September 18, 2014 - Secure Refuge

photo by Arthur Lau-Sed

ACiM Workbook Lesson #261

“God is my refuge and security."

It's easy to feel my security comes from physical things and my refuge is my home. I feel so safe and happy and often find myself expressing gratitude out loud for the peace and comfort I find here. To say that "God is my refuge and security" is, I feel, saying the same thing, but even more expansively and inclusively. As I learn to trust what is invisible to the human eye but palpable deep within mySelf, peace becomes possible no matter what the circumstance. Of course, it's easy to forget and become caught up with hectic circumstances in daily life. But the process of discovering Truth is an adventure which is never-ending. That's why I love it so much! No matter how much I come to know, there is always more.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Citizens of the world, accept the ‘glorious liberty of the children of God,’ and be free! This is your divine right. The illusion of material sense, not divine law, has bound you, entangled your free limbs,

crippled your capacities, enfeebled your body, and defaced the tablet of your being.”

Science & Health Page 227:24-29

September 17, 2014 - Experience and Expression

"Aaron"
photo by Nick Franchi

ACIM Workbook Lesson #260

“Let me remember God created me.”

I Am the experience and expression of God. We are learning what that means and it's a wonderful adventure! For too many years, high officials of churches have tried to tell us that we are mortal sinners and the only way we can gain favor with God is to go through them, performing odd penances and other rituals which I feel certain have nothing to do with the Oneness we are embracing. God Is; I Am. There really isn't anything else to say, but yet there is so much! We have questions that seem unanswerable, but perhaps that's because we have been told there are many things we must simply accept because we can't understand. Through the study of divine metaphysics, we find there are no unanswerable questions. In this remembering, I find there are no dead ends where I must simply "believe", relying on blind faith alone. God is as close as I am to myself, and all answers lie within, available for the asking -- and, most importantly, for the listening!! Remembering what is true leaves me with a wonderful peace. I am most grateful.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Infinite Mind creates and governs all, from the mental molecule to infinity. This divine Principle of all expresses Science and art throughout His creation, and the immortality of man and the universe. Creation is ever appearing, and must ever continue to appear from the nature of its inexhaustible source. Mortal sense inverts this appearing and calls ideas material. Thus misinterpreted, the divine idea seems to fall to the level of a human or material belief, called mortal man. But the seed is in itself, only as the divine Mind is All and reproduces all--as Mind is the multiplier, and Mind's infinite idea, man and the universe, is the product. The only intelligence or substance of a thought, a seed, or a flower is God, the creator of it."

Science & Health Page 507:24-6

September 16, 2014 - Pure Eyes

photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #259

“Let me remember that there is no sin.”

In these "remember" lessons, I have been making an effort to forgive myself the things I continue to feel guilty for and about. There are only a few, but they recur in thought like the moon making an orbit. Today while talking to a friend, she told me how it took her a long, long time to forgive someone who accused her of terrible things years ago. After we finished talking I wondered if we ever truly forgive as long as we remember the occurrence. I have a feeling that some day I won't remember these things I hold onto today, they will simply be gone from thought because God is "of purer eyes than to behold iniquity", and I'm a reflection of that perfection. 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Question: Is there no sin?

Answer: All reality is in God and His creation, harmonious and eternal. That which He creates is good, and He makes all that is made. Therefore the only reality of sin, sickness, or death is

the awful fact that unrealities seem real to human, erring belief, until God strips off their disguise. They are not true, because they are not of God.”

Science & Health Page 472:23-30

September 15, 2014 - Emptiness Filled

photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #258

“Let me remember that my goal is God.”

Many of us have gone through life feeling that something is missing; that there's an empty place which can never be filled. When we discover that it's not something lacking in us, we get very excited! This mind training, which is spoken of in today's lesson, is not a system of mind control, it's not hypnotism or cult-like obedience -- on the contrary! We train our mind to recognize and release all the "senseless aims ... and pointless little goals" which have become life practices and learned behaviors. The insights and answers which appear in our lives through spiritual awareness are often thought of as serendipitous, which implies an element of luck. This is yet again something we have made up to explain the inexplicable. But spiritual sense needs no explanation! A mere glimpse through the eye of Spirit is enough to convince us of our true Identity.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Spiritual sense is a conscious, constant capacity to understand God. It shows the superiority of faith by works over faith in words. Its ideas are expressed only in ‘new tongues;’ and these are interpreted by the translation of the spiritual original into the language which human thought can comprehend.”

Science & Health Page 209:31-4

September 14, 2014 - My Purpose?

