All Hallows’ Eve

Photo creation from Blake Lasater

It seems many Christians are afraid of Halloween celebrations. Our local Methodist minister, Blake Lasater, wrote an explanation of this. I feel compelled to share it with you. Happy Halloween!

“All Hallows’ Eve

Traditions are established all the time, they maybe ancient or they maybe new, but they are simply ways for us to sanctify the rhythms of time. Halloween is a particular favorite of mine, probably my inner child speaking. It gets its name from the old English word for saint — hallowed.

The early church set aside days to honor those who had been martyred for their faith, but very quickly the calendar filled with saintly feast days. May 13th was the original date of All Saints, or the Feast of Martyrs, but then the Pope took possession of the ancient Roman Pantheon (pan = all, theos = gods, hence all the gods) and dedicated it to the Virgin Mary and “all the saints” in 615. By 840 the day was known as “All Saints’ Day”, and in old English, “All Hallows”, and then Pope Sixtus IV in 1484 moved it to the first day of November and gave it a ‘vigil’, where people could stay up the night before and keep watch while praying, hence our favorite holiday of mischief and candy, “All Hallows’ Eve” or “Halloween”. Many folks would go door-to-door asking for little baked goods called “Soul Cakes” in exchange they promised to pray for that family’s dead loved ones. 

The move to November 1st coincided with the first harvest, and the Pope wanted to make sure there would be plenty of food for those who made pilgrimages to their home churches. It is a great time to bring canned food to give to local food pantries on All Saints.

Halloween got mixed up with a lot of non-christian traditions and sacred days. Samhain is a Celtic festival during this same time, to mark the end of harvest season and the beginning of the “darker” half of the year. Interestingly, it is the halfway point between the Equinox and the Solstice, both of which are vitally important times for neolithic cultures. Many considered this time to be a moment when the veil between the living and the dead was at its thinnest, and the spirits could come and go freely between the realms — hence ghosts and goblins.

Werewolves go back to ancient Sumerian mythology, and perhaps were ways of explaining the existence and motivations of ancient serial killers (they are indeed monsters). Vampires were folks suffering from light sensitivities, and often that condition struck the nobility the hardest — hence the moniker, “Count Dracula”. Mummies would eventually make an appearance as early archeologists uncovered ancient Egypt, and then quickly came the apocryphal Mummy’s Curse (Howard Carter was not cursed for opening Tut’s tomb). Devils and demons would emerge from the imaginations of Medieval Christians, and somehow God’s most beautiful angel would become a fallen dude with red skin, horns, and a tail. The idea of Hell would be fleshed out as Satan’s abode, and a place where sinners were punished. That’s not quite a biblical idea, but one that emerged gradually culminating in Dante’s vivid imagination. Today Christians talk more about Hell and Satan than they do about Heaven and Jesus — an odd transformation of a religion based on grace and love and eternal life.

But Halloween was never a separate, pagan holiday corrupting good Christians everywhere. All cultures have in their sacred beliefs times set aside to remember the ancestors, and to be reminded that death is nothing to fear. The darkness may descend — as it always does — but the light and life will go on. For me Halloween is that time of sacred mischief that whispers we have nothing to fear from the dark. The Light has come into the world and conquered the darkness. Ghouls, goblins, and demons have no hold over us, and our Halloween revelries are simply a time to remember that good news.

Don’t let the religious zealots frighten into believing it is an evil day.”

“The mind can make the belief in separation very real and very fearful, and this belief is the ‘devil.’ It is powerful, active, destructive and clearly in opposition to God, because it literally denies His Fatherhood. Look at your life and see what the devil has made. But realize that this making will surely dissolve in the light of truth, because its foundation is a lie. Your creation by God is the only Foundation that cannot be shaken, because the light is in it. Your starting point is truth, and you must return to your Beginning. Much has been seen since then, but nothing has really happened. Your Self is still in peace, even though your mind is in conflict. You have not yet gone back far enough, and that is why you become so fearful. As you approach the Beginning, you feel the fear of the destruction of your thought system upon you as if it were the fear of death. There is no death, but there is a belief in death.”
A Course in Miracles T-3.VII.5:1-11

“We cannot bring out the practical proof of Christianity, which Jesus required, while error seems as potent and real to us as Truth, and while we make a personal devil and an anthropomorphic God our starting-points, — especially if we consider Satan as a being coequal in power with Deity, if not superior to Him.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 351:16-21

Appreciate Yourself

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater 

Maybe you think you should be appreciated more, or perhaps you know someone who is always "fishing for compliments". Both of these beliefs 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 loosening 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!!

