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| "South African Sunset" photo by Heather Magnan |
ACIM Workbook Lesson #135
"If I defend myself I am attacked."
I love this lesson, as it pertains to absolutely everything. (But I guess they all do!) Let's think of the more obvious ways we defend ourselves. Perhaps we are watchful of what we say and do, planning responses and activity based upon accepted behavior. Maybe we use hand sanitizer and take vitamin-c pills during so-called cold and flu season. I often wonder why we focus so intently on that which is not reality, rather than developing and demonstrating spiritual sense. In this life, we tend to feel attacked by everything from ice cream to nuclear weapons, and we defend ourselves in various ways, insuring the attack our thought insists upon. As an example, let's take ice cream. Most everyone enjoys ice cream, but lots of us think of it as attacking us with fat and cholesterol and sugar, things which we must defend ourselves against if we are to be healthy. We are told in both A Course in Miracles and Christian Science that the body performs best when given the least thought. 'The body ... need merely be perceived as quite apart from you, and it becomes a healthy, serviceable instrument through which the mind can operate until its usefulness is over.' (ACIM) Another point I love in this lesson is: 'A healed mind does not plan. It carries out the plans that it receives through listening to wisdom that is not its own. It waits until it has been taught what should be done, and then proceeds to do it.' (ACIM) What a freedom it is to realize we needn't be in charge of everything! To wake up in the morning, open to Spirit, God, we are led in ways that wouldn't be obvious if we weren't listening. Of course, there are often parameters involved in our day, but that doesn't preclude our being open to thought about ways to "think outside the box". Life is an adventure, and a harmonious one when we leave behind the desire to plan every moment of it!
Mary Baker Eddy quote:
"One says: 'I take good care of my body.' To do this, the pure and exalting influence of the divine Mind on the body is requisite, and the Christian Scientist takes the best care of his body when he leaves it most out of his thought ..."
Science & Health Page 383:5-9