Utah Sunset
photo by Nick Franchi

ACIM Workbook Lesson #257

“Let me remember what my purpose is.”

What is my purpose? I'm sure we were taught as young children to have goals, to want to "be" something, to have a life plan. I never did very well at that, and I'm sure many of you didn't either. It never felt right to decide what should be and then do everything possible to make that happen. So when I'm told that my purpose is to discard all my beliefs and listen inwardly, to allow myself to know God and have that as my one goal -- well, I'm just delighted!! My purpose is to know God, and thereby to know myself as an expression of divine Mind. I want to understand what it means to be animated by Spirit, led by Soul, guided by Principle, and to shine forth with Life, Truth, and Love. What a lofly, yet simple, goal! One thing have I desired ...

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Jesus urged the commandment, Thou shalt have no other gods before me," which may be rendered: Thou shalt have no belief of Life as mortal; thou shalt not know evil, for there is one Life,-- even God, good. He rendered "unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's." He at last paid no homage to forms of doctrine or to theories of man, but acted and spake as he was moved, not by spirits but by Spirit."

Science & Health Page 19:29-5

September 13, 2014 - One Goal

photo by Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #256

“God is the only goal I have today.”

It may seem simplistic (and perhaps impossible) to state that I'm only going to think about God today. But when I analyze this thought, it's pretty inclusive! If it's true that God is All, that God is synonymous with Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, and Love -- as Mary Baker Eddy declares -- then how can we do anything other than think of God?? When seeing ourselves as a reflection of God, embodying all these attributes of God, it becomes easier to see ourselves as the consciousness of all good, from which nothing need be added nor taken away. What effect can there be, what end result can occur, other than a realization that God is all there is? And so it will be easy to attain this goal today, because nothing else exists!!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“There is but one primal cause. Therefore there can be no effect from any other cause, and there can be no reality in aught which does not proceed from this great and only cause.”

Science & Health Page 207:20-22

September 12, 2014 - Perfect Peace

"Melonlight Dance sStudio"

ACiM Workbook Lesson #255

“This day I choose to spend in perfect peace."

There's a delightful new business in our little town: Melonlight Dance Studio. These talented people have moved here from Colorado and chose our town after driving through it in the middle of the night. They say they felt such peace and love in that first drive-through that they immediately began to look for a way to move here with their fun enterprise. Tonight, they showed us just how much fun they're bringing to us! We experienced Dancing With the Eureka Stars. Wow!! They found ten well-known residents with little to no dance experience and put on a show with them that will go down in history as one of our most fun events ever!! Seeing an auditorium full of people who are in love with our town and each other was so inspiring. Everyone who witnessed this "happening" will be going to sleep with a smile on their face. When I open my eyes in the morning, I look forward to spending a few moments dwelling in perfect peace. Choosing to keep that feeling -- priceless!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Japhet (Noah’s son). A type of spiritual peace, flowing from the understanding that God is the divine Principle of all existence, and that man is His idea, the child of His care.”

Science & Health Page 589:8-11

September 11, 2014 - A Sure Result

"Moon Over Utah"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM  Workbook Lesson #254

“Let every voice but God's be still in me.”

"Let's set our intention for a good result!" These were the unexpected words I heard over the telephone while working with a tech person in a far-away country. At their best, these encounters can be stressful, so I was particularly delighted to hear this! And it has stuck with me.  I find this thought helpful in assimilating today's topic. . Telling ourselves that we want to still all voices other than divine Mind, but not really knowing what that is, can be confusing and perhaps frightening. So I choose to set the intention for a good result, without dictating what that result might be. This eternal, all-knowing Mind which I will listen for will show forth in Life, Truth, Love. Neither do I know how this will happen, nor do I want to. Trusting as the plants trust the sun to shine on them is my goal. I know nothing and everything. As nature flows, so may I.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Nature voices natural, spiritual law and divine Love, but human belief misinterprets nature. Arctic regions, sunny tropics, giant hills, winged winds, mighty billows, verdant vales, festive flowers, and glorious heavens,--all point to Mind, the spiritual intelligence they reflect. The floral apostles are hieroglyphs of Deity. Suns and planets teach grand lessons. The stars make night beautiful, and the leaflet turns naturally towards the light.”

Science & Health Page 240:1-9

September 10, 2014 - Reflecting Good

photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #253

“My Self is ruler of the universe.

