To Infinity and Beyond!

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #73

“I will there be light.”

"Quantum information is like the information of a dream. We can't show it to others, and when we try to describe it we change the memory of it." (Charles Bennett) This information we are learning is very difficult to put into words. We have already assigned long-held interpretations to many of these words, and  hearing them in a different context can be confusing and even upsetting. That is why we are asked to see everything with no meaning, so that Truth becomes visible.  Many new-age teachings advocate affirmations and various hypnotic means of convincing ourselves of certain things. The "will" spoken of in today's lesson has nothing to do with our own personal will power. As the expressions of divine Mind, we have access to an all-encompassing will which we can tap into by our willingness to do so. Looked at from this perspective, "I will there be light" sort of means "To infinity and beyond"!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"The power of the human will should be exercised only in subordination to Truth; else it will misguide the judgment and free the lower propensities. It is the province of spiritual sense to govern man. Material, erring, human thought acts injuriously both upon the body and through it."

Science & Health Page 206:4-9

An Upside Down World

photo credit:
Arthur-Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #72

“Holding grievances is an attack on God’s plan for salvation.”

An upside down world seems normal to us. We have become accustomed to believing that the testimony of our physical senses is reality, while we discount the feelings gained through what we think of as otherworldly intuitions. Many of my favorite authors write about the metaphysical concepts we are discovering, and some of them use the genre of fiction to allow them the leeway to take this new/old thought all the way without empirical evidence in support. And I applaud this method! What better way to introduce ideas to a skeptical audience than through the entertainment field? Dan Brown is an expert at this form of writing. He brings us thought-provoking concepts without asking us to accept them as true, such as in "The Lost Symbol". Paulo Coelho gently hits closer to home in his books. Two of my favorites are "The Alchemist" and "The Aleph". These and other novels are softly preparatory for the life-changing concepts presented in A Course in Miracles textbook and also by Mary Baker Eddy's writings. Without prior opening of thought, the ideas contained in these books can be jarring indeed! In the lesson today, we learn that God did not create this body. God created everything that is real and eternal, and it's our realization of this true Self which brings us peace and harmony of being. I find that revelations in thought such as this open doors to understanding. Oftentimes what we think of as religion leads us down dead-end streets, with no logical explanation. "A creator wholly unlike [its] creation is inconceivable." (ACIM) "[You are] not material,[you are] spiritual." (MBE) These concepts are slowly beginning to be understood. To me, this is salvation! 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Divine metaphysics explains away matter. Spirit is the only substance and consciousness recognized by divine Science. The material senses oppose this, but there are no material senses, for matter has no mind. In Spirit there is no matter, even as in Truth there is no error, and in good no evil. It is a false supposition, the notion that there is real substance-matter, the opposite of Spirit. Spirit, God, is infinite, all. Spirit can have no opposite."

Science & Health Page 278:3-11

Surrender to Unity!

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #71

“Only God’s plan for salvation will work.”

The topic for today's workbook lesson could be misinterpreted as meaning there is some sort of predestined plan which we must follow if we are to achieve happiness and fulfillment. What we are learning has nothing to do with blindly following something we don't understand. It involves knowing that we are the expression of God, and until we realize what that means, we have no hope of trusting what we hear within our being. Mortal mind (the thoughts which come to us from material teachings and long-held beliefs) tells us that to listen to anything other than "logic" is foolishness. And so we plant our feet on the shifting sands of materialism and think we're doing the best we can under impossible circumstances. Salvation is an ongoing event, facilitated by releasing our belief in separation. I’m ready to surrender to unity! How about you?

Mary Baker Eddy quotes: "Salvation is as eternal as God. To mortal thought Jesus appeared as a child, and grew to manhood, to suffer before Pilate and on Calvary, because he could reach and teach mankind only through this conformity to mortal conditions; but Soul never saw the Saviour come and go, because the divine idea is always present." Unity of Good: 59:13-18

Salvation Within

Spring in Eureka Springs
photo by Richard Quick

ACIM Lesson #70

“My salvation comes from me.”

