Miracles Transcend the Body

Photo courtesy of Aaron Spingston

Everything we’ve been taught to believe is contradicted by seeing ourselves as free from limited beliefs. Many of our first memories are of being told to be careful, lest something dire happen. Quantum physics is helping us to understand how form is not as solid as we've been told. With that understanding, it becomes clear that many limitations we've placed upon ourselves are nothing more than beliefs in material laws. Limitations are discarded when an athlete breaks a record in the Olympics, or if someone performs a seemingly-impossible feat — such as lifting a car off of trapped loved ones. We've all heard people tell tales which we think of as supernatural, such as falling great distances and feeling as though they landed on a cushion, or so-called incurable diseases disappearing. Let’s look to the divine Mind to show us the truth about ourselves, then we will explore paths we wouldn't have considered before. Thought is shifting rapidly at this time! Let's not be afraid to listen to the still, small voice leading us down paths which before were invisible.

“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 264:13-19

“Miracles transcend the body. They are sudden shifts into invisibility, away from the bodily level. That is why they heal.”
—A Course in Miracles T-1.I.17:1-3

Nothing But The Truth

Photo courtesy of Aaron Springston

We may feel alone in the desert, when we speak truth to error. When we take a stand for morality and goodness, we might feel we’re the only one who sees through the illusions. Maybe you've been verbally attacked for telling people the truth about GMOs, organic food, or climate crises. Perhaps someone has berated your efforts to recognize and change ideas about racism. And what of data mining? Are we being controlled every time we get on our computer? I mention these things because it’s very important to speak truth, to take a stand for morality, and never fear potential consequences. Don’t be afraid to speak up for integrity and honesty. You may find out you’re not alone!

“Because Truth is infinite, error should be known as nothing. Because Truth is omnipotent in goodness, error, Truth's opposite, has no might. Evil is but the counterpoise of nothingness. The greatest wrong is but a supposititious opposite of the highest right."
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 329:21

“I am in need of nothing but the truth. I sought for many things, and found despair. Now do I seek but one, for in that one is all I need, and only what I need. All that I sought before I needed not, and did not even want. My only need I did not recognize. But now I see that I need only truth. In that all needs are satisfied, all cravings end, all hopes are finally fulfilled and dreams are gone. Now have I everything that I could need. Now have I everything that I could want. And now at last I find myself at peace.”
—A Course in Miracles W-251.1:1-9

Quieting the Voices in My Head

Photo of Buffalo River by Ashley Elliot

The weather has been delightfully cool here in Northwest Arkansas. After a long, hot summer, there is a feeling of new beginnings in the fresh air. The rushes of gratitude I’ve been experiencing are exhilarating! So I was particularly surprised to awaken this morning with regrets for past actions filling my thoughts. Not just one or two events either, but a barrage of hurtful words and acts from the last seven decades were glaring at me. It even crossed my mind that I might be passing away, and that this might be my “life-passing-before-my-eyes” event. (I say this jokingly, but it did occur to me.) Sitting on my porch, greeting the sun and watching the world awaken, it came to me that perhaps I’ve been judging others. Maybe this onslaught of guilt could help me to feel compassion for those whom I might have dismissed as foolishly self-centered in their repetition of the past. And so a few moments were spent forgiving myself for any and everything. “To forgive is merely to remember only the loving thoughts you gave in the past, and those that were given you.” [ACIM] A peaceful lesson for today and everyday …

“To forgive is merely to remember only the loving thoughts you gave in the past, and those that were given you. All the rest must be forgotten. Forgiveness is a selective remembering, based not on your selection. For the shadow figures you would make immortal are “enemies” of reality.”
—A Course in Miracles T-17.III.1:1-4

“Starting from a higher standpoint, one rises spontaneously, even as light emits light without effort; for ‘where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.’”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 262:24-26

Unspeakable Peace

Commaraderie at Book Club

“Maybe we will drown or burn or starve one day, but until then we get to choose if we’ll add to that destruction or if we will care for each other.” This is a quote from the book, Wild Dark Shore, by Charlotte McConaghy. Tonight was my favorite night of the month: book club meeting! The weather was a perfect 70-degrees for dining outside and visiting with dear friends. When there is turmoil at every turn in this world we have made, the oasis we find with friends and loved ones is rejuvenating. The opening quote is much like the teachings of  A Course in Miracles: everything is a choice between fear or love — and if you don’t like your choice, choose again! Happy Autumn everyone …

“Let us resolve today to ask for what we really want, and only this, that we may spend this day in fearlessness, without confusing pain with joy, or fear with love.”