Every day's lesson is leading us to the same end. We are learning that we have a choice. We can accept ourselves as limited humans, or we can learn to recognize ourselves as spiritual beings. How does this recognition come about? By continually turning away from the material picture and knowing spiritual truth. It's easy to fall into the ego's trap of looking at the mortal situation and trying to turn it into something spiritual. And we, with our material thinking, cannot do anything but that. So let's stop analyzing and simply know a truth -- any truth which allows our mind to be cleared of the temptation to analyze and fix. Two times two equals four might work for you, but I prefer something like this: "I Am the infinite reflection of divine Mind". Whatever truth comes to you, clear your thought and then give it to God, if you will. Sit quietly and listen if you have a moment, or go about your business with an open heart. Let's live every moment in the conscious awareness of good!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The pains of sense are salutary, if they wrench away false pleasurable beliefs and transplant the affections from sense to Soul, where the creations of God are good, "rejoicing the heart." Such is the sword of Science, with which Truth decapitates error, materiality giving place to man's higher individuality and destiny."

 Science & Health Page 265:31-5

September 9, 2014 - Our Identity

"Eureka Thyme"
photo by Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #252

“The Son of God is my Identity."

The gallery I choreograph has been open for ten years, and we're looking forward to celebrating all its splendor next month. The entity called Eureka Thyme is a product of every artist whose work has been represented by us, along with every appreciator who has walked through our doors, and anyone who loves local art in our quirky tourist town. Its identify is a clear reflection of the Love which comprises it. This is a good definition for our identity, too!  So when I think of "my identity", I won't think of my name or all the other indicators. I'll ask to know my true identity as a reflection of God.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Identity is the reflection of Spirit, the reflection in multifarious forms of the living Principle, Love."

Science & Health Page 472:20-22

September 8, 2014 - One Thing

"Utah Early Fall"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #251

“I am in need of nothing but the truth."

How reassuring it is to know I need nothing but the Truth! All worry and anxiety disappear when I'm not chasing something illusive which I can't quite name. Oh, sure, we may put lots of names on these things we seek in good faith, totally believing they will bring us the happiness we crave -- names like success, fame, marriage. The list of personal fulfillments desired can be quite long. We are even encouraged to make lists of these goals, to create affirmations surrounding them, to hold them in thought until they become realities in our existence. At this point, I must quote a Bible verse: "Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven and all these things shall be added unto you." And this kingdom is found within, in the understanding and acceptance of our Source.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Dost thou ‘love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind’? This command includes much, even the surrender of all merely material sensation, affection, and worship. This is the El Dorado of Christianity. It involves the Science of Life, and recognizes only the divine control of Spirit, in which Soul is our master, and material sense and human will have no place.”

Science & Health Page 9:17-24

September 7, 2014 - Supernatural or Supremely Natural?

photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #250

“Let me not see myself as limited."

Thinking of ourselves as unlimited contradicts everything we've been taught. Many of our first memories are of being told to be careful or else something dire will happen. Quantum physics is helping us to understand that form isn't as solid as we've been told. With that understanding, it becomes clear that many limitations we've placed upon ourselves are nothing more than beliefs in material laws. Limitations are discarded when an athlete breaks a record in the Olympics, or if someone performs a seemingly-impossible feat like lifting a car off of trapped loved ones. We've all heard people tell tales we think of as supernatural, such as falling great distances and feeling as though they landed on a cushion, or so-called incurable diseases disappearing. The first Wayne Dyer book I read was "When You Believe It, You'll See It!" I was so excited to see that mainstream thought was shifting! Now, I'm not suggesting we exchange one human belief for yet another, but that we look to divine Mind to tell us the truth of our being and that we allow ourselves to be led in paths we wouldn't have considered otherwise. Thought is shifting so rapidly at this time! Let's not be afraid to listen.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“It would require an infinite form to contain infinite Mind. Indeed, the phrase infinite form involves a contradiction of terms. Finite man cannot be the image and likeness of the infinite God. A mortal, corporeal, or finite conception of God cannot embrace the glories of limitless, incorporeal Life and Love. Hence the unsatisfied human craving for something better, higher, holier, than is afforded by a material belief in a physical God and man. ” Science & Health Page 257: 30-6

September 6, 2014 - Love Stories

:Moab, Utah"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #249

“Forgiveness ends all suffering and loss."

I love the stories I hear every day in the gallery: A 68-year-old woman celebrating a first marriage to a man she's been friends with for 15 years. A woman who is dying of cancer and just bought beautiful red shoes to wear to her impending chemotherapy (which she described as throwing a bucket of water at a forest fire). A child-like middle-aged man who spent quite some time telling me about Sheldon on a TV show called The Big Bang Theory. A woman who gave away her home and all her belongings to her children and moved to a remote area in the woods, riding and tending to horses and building a rustic cabin while living in a small make-shift abode. Her friends all think she's lost her mind; I think she's found it! People share the most astonishing things with me! I'm so happy to not be afraid to laugh in the face of death, cry happy tears with stories of romantic weddings, giggle along with childish tales, and cheer on a woman brave enough to follow her dream!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“God fashions all things after His own likeness. Life is reflected in existence, Truth in truthfulness, God in goodness, which impart their own peace and permanence. Love, redolent with unselfishness, bathes all in beauty and light."

