Forgive and See Differently

ACIM Workbook Lesson #213

Central Theme: “I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.” Review: #193 “All things are lessons God would have me learn.”

Today's review reiterates, "Forgive, and you will see this differently." Most everything which comes to mind, I would like to see differently. And so I shall forgive. Letting go of belief, misunderstanding, learned behavior, guilt, blame, the past, the future -- what's left to see? Now, with no expectations or interpretations!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Spiritual sense, contradicting the material senses, involves intuition, hope, faith, understanding, fruition, reality.”

Science & Health Page 298:13-15

Fulfilled Function

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #212

Central Theme: “I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.” Review: #192 “I have a function God would have me fill.”

In our early years we are often asked the question, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" We are encouraged to choose a profession as our function in life. Many of us were never comfortable with that, and didn't manage to do it. For instance, I graduated from high school a year early because I wanted to get out into the world. I went to college because that's what everyone was supposed to do. I majored in music because everyone expected me to. I changed my major numerous times, never finding anything I could imagine doing all my life. What if, rather than choosing what we "want to be", we are instead taught to love ourselves and the world around us, with no preconceived notion of what we plan to do with our lives? What if, by living and expressing Love, we find ourselves drawn to our true purpose, the "function God would have us fill"? Just imagine how happy everyone would be! When the expression of Love is our purpose, our function becomes obvious. And it's never too late to see it!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Spirit, God, gathers unformed thoughts into their proper channels, and unfolds these thoughts, even as [It] opens the petals of a holy purpose in order that the purpose may appear.”

Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 506:18-21

Healing Effect of Humility

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #211

Central Theme: “I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.” Review: #191 “I am the holy Son of God Himself.”

Humility is the word which jumps out at me from the lesson review today. Combine that with the central theme for this review and we see that it is the ultimate humility to accept our true identify as a reflection of God. It seems all the disagreements between people stem from not realizing this Truth of our being. Placing our idea of self in a certain nationality, or gender, or religion, is to set up an us-against-them mentality with which we've been shooting ourselves in the foot for far too long. We all have a song to sing and these melodies are all part of the grand symphony of Life. To rejoice in being One with everyone, to live from Love rather than fear and its imaginings, is to humbly accept the inherent goodness within. I will turn away from the illusion of material problems as I wholeheartedly accept my function as a reflection of Love, seeing that image mirrored in everyone I meet!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"One infinite God, good, unifies men and nations; constitutes the brotherhood of man; ends wars; fulfills the Scripture, 'Love thy neighbor as thyself;' annihilates pagan and Christian idolatry, — whatever is wrong in social, civil, criminal, political, and religious codes; equalizes the sexes; annuls the curse on man, and leaves nothing that can sin, suffer, be punished or destroyed."

Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 340:23-29

Choose Joy

Photo credit: Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Central Theme: “I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.”

Review: #190 “I choose the joy of God instead of pain.”

Today I had a conversation with a long-time friend. She is feeling extreme emotional pain. I love her dearly and want to hold her close and hug the pain away. But that is impossible. I would love it if I could take today’s workbook lesson and inject her with a heavy dose of its wisdom, but that is impossible. I can’t choose for her, I can’t change her mind, I can’t do anything but speak Truth to error. I can’t force her to listen, but I can love her. I love her enough that I don’t want to hurt her with telling her what I see to be her “problem”, and so I will choose joy rather than pain when I think of my dear friend. We can all see the best of ourselves, along with our loved ones, and the world.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“As vapor melts before the sun, so evil would vanish before the reality of good. One must hide the other. How important, then, to choose good as the reality!”

Science & Health Page 480:31-2

Be Love

photo credit: Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #209

Central Theme: “I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.” Review: #189 “I feel the Love of God within me now.”

To feel Love from a source outside ourselves is impossible. To express a material sense of love is an illusion. But to BE the Love which is God, that is Truth. God is Love, and we are Its manifestation. Hence, we are Love. The recognition that we are Love is liberation in and of itself. Mary Baker Eddy tells us, "Love looseth me and lifteth me a'yont hate's thrall". Can you guess she was a fan of Shakespeare? Old-fashioned language aside, she's saying that Love sets us free, lifting us above and beyond any hate we may perceive. I’ve mostly given up trying to change anyone, and usually I can resist the urge to want to fix others, but I've come to see that it's my purpose to show them the way to freedom is through living Truth. By actions and words we bring ourselves, and thereby everyone, to the realization that Love is the only reality. To live Love allows a release from past habitual thought and the pain we've chosen. Then there is no need for blame, guilt, nor forgiveness — and we are free!

