I Have a Choice!

photo courtesy of Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #255

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

Have you noticed that some people’s thoughts seem to go to the worst case scenario in any given situation? There is a planned electrical outage scheduled for maintenance to the system in our small town. It’s to be between 3 and 5 a.m. to cause the least possible disruption for everyone. I have heard people expressing fear for their businesses and homes. There is talk of staying up all night with a shotgun to insure safety. I can’t even imagine thinking this way, but I know many people do. This perfect peace we speak of in today’s ACIM topic is an impossibility to anyone who concentrates on fear and the myriad of what-ifs which come from that thought. When I choose peace, I send it out to others. When someone chooses fear, they don’t spread it to the world because erroneous illusions die on the vine. Divine Mind spreads like wildfire because it is the Oneness of which we are learning. Mortal belief can go no farther than our material thoughts. Choose peace today!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The calm and exalted thought or spiritual apprehension is at peace.” 506:11-12

Setting Intention for a Good Result

"Moon Over Utah"
photo from 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 types of phone calls can be stressful, so I was particularly delighted to hear this! And it has stuck with me.  I find this thought helpful while 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. I neither 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

From self to Self

photo from Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #253

“My Self is ruler of the universe.

For today’s topic to make sense, we must differentiate between self and Self. The self perceives things in an illusory way, colored by beliefs and propaganda left over from our education and mass media. It may be difficult for us to believe that we want the drama we sometimes seem to experience, but it’s part of the ego’s dream of specialness, and it’s something we don’t even realize we’re doing. The Self, with a capital S, is the One Self, of which we are an inseparable, even integral, reflection. I’m not sure the change from self to Self realization can be made by a simple decision. To live as a creation of divine Mind requires an overwhelming desire to do so, along with yielding to Love at every moment. I had a dear friend who insisted on believing that vehemently declaring spiritual truths, closing her eyes and almost yelling, was the way to change thought and live as the experience of God. Watching her was a wake-up call to me (one of many!) and this journey of realization is unfolding even as I write these words. What a trip!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“There is but one I, or Us, but one divine Principle, or Mind, governing all existence; man and woman unchanged forever in their individual characters, even as numbers which never blend with each other, though they are governed by one Principle. Science & Health Page 588:11-15

Identical Identities

Courtesy of Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #252

“The Son of God is my Identity."

I find that it’s much easier to see myself as the experience and expression of divine Love than it is to see others as such! I may find myself being glad I’m not like that “Samaritan over there”, or I may think someone’s actions are foolish and unnecessary, or — well, I don’t think I’ll go on with these examples. I’m sure you get where I’m going with this. The secret, if you will, of realizing Oneness is accepting that there is really, truly no difference in anyone who is the idea of divine Mind — and that means you and me and that guy over there, too. I love the picture I’m using today to illustrate these thoughts. It perfectly shows how easy it is to look at another with judgmental eyes and unloving thoughts. If these thoughts try to jump into my head today, I think I’ll just say “no”!

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

What Do I Need?

photo by Richard Quick

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 we desire 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:

“Truth not error, Love not hate, Spirit not matter, governs man.”

Science & Health Page 420:3-4

Unlimited Being

"Mt. Timpanogos Goats"
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.  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:

“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 258: 1-6

Signs and Symbols

"Salt Flats in Utah"
photo from Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #249 “Forgiveness ends all suffering and loss."

I remember a time when so-called new age thought was not often spoken of in the media or anywhere other than the privacy of our homes. Now these new-old ideas are seen and heard everywhere. Every day we are witness to more proof that this shift in consciousness is happening now -- and we're talking about it! Thanks, Oprah! Even when these ideas are fictionalized, as in best-selling novels such as "The Lost Symbol", the possibilities presented are easily translated into plausible realities. This shift in consciousness allows us to naturally embrace peace and harmony. Through this change in perception, we are understanding Truth and learning to live It.  We each support this realization in our own individual way. Every instance of pure peace we feel, each yielding of our personal sense to spiritual sense, brings us closer to living Love, which is where we always have been, but we've forgotten. We are all needed at this time, to calm the tumultuous collective thought which fights the idea of such freedom!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Love, redolent with unselfishness, bathes all in beauty and light."

Science & Health Page 516:9-13

What, Me Worry?

photo by Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #248

“Whatever suffers is not part of me."

I am reminded of a family friend from long ago. She was a wonderful, spiritually-aware person who showed me the Truth of today's topic. Over the course of a year, her husband passed on, her daughter was in a car wreck which left her in a coma for months before she died, and her house burned down. While I know she felt grief, I'm not sure there was despair. She always had a twinkle in her eye and a generous heart. When she herself passed on some 20 years later, I am told she went with a smile on her face. I often think of her. "Whatever suffers is not a part of me". This is not a heartless statement. It doesn't deny the feelings we have in favor of a hardness which excludes emotion. On the contrary! It's a pure Love which allows us to face hard times with a firm understanding of the beauty of Truth. After walking through the grief, we're free to see that nothing can touch our true Self or change the reality of Love.