Today’s lesson tells us that nothing outside of ourselves has the power to hurt us, to upset us, or to disturb us in any way. Do you believe this? It sure seems that something “out there” is responsible for any angst we may experience. Today I was in a store picking up a few things. When I got to the check-out counter, the checker told me he was waiting for a woman to get some money from her car. I said, That’s cool; I’ll look at the sunglasses while I wait. Well, she came back in, all flustered, handing him a few coins and starting to pull things out of her purse. I was reminded of a scene from the movie Terms of Endearment when Debra Winger doesn’t have enough money and a tense situation ensures. I walked over and asked her how much she needed. It was $1.46, which I gave to the clerk. The woman was upset and tried to give me the few pennies she had found in her purse, but I just hugged her and told her to pay it forward. We spoke for a short while and then she left, smiling. In this brief encounter, I trust she felt the light we both share and has gone forth shining!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Students are advised by the author to be charitable and kind, not only towards differing forms of religion and medicine, but to those who hold these differing opinions.” 

Science & Health Page 444:13-16

Spring Cleaning!

Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas
photo by Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #69

“My grievances hide the light of the world in me.”

The last words of today's lesson are: "Be sure to tell yourself: If I hold this grievance the light of the world will be hidden from me, if you are tempted to hold anything against anyone today." I think of spring cleaning in my home as similar to rooting out hidden grievances which are hiding the light within myself. Perhaps I'm holding on to some of these illusions because it's comfortable. Maybe I  have convinced myself that I like my history and wouldn't want to give up any of it, much less all of it. But what brilliance is hiding behind the cover of these grievance clouds? What light have I hidden with illusions I've created for myself and the world? I know something wonderful is there; I can feel it. So when an old story comes to mind, I will turn thought instead to contemplation of the wondrous Truth which flows in, out, and through me when I lift the veil created by my grievances. Now that's spring cleaning!

Mary Baker Eddy Quote:

“The manifestation of God through mortals is as light passing through the window-pane. The light and the glass never mingle, but as matter, the glass is less opaque than the walls. The mortal mind through which Truth appears most vividly is that one which has lost much materiality--much error--in order to become a better transparency for Truth. Then, like a cloud melting into thin vapor, it no longer hides the sun.” Science & Health Page 295:14-24

We Are Love!

photo credit: Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #67

“Love created me like itself.”

In today’s lesson we are asked to recognize ourselves as unchanging Love rather than the limited self we have been thinking we are.  “Love created me like Itself.” Love has created everyone like Itself!! We have many false ideas about what we are and what others are, but let’s realize the illusory nature of those ideas and see ourselves as the one infinite divine Love. It’s fairly easy to see ourselves as loving, but as pure Love its ownself?? Let’s try to undo our ideas of what God is, what we are, releasing all our beliefs and asking Holy Spirit to fill us with the Truth of our being! 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“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 560:11-15

Happiness is My Function

creation of Sandy Wythawai Starbird

ACIM Workbook Lesson #66:

“My happiness and my function are one.”

If we are created to be happy, why are we so often not? While wondering about this interesting question, I looked up happiness on Wikipedia. "Happiness is a mental or emotional state of well-being defined by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. A variety of biological, psychological, religious and philosophical approaches have striven to define happiness and identify its sources. Various research groups, including positive psychology, are employing the scientific method to research questions about what happiness is and how it might be attained. The United Nations declared 20 March the International Day of Happiness to recognize the relevance of happiness and well-being as universal goals." Today I will ponder why we find happiness to be elusive and joy to be fleeting, when they are clearly our native state of Being! 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love. It is unselfish; therefore it cannot exist alone, but requires all mankind to share it."

Science & Health Page 57:18-21

Blossoming Function

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #65:

“My only function is the one God gave me.”

