Releasing Conflict

 

My Boys - circa 1997

Conflict resolution. Conflict transformation. How much time and energy do we spend in attempting to negate conflict between others and/or within ourselves? We can make lists of the merits of our choices, we can role play and put ourselves in each others' place in a situation, and we can enlist therapists to help us out. There are lots of ways to search for the door out of conflict. I have found the only way to truly leave it behind is to realize that such a thing does not exist anywhere other than in my thoughts I'll always remember a time when my boys were around 8 and 10 years of age. Their disagreements had advanced to the point where I saw no way out, other than to give one of them away! One day, during a particularly intense bout, I gave up and sat down in my bedroom to have a good cry. Next to my chair was a stack of Christian Science Sentinels, the weekly publication which has given us practical metaphysical writings for more than a hundred years. I reached down and pulled a copy from the middle of the stack and opened it up to an article about brothers fighting! I don't remember anything about the content, other than it was just what I needed. I also remember sitting there and thinking of all the reasons I loved them, and then thinking of what it truly means that they are the expression of divine Love. It came to me that I was exhibiting an I'm-right-and-you're-wrong attitude. While that day was not the last time they had disagreements, they never again seemed so intense, and it was the last day I was in total despair over their actions. Living Love creates bridges which bring us together in peace. Trust that your function and happiness are your God-given right, and don't be afraid to open up and see what unexpected ways this function will be manifested.

“God has endowed man with inalienable rights, among which are self-government, reason, and conscience. Man is properly self-governed only when he is guided rightly and governed by his Maker, divine Truth and Love.”
—Mary Baker Eddy Science & Health Page 106:7-10[

“I have no function but the one God gave me. This recognition releases me from all conflict, because it means I cannot have conflicting goals. With one purpose only, I am always certain what to do, what to say and what to think. All doubt must disappear as I acknowledge that my only function is the one God gave me.”
—A Course in Miracles W-83.1:2-5

The Infinite Calculus of Spirit

Hopefully our current era will be remembered as the age of wisdom. A.I. is supplying more information than anyone could consume, but this in and of itself is not wisdom. Yuval Noah Harari likened this parenthesis in time to the story every culture shares, about a genie in a found bottle. The genie has information, but our three wishes must come from wisdom or they will backfire on us. A.I. has the answer to anything we may ask, but what are we asking? We are seeking wisdom but, as usual, we want fast solutions. Artificial intelligence is not a tool; it is an agent. For instance, the printing press, a tool, cannot write books on its own, it can only print what we want it to print. But A.I. amasses information and does not need to be told what to do with it. We have many choices and large decisions to make. What will guide us in these decisions must be Infinite Mind, not something which gathers information and tells us what to do based on how many times these “facts” have been repeated. I have faith in humanity and trust this is the tipping point in our understanding.

“Material substances or mundane formations, astronomical calculations, and all the paraphernalia of speculative theories, based on the hypothesis of material law or life and intelligence resident in matter, will ultimately vanish, swallowed up in the infinite calculus of Spirit.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 209:25-30

Judgment, like other devices by which the world of illusions is maintained, is totally misunderstood by the world. It is actually confused with wisdom, and substitutes for truth.” 

—A Course in Miracles M-10.1:1-2

A New Standpoint

Are you a list maker? If you have a list of problems which need to be solved, it should be a relief to know there is only one problem and only one solution! If you watch or listen to news and feel overwhelmed by the problems of the world, it is a welcome respite to realize there is only one solution, and that solution is shown through a recognition of the problem. Actually, there is no need to think about a solution, you only need recognize that there is but one problem -- and that realization is, in itself, the solution. Every problem which seems to exist is the result of one thing: a belief in separation from our Oneness. I remember a friend had a poster in her office reminding the people who came in that the only reason she wanted to know their problem was as an identifier; after that, she only wanted to hear about solutions. Wayne Dyer wrote a whole book about it: There's a Spiritual Solution to Every Problem. The problem is that we believe we have separated from Source. The solution lies in that recognition!

“A problem cannot be solved if you do not know what it is. Even if it is really solved already you will still have the problem, because you will not recognize that it has been solved. This is the situation of the world. The problem of separation, which is really the only problem, has already been solved. Yet the solution is not recognized because the problem is not recognized.”
—A Course in Miracles W-79.1:1-5

"Ontology receives less attention than physiology. Why? Because mortal mind must waken to spiritual life before it cares to solve the problem of being, hence the author's experience; but when that awakening comes, existence will be on a new standpoint."
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 556:25-30

Feast On Your Life

“By the Open Door”

 Nikolai Astrup 1911

Derek Walcott - Love After Love.

"The time will come when, with elation,

you will greet yourself arriving at your own door, in your own mirror, and each will smile at the other's welcome, and say, sit here. Eat.

