Independence Day

A beautiful friend visited recently and I was struck by her certainty that the shift is upon us. For years, I’ve felt it coming; at times I’ve been sure it was upon us. But today Ramona feels it in every fiber of her Being that our true connection is being realized, and we will understand what that means. Heather Cox Richardson tells me that America has always done great things; and America has always done horrible things. She describes it as “people people-ing”. It’s just the way it is. BUT the important aspect is to have leaders who bring out the great things inherent in each and every one of us. When the most powerful man in the world celebrates dishonesty, being proud of stealing and cheating the people he supposedly represents, this is giving permission to people “on the edge” to fall into the ditch and revel in their baser instincts. But that does not have to be! Talk to your neighbors. Don’t be afraid to talk to that relative who believes good women are killing babies. Stand firm and proud of your integrity and empathy for humankind! You are not alone …

“Mortal error will vanish in a moral chemicalization. This mental fermentation has begun, and will continue until all errors of belief yield to understanding. Belief is changeable, but spiritual understanding is changeless.
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 96:21-24

“There is no relationship between the time a miracle takes and the time it covers. The miracle substitutes for learning that might have taken thousands of years. It does so by the underlying recognition of perfect equality of giver and receiver on which the miracle rests. The miracle shortens time by collapsing it, thus eliminating certain intervals within it. It does this, however, within the larger temporal sequence.”

—A Course in Miracles T-1.II.6:6-10

Life Stories

I’ve developed an obsession with learning about people and the towns — or areas of the country — where they live. A man named Peter Santenello travels all around the world and interviews people — no, he talks to people, listening and asking questions, while they describe their surroundings and the people who live there. Due to the nature of YouTube, this video watching has led me to many other interesting programs along the same line of thought. Currently, a documentary called Our Towns is playing on my television. I’m learning how towns are built, how they progress, or how they fade away. And sometimes the ghost towns come back. This is truly a fascinating progression, with various reasons, but one thing seems to be constant: one person, or a group of people, are determined to rebuild. People who are willing to participate are essential. Isn’t this true in every phase of life? Perhaps that is why we gather together in tribes of various sorts. Maybe it’s necessary to move forward. Where two or more are gathered …


“Motives and acts are not rightly valued before they are understood. It is well to wait till those whom you would benefit are ready for the blessing, for Science is working changes in personal character as well as in the material universe.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 238:1-5

“Complexity is not of God. How could it be, when all He knows is one? He knows of one creation, one reality, one truth and but one Son. Nothing conflicts with oneness. How, then, could there be complexity in Him? What is there to decide? For it is conflict that makes choice possible. The truth is simple; it is one, without an opposite. And how could strife enter in its simple presence, and bring complexity where oneness is? The truth makes no decisions, for there is nothing to decide between. And only if there were could choosing be a necessary step in the advance toward oneness. What is everything leaves room for nothing else. Yet is this magnitude beyond the scope of this curriculum. Nor is it necessary we dwell on anything that cannot be immediately grasped.”
—A Course in Miracles T-26.III.1:1-14

Is Empathy A Learned Behavior?

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater

I’ve been thinking: If someone has never loved a cat, or a dog, or a horse, or a pig; if someone has never seen the Grand Canyon, or the great sequoias, or stood beside the Niagara Falls; if someone has never been excited by a soccer game. or moved by a work of art, or transported by a Symphony Orchestra – is that person capable of loving and empathizing? What if a person spends their childhood in a vacuum, created by an excess of money and riches? Maybe they view animals, and perhaps people, as playthings for their amusement. Rather than seeing the beauty of a lion or a tiger, they see it as something to be hunted, killed, with its head mounted on their wall, or its body stuffed and placed in their library, a place where they never read. If a person lives this way, do they ever learn to love? Or do they simply lust, and desire, and envy? Can someone learn to enjoy the softer pleasures of this life? Is empathy a learned behavior? More importantly, can self-importance be unlearned! This is one of the reasons I love A Course in Miracles: it’s a process of unlearning the foolishness we’ve thought to be the only way. Happy Independence to Everyone!

“Each worshipper of idols harbors hope his special deities will give him more than other men possess. It must be more. It does not really matter more of what; more beauty, more intelligence, more wealth, or even more affliction and more pain. But more of something is an idol for. And when one fails another takes its place, with hope of finding more of something else. Be not deceived by forms the ‘something’ takes. An idol is a means for getting more. And it is this that is against God’s Will.
—A Course in Miracles T-29.VIII.8:6-13

“Beauty, wealth, or fame is incompetent to meet the demands of the affections, and should never weigh against the better claims of intellect, goodness, and virtue. Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love. It is unselfish; therefore it cannot exist alone, but requires all mankind to share it.
—MaryBaker Eddy - Science & Health Page 51:15-21

I Am Determined to See

Creation of Sandy Wythawai Starbird

Looking back on the past five or six decades, it’s hard to understand the extremes I have gone to in order to NOT see the truth of my being. We, as humans, clutter ourselves with any number of trivial pursuits in order to keep from acknowledging and seeing this Truth. We may occupy our time with busy-ness in order to keep it from sneaking in. There was a time in my life when I was a semi-hermit. I read five or six books a week, but nothing of import; lots of horror stories and historical romances. Time spent with others was in a bar, talking about politics, gossip, and other mind-numbing topics. I went to extremes to keep from thinking about the reality of my being. We may use television, the internet, anything that will totally occupy our minds to keep from seeing past the illusions. What is it which we refuse to see? I think it’s the essence of what I Am, the meaning of Life, and our function as the expression of divine Love. There are many ways to define this sight, but only one way to see. We must have the desire to want sight and the willingness to let illusions disappear. "I am determined to see!" (ACIM)

