January 15, 2015 - Who Made My Thoughts?

"Aaron on the Slopes"

ACIM Workbook Lesson #15 
“My thoughts are images that I have made.”

Often it seems our thoughts are not our own but are provided courtesy of advertising and the endless play of horrible events some people like to perpetuate in thought. I know a few people who speculate on what awful things can happen in any given circumstance — and I try to steer clear of them! During the last month, I have been thrown into a world I’ve never experienced: the medical milieu. Now that I have doctors’ appointments and am experiencing one of my pet peeves, prescription drugs, it would seem natural to trade stories with others in similar situations. That is not the world in which I choose to live. A friend said to me today, upon hearing of the wonderfully good results of a recent vascular procedure, that I must know ‘the secret’ and stated that perhaps some day he, too, could learn it. The secret is that there is no secret! It’s an open secret which anyone can experience, if you choose good rather than its opposite. It’s hard for some to believe that these current events in my life are strengthening my metaphysical experience, but I’m seeing more clearly every day!

Mary Baker Eddy quotes: "Mortals evolve images of thought." "Mortal mind sees what it believes as certainly as it believes what it sees. It feels, hears, and sees its own thoughts. Pictures are mentally formed before the artist can convey them to canvas. So is it with all material conceptions."

Science & Health Page 86:13 and 86:29:1

January 15, 2013 - So-called Reality

"Another Colorado Sunset"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #15

“My thoughts are images that I have made.”

I witnessed a thought-provoking experiment. A woman sat down at a table. They asked her to put her right arm on the table, resting it from the elbow to hand. They placed a barrier so she couldn't see her hand, and then put a rubber hand and arm in front of her, with the elbow ending at her body. Then the person sitting in front of her used a soft paint brush to stroke both her hand (which she couldn't see) and the rubber hand, which she could see. She stated she was feeling a little odd because she was starting to feel as though the rubber hand in front of her was her own. When the paint brush stroker moved the brush to the rubber thumb, and not hers, she jerked back because the feeling was so odd. Then the man across the table pulled out a hammer and hit the rubber hand. You can imagine how the woman reacted! This demonstrated how, in a matter of two minutes or less, a rubber hand became a human hand in the thought of this person. This is, in essence, what we've done with everything around us. Belief becomes our reality -- and very quickly! So today I will see how quickly I can move away from beliefs and open my thought to the reality of Spirit.

Mary Baker Eddy quotes:

"Mortals evolve images of thought." "Mortal mind sees what it believes as certainly as it believes what it sees. It feels, hears, and sees its own thoughts. Pictures are mentally formed before the artist can convey them to canvas. So is it with all material conceptions."

Science & Health Page 86:13 and 86:29:1