“The ego is afraid of the spirit’s joy, because once you have experienced it you will withdraw all protection from the ego, and become totally without investment in fear. Your investment is great now because fear is a witness to the separation, and your ego rejoices when you witness to it. Leave it behind! Do not listen to it and do not preserve it. Listen only to God, Who is as incapable of deception as is the spirit He created. Release yourself and release others. Do not present a false and unworthy picture of yourself to others, and do not accept such a picture of them yourself.” 

A Course in Miracles T-4.I.10:1-7

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

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 180

Where All Children Can Thrive…

Image: Giovanna Photography

“How do we love all the children? Not just our children, not just the ones who look like us or who have resources, not just the human children but the young of birds and salmon and redwood trees. When we love all the children, when that love is truly sacred to us in the sense of being most important, then we have to take action in the world to enact that love. We are called to make the earth a place where all the children can thrive.” ~ Starhawk, The Spiral Dance

“I bless you, brother, with the Love of God, which I would share with you. For I would learn the joyous lesson that there is no love but God’s and yours and mine and everyone’s.” 

A Course in Miracles W-127.12:4-5

“Jesus loved little children because of their freedom from wrong and their receptiveness of right. While age is halting between two opinions or battling with false beliefs, youth makes easy and rapid strides towards Truth.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 236:28-32

There Is No Justification For Cruelty

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater

The belief in separation fosters fear, and fear and cruelty go hand in hand. We think we’re defending ourselves, our loved ones, or values which are of importance to us and our way of life. To this defensive end, we are willing to attack others in our words and actions, not listening to the voice of sanity which divine Mind is forever supplying. If I witness attack thoughts around me today, I will remember that those propounding such ideas believe they are justified in their defenses. And in this remembrance, I will see them as a child of Love, knowing this is their true Being, and praying that they may realize it, too.

“And we solemnly promise to watch, and pray for that Mind to be in us which was also in Christ Jesus; to do unto others as we would have them do unto us; and to be merciful, just, and pure.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 497:24-28

“With love as enemy, must cruelty become a god. And gods demand that those who worship them obey their dictates, and refuse to question them. Harsh punishment is meted out relentlessly to those who ask if the demands are sensible or even sane. It is their enemies who are unreasonable and insane, while they are always merciful and just.”
A Course in Miracles W-170.6:1-4

Infinite, As Many of One

Contemporary Art Museum in Denver, Colorado

Photo by Aaron Springston

“Conscious human individuality is not individual as one of many but infinite as many of One.” [Margaret Laird] The enormity of Oneness may seem more than we can fathom, but knowing we are an individual reflection of goodness, and united therein, seems much more manageable! Realizing our spiritual nature as the experience of divine Love opens a new world in which I am not a victim of mortal mind and its manifestations. I am unafraid to take a stand for harmony and peace, knowing that it is our birthright as reflections of Mind.

"As mortals gain more correct views of God and man, multitudinous objects of creation, which before were invisible, will become visible.When we realize that Life is Spirit, never in nor of matter, this understanding will expand into self-completeness, finding all in God, good, and needing no other consciousness.”

Mary Baker Eddy Science & Health Page 264:13-19

“Miracles make minds one in God. They depend on cooperation because the Sonship is the sum of all that God created. Miracles therefore reflect the laws of eternity, not of time.” 

A Course in Miracles T-1.I.19:1-3

Peace Is Shining Through You

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater

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 hateful in their speech 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 through me now.

“The peace of God is shining in you now, and from your heart extends around the world. It pauses to caress each living thing, and leaves a blessing with it that remains forever and forever. What it gives must be eternal. It removes all thoughts of the ephemeral and valueless. It brings renewal to all tired hearts, and lights all vision as it passes by. All of its gifts are given everyone, and everyone unites in giving thanks to you who give, and you who have received.”
A Course in Miracles W-188.3:1-6

“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

Nature Voices Divine Love

Art by Abbott Henderson Thayer

Forgive Me - Poem by Mary Oliver

Angels are wonderful but they are so, well, aloof.

It’s what I sense in the mud and the roots of the

trees, or the well, or the barn, or the rock with

its citron map of lichen that halts my feet and

makes my eyes flare,

 feeling the presence of some spirit, 

some small god,

 who abides there.

If I were a perfect person, I would be bowing

continuously.

I’m not, though I pause wherever I feel this

holiness, which is why I’m so often late coming

back from wherever I went.

Forgive me.

