Joy Loves Company, Too!

Do you remember the saying, ”misery loves company”? Perhaps that way of thinking is the reason so many of the conversations we hear are centered around disease and inclement weather! I suppose it would be rude and counterproductive to tell people why this way of living is not conducive to happiness. But I can feel joy -- and scatter it!! -- even in the face of any suffering thought that is brought to me today. And no, this won't be a laughing-in-the-face-of-sorrow type of joy. This will be a gentle joy, a quiet joy, sent out in true compassion while seeing divine reality. This will be my holiness shining today. We know that joy loves company, too. Let's see how infectious happiness can be!

“We must form perfect models in thought and look at them continually, or we shall never carve them out in grand and noble lives. Let unselfishness, goodness, mercy, justice, health, holiness, love—the kingdom of heaven—reign within us, and sin, disease, and death will diminish until they finally disappear”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 248:25-32

“The escape from darkness involves two stages: First, the recognition that darkness cannot hide. This step usually entails fear. Second, the recognition that there is nothing you want to hide even if you could. This step brings escape from fear. When you have become willing to hide nothing, you will not only be willing to enter into communion but will also understand peace and joy.”
—A Course in Miracles T-1.IV.1:1-5

Peace to the Struggling Hearts

Blessed are those who do not fear solitude,

who are not afraid of their own company,

who are not always desperately looking for something to do,

something to amuse themselves with,

something to judge.”

Author ~ Paolo Coelho

“Blessed are you who learn that to hear the Will of your Father is to know your own. For it is your will to be like Him, Whose Will it is that it be so. God’s Will is that His Son be one, and united with Him in His Oneness. 

That is why healing is the beginning of the recognition that your will is His.” 

A Course in Miracles T-11.I.11:6-9

“Glory be to God, and peace to the struggling hearts! Christ hath rolled away the stone from the door of human hope and faith, and through the revelation and demonstration of life in God, hath elevated them to possible at-one-ment

with the spiritual idea of man and his divine Principle, Love.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 26:14-21

True Healing

Photo courtesy of Chris Flanagin 

Many of my friends are experiencing emotional and physical upsets. This has caused me to ponder healing and its meaning. Today I went to my blog and searched for healing topics from the past. It’s interesting how understanding changes as consciousness unfolds. I’m going to post a writing today from a few years back. In the days to come, I shall probably continue my musings surrounding this vein of thought.

A friend recommended that I read, “Dying to be Me: My Journey from Cancer, to Near Death, to True Healing”, by Anita Moorjani. One of the important points made in this book is something which is recognized in our studies: Sickness is not your fault. Often new-age teachings tell us that past thoughts and actions create karma which returns to us in terrible ways. Ms. Moorjani assures us that this is not the case. Although many factors may be involved in physical illness, blaming yourself and seeking absolution has nothing to do with true healing. The recognition that you are Love, the knowledge that you are connected to everything, the joy which comes from acceptance of yourself just as you are -- this understanding of your being is what allows the body to be well. It doesn't matter what caused it, what "stage" the problem has advanced to, what mortal predictions are on the table -- nothing matters but the acceptance of yourself as a product of Love. When feeling the purity of Oneness, all material thought must be silenced. We can stop striving and start Being. When slipping into this space of pure Love, nothing else matters. And all is well.

“To heal is to make happy. I have told you to think how many opportunities you have had to gladden yourself, and how many you have refused. This is the same as telling you that you have refused to heal yourself. The light that belongs to you is the light of joy. Radiance is not associated with sorrow. Joy calls forth an integrated willingness to share it, and promotes the mind’s natural impulse to respond as one. Those who attempt to heal without being wholly joyous themselves call forth different kinds of responses at the same time, and thus deprive others of the joy of responding wholeheartedly.”
—A Course in Miracles T-5.in.1:1-7

“A correct view of Christian Science and of its adaptation to healing includes vastly more than is at first seen. Works on metaphysics leave the grand point untouched. They never crown the power of Mind as the Messiah, nor do they carry the day against physical enemies, — even to the extinction of all belief in matter, evil, disease, and death, — nor insist upon the fact that God is all, therefore that matter is nothing beyond an image in mortal mind.” 
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 116:11-18

People Are Good

Art by Sam Toft

GOOD

By Donna Ashworth

“Most people are good. Most people kiss their pets goodbye and read just ‘one more’ bedtime story to their children. Most people visit their grandparents even when they have no time and stop by to check on quiet friends, after a long day. Most people give money when money is scarce and most people worry about people they don’t even know, day in and day out. When the world seems bad, remember, most people are good.”

                                     Written by Donna Ashworth from the book “Wild Hope”

“Love propagates anew the higher joys of Spirit, which have no taint of earth. Each successive stage of experience unfolds new views of divine goodness and love.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 66:13-16

“Nothing that is good can be lost because it comes from the Holy Spirit, the Voice for creation. Nothing that is not good was ever created, and therefore cannot be protected. The Atonement is the guarantee of the safety of the Kingdom, and the union of the Sonship is its protection. The ego cannot prevail against the Kingdom because the Sonship is united. In the presence of those who hear the Holy Spirit’s Call to be as one, the ego fades away and is undone.”

A Course in Miracles T-5.IV.1:7-11

Take Me To The Church

St. Emilion in Bordeaux, France

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater

A recent writing which was sent out to you ended with the hope that churches would follow the two great precepts which Jesus left us: love each other and love God most of all. I received a note from a dear friend who said this: “It seems to me, at least in large part, that Eureka Springs itself is a church/religion that fits the two basic principles.” I agree with him totally, and his words caused me to think about ways this is true. When anyone is in trouble — be it physical, financial, emotional, or anything in between — the people of our town come together to support them. No one stops to think about political affiliations, gender orientation, or past run-ins. We just help each other. I’ve seen it happen time and time again. I’ve seen it firsthand when I was in need. A number of years ago, I had no means of supporting myself for almost a year. It was six months before I got a prosthetic device which allowed me to walk and drive, but people picked up books from the library, took me to the grocery stores, ferried me back and forth to doctor’s appointments — everything. And recently, I have had a similar situation. My every need was met before I knew I had it! Yes, Eureka Springs, collectively, is a religion. Take me to the church!

“I am sorry when my brothers do not share my decision to hear only one Voice, because it weakens them as teachers and as learners. Yet I know they cannot really betray themselves or me, and that it is still on them that I must build my church. There is no choice in this, because only you can be the foundation of God’s church. A church is where an altar is, and the presence of the altar is what makes the church holy. A church that does not inspire love has a hidden altar that is not serving the purpose for which God intended it. I must found His church on you, because those who accept me as a model are literally my disciples. Disciples are followers, and if the model they follow has chosen to save them pain in all respects, they are unwise not to follow him.”

—A Course in Miracles T-6.I.8:1-7

“Church: The structure of Truth and Love; whatever rests upon and proceeds from divine Principle. The Church is that institution, which affords proof of its utility and is found elevating the race, rousing the dormant understanding from material beliefs to the apprehension of spiritual ideas and the demonstration of divine Science, thereby casting out devils, or error, and healing the sick.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Pager 583:12-19

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