Can Religion Be Scientific?

“Discovery and Revelation: Religion, Science, and Making Sense of Things” is an exhibit at the Smithsonian Museum of American History. In this relatively small space, they examine the intersections of religion and science in American culture. Three prompting questions frame the exhibit: “What does it mean to be human? What do we owe each other? What is our place in the universe?” In this exhibit, you will find the Apollo 8 flight manual and Charles Darwin’s 1860 book, “On the Origin of Species”. This collection is meant to cause us to think, and reading about it certainly got me to thinking! I did not know there was something called Thomas Jefferson’s Bible, one in which he had excised all references to Jesus’ healings and metaphysical teachings. There is a portrait of Henrietta Lacks, the woman whose cells were used after her death, without her or her family’s permission. Corporations have made billions of dollars from these cells, with nothing benefiting her family. In the portrait she is holding a Bible and the question is asked: What do we owe each other? The purpose of this exhibit and its fascinating items and facts is not to give us answers, but to cause us to ask questions of ourselves and our beliefs. In the center of the exhibit there are eight figures with the question,” Can religion be scientific?” Of course, the discoverer of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, is one of those eight. I look forward to finding more information on this!

“Jesus established what he said by demonstration, thus making his acts of higher importance than his words. He proved what he taught. This is the Science of Christianity.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 473:26-28

“All magic is an attempt at reconciling the irreconcilable. All religion is the recognition that the irreconcilable cannot be reconciled. Sickness and perfection are irreconcilable. If God created you perfect, you are perfect. If you believe you can be sick, you have placed other gods before Him. God is not at war with the god of sickness you made, but you are. He is the symbol of deciding against God, and you are afraid of him because he cannot be reconciled with God’s Will. If you attack him, you will make him real to you. But if you refuse to worship him in whatever form he may appear to you, and wherever you think you see him, he will disappear into the nothingness out of which he was made.”
—A Course in Miracles T-10.IV.1:1-9

We See What We Want

Art by Catrin Welz-Stein

I often wonder if we are hesitant to live from the heart because we worry others might think we're foolish. When we insist on seeing as Mind sees, rather than through the interpretation of human belief, we are often looked at askance! I remember once when I was in a monthly meeting of gallery owners in our town and the talk turned to theft in their shops. I turned my attention away from the discussion and was looking into a corner, thinking about something else, when suddenly I noticed everyone had stopped talking. I looked up and saw they were all looking at me! Someone asked me what I thought about this situation and I honestly told them that thievery was not a part of my existence and I didn't want to make it a reality by giving it energy. Someone said, Good for you! And the conversation continued in a different vein. With that in mind, I will not hesitate to wander away from discussions centered on fearful beliefs or angry reactions, while reinterpreting them with the Love which defines our being.

“Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true, and you will bring these into your experience proportionably to their occupancy of your thoughts."
—Mary Baker Eddy- Science & Health Page 261:4-7

“You are not the victim of the world you see because you invented it. You can give it up as easily as you made it up. You will see it or not see it, as you wish. While you want it you will see it; when you no longer want it, it will not be there for you to see.”
—A Course in Miracles W-32.1:2-5

The Gift of Peace

JudyClementWall.com

Praying for peace — I think we are all doing this in our individual way. It is extremely painful to see the ravages of war. It’s difficult to face and understand the unrest within the United States over more things than I care to count. With this in mind, I offer you quotes on peace today. Namaste …

"We cannot change the past, but we can change our attitude toward it. Uproot guilt and plant forgiveness. Tear out arrogance and seed humility. Exchange love for hate - thereby, making the present comfortable and the future promising."

Maya Angelou

"Peace is our gift to each other." 

Elie Wiesel

"Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures." 

John F. Kennedy

"There is no time left for anything but to make peace work a dimension of our every waking activity." 

Elise M. Boulding

"Every year at this time, an important phrase marks the season: peace on earth and goodwill towards men. It's so common we sometimes forget about what it really means - that we strive for a world without war, a society where we respect and help our neighbors, a place where we protect and uplift our most in need. This isn't a phrase we should live by for one day or one month. It's a set of values that must bond and motivate us every day." 

Dennis Kucinich

“We cannot give what we do not have: We cannot bring peace to the world if we ourselves are not peaceful. We cannot bring love to the world if we ourselves are not loving. Our true gift to ourselves and others lies not in what we have but in who we are.”

Marianne Williamson

"The calm and exalted thought or spiritual apprehension is at peace. Thus the dawn of ideas goes on, forming each successive stage of progress." 

Mary Baker Eddy 

“Illusion meets illusion; truth, itself. The meeting of illusions leads to war. Peace, looking on itself, extends itself. War is the condition in which fear is born, and grows and seeks to dominate. Peace is the state where love abides, and seeks to share itself. Conflict and peace are opposites. Where one abides the other cannot be; where either goes the other disappears. So is the memory of God obscured in minds that have become illusions’ battleground. Yet far beyond this senseless war it shines, ready to be remembered when you side with peace.” 

A Course in Miracles

Perceptions of Reality

Art by Jessie Willcox Smith, 1920s

“I'm not strange, weird, off, nor crazy, my reality is just different from yours.”

Lewis Carroll 

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass

When I saw this quote, paired with this painted scene, my thoughts turned to instances when friends and acquaintances have laughed and expressed disbelief in the face of my unrelenting positivity. But the fact is, when someone is relating a tale of woe, very seldom do I see their situation as sadly as they do. While I’m almost always willing to help those in need, I don’t think of sympathetic agreement as helpful. I’m pretty sure Lewis Carroll would enjoy the principles of A Course in Miracles, and it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that he and Mary Baker Eddy enjoyed tea and conversation on occasion! Wherever you are, go forth with joy on this fabulous day, enjoying your reality in all its difference!

