Freedom Through Storytelling

Storytelling workshop at Writer’s Colony

Circa 2015

I once took a weekend workshop on the art of storytelling. We had a great instructor named Elaine Blanchard, and the group consisted of nine beautiful, passionate women, all of us as different as we were the same. We were all there to release a story from where it had been hiding within us. It was an emotional weekend, full of tears and laughter, with joy being the frontrunner coming down the stretch when we were through. Elaine, our instructor, has gained national attention from going into women’s prisons, gathering stories, writing them into screenplays, performing them, and allowing the prisoners to see their stories on stage. This process frees everyone involved and many of the inmates have been empowered to release the past and go forward into a new life. Sometimes you just need someone to listen in order to understand what must be done. Truth does set us free!

“Love is priestess at the altar of Truth. Wait patiently for divine Love to move upon the waters of mortal mind, and form the perfect concept.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 454:21-23

“Truth will correct all errors in my mind, and I will rest in Him Who is my Self. Then let Him lead you gently to the truth, which will envelop you and give you peace so deep and tranquil that you will return to the familiar world reluctantly.”
—A Course in Miracles W-107.9:5-6

A New Leaf

Leon Wyczolkowski - Spring in Goscieradz

"The chief beauty about time

is that you cannot waste it in advance.

The next year, the next day, the next hour are lying ready for you,

as perfect, as unspoiled,

as if you had never wasted or misapplied

a single moment in all your life.

You can turn over a new leaf every hour

if you choose.”

Arnold Bennett

“Life is without beginning and without end. Eternity, not time, expresses the thought of Life, and time is no part of eternity. One ceases in proportion as the other is recognized. Time is finite; eternity is forever infinite.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 468:27-1

“Each day should be devoted to miracles. The purpose of time is to enable you to learn how to use time constructively. It is thus a teaching device and a means to an end. Time will cease when it is no longer useful in facilitating learning.”

A Course in Miracles T-1.I.15:1-4

A Priceless Visit

For several years I avoided one of my neighbors, who was 90-plus years old, because it seemed there was no such thing as a short visit. She would tell me things I didn't want to know about her family and other people, so I began to avoid her. One morning she was sitting on her porch and asked for my help. Her phone was not working and it's connected to a Lifeline button which she can push if she needs help. As it was going to take some time to get the phone company there to reconnect her, I told her I'd come over every hour and make sure she was okay. As we sat on her porch, she started talking about herself, from childhood through more recent times, and it was fascinating! She told me the happiest times of her life were picking cotton with her sisters in the 1930s on a farm in Mississippi. Every visit that day brought me new stories from her life. When she wandered into condemnation of others, I would simply tell her I had to go, but would be back soon and wanted to hear more stories about her -- not others. It was like watching a documentary -- and I'm glad I was tuned in! She’s gone now and although I’ve forgotten all of her gossipy news, I remember some delightful looks into her early life experiences — and I am grateful. 

“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.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science and Health - Page 365:31-2

“Without judgment are all things equally acceptable, for who could judge otherwise? Without judgment are all men brothers, for who is there who stands apart? Judgment destroys honesty and shatters trust. No teacher of God can judge and hope to learn.”
—A Course in Miracles M-4.III.1:8-11

Grace in Unity

Just For the Fun of It

A Kriste-lee creation

The mass consciousness in which we swim tells us we've done something wrong and we can't be saved until we do a whole bunch of things right. Let's release all of those beliefs and concentrate on what feels true, right now, in this moment. Toward this end I will, at every possible moment, quiet my thoughts and allow Truth to permeate my being. It's there all the time, this Love which is God, this Truth which supports us more surely than the swirling waters of mass consciousness. Our true consciousness is expressed most perfectly in two words: I Am. I think I’ll keep it simple today. Have a happy day!

“Grace is an aspect of the Love of God which is most like the state prevailing in the unity of truth. It is the world’s most lofty aspiration, for it leads beyond the world entirely. It is past learning, yet the goal of learning, for grace cannot come until the mind prepares itself for true acceptance. Grace becomes inevitable instantly in those who have prepared a table where it can be gently laid and willingly received; an altar clean and holy for the gift.” 

