October 26, 2014 - Veritable Ideas

photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #299

“Eternal holiness abides in me.”

A friend made a passing comment pertaining to the erroneous thought we glom onto in daily life. He said that once you hear something, it's a part of you -- a part of your conscoiusness, if you will. I certainly know how difficult it can be to release any thought -- whether I have decided to think of it as truth or rumor. He is so right that once it's in you, it's difficult to let out -- but not impossible! The key to this release is realizing what you are. As long as I see myself as a material human, a victim of passing thought and circumstance, then, yes, it is difficult, even impossible, to release. When I start to glimpse that I am not this body, that I am Idea -- an Idea of God! -- then, and only then, am I freed from the bombardment of daily illusions and the lies of material sense. Looked at from this perspective, my goal is not to release anything, it is to understand my Being as an expression of divine Mind, an emanation of divine Love, the experience of divine Life! I will not think of this as an impossible task, but as a reachable Truth.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“How are veritable ideas to be distinguished from illusions? By learning the origin of each. Ideas are emanations from the divine Mind. Thoughts, proceeding from the brain or from matter, are offshoots of mortal mind; they are mortal material beliefs. Ideas are spiritual, harmonious, and eternal. Beliefs proceed from the so-called material senses, which at one time are supposed to be substance-matter and at another are called spirits.”

Science & Health Page 88:9-16

February 27, 2013 - Holiness For All!

Park City, Utah Sunset
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #58:

Today we review Lessons 36-40 

This review speaks of "my holiness" in four of the five summarized lessons. What does that mean? Is my holiness different from your holiness, perhaps based on  actions or thoughts? We are learning that this holiness is our true state of being as reflections of Love, realized through forgiveness in its purest sense. When I assert this Truth about myself, I affirm it for everyone. The urge to micro-manage things is strong in most of us, because we've been taught to make plans, to set goals, to nail down all the details. Recently the building in which I have my gallery was sold. The new owners have undertaken repairs which include replacing an old wooden awning on the front. While I had accepted that this was going to be done to the benefit of all, numerous people questioned if they were doing this in the proper way. And I had fallen into this questioning thought myself. While in the market, someone asked me how long it was going to take to get the new awning up and wondered about the appropriateness of the material to be used. When I told her that I didn't know when it would be done or how it would be done, but that I was trusting that everything would turn out best for everyone involved, she told me that rarely happened, particularly with people our age. Wow! Could this be true? We can't trust in goodness and our ability to allow it to be? And what did age have to do with it? This was enough to wake me up to what I'd been doing. I've learned to listen for inner guidance when making decisions of any kind. Most things in this life are beyond our control, aren't they? How many times do we make intricate plans only to have to change them when circumstances change?  I could write a book! Wayne Dyer tells us that worry is counterproductive. Why worry, he says? If we can do something about it, we will. If we can't do anything about it, what's the use in worrying? Living by this precept has brought a freedom I wouldn't have known had I held on to my old drama queen ways. My mantra is, Only Good can come of this. For this realization, I am most grateful.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Man walks in the direction towards which he looks, and where his treasure is, there will his heart be also. If our hopes and affections are spiritual, they came from above, not from below, and they bear as of old the fruits of the Spirit." Science & Health Page 451:14-18

February 6, 2013 - Love Yourself More

"Cooperation in Mongolia"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #37

"My holiness blesses the world."

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Love your neighbor as yourself. What a lovely world it is when we love ourselves more, and then let that love flow out to our neighbors. And when we honor ourselves as reflections of God, we are able to do no harm to others, because we wouldn't do it unto ourselves. That is what this day's lesson asks us to accept. We are whole, because we are all reflections of Love. Our purpose is to see this ever-present Truth in everything. When I am interacting with someone who is living in fear, someone who turns every situation into a threat, I will turn it around in my thought by seeing the situation through holiness. This allows me to release any desire to change someone's attitude. I can thereby suspend words of correction, allowing attack thoughts to disappaite.  I will live with Love and express holiness in words and actions as I move through this day, knowing that is my only purpose.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"The sculptor turns from the marble to his model in order to perfect his conception. We are all sculptors, working at various forms, moulding and chiseling thought. What is the model before mortal mind? Is it imperfection, joy, sorrow, sin, suffering? Have you accepted the mortal model?" "We must form perfect models in thought and look at them continually, or we shall never carve them out in grand and noble lives." 

Science & Health Page 248:12-17 and 26-29