“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! Man is tributary to God, Spirit, and to nothing else. God’s being is infinity, freedom, harmony, and boundless bliss. ‘Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.’ Like the archpriests of yore, man is free ‘to enter into the holiest,’ — the realm of God.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 480:31-6

“I cannot unite your will with God’s for you, but I can erase all misperceptions from your mind if you will bring it under my guidance. Only your misperceptions stand in your way. Without them your choice is certain. Sane perception induces sane choosing. I cannot choose for you, but I can help you make your own right choice. ‘Many are called but few are chosen’ should be, ‘All are called but few choose to listen.’ Therefore, they do not choose right. The ‘chosen ones’ are merely those who choose right sooner. Right minds can do this now, and they will find rest unto their souls. God knows you only in peace, and this is your reality.”
—A Course in Miracles T-3.IV.7:7-16

World Wide Web of Oneness

Graphic of unknown Origin

I heard an interesting analogy concerning the body's immune system and the world's ability to heal itself. Each and every one of us are a cell in the immune system of the universe. Every thought we think is either contributing to the unified health of our planet or the propagation of fear and terror. Every prayer, every meditation, ever reaching out through inward listening is magnified exponentially. We have the power to change the world through ourselves. Every interaction brings us closer to a world of love or a world of fear. The Love which heals us personally spreads through the web of Oneness. In the same way that we take personal responsibility for ourselves, our health, our well-being, we can take responsibility for a return to Love. It does matter what we do and what we think. We never know when an interaction with someone will make a difference in that person's life, the difference  which turns them away from reactive fear to healing Love. The Truth which corrects all errors in our mind is our ascension into heaven within. Never doubt that you matter, that you make a difference. Allow silence and listening to guide you to being the change you want to see!

“Besides your recognizing that thoughts are never idle, salvation requires that you also recognize that every thought you have brings either peace or war; either love or fear. A neutral result is impossible because a neutral thought is impossible. There is such a temptation to dismiss fear thoughts as unimportant, trivial and not worth bothering about that it is essential you recognize them all as equally destructive, but equally unreal.” 
—A Course in Miracles W-16.3:1-3

"Immortal ideas, pure, perfect, and enduring, are transmitted by the divine Mind through divine Science, which corrects error with truth and demands spiritual thoughts, divine concepts, to the end that they may produce harmonious results."
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 259: 27-31

Knowledge is Power

 

children’s bookshelf supplied by my bookclub to local food bank

“Worthy persons deserve to be called so because they are not carried away by the eight winds: prosperity, decline, disgrace, honor, praise, censure, suffering, and pleasure. They are neither elated by prosperity nor grieved by decline.” 

This quote by Nichiren grabbed my attention, mainly because of the phrase “elated by prosperity”. There seem to be too many people in charge of the world who are delirious over money. Andrew Carnegie was very wise in telling us: “Surplus wealth is a sacred trust which its possessor is bound to administer in his lifetime for the good of the community.” Mr. Carnegie created 1,689 libraries in the United States. Information is power, and he was not afraid of that idea. I’m reminded of the women on horseback who would deliver books to people far out in the woods, such as those in the novel by Jo Jo Moyes, “The Giver of Stars”. How I wish we could reclaim the excitement associated with gaining knowledge! Perhaps we feel that the information freeway known as the internet takes care of our educational needs. To me, nothing replaces falling into a good book. I think it's necessary to develop critical thinking, don't you?

“Look at the kindly world you see extend before you as you walk in gentleness. Look at the helpers all along the way you travel, happy in the certainty of Heaven and the surety of peace. And look an instant, too, on what you left behind at last and finally passed by.”
—A Course in Miracles C-2.7:4-6

“Being in sympathy with matter, the worldly man is at the beck and call of error, and will be attracted thither ward. He is like a traveller going westward for a pleasure-trip. The company is alluring and the pleasures exciting. After following the sun for six days, he turns east on the seventh, satisfied if he can only imagine himself drifting in the right direction. By-and-by, ashamed of his zigzag course, he would borrow the passport of some wiser pilgrim, thinking with the aid of this to find and follow the right road.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 21:25-2

We Need Another Mr. Rogers.

I read an article about Fred Rogers which said his goal was to promote “self-esteem, self-control, imagination, creativity, curiosity, appreciation of diversity, cooperation, patience and persistence.” He taught us how to perform necessary tasks, such as tying our shoelaces; he informed us about things which enrich our lives, such as planting a garden. He never told children they were just as good as anyone else, or that they were infallible, but rather he taught us that we each have value, and that value isn’t tied to particular successes or failures. He encouraged children to go to school and listen to their teachers, humanizing educators by telling the young viewers that the teachers were once children, too. Mr. Rogers taught us to be mindfully aware, to enjoy the process, and to love our neighbors. What more do we need? I think we need another Mr. Rogers...

“A good teacher clarifies his own ideas and strengthens them by teaching them. Teacher and pupil are alike in the learning process. They are in the same order of learning, and unless they share their lessons conviction will be lacking. A good teacher must believe in the ideas he teaches, but he must meet another condition; he must believe in the students to whom he offers the ideas.”
—A Course in Miracles T-4.I.1:1-4

“The sinless joy, — the perfect harmony and immortality of Life, possessing unlimited divine beauty and goodness without a single bodily pleasure or pain, — constitutes the only veritable, indestructible man, whose being is spiritual.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 76:22-26

A Simpler Way

Art by Judy Griffith 

The documentary, A Simpler Way — Crisis as Opportunity, was made in 2016 and shows us ways people are living simpler lives by building tiny homes, sharing gardens, and finding innovative ways to live happily in a world which often seems to be hurtling towards disaster. These lifestyles are not about being self-sufficient but, rather, community-sufficient. You may live on a city lot and are able to grow all the vegetables you need by turning your yard into a garden (explained in detail by Joan Dye Gussow in This Organic Life - Confessions of a Suburban Homesteader), and your friend may have enough land to raise goats, another friend might have a flock of chickens — well, you get the picture. We’re all in this together. It’s time to utilize our talents to supply our families and friends with what they need, and in return receive what we need. As we have learned in our metaphysical studies: to give is to receive; to receive is to give. I try to buy from local businesses, and farmers who produce year-round vegetables by erecting wind tunnels, allowing us to have fresh greens all winter long. Let’s  ask ourselves if we really need to purchase from big business. It’s difficult to make shifts and release old habits, but it’s time for a new normal, don’t you think? We can do this!