~ Mary Oliver

“Nature voices natural, spiritual law and divine Love, but human belief misinterprets nature. Arctic regions, sunny tropics, giant hills, winged winds, mighty billows, verdant vales, festive flowers, and glorious heavens, — all point to Mind, the spiritual intelligence they reflect. The floral apostles are hieroglyphs of Deity. Suns and planets teach grand lessons. The stars make night beautiful, and the leaflet turns naturally towards the light.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 240:1-9

“Forgiveness turns the world of sin into a world of glory, wonderful to see. Each flower shines in light, and every bird sings of the joy of Heaven. There is no sadness and there is no parting here, for everything is totally forgiven. And what has been forgiven must join, for nothing stands between to keep them separate and apart. The sinless must perceive that they are one, for nothing stands between to push the other off. And in the space that sin left vacant do they join as one, in gladness recognizing what is part of them has not been kept apart and separate.”

A Course in Miracles T-26.IV.2:1-6

Traumatic Religious Practice

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater

Not having experienced any specific childhood trauma, I didn’t think about the results for those who have — at least not until I was living with a man who had excessive trauma in his younger years. As I began to examine the aftereffects of both physical and mental abuse, I came across the fabulous Dr. Gabor Matè, who shares his extensive work with the effects of trauma through books and YouTube videos. A few weeks ago, I mentioned a woman named Tia Levings, who wrote “A Well-Trained Wife”. She tells of how she has survived years of abuse, most of which was religion-based. If you want to know more of her experiences — and millions of others in our country — watch Shiny, Happy People, which is the story of the Duggar family. For decades, certain religious sects have promoted the ideas which these people are living. Women are controlled in every facet of their lives: no voting, no birth control, no choice in education - in other words, to have no voice or power over any part of their lives. Ms. Levings also exposes how men are victims of these religions. There are unrealistic expectations placed on men, who often have psychotic breaks because of the stunted emotional development they have been forced into. We like to think of those who live like this as an aberration. I now see how it is not only pervasive, but growing exponentially. This is a deep subject in which to delve.

“True denial is a powerful protective device. You can and should deny any belief that error can hurt you. This kind of denial is not a concealment but a correction. Your right mind depends on it. Denial of error is a strong defense of truth, but denial of truth results in miscreation, the projections of the ego. In the service of the right mind the denial of error frees the mind, and re-establishes the freedom of the will. When the will is really free it cannot miscreate, because it recognizes only truth.”
A Course in Miracles T-2.II.2:1-7

“Suffering, sinning, dying beliefs are unreal. When divine Science is universally understood, they will have no power over man, for man is immortal and lives by divine authority.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 76:18-21

Out of Fear, Given Back to Love

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater

Someone once told me he thought that hope holds us captive, and that if we don't accept the "reality" of what we see around us, we are lost in dreams of what could be, giving up any chance of changing what is. I’m coming to see that the opposite is true. The material picture of good and evil warring with each other is what we have decided is truth, hence we hope and strive for good to win. With the burgeoning knowledge that divine Mind is the reality and mortal mind is the illusion, we are freed to do more than hope. The divinely-endowed, spiritually-scientific consciousness within us is opened, and like a fountain the ideas we need flow forth. This consciousness is realized when we see that God is our Mind, not just in our mind. Our reality is the divine Mind which we reflect. What a freeing concept!

“Oh my brothers, if you only knew the peace that will envelop you and hold you safe and pure and lovely in the Mind of God, you could but rush to meet Him where His altar is. Hallowed your Name and His, for they are joined here in this holy place. Here He leans down to lift you up to Him, out of illusions into holiness; out of the world and to eternity; out of all fear and given back to love.”
A Course in Miracles C-4.8:1-3

“When we realize that there is one Mind, the divine law of loving our neighbor as ourselves is unfolded; whereas a belief in many ruling minds hinders man’s normal drift towards the one Mind, one God, and leads human thought into opposite channels where selfishness reigns.”
Mary Baker Eddy- Science & Health Page 227:22-25

Justice

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater

In my younger days, I enjoyed horror stories. Stephen King was a favorite because of his exceptional writing skills and his insights into the psyche of the psychopath. I was fascinated by the awfulness of it. Going hand in hand with that fascination, was my desire to pollute my body with substances which seemed to be fun, but ultimately were not. Over the last three decades, I’ve given up these things one by one, some more readily than others. I’ve been thinking about the horrors of the political scene, as we’ve watched it unfold over these same decades. It has culminated in a particularly intense awfulness at this point, and I have no desire to partake of its emotional rollercoaster. While staying informed, it is my goal to remain calm. A wise woman once told me she only wanted to hear about the problem once; from then on, we would only speak of solutions. As of today, I reaffirm my conviction to do this. I wish you peace in whatever way you choose to solve problems!

