The Matter With Things

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater

The lifework of Iain McGilchrist has captured my attention. His book, “The Matter With Things”, and the multitude of youTube interviews he has given, are deeply profound. For the first time, I’m beginning to understand some interesting patterns of thought in society. Many of us have become ruled almost entirely by the left brain. This side of our thinking organ is necessary because it is logical and literal. But the right side is ruled by intuition, and both sides are needed for us to be fully-functioning people. When we decide music and art are not necessary, when we shut down our creative side, we become more willing to believe what we are told, without question. Dr. McGilchrist gives the example of two people in a car. The driver is being directed by GPS and the map on the screen is showing that they are at a particular intersection. The passenger says, “Wait a minute! That’s not where we are. Look out the window.” But the driver refuses to even look because he is positive he is being told the truth. This is the difference in being ruled by the right and left brain. In my lifetime I’ve watched many things disappear from our educational system, including free play and civics. It’s easy to believe things have gone to hell and we can’t do anything about it. Some of us “think different”.

“When you say you are acting on the basis of knowledge, you are really confusing knowledge with perception. Knowledge provides the strength for creative thinking, but not for right doing. Perception, miracles and doing are closely related. Knowledge is the result of revelation and induces only thought. Even in its most spiritualized form perception involves the body. Knowledge comes from the altar within and is timeless because it is certain. To perceive the truth is not the same as to know it. “
—A Course in Miracles T-3.III.5:7-13

“Beauty is a thing of life, which dwells forever in the eternal Mind and reflects the charms of His goodness in expression, form, outline, and color. It is Love which paints the petal with myriad hues, glances in the warm sunbeam, arches the cloud with the bow of beauty, blazons the night with starry gems, and covers earth with loveliness.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 247:21-27

Recognizing Our Innocece

Photo courtesy of Datura Böes

Righteous indignation: There's a lot of it going around, don't you think? Perhaps I notice it because I'm expressing it, too. Maybe I'm too quick to jump on my high horse and adopt a holier-than-thou attitude. Some people think of forgiveness as looking the other way and doing nothing, but we are learning that forgiveness is seeing past the illusion of separation to the reality of our unity. With this view, I can set aside my stories of right and wrong, opening thought to the reality of Love. Some people wonder what good this could possibly do in a world rife with confusion. If everyone lived Love, opening themselves to listen for guidance on how to understand and practice this type of forgiveness — well, just imagine the utopia! There exists a voice audible to anyone willing to listen. Forgiveness, the releasing of illusions, allows this voice to be found. In our unity, one release is everyone's gift. There is no you, me, and God. There is only One. What a joy to be finding our voice!

"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

“The blameless cannot blame, and those who have accepted their innocence see nothing to forgive. Yet forgiveness is the means by which I will recognize my innocence. It is the reflection of God’s Love on earth. It will bring me near enough to Heaven that the Love of God can reach down to me and raise me up to Him.”
—A Course in Miracles W-60.1:3-6

The Beauty of All Art

The Church at Auvers

Vincent van Gogh

For those of you who are in a book club, I highly recommend “Mona’s Eyes” by Thomas Schlesser.  (You’ll enjoy it whether you discuss it with others or not!) This entertaining and informative book takes us through 52 works of art, as seen through the new eyes of a 10-year-old girl and her extremely educated and knowledgeable grandfather. We could have talked about these painters and their subjects for days! I had the privilege of hosting this group of Novel Women in my home, and that, in and of itself, is a most wonderful thing. The great food and camaraderie of old friends is cause for celebration! Throw in a good book discussion and my gratitude overflows …

“Portraits, landscape-paintings, facsimiles of penmanship, peculiarities of expression, recollected sentences, can all be taken from pictorial thought and memory as readily as from objects cognizable by the senses. Mortal mind sees what it believes as certainly as it believes what it sees. It feels, hears, and sees its own thoughts. Pictures are mentally formed before the artist can convey them to canvas.”

