Fear is Not Our Natural State

Art by Vladislav Yerko

"Within a system which denies the existence of basic human rights, fear tends to be the order of the day. Fear of imprisonment, fear of torture, fear of death, fear of losing friends, family, property or means of livelihood, fear of poverty, fear of isolation, fear of failure. A most insidious form of fear is that which masquerades as common sense or even wisdom, condemning as foolish, reckless, insignificant or futile the small, daily acts of courage which help to preserve man's self-respect and inherent human dignity. It is not easy for a people conditioned by fear under the iron rule of the principle that might is right to free themselves from the enervating miasma of fear. Yet even under the most crushing state machinery courage rises up again and again, for fear is not the natural state of civilized man.”
—Aung San Suu Kyi, Freedom From Fear

“Had Blondin believed it impossible to walk the rope over Niagara's abyss of waters, he could never have done it. His belief that he could do it gave his thought-forces, called muscles, their flexibility and power which the unscientific might attribute to a lubricating oil. His fear must have disappeared before his power of putting resolve into action could appear.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 199:25-31

“How safe the world will look to me when I can see it! It will not look anything like what I imagine I see now. Everyone and everything I see will lean toward me to bless me. I will recognize in everyone my dearest Friend. What could there be to fear in a world that I have forgiven, and that has forgiven me?”
—A Course in Miracles W-60.3:2-6

Realizing What We’ve Always Known

“Moonlight on the Osage”

Thomas Hart Benton 

“I wish I'd known about this way of thinking earlier in life,” a friend once said to me. He was concerned that he wouldn't have enough time to assimilate the metaphysical truth we’re learning. Many responses came to mind, but I chose to say none of them. Time -- what a concept! We are eternal, so how can there not be enough time to realize something we've always known? Yes, that does sound rather esoteric, or perhaps a bit airy-fairy -- but doesn't it feel true? As a spiritual author once stated: "Time is something we've made up so everything doesn't happen all at once." When thinking of time in this way, don't we already know everything that ever has been or ever will be? It feels as though our purpose is to remember the knowledge of our true self. With that remembrance, we open the gates of understanding in all areas of existence. There are no limits as to time and space. We have the ability to grasp concepts, to actualize ideas, and to function as the light of the world. The lovely thing about all of this is: No matter how much I may think I understand, there is always more to experience in this never-ending adventure!

“It is your forgiveness that will bring the world of darkness to the light. It is your forgiveness that lets you recognize the light in which you see. Forgiveness is the demonstration that you are the light of the world. Through your forgiveness does the truth about yourself return to your memory. Therefore, in your forgiveness lies your salvation.”
—A Course in Miracles W-62.1:1-5

“Truth and Love enlighten the understanding, in whose ‘light shall we see light;’ and this illumination is reflected spiritually by all who walk in the light and turn away from a false material sense.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 510:9-12

Peace to Every Mind

 “There is a place of peace in the heart that looks out and sees the foolishness of the world but does not judge, criticize or condemn but compassionately accepts the unawakened behavior of others.

This place is called Love.

It is that which cannot be taught, only shown by example.

It is not a lesson to give, it is a relationship with life.

It is not a beating with a stick, but a caress with an open hand.

It is the strongest force in the universe, but needs time to be understood.

The one who encourages you to be afraid is not your friend. The one who shows the unity and interconnectedness of all things will not want something from you.

When you are afraid you are already the victim.

When you are loving, you are exactly where you want be.

This sharing of love without conditions is the way of the heart.”

Michael Kewley

“How holy are you who have the power to bring peace to every mind! How blessed are you who can learn to recognize the means 

for letting this be done through you! 

What purpose could you have that would bring you greater happiness?” 

A Course in Miracles W-63.1:1-3

"Gladness to leave the false landmarks and joy to see them disappear,--this disposition helps to precipitate the ultimate harmony. 

The purification of sense and self is a proof of progress."

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 324:3-5

 

Forgive Yourself

Have you ever been accused of something you did not do? An unjust charge carries with it a terrible feeling. This same feeling follows many of us around because we have been told that we are born sinners — and that there is nothing to be done about the life sentence. We have come to believe it is our function on this earth to try ever so hard in order to overcome this innate badness. Isn't it a wonderful thing to experience teachings which show us that this is not true? The understanding of our essence as the pure expression of God — and the realization that anything unlike this expression is a material illusion, one which is brought to us courtesy of tainted human beliefs — frees us to be happy. Gone is all the guilt we may have carried around, thinking we were condemned by a power from which we couldn't escape. There has been no condemnation by any power, only illusionary powers to which we have given credence. Breaking free from these beliefs, we are free to be happy, healthy, whole -- and we bloom!