You will love again the stranger who was your self.

Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored for another, who knows you by heart.

Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes, peel your own image from the mirror.

Sit. Feast on your life."

“If you overlook love you are overlooking yourself, and you must fear unreality because you have denied yourself. By believing that you have successfully attacked truth, you are believing that attack has power. Very simply, then, you have become afraid of yourself. And no one wants to find what he believes would destroy him.”
—A Course in Miracles T-11.V.10:5-8

“The wintry blasts of earth may uproot the flowers of affection, and scatter them to the winds; but this severance of fleshly ties serves to unite thought more closely to God, for Love supports the struggling heart until it ceases to sigh over the world and begins to unfold its wings for heaven.
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 57:24-30

Willing

Many of life’s experiences are humbling. Through them, we can learn to admit that we know nothing; it gives us opportunities to say that we wrong about an opinion. I’ve gone through phases in the last 70 years when I didn’t want to admit either of these things, but now I am willing. On this beautiful summer day, let us join in having no strong opinions and allowing our beliefs to dissolve. Let’s see what shows up when we are an empty vessel, listening for Spirit to fill us!

“In choosing salvation rather than attack, I merely choose to recognize what is already there. Salvation is a decision made already. Attack and grievances are not there to choose. That is why I always choose between truth and illusion; between what is there and what is not. The light has come. I can but choose the light, for it has no alternative. It has replaced the darkness, and the darkness has gone.”
—A Course in Miracles W-88.1:2-8

"There is no material truth. The physical senses can take no cognizance of God and spiritual Truth. Human belief has sought out many inventions, but not one of them can solve the problem of being without the divine Principle of divine Science. Deductions from material hypotheses are not scientific. They differ from real Science because they are not based on the divine law."
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 273:2-9

Book Clubs Saving The World

My book club has often been mentioned in these daily writings. We are a group of women who have met for over two decades, with a book at the center of our monthly gathering — but reading is just the vehicle we use to get together and enjoy each others’ company. Some of us think logically from the standpoint of science; others live intuitively from the heart. Our group includes teachers, body/mind/spirit workers, a veterinarian, businesswomen, farmers, a librarian — actually, a single definition isn’t enough for any one of these women. They are multi-talented and diverse. We have incredible discussions and enjoy one another more than I can say. It doesn’t matter if we agree with each other’s opinions, because we all live from the space of Love. Everything we do is guided by something larger than what our human reason can encompass. It seems this group of women could solve all the problems of the world — and actually it feels like we have done just that every time we get together! Thinking about them and basking in our friendship reminds me that problems come from a belief in separation, and I thank these women for helping me to feel whole.

“Let me realize today that the problem is always some form of grievance that I would cherish. Let me also understand that the solution is always a miracle with which I let the grievance be replaced. Today I would remember the simplicity of salvation by reinforcing the lesson that there is one problem and one solution. The problem is a grievance; the solution is a miracle. And I invite the solution to come to me through my forgiveness of the grievance, and my welcome of the miracle that takes its place.”
—A Course in Miracles W-90.1:2-6

“Human reason and religion come slowly to the recognition of spiritual facts, and so continue to call upon matter to remove the error which the human mind alone has created.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 173:25-28

An Earth Transformed By Truth

Morning Light — captured by Blake Lasater

I read an article in which people were questions about spirituality and religion. Most of those interviewed thought of themselves as spiritual but not religious, and the few self-proclaimed religious people were mostly looking for a sense of community and fellowship. A sense of inclusiveness was often mentioned in the answers. People apparently are looking for a spiritual group which will accept them as they are, without trying to change them. Many spoke of doubt, stating they needed groups of like-minded people to help them in times of loss and fear. It seems so simple for everyone to live together in Love, being kind and helping each other. Apparently it is not. Long-held beliefs cloud our vision and we fearfully try to pull others into our illusions. Today I will try to see the light of miracles everywhere I look, refusing to be pulled into darkness, even in jest.

“Strength comes from truth, and shines with light its Source has given it; weakness reflects the darkness of its maker. It is sick and looks on sickness, which is like itself. Truth is a savior and can only will for happiness and peace for everyone. It gives its strength to everyone who asks, in limitless supply. It sees that lack in anyone would be a lack in all. And so it gives its light that all may see and benefit as one. Its strength is shared, that it may bring to all the miracle in which they will unite in purpose and forgiveness and in love.”
—A Course in Miracles W-92.5:1-7

“As a material, theoretical life-basis is found to be a misapprehension of existence, the spiritual and divine Principle of man dawns upon human thought and leads it to "where the young child was," --even to the birth of a new-old idea, to the spiritual sense of being and of what Life includes. Thus the whole earth will be transformed by Truth on its pinions of light, chasing away the darkness of error."
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 191:7-15