“The Holy Spirit’s problem solving is the way in which the problem ends. It has been solved because it has been met with justice. Until it has it will recur, because it has not yet been solved. The principle that justice means no one can lose is crucial to this course. For miracles depend on justice. Not as it is seen through this world’s eyes, but as God knows it and as knowledge is reflected in the sight the Holy Spirit gives.”
A Course in Miracles T-25.IX.5:1-6

“The mild forms of animal magnetism are disappearing, and its aggressive features are coming to the front. The looms of crime, hidden in the dark recesses of mortal thought, are every hour weaving webs more complicated and subtle. So secret are the present methods of animal magnetism that they ensnare the age into indolence, and produce the very apathy on the subject which the criminal desires.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 102:1

Flowing With Divine Mind

Graphic art by Audrey Sheherback

A friend once said to me: “You can’t help what goes through your mind; it’s what you do with it that’s important.” As she always got upset when I talked about perception and how things are as we see them to be, I didn’t think I should tell her I disagreed with her statement. I do think we can keep rampant negative thoughts out of our head. I also think we can stop ourselves from flitting from one memory to another, flowing through a tangent of remembrances and idle repetitions. Through these spiritual studies, we are practicing training our mind away from blame and guilt, away from circular, meaningless thought, and hence allowing our function as the expression of divine Mind to flow through us, beautifully blossoming for others to share and experience. On this perfect day, I will work toward cleansing my thoughts of unnecessary chatter, while opening myself to my function as the reflection of Love!

“Simply do this: Be still, and lay aside all thoughts of what you are and what God is; all concepts you have learned about the world; all images you hold about yourself. Empty your mind of everything it thinks is either true or false, or good or bad, of every thought it judges worthy, and all the ideas of which it is ashamed. Hold onto nothing. Do not bring with you one thought the past has taught, nor one belief you ever learned before from anything. Forget this world, forget this course, and come with wholly empty hands unto your God.”
A Course in Miracles W-189.7:1-5

“Stick to the truth of being in contradistinction to the error that life, substance, or intelligence can be in matter. Plead with an honest conviction of truth and a clear perception of the unchanging, unerring, and certain effect of divine Science.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 418:5-9

The Soft Embrace of Love

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater

In the past 24 hours, I have spoken with three friends who are usually calm and collected, even in the most trying of circumstances. But something about the pervading atmosphere in our collective consciousness has gotten them off center. I not only have sympathy for their angry and fearful feelings, but I have the utmost empathy, as I also feel the angst. So I am meditating/praying with the following quotes and thoughts. Feel free to join in …

“The world is a reflection of our internal state. If we dwell on turmoil, anger and confusion then that is how the world will be perceived to an individual. A quiet mind and and an open heart are important attributes to project into the world.”
Ram Dass

“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. All things are created spiritually. Mind, not matter, is the creator. Love, the divine Principle, is the Father and Mother of the universe, including man.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 256:1-8

“Peace, then, be unto everyone who becomes a teacher of peace. For peace is the acknowledgment of perfect purity, from which no one is excluded. Within its holy circle is everyone whom God created as His Son. Joy is its unifying attribute, with no one left outside to suffer guilt alone. The power of God draws everyone to its safe embrace of love and union. Stand quietly within this circle, and attract all tortured minds to join with you in the safety of its peace and holiness. Abide with me within it, as a teacher of Atonement, not of guilt.”
A Course in Miracles T-14.V.8:1-7

Being True to Self

Sergei Arsenievich Vinogradov - 

At the Dacha in Summer, 1869-1938

Most of us have at least one friend who is always in motion. I know a woman who won’t let her children have a moment of peace because she feels like it’s a waste of time to not be involved in some type of activity. She herself is a whirlwind of doing and going. The following Thich Nhat Hanh quote caused me to think of her. I wish I could tell her it’s okay to simply be. As Wayne Dyer often reminded us: We’re human beings, not human doings!

“We have a tendency to think in terms of doing and not in terms of being. We think that when we are not doing anything, we are wasting our time. But that is not true. Our time is first of all for us to be. To be what? To be alive, to be peaceful, to be joyful, to be loving. And that is what the world needs most.”

Thich Nhat Hanh 

“Listen in deep silence. Be very still and open your mind. Go past all the raucous shrieks and sick imaginings that cover your real thoughts and obscure your eternal link with God. Sink deep into the peace that waits for you beyond the frantic, riotous thoughts and sights and sounds of this insane world. You do not live here. We are trying to reach your real home. We are trying to reach the place where you are truly welcome. We are trying to reach God.” 