“The question, 'What is Truth', convulses the world. Many are ready to meet this inquiry with the assurance which comes of understanding; but more are blinded by their old illusions, and try to 'give it pause'. The efforts of error to answer this question by some ology are vain. Spiritual rationality and free thought accompany approaching Science, and cannot be put down. They will emancipate humanity, and supplant unscientific means and so-called laws.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 223:14-24

“It is surely clear that you can both accept into your mind what is not there, and deny what is. Yet the function God Himself gave your mind through His you may deny, but you cannot prevent. It is the logical outcome of what you are. The ability to see a logical outcome depends on the willingness to see it, but its truth has nothing to do with your willingness. Truth is God’s Will. Share His Will and you share what He knows. Deny His Will as yours, and you are denying His Kingdom and yours.”
—A Course in Miracles T-7.X.2:1-7

A Different Kind of Vision

Art by Catrin Welz-Stein

“Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely. It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good. What is needed for dramatic change is an accumulation of acts, adding, adding to, adding more, continuing. We know that it does not take "everyone on Earth" to bring justice and peace, but only a small, determined group who will not give up during the first, second, or hundredth gale.”
~ Clarissa Pinkola Estes

“The world you see must be denied, for sight of it is costing you a different kind of vision. You cannot see both worlds, for each of them involves a different kind of seeing, and depends on what you cherish. The sight of one is possible because you have denied the other. Both are not true, yet either one will seem as real to you as the amount to which you hold it dear. And yet their power is not the same, because their real attraction to you is unequal.”
—A Course in Miracles T-13.VII.2:1-5

"Human sense may well marvel at discord, while, to a diviner sense, harmony is the real and discord the unreal. We may well be astonished at sin, sickness, death. 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 563:1-7

Saved By Love

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater

While working as a free-lance court reporter for more than three decades, I often witnessed people's desire for an eye-for-an-eye vengeance. I've also seen that when they get whatever form of retribution they seek, they feel no better about the situation. Why is vengeance considered to be a good thing in our society? It seems to me it should be one of Dante's deadly sins, something we would want to negate, or at the very least, hide under the table. But, no, we want to put it on the front porch and proudly tell others of the vengeance we seek. A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson #21 tells us: "Today's idea accurately describes the way anyone who holds attack thoughts in his mind must see the world. Having projected his anger onto the world, he sees vengeance about to strike at him. His own attack is thus perceived as self defense." Let’s remember that our safety lies in our defenselessness -- and our happiness, too!

"Truth destroys error, and Love destroys hate. Being destroyed, sin needs no other form of forgiveness."
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 339:2-4

“What I see is a form of vengeance. The world I see is hardly the representation of loving thoughts. It is a picture of attack on everything by everything. It is anything but a reflection of the Love of God and the Love of His Son. It is my own attack thoughts that give rise to this picture. My loving thoughts will save me from this perception of the world, and give me the peace God intended me to have.”
—A Course in Miracles W-55.2:1-6

Escaping Our Attack Thoughts

“No Looking Back”

Creation from Sandy Wythawai Starbird

It can be difficult to free ourselves from the prison of attack thoughts. It seems normal and natural to think and talk about things which we neither agree with nor like. It can occupy the majority of our thoughts, and we often think it might facilitate a change if we talk about it enough. This fertilization of attack thoughts can be found everywhere from coffee shops to churches, and it doesn't do a single thing to change the world. We are told in A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson #23 that the only way out of fear is by giving up attack thoughts. If this world we see is an effect, the only way to change the hallucination is to alter the cause: our thought. Some may ridicule this idea. For those who do, I only ask this: Have any material manipulations ever, in all of history, affected a change? Did our civil war free the slaves? It was a beginning, of course, but many people stayed in bondage long past when laws were enacted. It takes a change of thought to bring freedom. Let's free ourselves today -- and forever!

“The despotic tendencies, inherent in mortal mind and always germinating in new forms of tyranny, must be rooted out through the action of the divine Mind."
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 225:22-28

“I can escape from this world by giving up attack thoughts. Herein lies salvation, and nowhere else. Without attack thoughts I could not see a world of attack. As forgiveness allows love to return to my awareness, I will see a world of peace and safety and joy. And it is this I choose to see, in place of what I look on now.”
—A Course in Miracles W-55.3:1-5

Fireflies

My favorite time of day is dusk, when the fireflies rise up from the cacophony of my cottage garden, as I sit on the porch and listen to night creatures begin their songs. So I looked up poetry about them, and of course my favorite was by Mary Oliver.

Fireflies

At Blackwater

fireflies

are not even a dime a dozen–

they are free,

and each floats and turns

among the branches of the oaks

and the swamp azaleas

looking for another

as, who doesn’t?

Oh, blessings

on the intimacy

inside fruition,

be it foxes

or the fireflies

or the dampness inside the petals

of a thousand flowers.

Though Eden is lost

its loveliness

remains in the heart

and the imagination;

he would take her

in a boat

over the dark water;

she would take him

to an island she knows

where the blue flag grows wild

and the grass is deep,

where the birds

perch together,

feather to feather,

on the bough.

And the fireflies,

blinking their little lights,

hurry toward one another.

And the world continues,

God willing.