A friend once said to me: “You can’t help what goes through your mind; it’s what you do with it that’s important.” As she always got upset when I talked about perception and how things are as we see them to be, I didn’t think I should tell her I disagreed with her statement. I do think we can keep rampant negative thoughts out of our head. I also think we can stop ourselves from flitting from one memory to another, flowing through a tangent of remembrances and idle repetitions. Through these studies, we are practicing training our mind away from blame and guilt, away from circular, meaningless thought, and hence allowing our function as the expression of divine Mind to flow through us, beautifully blossoming for others to share and experience. On this perfect day, I will work toward cleansing my thoughts of unnecessary chatter, opening myself to my function as the reflection of Love!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true, and you will bring these into your experience proportionably to their occupancy of your thoughts.” Science & Health Page 261:4-7

Bullying a Wave

photo credit: Heather Peters

ACIM Workbook Lesson #64:

"Let me not forget my function"

“Have you ever tried to bully a wave in the ocean?” This is the question a 104-year-old Buddhist nun asks her great granddaughter in a beautiful novel I’m reading, A Tale For the Time Being, by Ruth Ozeki. They had just gone into a store to get food for a picnic on the beach. A group of gangster girls were hanging around outside the store and had harassed them as they went in. When they came out the old woman bowed deeply to the group of young women before walking away. When they got onto the train the nun wondered aloud if it was a holiday of some sort, mentioning that the girls were all dressed so brightly and seemed so happy. The granddaughter tried to explain that they were gang colors and that they were being derisive in their words and laughter. The grandmother didn’t see this as the fact and asked her young charge if she had ever tried to bully a wave, explaining that no matter how much you hit at it or yell into it, it stays what it is. That is its function, and that is our function. Namastè ~~~ 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Can we gather peaches from a pine-tree, or learn from discord the concord of being? Yet quite as rational are some of the leading illusions along the path which Science must tread in its reformatory mission among mortals. The very name, illusion, points to nothingness.”  Science & Health Page 129:24-29 

Facilitating Peace

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #63

“The light of the world brings peace to every mind through my forgiveness.”

It’s easy to feel peaceful when everything is going according to our plans, but what about those unexpected events such as loss of a job, breaking up of a marriage, illness and accidents? At such times, it can feel as though our peace has been disrupted, perhaps never to be felt again. In order to extend peace to others, we must accept it for ourselves. How grateful I am for this inkling of knowledge about the Science of Being! The unfolding reality which has replaced the shattering illusions around me have been facilitating a change in perception and an acceptance of peace. It’s sort of like Michelangelo chiseling away everything but the image he was seeing. We are working to release everything unlike Love, leaving behind pure peace! 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Gladness to leave the false landmarks and joy to see them disappear,--this disposition helps to precipitate the ultimate harmony. The purification of sense and self is a proof of progress."

Science & Health Page 324:3-5

Forgiveness is My Function

photo credit: Chris Fischer

ACIM Workbook Lesson #62:

"Forgiveness is my function as the light of the world."

First of all, let’s define forgiveness as letting go of illusions. When I let go of the meaning I have given to everything, I am able to hear something other than my own beliefs dictating my actions and expectations. A shining light of the world told a story on herself at a recent ACIM meeting. She recounted how she became upset over an inconvenience and ended up eating a cheeseburger. This violated many rules she has set for herself about eating meat, gluten, dairy, and not frequenting the place she bought this juicy forbidden food. That night, she woke up in much physical distress and (although she did not say it this way) she reached out to Holy Spirit. She heard a voice call her name and the distress disappeared. While she did not say this either, I feel part of this “miracle” was forgiving herself for breaking material rules and giving herself that one moment of clarity which allows us to BE the expression and experience of God. Whatever the case, it was a wonderful holy instant and a delightful moment for all of us hearing her tale! What a great reminder to look behind the illusion of separation and live our reality as One with divine Love!

Mary Baker Eddy quote: “Truth and Love enlighten the understanding, in whose ‘light shall we see light;’ and this illumination is reflected spiritually by all who walk in the light and turn away from a false material sense.” Science & Health Page 510:9-12

What's Changed?