—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 86:25-32

“Let us join in celebrating peace by demanding no sacrifice of anyone, for so you offer me the love I offer you. What can be more joyous than to perceive we are deprived of nothing” 

—A Course in Miracles T-15.XI.8:2-3

Rising From the Ashes

Photo courtesy of Mark Hughes 

Here in Eureka Springs, about two-and-a-half years after St. James Episcopal Church went up in flames, it was reborn on Christmas Eve of this last year. Its small congregation never considered closing their doors, and through hard work and perseverance, it has risen from the ashes in the most beautiful reincarnation. Watching their resurrection has turned my thoughts to our own individual rising from the ashes. I often joke that I wake up in a new world every day, but maybe that’s not a bad thing. Starting over holds fearful connotations for many of us, but perhaps it need not be so. Looking at the world in a new light, seeing the purity in everyone, can bring the new beginning we are all craving. It seems necessary to metaphorically burn the house down in order to build back without the material mistakes we have come to believe are insurmountable. May we all examine our beliefs and do our best to release them into the ethers, making room for divine Love to rule our every thought. Namasté…

“The resurrection demonstrated that nothing can destroy truth. Good can withstand any form of evil, as light abolishes forms of darkness. The Atonement is therefore the perfect lesson. It is the final demonstration that all the other lessons I taught are true. If you can accept this one generalization now, there will be no need to learn from many smaller lessons. You are released from all errors if you believe this.”
—A Course in Miracles T-3.I.7:6-11

“In the sacred sanctuary of Truth are voices of solemn import, but we heed them not. It is only when the so-called pleasures and pains of sense pass away in our lives, that we find unquestionable signs of the burial of error and the resurrection to spiritual life.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 232:26-31

Free Listening

What would you do if you saw a person sitting on the steps of a building with a sign that said, “Free Listening”? I read an article about a man, Kip Clark, who did this on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In his words, "Listening is at the root of anything good that exists between people. It can have a powerful impact when done with sincerity and presence." I’ve been noticing how often people only hear a portion of what is being said — or written. This leads to misunderstandings and hurt feelings. The man featured in this article says he offers no advice, but pays attention without judgment, speaking if it seems appropriate, but mainly listening. Feelings of loneliness and isolation are at an all-time high, and we are searching for ways to help others feel included. Perhaps this is the way. We can all listen with attention and respond when it feels right, allowing true communication to create unity. This could pertain to someone who lives in our home, or a friend far away, or the clerk in the food market. I feel excited at the prospect of being a sounding board during these times of immediate response and rebuttal via social media! 

“Be still and listen to the truth today. For each five minutes spent in listening, a thousand minds are opened to the truth and they will hear the holy Word you hear. And when the hour is past, you will again release a thousand more who pause to ask that truth be given them, along with you.” 

—A Course in Miracles W-106.9:1-3

“Ears. Not organs of the so-called corporeal senses, but spiritual understanding. Jesus said, referring to spiritual perception, ‘Having ears, hear ye not?’ (Mark viii. 18.) 

—Mary Baker Eddy Science & Health Page 585:1-4

Solidly Here

A Gathering of Friends 

“Lean on us, we are solidly here. Strong. With love in our hearts.” These are the words written from a friend to another friend whose husband had just begun hospice care. I’ve said before how important it is to have a strong network of friends, and this seems to be more important as we age. Perhaps it’s not more important; maybe it’s that we find ourselves in need of the comfort more often. For instance, I have friends with dementia, others with serious illnesses, a couple are having a tough time retiring from their life work; although some of us are enjoying said retirement very much, because there is more time to bask in the lifelong connections we have nurtured over the years. I also know some people who feel alone and without deep connections. That’s when it becomes important to realize that we are never alone, by virtue of our constant kinship with Mother Earth, and with each other through divine Mind. Allowing ourselves to sink into the arms of all-encompassing Love brings a security few other relationships afford us. And I am grateful …