—Mary Oliver

“Thus will each gift to Him be multiplied a thousandfold and tens of thousands more. And when it is returned to you, it will surpass in might the little gift you gave as much as does the radiance of the sun outshine the tiny gleam a firefly makes an uncertain moment and goes out. The steady brilliance of this light remains and leads you out of darkness, 

nor will you be able to forget the way again.”

—A Course in Miracles W-97.6:1-3

“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

Are You Ready?

Photo Courtesy of Don Matt

Today a fellow truth seeker sent me a short video of channeled wisdom, pertaining to the quickly-moving changes we are experiencing in this parenthesis in eternity. (The link to this video is at the end of my writing, if you would like to hear it) The spoken words reminded me of Esther Hicks, in both cadence and content, which caused me to think back to the ways I have been preparing for the Shift. In the 1970s, we were opening our consciousness to the Age of Aquarius, reveling in psychedelic meditations, which led the way to understanding what Love (with a capital L) was all about. That was a slippery slope and it was easy to become lost, as I witnessed many do. We moved through the decades with many brave people opening our little minds to the one Consciousness. When the year 2,000 was upon us, some people thought the world was ending because the Mayan Calendar was almost over. As many told us (including St. John), it was a new era, a new beginning; not the end of everything. It was the end of thinking in old ways, the beginning of realizing new/old thought, as many seers through the ages had been telling us was possible. If you want a sampling of these beautiful ideas, pick up Wayne Dyer’s book, Wisdom Through the Ages. I also discovered a practice called Oneness Blessing. The training originally took a few weeks, but at some point they decided things were moving too fast and we needed to speed up our understanding, our ability to transmit divine Love to the world. I took this abbreviated course and was lifted to new places through the experience. I tell you all this to ask if you are ready for this change? The following video explains that you may be feeling trepidation in these days, and why you need not fear. Much Love sent to you!

“The new beginning now becomes the focus of the curriculum. The goal is clear, but now you need specific methods for attaining it. The speed by which it can be reached depends on this one thing alone; your willingness to practice every step. Each one will help a little, every time it is attempted. And together will these steps lead you from dreams of judgment to forgiving dreams and out of pain and fear. They are not new to you, but they are more ideas than rules of thought to you as yet. So now we need to practice them awhile, until they are the rules by which you live. We seek to make them habits now, so you will have them ready for whatever need.”
—A Course in Miracles T-30.in.1:1-8

“Willingness to become as a little child and to leave the old for the new, renders thought receptive of the advanced idea.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 323:32-2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWTdT5LUkJA

The Sun Blazes For Everyone

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater

Sunrise

by Mary Oliver

You can

die for it--

an idea,

or the world. People

have done so,

brilliantly,

letting

their small bodies be bound

to the stake,

creating

an unforgettable

fury of light. But

this morning,

climbing the familiar hills

in the familiar

fabric of dawn, I thought

of China,

and India

and Europe, and I thought

how the sun

blazes

for everyone just

so joyfully

as it rises

under the lashes

of my own eyes, and I thought

I am so many!

What is my name?

What is the name

of the deep breath I would take

over and over

for all of us? Call it

whatever you want, it is

happiness, it is another one

of the ways to enter

fire.

From: New and Selected Poems by Mary Oliver

“In no situation that arises do you realize the outcome that would make you happy. Therefore, you have no guide to appropriate action, and no way of judging the result. What you do is determined by your perception of the situation, and that perception is wrong. It is inevitable, then, that you will not serve your own best interests. Yet they are your only goal in any situation which is correctly perceived. Otherwise, you will not recognize what they are.” 

A Course in Miracles W-24.1:1-6

“If men would bring to bear upon the study of the Science of Mind half the faith they bestow upon the so-called pains and pleasures of material sense, they would not go on from bad to worse, until disciplined by the prison and the scaffold; but the whole human family would be redeemed through the merits of Christ, — through the perception and acceptance of Truth.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 202:5-13

Rightly Directed Reason

Photo Courtesy of Blake Lasater

If you heard someone say they want to give up strong opinions, because they keep the field of infinite possibilities from becoming reality — well, you might wonder about their cognitive capacity! Knowing how society expects us to set goals, to defend strongly what we think is right, and to define the purpose of everything around us, it is difficult to step outside those parameters and say we “want to withdraw the goals [we] have assigned to the world”. But that is the beginning of understanding our purpose. Many goal-oriented purposes for our lives are engrained in our thoughts. These personal-interest ideals are established through a Pavlovian education which begins early in life, and is reinforced constantly as we live. In order to learn the truth of our being, it is necessary to give up these things and see how their usefulness depends on the meaning we have given them. Only then can we allow divine Mind to guide and divine Love to govern. 

“You perceive the world and everything in it as meaningful in terms of ego goals. These goals have nothing to do with your own best interests, because the ego is not you. This false identification makes you incapable of understanding what anything is for. As a result, you are bound to misuse it. When you believe this, you will try to withdraw the goals you have assigned to the world, instead of attempting to reinforce them.”
—A Course in Miracles - W-25.2:1-5

“Reason, rightly directed, serves to correct the errors of corporeal sense; but sin, sickness, and death will seem real (even as the experiences of the sleeping dream seem real) until the Science of man’s eternal harmony breaks their illusion with the unbroken reality of scientific being.
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 494:19-24

Breaking Up Of Material Belief

Photo credit: Aaron Springston

The realization that all attack comes from within is an eye-opener! When we worry about lack of money, or possible illness, or what our neighbors might think, these are thoughts which seem to attack our physical vulnerability. Actually our invulnerability as an expression of divine Principle cannot be attacked, but we certainly can think of ourselves as weak victims of life's circumstances. Through a conscious choice to reject the unreality of material existence and claim our heritage as powerful spiritual beings, unafraid to stand up and declare our Oneness with divine Love and all Its creation, we are able to transcend the fears we have thought to be inevitable. I love the new world which is being revealed through this understanding!

