The Recovery of Life

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #82

Review: “The light of the world brings peace to every mind through my forgiveness” and “Let me not forget my function.”

I went on a short road trip with a friend today. During our conversations, she told me about her two sons who live in a large metropolitan area. They are filled with anger and fear, exhibiting symptoms of road rage and other senseless emotions related to the way they are interpreting life. This is very distressing to her and she has given up trying to get them to see the light. Later in our conversations, she was talking about her parents and grandparents, and activities which facilitated beauty in their families and surroundings. I asked her if her sons knew these things about their family. She doesn’t think they do, and doesn’t think they would want to hear them. I told her this knowledge might just be the connector needed to allow these young men to remember their function, which is a powerful step in the recovery of Life. Forgiveness heals —

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“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.” Science & Health Page 510: 9-12

Yielding to Love

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #65: “My only function is the one God gave me.”

As a restless young person, I resisted the only thing which was required in order to experience peace. I thought that to live in Spirit would be predictable and boring. Decades past that time, I find that everything is exciting and new! Without the willingness to be open to the field of all possibilities, I would be repeating by-rote behaviors and following learned beliefs. That, I now see, is what would be boring! By being willing to go inward and listen, I'm never sure of what I will say or do, but I'm confident of where that guidance will lead. On the occasions I forget to listen but rather hold forth with long-held opinions, things don't usually work out in the same harmonious ways as they do when I'm willing to yield. That is a strong reminder to remember that I, of my own self, know nothing. 

Mary Baker Eddy quote: "This scientific sense of being, forsaking matter for Spirit, by no means suggests man's absorption into Deity and the loss of his identity, but confers upon man enlarged individuality, a wider sphere of thought and action, a more expansive love, a higher and more permanent peace." Science & Health Page 265:10-15

Be Happy and Bloom

ACIM Workbook Lesson #64:

"Let me not forget my function"

Have you ever been accused of something you did not do? An unjust charge carries with it a terrible feeling. This same feeling follows many of us around because we have been told that we were born sinners and there is nothing we can do about it. We have come to believe it is our function on this earth to try ever so hard to overcome this innate badness. Isn't it a wonderful thing to experience teachings which show us that this is not true? The understanding of our essence as the pure expression of God, and the realization that anything unlike this experience is a material illusion brought to us courtesy of tainted human beliefs, frees us to be happy. Gone is all the guilt we may have carried around, thinking we were condemned by a power from which we couldn't escape. There has been no condemnation by any power, only illusionary powers to which we have given credence. Breaking free from these beliefs, we are free to be happy, healthy, whole -- and we bloom! 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Can we gather peaches from a pine-tree, or learn from discord the concord of being? Yet quite as rational are some of the leading illusions along the path which Science must tread in its reformatory mission among mortals. The very name, illusion, points to nothingness.”  Science & Health Page 129:24-29

Fulfilling Our Function

Tailand Sunset
photo from Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #212

Central Theme: “I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.” Review: #192 “I have a function God would have me fill.”

Have you noticed people are making major shifts in their lives? The cool thing I've observed is that these are not painful changes, but beautifully flowing shifts which seem almost effortless in their perfection. I love seeing people coming alive with the excitement of doing things which bring them happiness and deep fulfillment! Whether it's moving to another part of the globe, or starting a new career, or "retiring" and finding that life is just beginning, people are changing their focus in major ways. It's so wonderful that we're feeling free to follow our heart and move into the space of Love which fulfills our function. And how do we know what that is? Listen inwardly and Trust yourSelf!!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Spirit, God, gathers unformed thoughts into their proper channels, and unfolds these thoughts, even as [It] opens the petals of a holy purpose in order that the purpose may appear.”

Science & Health Page 506:18-21

July 31, 2014 - Trust Your Self

"Aaron at Butterfly World"
photo by Heather Magnan

ACIM Workbook Lesson #212

Central Theme: “I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.” Review: #192 “I have a function God would have me fill.”

Have you noticed people making major shifts in their lives? The cool thing I've observed is that these are not painful changes, but beautifully flowing shifts which seem almost effortless in their perfection. I love seeing people coming alive with the excitement of doing things which bring them happiness and deep fulfillment! Whether it's moving to another part of the globe, or starting a new career, or "retiring" and finding that life is just beginning, people are changing their focus in major ways. It's so wonderful that we're feeling free to follow our heart and move into the space of Love which fulfills our function. And how do we know what that is? Listen inwardly and Trust yourSelf!!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“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.”

Science & Health Page 506:18-21

July 11, 2013 - Release Anger

photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #192

“I have a function God would have me fill.”

Today we are advised to hold no one prisoner with our anger. By releasing them, we are made free. This is a perfect lesson for me today as I contemplate the words spoken in a town meeting. While I never felt what I would deem "active anger", I must admit some of the statements have replayed in my mind and caused a sarcastic chuckle or two. And so I have some feelings to release to fulfill my function. I have already written a letter to the editor and then discarded it. That was a nice release! If any words ask to be replayed mentally (as one woman's derogatory comment toward artists is doing right now!), I will replace it with the knowledge that we both reflect the same Love which is God. Any fearful illusions seeming to be true will be acknowledged and released, time and again if necessary, until they return to the nothingness from which they came. 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Not to avenge one's self upon one's enemies is the command of almighty wisdom; and we take this to be a safer guide than the promptings of human nature. To know that a deception dark as it is base has been practiced upon thee, and yet not to avenge thyself, is to do good to thyself; is to take a new standpoint whence to look upward; is to be calm amid excitement, just amid lawlessness, and pure amid corruption."

Miscellaneous Writings Page 228

March 5, 2012 - I want to be happy

ACIM workbook lesson #64:

"Let me not forget my function"

South African Morning
photo by Aaron Springston

[Marsha's thoughts]

I want to feel good. I want to be happy. Don't we all want these things, no matter what we say or what our circumstance? While feeling good and being happy may sometimes seem illusive, they are the product of the realization of our true being as Love and the expression of this Love. I've found that when I'm feeling unhappy the way out is to do something for someone else. This action is an emanation of Love and by its expression we are returned to our rightful Mind. As more of the world is waking up to what our function is, there are more writings concerning this and how we can continue to accept this enlightened state by realizing our true consciousness. I am currently reading a book which contains a lovely way to share what we are experiencing. Neale Donald Walsch has currently published the first in a series of books entitled "Conversations with Humanity". As you read this book, you are encouraged to go to a website and post your thoughts, making this a true conversation. His next book in this series will include parts of this conversation with humanity. To share with others in this awakening is exciting! We are all doing it to some extent, aren't we? Look at the groups we are involved with in conversation: book clubs, spiritual meetings of various sorts, salons, chat rooms, virtual discussions, blogs -- the possibilities are endless! As I go through this day, I will not forget my function, and I will scatter joy and happiness along the way.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"It is essential to understand, instead of believe, what relates most nearly to the happiness of being. To seek Truth through belief in a human doctrine is not to understand the infinite. We must not seek the immutable and immortal through the finite, mutable, and mortal, and so depend upon belief instead of demonstration, for this is fatal to a knowledge of Science. The understanding of Truth gives full faith in Truth, and spiritual understanding is better than all burnt offerings." Science & Health Page 285:32-8