Freedom of Thought

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #57:

Today we review Lessons 31-35. 

I love the freedom of our lesson reviews for today!  "I am not the victim of the world I see."  "I have invented the world I see." "There is another way of looking at the world."  "I could see peace instead of this." "My mind is part of God's. I am very holy." I know quite a few people who are ready to stop the madness and let freedom of thought take us to new heights of equality! And it's not just the airy-fairies who think this way, but physicists and learned people from all walks of life. Every thought counts! Let's go forward today with joy, knowing that's something which will spread without any effort — other than the sheer happiness of it all!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"The conceptions of mortal, erring thought must give way to the ideal of all that is perfect and eternal. Through many generations human beliefs will be attaining diviner conceptions, and the immortal and perfect model of God's creation will finally be seen as the only true conception of being."

Science & Health Page 260:7-12

Another Way to See

EurekaGras Parade

ACIM Workbook Lesson #33:

"There is another way of looking at the world."

This lesson asks us to look at things around us and then to look at our thoughts. This is to be done casually, with no judgment, only noticing. Okay. I'm looking around the room. The first thing I see is a lamp which was bought at a Clear Spring School benefit auction. Interestingly, it was donated by Victorian Reflections, a shop which occupied the space my art gallery was in for years. This lamp has a story and it brings back lots of memories and feelings within me, all lovely to remember. When I close my eyes and follow my thoughts, a long trail has opened up with memory links galore! I could follow them and spend a great deal of time living in the past, or I can simply see it for what it is and ask myself why that lamp makes me smile. It represents to me light, beauty, happy times with children and friends. Whether this exercise brought me lovely thoughts or caused distress makes no difference, because they both need to be released. This doesn't mean that I must never feel the Love reflected by this lamp and its connections. That feeling is mine all the time. This release thins the barriers I've built against Spirit. It helps me become more transparent and allows good, God, to be my only sight. What an adventure this is!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Dear reader, which mind-picture or externalized thought shall be real to you,--the material or the spiritual? Both you cannot have. You are bringing out your own ideal. This ideal is either temporal or eternal. Either Spirit or matter is your model. If you try to have two models, then you practically have none. Like a pendulum in a clock, you will be thrown back and forth, striking the ribs of matter and swinging between the real and the unreal."

Science & Health Page 360:13-21

February 2, 2015 - Shifting Perceptions

painting by Carol Dickie

ACIM Workbook Lesson #33:
"There is another way of looking at the world."

Everywhere we look, huge changes are occurring. I love that we are not afraid to look at traditional values in a new light! New ways of looking at old words, such as The Lord's Prayer give us new insights and understanding. Some fear these interpretations are sacrilegious, and perhaps they are. Religion should be about spirituality, but often it is no more than dogma and tradition, which is perpetuated from fear. In the late 1800s, Mary Baker Eddy gave us a spiritual interpretation of the prayer which Jesus gave us (or at least the interpretation offered through translation in our modern-day bible). Today I saw a beautiful modern-day interpretation by Peter Russell, which I'd like to include here. I feel these words are very helpful in facilitating our shifting perception.
Peter Russell's Contemporary Lord's Prayer

Our essential Being, that dwells within,

'I am' is thy name.

May thy true nature be revealed.

May thy knowing inform our daily lives,

As it does our inner Being.

Nourish us today with thy Presence.

Release us from any judgment we have held against ourselves,

As we release others from judgments we've held against them.

Let us not be tempted to seek solace in worldly things.

Liberate us from that which veils the truth.

For it is in our Being that we find your Presence,

The Source of all good, the home of all joy,

Eternally, and without change.

So be it.

http://www.peterrussell.com


Mary Baker Eddy quote: "Our Father-Mother God, all harmonious, Adorable One. They kingdom is come; thou art ever present. Enable us to know, -- as in heaven, so on earth, -- God is omnipotent, supreme. Give us grace for today; feed the famished affections. And Love is reflected in love. God leadeth us not into temptation, but delivereth us from sin, disease, and death. For God is infinite, all power, all Life, Truth, Love, over all, and All." Science & Health, Page 16:27-15