A Course in Miracles W-49.4:1-8

“Spirit is symbolized by strength, presence, and power, and also by holy thoughts, winged with Love. These angels of His presence, which have the holiest charge, abound in the spiritual atmosphere of Mind, and consequently reproduce their own characteristics. Their individual forms we know not, but we do know that their natures are allied to God’s nature; and spiritual blessings, thus typified, are the externalized, yet subjective, states of faith and spiritual understanding.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 512:8-16

I’ve Always Wanted To Be That Woman

Art by Jonas Peterson

From Donna Ashworth’s book “Life” …

“I’ve always wanted, very much, to be that woman.

The old one, with the hair like silver that seems to radiate its very own source of light.

The one with the knowing smile that hints at humour ever present and a life that’s been full of belly laughter.

The woman with the deep lines in her weathered skin, lines etched out by adventure, by joy, by fear and by growth.

I imagined how I’d float rather than walk because I no longer bear the weight of the world on my shoulders and I marvelled at how my days would be full to the brim with resting and noticing the world around me.

I would not care for thoughts of guilt because by then I would have learned that resting is doing, and is very important indeed.

There I would be reading, gardening, eating food I had grown and passing my little nuggets of wisdom down, to anyone who wanted to listen.

The contented crone.

The final phase of the journey of womanity.

No chasing youth for me,  

I will be languishing, loudly, in the joy of my age and my luck at having got so far.

I’ve always wanted, very much, to be that woman.

Join me, if you like.” 

Donna Ashworth From her poetry book ‘LIFE’

“Even Shakespeare’s poetry pictures age as infancy, as helplessness and decadence, instead of assigning to man the everlasting grandeur and immortality of development, power, and prestige.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 244:28-32

“Child of God, you were created to create the good, the beautiful and the holy. Do not forget this. The Love of God, for a little while, must still be expressed through one body to another, because vision is still so dim. You can use your body best to help you enlarge your perception so you can achieve real vision, of which the physical eye is incapable. Learning to do this is the body’s only true usefulness.” 

A Course in Miracles T-1.VII.2:1-5

Love, Honor — Obey?

I recently heard a term which was new to me: “Tradwife”. This stands for traditional wife and is a movement which, on the surface, sounds very Donna Reed-ish and perhaps rather appealing. It is not. I learned of the Tradwife movement through an interview with Tia Levings, who has written about her experiences. She is uniquely qualified for this because she was educated in an evangelical school, married an abusive man who believed these principles, escaped from that way of life, recovered, and is a fabulous writer who can tell us what is happening in far too many homes. Some people yearn for the simplicity of life in years past, but perhaps they are confused as to what made it lovely. Then again, was it? When I hear elected officials defending misogynistic, racist, homophobic views, I must stand up and “just say no”. We mustn’t go back to those times when women and people of color were treated as less than white men. And when some are telling us this is Christianity and we must “obey” the rules as they are interpreting them, it’s time to take a stand and raise our voices for all that is good and pure and true!

“The ego literally lives by comparisons. Equality is beyond its grasp, and charity becomes impossible. The ego never gives out of abundance, because it was made as a substitute for it. That is why the concept of ‘getting’ arose in the ego’s thought system. Appetites are ‘getting’ mechanisms, representing the ego’s need to confirm itself. This is as true of body appetites as it is of the so-called ‘higher ego needs.’ Body appetites are not physical in origin. The ego regards the body as its home, and tries to satisfy itself through the body. But the idea that this is possible is a decision of the mind, which has become completely confused about what is really possible.”
A Course in Miracles T-4.II.7:1-9

“Because Truth is infinite, error should be known as nothing. Because Truth is omnipotent in goodness, error, Truth’s opposite, has no might. Evil is but the counterpoise of nothingness. The greatest wrong is but a supposititious opposite of the highest right. The confidence inspired by Science lies in the fact that Truth is real and error is unreal. Error is a coward before Truth. Divine Science insists that time will prove all this. Both truth and error have come nearer than ever before to the apprehension of mortals, and truth will become still clearer as error is self-destroyed.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 367:30-9

Happiness

Désiré François Laugée, 1882

"There are random moments - tossing a salad, coming up the driveway to the house, ironing the seams flat on a quilt square, standing at the kitchen window and looking out at the delphiniums, hearing a burst of laughter from one of my children's rooms - when I feel a wavelike rush of joy. This is my true religion: arbitrary moments of nearly painful happiness for a 

life I feel privileged to lead.”

Elizabeth Berg -The Art of Mending

“Elusive happiness, or happiness in changing form that shifts with time and place, is an illusion that has no meaning. Happiness must be constant, because it is attained by giving up the wish for the in constant. Joy cannot be perceived except through constant vision. And constant vision can be given only those who wish for constancy.” 