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #61:

“I am the light of the world”

A lot has changed in the last couple of millennia, don't you think? We could spend hours listing changes in thought and our understanding of our universe! Some things which have not changed much are our ideas about God. Religion has pretty well held us locked in to what has been thought of as truth. Many of us are fearlessly admitting that we are all the expression and experience of God. We're happily allowing our thought to embrace new concepts such as, "I am the light of the world"! This is not a self-important declaration, but an all-inclusive, divine-Love centered exclamation of the wonder we know as Life. Our expanding thought is bringing a joy we never dreamed would be possible on this earth plane. We're starting to understand that the kingdom of heaven is right here, within and without, waiting for us to embrace it. Let's go forth today and shine!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Light: Symbol of Truth; revelation and progress."

Science & Health Page 591:23-24

No Condemnation

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #60

Today we review Lessons 46-50. 

Often, people speak of forgiving but not forgetting. We are told in the first lesson review today that "God does not forgive because He has never condemned." And we are reminded that the forgiveness we are learning about, as human beings, is "the reflection of God's Love on earth." When looked at from this view, it seems senseless to say that we can forgive but not forget. If we truly are, in reality, the perfect reflection of divine Love, if this is the spiritual reality (hence, the only reality), it becomes easy to lay down the sword and go forward living from the heart rather than the brain. We can let go all thoughts of retaliation or revenge and live by the law of grace. I have thoughts bouncing around in my mind concerning someone severing contact with me because of my refusal to help him save the world. As ACIM teaches us, forgiveness is letting go of illusions because, in truth, no harm has occurred. If I have thoughts of blame cross my mind today, I will remember that lack of condemnation is true forgiveness!

Mary Baker Eddy correlative quote:

"Progress takes off human shackles. The finite must yield to the infinite. Advancing to a higher plane of action, thought rises from the material sense to the spiritual, from the scholastic to the inspirational, and from the mortal to the immortal. Love, the divine Principle, is the Father and Mother of the universe, including man."

Science & Health Page 256:1-8

Exponential Growth of Good

photo credit: Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #59: Today we review Lessons 41-45. 

I've never understood political conflict.  It seems to me that if everyone is for the good of all, what in the world is there to be conflicted about? I simply don't understand why we have these clashes and certainly don't want to talk about these disagreeable scenarios. Times of major elections in our fair country bring out interesting opinions from unexpected places. I try not to listen to any of it, holding to the knowledge of our true selves as the expression of Love, while looking past the rhetoric and seeming idiocy. If God is the Mind with which I think, and that thought is and can only be light, there is no fear nor condemnation necessary. With this realization, we could stop trying to change others' thought to what we think it should be, knowing that every thought based in divine Mind grows exponentially. Let's go forth and multiply -- Mind with a capital M, that is!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"This scientific sense of being, forsaking matter for Spirit, by no means suggests man's absorption into Deity and the loss of his identity, but confers upon man enlarged individuality, a wider sphere of thought and action, a more expansive love, a higher and more permanent peace."

Science & Health Page 265:10-15

One Mind

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #58:

Today we review Lessons 36-40. 

“The perception of my holiness does not bless me alone. Everyone and everything I see in its light shares in the joy it brings to me.” This is part of today’s five-lesson review in A Course in Miracles. We are learning that this holiness is our true state of being as reflections of Love, realized through forgiveness in its purest sense. When I assert this Truth about myself, I affirm it for everyone. Many of us have the idea that to think in such a manner about ourselves is arrogant, something to be avoided. What if the opposite is true, and our arrogance is founded in thinking we can do everything on our own, with our human intellect and reasoning?  Perhaps true humility is letting our only mind be divine Mind, sharing with all because this Mind belongs to everyone and everything! 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The divine origin of Jesus gave him more than human power to expound the facts of creation, and demonstrate the one Mind which makes and governs man and the universe.” Science & Health Page 539: 27-30 

Go Forward With Joy!

photo credit: Jerry Dupy

ACIM Workbook Lesson #57:

Today we review Lessons 31-35. 