“When we fully understand our relation to the Divine, we can have no other Mind but His, — no other Love, wisdom, or Truth, no other sense of Life, and no consciousness of the existence of matter or error.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 205:32-3

“Love is freedom. To look for it by placing yourself in bondage is to separate yourself from it. For the Love of God, no longer seek for union in separation, nor for freedom in bondage! As you release, so will you be released. Forget this not, or Love will be unable to find you and comfort you.”
—A Course in Miracles T-16.VI.2:1-5

You Can’t Push the River

Alaska - photo from Aaron Springston

A dear friend is trying to make a decision about her future: whether to sell her business, how to sell a house she loves, where to go — if anywhere. Hearing her worries reminded me of 30 years ago when I wanted to move to my present village. My boys were going to Clear Spring School and I decided to move from Berryville to Eureka Springs. There were obstacles which seemed insurmountable and no matter how much I planned and worried, nothing was working out. At some point I read an article purported to be written by Mary Baker Eddy entitled “Place”, and it was her words which allowed me to stop all the mental chatter and surrender to divine Mind. Shortly afterwards, I was recycling newspapers and a house rental ad jumped off the page at me. It’s the same house where I’ve happily raised my children, the home where inspiration was sparked for a business which introduced me to hundreds of great friends, the place I love to be more than anywhere. Through the years, I've watched in wonder as answers come when I no longer worry over possibilities. Unfortunately, trying to explain this concept is not easy. Yielding of personal will is not a popular idea. We are learning we can't push the river...

“The place you seek is seeking you, the place you need is needing you.”
—Mary Baker Eddy [There is some controversy as to whether she wrote the article entitled “Place”.

“Child of Light, you know not that the light is in you. Yet you will find it through its witnesses, for having given light to them they will return it. Each one you see in light brings your light closer to your awareness. Love always leads to love. The sick, who ask for love, are grateful for it, and in their joy they shine with holy thanks. And this they offer you who gave them joy. They are your guides to joy, for having received it of you they would keep it. You have established them as guides to peace, for you have made it manifest in them. And seeing it, its beauty calls you home.”
—A Course in Miracles T-13.VI.10:1-9

On Beauty …

Solar Eclipse in Antarctica 

Kahlil Gibran has always been my go-to inspirational guru. After watching numerous skating events, I was drawn to see what he had to say about beauty. Even if you do not want to read the whole poem, please go to the last stanza. It knocks me out!

On Beauty

BY KAHLIL GIBRAN

And a poet said, Speak to us of Beauty.

     And he answered:

     Where shall you seek beauty, and how

shall you find her unless she herself be your

way and your guide?

     And how shall you speak of her except

she be the weaver of your speech?

 

     The aggrieved and the injured say,

“Beauty is kind and gentle.

     Like a young mother half-shy of her

own glory she walks among us.”

     And the passionate say, “Nay, beauty is

a thing of might and dread.

     Like the tempest she shakes the earth

beneath us and the sky above us.”

 

     The tired and the weary say, “Beauty is

of soft whisperings. She speaks in our spirit.

     Her voice yields to our silences like a faint

light that quivers in fear of the shadow.”

     But the restless say, “We have heard her

shouting among the mountains,

     And with her cries came the sound of

hoofs, and the beating of wings and

the roaring of lions.”

 

     At night the watchmen of the city say,

“Beauty shall rise with the dawn from the

east.”

     And at noontide the toilers and the way-

farers say, “We have seen her leaning over

the earth from the windows of the sunset.”

 

     In winter say the snow-bound, “She shall

come with the spring leaping upon the hills.”

     And in the summer heat the reapers say,

“We have seen her dancing with the autumn

leaves, and we saw a drift of snow in her

hair.”

     All these things have you said of beauty,

     Yet in truth you spoke not of her but of

needs unsatisfied,

     And beauty is not a need but an ecstasy.