A Course in Miracles T-21.VII.13:1-4

“Soul has infinite resources with which to bless mankind, and happiness would be more readily attained and would be more secure in our keeping, if sought in Soul. Higher enjoyments alone can satisfy the cravings of immortal man. We cannot circumscribe happiness within the limits of personal sense. The senses confer no real enjoyment.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 60:29-3

Truth’s Opposite Has No Might

Art by Catrin Welz-Stein

It seems there are any number of errors to correct in this world. It’s quite a relief to discover that I only need to correct them in my mind, not in the fearful and angry minds I witness around me. If I look at things with horror, or disgust, or anger, or fear, I have become a part of them and share in them. If I look on the people perpetrating said acts as Love’s reflection, there is forgiveness. By making such statements in public, I run the risk of someone telling me I don’t know what I’m talking about — and, perhaps, they wouldn’t be using words quite so kind! There is a young woman who makes videos about these teachings. She is often verbally attacked in the comments section of YouTube. If the speaker and her supporters are willing to give these derogatory words energy in retaliation and defense, they are accepting attacks within themselves. But if we send forth forgiveness, realizing we are all One in Truth, then we give the gift of Love — and receive it ourselves. Therein lies correction!

“Because Truth is infinite, error should be known as nothing. Because Truth is omnipotent in goodness, error, Truth's opposite, has no might.” 

Mary Baker Eddy- Science and Health Page 367:3-1

“It is essential to remember that only the mind can create, and that correction belongs at the thought level. To amplify an earlier statement, spirit is already perfect and therefore does not require correction. The body does not exist except as a learning device for the mind. This learning device is not subject to errors of its own, because it cannot create. It is obvious, then, that inducing the mind to give up its miscreations is the only application of creative ability that is truly meaningful.”
A Course in Miracles T-2.V.1:7-11

Externalized Thoughts

Nothing can be imaged forth in form unless it exists in consciousness. What?? I know, I know. You may say you had never heard of such and such disease until you got it. Well, collective consciousness counts, too. Yikes! So how do we keep from contracting every disease and imaging forth all the horrors of the world? This is exactly what Gary Renard tells us in "The Disappearance of the Universe" and what Mary Baker Eddy means by "there is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter". When we put more faith in matter than Spirit, then, yes, we are subject to every little quirk of the universe. But the realization of Truth puts us under no governance but that of divine Mind, God. It may seem that it would be impossible to come out from under the tent of materiality in favor of Spirit. I've had enough glimpses to know it is indeed very possible, but it takes work. When you listen to detailed stories of disease, it become embedded in consciousness. I'm never surprised when something jumps out of that vast forever, but I do negate it in thought -- to the best of my ability. And practice does make perfect, so I won't give up!

“Disease is always induced by a false sense mentally entertained, not destroyed. Disease is an image of thought externalized. The mental state is called a material state. Whatever is cherished in mortal mind as the physical condition is imaged forth on the body.” 

Mary Baker Eddy-Science and Health 411:21-26

“Wrong-mindedness listens to the ego and makes illusions; perceiving sin and justifying anger, and seeing guilt, disease and death as real. Both this world and the real world are illusions because right-mindedness merely overlooks, or forgives, what never happened. Therefore it is not the One-mindedness of the Christ Mind, Whose Will is one with God’s.” 

A Course in Miracles C-1.6:1-3

Dickinson

Emily Dickinson has always held a certain fascination for me. The image of her I created from high school English was of a solitary, rather plain, young woman sitting in her room writing poetry which no one read. There’s a fun series based on her life which is on Apple TV. I enjoy watching this interesting program, set in the mid-1860s, but utilizing modern music and mores in the most surprising ways. She is portrayed as beautiful with multi-faceted desires, leading a fairly normal life for the time period. But the words which flow from her mind to her pen are exquisite in their emotion and are a constant source of interest. The time she spent in solitude is what I dream about, with her thoughts resting in a meditative state, and then whirling with the beautiful expression of her words. Oh, Emily, how I’d love to be a friend of yours!

“Mind is not necessarily dependent upon educational processes. It possesses of itself all beauty and poetry, and the power of expressing them. Spirit, God, is heard when the senses are silent. We are all capable of more than we do. The influence or action of Soul confers a freedom, which explains the phenomena of improvisation and the fervor of untutored lips.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 89:18-24

“A messenger is not the one who writes the message he delivers. Nor does he question the right of him who does, nor ask why he has chosen those who will receive the message that he brings. It is enough that he accept it, give it to the ones for whom it is intended, and fulfill his role in its delivery. If he determines what the messages should be, or what their purpose is, or where they should be carried, he is failing to perform his proper part as bringer of the Word.”
A Course in Miracles W-154.5:1-4

A Portal or a Hole?