“This material world is even now becoming the arena for conflicting forces. On one side there will be discord and dismay; on the other side there will be Science and peace. The breaking up of material beliefs may seem to be famine and pestilence, want and woe, sin, sickness, and death, which assume new phases until their nothingness appears. These disturbances will continue until the end of error, when all discord will be swallowed up in spiritual Truth.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 96:12-20

“The possibility of freedom has been grasped and welcomed, and the means by which it can be gained can now be understood. The world becomes a place of hope, because its only purpose is to be a place where hope of happiness can be fulfilled. And no one stands outside this hope, because the world has been united in belief the purpose of the world is one which all must share, if hope be more than just a dream.”
—A Course in Miracles -T-30.V.2:5-8

In This World, But Not Of It

Beautiful Friends Somewhere Under the Rainbow

I’ve been contemplating the idea of belonging — belonging to book clubs, belonging to churches, finding “your tribe”. I think of numerous people I know who feel they don’t belong anywhere. We shouldn’t feel we belong in this world, because we are in it but not OF it. Having been taught this concept from the time I was taken in by people who were old Christian Scientists, apparently I’ve always known it to be true. None of the other children were as different as I was, yet it never bothered me. Not only having old parents, but a Mexican mother (when no one else had anyone other than Donna Reed types), playing piano in public from a very early age, making grades that were too good, being the teacher’s pet — well, if I’d realized how that would/should make me a pariah, I probably would have felt I was one! A memory comes up of a day when children ganged up on me and another girl and chased us around the playground throwing rocks at us. It did not bother me emotionally, although there were a few physical bruises. Hum … Definitely not of this world! I wish I could find a way to pass on this extreme self-confidence to others. Maybe that’s why I write these daily messages …

“For perfect effectiveness the Atonement belongs at the center of the inner altar, where it undoes the separation and restores the wholeness of the mind. Before the separation the mind was invulnerable to fear, because fear did not exist. Both the separation and the fear are miscreations that must be undone for the restoration of the temple, and for the opening of the altar to receive the Atonement. This heals the separation by placing within you the one effective defense against all separation thoughts and making you perfectly invulnerable.”
—A Course in Miracles T-2.III.2:1-4

“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 529:6-12

The Face of Divine Love

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater

Acknowledging that everything and everyone we look upon is the face of divine Love takes our perception to another level. With this sight, we do not need to see race or nationalities nor gender, there are no political parties for which to wave flags, and no enemies to fight against, nor allies to side with. I see beautiful things happening in our world. Long-held beliefs are being released in favor of an open-hearted acceptance of everyone as they are, not as we want them to be. Change can seem difficult, but our new perceptions of Life are a conscious choice by which we break free of habits and old thought patterns which have held us in bondage for far too long. Let’s celebrate our new-found sight today!

“Now there are no distinctions. Differences have disappeared and Love looks on Itself. What further sight is needed? What remains that vision could accomplish? We have seen the face of Christ, His sinlessness, His Love behind all forms, beyond all purposes. Holy are we because His Holiness has set us free indeed! And we accept His Holiness as ours; as it is. As God created us so will we be forever and forever, and we wish for nothing but His Will to be our own. Illusions of another will are lost, for unity of purpose has been found.”
—A Course in Miracles M-28.5:1-9

“Right motives give pinions to thought, and strength and freedom to speech and action. Love is priestess at the altar of Truth. Wait patiently for divine Love to move upon the waters of mortal mind, and form the perfect concept.” 
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 454: 20-23

Co-Exist

A few readers of my “dailies” have asked why I don’t address the political situation in our country. Upon reflection, I feel that I do. Everything is connected by way of Mind, and the multitude of forms we experience are projections of illusion. So with our goal of purifying thoughts of unnecessary dogma, belief, and fear, we are left with Love and Its infinite manifestations. So, yes, I do address the current situations, but not from the point of being a problem identifier. Some of us need to look through the other end of the telescope, with the lens of Love. No matter how we perceive things with these material eyes and thoughts, the true idea of Spirit, God, Love, is there waiting for us to glimpse it.

“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 and Health Page 340:23-29

“Behind every image I have made, the truth remains unchanged. Behind every veil I have drawn across the face of love, its light remains undimmed. Beyond all my insane wishes is my will, united with the Will of my Father. God is still everywhere and in everything forever. And we who are part of Him will yet look past all appearances, and recognize the truth beyond them all.”
—A Course in Miracles W-56.4:2-6

Juneteenth

The people of our country celebrate many things, some of which are made-up holidays to promote the sale of goods and/or services. Ah, what a fun, capitalistic society we have become! But today we celebrate June 19th, which is by definition: “Juneteenth — first observed in Texas and now recognized throughout the United States — celebrates a historic freedom moment for Black Americans. On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced the long-overdue news that all enslaved Black people were free. This news came through Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger’s General Order No. 3, issued more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863.” And so today we celebrate the acknowledgement of freedom, which many, to this day, do not recognize. Let us ponder the following words from Mary Baker Eddy and look for instances to liberate others through Love!

