May 21, 2014 - The Holy Man

ACIM Workbook Lesson #141:

Today begins a review of the last 20 lessons. Our main theme is:

“My mind holds only what I think with God" 

Review of: #121 “Forgiveness is the key to happiness” #122 “Forgiveness offers everything I want.”

There is a delightful little book called, The Holy Man, by Susan Trott. It is comprised of numerous scenarios recounted through a group of people who are waiting in line to see The Holy Man. They feel all their questions will be answered, all their problems solved, if only they can meet and speak with him. The irony is that when they are finally admitted to his home, he simply leads them through the house and out the back door. The beauty of the book is that everyone sees what they need to see from their interactions with others while waiting in the long line. We, too, have these ah-hah moments while going about our day-to-day activities. The realization that our true thoughts are those we think with God brings a newness to everyday life. By releasing our by-rote reactions, we are free to practice forgiveness with every blameless thought we have. When our perceptions are spiritual, we needn't place meaning on anything we experience today. With this clean slate, who knows what insights will be ours? Like those people waiting to speak to The Holy Man, whom they believed had all the answers, we will be finding insight in every moment, simply by allowing ourselves to accept that we are One with God. As such, all answers are ours, even without asking questions!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“God creates all forms of reality. His thoughts are spiritual realities. So-called mortal mind--being nonexistent and consequently not within the range of immortal existence--could not by simulating deific power invert the divine creation, and afterwards recreate persons or things upon its own plane, since nothing exists beyond the range of all-inclusive infinity, in which and of which God is the sole creator. Mind, joyous in strength, dwells in the realm of Mind. Mind's infinite ideas run and disport themselves. In humility they climb the heights of holiness.”

Science & Health Page 513:26-9

May 20, 2014 - Truth Trumps Illusion

ACIM Workbook lesson #140:

“Only salvation can be said to cure.”

No matter what "ills" appear to be in our lives, there is no law which says we are condemned to suffer. It's a mistaken belief that we are victims of heredity, or subject to communicable disease, or any of the myriad problems which seem to be so real in our collective and individual thought. It can be very difficult to take ourselves out of the perpetual loop of dis-ease. It can seem impossible to realize Truth in our life while living amongst the constant flow of erroneous thought. Every instance of turning away from material illusion and seeing with the spiritual sense we're developing is a cause for celebration! Each revelation is a step toward salvation from the trap of victimhood. The knowledge of what is Truth and what is illusion lifts us past the thoughts which hold us trapped in sickness and inharmony. It's not by trying to rid ourselves of illusion that we are freed; it's by knowing what Truth is. With Truth as the only reality in our thought, error has no room to take hold and it disappears into the nothingness which is its only reality. Now that's something to celebrate!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The physical healing of Christian Science results now, as in Jesus' time, from the operation of divine Principle, before which sin and disease lose their reality in human consciousness and disappear as naturally and as necessarily as darkness gives place to light and sin to reformation. Now, as then, these mighty works are not supernatural, but supremely natural."

Science & Health Page xi:9-15

May 19, 2014 - At One With All

ACIM Workbook Lesson #139:

"I will accept Atonement for myself."

What does Atonement mean to you? I think of it as being at one with All that Is. The ease with which I accept this concept may have to do with the fact that I've always lived in small towns where we all know each other. I'm also in a rural area where it's easy to commune with nature and readily feel this connection. But, in the alternative, with the inception of the internet, it seems easier to see our Oneness reflected back at us from others all over the world. I have friends who have just returned from an extended trip around Europe. They are both outgoing, loving people who have many stories to tell about the friendships they made in their travels. Seeing ourselves as the experience and expression of God helps us to understand our Oneness with everyone everywhere, no matter whether we look the same or agree in any of our material beliefs. As we realize the unreality of our matter-based beliefs, we are better equipped to see the reality of our Oneness with God. This realization then resounds in our every interaction with life, turning it into an all-encompassing experience in which we can understand our at-One-ment. We truly are all in this together!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Atonement is the exemplification of man’s unity with God, whereby man reflects divine Truth, Life, and Love."

