandy Wythawai Starbird

When listening to a YouTube audio recording of Joel Goldsmith from the early 1960s, time and again the subjects he broached were things which have become major disruptions today. As an overview of the many specifics, he says that if all the people in universities were studying ways to save humanity rather than ruin it, the world would be a utopia. He mentions marketing and the selling of needless and/or harmful things to us; he talks about war and how we’ve convinced ourselves it’s okay to kill others, if it’s to protect ourselves; he dares to say religious doctrine is leading us down hopeless paths. And here we are today, ruled by marketing and media, killing each other at an alarming rate, watching environmental disruptions roil up all around. As I write this, I know that no matter how upset I become about events, it will do nothing to rectify what has been done. I am reminded of a Paulo Coelho quote which goes something like this: We cannot change the past, but what we do in the present redeems the past and changes the future. I’m going to listen to more Joel Goldsmith tomorrow and keep an open heart and mind, trusting myself to recognize paths of righteousness. 

“The plans you make for safety all are laid within the future, where you cannot plan. No purpose has been given it as yet, and what will happen has as yet no cause. Who can predict effects without a cause? And who could fear effects unless he thought they had been caused, and judged disastrous now? Belief in sin arouses fear, and like its cause, is looking forward, looking back, but overlooking what is here and now. Yet only here and now its cause must be, if its effects already have been judged as fearful. And in overlooking this, is it protected and kept separate from healing. For a miracle is now. It stands already here, in present grace, within the only interval of time that sin and fear have overlooked, but which is all there is to time.” 

—A Course in Miracles T-26.VIII.5:1-9

“Speaking of the origin of mortals, a famous naturalist says: ‘It is very possible that many general statements now current, about birth and generation, will be changed with the progress of information.’ Had the naturalist, through his tireless researches, gained the diviner side in Christian Science, — so far apart from his material sense of animal growth and organization, — he would have blessed the human race more abundantly.” 

—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 548: 18-25