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| "Sunrise at Snowbird" photo by Aaron Springston |
A Course in Miracles Lesson #133
"I will not value what is valueless."
A few years ago, I met a lovely family who had just lost their house and belongings in a fire. There was a mom, dad, and little boy. When I expressed my sadness for their loss, the mom told me it was nothing. That they had lost a child a few years before, and this was no loss at all to them. It does put it in perspective when looked at through the eyes of Love. One of the "tests" given in today's lesson for recognizing if something is valuable is to ask yourself if what you're valuing is changeable. What does not change? Certainly everything physical does, often quite rapidly. Love, with a capital "L" doesn't change, although many of the fleeting things we call love do tend to change, grow, lessen, and even turn into other not-so-nice emotions. You will meet people who think that jealousy is part of love. Some believe that overprotective, controlling behavior symbolizes their love. Strangely, people even kill in the name of love. So the second part of our litmus test comes into play. This thing that we value, do we feel guilt in association with it? So now we have two tests to check for the reality of what we value: does it last and do we feel guilty in any way. I'm looking around the room right now and asking myself what do I value. Many things bring a smile to my heart, many things I enjoy looking at and remembering emotions I associate with them -- but value? No, I don't think I value anything in here as much as I value the love of my dog, and my love for him. The more I understand the Love that is mine through the inheritance I share with everything as a reflection of God, the more there is to value as I recognize its existence everywhere. And the less I have to worry about losing things to change. After all, how can I lose that which is not real?
Mary Baker Eddy quotes:
“Everything good or worthy, God made. Whatever is valueless or baneful, He did not make,--hence its unreality. In the Science of Genesis we read that He saw everything which He had made, "and, behold, it was very good." The corporeal senses declare otherwise; and if we give the same heed to the history of error as to the records of truth, the Scriptural record of sin and death favors the false conclusion of the material senses. Sin, sickness, and death must be deemed as devoid of reality as they are of good, God.”
Science & Health Page 525:20-27
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