Science & Health Page 18:1-3

May 18, 2014 - Heaven Now

photo by Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #138

“Heaven is the decision I must make.”

Jesus told us knowing the Truth would set us free. He also mentioned that the kingdom of heaven is within. With these ideas in mind, it seems possible to know that the Truth he's speaking of is the inner knowing we all hold inside of us: the knowledge that we are holy. We really are the image and likeness of divine Mind, with all the perks that implies. We are the experience and expression of God! We have no other function other than to live every moment in the acceptance of our holiness. Then the kingdom of heaven is our only reality, as spiritual sight supersedes material illusions. As duality fades away, I realize there was only One possibility and I never had to make a choice. What a relief!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Heaven represents harmony, and divine Science interprets the Principle of heavenly harmony. The great miracle, to human sense, is divine Love, and the grand necessity of existence is to gain the true idea of what constitutes the kingdom of heaven in man.” Science & Health Page 560:10-15

“HEAVEN: Harmony; the reign of Spirit; government by divine Principle; spirituality; bliss; the atmosphere of Soul." Science & Health Page 587:25-27

May 17, 2014 - Love Heals

ACIM Workbook Lesson #137

“When I am healed I am not healed alone.”

Love heals. We hear this so often, it's probably become somewhat of a cliché. We may think that nothing can heal the ills of the world, much less something as intangible as love. What if love were the most powerful force in the universe? Not just an emotion called love, but a omnipotent, gentle presence which is a synonym for God. What if experiencing this Love was sufficient to heal every thought of evil or sickness or misery which has ever been imagined? Then we'd all be lining up to get some of this stuff, don't you think? And it's even easier than that. We only need get out of our own way to see what has always been there. Love heals.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"One moment of divine consciousness, or the spiritual understanding of Life and Love, is a foretaste of eternity.This exalted view, obtained and retained when the Science of being is understood, would bridge over with life discerned spiritually the interval of death, and man would be in the full consciousness of his immortality and eternal harmony, where sin, sickness, and death are unknown. Time is a mortal thought, the divisor of which is the solar year. Eternity is God’s measurement of Soul-filled years.”

Science & Health Page 598:23-2

May 16, 2014 - What is Healing?

ACIM Workbook Lesson #136:

“Sickness is a defense against the truth.”

Many new-age thought systems try to find reasons for disease, then work to get rid of the "problem" which is causing you to be unwell. This is something which has no place in quantum thought.  When Mary Baker Eddy realized the nothingness of matter and the substance of Spirit, not many were willing to imagine the possibility until they saw physical proof. The healing which comes about through this understanding is not a manipulation of matter, but a yielding of erroneous belief to the Truth of creation by divine Mind. The Catch-22 in this is that if you are trying to heal something, you can't. But if you're knowing the Truth of existence, and that knowledge becomes more than just wishful thinking, the changeability of matter is shown in ways which we think of as healing. Knowing that there is nothing to be healed, that all is perfectly reflected as a creation of divine Mind, therein lies the healing. Going to the core of yourSelf and recognizing that your consciousness is One with Spirit, that is what brings an all-encompassing joy and peace which makes us happy to release false belief. Once that is gone, Truth shines forth in all Its magnificence! To learn more about this, here is the link to today's ACIM workbook lesson: http://acim.org/Lessons/lesson.html?lesson=136

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“That mortal mind claims to govern every organ of the mortal body, we have overwhelming proof. But this so-called mind is a myth, and must by its own consent yield to Truth. It would wield the scepter of a monarch, but it is powerless. The immortal divine Mind takes away all its supposed sovereignty, and saves mortal mind from itself. The author has endeavored to make this book the Aesculapius of mind as well as of body, that it may give hope to the sick and heal them, although they know not how the work is done. Truth has a healing effect, even when not fully understood.”

Science & Health Page 151:31-8

May 15, 2014 - A Healed Mind

"Ancient Enigma"
sculpture by Ken Starbird

ACIM Workbook Lesson #135

"If I defend myself I am attacked."