Science & Health Page 516:9-13

September 5, 2014 - Eternity

"Utah Salt Flats"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #248

“Whatever suffers is not part of me."

The words, "Whatever suffers is not a part of me" could be taken as an unfeeling, heartless statement.  I don't see it as  denying the feelings we have in favor of a hardness which excludes emotion. On the contrary! I see it as an expression of pure Love which allows us to pass through illusions into the reality of good, God. The passing of a loved one may be difficult in many ways, but I really think the myths we have concocted surrounding death do more harm than good. We tell children they'll see grandma in heaven. We say things like, God took her to be with him because she was so good. What lies we tell ourselves in the name of kindness! As we begin to understand divine reality, we are able to let loose the stories we tell ourselves in favor of the Truth which sets us free. I'll always remember reading "Beloved Prophet", the story of Kahlil Gibran and the woman who loved him. She sat at his funeral with a peaceful smile on her face. When asked why she wasn't upset, she responded that she had never felt closer to him. What a lovely realization of Oneness and eternity!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“A blundering dispatch, mistakenly announcing the death of a friend, occasions the same grief that the friend's real death would bring. You think that your anguish is occasioned by your loss. Another dispatch, correcting the mistake, heals your grief, and you learn that your suffering was merely the result of your belief. Thus it is with all sorrow, sickness, and death. You will learn at length that there is no cause for grief, and divine wisdom will then be understood. Error, not Truth, produces all the suffering on earth.”

Science & Health Page 386:16-25

September 4, 2014 - Forgive and See

"Utah Fall"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #247

“Without forgiveness I will still be blind."

Do you have an incident from childhood which has stayed with you, perhaps even affecting the way you live today? I know someone who, as a young child, caught her mother in a compromising position with a man other than her father. She refuses to marry. I know a man who found his father dead from a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. His whole life is a series of dramatic events which he blames on that incident. I'm sure you know many stories, too. This Disappearance of the Universe, a book by Gary Renard speaks to these events and more. When we let go of beliefs, we can turn loose our history, also. I love hearing stories of people who live through horrendous-seeming events and remain not only happy but proactive. This thing we call forgiveness isn't some sort of divine pardon, but a yielding within ourselves to purity of thought, without the impediments of holding on to memories of wrongdoing, resentment, and pain of all sorts. This yielding includes the release of things which we think have been done to us and things we think we have done to others. So let's choose again, rest in Love, and go forward, with joy!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Sin was, and is, the lying supposition that life, substance, and intelligence are both material and spiritual, and yet are separate from God,”

Retrospection and Introspection (p. 67).

September 3, 2014 - Chainmail of Love

ACIM Workbook Lesson #246

“To love my Father is to love His Son."

"Clad in the panoply of Love, human hatred cannot reach you." This Mary Baker Eddy quote is one of my favorites, which I've always thought of as meaning that the human hatred others feel cannot reach me when I'm wearing the armor of divine Love. I now see that it includes the hatred I may feel toward others, also. It's very easy for me to think that I don't hate anyone or anything. Actually, it's a word I have pruned from my vocabulary and simply do not use. BUT if I am irritated by another's actions or words, or if I replay a past situation in my mind which caused anger in the past, or if I allow criticism to gnaw at me and I think of retaliatory statements which could have been said -- isn't that human hatred? Wearing this cloak of Love calms these nagging feelings and thoughts. I know that if I'm wearing the protection of Love, hatred cannot enter from inside or out!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"God is universal; confined to no spot, defined by no dogma, appropriated by no sect. Not more to one than to all, is God demonstrable as divine Life, Truth, and Love; and His people are they that reflect Him -- that reflect Love."

Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896 Page 150

September 2, 2014 - Unspeakable Peace

ACIM Workbook Lesson #245

“Your peace is with me, Father.  I am safe."

