April 1, 2015 - Cleaning Windows

photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #91

“Miracles are seen in light.”

What am I? This question has been asked from the beginning of recorded history -- and probably longer. Spiritual seers inform us that we are not a body. So if I am not a body, what am I? Intellectually, we can say that we are the reflection of God. We can tell ourselves and others that we're not material, we're spiritual. Then we'll stump our toe and declare that we can't be blamed if it hurts because we're not walking on water yet. We make jokes to explain why we aren't living the precepts which Jesus tells us are our heritage as children of God. But really, why is it that we've been so stunted in our realization of what all this means? Actually, we're not evolving slowly. There is no evolution involved in spiritual awakening, there is only getting rid of material belief and dogma. What we're doing now is cleaning the windowpane so the light has a transparency to flow through, rather than thousands of years of grime hiding our illumination. What are we? We're finding out more every day -- but that doesn't mean we have to wait a certain amount of time to learn a set amount of liberating facts in order to experience this light. That's the miracle! 

Mary Baker Eddy quote: "Divine Science rolls back the clouds of error with the light of Truth, and lifts the curtain on man as never born and as never dying, but as coexistent with his creator."

Science & Health Page 596:11-19

March 31, 2015 - Problems?

photo courtesy of CreationSpirit.net

ACIM Workbook Lesson #90

Review: “Let me recognize the problem so it can be solved.” and “Let me recognize my problems have been solved.”

When people ask me for advice, I’m tempted to tell them they don’t know what their actual problem is, and, if they did, they would recognize that it is already solved! But that wouldn’t help anyone to see, and so I don’t say that. I was visiting with someone who knows the veracity of this seeming-conundrum and we mentioned a number of people we know who have problems with drinking alcohol. They don’t see alcohol as the problem; they are thinking of it as the solution. Looking at their situations from the outside, it appears that they are holding onto guilt because of their actions (for example, wartime killing of others), or pain because of others' actions (e.g., abandonment by a mother), or any of a multitude of things we think of as human problems. I bring this up to illustrate today's lesson review: There is only one problem, feeling separated from God. There is only one solution: realizing what the problem is, letting the miracle take over, and being willing to accept it. So, when someone asks my advice concerning a problem of theirs, I will pause and realize God's law of adjustment, which is already done. I will recognize that nothing needs fixing by me or anyone else. By this understanding, I will see them as whole, upright, free. With clear, non-judgmental thought, what they need to hear will come out of my mouth. Namaste'.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Human reason and religion come slowly to the recognition of spiritual facts, and so continue to call upon matter to remove the error which the human mind alone has created.”

March 30, 2015 - Trading In Grievances

photo by Jodie English

ACIM Workbook Lesson #89

Review: “I am entitled to miracles.” and “Let miracles replace all grievances.”

If you're like most people, myself included, when an accident occurs, we tend to replay it in our mind over and over -- and this doesn't include all the times we tell the details to others! When I fell down last week, (or tipped over, as I prefer to call it) my immediate reaction was to deny it. Now, this is not denying that it occurred, it's denying that it has any power over me. But since I had an appointment for a prosthetic fitting the next day, it was necessary to deal with some physical symptoms such as swelling and pain. In my desire to have the situation over and done with and go on with life, I have been focusing on it for the last week. And it's not much better. So I shall start the day tomorrow with a new outlook. I will declare spiritual Truth while denying the illusion of material law. By affirming what I am rather than concentrating on what I am not, I will be replacing grievances with miracles. Affirmations and denials tend to be temporary fixes, although they can align our thought with Truth. I'm willing to listen for what is needed and follow the promptings!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“When an accident happens, you think or exclaim, 'I am hurt!' Your thought is more powerful than your words, more powerful than the accident itself, to make the injury real."

Science & Health Page 397:12-16

March 29, 2015 - Fill Me Up

photo courtesy of Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #88:

Review -- "The light has come." and "I am under no laws but God's"

Many of life’s experiences are humbling. They make it easier to admit that we know nothing or that we’re wrong. I’ve gone through phases in the last 60 years when I didn’t want to admit either of these things, but now I am willing. On this beautiful spring Sunday, join me in having no opinions and allowing belief to dissolve. Let’s see what shows up when we are an empty vessel! 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"There is no material truth. The physical senses can take no cognizance of God and spiritual Truth. Human belief has sought out many inventions, but not one of them can solve the problem of being without  the divine Principle of divine Science. Deductions from material hypotheses are not scientific. They differ from real Science because they are not based on the divine law."

Science & Health Page 273:2-9

March 28, 2015 - Love Without the In

photo by Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #87

Review: “I will there be light.” and “There is no will but God’s.”