There is so much to love in today's ACIM workbook lesson! A favorite point of mine is this: "A healed mind does not plan. It carries out the plans that it receives through listening to wisdom that is not its own. It waits until it has been taught what should be done, and then proceeds to do it." What freedom it is to realize we needn't be in charge of everything! Waking up in the morning, open to Spirit, God, allows us to be led in ways that wouldn't be obvious if we weren't listening. Of course, there are often parameters involved in our day, but that doesn't preclude our being open to thought about ways to think outside the box. Life is an adventure, and a harmonious one when we leave behind the desire to plan every moment of it!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"One says: 'I take good care of my body.' To do this, the pure and exalting influence of the divine Mind on the body is requisite, and the Christian Scientist takes the best care of his body when he leaves it most out of his thought ..."

Science & Health Page 383:5-9

May 14, 2014 - Finding Our Voice

"Finding Their Voice"
sculpture by Ken Starbird

ACIM Workbook Lesson #134

"Let me perceive forgiveness as it is."

Righteous indignation: There's a lot of it going around, don't you think? Maybe I notice it so much because it's alive and well-established within me. Maybe I'm too quick to jump on my high horse and adopt a holier-than-thou attitude. It seems there are so many injustices which need righting. We have been told that forgiveness is looking the other way and doing nothing. I see forgiveness as looking past the illusion of separation from God to the realization of our unity. With this view, I can set aside my stories of right and wrong and open thought to the reality of Love, of God. Some wonder what good this could possibly do in a world so rife with confusion. If everyone lived Love, wouldn't that make a difference? I don't think anyone would deny the perfection of that world! There is a voice audible to anyone willing to listen. Forgiveness, the releasing of illusions, allows this voice to be found. In our unity, our release is everyone's gift. There is no you, me, and God. There is only One. What a joy to be finding our voice!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The voice of God in behalf of the African slave was still echoing in our land, when the voice of the herald of this new crusade sounded the keynote of universal freedom, asking a fuller acknowledgment of the rights of man as a Son of God, demanding that the fetters of sin, sickness, and death be stricken from the human mind and that its freedom be won, not through human warfare, not with bayonet and blood, but through Christ’s divine Science.”

Science & Health Page 226:5-13

May 13, 2014 - Nothing is Lost

ACIM Workbook Lesson #133

"I will not value what is valueless."

"Groups of people who have shared spiritual Love are bound together for eternity." is a quote from Joel Goldsmith. These words float into my mind often. There are so many people who live in our little town whom I feel I've always known. One person who I immediately knew when I saw her is Sandy Starbird. She and her husband, Ken, are artists in the gallery I run. They moved to this little town in Arkansas from the west coast of the USA, without ever having been here before. They were led here and knew it was where they needed to be They were similarly attracted to Eureka Thyme, the art gallery which has provided them with a home for their incredibly original works of art. The ACIM workbook lesson today tells us to not value what is valueless. To discern what is valueless we are asked if it is changeable and if we feel any form of guilt surrounding it. My friendship with Ken and Sandy, their relationship with each other, is true Love in its purest form. I'm beginning to understand this Oneness which I've talked about for years. The Love which we all share as the experience of God is everywhere, and I value that recognition. I don't need to worry about losing anything to change, because how can I lose something which is not real? And on the flip side of that coin, how can I lose anything which is real? 

Mary Baker Eddy quotes:

“Everything good or worthy, God made. Whatever is valueless or baneful, He did not make,--hence its unreality.”

Science & Health Page 525:20-22

May 12, 2014 - A Glimpse is Freeing

ACIM Workbook Lesson #132

"I loose the world from all I thought it was."