“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

"When the divine precepts are understood they unfold the foundation of fellowship in which one mind is not at war with another, but all have one Spirit, God, one intelligent source..." 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 276:4-6

The Voice of Healing

Christian Science Edifice

Eureka Springs, Arkansas

Built circa 1914

In the early 1900s, the Science of The Christ was being practiced by record numbers of students. Mary Baker Eddy was giving talks to upwards of 20,000 people at a time, and there were hundreds of teachers showing others how to practice spiritual healing. Everyone was very excited to be learning about this Truth! Mrs. Eddy referred to it as primitive Christianity, because it is the teaching of Jesus — free of the trappings added by old men who wanted to control the masses. Then there was a worldwide upsurge in medical knowledge, and people who had been taking responsibility for their own health through an understanding that there is only One divine Mind -- well, it seemed easier to take a pill or get a shot. We saw it as a revolution in thought. Little did we know we were leaving the revolution behind, in favor of a mirage which promised safety from disease, with the advantage of not having to think about it. It's difficult for people to be responsible for their own well-being, as it seems much easier to medicate and trust in professionals. When the system fails, we blame doctors, then the lawyers get involved and it's all about money, and our health and well-being feel nebulous and fleeting. In the last century, spiritual healing has gotten a dirty name, for reasons too numerous to mention here. But those reasons do not matter. What is important is that we can pick up the revolution at any time. The book, Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures, which Mary Baker Eddy gave us, has been the leaven bubbling about in thought and showing itself throughout our lifetime. It can now be read or listened to on the internet, found in almost any used bookstore, and obtained cheaply online. Every time I read it, it seems new!

"Correct material belief by spiritual understanding and Spirit will form you anew."
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health 425:24

“So do we lay aside our amulets, our charms and medicines, our chants and bits of magic in whatever form they take. We will be still and listen for the Voice of healing, which will cure all ills as one, restoring saneness to the Son of God. No voice but this can cure. Today we hear a single Voice which speaks to us of truth, where all illusions end, and peace returns to the eternal, quiet home of God.”
—A Course in Miracles W-140.10:1-4

Were “The Good Old Days” Good?

Kings River Bridge in Berryville, AR

Built in 1931

After my monthly book club meeting at the end of each month, I’m often inspired to write about what we talked about around the subject of our book. The book this month, Buckeye by Patrick Ryan, was a novel about emotional pain due to lack of communication, love with various human interpretations, and forgiveness. The time period was World War II and the following years. We saw the shame and denial of a woman whose mother abandoned her to an orphanage. When she was grown, she was so embarrassed she never told anyone. This affected her life in terrible ways, along with those who loved her. Then there was the man who married, and finally admitted, during his years in the Navy, that he was attracted to men. There were other people affected by a lack of communications, the foolish morés of the times, and misplaced importance which was placed on the actions of others and/or themselves. Honesty, integrity, open-mindedness: these are some of the characteristics which have brought humankind to a higher understanding of people and life. Support groups, mental health care, loving families, these things and more have helped us move into the new world in which we find ourselves. Let’s continue to look up to higher realms of being, even though there are many who believe the good old days really were good.

“Forgiveness turns the world of sin into a world of glory, wonderful to see. ²Each flower shines in light, and every bird sings of the joy of Heaven. ³There is no sadness and there is no parting here, for everything is totally forgiven. ⁴And what has been forgiven must join, for nothing stands between to keep them separate and apart. ⁵The sinless must perceive that they are one, for nothing stands between to push the other off. ⁶And 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 Moravia T-26.IV.2:1-6

“Fear of punishment never made man truly honest. Moral courage is requisite to meet the wrong and to proclaim the right. But how shall we reform the man who has more animal than moral courage, and who has not the true idea of good? Through human consciousness, convince the mortal of his mistake in seeking material means for gaining happiness. Reason is the most active human faculty. Let that inform the sentiments and awaken the man’s dormant sense of moral obligation, and by degrees he will learn the nothingness of the pleasures of human sense and the grandeur and bliss of a spiritual sense, which silences the material or corporeal. Then he not only will be saved, but is saved.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 327:22-3

Opening Hearts

Photo credit: ugurekenoglu

Having recently experienced an uplifting video of Sufi music, I’ve been thinking about books I’ve read which gave me insights into this spiritual discipline. The Forty Rules of Love, by Elia Shafak, is described as “a novel of Rumi". It’s an enjoyable read with many pearls of wisdom, such as this: “You say you are ready to deliver all your knowledge to another person. You want to hold the Truth in your palm as if it were a precious pear and offer it to someone special. But opening up someone’s heart to spiritual light is no small task for a human being. You’re stealing God’s thunder.” This comes to me at the perfect time, as I’m itching to open up everyone’s heart to spiritual light — as you probably are, too! I sat on the front porch this evening pondering the quote from this book and rejoicing in its truth. Since we are each the reflection, the image and likeness of divine Love, only we, individually, can recognize that spiritual light, that God-ness within, and allow it to flow out. What blesses one blesses all. I truly believe that. I can only have this recognition within myself, but that’s all it takes in order to share it! Shine on, dear Friends …

“You are a mirror of truth, in which God Himself shines in perfect light. To the ego’s dark glass you need but say, ‘I will not look there because I know these images are not true.’ Then let the Holy One shine on you in peace, knowing that this and only this must be. His Mind shone on you in your creation and brought your mind into being. His Mind still shines on you and must shine through you. Your ego cannot prevent Him from shining on you, but it can prevent you from letting Him shine through you.”
—A Course in Miracles T-4.IV.9:1-6

“In the Science of Mind, you will soon ascertain that error cannot destroy error. You will also learn that in Science there is no transfer of evil suggestions from one mortal to another, for there is but one Mind, and this ever-present omnipotent Mind is reflected by man and governs the entire universe. You will learn that in Christian Science the first duty is to obey God, to have one Mind, and to love another as yourself.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 495:31-8