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 and Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 469:30-5

Making Peace With Myself

photo credit: Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #208

Central Theme: “I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.” Review: #188 “The peace of God is shining in me now."

Recent interactions with my neighbor have caused me to think about a tale told by Eckhart Tolle in A New Earth. He tells of two monks walking down the road. They see a young woman, dressed in white, trying to cross the road which is a sea of mud. One of the monks picks her up and carries her to the other side and they go on their way. A few hours later, the other monks says, You shouldn’t have carried that woman across the road; we don’t do that. The carrier responds: I put her down hours ago, but it looks like you’re still carrying her! Numerous things my neighbor has said over the years have been yokes around my neck, which I carry constantly and look at repeatedly at the slightest provocation. Every time I try to make peace with him, he says something else which sends me back into the old thought patterns. And so I shall stop trying to make peace with him and, rather, make it with myself. Namastè ~~~

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The metaphysician, making Mind his basis of operation irrespective of matter and regarding the truth and harmony of being as superior to error and discord, has rendered himself strong…” Science & Health Page 423:18-21

Calm Assurance

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #207

Central Theme: “I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.” Review: #187 “I bless the world because I bless myself.”

My oldest son called yesterday saying that he and his significant other were going on a five-day trek on the John Muir Trail. He has always been a world traveler and I love seeing the world vicariously through him — and Rick Steves, of course! As he embarks on this adventure, I look back on other times he’s gone to places such as Mongolia and South Africa. I told a friend recently I had never worried about my children, and I don’t think I’m exaggerating the calm assurance I’ve always felt in connection with them. Loving blessings to all!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Divine Love blesses its own ideas, and causes them to multiply, — to manifest [Its] power.” Science & Health Page 501:13-18

Young @ Heart

ACIM Workbook Lesson #206

Central theme: “I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.” Review: #186 “Salvation of the world depends on me.”

Today's lesson, in part, tells me that I have the gifts of God and I must give them where they are intended to be given. This is why it's essential that I allow myself to receive: I cannot give what I do not have. This giving may take many forms. A documentary comes to mind about a group of people whose average age is 80. These delightful people sing in live performances all over the world. Their songs are surprising and joyous, bringing happiness to all who hear them. This ever-changing group of joyful givers call themselves "Young @ Heart", and the film bears the same name. These people inspire me to give of what I have been given, to be willing to share the salvation which is mine -- and yours! Whenever I forget my true Self, the memory of these resplendent people will remind me that we're all here for each other, and that with giving we receive, and with receiving we give.

Mary Baker Eddy quotes:

“Love is priestess at the altar of Truth. Wait patiently for divine Love to move upon the waters of mortal mind, and form the perfect concept.” Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures  Page 454:21-23

Peace in Every Situation

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #205

Central Theme: “I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.” Review: #185 "I want the peace of God.”

I met a woman who had lived in our mountain town for about a year. She wasn't happy here in any way. She told me how she couldn't stand the weather, her job, her apartment, the lack of public transportation, our farmers' market. For most of her diatribe, I calmly listened to her and agreed that she should probably go back to Houston where she was happier. But when she started to put down our local farmers' market, I verbally retaliated in a fashion more vehement than expected! Looking back on the situation, I realize the "peace of God" which we are contemplating today has nothing to do with degrees. Divine Love doesn't stay calm and then get upset if someone says something derogatory about a cause close to Its heart. Today my focus will be on experiencing peace in every situation, not just the ones I have no emotional connection towards! 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"The calm and exalted thought or spiritual apprehension is at peace."

Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 506:11-12

Inherent Idea of Mind

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #204

Central theme: “I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.” Review: #184 “The Name of God is my inheritance.”

We, as humans, make up thousands of designations in order to separate ourselves. We may be proud of our heritage, putting plaques on our walls telling that our ancestors came over on the Mayflower. We teach our children “where they came from" and tell them reasons they should be proud of this. We proclaim what state we hail from, what school we attended, which football teams we cheer for — the list goes on and on. Today’s lesson says, “Learning that stops with what the world would teach stops short of meaning.” I want to see past tribes and nations. I don’t want to think of myself as a Razorback or a woman. I don’t want to think of myself at all, but would rather rest in the knowledge that I am an Idea of God, individually expressing that in whatever way is my function! 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The eternal Truth destroys what mortals seem to have learned from error, and man's real existence as a child of God comes to light.”

Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 288:31–1

Be Still and Go ...

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #202 

Central Theme: “I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.” Review: #182 “I will be still an instant and go home.”

Many of us are resistant to change. We like the security of things staying the same and often rebel against changes even though we innately sense they would be wonderful. And the changes which aren't always so pleasant -- the loss of a loved one, being fired from a job, losing a home to fire or other devastating circumstance -- those things are feared and dreaded and worried about. I'm sure you know people who have faced such seeming loss and appear to be serene and happy, accepting whatever may come. They know what it means to”be still and go home". Once we realize that home is within, that nothing can change in our true home where divine Love is always constant, then we can rest assured that all is well, no matter what the circumstance may be in form. For this I am very grateful!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Erase the figures which express number, silence the tones of music, give to the worms the body called man, and yet the producing, governing, divine Principle lives on,--in the case of man as truly as in the case of numbers and of music,--despite the so-called laws of matter, which define man as mortal." Science & Health Page 81:19-24

Trusting My Brothers

photo credit: Dale Johnson

ACIM Workbook Lesson #201

Central Theme: “I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.” Review: #181 "I trust my brothers, who are one with me."

"Searching For the Wrong-Eyed Jesus" is a documentary on life in the South of the United States. This film takes us to small towns where people turn to drugs and/or religion when they've given up all hope of finding happiness. I watched in fascination, realizing for the first time what people find in so-called "holy-roller" churches. In their feverish love of God, they find the pleasure they crave. Others turn to mood-elevating drugs for the same reason. One person in the movie says that everyone is "lonely for God" in these desolate towns. Another line which struck me was this: "He was just a regular ol' Southern lunatic. In his quest for union, he ended up being more separate then ever." There is such Truth to be found in their longing! I longed with them as they jumped up and down, speaking in tongues and dancing in odd jerky movements. There wasn't much difference in the drunken barroom scenes on Saturday night and the gyrations of the Sunday morning gatherings. They're all looking for the same thing: They want to fill the emptiness inside. They want excitement, fun, a way to pass time without feeling alone. I can't keep from thinking of how they would be set free with the knowledge of their true Being. The only way this can happen is if I realize it -- really realize it! --not just intellectually, but with my heart.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The rich in spirit help the poor in one grand brotherhood, all having the same Principle, or Father; and blessed is that man who seeth his brother's need and supplieth it, seeking his own in another's good."

Science & Health Page 518:15-19

Truth, Beauty, Love

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #200

“There is no peace except the peace of God.”

The following Kahlil Gibran quote is a strong statement of what it means to give up every material belief and live only the peace of God: "Yesterday we obeyed kings and bent our necks before emperors. But today we kneel only to truth, follow only beauty, and obey only love." Truth, beauty, love, are spiritual attributes. Peace is a spiritual attribute. While we may perceive peace as changeable, that is only our material perception of it. As I learn to recognize the difference in material belief and spiritual truth, life becomes easier. The peace that is God is mine right now for the acceptance of it. We can't lose it, because it's eternally available no matter what the outward circumstance!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Truth will at length compel us all to exchange the pleasures and pains of sense for the joys of Soul.” Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 390:10-11

Calming and Exciting

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #199

“I am not a body. I am free.”

Be with those who help your being. I've always loved that thought, haven't you? More and more, I find myself reveling in the company of friends, and being even more content in solitude. This seeming conundrum feels similar to the realization that I'm not a body: It's both exhilarating and calming! I'm excited that I needn't be a victim of the false beliefs of material life. I'm content in knowing there is so much to realize in this unfolding Life. Thinking back through the years and recognizing momentous friendships which have helped change my perspective from life to Life, I am grateful beyond words. The Love I feel for these precious people is eternal, and with this knowledge comes a freedom before unknown. 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Mind has set me free from every error. Divine Love fills every avenue, flows through every channel and removes every obstruction."

[This is an excerpt from an article entitled "Body" by Mary Baker Eddy, filed in the Congressional Library, January 19, 1886]

Loving Kingness

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #198 

“Only my condemnation injures me.”