A Course in Miracles W-169.1:1-4

“The scientific unity which exists between God and man must be wrought out in life-practice, and God's will must be universally done. If men would bring to bear upon the study of the Science of Mind half the faith they bestow upon the so-called pains and pleasures of material sense they would not go on from bad to worse …” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 202:3-9

Notice the Beauty

Photo Courtesy of Blake Lasater

I’ve never been much of a baker. But today, I decided to bake some muffins for my neighbor. I used almond flour and, for flavoring, some delightful powdered lemon concentrate — and pomegranate, too. There was, of course, some vanilla involved. The smell was astounding! All of my senses were alive as the muffins baked and the aroma wafted through the house. I was listening to the book, Theo of Golden. In this story, an older man buys portraits of people he does not know, all painted by a particular artist and displayed in a café. The man, Theo, buys portraits, then finds the subject, giving it to them and learning their story. Those of you who have read it will remember the story of the homeless woman. I think it’s the most beautiful writing I have ever experienced. On this day, when our thoughts turn to spring and renewal, remembering what is good and pure, my heart is full. The gratitude I feel for this life is overwhelming. The sun is shining today, we had beautiful rain last night, and life is good. May you enjoy a day full of Love, as you celebrate Life!

"The necessity for uplifting the race is father to the fact that Mind can do it; for Mind can impart purity instead of impurity, strength instead of weakness, and health instead of disease. Truth is an alterative in the entire system, and can make it 'every whit whole.'"
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page

“Give faith to your brother, for faith and hope and mercy are yours to give. Into the hands that give, the gift is given.Look on your brother, and see in him the gift of God you would receive. It is almost Easter, the time of resurrection. Let us give redemption to each other and share in it, that we may rise as one in resurrection, not separate in death. Behold the gift of freedom that I gave the Holy Spirit for you. And be you and your brother free together, as you offer to the Holy Spirit this same gift. And giving it, receive it of Him in return for what you gave. He leadeth you and me together, that we might meet here in this holy place, and make the same decision.”
—A Course in Miracles T-19.IV-D.17:1-9

What Does Our Planet Need?

Artwork by Natasha Tarasova

“The plain fact is that the planet does not need more successful people. But it does desperately need more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of every kind. It needs people who live well in their places. It needs people of moral courage willing to join the fight to make the world habitable and humane. And these qualities have little to do with success as we have defined it.”

David W. Orr - Ecological Literacy:

Educating Our Children for a Sustainable World

“Do you not think the world needs peace as much as you do? Do you not want to give it to the world as much as you want to receive it? For unless you do, you will not receive it. If you want to have it of me, you must give it. Healing does not come from anyone else. You must accept guidance from within. The guidance must be what you want, or it will be meaningless to you. 

That is why healing is a collaborative venture.”

A Course in Miracles T-8.IV.4:1-8

“Truth, not corporeal will, is the divine power which says to disease, 

‘Peace, be still.’”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 144:20-22

Human Rights

Art by William Haskell 

In my lifetime, I have seen many advances in our understanding and the implementation of so-called human rights. We have seen the Voting Rights Act, Title IX sex discrimination legislation, the Americans with Disabilities Act. Supreme Court rulings overturned state bans on contraception and interracial marriage. Abortion and same-sex marriage have been legalized. It seems odd that our government would have to guarantee these fundamental human rights, but many things had become illegal since our country’s inception, and women and minorities were always stifled when it came to voting and holding certain stations in life. We made many advances during the 1900s, and we were proud of our open minds and higher thinking. Now it seems many people think these human rights are not necessarily something which should be legislated. I agree they shouldn’t have to be, as as we are all one in Spirit. Well, I won’t go on and on about this. It’s pretty simple if we let our beliefs and ego fade away and allow Love to rule our ways. Namaste…

“Today we will claim the miracles which are your right, since they belong to you. You have been promised full release from the world you made. You have been assured that the Kingdom of God is within you, and can never be lost. We ask no more than what belongs to us in truth. Today, however, we will also make sure that we will not content ourselves with less.” 

—A Course in Miracles W-77.3:1-5

"The history of our country, like all history, illustrates the might of Mind, and shows human power to be proportionate to its embodiment of right-thinking. A few immortal sentences, breathing the omnipotence of divine justice, have been potent to break despotic fetters and abolish the whipping post and slave market, but oppression neither went down in blood, nor did the breath of freedom come from the cannon's mouth. Love is the liberator." 

—Mary Baker Eddy -- circa 1865