“Whatever indicates the fall of man or the opposite of God or God’s absence, is the Adam-dream, which is neither Mind nor man, for it is not begotten of the Father. The rule of inversion infers from error its opposite, Truth; but Truth is the light which dispels error. As mortals begin to understand Spirit, they give up the belief that there is any true existence apart from God."
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 282:28:3

“Nothing the body’s eyes seem to see can be anything but a form of temptation, since this was the purpose of the body itself. Yet we have learned that the Holy Spirit has another use for all the illusions you have made, and therefore He sees another purpose in them. To the Holy Spirit, the world is a place where you learn to forgive yourself what you think of as your sins. In this perception, the physical appearance of temptation becomes the spiritual recognition of salvation.”
—A Course in Miracles W-64.2:1-4

Misnamed Groups for Banning Books

Moms for Liberty, The Moral Majority, Citizens United: Many names seem to be copacetic with our personal beliefs. For example, Moms for Liberty is an organization which have taken it upon themselves to remove books from school libraries. They have many ideas about why certain books should be removed, mainly having to do with gender and race. Years ago, Judy Blume was the author who addressed issues which some parents thought should be unmentionable. Now it’s gender identity which has certain people all het up. In a day and age when the internet and mass media outlets expose our children to any- and every-thing, it seems ridiculous to try to stop children from reading books which will tell the facts about things they are hearing about on a daily basis. Not only are sex and gender issues fearful to specific groups, they are also concerned that the truth of our country’s history will make kids embarrassed about our government’s actions. Well hello!! When we know truth and it is shameful, we will try to do better in the future, so future generations do not need to be ashamed. Stuff happens, but we can rectify the past by our actions today. And that changes the future. It’s fear or love, people. Fear or Love.

“You have no idea of the tremendous release and deep peace that comes from meeting yourself and your brothers totally without judgment. When you recognize what you are and what your brothers are, you will realize that judging them in any way is without meaning. In fact, their meaning is lost to you precisely because you are judging them. All uncertainty comes from the belief that you are under the coercion of judgment. You do not need judgment to organize your life, and you certainly do not need it to organize yourself. In the presence of knowledge all judgment is automatically suspended, and this is the process that enables recognition to replace perception.”
—A Course in Miracles T-3.VI.3:1-6

“The power of the human will should be exercised only in subordination to Truth; else it will misguide the judgment and free the lower propensities. It is the province of spiritual sense to govern man. Material, erring, human thought acts injuriously both upon the body and through it.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 206:4-9

Freed From Illusions By Truth

 Polly in Wonderland: Polina Kostanda

Truth has always been very important to me. Having this great love of truth, it came as quite a surprise to find out that the life I'd lived for 37 years, my name, birthdate, and parents, were not the ones given at birth. At two months of age, my parents took me from a niece who was 17 and had given birth with no one to help her. Her boyfriend had skipped over the border into Mexico. Her family ignored her, in an effort to convince her to give away her baby. After two months of being on her own, she relented and gave me to her aunt -- which is what her family had wanted all along. These wonderful people (who were the only parents I had ever known) then moved across the country and made a new beginning for us all. They did this in part to save this baby from the flood of criticism and judgment which accompanied a child born out of wedlock in the 1950s. Perhaps it was their living of this huge lie which caused them to instill truthfulness so solidly within me. For whatever reason, I am thankful to have it. Because of this love of truth, I've always wanted to know it -- in every way. But in the past three decades, it's taken the form of spiritual Truth, which shows me my function and is my happiness. And it has set me free!

“And so again we make the only choice that ever can be made; we choose between illusions and the truth, or pain and joy, or hell and Heaven. Let our gratitude unto our Teacher fill our hearts, as we are free to choose our joy instead of pain, our holiness in place of sin, the peace of God instead of conflict, and the light of Heaven for the darkness of the world.”
—A Course in Miracles W-190.11:1-2

"Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love. It is unselfish; therefore it cannot exist alone, but requires all mankind to share it."
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 57:18-21

My Only Function

Autumn Skye Art

As a restless young person, I resisted the only thing which was required in order to experience peace, thinking that living in Spirit would be predictable and boring. Decades past that time, daily life is exciting and new! Without the willingness to be open to the field of all possibilities, by-rote behaviors would be repeated, while following along with learned beliefs. That is the definition of boring! By being willing to listen inwardly, one can never be sure of what will be said or done, but we can be confident that guidance will never lead us astray. On the occasions I forget to listen, but instead hold forth with long-held strong opinions, things don't usually work out in the same harmonious ways as they do when I'm willing to yield. That is a strong reminder to remember that I, of my own self, know nothing.

"This scientific sense of being, forsaking matter for Spirit, by no means suggests man's absorption into Deity and the loss of his identity, but confers upon man enlarged individuality, a wider sphere of thought and action, a more expansive love, a higher and more permanent peace."
—Mary Baker Eddy- Science & Health Page 265:10-15

“The full acceptance of salvation as your only function necessarily entails two phases; the recognition of salvation as your function, and the relinquishment of all the other goals you have invented for yourself. This is the only way in which you can take your rightful place among the saviors of the world. This is the only way in which you can say and mean, ‘My only function is the one God gave me.’ This is the only way in which you can find peace of mind.”
—A Course in Miracles W-65.1:4–2:3