What's Changed?

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #61:

“I am the light of the world”

A lot has changed in the last couple of millennia, don't you think? We could spend hours listing changes in thought and our understanding of our universe! Some things which have not changed much are our ideas about God. Religion has pretty well held us locked in to what has been thought of as truth. Many of us are fearlessly admitting that we are all the expression and experience of God. We're happily allowing our thought to embrace new concepts such as, "I am the light of the world"! This is not a self-important declaration, but an all-inclusive, divine-Love centered exclamation of the wonder we know as Life. Our expanding thought is bringing a joy we never dreamed would be possible on this earth plane. We're starting to understand that the kingdom of heaven is right here, within and without, waiting for us to embrace it. Let's go forth today and shine!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Light: Symbol of Truth; revelation and progress."

Science & Health Page 591:23-24

No Condemnation

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #60

Today we review Lessons 46-50. 

Often, people speak of forgiving but not forgetting. We are told in the first lesson review today that "God does not forgive because He has never condemned." And we are reminded that the forgiveness we are learning about, as human beings, is "the reflection of God's Love on earth." When looked at from this view, it seems senseless to say that we can forgive but not forget. If we truly are, in reality, the perfect reflection of divine Love, if this is the spiritual reality (hence, the only reality), it becomes easy to lay down the sword and go forward living from the heart rather than the brain. We can let go all thoughts of retaliation or revenge and live by the law of grace. I have thoughts bouncing around in my mind concerning someone severing contact with me because of my refusal to help him save the world. As ACIM teaches us, forgiveness is letting go of illusions because, in truth, no harm has occurred. If I have thoughts of blame cross my mind today, I will remember that lack of condemnation is true forgiveness!

Mary Baker Eddy correlative quote:

"Progress takes off human shackles. The finite must yield to the infinite. Advancing to a higher plane of action, thought rises from the material sense to the spiritual, from the scholastic to the inspirational, and from the mortal to the immortal. Love, the divine Principle, is the Father and Mother of the universe, including man."

Science & Health Page 256:1-8

Exponential Growth of Good

photo credit: Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #59: Today we review Lessons 41-45. 

I've never understood political conflict.  It seems to me that if everyone is for the good of all, what in the world is there to be conflicted about? I simply don't understand why we have these clashes and certainly don't want to talk about these disagreeable scenarios. Times of major elections in our fair country bring out interesting opinions from unexpected places. I try not to listen to any of it, holding to the knowledge of our true selves as the expression of Love, while looking past the rhetoric and seeming idiocy. If God is the Mind with which I think, and that thought is and can only be light, there is no fear nor condemnation necessary. With this realization, we could stop trying to change others' thought to what we think it should be, knowing that every thought based in divine Mind grows exponentially. Let's go forth and multiply -- Mind with a capital M, that is!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"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."

Science & Health Page 265:10-15

One Mind

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #58:

Today we review Lessons 36-40. 

“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.” This is part of today’s five-lesson review in A Course in Miracles. We are learning that this holiness is our true state of being as reflections of Love, realized through forgiveness in its purest sense. When I assert this Truth about myself, I affirm it for everyone. Many of us have the idea that to think in such a manner about ourselves is arrogant, something to be avoided. What if the opposite is true, and our arrogance is founded in thinking we can do everything on our own, with our human intellect and reasoning?  Perhaps true humility is letting our only mind be divine Mind, sharing with all because this Mind belongs to everyone and everything! 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The divine origin of Jesus gave him more than human power to expound the facts of creation, and demonstrate the one Mind which makes and governs man and the universe.” Science & Health Page 539: 27-30 

Go Forward With Joy!

photo credit: Jerry Dupy

ACIM Workbook Lesson #57:

Today we review Lessons 31-35. 

I love the freedom of our lesson reviews for today!  "I am not the victim of the world I see."  "I have invented the world I see." "There is another way of looking at the world."  "I could see peace instead of this." "My mind is part of God's. I am very holy." I know quite a few people who are ready to stop the madness and let freedom of thought take us to new heights of equality! And it's not just the airy-fairies who think this way, but physicists and learned people from all walks of life. Every thought counts! Let's go forward today with joy, knowing that's something which will spread without any effort -- other than the sheer happiness of it all!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"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."