“A few immortal sentences, breathing the omnipotence of divine justice, have been potent to break despotic fetters and abolish the whipping-post and slave market; but oppression neither went down in blood, nor did the breath of freedom come from the cannon’s mouth. Love is the liberator.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 225:16-22 [circa 1865]

“I have no purpose for today except to look upon a liberated world, set free from all the judgments I have made.”
—A Course in Miracles W-312.2:1

Ancient Truth, Newly Born

Photo courtesy of Don Matt 

A dear friend will be having major heart surgery. I was reminded of this daily writing from a few years back:

I was chatting with a local health care professional who had open heart surgery. He tells me that many people in the "zipper club" (as a group of bypass patients call themselves) are anything but open-hearted. He says many people are angry that their lives have changed so much. He told me that some don't want to go forward, but rather they spend time and energy wanting their old lifestyle back. I find this difficult to understand. Having gone through a life-changing physical event, I found the major changes to be exhilarating and exciting. If I had this surgery, the name "open heart" would cause me to smile every time I thought of it, leading me to open myself to everything that life has to offer and bringing a new appreciation. Certainly it has for many, as it did for the beautiful man with whom I shared this conversation. I open my heart to happiness, safety, comfort, certainty of purpose, and peace so perfect it can never be upset. I am grateful, moment-by-moment, for all that I am learning and seeing demonstrated in daily life. Thank you greatly!!

“Gratitude is much more than a verbal expression of thanks. Action expresses more gratitude than speech.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 3:25-26

“Open your eyes today and look upon a happy world of safety and of peace. Forgiveness is the means by which it comes to take the place of hell. In quietness it rises up to greet your open eyes, and fill your heart with deep tranquility as ancient truths, forever newly born, arise in your awareness. What you will remember then can never be described. Yet your forgiveness offers it to you.”
—A Course in Miracles W-122.8:1-5

Only Truth Remains …

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater

I've been pondering lies and truth. There is only one way to tell the truth, but there are scores of ways to lie. Perhaps you're not admitting certain events occurred the way they did, spinning webs of words to keep from admitting something you want to hide -- or think needs to be hidden, for a multitude of reasons. Then there's the lie involved in turning your head and ignoring something. Or maybe you're blatantly denying what you know to be truth. We could name many other forms of lying, but to take an oath to tell the truth -- well, there's only one way to do that. For years, people have told me lies are necessary, and I haven't believed it. Long ago, a friend's husband was dying of colon cancer. They never talked about it, never acknowledged it was happening, and pretended everything was okay and he would be out of the hospital soon. So there are also lies born of fear. But the truth is still sitting there waiting to be heard and seen. Nothing can change truth, but many things change lies. I can't imagine lying until it seems like truth. I pity those who have done so.

“What can correct illusions but the truth? And what are errors but illusions that remain unrecognized for what they are? Where truth has entered errors disappear. They merely vanish, leaving not a trace by which to be remembered. They are gone because, without belief, they have no life. And so they disappear to nothingness, returning whence they came. From dust to dust they come and go, for only truth remains.”
—A Course in Miracles W-107.1:1-7

“Reasoning from cause to effect in the Science of Mind, we begin with Mind, which must be understood through the idea which expresses it and cannot be learned from its opposite, matter. Thus we arrive at Truth, or intelligence, which evolves its own unerring idea and never can be coordinate with human illusions.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 467:29-3

Crazy Thoughts or Baby Goats?

My mind is full of strange ideas, brought to me courtesy of the people on earth. Why would anyone think that Alex Jones is a reporter giving us news? Why do people believe the earth is flat? What about a new world order making tunnels beneath the ground, with headquarters under the Denver Airport, and that's why that crazy horse with glowing eyes is out front? Really?? What are we thinking? The United States of Conspiracy is a PBS, Frontline, documentary which prompted these thoughts and more. Have I ever believed a conspiracy theory? Probably. Maybe I still do. In my youth, my dearest friend thought our government was being run by lizard people (basically aliens from somewhere far, far away). It seemed logical. Everyday unbelievable tidbits are tossed into our collective minds, and if we choose to believe it, we're doing more than ourselves a disservice. Every thought is important, don't you think? The collective consciousness of life truly is a thing. What goes around, comes around, whether it be thoughts or actions. We have a choice, so let’s allow compassion, kindness, understanding, truth, love, to fill our head -- and when something else tries to crowd its way into our thinking, just look at a picture of a baby goat. Sending happiness and love to each and every one of you!

“The wearying, dissatisfying gods you made are blown-up children’s toys. A child is frightened when a wooden head springs up as a closed box is opened suddenly, or when a soft and silent woolly bear begins to squeak as he takes hold of it. The rules he made for boxes and for bears have failed him, and have broken his ‘control’ of what surrounds him. And he is afraid, because he thought the rules protected him. Now must he learn the boxes and the bears did not deceive him, broke no rules, nor mean his world is made chaotic and unsafe. He was mistaken. He misunderstood what made him safe, and thought that it had left.”
—A Course in Miracles T-30.IV.2:1-7

"Arise from your false consciousness into the true sense of Love, and behold the Lamb’s wife, — Love wedded to its own spiritual idea. Then cometh the marriage feast, for this revelation will destroy forever the physical plagues imposed by material sense.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 575:1-5

Full Disclosure

Would you be frightened to see a living creature which is not like us, one which has come to our planet from somewhere in the universe? No one I know well would be freaked out by such a happening, and most would welcome an extraterrestrial visitation. The general opinion of our so-called leaders is that humanity could not handle the knowledge, and the world would fall apart because everything we have ever held true would not be. The same supposition seems to be held by our religious leaders: if people knew the truth of what Jesus taught, the world would be in turmoil, because people’s belief basis would have to shift. It is my personal opinion that neither of these things are true. I feel that people would welcome the understanding that there is a reason things are not working out well. Wouldn’t it be a relief to see the light which is being hidden by beliefs? Perhaps our world is in turmoil because nothing is built on a solid foundation; we have based our civilization on a shaky basis. Every time our churches and political establishments tell us we have to believe them “just because”, our minds either open a bit more in search of truth, or they close more with a layer of false protection. I think that not knowing, not understanding, is far more frightening than the alternative. Let’s listen, love, and learn!