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

I Was Blind, But Now I See!

photo credit: Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #247

“Without forgiveness I will still be blind."

The sight which appears with forgiveness is our topic today. In this lesson, we are told that sin is the symbol of attack. The words sin and forgiveness, have always been difficult for me to understand. I feel this is because they are not a part of our real Being, and so I recoil at the words as they have been presented in their many forms.  Today's workbook lesson is telling us of the nothingness of sin and the meaning of forgiveness. I think of sin as being anything -- anything at all  -- which separates us from the Love which is God., and this separation can only occur in belief, as it never really happened. What we call forgiveness isn't some sort of divine pardon, but a yielding within ourselves to the purity of our thought, without the impediments of holding on to memories of wrongdoing, resentment, and pains 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, and things going on everywhere else. So let's choose again, rest in Love, and go and sin no more!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“As mortals gain more correct views of God and man, multitudinous objects of creation, which before were invisible, will become visible.”

Science & Health Page 264:13-15

Panoply of Love

photo by Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM 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:

"We acknowledge and adore one supreme and infinite God. We acknowledge His Son, one Christ; the Holy Ghost or divine Comforter; and man in God’s image and likeness."

Science & Health Page 497:5-8

Is It Silly to Be Safely at Peace?

"Great Wall of China"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #245

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

Today's statement of peace and safety may seem downright silly to some people. While we know that peace is a choice within our own selves, we really want that peace to spread to every corner of the world. And while we can affirm our safety, it seems heartless to see war-torn countries as a place of peaceful safety. So we set up a guilt trip for ourselves and won't allow ourselves to feel peace and safety because we think that would be selfish. But wait a minute! There is no separation in the essence of our Being.  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 divine Love, recognizing the Principle of peace at work in every situation.

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

Safety Assured - September 1, 2015

photo by Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #244

“I am in danger nowhere in the world."

Reading the above affirmation of our safety in any situation reminds me of many personal examples of this Truth. Often when we hear of material so-called laws being usurped, we think of this as divine intervention.  Let's not think of this as God setting aside material law in favor of spiritual principle, but as the demonstration of how Principle operates. By surrendering my separate identify, I feel the Oneness that is perfect peace. Holding on to my own knowledge and beliefs, I am afraid of many things, seeing possible dangers around every corner.  Returning to Love releases illusions which we have made, enabling us to see Truth, to live Love, in safety. I know many of you are thinking of the horrible things you know about which make this seem like a frivolous statement. In the mortal world we witness, this certainly is true. But is it the Truth? That is the question!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Clad in the panoply of Love, human hatred cannot reach you. The cement of a higher humanity will unite all interests in the one divinity.” Science & Health Page 571:18-21

Namastè, Wayne Dyer

ACIM Workbook Lesson #243

“Today I will judge nothing that occurs."

I just heard about Wayne Dyer’s death. With someone as loving and pure of motive as this man, it’s easy to feel he’s your friend. The first book of his I ever read was, “When You Believe It, You’ll See It”. I even remember the yard sale I was at on Vaughn Street. I recall the feeling that went through me when I looked down at a box of books and saw it there, shining at me and asking to be taken home. I became a large fan of his, thrilled by how accessible he made this way of thought. He appealed to a wide variety of people with his non-judgmental way of speaking and his willingness to show us his weaknesses and to make fun of his ego. He was a delightful man who reached many otherwise uninterested people through his PBS talks, which were often run during their fundraising campaigns. Thank you, Wayne, for advising us not to “die with our music still inside us”. You certainly played your own loud and clear for all of us! Namastè, dear Friend.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“It should be thoroughly understood that all men have one Mind, one God and Father, one Life, Truth, and Love. Mankind will become perfect in proportion as this fact becomes apparent, war will cease and the true brotherhood of man will be established.”

Science and Health Page 467:9-13

What a Gift!

"Thorncrown Chapel"
photo by Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #242

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

Last year, after sending out this daily workbook topic, someone wrote me asking if giving a gift to God meant going to church. After I stated my thoughts about “This day is God’s. It is my gift to Him.”, she told me she had little enough time to herself and didn’t want to give up a day to anyone. I guess we can have the idea that if we live our life for divine Love, we’re not living it for ourself. Recently I spoke with her and she tells me she now sees that giving is receiving. She also mentioned that she understood how giving up all the beliefs she had and listening for divine Mind was living in a dimension she hadn’t thought was possible. Her new way of living and listening was such a source of happiness for her! She’s happier than she remembers ever being before, and that’s a gift!

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

The Holy Instant, Celebrated!

"Mongolian Shaman"
creation by Sandy Wythawai Starbird

ACIM Workbook Lesson #241

“This holy instant is salvation come."Today let's celebrate words which have awakened us to the knowledge of salvation within! We all have our favorites -- people whose words are so familiar they have become a natural part of our conversations and thoughts. Today I commemorate the wisdom passed to us by John Lennon, William Blake, Shakespeare, Rumi, and others. I will remember those whose words have encouraged me to live Truth, by way of their living of It. While visiting these well-loved words, I know that salvation is not only something to be desired, but that it is here, right now, for the remembering.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"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 84:14-18

No Fear, Omni-Action!

