June 11, 2015 - What Creation?

"Tailand"
photo from Aaron Springston

ACIM A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson #162

“I am as God created me."

In reading the lesson which goes with the topic above, I was struck by a statement: “It will mean far more to you as you advance.” As I think back to being a small child and pondering what “I am as God created me” meant to me at that point, I have vague recollections of the Garden of Eden with naked Adam and Eve frolicking in the perfect environment. As years went by, I would often wonder how the world we live in could have been created so imperfectly by perfect Love. Today I’m catching glimpses of Truth, beginning to understand that God did not create an imperfect world, but we have. These ideas have been the basis for many pages in many books, so I won’t attempt to go deeper with this thought today. But I will leave you with an all-encompassing passage by Mary Baker Eddy:

“There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all. Spirit is immortal Truth; matter is mortal error. Spirit is the real and eternal; matter is the unreal and temporal. Spirit is God, and man is [Its] image and likeness. Therefore man is not material; he is spiritual."

Science & Health Page 468:10-16

August 25, 2014 - As I Am Created

ACIM  Workbook Lesson #237

“Now would I be as God created me."

How did God create me? If I think of creation from a standpoint of human, mortal mind, I may think of things like the Adam and Eve story. To look past material illusory opinions to pure spiritual ideas is to begin to understand how "God created me". We tell ourselves: I'm only human. I cannot be created in the image and likeness of God. If we accept the Adam and Eve story -- or any other material creation myth -- as the truth of our being, we live the dream of life in and of matter with all the limitations implied. The realization that we are an idea of God takes us to the threshold of  understanding Life. Today I will see all as this spiritual truth, omitting no one nor thing!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“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.”

Science & Health Page 255: 5-10

June 11, 2013 - How am I Created?

"Mongolia 2009"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #162

“I am as God created me."

When we hear the above statement, "I am as God created me", we may think that this "me" is our body, which is subject to material circumstance. The same goes when we hear that we are created in the image and likeness of God. How could terrible things be perpetrated by the image and likeness of God? It must be that this body is not what is created by divine Mind, God. Does that make this body worthless, perhaps even abhorrent? Of course not!! By accepting our Being as an idea of divine Mind, we are freed to see the body as a compound idea, an aggregate creation, but not the image and likeness of God, which is spiritual. I remember how upset my oldest son was when he first heard the scientific statement of being, which is the Mary Baker Eddy quote below. It says that there is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. He was angry because he thought it was saying he wasn't smart, and he knew he was. "No intelligence in matter" means that you express all of the intelligence of divine Mind, and none of that Mind is found to originate or even exist in the material shell we call a body. The love we feel and express, the intelligence we utilize in a multitude of ways, these are not originated in a brain or a heart. But they are translated into expression through this human body. So the way I see it, human experience should be celebrated and utilized to its fullest! And that fullness comes from the acknowledgement of the Source of all goodness. "Therefore man is not material; he is spiritual."

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Question: What is the scientific statement of being?

Answer: There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all. Spirit is immortal Truth; matter is mortal error. Spirit is the real and eternal; matter is the unreal and temporal. Spirit is God, and man is His image and likeness. Therefore man is not material; he is spiritual."

Science & Health Page 468:8-16

April 20, 2013 - Nothing Changes in Truth

"Bryce Canyon"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #110

“I am as God created me.”

During a conversation with friends, someone asked me how I could have come through a particularly traumatic time without some form of therapy. I hadn't really thought about this, but only knew that I had accepted reality over illusion. The reality is that I am as God created me. The illusion is all the stories I encountered which could affect how I feel about myself and others. So let's say you have just found out about something which happened in the past. This something changes many material truths you believed, including your name, age, and heritage. What reaction would you have? Perhaps your initial response would be anger. People would say this is a normal reaction to betrayal. With the realization that you are as God created you, this situation is seen to have absolutely nothing to do with your true Self. Then this hurtful illusion can dissipate as mist hit by sunlight. Our hurt feelings, our fears, disappear into their native nothingness, being replaced with the Truth of Being. "I Am as God created me." Anything other than our true creation is changeable. Today I choose unchanging, eternal Truth!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“In divine Science, man is the true image of God. The divine nature was best expressed in Christ Jesus, who threw upon mortals the truer reflection of God and lifted their lives higher than their poor thought-models would allow.”

Science & Health Page 259:6-9

April 4, 2013 - I Am as God created Me

"Aaron at World Cup - Germany 2006"

ACIM Workbook Lesson #94

“I am as God created me.”