“Eternal Truth is changing the universe. As mortals drop off their mental swaddling-clothes, thought expands into expression. ‘Let there be light,’ is the perpetual demand of Truth and Love, changing chaos into order and discord into the music of the spheres. The mythical human theories of creation, anciently classified as the higher criticism, sprang from cultured scholars in Rome and in Greece, but they afforded no foundation for accurate views of creation by the divine Mind.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 255:1-10

“It can indeed be said the ego made its world on sin. Only in such a world could everything be upside down. This is the strange illusion that makes the clouds of guilt seem heavy and impenetrable. The solidness that this world’s foundation seems to have is found in this. For sin has changed creation from an idea of God to an ideal the ego wants; a world it rules, made up of bodies, mindless and capable of complete corruption and decay. If this is a mistake, it can be undone easily by truth. Any mistake can be corrected, if truth be left to judge it. But if the mistake is given the status of truth, to what can it be brought?”
—A Course in Miracles T-19.II.6:1-8

Peace To Struggling Hearts

Photo courtesy of Chris Flanagin

Recognizing anger in my heart, irritation in my mind, often brings shame. In striving to work through these feelings, I have been listening to many of my favorite seers. Thich Nhat Hanh tells me to embrace that anger. He relates a story of a woman in the kitchen, busily cooking dinner, when she hears her baby crying. She rushes to the infant, embraces it, and discovers why it is crying, transforming its anguish by finding out what is wrong, changing its diapers, calming its fears, meeting its needs. So, he tells us, by embracing our anger, we are able to look deeply at it, get insights into its cause, by which we are able to liberate our feelings and transform them into freedom. Once I am free, I no longer see myself as a victim and I am in a position to be a catalyst for positive change. I feel immense gratitude towards this gentle man, as he leads me on the path of peace. Namaste...

"The material world is even now becoming the arena for conflicting forces. On one side there will be discord and dismay; on the other side there will be Science and peace. The breaking up of material beliefs may seem to be famine and pestilence, want and woe, sin, sickness, and death, which assume new phases until their nothingness appears. These disturbances will continue until the end of error, when all discord will be swallowed up in spiritual Truth."
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 96:12

“The holiest of all the spots on earth is where an ancient hatred has become a present love. And They come quickly to the living temple, where a home for Them has been set up. There is no place in Heaven holier. And They have come to dwell within the temple offered Them, to be Their resting place as well as yours. What hatred has released to love becomes the brightest light in Heaven’s radiance. And all the lights in Heaven brighter grow, in gratitude for what has been restored.”

—A Course in Miracles T-26.IX.6:1-6

A Future Very Different From The Past

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater

“A new species is arising on the planet. It is arising now, and you are it!”
—Eckhart Tolle

“In the Apocalypse it is written: 'And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.' In St. John's vision, heaven and earth stand for spiritual ideas, and the sea, as a symbol of tempest-tossed human concepts advancing and receding, is represented as having passed away. The divine understanding reigns, is all, and there is no other consciousness."
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 536:1-9

“From new perception of the world there comes a future very different from the past. The future now is recognized as but extension of the present. Past mistakes can cast no shadows on it, so that fear has lost its idols and its images, and being formless, it has no effects. Death will not claim the future now, for life is now its goal, and all the needed means are happily provided. Who can grieve or suffer when the present has been freed, extending its security and peace into a quiet future filled with joy?”
—A Course in Miracles - W-314.1:1

No Order of Difficulty in Miracles

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater

When I first encountered A Course in Miracles, I was bothered by the use of the word "miracle". In Christian Science, I had learned that what we tend to think of as a miracle is actually the demonstration of divine law. In most cases, when someone says, "It's a miracle", there's the implication that material laws have been set aside for something unbelievable to happen. I have come to see that A Course in Miracles is using the word miracle in much the same way as Mary Baker Eddy refers to it. It is the demonstration of divine Principle, which is realized by replacing material illusions with spiritual sense. This experience is referred to in Science and Health as "not supernatural, but supremely natural". I love that we are seeing ourselves as complete beings, utilizing our so-called sixth sense in everyday life, and not being surprised when "miraculous" things happen! ACIM also tells us that there are no degrees in miracles, so we needn’t think of little miracles and unbelievable miracles. When we wash away the dust of material belief, the light of Love can shine through, giving us strength where we before thought we were weak. We need not worry about which road to take when we trust our inner knowing, our intuition, our true Self.