Although I know that peace is a choice within my own self, I really want to share it with everyone, everywhere. It has taken quite a while to grasp the concept that the only thought I can change is my own. After spending years trying to change thoughts and actions of  husbands and friends, I think it was my children who finally taught me the meaning of Oneness. I could watch the mood of the household change with my emotions. Holding to peace within myself is all I can do. Jumping on the bandwagon of resentment and other negative emotions can seem impossible to avoid, but it doesn't seem as difficult now to simply witness these things without becoming a part of them.  While I can't change what anyone else is thinking or feeling or experiencing, I can adjust my vision of reality. Every thought is important! We are all in this together, in every way, at every moment. Today I will make an effort to see everything through the eyes of Love.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Spiritual living and blessedness are the only evidences by which we can recognize true existence and feel the unspeakable peace which comes from an all-absorbing spiritual love.”

Science & Health Page 264:24-27

September 1, 2014 - Heavenly Rest

photo by Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #244

“I am in danger nowhere in the world."

Generally when I read the topic for today's lesson, I think of my world-traveling son, Aaron, who supplies many of the photographs I use in these writings. But today when I read last year's entry with the accompanying Mary Baker Eddy poem, which is set to music and is one of my favorites, I was reminded of something which happened on the last day of August in 1998. On that day, I purchased the Honda Odyssey which I still drive and we were on our way home when we saw a car which had run off the road. We stopped to help and it turned out there were two women and three children in the vehicle. One of the children was bleeding from a wound in her side and they were all crying hysterically. I got a blanket out of my car and wrapped the injured child in it, pulling her to my lap. As we sat on the ground, I started singing this peaceful song to her. Soon everyone quieted down and the authorities arrived. We quickly were on our way home, feeling we had christened our car with peace!

Mary Baker Eddy poem:

Mother's Evening Prayer

O gentle presence, peace and joy and power;

         O Life divine, that owns each waiting hour,

Thou Love that guards the nestling's faltering flight!

         Keep Thou my child on upward wing tonight.

Love is our refuge; only with mine eye

         Can I behold the snare, the pit, the fall:

His habitation high is here, and nigh,

         His arm encircles me, and mine, and all.

O make me glad for every scalding tear,

         For hope deferred, ingratitude, disdain!

Wait, and love more for every hate, and fear

         No ill, — since God is good, and loss is gain.

Beneath the shadow of His mighty wing;

         In that sweet secret of the narrow way,

Seeking and finding, with the angels sing:

         "Lo, I am with you alway," — watch and pray.

No snare, no fowler, pestilence or pain;

         No night drops down upon the troubled breast,

When heaven's aftersmile earth's tear-drops gain,

         And mother finds her home and heav'nly rest.

(Poems by Mary Baker Eddy, pp. 4, 5)

August 31, 2014 - Celebrate!

[Two days ago, I skipped this lesson, so it is out of order.]

ACIM Workbook Lesson #241

“This holy instant is salvation come."

Let's celebrate today by remembering seers whose words have awakened the knowledge of salvation within us. These are people whose words are so familiar they have become a natural part of our conversations and thoughts. I want to commemorate today the wisdom passed to us by John Lennon, Emerson, Shakespeare, Rumi, and others. Today I remember those whose words have encouraged me to live Truth, by helping me to know I'm not the only one who feels this way. And while visiting these words I love, I will know that salvation is not only something to be desired, but that it is here, now, for the remembering.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“When sufficiently advanced in Science to be in harmony with the truth of being, men become seers and prophets involuntarily, controlled not by demons, spirits, or demigods, but by the one Spirit. It is the prerogative of the ever-present, divine Mind, and of thought which is in rapport with this Mind, to know the past, the present, and the future.

Acquaintance with the Science of being enables us to commune more largely with the divine Mind, to foresee and foretell events which concern the universal welfare, to be divinely inspired,--yea, to reach the range of fetter-less Mind.”

Science & Health Page 84:7-18

August 30, 2014 - Quiet Beginnings

ACIM Workbook Lesson #242

“This day is God's. It is my gift to Him."

Starting my day with consecrated, spiritual thought allows intuition to be heard. I think of this as the beginning of "giving this day to God". Without that back-and-forth volley which is so easy to fall into when weighing the possibilities of my actions, I have silent communion with divine Mind. Quietness in the morning is the most important time for me. I'm not sure how people manage who must begin to speak to others when they first wake up. I feel the need for this centering before facing the cacophony of daily life. I have no ritual to these moments of quietude; no set prayers or by-rote actions, but simply a clearing of thought and acceptance of what comes. The practice of turning every thought away from worrying and wondering "what-if" is sufficient to supply me with everything I need to walk this path. And it's exciting to see what will unfold!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Emerge gently from matter into Spirit. Think not to thwart the spiritual ultimate of all things, but come naturally into Spirit through better health and morals and as the result of spiritual growth.”

Science & Health Page 485:13-16