Why Read The Odyssey?

What is the purpose of studying the humanities? If you’re going to college, you want to be able to get a job when you get out — don’t you? In an era when plumbers make more cash than music teachers, is there a reason for reading The Odyssey and exploring the maze of great writing? Daniel Mendelsohn explains it this way: “When your father dies, your accounting degree is not going to help you at all. But having read great authors IS going to help you.” Perhaps this is the reason so many people are having a difficult time coping with the everyday events of life. What if not reading books has more of an impact on society than we’ve realized? The arts open up avenues in our brain which allow us to develop critical thinking and empathy, things which many folks seem to be missing. As Anika Prather puts it: “We’re always on this journey of self-discovery and eventually coming back to the roots of ourselves.” Those roots need to be grounded in something solid: nature, humanity, Love. And our journeys change us, readying us to do more, to do better, to love more purely. Happy reading, dear Friends!

“A miracle is a correction introduced into false thinking by me. It acts as a catalyst, breaking up erroneous perception and reorganizing it properly. This places you under the Atonement principle, where perception is healed. Until this has occurred, knowledge of the Divine Order is impossible.”
—A Course in Miracles T-1.I.37:1-4

“The history of our country, like all history, illustrates the might of Mind, and shows human power to be proportionate to its embodiment of right thinking.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 225:14-1

Living From Love

Photo credit: Aaron Springston

I have often been asked if Christian Science is a cult. Having been affiliated with this life since childhood, it’s easy for me to say it assuredly is not. I've never been controlled by anyone, or asked to worship anyone, or any of the other criteria necessary to qualify for this categorization. I'm sure Course in Miracles students often get the same type of questions, as a quick search of the internet indicates. What we do ask of ourselves is a radical reliance, a wholehearted acceptance of Love as the only power, and the desire to let Spirit lead every action. Both of these schools of thought ask us to give up material beliefs and rely on Truth. And this may not be as difficult as it seems. Shouldn't it be easy to allow spiritual principles to guide our actions, rather than accepting material rules which make no sense? Living from the Truth within, rather than made-up rules of material existence, this is the free thought which will lead into harmonious peace for all.

“When I see the world as a place of freedom, I realize that it reflects the laws of God instead of the rules I made up for it to obey. I will understand that peace, not war, abides in it. And I will perceive that peace also abides in the hearts of all who share this place with me.”
—A Course in Miracles W-57.4:2-4

"The conceptions of mortal, erring thought must give way to the ideal of all that is perfect and eternal. Through many generations human beliefs will be attaining diviner conceptions, and the immortal and perfect model of God's creation will finally be seen as the only true conception of being."
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 260:7-12

Sharing the Joy

“The perception of my holiness does not bless me alone. Everyone and everything I see in its light shares in the joy it brings to me.” ACIM —  We are learning that this holiness is our true state of being as reflections of Love. This Love is realized through forgiveness in its purest sense. When I assert this truth about myself, I affirm it for everyone. Many of us think that such a statement about ourselves is arrogant; something to be avoided. What if the opposite is true, and it’s arrogant to think we can do everything through our individual, human intellect and reasoning? Perhaps true humility is acknowledging our holiness, allowing divine Mind to guide us, knowing we are all One.

“My holiness is my salvation. Since my holiness saves me from all guilt, recognizing my holiness is recognizing my salvation. It is also recognizing the salvation of the world. Once I have accepted my holiness, nothing can make me afraid. And because I am unafraid, everyone must share in my understanding, which is the gift of God to me and to the world.”
—A Course in Miracles W-58.4:1-5

"We know that a desire for holiness is requisite in order to gain holiness; but if we desire holiness above all else, we shall sacrifice everything for it. We must be willing to do this, that we may walk securely in the only practical road to holiness. Prayer cannot change the unalterable Truth, nor can prayer alone give us an understanding of Truth; but prayer, coupled with a fervent habitual desire to know and do the will of God, will bring us into all Truth. Such a desire has little need of audible expression. It is best expressed in thought and in life."
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 11:22-32

I Eat The Stars

Hope is a word with many meanings and implications. An old friend would always insist that hope was foolish, because you wouldn’t address the problem, only hope for a good result. We had many spirited discussions, with me on the side of hope, saying it meant looking toward the best possible outcome, without designating what that may be. And so when this book was brought to my attention today, it immediately piqued my interest! “I eat the stars”, is a book written by Sarah Wilson. On the surface, this book is about how to deal with the collapse of earthly systems. The author states that this collapse “is not a finality, but an invitation to reconnect with what matters to us, and to meet the future with courage, creativity, and unprecedented care.” She says that “breaking up with hope felt like leaving a toxic relationship.” And this does not mean giving up hope, but rather giving up the need to stay with the status quo. Perhaps the way we’ve always done things is not the way we should be doing things? She gives us tips on how to “stay kind and radically human as the world shifts around us.” In looking at our transition she asks the question: ”What if this new world we’re entering is more stunning than we’d ever imagined?” I like her thinking!