Science & Health Page 260:7-12

Leaving Behind Attack Thoughts

photo by Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #56:

Today we review Lessons 26-30. 

I have just had a long conversation with a young man who tells me he was sent to earth to facilitate change. He is very passionate about the changes he wants to see, and he is becoming very angry that these changes are not happening according to his schedule. Numerous people told him he needed to talk to me; that I could help him. He wants me to go to school board meetings, amass information for him, and do other things to help him carry out his plan. I’m not sure I was able to impart to him that this is not the kind of “help” I have to offer. Seeing this part of today’s review of topics from A Course in Miracles brought a big smile to my face! “My attack thoughts are attacking my invulnerability. All my hopes and wishes and plans appear to be at the mercy of a world I cannot control. Yet perfect security and complete fulfillment are my inheritance. I have tried to give my inheritance away in exchange for the world I see. But God has kept my inheritance safe for me. My own real thoughts will teach me what it is.”  Peace to you, dear One.

Mary Baker Eddy quote: “The nearer a false belief approaches truth without passing the boundary where, having been destroyed by divine Love, it ceases to be even an illusion, the riper it becomes for destruction.” Science & Health Page 96:13-17

Seeing Through the Illusion

photo credit: Heather Peters

ACIM Workbook Lesson #55:

Today we review Lessons 21-25. 

“I am determined to see” is one of the five review topics today.  I’ve heard people say similar statements when they want to see “through” the illusion of someone’s deception, such as recognizing when someone is being less than honest about some business dealing or something of that nature. Today we are determined to see past the illusions we hold of ourselves. What do we think we are and how does that belief hold us in place? That is what I shall examine today. I will recognize limiting thoughts concerning my world and my place in it, and I will be willing to release these concepts and open myself to the Truth of divine Mind, replacing limiting beliefs with the Love of which I am a reflection. What a beautiful activity for today and every day!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Human sense may well marvel at discord, while, to a diviner sense, harmony is the real and discord the unreal.” Science & Health Page 563:1-2

Never Alone in Oneness

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #54

Today's review is of Lessons 16-20.

"I have no neutral thoughts."  "I see no neutral things."  "I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my seeing." "I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my thoughts."  "I am determined to see." These five topics we are reviewing today point us to the meaning of Oneness. The seeds of understanding have been planted, waiting for us to nurture them! I quote from Lesson 15 in the Course in Miracles workbook: "I would behold the proof that what has been done through me has enabled love to replace fear, laughter to replace tears, and abundance to replace loss. I would look upon the real world, and let it teach me that my will and the Will of God are one." 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“It should be thoroughly understood that all men have one Mind, one God and Father, one Life, Truth, and Love. Mankind will become perfect in proportion as this fact becomes apparent, war will cease and the true brotherhood of man will be established.” 

Science & Health Page 467:9-13

What Is a Meaningless World?

photo credit: Aaron Sprinston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #53

Today is the third of a ten-day review of the first lessons. 

In today's ACIM workbook five-lesson review, there are many references to seeing a "meaningless world". You may wonder why anyone would want to see a meaningless world. I'm not sure we would want to see a meaningless world, but that's certainly what we're doing! As we begin to glimpse the difference in spiritual realities and material illusions, we see that the world we hold in place through belief and misperception is a meaningless world. Divine Mind did not create a meaningless world, and to see in Truth we must give up the beliefs and illusions we have created. These exercises we're doing are designed to prepare us to accept the knowledge which awakens us to this unseen Reality. A single glimpse of this is enough to make me want more! 