For several years I avoided one of my neighbors, who was 90-plus years old, because it seemed there was no such thing as a short visit. She would tell me things I didn't want to know about her family and other people, so I began to avoid her. One morning she was sitting on her porch and asked for my help. Her phone was not working and it's connected to a Lifeline button which she can push if she needs help. As it was going to take some time to get the phone company there to reconnect her, I told her I'd come over every hour and make sure she was okay. As we sat on her porch, she started talking about herself, from childhood through more recent times, and it was fascinating! She told me the happiest times of her life were picking cotton with her sisters in the 1930s on a farm in Mississippi. Every visit brought me new stories from her life. When she wandered into condemnation of others, I would simply tell her I had to go, but would be back soon and wanted to hear more stories about her -- not others. It was like watching a documentary -- and I'm glad I was tuned in! She’s gone now and although I’ve forgotten all of her gossipy news, I remember some delightful looks into her life experience — and I am grateful. 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The poor suffering heart needs its rightful nutriment, such as peace, patience in tribulation, and a priceless sense of the dear Father’s loving-kindness.” Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures  Page 365:31-2 

Grateful for You!

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #197

“It can be but my gratitude I earn.”

Perhaps you think you should be appreciated more, or maybe you know someone who is always "fishing for compliments". Both of these fall under the category of expecting something which you already have. When you appreciate yourself, when you are grateful for the wonder which is you, that's all you need. And it is an all-encompassing gratitude! This recognition is one of the after-effects of loosing the bonds of materiality. The more we let go of expectations and beliefs, the more opportunity there is for Truth to take their place. We needn't do anything but clear the way! And that’s what we’re doing!!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“When man is governed by God, the ever-present Mind who understands all things, man knows that with God all things are possible."

Science & Health Page 180:25-27

Clear Sense and Calm Trust

ACIM Workbook Lesson #196

“It can be but myself I crucify.”

One of my neighbors stopped me in the market today saying excitedly that we had an “incident” on our street two nights ago. She told me she was crossing the street to visit her neighbor when a man was coming down the street, swinging a flashlight from side to side of the road and walking in a zig-zag manner, as though he was looking for something. She asked if she could help him, and she asked him his name, both of which he declined to answer. She became fearful and called the police, who promptly came and escorted the man away. This incident was still so powerful in her memory that it was all she could talk about. She had been frightened by something I interpreted as a benign event, and she was continuing to crucify herself over it. I shall ponder ways I may be crucifying myself, while releasing any judgment I am tempted to have of the situation!

Mary Baker Eddy quotes:

“Let neither fear nor doubt overshadow your clear sense and calm trust, that the recognition of life harmonious — as Life eternally is — can destroy any painful sense of, or belief in, that which Life is not.” Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 495:16-20 

Simply Love

Sandy Wythawai Starbird creations

ACIM Workbook Lesson #195

“Love is the way I walk in gratitude.”

A return to Love is a simpler way of living. There need be no battle within yourself as to which choice is better than the other, whatever those choices may be. Comparisons needn’t exist in the way of Love and, without them, an arena of conflict is dissolved. We are learning that Oneness is more than an airy-fairy concept; it is reality! The concepts brought forth from these realizations are unlike anything humanity has experienced to this point! Seeing everyone as reflections of Love, all from the same source,  frees us in ways we haven’t hitherto allowed. We then can experience Love in all of the harmonious paths which are so easily overlooked by mortal eyes — and I am grateful!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“We walk in the footsteps of Truth and Love by following the example of our Master in the understanding of divine metaphysics.” 

Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Pages 192:27-29

What, Me Worry?

photo credit: Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #194

“I place the future in the Hands of God.”

I heard well-known author and speaker, Marianne Williamson, say that worry was a lot like praying for something horrible to happen. Holding thought to the best possible outcome, without outlining what that outcome is, feels right to me. Whatever I put my attention on grows! Years of trying to plan my life (and that that of those around me!) has taught me the futility of this. I now vow to listen for divine Mind’s ideas to lead me in the paths of Love. I don’t always hear this guidance above the cacophony of material existence, but I’m learning how to tune in to that still, small voice, and for this I am grateful.

Mary Baker Eddy quote: “Life is divine Mind. Life is not limited.” Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 469:4-5

A New Earth

photo credit: Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #193

“All things are lessons God would have me learn.”

"A new species is arising on the planet. It is arising now, and you are it!" These lines end the Eckhart Tolle book, A New Earth. I wish it could be required reading for every person on this old earth! The beautifully clear way he explains how we cling to old belief, allowing ourselves to be influenced by fear, by the past, by illusion, is both inspiring and illuminating. We are told in today's workbook lesson,  "Forgive, and you will see this differently.” Mr. Tolle's book gives numerous examples of seeing differently. Every moment I will dedicate to seeing this new world, allowing the disappearance of old belief and hypnotic thought to provide a transparency for the arising of our new way of Living. What an exciting time for humanity!