 

In honor of Indigenous People’s Day, I repost this writing from White Eagle, Hopi …

"Bird at Heart"
creation of Sandy Starbird

“This moment humanity is going through can now be seen as a portal and as a hole. The decision to fall into the hole or go through the portal is up to you.
If you repent of the problem and consume the news 24 hours a day, with little energy, nervous all the time, with pessimism, you will fall into the hole. But if you take this opportunity to look at yourself, rethink life and death, take care of yourself and others, you will cross the portal. Take care of your homes, take care of your body. Connect with your spiritual House.

When you are taking care of yourselves, you are taking care of everything else. Do not lose the spiritual dimension of this crisis; have the eagle aspect from above and see the whole; see more broadly.

There is a social demand in this crisis, but there is also a spiritual demand -- the two go hand in hand. Without the social dimension, we fall into fanaticism. But without the spiritual dimension, we fall into pessimism and lack of meaning. You were prepared to go through this crisis. Take your toolbox and use all the tools available to you.

Learn about resistance of the indigenous and African peoples; we have always been, and continue to be, exterminated. But we still haven't stopped singing, dancing, lighting a fire, and having fun. Don't feel guilty about being happy during this difficult time.

You do not help at all being sad and without energy. You help if good things emanate from the Universe now. It is through joy that one resists. Also, when the storm passes, each of you will be very important in the reconstruction of this new world.

You need to be well and strong. And for that, there is no other way than to maintain a beautiful, happy, and bright vibration. This has nothing to do with alienation.

This is a resistance strategy. In shamanism, there is a rite of passage called the quest for vision. You spend a few days alone in the forest, without water, without food, without protection. When you cross this portal, you get a new vision of the world, because you have faced your fears, your difficulties.

This is what is asked of you:
Allow yourself to take advantage of this time to perform your vision-seeking rituals. What world do you want to build for you? For now, this is what you can do -- serenity in the storm. Calm down, pray every day. Establish a routine to meet the sacred every day.

Good things emanate; what you emanate now is the most important thing. And sing, dance, resist through art, joy, faith, and love."

Raising Children

Photo courtesy of Don Matt

While reading an article titled, “Raising a Good Person in Fractured Times”, many memories came flooding in from long ago. When my boys were 5 and 7, we moved to Eureka Springs and they began to attend a small independent school, The Clear Spring School. This article repeatedly referred to “moral support” and how necessary it is in the process of raising children. Shortly after we began at this small school, Hillary Clinton published her book It Takes A Village: and Other Lessons Children Teach Us. This book presents a vision for the children of America. It focuses on the impact individuals and groups outside the family have, for better or worse, on a child's well-being, and advocates a society which meets all of a child's needs. What I witnessed here in our small village was exactly that: the families helped each other, we filled in for each other when one mom was working and there was a soccer game, we weren’t afraid to discipline each others’ children — we cared. May we never forget we all look at the same moon …

“Always remember we are under the same sky, looking at the same moon."
Maxine Lee

“One infinite God, good, unifies men and nations; constitutes the brotherhood of man; ends wars; fulfils 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.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science. & Health Page 340:23-30

“You can do much on behalf of your own healing and that of others if, in a situation calling for help, you think of it this way:

I am here only to be truly helpful.

I am here to represent Him Who sent me.

I do not have to worry about what to say or what to do, because He Who sent me will direct me.

I am content to be wherever He wishes, knowing He goes there with me.

I will be healed as I let Him teach me to heal.”

A Course in Miracles T-2.V-A.18:1-6

Go Easy On Yourself

 

We are, each and every one, the home of light and joy and peace — whether we remember this Truth or not. It would seem that events conspire to keep us from this peace. We’re rockin’ along being joyful and light, then bam! — something blows up on our car, or a loved one does something we think is awful, or our business falls apart, or — well, as we often say, it’s always something. I find comfort during these times by reminding myself that I don’t have to know what’s going to happen; I simply need to remember that the best possible outcome is there waiting for me to discover it. It’s not going to benefit anyone or anything if I innumerate every possible outcome, worrying about the pros and cons until I’m worn out and feeling hopeless. Instead, I will rest in the knowledge that creative Mind is the principle which governs everything with the light of Love!