Mary Baker Eddy quote: 

"Speaking of the things of Spirit while dwelling on a material plane, material terms must be generally employed. Mortal thought does not at once catch the higher meaning, and can do so only as thought is educated up to spiritual apprehension." Science & Health Page 313:14-19

Dissolving Paths of the Present

photo credit: Heather Peters

ACIM Workbook Lesson #52

Today is the second in a ten-day review of the first lessons. For a guide to this review, and a short description, go to this link: http://acim.org/Lessons/lesson.html?lesson=52

In looking over the five lessons for today's review, a few sentences jump out as points of beauty: “I am always upset by nothing.” “I will look with love on all that I failed to see before.” “Let me learn to give the past away, realizing that in so doing I am giving up nothing.” “The choice is not whether to see the past or the present; the choice is merely whether to see or not.” “I have no private thoughts.” Many comparisons come to mind, correlating and juxtaposing these teachings with daily life. A number of years ago, a dear friend and I had an altercation which was deeply interconnected to many areas in our friendship. If either she or I had held onto the past, we wouldn't share the joy our association has brought through the years. As we are told in this review, it's not a choice of seeing past or present, but to see or not to see. Where I've chosen to shade my thoughts with the unreality of inharmony, I will choose again and flow in Oneness with Love.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“As the crude footprints of the past disappear from the dissolving paths of the present, we shall better understand the Science which governs these changes, and shall plant our feet on firmer ground.”

 Science & Health Page 225:4-7

Illusion or Reality?

photo credit: Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #51:

Today we begin a ten-day review of the first lessons. For a guide to this review, and a short description, go to this link: http://A Course in Miracles.org/Lessons/lesson.html?lesson=51 

The first 50 lessons in A Course in Miracles workbook show us how to determine the difference in reality and illusion. We have learned that what we see with material sense is colored with belief and judgment. We have been experimenting with dropping the meanings placed on things, thereby allowing spiritual facts to become evident.  Everything I see is colored with judgment, both my own and that of others. This judgment has given me whatever meaning I've placed on anything. As these meanings make no sense  -- because they have been interpreted through erroneous thoughts and beliefs -- they cannot be understood. When we learn to look through these illusions, we free ourselves to see Truth. If we accept that our thoughts mean nothing, we allow ourself to release the self-importance we've attached to things. When we are able to release these thoughts, we can replace them with the ideas of Mind. We also have been asked to see that when we become upset, it is never for the reason we think. In order to justify these incomprehensible beliefs which we have set up, we make up a complex defense system of attacks and retreats, which only serve to leave us in a state of disharmony. I don't want this crazy fantasy to be my life! I want to follow the leadings of Love, to hear through Spirit, to see with Soul, to live Life!

Mary Baker Eddy quotes

“The universe of Spirit reflects the creative power of the divine Principle, or Life, which reproduces the multitudinous forms of Mind and governs the multiplication of the compound idea man.” 

Science & Health Page 507:15-18

Sustained by Love

photo credit: Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #50:

“I am sustained by the Love of God.”

Do you recall a time when you felt swaddled in Love? Perhaps it was immediately following the birth of a child or grandchild, or maybe it was watching a sunset, or seeing whales in the ocean — well, there are many times when we feel totally encompassed in the Love which is more than the everyday I-love-this-dessert kind of love. The images our ego projects and calls love are a shadow of the divine Love of which we speak today. We all have believed the false image of love which this life has taught us. The songs we sing, the movies we watch, the things we expect from love, these do not begin to tell us what it means to be sustained by Love. To quote today’s lesson: “Put not your faith in illusions. They will fail you. Put all your faith in the Love of God within you; eternal, changeless and forever unfailing. This is the answer to whatever confronts you today. Through the Love of God within you, you can resolve all seeming difficulties without effort and in sure confidence. Tell yourself this often today. It is a declaration of release from the belief in idols. It is your acknowledgment of the truth about yourself.” ACIM

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Truth fosters the idea of Truth, and not the belief in illusion or error. That which is real, is sustained by Spirit.” Science & Health" Page 555:32-2

Listening Deeply

photo credit: Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #49:

"God's Voice speaks to me all through this day."