"The miracle introduces no disorder, but unfolds the primal order, establishing the Science of God's unchangeable law."
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 135:6-8

“There is no order of difficulty in miracles. One is not ‘harder’ or ‘bigger’ than another. They are all the same. All expressions of love are maximal.”
—A Course in Miracles T-1.I.1:1-4

Learning Means Change

From the Christian Science Foundation in Cambridge UK

Photo courtesy of Arno Bons

In the United States, in the late part of the 1800s, the robber barons were busy trying to take everyone’s money, while yellow journalism was helping to spread lies and propaganda, thereby convincing people of things which were not true. At the same time, people were excited about a new way of thinking about health, and many were happy to be able to participate in their wellness, rather than being victims to the multitude of maladies which ran rampant through the populous . There were many modalities which people were following, hoping that new thought systems would heal them. As we moved into the 1900s, great advances were made in the medical field of study, and people were relieved of much unnecessary suffering. As time advanced into the 1900s, people became convinced that a pill or treatment would cure them. And they were happy to have an easy “fix” for their ills. As we came into the 2000s, we saw reasons to, once again, take responsibility for our health and wholeness. Our medical system, while advanced in many ways, is not the be-all/end-all we had supposed. At this point, many of us are not able to find out if we can be helped by the medical system, because we cannot wade through the complex system — whether because of monetary reasons or the inability to get an appointment with a specialist. This is a complex problem, and it’s not my purpose to help you navigate the labyrinth. This series of daily writings, examining the healing of our mind through opening ourselves to Mind, may show you some alternatives to your by-rote way of thinking. One thing we do know for sure, change is needed …

“Many stand guard over their ideas because they want to protect their thought systems as they are, and learning means change. Change is always fearful to the separated, because they cannot conceive of it as a move towards healing the separation. They always perceive it as a move toward further separation, because the separation was their first experience of change. You believe that if you allow no change to enter into your ego you will find peace. This profound confusion is possible only if you maintain that the same thought system can stand on two foundations. Nothing can reach spirit from the ego, and nothing can reach the ego from spirit.”
—A Course in Miracles T-4.I.2:1-6

“Divine Science does not put new wine into old bottles, Soul into matter, nor the infinite into the finite. Our false views of matter perish as we grasp the facts of Spirit. The old belief must be cast out or the new idea will be spilled, and the inspiration, which is to change our standpoint, will be lost. Now, as of old, Truth casts out evils and heals the sick.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 281:27-1

The Substance of Spirit

Many new-age thought systems try to find reasons for disease, then work to get rid of the "problem" which is causing you to be unwell. This is something which has no place in quantum thought. When Mary Baker Eddy realized the nothingness of matter and the substance of Spirit, not many were willing to imagine the possibility — until they saw physical proof. The healing which comes about through this understanding is not a manipulation of matter, but a yielding of erroneous belief to the Truth shown us through divine Mind. The Catch-22 is that if you are trying to heal something, you can't. But if you're knowing the Truth of existence, and that knowledge becomes more than just wishful thinking, the changeability of matter is shown in ways which we think of as healing. Knowing that there is nothing to be healed, that all is perfectly reflected as a creation of divine Mind, therein lies the healing. Going to the core of yourSelf and recognizing that your consciousness is One with Spirit, that is what brings an all-encompassing joy and peace which makes us happy to release false belief. Once that is gone, Truth shines forth in all Its magnificence!

“That mortal mind claims to govern every organ of the mortal body, we have overwhelming proof. But this so-called mind is a myth, and must by its own consent yield to Truth. It would wield the scepter of a monarch, but it is powerless. The immortal divine Mind takes away all its supposed sovereignty, and saves mortal mind from itself. The author has endeavored to make this book the Aesculapius of mind as well as of body, that it may give hope to the sick and heal them, although they know not how the work is done. Truth has a healing effect, even when not fully understood.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 151:31-8

“Truth has a power far beyond defense, for no illusions can remain where truth has been allowed to enter. And it comes to any mind that would lay down its arms, and cease to play with folly. It is found at any time; today, if you will choose to practice giving welcome to the truth.”
—A Course in Miracles W-136.14:1-3

Mighty Thoughts and Strong Illusions

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater

Having embarked on this journey of examining the causes and cures of disease in our world, I’ve been asked how someone like me, who was raised in Christian Science, and has spent the last three decades in sincere spiritual study, could possibly have lower-leg amputations! I’ve already stated that we should not blame ourselves for disease, and I’m not attempting to do that here. But at an early age, my mom’s brother lost limbs due to disease. There was such fear expressed by the whole family over this occurrence, that I distinctly remember thinking it was the worst thing that could happen to a person. While I never dwelt on these thoughts as an adult, they were always with me — as is anything which makes an impact on us, particularly as a child. I’m not attempting to find a cause, but I do know that the growth I have experienced in the past decade far exceeds that which would have occurred if I was tiptoeing through the tulips, happily in a relationship, with plenty of cash in the bank. The joy I’ve experienced recently has been total, with no regrets or wishes for something different. The only reason I tell you this is so there is no question about why my life isn’t “perfect”, if I’m so absolutely certain about the Truth of our Being. Please continue loving every little minute of this existence, knowing that whatever is happening is a doorway to something — and, oh, what an adventure it is, following that path!