"Mongolia"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #240

“Fear is not justified in any form."

Our lives tend to fall into familiar patterns as we move through our days. We may find ourselves going to the same places, saying the same things, thinking the same thoughts -- and all of  these habits become comfortable. Even if we're experiencing disharmony, we often fear change. We may say, "Something told me I should do so-and-so". We often hear this calling, this inner voice leading us toward a different path than we're on, but we feel it takes courage to walk a road less or never traveled, and so we settle. To settle for anything which brings us less than joyful existence is to dishonor ourselves, which is to dishonor God. The next time I think I'm feeling this thing we call fear, I'll choose to interpret the emotion as excitement about what will come next!

Mary Baker Eddy quotes:

“Had Blondin believed it impossible to walk the rope over Niagara's abyss of waters, he could never have done it. His belief that he could do it gave his thought-forces, called muscles, their flexibility and power which the unscientific might attribute to a lubricating oil. His fear must have disappeared before his power of putting resolve into action could appear.”

Science & Health Page 199:25-31

I Celebrate MySelf!

photo by Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #239

“The glory of my Father is my own"

“Let not the truth about ourselves today be hidden by a false humility.” (ACIM) This "false humility" we use to hide the Truth about ourselves can take many forms. It's usually easy to catch ourselves in self-deprecating actions, which we deem to be humility, but which actually are expressing our inability to accept the glory of our true selves, but there are lots of insidious forms that are not as easily noticed. Do we take things personally and feel attacked when we hear news of governmental actions, friends’ words, co-workers' rivalry, or the thousands of other things that go on around us? These are all forms of accepting something other than the glory of ourselves. Every time I hear or see something today which seems to cause me chagrin, I will smile with the assurance that no one, including my own self, can change the Truth of Being.

“I celebrate myself, and sing myself,

And what I assume you shall assume,

For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.”

Walt Whitman

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Unfathomable Mind is expressed. The depth, breadth, height, might, majesty, and glory of infinite Love fill all space.” 

Science & Health Page 520:3-5

Too Many Decisions!

photo courtesy of Alden Stallings

ACIM Workbook Lesson #238

“On my decision all salvation rests."

It seems we have too many decisions in daily life. Even the tea section in the grocery store has so many choices it can be daunting! And so when we are told that "On my decision all salvation rests", it's tempting to say "No thanks!" But this salvation spoken of here is received by one decision: to wake up and accept our own divinity. There are no considerations to mull over in this decision, there are no choices which are better than others, nor is there any reason for fear of failure. All duality, all choice, vanishes when we realize there is only one thing to desire: to know that God is Life: not my life, or your life, but Life! From this understanding, everything is manifested in our experience, all from the freedom of knowing that the Love which is God is the only Principle of our existence.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“By interpreting God as a corporeal Savior but not as the saving Principle, or divine Love, we shall continue to seek salvation through pardon and not through reform…" Science & Health Page 285:23-26

Releasing Myths

"Beaver Bridge"
photo by Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #237

“Now would I be as God created me."

Seeing past our thoughts about words to the true meaning behind them is part of letting go of the beliefs and dogma with which we have been indoctrinated. There are so many words I’ve had “problems” with, but those illusions are fading away as I learn that the words in these workbook lessons are leading me to peace and love, and the forgiveness of my belief is part of that journey. Letting go of the myths of creation, dramas which attempt to bring us guilt and limitation, is all a part of the changing thought we are experiencing as we allow the light of Mind to shine away the illusions of mortality. Today I will see myself and everyone as extensions of divine Love, allowing nothing to convince me otherwise.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The mythical human theories of creation, anciently classified as the higher criticism, sprang from cultured scholars in Rome and in Greece, but they afforded no foundation for accurate views of creation by the divine Mind.”

Science & Health Page 255: 5-10

Stop the Babble!

"Mongolia"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #236

“I rule my mind, which I alone must rule."

Today's topic brings a remembrance of a school trip where I had five students in my car. During the six-hour drive, one of the boys kept up an almost non-stop stream-of-consciousness babble. I finally told him that everything that went through his head didn't need to come out of his mouth! That's sort of what we're learning today, too. We don't have to allow every thought that pops into our head to rule us. I don't freak out when I do have thoughts I'm not interested in having, but I do turn them away. We have that power!  We're not victims of random thoughts flying around like pollen. We are created by divine Mind and have that heritage to call upon. Mortal mind, ego, is not our ruler, and we can just say no when fearful thinking wants our attention. What a relief!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“God's thoughts are perfect and eternal, are substance and Life. Material and temporal thoughts are human, involving error, and since God, Spirit, is the only cause, they lack a divine cause. The temporal and material are not then creations of Spirit. They are but counterfeits of the spiritual and eternal.”

Science & Health Page 286:21-27