What My Illusions Hide

Photo credit: Aaron Springston

A good friend struggled with depression all her life. She felt her existence was a series of horrible events, occasionally interrupted by happy times, which inevitably ended in pain. In an attempt to escape the pain, she turned to alcohol, drugs, and God. But the judgmental God she saw made deals with her, and never deemed her worthy of favor. She often recounted events from the past, and they seemed to affect her every action. We can escape this trap by accepting that we are actually the holy reflection of divine Love, a/k/a God. Any feeling of hopelessness and sadness can disappear in an instant! By releasing our material history, we are free to learn the reality of our spiritual self, which is unending, uninterrupted good. It's a beautiful thing to witness someone realize the nothingness of their personal history and to see the wondrous peace which lies within. My dear friend never felt this light. I think of her often … 

"Immortal ideas, pure, perfect, and enduring, are transmitted by the divine Mind through divine Science, which corrects error with truth and demands spiritual thoughts, divine concepts, to the end that they may produce harmonious results."
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 259:26-31

“As I share the peace of the world with my brothers, I begin to understand that this peace comes from deep within myself. The world I look upon has taken on the light of my forgiveness, and shines forgiveness back at me. In this light I begin to see what my illusions about myself kept hidden. I begin to understand the holiness of all living things, including myself, and their oneness with me.”
—A Course in Miracles W-57.5:3-6

Believe It To See it

Rock Formation in Peru

Markawasi, Peru is high in the Andes Mountains in South America. At this site, there are hundreds of figures, faces, and various shapes which may be seen in the living stone. There is much speculation concerning the origin of these fabulous monuments, yet some people cannot see them. As shown by time-lapse photography, these illusive figures are more obvious at some times of the day than at others. I would suppose it also is predicated (as so many things are) on whether we want to see or not. While watching a documentary on this subject, I was repeatedly reminded of its metaphorical relationship with our spiritual study. The very first Wayne Dyer book I discovered jumped out at me because of its title: When You Believe It, You'll See It. This is the exact opposite of our material basis of truth: When I see it, I'll believe it. These stone faces are easily overlooked if you don't want to see. With these thoughts as my inspiration, I shall go through this day seeing my holiness enveloping everything. And while many things are beyond my ability to see, that's okay, because knowing they're there is enough for now.

"As mortals gain more correct views of God and man, multitudinous objects of creation, which before were invisible, will become visible. When we realize that Life is Spirit, never in nor of matter, this understanding will expand into self-completeness, finding all in God, good, and needing no other consciousness."
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 492:7-11

“From my holiness does the perception of the real world come. Having forgiven, I no longer see myself as guilty. I can accept the innocence that is the truth about me. Seen through understanding eyes, the holiness of the world is all I see, for I can picture only the thoughts I hold about myself.”
—A Course in Miracles W-58.1:2-5

Inevitable Consequences of Separation

Art by Marianne Faguy

“Deep within you is everything that is perfect, ready to radiate through you and out into the world. It will cure all sorrow and pain and fear and loss because it will heal the mind that thought these things were real, and suffered out of its allegiance to them.” 

—A Course in Miracles W-41.3:1-2

“The capacity to be alone is the capacity to love.

It may look paradoxical to you, but it's not. It is an existential truth: only those people who are capable of being alone are capable of love, of sharing, of going into the deepest core of another person, without possessing the other, without becoming dependent on the other, without reducing the other to a thing, and without becoming addicted to the other.

They allow the other absolute freedom, because they know that if the other leaves, they will be as happy as they are now.

Their happiness cannot be taken by the other,

because it is not given by the other.”

~ Osho

“Today's idea will eventually overcome completely the sense of loneliness and abandonment all the separated ones experience. Depression is an inevitable consequence of separation. So are anxiety, worry, a deep sense of helplessness, misery, suffering and intense fear of loss.” 

—A Course in Miracles - Workbook Lesson #41

“Wilderness: Loneliness; doubt; darkness. Spontaneity of thought and idea; the vestibule in which a material sense of things disappears, and spiritual sense unfolds the great facts of existence.” 

—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 597:16-19

Ten Qualities Which Can Change The Future

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater

While Nate Hagens is primarily known for his studies about oil and other forms of energy, he has recently come up with a list of 10 qualities which can change the future. I found them all thought-provoking, but particularly loved this one. “Measure your worth in something other than money”. He say that more money tends to seek more money and it pulls everything into this monetary vortex, until nothing else is left on the scoreboard. From this acknowledgement, he asks us to measure our worth by things such as saving an animal’s life, mentoring a child, helping neighbors and friends. This may seem simplistic to those of us who have been doing this for years, but to someone who believes their worth is found in what they have and how much money they make, it is a revolutionary way of thinking.