Anger and Fire Must Be Fed

  

Photo courtesy of Susan Luddy

Anger must be fed, much in the same way as a fire will go out without fuel. I heard this statement in an interview with Yuval Noah Harari, in an Ezra Klein podcast. As an Israeli, Mr. Harari has particularly insightful interpretations of what is happening with Israel and Palestine. The fire has been fed for years. He also speaks to the Germany/Jewish ancient hatred. This is in the past. Things are not like that now. Many people whose parents left the country are returning and seeking citizenship. Not only has this fire not been fed, but peace has been nurtured. In order to do that, we must look directly at the conflict with compassion, not fear. Reparations are more than handing out money; they are opening our hearts and welcoming someone who may have been ousted from our lives. There is much to be learned from history, and it is our duty to help ensure that we do not fear the past. I am extremely grateful to the historians who tell stories, from which we can see our present situations and know how to handle them. As Rachel Maddox shows us in her book, Prequel, we do not need to reinvent the wheel!

“An ancient hate is passing from the world. And with it goes all hatred and all fear. Look back no longer, for what lies ahead is all you ever wanted in your heart. Give up the world! But not to sacrifice. You never wanted it. What happiness have you sought here that did not bring you pain? What moment of content has not been bought at fearful price in coins of suffering? Joy has no cost. It is your sacred right, and what you pay for is not happiness. Be speeded on your way by honesty, and let not your experiences here deceive in retrospect. ¹²hey were not free from bitter cost and joyless consequence.”
—A Course in Miracles T-30.V.9:1-12

“The aggravation of error foretells its doom, and confirms the ancient axiom: ‘Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad.”’
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science and Health Page 105:27-29

Prayer

Photo credit: Aaron Springston

When people ask me to pray for them, they most often think that I'm asking God to help them. The prayer which I utilize affirms the truth of our Being, combined with a listening to hear what should be affirmed. It's not an asking for a condition to be changed, but a knowing that there is no inharmonious condition in God's reflection. We are created by divine Mind and reflect all that implies. This has nothing to do with matter. Our mortal mind often insists that this material existence is the reality of our being, and any glimpse we may have of our spiritual perfection is but a mirage. But the opposite of this is reality and our realization is what brings harmony. Jesus’s revolutionary teachings were telling us we are not material, we are spiritual. Some may think we cannot demonstrate this in our material form. And so that is true. But what is also true is that we are not really matter. This illusion can be dropped here and now, as we ascend past mortal belief into spiritual Truth. God has made us capable of this!

“‘The prayer of faith shall save the sick,’ says the Scripture. What is this healing prayer? A mere request that God will heal the sick has no power to gain more of the divine presence than is always at hand. The beneficial effect of such prayer for the sick is on the human mind, making it act more powerfully on the body through a blind faith in God. This, however, is one belief casting out another, — a belief in the unknown casting out a belief in sickness. It is neither Science nor Truth which acts through blind belief, nor is it the human understanding of the divine healing Principle as manifested in Jesus, whose humble prayers were deep and conscientious protests of Truth, — of man’s likeness to God and of man’s unity with Truth and Love.”
—Mary BakerEddy - Science & Health Page 1-15

“God is the goal of every prayer, giving it timelessness instead of end. Nor has it a beginning, because the goal has never changed. Prayer in its earlier forms is an illusion, because there is no need for a ladder to reach what one has never left. Yet prayer is part of forgiveness as long as forgiveness, itself an illusion, remains unattained. Prayer is tied up with learning until the goal of learning has been reached. And then all things will be transformed together, and returned unblemished into the Mind of God. Being beyond learning, this state cannot be described. The stages necessary to its attainment, however, need to be understood, if peace is to be restored to God’s Son, who lives now with the illusion of death and the fear of God.”
—A Course in Miracles S-1.II.8:1-8)

Pray Without Ceasing?

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater

The first time I heard the phrase “pray without ceasing”, I didn’t understand how that could be possible. When I learned that prayer was listening, not asking or telling, it started to seem more feasible to be in continual prayer. As I’ve discovered ways to recognize when my mortal mind is overruling the divine Mind, it’s become even more imperative to listen to intuition rather than my own often-misplaced logic. We get caught up in day-to-day activity, but a desire to fall into the space between the thoughts facilitates the ability to do so. A short moment while waiting for a stoplight to change can be a few seconds of deep meditation. A walk with the dogs is a perfect opportunity to stop extraneous thoughts and savor quiet peace. Any activity which allows our mind to stop its repetitive race — gardening, sewing, piano playing — is a moment of communion with All that Is. Let’s not wait for that perfect, quiet time to meditate and pray, when every moment affords an opportunity!

“Self-forgetfulness, purity, and affection are constant prayers. Practice not profession, understanding not belief, gain the ear and right hand of omnipotence as they assuredly call down infinite blessings. Trustworthiness is the foundation of enlightened faith. Without a fitness for holiness, we cannot receive holiness” 
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 15:25

“These forms of prayer, or asking-out-of-need, always involve feelings of weakness and inadequacy, and could never be made by a Son of God who knows Who he is. No one, then, who is sure of his Identity could pray in these forms. Yet it is also true that no one who is uncertain of his Identity can avoid praying in this way. And prayer is as continual as life. Everyone prays without ceasing. Ask and you have received, for you have established what it is you want.”
—A Course in Miracles S-1.II.2:1-6

Local Farmers

During troubling times, we may not be sure who or what to trust. I am choosing to trust in our local farmers. We have been building relationships with them for years. We've watched their families grow, their farms expand, their vegetables become more abundant with the increases in winter growing capabilities, along with changing planting and harvest techniques. Frequenting farmers markets has opened up a new food source for many, helping us turn away from pesticide-ridden crops and the fossil-fuel-guzzling shipments from thousands of miles away. They help us understand how to prepare nourishing food, how to plant our own small patches to supply our needs, allowing us to eat what is clean and has been produced with loving care. Small-scale food production is what most of us grew up with, and today it seems more important than any other time in our lives. I am grateful for each and every person who brings food to our tables and nourishes our spirit through the farmer's markets! Thank you greatly …