Often we feel there isn't time to study the Principle we long to embrace. We tell ourselves that we must live in the "real world" and that leaves little time for spiritual quests. With a slight shift in thought, it becomes apparent that reality isn't what we've always believed it to be. When this happens, we don't need to set aside specific time in order to practice a spiritual discipline. Without the downer of constantly repeating what we don't want in our lives, by refusing to dwell in fear and dread, we have a lot more time to hold thought to "the enduring, the good, and the true". (S&H Page 261:4) By allowing this new way of thinking to become a present reality, I am coming a step closer to understanding where Mrs. Eddy was standing when she said, "The divine understanding reigns, is all, and there is no other consciousness." Every glimpse I have of this divine reality is a moment of freeing the world from the bondage of my thought. What a gift!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"In the Apocalypse it is written: 'And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.' In St. John's vision, heaven and earth stand for spiritual ideas, and the sea, as a symbol of tempest-tossed human concepts advancing and receding, is represented as having passed away. The divine understanding reigns, is all, and there is no other consciousness."

Science & Health Page 536:1-9

May 11, 2014 - No failure

ACIM Workbook Lesson #131

"No one can fail who seeks to reach the truth."

I'm often tempted to resort to chants and affirmation when I am seeking a specific outcome in life. Many people see nothing wrong with this approach -- and perhaps even a lot of right in it! I've come to think of this approach as nothing more than mental manipulation, a form of hypnotism, which may create a temporary change, but is not a lasting solution to anything. If I'm not going to try to talk life into doing what I want it to, what am I going to do? I'm going to seek Truth, only Truth, and in this seeking of One Thing, I will find everything. It's not my job to delineate what that is. Releasing what I think I know, surrendering projected outcomes, and totally relying on Truth, God, I trust that everything I need will be added unto me. I don't even need to think about what these things are. Because whatever the outcome is, it will be far better than anything I could have planned. Truth is waiting for me to clear the mist which is hiding it. For this, I am most grateful.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"This is what is meant by seeking Truth, Christ, not 'for the loaves and fishes,' nor, like the Pharisee, with the arrogance of rank and display of scholarship, but like Mary Magdalene, from the summit of devout consecration, with the oil of gladness and the perfume of gratitude, with tears of repentance and with those hairs all numbered by the Father.”

Science & Health Page 367:10-16

                                                

May 10, 2014 - Love or Fear

photo by Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #130

"It is impossible to see two worlds."

There is a world of Love, and there is a world of fear. I cannot see them both at the same time. This seems like an easy choice, but fear is often insidious and I may not realize that's what's guiding my choices. I can't know the world of Spirit when I'm thinking from the standpoint of mortal sense. I can't love my neighbors when I'm judging them. I can't hear that "still, small voice" when my thought is full of chaotic chatter. These dualities represent the two worlds we wish to embrace simultaneously, but find we cannot. Everything I do, or say, or think, places me firmly in one world or the other. Moment by moment, I choose what to accept as truth. By consistently turning thought away from mortal concepts and looking to spiritual interpretations, I am choosing the world I want to see. And if I'm not comfortable with what I'm seeing, guess what? I can choose again!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Take heart, dear sufferer, for this reality of being will surely appear sometime and in some way. There will be no more pain, and all tears will be wiped away. When you read this, remember Jesus' words, 'The kingdom of God is within you.' This spiritual consciousness is therefore a present possibility.”

Science & Health Page 573:29-2

May 9, 2014 - Perceptions

"Buffalo Blues"
painting by Carol Dickie

ACIM Workbook Lesson #129

"Beyond this world there is a world I want."

A dear friend of mine is an artist who describes her painting style as abstract naturalism. When you look at her paintings, they are clearly recognizable as trees and barns and other ordinary sights, yet they are other-worldly in her perception  and interpretation of light and shadow and color.  She is having a major art show at a museum in a neighboring city. When viewing 30+ paintings at one time, I was transported to Carol's world. The show was entitled, "An Artist's Journey" and began with a painting she did as a small child and ended with a series of paintings she calls "Fishing With My Father". In walking through the rooms, reading Carol's descriptions of her journey, I was transported to another world. I am reminded once again that we need not leave this world to see a world full of harmony and beauty and peace. It's all in how we look at it!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“How true it is that whatever is learned through material sense must be lost because such so-called knowledge is reversed by the spiritual facts of being in Science. That which material sense calls intangible, is found to be substance. What to material sense seems substance, becomes nothingness, as the sense-dream vanishes and reality appears."