Mary Baker Eddy quote: “The Revelator tells us of “a new heaven and a new earth.” Have you ever pictured this heaven and earth, inhabited by beings under the control of supreme wisdom?”

Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures  Page 91:1-4

The Forms of Extended Love

photo credit: Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #192

“I have a function God would have me fill.”

We are created from Love and it is our function to extend this Love to the world. It may seem that our little offerings aren’t worth much, but I’ve recently heard of the effect of a small offering given in the form of $20 a month many years ago. My boys and I gave to an organization which helped children in Africa. We occasionally got notes from a boy named Paul Ndungu and we would send him letters back. I always wondered if our small gesture really made a difference. Recently this boy, now a young man, found me on Facebook and wrote asking if I was the same person who had helped him when he was a child. He tells me it did make a difference! He would not have been able to go to school without this gift and he is now in the Kenya Air Force and attended university, too! And so, whatever form your giving may take, never be afraid to follow through with your intuitive feelings, because we never know how far Love will extend!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Truth not error, Love not hate, Spirit not matter, governs man.” Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 419:3-4

Living the Law of Love

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #191

“I am the holy Son of God Himself.”

This topic is a tender affirmation of who we are. If we are thinking of our limited material body and brain as the child of God, we may begin to wonder why we are so unlike this Source which we supposedly reflect. Let's expand our mind beyond human assumptions of creation. Seeing ourselves as the spiritual idea of divine Mind, we are free to claim our birthright as the "holy Son of God". To accept that we are really, truly spiritual allows us to put aside limiting beliefs and see through the illusions which have been created for us. This new-old thought cleanses the murky lens of our sight and allows knowledge to replace beliefs, whereby we see our perfection as an idea of divine Mind, living the law of Love!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“God creates neither erring thought, mortal life, mutable truth, nor variable love.”

Science & Health Page 503:24-25

The Choice of a Lifetime!

photo credit: Heather Peters

ACIM Workbook Lesson #190

“I choose the joy of God instead of pain.”

The idea that we have a choice between joy and pain may not be easy to accept. It could seem that if this is so, then any pain we are suffering is our own fault — but let's not allow mortal mind, or ego, to lay a guilt trip on us! The only thing we are guilty of is a mistaken perception, and for that there is immediate remedy: Change your thought! Knowing we are Mind's/God's idea brings us through the material illusion into the spiritual Truth of our being. The world has no power to cause anything, but we have been living as though it does. We have been taught that we are helpless victims of life's circumstances, and it can come as quite a shock to find out this is not true. When we awaken to the joy which is ours as the children of God, these things we think of as miracles show themselves to be the normal, everyday occurrences of our Life.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Willingness to become as a little child and to leave the old for the new, renders thought receptive of the advanced idea. Gladness to leave the false landmarks and joy to see them disappear, — this disposition helps to precipitate the ultimate harmony." 

Science & Health Page 323:32-4

Love Leads the Way!

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #189

“I feel the Love of God within me now.”

Feeling the Love of God may seem a daunting task. To "feel the Love of God within me now" is to see everything as God, Love, sees. With these eyes of Love, we see a world of beauty and innocence, brimming with goodness, hope, charity, compassion. Every day we are called upon to support each other. When people recount their difficulties, we can listen with the spiritual sense of Soul, and through this listening we will hear how to respond -- or not! Feeling this Love within us, we know what to say to those who need words, we know when to say nothing, and we have the freedom to do either. I look forward to hearing and seeing everything which presents itself today, not with my material, judgmental ears and eyes, but with the spiritual sense which is mine as a reflection of God.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Love inspires, illumines, designates, and leads the way. Right motives give pinions to thought, and strength and freedom to speech and action. Love is priestess at the altar of Truth."

Science & Health Page 454:17-21

Being the Presence

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #188

“The peace of God is shining in me now.”

A cantankerous friend who insists he’s an atheist engaged me in a discussion about God. His diatribe consisted of stories from the news about people’s actions in the name of their church and beliefs. He told me of close friends who profess to be Christians, yet have become increasingly, vocally hateful in the last few years. I countered each of his stories with stories of my own which illustrated what I think of as God. I told him of a non-dualistic God, one which doesn’t sit up on a cloud granting favors and dispensing retribution, but which is found within. I endeavored to explain how this ever-presence wasn’t pantheism because God is not IN us, but God IS us in much the same way as a sunbeam is the expression of the sun. We are the experience of divine Love, Mind, Soul, Truth, Spirit, Life. “The peace of God is shining in me now.”