     It is not a mouth thirsting nor an empty

hand stretched forth,

     But rather a heart enflamed and a soul en-

chanted.

     It is not the image you would see nor the

song you would hear,

     But rather an image you see though you

close your eyes and a song you hear though

you shut your ears.

     It is not the sap within the furrowed bark,

nor a wing attached to a claw,

     But rather a garden for ever in bloom and

a flock of angels for ever in flight.

 

     People of Orphalese, beauty is life when

life unveils her holy face.

     But you are life and you are the veil.

     Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mir-

ror.

     But you are eternity and you are the mir-

ror.

— On Beauty, by Kahlil Gibran

Wholehearted Joy

Alysa Liu in Free Skate Olympic Event

In the last couple of days, many of us have witnessed pure joy skating on ice. Alysa Liu skates with a freedom we seldom see in any creature other than the very young, when they are playing with no thought for anything other than how good it feels. This young woman began to win skating competitions at an extremely young age, then stopped because of the pressure she felt and the restrictions being imposed on her. But she missed the feeling of pushing herself physically, of giving everything she had, and she began competing again a couple of years ago. Yesterday, she won a gold medal in the women’s singles competition. She is the epitome of what these United States have been founded upon. Her father immigrated to this country following his participation in protests over the Tiananmen Square events in Beijing. Alysa had a very non-traditional childhood, but says that memories of living in a small apartment with her four siblings are happy ones. Look up her winning free-style performance on youtube. I guarantee some of her exuberance will spread to you!

“Joy calls forth an integrated willingness to share it, and promotes the mind’s natural impulse to respond as one. Those who attempt to heal without being wholly joyous themselves call forth different kinds of responses at the same time, and thus deprive others of the joy of responding wholeheartedly.”

—A Course in Miracles T-5.in.1:6-7

“Who that has felt the loss of human peace has not gained stronger desires for spiritual joy? The aspiration after heavenly good comes even before we discover what belongs to wisdom and Love. The loss of earthly hopes and pleasures brightens the ascending path of many a heart. The pains of sense quickly inform us that the pleasures of sense are mortal and that joy is spiritual.”

—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 265:23-30

Metaphorical Sunbeams

Pine Forest in Tirol - 1890

Art by Bertha Weggman

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

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

“Truth and Love enlighten the understanding, in whose ‘light shall we see light;’ and this illumination is reflected spiritually by all who walk in the light and turn away from a false material sense.”
—Mary Baker Eddy Science & Health Page 510:9-12

Perceiving Our Oneness is Healing

 

Bad Bunny at Super Bowl Halftime Show

Many times I day, I must remind myself to “practice what I preach”. It’s easy to see how others are allowing their thoughts and actions to work against the greater Good — or the lesser good, according to perceptions. But to recognize it within myself, that is more difficult. I tend to rationalize my way of thinking about things, pretending my words are coming from love, not fear. The main reason for keeping my thoughts above the onslaught of material turmoil is that it will do no good to join in the anger and sadness. No matter how bad I feel, it will not improve the situation. This goes for not only the global craziness we are witnessing, but the health issues many of our friends are in the midst of minding. My compassion doesn’t require me to cry and repeat symptoms to others, but it does demand that I lift up my thoughts about the situation. And by that I mean: seeing through the picture and recognizing the reality hidden by the illusion. As someone who has witnessed the beauty of spiritual/metaphysical healing since childhood, I also recognize how easy it is to fall into by-rote thinking about physical causes and cures. And so today I shall double down on my desire to know the Truth about our true, spiritual selves. Join me!