“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

“In divine Science, man is sustained by God, the divine Principle of being. The earth, at God’s command, brings forth food for man’s use.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 530:5-7

My Unrighteous Judgment

Although I think of myself as being mostly free of judgment and beliefs, I sometimes am blindsided by incredibly judgmental thoughts! Recently, I voiced the opinion that someone I play a word game with is cheating. When the words came out of my mouth, they felt ugly, and they have come back in memory numerous times. And then, a friend and I were discussing books for our book club in 2024. When she mentioned Virginia Wolfe, I reacted negatively. When she asked why I felt that way, I didn’t know. I told her it must be from my college years, but I did’t know why! As she told me of the reasons she loved this author, including how she had become a feminist partly because of her writing, I realized I was basing a present judgment on a past belief. Good grief! Today I am grateful that my erroneous thoughts were noticed and questioned. I pray that these incidents help me to see any future intrusions in my thoughts before they come out of my mouth!

“The choice to judge rather than to know is the cause of the loss of peace. Judgment is the process on which perception but not knowledge rests. I have discussed this before in terms of the selectivity of perception, pointing out that evaluation is its obvious prerequisite. Judgment always involves rejection. It never emphasizes only the positive aspects of what is judged, whether in you or in others. What has been perceived and rejected, or judged and found wanting, remains in your mind because it has been perceived. One of the illusions from which you suffer is the belief that what you judged against has no effect. This cannot be true unless you also believe that what you judged against does not exist. You evidently do not believe this, or you would not have judged against it. In the end it does not matter whether your judgment is right or wrong. Either way you are placing your belief in the unreal. This cannot be avoided in any type of judgment, because it implies the belief that reality is yours to select from.”
—A Course in Miracles T-3.VI.2:1-12

“Who, that has felt the perilous beliefs in life, substance, and intelligence separated from God, can say that there is no error of belief? Knowing the claim of animal magnetism, that all evil combines in the belief of life, substance, and intelligence in matter, electricity, animal nature, and organic life, who will deny that these are the errors which Truth must and will annihilate? Christian Scientists must live under the constant pressure of the apostolic command to come out from the material world and be separate. They must renounce aggression, oppression and the pride of power. Christianity, with the crown of Love upon her brow, must be their queen of life.”
—Mary Baker Eddy -Science & Health Page 450:25-7

A Lost Friendship

Photo courtesy of Don Matt

Have you ever thought you should feel guilty about something, then felt guilty because you didn’t feel guilty? It sounds ridiculous, and I’m sure it is. A decade or so ago, I became friends with someone. She was not an easy friend, and one of my good friends did not want to be around her. I found a lot to like about her, and insisted on being honest with her when my other friend refused to play in a monthly card game with her. My so-called difficult friend was happy to know why this was happening, and she changed some behaviors which made it difficult to be in her company. She honestly wanted to improve herself, and through the years she stopped a number of habits which were questionable. Last year, I continued my honesty when she frightened me with her driving. I felt she was an aggressive driver, and told her so. She did not want to know this. Then a couple of other situations came up and our friendship ended. She tells me life is too short to be around people that bring her down. This situation has caused me to examine what is meant by people pleasing, and also to think deeply about special relationships. It’s a subject I have never wanted to examine, and that causes me to think I need to do it. And so I will!

“Guilt feelings are the preservers of time. They induce fears of retaliation or abandonment, and thus ensure that the future will be like the past. This is the ego’s continuity. It gives the ego a false sense of security by believing that you cannot escape from it. But you can and must. God offers you the continuity of eternity in exchange. When you choose to make this exchange, you will simultaneously exchange guilt for joy, viciousness for love, and pain for peace.”

—A Course in Miracles T-5.VI.2:1-7

“We should examine ourselves and learn what is the affection and purpose of the heart, for in this way only can we learn what we honestly are. If a friend informs us of a fault, do we listen patiently to the rebuke and credit what is said? Do we not rather give thanks that we are ‘not as other men’? During many years the author has been most grateful for merited rebuke.”

—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 8:28-3

More Than Meets the Eye

Art by Jeff Stanford 

Eureka Springs has been described as a town having “all gurus and no students”. For the past three decades I’ve been witnessing people deepening their spiritual understanding through a variety of modalities. Anyone who has been paying attention has noticed there is more going on around us than meets the physical eye. During the years we hosted metaphysical meetings in the basement of the Christian Science edifice, we witnessed scores of people awakening what could be thought of as psychic abilities. There were lessons in remote viewing, and metaphysical studies to see past disease and realize the true state of what appears to be a material body. We were exposed to reiki and other life-force energy works, and some told us of communications with all things living, while others taught the healing power of plants. There are more energies flowing around and through us than can be delineated in a brief writing. In the movie “The Men Who Stare at Goats”, we meet a group of people who call themselves the New Earth Army. That's how I see us all! It's time to wear our skills and talents proudly and be willing to help the world in any way we can. I've seen what we can do, and once the floodgates are opened, our talents will multiply. Let's shine those lights!!

"In order to apprehend more, we must put into practice what we already know. We must recollect that Truth is demonstrable when understood, and that good is not understood until demonstrated. If 'faithful over a few things,' we shall be made rulers over many, but the one unused talent decays and is lost."
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 323:13

“Leave, then, the dark a little while today, and we will practice seeing in the light, closing the body’s eyes and asking truth to show us how to find the meeting place of self and Self, where light and strength are one.”
—A Course in Miracles W-92.10:4

Listening to Inner Prompts

Laura Daub - Secrets on the Terrace 

Synchronicity, intuition, following your heart — We have many words to describe what may simply be listening for the voice of the Divine. A small event happened which reminded me of the necessity of listening to that “still, small voice” in daily life. A friend was helping me with some home repairs. He mentioned his mother and suddenly I thought of a clock which I had taken off the wall the day before, placing it in my thrift store donation bag. I showed it to him, asking if he had a use for it. He exclaimed that his mom loved things with apples depicted on them, and since this clock showed a rustic apple scene in its middle, he wanted to give it to her when he next traveled to see her St. Louis. He began to tell me about her house and her love of cardinals (the bird). Hanging in my “plant room” was a Wilderness Society cardinal ornament, which was a perfect addition to his gift for his mom. What a joy it is to watch Life flow through us!