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

Love, Exponentially!

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Lesson #187

“I bless the world because I bless myself.”

If I have something and give it away, my material belief is that I don't have it any longer. I am learning through these studies that giving will increase what I possess. I am also learning that things represent thoughts. I am discovering that when I give ideas away they become stronger in everyone's mind. The form is often changed in what we give and and what we receive, but it never leaves us lacking. Thoughts and ideas cannot be lost, whereas material form is constantly changing. By living consciously as the reflection of Love, with the wisdom of Mind, the freedom of Spirit, the creativity of Soul, the purity of Truth, we are blessing ourselves and we are blessing the world!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Divine Love blesses its own ideas, and causes them to multiply, — to manifest His power. ”

Science & Health, Page 517:30-31

Humble or Arrogant?

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #186

“Salvation of the world depends on me.”

Would you feel uneasy, perhaps arrogant, if you were to say that the salvation of the world depended on you? I know I would have in the past, but that was before I realized that the opposite is true. The realization that we are united with All that Is is quite a humbling experience. It's easy to get this concept backwards, believing that if we recognize our oneness with God, we are displaying braggadocio. I have found boastful behavior comes about from thinking that my material, personal beliefs are more valid than the experience I share with divine Mind. The surrender which is necessary to allow myself to want nothing other than to know God is a yielding of my self-important intellectual sureness. The gratitude I feel from the realization of our unity is priceless!

Mary Baker Eddy quote: “The scientific unity which exists between God and man must be wrought out in life-practice, and God’s will must be universally done.” Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 201:3-5

The Freedom of Peace

photo credit: Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #185

“I want the peace of God.”

On this day of celebrating the independence of these United States, I'm reminded of something from Eckhart Tolle's book "A New Earth". He speaks of collective consciousness being more powerful than individual thought. He cites instances of groups of people doing things which one alone cannot. He also tells how some of the things countries do would be thought of as insanity if one person were committing the action. With this in mind, I  urge everyone to hold to our topic for the day: "I want the peace of God." With a tipping point of people in the world wanting the same thing, then everyone will join together in not only wanting this peace, but having it! Happy Independence Day indeed!!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"A few immortal sentences, breathing the omnipotence of divine justice, have been potent to break despotic fetters and abolish the whipping-post and slave market; but oppression neither went down in blood, nor did the breath of freedom come from the cannon’s mouth. Love is the liberator."

Science & Health Page 225:16-22

It's All About That Name

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #184

“The Name of God is my inheritance.”

From the moment we come into this form, we are taught what things are called, what those names represent, and the meaning we should place on them. These names and meanings tend to separate us from each other: they de-unify us. We think of learning as knowing what these things are, and we study to find out everything about them. In this world we have made, we need these symbols, these names, in order to convey information, yet we keep getting glimpses of true communication -- and, if you're like me, you want more! Watching birds fly in formation is but one way we glimpse a higher form of knowing. Rather than learning more about the illusion of names and notions, I'd rather work toward understanding the reality of a shared unity, via divine Mind. The knowledge that the confusion we are faced with in daily life is not true creation is a key to the door of Truth, wherein we find peace.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The press unwittingly sends forth many sorrows and diseases among the human family. It does this by giving names to diseases and by printing long descriptions which mirror images of disease distinctly in thought. A new name for an ailment affects people like a Parisian name for a novel garment. Every one hastens to get it.” 

Science & Health Page 196:31-5

Whatever It's Called is Fine!

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #183

“I call upon God's Name and on my own.”

What is God's name? Perhaps, like me, you want to think of God as Love. Omnipresent Love. I also use the seven synonyms given for God by Mary Baker Eddy. These words build upon each other and totally define Deity. Each word alone does not do the job, but when you start to see the connection in these synonyms, there is an overwhelming All-ness which begins to be felt. Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, Love. These seven words combine to give us a gift, and this gift grows as it is accepted and practiced within ourselves. Through this material insight, we are able to see a bit of spiritual reality. Translate the word God in any way it feels correct within yourself. You can't go wrong!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Question: What is God?

Answer: God is incorporeal, divine, supreme, infinite Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, Love.

Question: Are these terms synonymous?

Answer: They are. They refer to one absolute God. They are also intended to express the nature, essence, and wholeness of Deity. The attributes of God are justice, mercy, wisdom, goodness, and so on.

Question: Is there more than one God or Principle?

Answer: There is not." Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 465: 8-17