“The breaking up of material beliefs may seem to be famine and pestilence, want and woe, sin, sickness, and death, which assume new phases until their nothingness appears. These disturbances will continue until the end of error, when all discord will be swallowed up in spiritual Truth.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 96:15-20

“The ego has a strange notion of time, and it is with this notion that your questioning might well begin. The ego invests heavily in the past, and in the end believes that the past is the only aspect of time that is meaningful. Remember that its emphasis on guilt enables it to ensure its continuity by making the future like the past, and thus avoiding the present. By the notion of paying for the past in the future, the past becomes the determiner of the future, making them continuous without an intervening present. For the ego regards the present only as a brief transition to the future, in which it brings the past to the future by interpreting the present in past terms.”
—A Course in Miracles T-13.IV.4:1-5

The Faces of Fear

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

Health — The Language Of My Discernment

Many people have a multitude of problematic happenings in their lives. My neighbor and good friend has been in the hospital four times in as many months, with alarming symptoms and no diagnosis. One friend is worried about her husband’s memory. Another had a quadruple heart bypass this morning. A dear sister/friend is diagnosed with shingles in her eyes. Someone has an adult son in rehab with serious mental problems. One of these people, a metaphysician, is feeling guilty because she can’t “do” something about the situation. This caused me to think about the impersonal nature of disease. We tend to want to blame ourselves when a malady occurs. What did I do wrong which caused this dis-ease? If we are truly One in Spirit, then perhaps we shouldn’t take all the blame for the mass hypnotism running rampant in our society. Everywhere, the media and individuals are telling us what’s wrong with us, or a news story is proclaiming disaster from something or another, or someone is predicting doom in some form. What are we to do? Just say no! There are many books and YouTube videos giving us tips on how to counteract negativity. Don’t be afraid to lift your thought in this way. Think I’ll lift up my friends in my thoughts right now!

“Because mortal mind seems to be conscious, the sick say: ‘How can my mind cause a disease I never thought of and knew nothing about, until it appeared on my body?’ The author has answered this question in her explanation of disease as originating in human belief before it is consciously apparent on the body, which is in fact the objective state of mortal mind, though it is called matter. This mortal blindness and its sharp consequences show our need of divine metaphysics. Through immortal Mind, or Truth, we can destroy all ills which proceed from mortal mind.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 374:6-16

“When the ego tempts you to sickness do not ask the Holy Spirit to heal the body, for this would merely be to accept the ego’s belief that the body is the proper aim of healing. Ask, rather, that the Holy Spirit teach you the right perception of the body, for perception alone can be distorted. Only perception can be sick, because only perception can be wrong.”
—A Course in Miracles T-8.IX.1:5-7

Seeing Through The Illusion

“Dancing With the Shadow Self”

Creation of Sandy Wythawai Starbird

Let’s say you wake up in the morning and are upset about something which was happening in your sleeping dream; it only takes a moment to shake off the feeling of fear or anxiety, as you affirm the illusory nature of what seemed so terribly real. In our waking dreams, we often experience upset in many forms, because we have accepted the illusion of separation from divine Love — and each other. Perhaps we’re feeling sad or depressed; maybe we’re unhappy or have a bit of ennui following us around. Whatever form it takes, it matters not if the upset is small or large, as it is all a mistaken interpretation of the reality of our being. It can be distressing to admit we have a choice in regard to these feelings, as we don’t want to think this is our own fault. And so I will strive to NOT apportion blame to others or to myself, but rather to release upsetting emotions the way I would evaporate a bad dream. I'm happy to admit I don't know why or how these feelings come to me, as I open my mind to All that Is and move into a new world created by Love.

“Mortal mind is constantly producing on mortal body the results of false opinions; and it will continue to do so, until mortal error is deprived of its imaginary powers by Truth, which sweeps away the gossamer web of mortal illusion.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 403:16-20

“It is not you who are so vulnerable and open to attack that just a word, a little whisper that you do not like, a circumstance that suits you not, or an event that you did not anticipate upsets your world, and hurls it into chaos. Truth is not frail. Illusions leave it perfectly unmoved and undisturbed. But specialness is not the truth in you. It can be thrown off balance by anything. What rests on nothing never can be stable. However large and overblown it seems to be, it still must rock and turn and whirl about with every breeze.”
—A Course in Miracles T-24.III.3:1-7