“A day devoted now to gratitude will add the benefit of some insight into the real extent of all the gains which you have made; the gifts you have received. Be glad today, in loving thankfulness, your Father has not left you to yourself, nor let you wander in the dark alone. Be grateful He has saved you from the self you thought you made to take the place of Him and His creation. Give thanks today.”
—A Course in Miracles W-123.2:1-4

“The Science of God and man is no more supernatural than is the science of numbers, though departing from the realm of the physical, as the Science of God, Spirit, must, some may deny its right to the name of Science. The Principle of divine metaphysics is God; the practice of divine metaphysics is the utilization of the power of Truth over error; its rules demonstrate its Science. Divine metaphysics reverses perverted and physical hypotheses as to Deity, even as the explanation of optics rejects the incidental or inverted image and shows what this inverted image is meant to represent.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 111:6-16

The First Firefly

It’s surprising (to me, at least) that we are only a month away from the longest day of the year. As I sat on my front deck at dusk, feeling the strong breeze blowing in the promise of rain, my thoughts were perfectly in the moment. As I enjoyed the smells and sights of my sweet cottage garden, complete with two cats playing and rolling around joyfully, a firefly appeared inches from my eyes. The first sighting of the year for me! These little insects are the most magical of all the inhabitants in my yard. In that moment, I felt all the joy I’ve experienced in three decades in this home. I saw my children playing, all the dogs and cats which have graced me with their presence, the friends who have passed through my doors — and so much more, although it was as though time was collapsed and I felt it all at once. I’m still rather breathless from the experience! And I am grateful …

“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.”
—A Course in Miracles T-26.IV.2:2-4

“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

A Revolution of Thought

Park Hang-Ryul

“Beyond Me” - 2009

Perhaps humanity has been led astray, and we are truly not like this. Maybe we have become accustomed to the behaviors we witness and exhibit, never stopping to question if this is the way it must be. I've never been a fan of ritual and dogma, and in my advancing years I find little use for these things. Honesty and integrity dictate that we follow our heart, speak truth, act with compassion, and never fear the consequences! Many of us are stuck in our ways, doing the same things every day, thinking the same thoughts (with a few exceptions), and blindly believing what keeps us comfortably non-curious. Yes, we may have an inkling that something is wrong, thinking perhaps we could be happier, more fulfilled, more peaceful. We may go to therapists to advise us on what to do. Maybe we ask friends for advice. Or we simply tell ourselves to be glad that things aren't worse than they are. The time for this madness to cease is now! We are waking up, and it's not an easy revolution!

“Another change will come as to the nature and origin of man, and this revelation will destroy the dream of existence, reinstate reality, usher in Science and the glorious fact of creation, that both man and woman proceed from God and are His eternal children, belonging to no lesser parent.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 529:5-12

“The ego makes illusions. Truth undoes its evil dreams by shining them away. Truth never makes attack. It merely is. And by its presence is the mind recalled from fantasies, awaking to the real. Forgiveness bids this presence enter in, and take its rightful place within the mind. Without forgiveness is the mind in chains, believing in its own futility. Yet with forgiveness does the light shine through the dream of darkness, offering it hope, and giving it the means to realize the freedom that is its inheritance.”

—A Course in Miracles W-332.1:1-8

Hope For Resolution

A friend of mine is the conductor/teacher of the Lakeside Junior High School Choir. Today they performed at Crystal Bridge Museum of American Art. Their program was entitled, Hope for Resolution. The message of this beautiful grouping of songs and narration was unity: listening to those next to us, hearing them with new ears, while standing in the shared space of our humanity. There were many musical pieces and moments which moved me deeply, but one phrase, spoken by narrator, Sharon Keck Parker, caused me to pause the program and contemplate what I was hearing. “When we stop waiting for hope and decide to become it, we find that we do not have to surrender who we are, we simply join a larger song; reaching out to one another until every voice rings in concert, and the world finally finds its peace.” If anyone wants to hear this inspirational performance, go to youtube and look for their choir and the title of the program. After writing these words, I feel led to listen again!

“Vision depends upon today’s idea. The light is in it, for it reconciles all seeming opposites. And what is light except the resolution, born of peace, of all your conflicts and mistaken thoughts into one concept which is wholly true? Even that one will disappear, because the Thought behind it will appear instead to take its place. And now you are at peace forever, for the dream is over then.”
—A Course in Miracles W-108.1:1-5

“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.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 469: 30-5

No Retribution in Love

In the movie, “Gandhi”, a Hindu man comes to the Mahatma and tells him that he is going to hell because he has killed a little boy. He is asked, Why did you do this? He replies, Because the Muslims killed my little boy. Gandhi tells him there is a way out of this hell, and that is to find a little Muslim boy whose parents have been killed and raise this child as his own — as a Muslim. Forgiving ourselves is often the hardest thing to do. It helps to know that we are the image of Love, the idea of God, the expression of Spirit. It’s easy to see that Love would not condemn and has no need to forgive. Namastè.

“No final judgment awaits mortals, for the judgment day of wisdom comes hourly and continually, even the judgment by which mortal man is divested of all material error.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 291:28-31

“God does not believe in retribution. His Mind does not create that way. He does not hold your ‘evil’ deeds against you. Is it likely that He would hold them against me? Be very sure that you recognize how utterly impossible this assumption is, and how entirely it arises from projection. This kind of error is responsible for a host of related errors, including the belief that God rejected Adam and forced him out of the Garden of Eden. It is also why you may believe from time to time that I am misdirecting you. I have made every effort to use words that are almost impossible to distort, but it is always possible to twist symbols around if you wish.”
—A Course in Miracles T-3.I.3:4-11

Can Fiction Lead to Truth?