“Beauty, wealth, or fame is incompetent to meet the demands of the affections, and should never weigh against the better claims of intellect, goodness, and virtue.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 57:15-18

“A miracle is a service. It is the maximal service you can render to another. It is a way of loving your neighbor as yourself. You recognize your own and your neighbor’s worth simultaneously.”
—A Course in Miracles T-1.I.18:1-4

I Am An Eternal Reflection Of Love

Photo credit: Steve Shogren

Why can’t we all just be happy? I’ve heard this question voiced numerous times, and I’ve probably asked it a time or two myself. People may tell you that poverty and abuse keep many people from being happy. On the flip side, what of people who have everything a person could want, but are terribly unhappy? When I was a teenager, a friend of the family had a series of unfortunate events occur in her life. In a three-year period, her husband passed on, their house burned down, and then her daughter was in a car accident which left her in a coma for over a year before she died. And she had also lost an infant daughter years before. This woman lived well into her 80s, always happily helping others, and I was told she died with a smile on her face. At the time, I wondered how she did it. I see now that she knew the open secret of Life. With each loved one who passes on, with each beloved animal I’ve known and loved through the years, something is growing more certain within me: they haven’t gone anywhere. Never born, never dying. If there was a beginning, then there must be an end. Seeing myself as a blessed eternal creation of Love brings me joy!

“Can you imagine how beautiful those you forgive will look to you? In no fantasy have you ever seen anything so lovely. Nothing you see here, sleeping or waking, comes near to such loveliness. And nothing will you value like unto this, nor hold so dear. Nothing that you remember that made your heart sing with joy has ever brought you even a little part of the happiness this sight will bring you. For you will see the Son of God. You will behold the beauty the Holy Spirit loves to look upon, and which He thanks the Father for. He was created to see this for you, until you learned to see it for yourself. And all His teaching leads to seeing it and giving thanks with Him.”
—A Course in Miracles T-17.II.1:1-9

“As the reflection of yourself appears in the mirror, so you, being spiritual, are the reflection of God. The substance, Life, intelligence, Truth, and Love, which constitute Deity, are reflected by His creation; and when we subordinate the false testimony of the corporeal senses to the facts of Science, we shall see this true likeness and reflection everywhere.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 516:2-8

Inward Listening

Art by Catrin Welz-Stein

It appears that many people want others to tell them what to do. We seem to flock to those who are willing (even eager) to guide us through the maze of life. Perhaps the reason is, if we’re doing what someone else tells us, then we can blame them if it doesn’t work out! I’m only partly joking about that. Sometimes we fear making decisions for ourselves because we don’t think we are informed enough to do so. At that point, we either throw up our hands and don’t do anything, or ask someone else what they’re going to do, so we can do the same. Perhaps we don’t trust our own inner guidance, because we have so often mistaken our busy little mind for the calm voice of divine Mind. We are told in Workbook Lesson #49 of A Course in Miracles: “God’s Voice speaks to me all through the day.” Let’s not expect a big, booming human voice to come down from above, but a still, small certainty in the deepness of ourselves, leading us to the expression of Life, Truth, and Love!

“It is quite possible to listen to God’s Voice all through the day without interrupting your regular activities in any way. The part of your mind in which truth abides is in constant communication with God, whether you are aware of it or not. It is the other part of your mind that functions in the world and obeys the world’s laws. It is this part that is constantly distracted, disorganized and highly uncertain.”
—A Course in Miracles W-49.1:1-4

"Infinite Mind creates and governs all, from the mental molecule to infinity. This divine Principle of all expresses Science and art throughout creation, and the immortality of man and the universe."
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 507:24-28

Reinterpreting Material Vision

Not a real photo

“Gut feelings" are often discounted as being invalid, for numerous reasons. Some say they are simply paranoid thoughts, others may think of them as wishful thinking, but few think of them as divine vision. In this familiar world of ours, we must reinterpret everything we see. Looking at our surroundings with human eyes, hearing with mortal ears, brings to us a false projection of reality. Discord and inharmony are but misinterpretations we are perceiving. Through right identification and reinterpretation, we see with a pure vision. As an example, when we see train tracks coming together in the distance, we immediately reinterpret that into the truth of the situation. We know that those tracks aren't coming together, and that it will not be dangerous to travel on the train which carries us toward that end. We have been taught to translate many similar situations, and we do not fear them. The metaphysical studies we've embarked upon are doing the same thing: teaching us to recognize misidentification and translate it into Truth. Translating our erroneous thoughts is a present possibility!

“As you share my unwillingness to accept error in yourself and others, you must join the great crusade to correct it; listen to my voice, learn to undo error and act to correct it. The power to work miracles belongs to you. I will provide the opportunities to do them, but you must be ready and willing.”
—A Course in Miracles T-1.III.1:6-8

“The material senses and human conceptions would translate spiritual ideas into material beliefs, and would say that an anthropomorphic God, instead of infinite Principle, — in other words, divine Love, — is the father of the rain, ‘who hath begotten the drops of dew,’ who bringeth ‘forth Mazzaroth in his season,’ and guideth ‘Arcturus with his sons.’”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 257: 15-21