“Healing is a thought by which two minds perceive their oneness and become glad. This gladness calls to every part of the Sonship to rejoice with them, and lets God go out into them and through them. Only the healed mind can experience revelation with lasting effect, because revelation is an experience of pure joy. If you do not choose to be wholly joyous, your mind cannot have what it does not choose to be. Remember that spirit knows no difference between having and being. The higher mind thinks according to the laws spirit obeys, and therefore honors only the laws of God. To spirit getting is meaningless and giving is all. Having everything, spirit holds everything by giving it, and thus creates as the Father created. While this kind of thinking is totally alien to having things, even to the lower mind it is quite comprehensible in connection with ideas. If you share a physical possession, you do divide its ownership. If you share an idea, however, you do not lessen it. All of it is still yours although all of it has been given away. Further, if the one to whom you give it accepts it as his, he reinforces it in your mind and thus increases it. If you can accept the concept that the world is one of ideas, the whole belief in the false association the ego makes between giving and losing is gone.”
—A Course in Miracles T-5.I.1:1-14

“You render the divine law of healing obscure and void, when you weigh the human in the scale with the divine, or limit in any direction of thought the omnipresence and omnipotence of God.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 445:14-18

Independent of Doctrines

You may have read Lessons in Chemistry, or perhaps watched the Apple TV series based on this lovely book. The main character, Elizabeth Zott, defies the norms of 1960s life. She is a scientist and scholar, living with a man to whom she is not married, having a child without a husband, and speaking her mind calmly and concisely no matter what the circumstance. She reminds me of Mary Baker Eddy, who in the mid-1800s followed a calling which was unheard of for woman — writing about new/old ideas which people thought of as blasphemous, giving speeches in public about them (a lady preacher?!), and starting a school, then a church, to keep the ideas flowing into the future. When yellow journalism was doing its best to smear her name, she started a newspaper with the motto: “To injure no man, but to bless all mankind.” To this day, you can count on The Christian Science Monitor to tell the truth and bring the world to our doorstep. Thank you to every calm, assertive woman who refused to go away when she was told to do so!

“Truth, independent of doctrines and time-honored systems, knocks at the portal of humanity. Contentment with the past and the cold conventionality of materialism are crumbling away. Ignorance of God is no longer the stepping-stone to faith.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page vii:13-18

“Knowing is not open to interpretation. You may try to ‘interpret’ meaning, but this is always open to error because it refers to the perception of meaning. Such incongruities are the result of attempts to regard yourself as separated and unseparated at the same time. It is impossible to make so fundamental a confusion without increasing your overall confusion still further. Your mind may have become very ingenious, but as always happens when method and content are separated, it is utilized in a futile attempt to escape from an inescapable impasse. Ingenuity is totally divorced from knowledge, because knowledge does not require ingenuity. Ingenious thinking is not the truth that shall set you free, but you are free of the need to engage in it when you are willing to let it go.”
—A Course in Miracles T-3.V.5:1-7

Responding With Fear or Love?

What are your feelings when you hear someone justify their actions by stating that someone else did the same or “worse”? Do you cringe when you hear mention of woman being made from a man’s rib, and so she should be subservient to him? Does the extreme duality of the majority of religions cause you to wonder if they know the meaning of One? When someone is feeling hurt by another’s actions, why is it so difficult for them to speak out and state that? These are a few of the questions which have been brought to my attention. I, of course, could expound on my opinions concerning these dilemmas, but I’m trying to listen for the deeper questions here. As all things are a product of fear or love, what would the loving response be in these scenarios? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

“Comparison must be an ego device, for love makes none. Specialness always makes comparisons. It is established by a lack seen in another, and maintained by searching for, and keeping clear in sight, all lacks it can perceive. This does it seek, and this it looks upon. And always whom it thus diminishes would be your savior, had you not chosen to make of him a tiny measure of your specialness instead. Against the littleness you see in him you stand as tall and stately, clean and honest, pure and unsullied, by comparison with what you see. Nor do you understand it is yourself that you diminish thus.” 

—A Course in Miracles  T-24.II.1:1-7

“Human thoughts have their degrees of comparison. Some thoughts are better than others. A belief in Truth is better than a belief in error, but no mortal testimony is founded on the divine rock. Mortal testimony can be shaken. Until belief becomes faith, and faith becomes spiritual understanding, human thought has little relation to the actual or divine.” 