An upside down world seems normal to us. We have become accustomed to believing that the testimony of our physical senses is reality, while intuition is often discounted as being imaginary. Many of my favorite authors write about metaphysical concepts, and some of them use the genre of fiction to allow the leeway to take this new/old thought all the way, without the need for empirical evidence in support. And I applaud this method! What better way to introduce ideas to a skeptical audience than through the entertainment field? Dan Brown is an expert at this form of writing. He brings us thought-provoking concepts without asking us to accept them as true, such as in his book, "The Lost Symbol". Paulo Coelho gently hits closer to home in two of my favorite books, "The Alchemist" and "The Aleph". The enjoyment of these novels is softly preparatory for the life-changing concepts presented in A Course in Miracles and, also, Science & Health. Without prior opening of thought, the ideas contained in these books can be jarring indeed! We have been preparing for this opening of mind and heart for all eternity, and we are ready! 

“Walk safely now, yet carefully, because this path is new to you. And you may find that you are tempted still to walk ahead of truth, and let illusions be your guide. Your holy brothers have been given you, to follow in your footsteps as you walk with certainty of purpose to the truth. It goes before you now, that they may see something with which they can identify; something they can understand to lead the way.” 
—A Course in Miracles W-155.9:1-4

"In Spirit there is no matter, even as in Truth there is no error, and in good no evil. It is a false supposition, the notion that there is real substance-matter, the opposite of Spirit. Spirit, God, is infinite, all. Spirit can have no opposite."
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 278

Slow Down and Enjoy Life

Mount Timpanogos Goat - photo credit: Aaron Springston

What if life was “better” before the industrial age? We have been taught that people were worked to the bone simply providing for their daily needs, and once machines were invented, our lives became easier. According to Iain McGilchrist, who did extensive research for his book The Matter With Things, before the age of factories and machines, the average person had more than 180 days a year of leisure. Not only that, but they would take two or three-hour lunch breaks and do things which make life full and happy. So, although we have been taught that life became easier after industrialization, perhaps that is a myth along with much of our so-called history. Yes, there was much hard work involved in doing the wash and cooking and gardening and taking care of animals, but what of the difficult work we do today? Did washing machines and microwaves actually make life easier for us? In this age of technology and the monstrous creations it has spawned, we must make time to enjoy real things — such as, flowers and butterflies and walking in the woods. Finding enjoyment in interactions with our children — or people, in any way possible — is the way to true happiness. I highly recommend listening to Dr. McGilchrist’s latest video which you can find on youtube under the heading of “The Counterintuitive Need to Slow Down and Find Spaciousness”. It holds much wisdom for us to ponder.

“Unselfish ambition, noble life-motives, and purity, — these constituents of thought, mingling, constitute individually and collectively true happiness, strength, and permanence.”
—Mary Baker Eddy- Science & Health Page 58: 7-11

“Today we seek no idols. Peace cannot be found in them. The peace of God is ours, and only this will we accept and want. Peace be to us today. For we have found a simple, happy way to leave the world of ambiguity, and to replace our shifting goals and solitary dreams with single purpose and companionship. For peace is union, if it be of God. We seek no further. We are close to home, and draw still nearer every time we say: There is no peace except the peace of God, and I am glad and thankful it is so.
—A Course in Miracles W-200.11:1-9

Cleaning the Windowpane

 

Art by Catrin Welz Stein 

What am I? This question has been asked from the beginning of recorded history -- and probably longer. Spiritual seers inform us that we are not a body. So if I am not a body, what am I? Intellectually, we can say that we are the reflection of God. We can tell ourselves and others that we're not material, we're spiritual. But then we'll stump our toe and declare that we can't be blamed if it hurts because we're not walking on water yet. We make jokes to explain why we aren't living the precepts which Jesus tells us are our heritage as children of God. But really, why is it that we've been so stunted in our realization of what all this means? Actually, we're not evolving slowly. There is no evolution involved in spiritual awakening, there is only getting rid of material belief and dogma. What we're doing now is cleaning the windowpane so the light has a transparency to flow through, rather than trying to look through thousands of years of grime which is hiding our illumination. What are we? We're finding out more every day, and that's the miracle! 

“Whatever I see reflects my thoughts. It is my thoughts that tell me where I am and what I am. The fact that I see a world in which there is suffering and loss and death shows me that I am seeing only the representation of my insane thoughts, and am not allowing my real thoughts to cast their beneficent light on what I see. Yet God’s way is sure. The images I have made cannot prevail against Him because it is not my will that they do so. My will is His, and I will place no other gods before Him.” 
—A Course in Miracles W-53.5:2-7

“The epoch approaches when the understanding of the truth of being will be the basis of true religion. At present mortals progress slowly for fear of being thought ridiculous. They are slaves to fashion, pride, and sense. Some time we shall learn how Spirit, the great architect, has created men and women in Science. We ought to weary of the fleeting and false and to cherish nothing which hinders our highest selfhood.” 

—Mary Baker Eddy Science & Heath Page 62: 32-6

The Space Between Thoughts

Choy Moo Kheong - Blue Whispering Day, 2022.