I’ve noticed in the past few years 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. I think it’s because 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 are afraid to make decisions for ourselves because we don’t trust that 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 the textbook of A Course in Miracles that “His voice is as loud as I am willing to listen.” 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 as the expression of Life, Truth, and Love!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"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." Science & Health Page 507:24-28

Nothing But Peace

photo credit: Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #48:

"There is nothing to fear."

Fear stems from the idea that we can be separated from joy and love, from peace and security. Imagine telling someone in the middle of a war zone that there is nothings to fear. Or perhaps you've known someone who has just been attacked in some violent way and you tell them that there is nothing to fear. This would seem to be a case of sticking your head in the sand and denying reality. At this stage of our evolution, perhaps it's best to think this truth silently, affirming within that illusions are not facts and there is, in reality, nothing to fear. Let's take a case which could be thought of as minor, one where a friend has been in a car accident and is now afraid to drive outside of her small hometown. While I did not make light of her fear, I also steadfastly refused to reinforce her fears by agreeing with them. I can no longer pretend compassion by agreeing with error, but must insist on dispelling erroneous thought by asserting the truth of our being as an expression of  God. I pray  for the grace which will guide me to silence or action!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The calm and exalted thought or spiritual apprehension is at peace. Thus the dawn of ideas goes on, forming each successive stage of progress.” Science & Health Page 506:11-14

Unchanging Spirit

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #47:

"God is the strength in which I trust."

We are told by almost every avenue in this material life that we are weak mortals who are victimized by everything from germs to sunshine and food. I have an acquaintance who spends most days in a state of near-panic as she hears tales of incurable air-borne disease and other horror stories which keep her on the edge of her sanity. She feels uncertain about everything due to the changing nature of the world around us, and this frightens her. I urged her to find something which is unchanging and to hold to that thought. She told me she didn’t know anything which was unchanging. I assured her that I couldn’t think of a single material thing which did not change either, and suggested some YouTube videos for her to watch with some of my favorite spiritual seers. I, personally, would prefer to trust intuition brought to me from divine Mind rather than the so-called facts fed to me by the nightly news! 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Rise in the strength of Spirit to resist all that is unlike good. God has made man capable of this, and nothing can vitiate the ability and power divinely bestowed on man.” Science & Health Page 393:12-15

Love is the Answer

photo credit: Stephen Shogren

ACIM Workbook Lesson #46:

“God is the Love in which I forgive.”

We are asked to close our eyes and search our mind for things which we have not forgiven. It doesn’t matter if it’s a small unforgiven experience or a great, big unforgivable event — we are asked to examine ourselves and identify these instances. We are preparing to forgive ourselves! Divine Love is the love which we are giving and getting in this forgiveness, not the human love which puts parameters on its flow. What we extend, we are. When I see the people I am withholding forgiveness from, I don’t want to think of their actions which I feel justify my feelings. I find I still blame someone from 50 years ago, a sweet woman who gave my pet turtle a bath and it died. I don’t want to think of that incident every time I see her or hear her name! I want to release my mind from these illusions, extending Love because I am Love!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

 "'God is Love.' More than this we cannot ask, higher we cannot look, farther we cannot go." Science & Health Page 6:17-18

Celebrate Love!

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #45:

“God is the Mind with which I think.”

On this day when we celebrate love, I am reminded of the amazing ways people are expressing Love all over the world. It's wonderful to hear stories of individuals who see a need and find a way to meet it! I read a story of a man who started a website to track refugees, in order to let those who want to help know what needs to be done and where to find people in need. Another man has dedicated his life to saving dogs by transporting them to areas of the country where they can find homes. I have vowed to find at least one incidence of good every day -- and good news is everywhere! I'm going to take time today to think of all the people I know personally who are expressing divine Mind, reflecting Love and living a life of grace. This grace doesn't have to be expressed in large ways, it only needs to be heartfelt and sincere. Happy Valentine's Day to us all!!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“No wisdom is wise but His wisdom; no truth is true, no love is lovely, no life is Life but the divine…”  Science & Health Page 275:17-19

A Clearer Transparency

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #44

"God is the Light in which I see."