“Think of this, dear reader, for it will lift the sackcloth from your eyes, and you will behold the soft-winged dove descending upon you. The very circumstance, which your suffering sense deems wrathful and afflictive, Love can make an angel entertained unawares.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 574:23-30

“Trust not your good intentions. They are not enough. But trust implicitly your willingness, whatever else may enter. Concentrate only on this, and be not disturbed that shadows surround it. That is why you came. If you could come without them you would not need the holy instant. Come to it not in arrogance, assuming that you must achieve the state its coming brings with it. The miracle of the holy instant lies in your willingness to let it be what it is. And in your willingness for this lies also your acceptance of yourself as you were meant to be.” 

A Course in Miracles T-18.IV.2:1-9

Breathing Easier

How many of you feel you've been holding your breath for the last few years? Don't breathe: there are viruses floating around, waiting to be inhaled. Don't breathe: something awful is going to happen, but we're not sure what. Don't breathe: our election process seems to have been turned upside down. Don't breathe: social media is out to get you. Don't breathe: lies will permeate your being and you'll never know what is true and what is not. These years have also been ones of loss and grief. Many of us are suffering the grief of losing loved ones, and too many have lost jobs and homes, plus all of the little losses — they all seem to be weighing us down as, day by day, they accumulate. Perhaps, what has affected us the most is the uncertainty and isolation of the “pandemic” years, which seems to have carried over to the present time, to some extent. The past decade has been difficult, but something in the air feels expectant, hopeful, even joyous! I know I'm breathing easier with every passing minute. I hope you are, too!

"When the destination is desirable, expectation speeds our progress. The struggle for Truth makes one strong instead of weak, resting instead of wearying one."
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 426:8

“God is with me. He is my Source of life, the life within, the air I breathe, the food by which I am sustained, the water which renews and cleanses me. He is my home, wherein I live and move; the Spirit which directs my actions, offers me Its Thoughts, and guarantees my safety from all pain. He covers me with kindness and with care, and holds in love the Son He shines upon, who also shines on Him. How still is he who knows the truth of what He speaks today!”
A Course in Miracles W-222.1:1-5

Miracles Are Seen in the Light

Hill speak in Eureka Springs AR

Photo Courtesy of Blake Lasater

Every day, we are made aware of situations which seem to have no solutions. One of those is the practice of capital punishment. The proponents and opponents are often very vocal on this issue, and sometimes it seems they both have valid points. Ultimately, I know I wouldn’t feel better about a loved one’s death because someone else was put to death to “pay” for it. The eye-for-an-eye dogma of Moses was replaced by Jesus’ message of peace, facilitated by forgiveness. Is there a happy medium to be reached between these two ways of thought? There must be a better way than what we’ve settled for up to now. One Course in Miracles workbook lesson tells us that miracles are seen in light. We are told that light and strength are one. The strength we feel from seeing past an age-old belief is, indeed, a miracle!

“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 510:9-12

“It is important to remember that miracles and vision necessarily go together. This needs repeating, and frequent repeating. It is a central idea in your new thought system, and the perception that it produces. The miracle is always there. Its presence is not caused by your vision; its absence is not the result of your failure to see. It is only your awareness of miracles that is affected. You will see them in the light; you will not see them in the dark.” 

A Course in Miracles W-91.1:1-7

Realities Supernal

Photo credit: Aaron Springston

Time is on my mind today … 🌝

“How amazing time is, and how amazing we are. Time has been transformed, and we have changed; it has advanced and set us in motion; it has unveiled its face, inspiring us with bewilderment and exhilaration. Yesterday we complained of time and feared it, but today we love and embrace it. Indeed, we have begun to perceive its purposes and characteristics, and to comprehend its secrets and enigmas.” 

Kahlil Gibran

“Breaking away from the mutations of time and sense, you will neither lose the solid objects and ends of life nor your own identity. Fixing your gaze on the realities supernal, you will rise to the spiritual consciousness of being, even as the bird which has burst from the egg and preens its wings for a skyward flight.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 261:24-30

“Time is your friend, if you leave it to the Holy Spirit to use. He needs but very little to restore God’s whole power to you. He Who transcends time for you understands what time is for. Holiness lies not in time, but in eternity. There never was an instant in which God’s Son could lose his purity. His changeless state is beyond time, for his purity remains forever beyond attack and without variability. Time stands still in his holiness, and changes not. And so it is no longer time at all. For caught in the single instant of the eternal sanctity of God’s creation, it is transformed into forever. Give the eternal instant, that eternity may be remembered for you, in that shining instant of perfect release. Offer the miracle of the holy instant through the Holy Spirit, and leave His giving it to you to Him.” 

A Course in Miracles T-15.I.15:1-11