—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 297:21-28`

Bowing Continuously

Art by Abbott Henderson Thayer

Forgive Me - Poem by Mary Oliver

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

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

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

its citron map of lichen that halts my feet and

makes my eyes flare,

 feeling the presence of some spirit, 

some small god,

 who abides there.

If I were a perfect person, I would be bowing

continuously.

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

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

back from wherever I went.

Forgive me.

~ Mary Oliver

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

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

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

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

Friendship and Common Causes

When the Surgeon General issued a statement calling loneliness and isolation an epidemic, it caused me to notice people around me and wonder if they felt lonely. My street is the epitome of community. We talk to each other and help out in times of need. I could write pages about how much I love my neighbors! But then I think about a few friends who have devoted their lives to spouses or jobs, which they no longer have. Many, if not all of them, seem to be looking for something they don’t think they’ll ever find. I have wondered in these writing why people don’t reach out to each other, why we don’t band together in friendship and common causes, what might we be afraid of in opening ourselves to others? I’m not sure I have any more answers now than when I last addressed this issue, but I do know more people are talking about the subject and finding avenues to help bring us together. I’m also thinking of days past when I may have felt lonely myself, and identifying reasons this is no longer my plight. I don’t feel separated from anyone or anything I love. And I’m no longer putting limitation on where that love can flow. And so, friends, my prayer for today is that we can be honest with ourselves and reach out to others when we need them or they need us. Namaste…

“Let him no more be lonely, for the lonely ones are those who see no function in the world for them to fill; no place where they are needed, and no aim which only they can perfectly fulfill.”
—A Course in Miracles T-25.VI.3:6

“Would existence without personal friends be to you a blank? Then the time will come when you will be solitary, left without sympathy; but this seeming vacuum is already filled with divine Love. When this hour of development comes, even if you cling to a sense of personal joys, spiritual Love will force you to accept what best promotes your growth.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 266:6-12

Consciousness Loving Itself

Art by Amanda Cass

On this beautiful day when the world celebrates love, I would like to quote words from an Eckhart Tolle talk: “To feel empathy with another human, to feel love or lovingkindness, isn’t an emotion. Emotion is the neediness of attachment to another human being, but the outflow of lovingkindness or love towards another human is not a turbulence; it’s a deep thing that comes out of the recognition that the consciousness that I am is the essence of who you are, also. So what I love in you is consciousness loving itself.” Today I will make a point of thinking of people who are expressing divine Love in various activities, living a life of grace, and let them know how important they are to me and others. Happy Valentine’s Day to us all!!

“The Holy Spirit has given you love’s messengers to send instead of those you trained through fear. They are as eager to return to you what they hold dear as are the others. If you send them forth, they will see only the blameless and the beautiful, the gentle and the kind. They will be as careful to let no little act of charity, no tiny expression of forgiveness, no little breath of love escape their notice. And they will return with all the happy things they found, to share them lovingly with you. Be not afraid of them. They offer you salvation. Theirs are the messages of safety, for they see the world as kind.”
—A Course in Miracles T-19.IV-A.14:1-8

“Love alone can impart the limitless idea of infinite Mind.” 

—Mary Baker Eddy Science & Health Page 510:18-19

Pinions of Light

In my world, prayer is an affirmation of Truth and a denial of erroneous thought. By consistently turning in humble quietness to hear the inner guidance which is always there, we are enabled to look through the material pictures which we thought to be truth. The law of Love is so gentle that it is often not discerned in the face of the harshness of human existence. By the realization that God is All, that anything unlike God, good, is a material illusion perpetrated by thought, we are able to see through the darkness into the reality of Light. In this illumination, everything is seen differently. The strength which comes from this Truth is manifest in every aspect of our experience. Join with me in demonstrating this Truth! Something as simple as finding a lost object can show you how seeing in this way enables true sight. For instance, if you've lost your keys, instead of rushing about looking in every possible place they could be, try seeing in the light. Sit down, quiet your mind, know that you are One with All That Is, and see what thoughts come to you. What fun it is to simply know where to go and what to do!