At a recent function, someone leaned in close to me and said, sotto voce, something derogatory about another person. I was reminded of Olympia Dukakis in Steel Magnolias when she said, “If you don’t have anything nice to say about anybody, come and sit by me”.  I wanted to say just the opposite and ask this person to go away! But I also wanted to see her comments with the light of Love and interpret them through Mind rather than my judgment of the words. So I just smiled at her. I was standing there asking Holy Spirit what to say, and nothing came, so I didn’t nervously babble something meaningless, nor did I condemn her as I am wont to do. I hope to remember on a daily basis that light is within, not without. My work is to become a clearer transparency from which this light may glow!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The manifestation of God through mortals is as light passing through the windowpane. The light and the glass never mingle, but as matter, the glass is less opaque than the walls. The mortal mind through which Truth appears most vividly is that one which has lost much materiality — much error — in order to become a better transparency for Truth. Then, like a cloud melting into thin vapor, it no longer hides the sun.” Science & Health Page 295:16-24

Perception or Knowledge

Eureka Gras Parade - PC Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #43:

"God is my Source. I cannot see apart from Him."

Today we are pondering the differences in our personal perception and universal knowledge. Our perception, as we well know, is colored by belief and what we think of as knowledge, but knowledge is Truth. This Truth, with a capital T, is God. From today's Course in Miracles lesson: "You cannot see apart from God because you cannot be apart from God." This reminds me of a couple I met in the laundromat today. They were so joyously happy that I felt compelled to start a conversation with them.  They told me their house had burned to the ground last month, that they hadn't had insurance on it, but they were happy to have gotten out alive and were extremely grateful that their five cats had escaped, too. As I talked with them, I realized that awakening to life as consciousness is spreading far and wide. Join me in noticing how Truth is self-revealed as individual conscious experience in your daily walk. The proof is everywhere!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Man is more than a material form with a mind inside, which must escape from its environments in order to be immortal. Man reflects infinity, and this reflection is the true idea of God."

Science & Health Page 258:9-12

The Gift of Sight

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #42:

“God is my strength. Vision is His gift.”

I had a good friend whose two daughters died in tragic ways. After that, dear Betty wanted to quit living, and so she did. First of all she stayed incredibly busy, so she wouldn't have time to think. Then she died of multiple cancers. During this time I would have given anything to impart to her today's lesson; to have the ability to show her this "Vision [which] is His gift". But only she could have done that. What I did do was to offer her a cup of cold water in the form of divine Love: I showed it to her, I gave it to her, I let her know it was hers. So today, dear friend, I will think of you while I go about the day's activities, remembering that I have the strength of eternity and the infinite vision which I share with you and everyone in the Oneness of divine Mind. This cup I raise to you, Betty Lou!

Mary Baker Eddy quotes:

“Rise in the strength of Spirit to resist all that is unlike good. God has made man capable of this, and nothing can vitiate the ability and power divinely bestowed on man.” 

Science & Health Page 393:12-15

No Division Possible

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #41 

“God goes with me wherever I go.”

Contemplating today's topic brings many platitudes to my mind. I smile at them and reach deeper within for silence. Many great teachers, including Jesus, tell us the same thing: The kingdom of heaven is within. For years I've known this, but it's taking a while to understand, and without understanding, it’s nothing but blind belief. For years, I suffered all the symptoms of separation from God: depression, anxiety, worry, a sense of helplessness and loneliness. I also went through the typical material means to quiet these feelings, but none of them worked for long. It took a major wake-up call to break the spell, and I am so grateful to have answered it! When we're thinking "God goes with me wherever I go", it's very easy to visualize a little angel on our shoulder, or someone walking beside us. Hence the importance of going deep within and silencing the multitudinous beliefs we have acquired in this existence. Knowing ourselves as consciousness, melded like a drop of water with the ocean, or a ray of sunshine with its source -- that's the feeling we're hoping to remember. I say remember because it's something we've always known, but perhaps have forgotten. Peace, joy, happiness: these are ours in the kingdom of heaven within, no matter what the outward circumstances may appear to be. Take a deep breath and feel the Oneness!