My thoughts turn today toward the holy relationship. We have many relationships in this life and, if you're like me, you prefer to think of all of them as holy! If God is Love, and we express that Love, then isn't every thing we do coming from that Love which is our essence? Unfortunately, this is not true. What we think of as love is often colored with human emotions such as guilt, jealousy, lust, and fear. This is a hard admission for any of us to make. A dear friend has been talking to me recently about a relationship he is ending. I have been thinking back over relationships I could have stayed in to this very day and how that would have led my life in different paths. The thing that keeps coming back time and again is that each and every relationship I have ever had was based in some way or another on the words, "I want". Maybe I wanted to be loved, maybe I wanted to be IN love, maybe I wanted a love affair like the movies and songs tell us is the be-all, end-all. My friend is feeling sad for the loss of this relationship. He liked so many things about this woman, but there were some basic differences which caused their incompatibility. He could have stayed and been contented, but there was something missing: It wasn't a holy relationship. It was based on expectation of change and other material desires. My friend innately knows there is more than settling down with someone because it's easy. And I know he will recognize, within himSelf, what it is he's waiting for.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The admission to one's self that man is God's own likeness sets man free to master the infinite idea. The understanding and recognition of Spirit must finally come, and we may as well improve our time in solving the mysteries of being through an apprehension of divine Principle. At present we know not what man is, but we certainly shall know this when man reflects God.”

Science & Health Page 90:24-32

March 27, 2015 - One Thing Have I Desired

"Mongolia Trip"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #86

Review: "Only God's plan for salvation will work." and "Holding grievances is an attack on God's plan for salvation."

Once a month I attend a gathering of remarkable women. We have met for a number of years, there are around fifteen of us, and we love and support each other through any and everything. We share good food and drink, laughter, and discuss interesting books. One of these women and I play an online word game similar to Scrabble. She has mentioned that I always get better letters than she does, and that I once told her that I draw these letters to me. Although I don't remember saying this, perhaps I did. Maybe I said it in jest, or it could have been a moment of egotistical mania. I don't know. Something I do in this game, or any other, is not to have expectations. I also don't care if I win or lose -- really, truly! My goal is to make fun words and get the highest score possible, yes, but I couldn't care less if someone else gets a higher score. It's all about what I do, not someone else's actions. This all falls under the same caveat as not holding grievances, not making assumptions, and not having strong opinions. I truly do have one desire: to listen and follow the inner voice of divine Mind. If this brings me better letters in word games or keeps me out of harms way when on the highway, great! But that's not what I'm asking for. I only want one thing: to know God.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Salvation: Life, Truth, and Love understood and demonstrated as supreme over all."

Science & Health Page 593:20-21

March 26, 2015 - Grievance Hides Light

"March Sky in the Ozarks"
photo by Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #85

Review: "My grievances hide the light of the world in me." and "My salvation comes from me."

Cynicism hides the light of the world very effectively. As a small child, I freely expressed joy in everything and to everyone, but slowly and thoroughly this joy was quieted by rules and other forces of conformity. By the time I was a teenager, cynicism had taken over my every action. This is a definition of cynicism: "An attitude of scornful or jaded negativity, especially a general distrust of the integrity or professed motives of others." During the 60s and 70s, although it was heralded as the Age of Aquarius, the free love that permeated our atmosphere was actually a charade of the Love I had felt as a small child. We made fun of those who weren't like us, and by doing so became unsure of what we were. There was an attitude of disdain which came with our superiority. We knew our government was wrong, as were our parents, most teachers, and the majority of our peers. It's no wonder that a major magazine's cover declared that God was dead, because materialism and cynicism had killed any expression of real Love. I was convinced that to have children would be a travesty, as this world was no place for humans to be. Nearly half a century past those turbulent times, I see wonderful changes in all of us. Everyone I know realizes that Love is a force within us which can't be quieted; that fear can never be as powerful as Love; that there is no reason to pretend only the foolish think this way. More people every day are waking up to the Truth of their being, living the salvation of this realization, and not allowing anything to hide this light. Any day now everyone will awaken to their function as a living ray of this Love, and we won't be afraid of it. It is our heritage! We have denied it as long as we can. The Truth is alive within us and it only takes recognition to bring it to fruition. Let's live our salvation today!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Ignorance of the divine idea betrays at once a greater ignorance of the divine Principle of the idea — ignorance of Truth and Love. The understanding of Truth and Love, the Principle which works out the ends of eternal good and destroys both faith in evil and the practice of evil, leads to the discernment of the divine idea."

Science & Health Page 560:28-4