—A Course in Miracles W-339.1:9

“Spiritual living and blessedness are the only evidences, by which we can recognize true existence and feel the unspeakable peace which comes from an all-absorbing spiritual love.”

—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 264: 24-27

A New and Glorified Trust

Art by Elena Wuest

I heard myself say to someone, "We could all choose to have animosity toward our parents, either actual or imagined." But now that I think about it, isn't all animosity imagined? We like to think that some outside influence has forced us to feel hurt or angry, but is that true? Aren't we just setting ourselves up as a victim to say that someone else "made us angry"? After all, I don't have to react with a specified emotion; I can choose to see any given situation as a calm witness, rather than as an upset personality, can't I? It's tempting to say things such as: He/she pushes my buttons. By blaming outside influences for our actions, we can pretend we're victims of life's circumstances. We're so accustomed to looking for help outside of ourselves that we also blame outside influences for our reactions, thinking we have no choice. Truth shows us that we are more than we believe we are. We aren't mortal victims, but spiritual beings with unrealized abilities and power. It's time to wake up!

“My angels are exalted thoughts, appearing at the door of some sepulchre, in which human belief has buried its fondest earthly hopes. With white fingers they point upward to a new and glorified trust, to higher ideals of life and its joys.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 299:7-11

“Suffering is an emphasis upon all that the world has done to injure you. Here is the world’s demented version of salvation clearly shown. Like to a dream of punishment, in which the dreamer is unconscious of what brought on the attack against himself, he sees himself attacked unjustly and by something not himself. He is the victim of this ‘something else,’ a thing outside himself, for which he has no reason to be held responsible. He must be innocent because he knows not what he does, but what is done to him. Yet is his own attack upon himself apparent still, for it is he who bears the suffering. And he cannot escape because its source is seen outside himself.”
—A Course in Miracles T-27.VII.1:1-7

Undisciplined? Or Remembering My Purpose …

Looking back over the last six decades of my life, there were many times of major confusion, and even more instances of minor tailspins. In retrospect, these were nothing more than times when I forgot to listen for omnipresent guidance. My purpose is unfolding every moment, and all I need to do is show up and be willing -- willing to be open-hearted, open-minded -- with no expectations of how things should be. It's tempting to think of this as undisciplined, and others may be critical of this attitude. I can attest to the fact that wandering around in college for five years perfectly prepared me for freelance court reporting. And thirty years of taking down and transcribing depositions was an incredible education, which paved the way for running an art gallery for ten years. All those things brought me to where I am today, and none of it could have been planned. Today, I think of this as listening and following. Back then, I didn't think of it at all…

“Spirit, God, gathers unformed thoughts into their proper channels, and unfolds these thoughts, even as He opens the petals of a holy purpose in order that the purpose may appear.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 506:18-21

“Let me remember what my purpose is. If I forget my goal I can be but confused, unsure of what I am, and thus conflicted in my actions. No one can serve contradicting goals and serve them well. Nor can he function without deep distress and great depression. Let us therefore be determined to remember what we want today, that we may unify our thoughts and actions meaningfully, and achieve only what God would have us do this day.
—A Course in Miracles W-257.1:1–2

Doing The Most We Can

Enhanced photo by Aaron Springston

I love to sit on my back deck, where nothing exists other than the forest and sky, with the insects and birds talking to me. My gratitude for this peace is all-encompassing. Of course, we are conditioned to feel guilty when we are happy in spite of other people’s misery and fear, so the thought crossed my mind that I should feel bad for others. But this was quickly corrected, because I know that no matter how awful I feel about the plight of another, it will do nothing to improve their lot. This does not mean that I have no compassion for them, but that I correct the picture of despair in my thoughts and see them according to the first book of Genesis rather than the second: God created everything and it was good. That is the spiritual reality of Life. So rather than dwelling on images burned into my retina by my knowledge of world events, I translate them into the purity of creation in its natural state: Love. The compassion I feel for all of the earth is not dimmed by my turning away from the material picture; rather it expands to include everything in the panoply of this Love This is the least I can do for my earthly family — or perhaps it’s the most.

“The notion of a material universe is utterly opposed to the theory of man as evolved from Mind. Such fundamental errors send falsity into all human doctrines and conclusions, and do not accord infinity to Deity. Error tills the whole ground in this material theory, which is entirely a false view, destructive to existence and happiness.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 545:1-5

“Every thought you have makes up some segment of the world you see. It is with your thoughts, then, that we must work, if your perception of the world is to be changed.”
—A Course in Miracles W-23.1:4-5