I love the freedom of our lesson reviews for today!  "I am not the victim of the world I see."  "I have invented the world I see." "There is another way of looking at the world."  "I could see peace instead of this." "My mind is part of God's. I am very holy." I know quite a few people who are ready to stop the madness and let freedom of thought take us to new heights of equality! And it's not just the airy-fairies who think this way, but physicists and learned people from all walks of life. Every thought counts! Let's go forward today with joy, knowing that's something which will spread without any effort -- other than the sheer happiness of it all!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"The conceptions of mortal, erring thought must give way to the ideal of all that is perfect and eternal. Through many generations human beliefs will be attaining diviner conceptions, and the immortal and perfect model of God's creation will finally be seen as the only true conception of being."

Science & Health Page 260:7-12

Leaving Behind Attack Thoughts

photo by Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #56:

Today we review Lessons 26-30. 

I have just had a long conversation with a young man who tells me he was sent to earth to facilitate change. He is very passionate about the changes he wants to see, and he is becoming very angry that these changes are not happening according to his schedule. Numerous people told him he needed to talk to me; that I could help him. He wants me to go to school board meetings, amass information for him, and do other things to help him carry out his plan. I’m not sure I was able to impart to him that this is not the kind of “help” I have to offer. Seeing this part of today’s review of topics from A Course in Miracles brought a big smile to my face! “My attack thoughts are attacking my invulnerability. All my hopes and wishes and plans appear to be at the mercy of a world I cannot control. Yet perfect security and complete fulfillment are my inheritance. I have tried to give my inheritance away in exchange for the world I see. But God has kept my inheritance safe for me. My own real thoughts will teach me what it is.”  Peace to you, dear One.

Mary Baker Eddy quote: “The nearer a false belief approaches truth without passing the boundary where, having been destroyed by divine Love, it ceases to be even an illusion, the riper it becomes for destruction.” Science & Health Page 96:13-17

Seeing Through the Illusion

photo credit: Heather Peters

ACIM Workbook Lesson #55:

Today we review Lessons 21-25. 

“I am determined to see” is one of the five review topics today.  I’ve heard people say similar statements when they want to see “through” the illusion of someone’s deception, such as recognizing when someone is being less than honest about some business dealing or something of that nature. Today we are determined to see past the illusions we hold of ourselves. What do we think we are and how does that belief hold us in place? That is what I shall examine today. I will recognize limiting thoughts concerning my world and my place in it, and I will be willing to release these concepts and open myself to the Truth of divine Mind, replacing limiting beliefs with the Love of which I am a reflection. What a beautiful activity for today and every day!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Human sense may well marvel at discord, while, to a diviner sense, harmony is the real and discord the unreal.” Science & Health Page 563:1-2

Never Alone in Oneness

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #54

Today's review is of Lessons 16-20.

"I have no neutral thoughts."  "I see no neutral things."  "I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my seeing." "I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my thoughts."  "I am determined to see." These five topics we are reviewing today point us to the meaning of Oneness. The seeds of understanding have been planted, waiting for us to nurture them! I quote from Lesson 15 in the Course in Miracles workbook: "I would behold the proof that what has been done through me has enabled love to replace fear, laughter to replace tears, and abundance to replace loss. I would look upon the real world, and let it teach me that my will and the Will of God are one." 

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 & Health Page 467:9-13

What Is a Meaningless World?

photo credit: Aaron Sprinston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #53

Today is the third of a ten-day review of the first lessons. 

In today's ACIM workbook five-lesson review, there are many references to seeing a "meaningless world". You may wonder why anyone would want to see a meaningless world. I'm not sure we would want to see a meaningless world, but that's certainly what we're doing! As we begin to glimpse the difference in spiritual realities and material illusions, we see that the world we hold in place through belief and misperception is a meaningless world. Divine Mind did not create a meaningless world, and to see in Truth we must give up the beliefs and illusions we have created. These exercises we're doing are designed to prepare us to accept the knowledge which awakens us to this unseen Reality. A single glimpse of this is enough to make me want more! 

Mary Baker Eddy quote: 

"Speaking of the things of Spirit while dwelling on a material plane, material terms must be generally employed. Mortal thought does not at once catch the higher meaning, and can do so only as thought is educated up to spiritual apprehension." Science & Health Page 313:14-19