Science & Health Page 312:1-6

May 8, 2014 - More Than Meets the Eye

Photo by Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #128

"The world I see holds nothing that I want."  

The topic of today's ACIM lesson is one of those which could cause you to say, "Thanks, but no thanks!!" But before you close the door, really think about what this means. It isn't asking you to give up enjoyment of everyday life. On the contrary! It's asking you to look past the world which is the creation of mortal mind, to the world of divine Mind. By setting aside the unrealities of belief, we are breaking the same kind of thought barriers which had to be set aside for humanity to realize the world was round. When asked to see everything with new eyes, to dare to stretch past belief and learned behavior, we may be frightened or confused. In this state of mind, our "ego" can tell us that it's all just nonsense and it's better to stay with what is well-known. But is it? If you feel -- really feel, deep inside, that there must be more to this existence than meets the human eye, then you will want to know what that is. We are capable of so much more than we realize. The veil is getting thinner! 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"In the material world, thought has brought to light with great rapidity many useful wonders. With like activity have thought's swift pinions been rising towards the realm of the real, to the spiritual cause of those lower things which give impulse to inquiry. Belief in a material basis, from which may be deduced all rationality, is slowly yielding to the idea of a metaphysical basis, looking away from matter to Mind as the cause of every effect." 

Science & Health Page 268:1-9

May 7, 2014 - One Love

ACIM Workbook Lesson #127

“There is no love but God's”

Many self-help books talk of the many faces and facets of love. In divine metaphysics, there is no division in Love. Love does not judge. No one is more worthy than another. No one is more able than another when it comes to expressing Love. Love may not appear to be a factor in the world we witness daily. We see love that's variable and hate that is solid. But we are learning the unreality of changing love and abiding hate. Reality is the Love which is God. Today's ACIM workbook lesson asks us to affirm this often today: "I bless you, brother, with the Love of God, which I would share with you. For I would learn the joyous lesson that there is no love but God's and yours and mine and everyone's." My awareness of this true Love allows me to experience it. It is always present, and I'm learning to be, too.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Love is infinite. Therefore all that really exists is in and of God, and manifests His love.”

Science & Health Page 340:12-14

May 6, 2014 - Living Love

ACIM Workbook Lesson #126

"All that I give is given to myself."

Walking home from work today, I passed a man who responded to my greeting by saying he was "hanging in there, but he didn't know why." He looked forlorn and dejected. This is, of course, a judgment on my part. In examining what I'd like to give today, I see that the only true thing which can be given is Love. When we give and live Love, there is nothing else to think about. Before I give anything today, I will ask myself, Is this what I want to receive? If it's not, then I'd best not give it. But my realization that God is Love, that Love is all there is, allows me to slip into that sweet space of living from Truth. Truth is following the dictates of divine Mind, living from Spirit, expressing the Love which is our essence. I will send this message to others without questioning their motives. Keeping my motives pure is my business. Speculating on that of others' -- NOT my business!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“We cannot fathom the nature and quality of God's creation by diving into the shallows of mortal belief. We must reverse our feeble flutterings--our efforts to find life and truth in matter--and rise above the testimony of the material senses, above the mortal to the immortal idea of God. These clearer, higher views inspire the God-like man to reach the absolute centre and circumference of his being.” Science & Health Page 262:9-16

May 5, 2014 - Quietness Syndrome

\sed

photo by Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #125

"In quiet I receive God's Word today."