There are many healing modalities we utilize to deal with physical  ailments. Some seem to do no more than mask symptoms, while some work to find the cause of our distress and eliminate or change it, and others we classify under the heading of miracles because we don't understand their basis. There is a "Super Soul Sunday" interview with Wayne Dyer in which he tells of his diagnosis of leukemia and the subsequent healing he experienced through working with the Brazilian man known as John of God. He was asked to send photographs of himself, taken from four angles, he was to take some prescribed herbs and lots of water, and there were some other physical dictates he was to follow. He was told what time the "surgery" was to take place and instructed to stay in bed for 24 hours afterwards. Many things passed through my mind as I watched this show. First of all, that dis-ease is just that. Dr. Dyer had been going through some rough emotional times, including his wife of many years leaving him. Through the study of Christian Science, I have learned that the spiritual healing of illness is facilitated by a change in thought. It is an alignment of thought with Truth. And this Truth is that I am a reflection of divine Mind. Everything God made is good; anything else is illusion. Denying physical symptoms of disease is not the same as ignoring them. It is to see them for what they are: a universal belief in separation from God. Understanding this, we can also release any guilt we may have in the situation. By focusing on what is rather than what isn't, we are learning to understand our connection to God. As I go through this day, the seven synonyms for God as given in Science & Health will rotate through today's lesson: Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, Love. If a situation comes up in which I'm tempted to express irritation, I will think: I Am as Love created me. If I don't understand something, I will think: I Am as Mind created me. What a perfect day this will be!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Sometime we shall learn how Spirit, the great architect, has created men and women in Science. We ought to weary of the fleeting and false and to cherish nothing which hinders our highest selfhood.”

Science & Health Page 68:4-9

June 11, 2012 - I am not material, I am spiritual

A Course in Miracles Lesson #162

Students, Teachers, Guides - Mongolia 2009

“I am as God created me."

When we hear the above statement, "I am as God created me", we may think that this "me" is our body, which is subject to material circumstance. The same goes when we hear that we are created in the image and likeness of God. How could terrible things be perpetrated by the image and likeness of God? It must be that this body is not what is created by divine Mind, God. Does that make this body worthless, perhaps even abhorrent? Of course not!! By accepting our Being as an idea of divine Mind, we are freed to see the body as a compound idea, an aggregate creation, but not the image and likeness of God, which is spiritual. I remember how upset my oldest son was when he first heard the scientific statement of being, which is the Mary Baker Eddy quote below. It says that there is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. He was angry because he thought it was saying he wasn't smart, and he knew he was. "No intelligence in matter" means that you express all of the intelligence of divine Mind, and none of that Mind is found to originate or even exist in the material shell we call a body. The love we feel and express, the intelligence we utilize in a multitude of ways, these are not originated in a brain or a heart. But they are translated into expression through this human body. So the way I see it, human experience should be celebrated and utilized to its fullest! And that fullness comes from the acknowledgement of the Source of all goodness. "Therefore man is not material; he is spiritual."

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Question: What is the scientific statement of being?

Answer: There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all. Spirit is immortal Truth; matter is mortal error. Spirit is the real and eternal; matter is the unreal and temporal. Spirit is God, and man is His image and likeness. Therefore man is not material; he is spiritual."

Science & Health Page 468:8-16

April 20, 2012 - My True Self cannot be changed, damaged, hurt

Bryce Canyon
photo by Aaron Springston

A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson #110

“I am as God created me.”

[Marsha's thoughts]

During a conversation with friends, someone asked me how I could have come through a particularly traumatic time without some form of therapy. I hadn't really thought about this, but only knew that I had accepted reality over illusion. The reality is that I am as God created me. The illusion is all the seeming-hurts and lies we may encounter which affect how we feel about ourselves and others. So let's say you have just found out about something which happened in the past. This something affects everything you thought you knew to be truth. What reaction would you have? Perhaps your initial response is anger. We say this is to be expected, because it is what we've experienced in the past and have accepted as normal: that anger is an expected reaction. With the realization that we are as God created us, we can see that this upsetting situation has absolutely nothing to do with our true Self. And the hurtful illusion can dissipate as mist hit by sunlight. In the same way as the mist changes into another form of what it is, our hurt feelings, our fears, can disappear into their native nothingness, being replaced with the Truth of Being. "I Am as God created me." Anything other than this true creation is changeable. Today I choose unchanging, eternal Truth!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“In divine Science, man is the true image of God. The divine nature was best expressed in Christ Jesus, who threw upon mortals the truer reflection of God and lifted their lives higher than their poor thought-models would allow.”

Science & Health Page 259:6-9