“As a material, theoretical life-basis is found to be a misapprehension of existence, the spiritual and divine Principle of man dawns upon human thought and leads it to ‘where the young child was,’ even to the birth of a new-old idea, to the spiritual sense of being and of what Life includes. Thus the whole earth will be transformed by Truth on its pinions of light, chasing away the darkness of error."
Mary Baker Eddy-Science & Health Page 191:6-15

“Prayer is the medium of miracles. It is a means of communication of the created with the Creator. Through prayer love is received, and through miracles love is expressed.”
A Course in Miracles- T-1.I.11:1-3

New Beginnings

Every 60 years, a unique combination occurs with the Chinese calendar. There are twelve animals which cycle through yearly; and elements (such as fire, wind, etc) rotate every five years. And this year we have the year of the Fire Horse. This combination occurred in 1906 and 1966. These were times of great upheaval and change. I think most of us feel that the turmoil of our current days is coming to a head in some way. In our lifetimes, we have watched our environment become ravaged from selfish behavior on all our parts. We have seen inhumane treatment of people all over the world, including in our back yards. We have become complacent in too many ways. I quote for you an explanation of the symbolism of the coming New Year: “The combination of the Horse sign and the Fire element creates an exceptionally high-energy year of dynamic change. The Horse naturally symbolizes vitality and independence, while the Fire element adds intensity and drive.” We are all feeling something shifting in our lives. New beginnings are afoot, don’t you think?

“One infinite God, good, unifies men and nations; constitutes the brotherhood of man; ends wars; fulfils the Scripture, ‘Love thy neighbor as thyself;’ annihilates pagan and Christian idolatry, — whatever is wrong in social, civil, criminal, political, and religious codes; equalizes the sexes; annuls the curse on man, and leaves nothing that can sin, suffer, be punished or destroyed.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science. & Health Page 340:23-30

“Rejoice in the power of forgiveness to heal your sight completely. Be confident that on this day there is a new beginning. Without the darkness of the past upon your eyes, you cannot fail to see today. And what you see will be so welcome that you will gladly extend today forever.”
—A Course in Miracles W-75.9:3-7

Pay Attention …

“Wonderment”

A Creation of Sandy Wythawai Starbird

I was reading Mary Oliver and these words jumped out at me: “To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.” This is the full paragraph:

“Yes! No! How necessary it is to have opinions! I think the spotted trout lilies are satisfied, standing a few inches above the earth. I think serenity is not something you just find in the world, like a plum tree, holding up its white petals. The violets, along the river, are opening their blue faces, like small dark lanterns. The green mosses, being so many, are as good as brawny. How important it is to walk along, not in haste but slowly, looking at everything and calling out Yes! No! The swan, for all his pomp, his robes of glass and petals, wants only to be allowed to live on the nameless pond. The catbrier is without fault. The water thrushes, down among the sloppy rocks, are going crazy with happiness. Imagination is better than a sharp instrument. To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.”
—-Mary Oliver - Owls and Other Fantasies: Poems and Essays

“Spirit, God, gathers unformed thoughts into their proper channels, and unfolds these thoughts, even as He opens the petals of a holy purpose in order that the purpose may appear.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 506:18-21

“To be in the Kingdom is merely to focus your full attention on it. As long as you believe you can attend to what is not true, you are accepting conflict as your choice. Is it really a choice? It seems to be, but seeming and reality are hardly the same. You who are the Kingdom are not concerned with seeming. Reality is yours because you are reality. This is how having and being are ultimately reconciled, not in the Kingdom, but in your mind. The altar there is the only reality. The altar is perfectly clear in thought, because it is a reflection of perfect Thought. Your right mind sees only brothers, because it sees only in its own light.”
—A Course in Miracles T-7.III.4:1-10