Mary Baker Eddy quotes:

“Existence, separate from divinity, [divine] Science explains as impossible.” 

Science & Health Page 522:10-11

Happiness Actually

photo credit: Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #40:

“I am blessed as a Son of God."

I’ve noticed that some people are always happy, no matter that circumstances seem to dictate the opposite. One such person stands out in memory. When I was a teenager, a woman who was a friend of my parents had a series of things happen which we would think of as bringing sadness. 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. Oh — she had also lost an infant daughter years before. This woman lived joyously into her 80s, always helping others, and died with a smile on her face (so I'm told). I often 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 through the years, something is growing more certain within me: They haven’t gone anywhere. Never born, never dying. If there’s a beginning, then there must be an end. That thought brings a certain smile to my heart!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Man is, and always has been, God's reflection."

Science & Health Page 471:17-18

Points of View

photo credit: Alden Stallings

ACIM Workbook Lesson #39:

"My holiness is my salvation."

My iPad died this morning. This may not be more than an inconvenience for many people, but I felt like I’d lost a friend. Every task I attempted today seemed stymied in one way or another. Finally, I realized that my off-centered-ness probably stemmed from the fact that I had neglected to set my intention first thing in the morning as I usually do. This activity could be called prayer, or meditation, or study — I think it encompasses all these things, and I had done none of them. Now, I am not trying to imply that if I had started my day recognizing my holiness, that my iPad wouldn’t have died. BUT I certainly would have looked at the situation differently from the grief which I felt! So I started my day over, even though it was the middle of the afternoon. Suddenly I remembered that a year or so ago a friend on the west coast had told me he never used his iPad and if I ever needed it, I could have it. And so I called him and it will be in the mail tomorrow. This feels like salvation to me! 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The periods of spiritual ascension are the days and seasons of Mind’s creation, in which beauty, sublimity, purity, and holiness — yea, the divine nature — appear in man and the universe never to disappear.”

Science & Health Page 509:24-28

Expanding Thought

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #38:

"There is nothing my holiness cannot do"

I love the first two sentences of today's ACIM lesson: "Your holiness reverses all the laws of the world. It is beyond every restriction of time, space, distance and limits of any kind." Haven't you always felt this to be true? Isn't that the appeal of Harry Potter books and movies? We know -- we just know! -- that there is more to all this than meets the mortal eye.  I get very excited when pondering these concepts! I'm so grateful to live in an age when we can write and talk about such topics. It hasn't been that long ago that people were thought subversive and perhaps crazy to speak of these concepts. I will spend today celebrating no limits to thought and dedicating myself to expansion!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Lulled by stupefying illusions, the world is asleep in the cradle of infancy, dreaming away the hours. Material sense does not unfold the facts of existence; but spiritual sense lifts human consciousness into eternal Truth." 

Science & Health Page 95:28-32

We Are The World

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #37

"My holiness blesses the world."

Have you seen the movie or read the book, “The Hundred-Foot Journey”? It’s very beautiful for many reasons. We are shown lovely French countryside, exquisite food, and a wonderful acceptance of and by people who are learning about their Oneness. When we accept our holiness, we do so by realizing that we are the expression of God. When we see this truth, we understand that we are not alone, as we are all the reflection of divine Mind. How can we express racial prejudice, or any other form of hatred and fear, when we know these things? I am freed by the understanding that the act of seeing everything in its spiritual reality is my function. It is everyone's function! By our realization of spiritual Truth, we see that everything is already complete and whole. I look forward to seeing more of this expanding vision which awaits us, just beyond the horizon of our material views.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"We are all sculptors, working at various forms, moulding and chiseling thought. What is the model before mortal mind? Is it imperfection, joy, sorrow, sin, suffering? Have you accepted the mortal model?" "We must form perfect models in thought and look at them continually, or we shall never carve them out in grand and noble lives." 

Science & Health Page 248:15-17 and 26-29

Overwhelming Gratitude

photo credit: Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #36

"My holiness envelopes everything I see."