“What keeps the world in chains but your beliefs? And what can save the world except your Self? Belief is powerful indeed. The thoughts you hold are mighty, and illusions are as strong in their effects as is the truth. A madman thinks the world he sees is real, and does not doubt it. Nor can he be swayed by questioning his thoughts’ effects. It is but when their source is raised to question that the hope of freedom comes to him at last.”
—A Course in Miracles W-132.1:1-7

“It is enough to heal the past and make the future free. It is enough to let the present be accepted as it is. It is enough to let time be the means for all the world to learn escape from time, and every change that time appears to bring in passing by.”
—A Course in Miracles W-110.2:2-4

“A correct view of Christian Science and of its adaptation to healing includes vastly more than is at first seen. Works on metaphysics leave the grand point untouched. They never crown the power of Mind as the Messiah, nor do they carry the day against physical enemies, — even to the extinction of all belief in matter, evil, disease, and death, — nor insist upon the fact that God is all, therefore that matter is nothing beyond an image in mortal mind.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 116:11-18

“That mortal mind claims to govern every organ of the mortal body, we have overwhelming proof. But this so-called mind is a myth, and must by its own consent yield to Truth. It would wield the scepter of a monarch, but it is powerless. The immortal divine Mind takes away all its supposed sovereignty, and saves mortal mind from itself. The author has endeavored to make this book the Aesculapius of mind as well as of body, that it may give hope to the sick and heal them, although they know not how the work is done. Truth has a healing effect, even when not fully understood.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 151:31-8

The Only Choice We Need To Make

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater

The relationship of sickness/health to our thoughts is a hot topic on many levels! First of all, it is NOT your fault for being sick, even though our thoughts may open the door for it. If every erroneous thought we had caused us to fall victim to that malady or situation, we’d be in horrid shape, would we not?? And if it was as easy as affirming our perfection and the symptoms we are experiencing would disappear, then we would all be well — right? So it is both more complicated than this, and far more simple, too. Let’s examine how we could come down with a disease we’ve never heard of before: collective consciousness. We are all one, if we share the same consciousness which is the “soup” of the Universe. If we are not “clad in the panoply of Love” (as Mrs. Eddy phrases it), we are leaving the door open to the myriad of erroneous thoughts this world presents to us. This is where it gets a bit tricky: it’s not simply a matter of thinking our way out of situations. It’s a product of holding our thoughts in line with the Truth of our Being — and doing so to the extent that nothing else has room to invade our mind. We are training ourselves to think with divine Mind, not with material, mortal mind. This way of living can, indeed, be learned, but it takes diligence. It’s terribly easy to fall into the ditch and wallow with the baser elements. The important thing to remember is that we have a choice. And if we slip and fall, choose again!

“And so again we make the only choice that ever can be made; we choose between illusions and the truth, or pain and joy, or hell and Heaven. Let our gratitude unto our Teacher fill our hearts, as we are free to choose our joy instead of pain, our holiness in place of sin, the peace of God instead of conflict, and the light of Heaven for the darkness of the world.”
—A Course in Miracles W-190.11:1-2

“The moral and spiritual facts of health, whispered into thought, produce very direct and marked effects on the body. A physical diagnosis of disease — since mortal mind must be the cause of disease — tends to induce disease.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 370:18-22

Mental Contagion

Art by Elise McDonald

Certain subjects have been coming up regularly, but I have chosen to put them back on the shelf — so to speak. Usually, if I keep getting prompts about something, I’m willing to look at the elephant in the room, no matter how inconvenient it might be. The subject of disease, and its causes and cures, brings up so many instances in my memory that I don’t know where to start. I think I’ll go with the first time I realized the extent of resistance to the subject from the general population. When I first moved to Eureka Springs, one of my neighbors had two little dogs. We spoke often when I was playing in my flowerbeds. Although we were not close, we were friendly. She often told me about her physical problems. One day she told me that her two little dogs had been diagnosed with congestive heart failure and diabetes. These are the two maladies which she was being treated for, also. I couldn’t help laughing when she told me (unfortunately), so I was forced to tell her what I found amusing. In our metaphysical studies, we are learning that all disease is mental. Her dogs having the same maladies as hers seemed to prove how disease actually spreads. I suppose my explanation wasn’t as empathetic as it could have been, because the woman became angry and said I was accusing her of making her dogs sick. That instance shows what a slippery slope we embark on with this subject. Please feel free to share your thoughts with me!

“We weep because others weep, we yawn because they yawn, and we have smallpox because others have it; but mortal mind, not matter, contains and carries the infection. When this mental contagion is understood, we shall be more careful of our mental conditions, and we shall avoid loquacious tattling about disease, as we would avoid advocating crime. Neither sympathy nor society should ever tempt us to cherish error in any form, and certainly we should not be error’s advocate.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 153:25-3

“Think of the freedom in the recognition that you are not bound by all the strange and twisted laws you have set up to save you. You really think that you would starve unless you have stacks of green paper strips and piles of metal discs. You really think a small round pellet or some fluid pushed into your veins through a sharpened needle will ward off disease and death. You really think you are alone unless another body is with you.

“It is insanity that thinks these things. You call them laws, and put them under different names in a long catalogue of rituals that have no use and serve no purpose. You think you must obey the ‘laws’ of medicine, of economics and of health. Protect the body, and you will be saved.

“These are not laws, but madness. The body is endangered by the mind that hurts itself. The body suffers just in order that the mind will fail to see it is the victim of itself. The body’s suffering is a mask the mind holds up to hide what really suffers. It would not understand it is its own enemy; that it attacks itself and wants to die. It is from this your ‘laws’ would save the body. It is for this you think you are a body.

“There are no laws except the laws of God. This needs repeating, over and over, until you realize it applies to everything that you have made in opposition to God’s Will. Your magic has no meaning. What it is meant to save does not exist. Only what it is meant to hide will save you.

“The laws of God can never be replaced. We will devote today to rejoicing that this is so. It is no longer a truth that we would hide. We realize instead it is a truth that keeps us free forever. Magic imprisons, but the laws of God make free. The light has come because there are no laws but His.”
—A Course in Miracles W-76.3:1–7:6

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