I can be perfectly calm and contented if I don’t talk to people! I’m sure many of you know what I mean. It’s easy to be unpleasantly surprised by the behaviors and reactions of others. When we see instances of people exhibiting their highest good, then witness the opposite in the next instant-- well, it gives pause. In this world, where we want to analyze everything and find answers to questions we don't even know how to ask, it's tempting to become angry in the face of divisive behavior, bullying actions, and accusations from those who should know better. But let's not, okay? Rather than react, let’s go to “the space between our thoughts”. There are many techniques for doing this, and people like to label the activity as prayer or meditation. It doesn’t matter what we call it, as long as we’re able to do it. I think this is one of the reasons I love duplicate bridge. When I’m playing, there is no room in my mind for worrying or wondering. It’s a single-minded enjoyment of mental gymnastics, and I love to lose myself in the world of cards, with nothing to think about but the coziness of something I know so well. I hope you don’t hesitate to lose yourself in a beloved activity! Namaste …

“It is impossible to accept the holy instant without reservation unless, just for an instant, you are willing to see no past or future. You cannot prepare for it without placing it in the future. Release is given you the instant you desire it. Many have spent a lifetime in preparation, and have indeed achieved their instants of success. This course does not attempt to teach more than they learned in time, but it does aim at saving time. You may be attempting to follow a very long road to the goal you have accepted. It is extremely difficult to reach Atonement by fighting against sin. Enormous effort is expended in the attempt to make holy what is hated and despised. Nor is a lifetime of contemplation and long periods of meditation aimed at detachment from the body necessary. All such attempts will ultimately succeed because of their purpose. Yet the means are tedious and very time consuming, for all of them look to the future for release from a state of present unworthiness and inadequacy.”
—A Course in Miracles T-18.VII.4:1-11

"We may well be perplexed at human fear, and still more astounded at hatred, which lifts its hydra head, showing its horns in the many inventions of evil. But why should we stand aghast at nothingness?"
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 563:4

Seeing What Is

Photo credit: Mark McGee

Everyone has heard the tale about blind people touching different parts of an elephant, and their interpretations of what they are feeling. It seems to me that's where we are in the current political imbroglio. Some people see Democrats as the devil's spawn; others see Republicans as brainwashed automatons. Where does it end? An election won't stop the disagreements, any more than a civilized debate will resolve our differences. For years I've looked for common ground on which to stand with one another. You would think love, peace, health, and happiness would be desired by everyone, but it seems people interpret these values in different ways. This is one of the reasons I love A Course in Miracles. We are taught to release any preconceived notions concerning what things mean. Look at a table and see it for what it is; not what you think about it and what it brings up in memories. As we practice doing this with things and situations, something shifts within us, allowing truth to be known and belief to be released. We don't automatically become all-knowing beings, but we learn to recognize the fallacy of our interpretations. So next time you think you're touching a snake, remember it just might be an elephant's trunk!

"Science shows that material, conflicting mortal opinions and beliefs emit the effects of error at all times, but this atmosphere of mortal mind cannot be destructive to morals and health where it is opposed promptly and persistently by Christian Science. Truth and Love antidote this mental miasma, and thus invigorate and sustain existence."
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 273:29

“Let all your brother’s errors be to you nothing except a chance for you to see the workings of the Helper given you to see the world He made instead of yours. What, then, is justified? What do you want? For these two questions are the same. And when you see them as the same, your choice is made. For it is seeing them as one that brings release from the belief there are two ways to see. This world has much to offer to your peace, and many chances to extend your own forgiveness. Such its purpose is, to those who want to see peace and forgiveness descend on them, and offer them the light.”
—A Course in Miracles T-25.III.7:2-9

The Original Mothers’ Day Proclamation

Around 1870, mothers from both sides of the Civil War came together in an attempt to stop the fighting brought on by what they called “irrelevant agencies”. In other words, stop sending our sons to their death for whatever-in-the-heck reasons you may come up with. Julia Ward Howe wrote this letter calling on women to come together. Finally, in 1907, Woodrow Wilson watered down the idea and made up Mother’s Day in an attempt to appease women. And so it goes …

“Arise, all women who have hearts, whether your baptism be that of water or of tears! Say firmly: ‘We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies, our husbands shall not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause.

‘Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience. We women of one country will be too tender of those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.’

From the bosom of the devastated earth a voice goes up with our own. It says, ‘Disarm, disarm! The sword is not the balance of justice.’ Blood does not wipe out dishonor nor violence indicate possession.

As men have often forsaken the plow and the anvil at the summons of war, let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel. Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead. Let them then solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means whereby the great human family can live in peace, each learning after his own time, the sacred impress, not of Caesar, but of God.

In the name of womanhood and of humanity, I earnestly ask that a general congress of women without limit of nationality may be appointed and held at some place deemed most convenient and at the earliest period consistent with its objects, to promote the alliance of the different nationalities, the amicable settlement of international questions, the great and general interests of peace.”
—Julia Ward Howe

“Illusion meets illusion; truth, itself. The meeting of illusions leads to war. Peace, looking on itself, extends itself. War is the condition in which fear is born, and grows and seeks to dominate. Peace is the state where love abides, and seeks to share itself. Conflict and peace are opposites. Where one abides the other cannot be; where either goes the other disappears. So is the memory of God obscured in minds that have become illusions’ battleground. Yet far beyond this senseless war it shines, ready to be remembered when you side with peace.”
—A Course in Miracles T-23.I.12:1-9)

The Most We Can Do

Photo credit: Aaron Springston

The substance of the following quote often runs through my mind: “We do ourselves a great disservice when we let the bitter opinions of others mingle and subvert our own thoughts.” (Dodinsky) It’s easy to feel hurt by what others say, or to become angry, or to react in various non-productive ways. One of my favorite gurus is Don Miguel Ruiz, and his Four Agreements are something I try to incorporate in my daily life. So when someone tells me they’re upset with the actions of another, I often relate his advice: “Don’t take anything personally.” Ultimately, the bottom line is given us by Gandhi’s wisdom: “If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change toward him.” Our thoughts and actions are important. The least we can do is also the most.

“Consider all the distortions you have made of nothing; all the strange forms and feelings and actions and reactions that you have woven out of it. Nothing is so alien to you as the simple truth, and nothing are you less inclined to listen to. The contrast between what is true and what is not is perfectly apparent, yet you do not see it. The simple and the obvious are not apparent to those who would make palaces and royal robes of nothing, believing they are kings with golden crowns because of them.”
—A Course in Miracles T-14.II.2:3-7

“Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true, and you will bring these into your experience proportionably to their occupancy of your thoughts."

—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 261:4-7