In the 1970s, I spent a good deal of time in a bar called The Swingin' Door. I fell in love with Texas music and more than one musician. It was an interesting time in popular music history, with the Beatles still stirring our souls and disco bringing a canned cadence to music most of the people in my circles shunned. We were all sure we knew the secret to happiness, and holiness had absolutely nothing to do with it. As years passed in a blur, we found the alcohol and drugs no longer brought satisfaction. It took years for me to realize that holiness was found within and reflected outwardly in everything. What a long and interesting road it's been to this point. The gratitude I feel for Life is overwhelming!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Being is holiness, harmony, immortality. It is already proved that a knowledge of this, even in small degree, will uplift the physical and moral standard of mortals, will increase longevity, will purify and elevate character."

Science & Health Page 492:7-11

Expansive Ideas of Mind

photo by Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook lesson #35

"My mind is part of God. I am very holy."

Stepping outside our ideas of who and what we are can be an interesting experiment — and we are asked to stand back and do so in today’s lesson. The reason for this is that we cannot possibly understand what it means to be part of divine Mind, accepting our holiness, as long as we’re seeing ourselves as all the beliefs we have built up over a lifetime. These beliefs we hold about ourselves may be positively grandiose or absolutely debased, it matters not, as they all veil our unity with divine Love. Time and again in these studies we have been and will be asked to give up all our beliefs about ourselves as a person, exchanging them for the expansive ideas of Mind. We are asking Holy Spirit who we truly are, and there is no reason to fear Love’s answer!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“With one Father, even God, the whole family of man would be brethren; and with one Mind and that God, or good, the brotherhood of man would consist of Love and Truth, and have unity of Principle and spiritual power which constitute divine Science.”

Science & Health Page 469:30-5

Peace in the Valley

photo credit: Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #34:

"I could see peace instead of this."

Family disputes, contentious work situations, people reacting from fear and anger -- Even if we're not directly involved in these scenarios, we are given the opportunity to "see peace instead of this". We are learning to sit quietly, with Love, and watch how spiritual truth brings healing. Peace is inherent in every seemingly volatile situation, and a calm glow is brought forth when Love is felt within our own self. By practicing peace, we are allowed to witness its inevitable spread through everything it touches. We can all recount situations where we have witnessed harmony restored through calm assertive behavior. I remember a time when three angry young people were drained of aggression as I stood in front of them smiling and thinking of their perfection as an expression of God. This instance has strengthened my vow to keep on looking at the world through those proverbial rose-colored glasses!

   

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“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.”

Science & Health Page 510:9-12

Another Way to See

EurekaGras Parade

ACIM Workbook Lesson #33:

"There is another way of looking at the world."

This lesson asks us to look at things around us and then to look at our thoughts. This is to be done casually, with no judgment, only noticing. Okay. I'm looking around the room. The first thing I see is a lamp which was bought at a Clear Spring School benefit auction. Interestingly, it was donated by Victorian Reflections, a shop which occupied the space my art gallery was in for years. This lamp has a story and it brings back lots of memories and feelings within me, all lovely to remember. When I close my eyes and follow my thoughts, a long trail has opened up with memory links galore! I could follow them and spend a great deal of time living in the past, or I can simply see it for what it is and ask myself why that lamp makes me smile. It represents to me light, beauty, happy times with children and friends. Whether this exercise brought me lovely thoughts or caused distress makes no difference, because they both need to be released. This doesn't mean that I must never feel the Love reflected by this lamp and its connections. That feeling is mine all the time. This release thins the barriers I've built against Spirit. It helps me become more transparent and allows good, God, to be my only sight. What an adventure this is!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Dear reader, which mind-picture or externalized thought shall be real to you,--the material or the spiritual? Both you cannot have. You are bringing out your own ideal. This ideal is either temporal or eternal. Either Spirit or matter is your model. If you try to have two models, then you practically have none. Like a pendulum in a clock, you will be thrown back and forth, striking the ribs of matter and swinging between the real and the unreal."

Science & Health Page 360:13-21