Attention deficit disorder: ADD. Even those who aren't taking drugs to keep themselves in line often say they are afflicted with this disorder. If you get right down to it, aren't we all? Doesn't it seem our "normal" state of mind wants to flit about from one topic to another, gathering steam as we really get into all the avenues we are led in thought as one triggers yet another? The thing I find unfortunate, is that people really think they have no choice. Like anything else, it takes practice. You have to want a quiet mind in order to attain one. I know I've said it before, but watch that first thought of the day. It can set the tone for everything which comes after it. Refusal to start the day with worrisome things is a choice we have. Choose the quiet mind over the busy one. And choose again whenever needed. Sow meditation, plant peace, reap quiet. Namasté!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The ‘still, small voice’ of scientific thought reaches over continent and ocean to the globe's remotest bound. The inaudible voice of Truth is, to the human mind, ‘as when a lion roareth’. … Then is the power of Truth demonstrated,--made manifest in the destruction of error.”

Science & Health Page 559:8-16

May 4, 2014 - I Am One

ACIM Workbook Lesson #124

"Let me remember I am one with God."

Does the topic of today's ACIM lesson make you nervous? Perhaps there's a feeling that God won't like it if you think this -- much less if you say it! Somewhere along the path of Christian theology it was decided that Jesus is God and by this he took care of everything for us; all we have to do is believe and give ourselves to him. It's my understanding that Jesus was here to tell us he was one with God and so are we. Does this mean we are God? In the same way that a ray of sunlight is the sun, yes. It can't be said that it's the actual sun, but it certainly is the expression of it. A ray of sunlight is the experience of the sun, if you will. And we are the expression and experience of God. One with God; one with each other; one with everything. Let's spend some time contemplating that today. Say right out loud: "I Am one with God!" Let's not be afraid to think it and ask ourSelves exactly what that means. And don't forget to expect an answer!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Principle and its idea is one, and this one is God, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent Being, and [Its] reflection is man and the universe."

Science & Health Page 465:17-1

May 3, 2014 - Utopia Now

ACIM Workbook Lesson #123

"I thank my Father for His gifts to me."

Don't we all love new beginnings? Every symbolic new beginning we experience gives hope that it truly will be one this time. We yearn for peace and plenty, purity of heart and environment, joy, satisfaction. But we keep forgetting the spiritual Principle which guarantees this reality, simply for our perception of it. Sometimes we catch glimpses of what it could be like. For instance, I witnessed a man and woman in their 70s cavorting like teenagers in giddy expectation of exchanging marriage vows.Their happiness in this new beginning was infectious! A true new beginning is at hand -- your hand and mine, today, right now.  I will not be distracted by ego-based taunting to play the game being enacted all around us. I will look through the temptation to stay stuck in the muddle of material belief by giving energy to the lower propensities. Raising thought above what cries out so loud for attention, I'll see the beginning in every situation. If there is no end, can there be a beginning? Ah -- ever-flowing forever. Now!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Gratitude is much more than a verbal expression of thanks. Action expresses more gratitude than speech.

Science & Health Page 3:25-26

May 2, 2014 - All I Want ...

ACIM Workbook Lesson #122

"Forgiveness offers everything I want."

In celebration of the start of our May Festival of the Arts in Eureka Springs, I attended three events. The first was a celebration of new technology in regard to time-lapse photography. By loading an app onto your iPhone or iPad, you are able to point said device at a book of photographs and see them come to life, as fog drifts over a valley or water falls from a mountain. Wow! Next, I visited a downtown hotel which holds the distinction of every floor being a ground floor, as they all back up into a mountain. Nestled in this paradise is an outdoor spa where we were treated to a lovely musician singing and playing guitar while we visited and enjoyed a beautiful evening. Then off to a show for local potters. What a wonderful group of artists were gathered there! I tell you this because I was noticing any number of people who have had conflicts in past years, peacefully enjoying each others' company. I noticed it because there were two people whom I have held grievances toward, and I didn't even think about that until late in the evening. At that point, I started looking around and realized that none of us were living in the past, but were accepting each other for what we are right now. I'm reminded of a quote from "Einstein's Dreams": "Those who live in the past are condemned to live there alone." Our realization of connectivity releases illusions of separation. I like oranges, you like apples. So what? Our commonality rests in the Oneness of our true being. That's a constant reality!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need.”

Science & Health Page 494:10-11