Stay The Course of Love

Belladonna Cottage
photo by Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #256

“God is the only goal I have today.”

My goal today is to return to Love. (Of course, we have never left this Source and, hence, there is nowhere to go!) It seems difficult to see the world without judgment, and I am reminded of this when finding fault with people or events. With Love as my only goal, I needn’t blame myself or anyone, as there is no fault to find. This doesn’t mean a denial of what I see manifested in thought and deed, but rather an inner examination and release of mindless choices based on illusion and lies. We have a choice with the words we use, and we’re learning that we have a choice in the thoughts we think, too. Let’s stay the course on Love today — and tomorrow, too!

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 560:11-16

Absolute Peace

photo credit: Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #255

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

If you could do anything at all today, what would it be? To choose perfect peace as our reality is to reject fear and worry. To reject fear and worry is to have an absolute trust in the presence of divine Love. The word "absolute" has been showing up from many avenues, so I decided to see if I know what it means. According to Mr. Webster it is: complete, unadulterated, perfect, not mixed, free from restriction, unlimited. As I move through activities today, I will remember to live absolutely in the present, enjoying each perfect moment absolutely, with absolute trust that I am reflecting the One absolute Truth, knowing that peace is the only reality! 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“This material world is even now becoming the arena for conflicting forces. On one side there will be discord and dismay; on the other side there will be Science and peace. The breaking up of material beliefs may seem to be famine and pestilence, want and woe, sin, sickness, and death, which assume new phases until their nothingness appears. These disturbances will continue until the end of error, when all discord will be swallowed up in spiritual Truth.” Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 92:12-20

Time to Listen

photo credit: Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #254

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

I met a young woman who told me that God was talking to all of us -- and it was time to listen! As we chatted briefly, she told a story of finding out her husband had a girlfriend, getting divorced, feeling hopeless. Then she left a job she didn't enjoy and followed her dream of starting a little antique store where she has lots of cool things, like freshly ground coffee and books she wants to share with others: a place where everyone feels welcome. She told me this happened because she listened to God. Now, this guidance may be called many things -- following your heart, listening for the still small voice, living your dream -- but whatever it's called, it can only be heard by shutting out ego thoughts, the material-based fears telling us we're not good enough. I was buoyed by her joy and new-found confidence, and happy that she started the conversation by telling me it was time to listen to God! She made me want to shout Hallelujah!

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

Yielding to Love

photo credit: Heather Peters

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

True Identity

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #252

“The Son of God is my Identity."

A well-known quote tells us we are not afraid of our inadequacies but, on the contrary, of our greatness. Looking at ourselves as a creation of divine Love may be frightening at first, but once our belief systems and histories -- which we have accepted as truth -- begin to fall away, our true identity as Spirit, as Love, as Mind, becomes more easily seen and accepted. Today, in my waking dream, I will nurture glimpses of this real identity, as it appears from within mySelf. I will listen with the calm of quiet certainty, allowing exalted thought to lead me in each loving action, from which I will catch sight of my true Identity and joyfully expect to see more!

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

Marianne Williamson: “Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.”

Infinite Possibilities!

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIs Workbook Lesson #251

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

Ask a group of people “What is truth?” and you will receive as many answers as there are people asked, don’t you think? You’ll hear talk of “my truth” and “your truth”, but hardly ever does Truth with a capital “T” come into the conversation. I’m beginning to understand that Truth is always unfolding as individual intuition and inspiration. This Truth doesn’t stand still in one spot and ask to be defined. It’s not opinion or belief, but rather the ideas heard within ourselves when listening for divine Mind which is the source of all. Leaving behind mortal mind’s ego definitions of the truth of our being opens the door to infinite possibilities! 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“A spiritual idea has not a single element of error, and this truth removes properly whatever is offensive.” Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 453:12-13

Adventures Unlimited

"Mongolia" photo credit, Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #250

“Let me not see myself as limited." 

Thinking of ourselves as unlimited contradicts everything we've been taught. From our first steps, we're 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 always believed. With that understanding, it becomes clear that many limitations we've placed upon ourselves are nothing more than beliefs in material laws. Limitations are set aside when an athlete breaks a record in the Olympics, or if someone performs a seemingly-impossible feat like lifting a car off of a trapped loved one. 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. 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

Bathed in Beauty and Light

photo credit: 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, and 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

Freedom Through Truth

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #248

“Whatever suffers is not part of me."

"Whatever suffers is not part of me" could possibly be taken as an unfeeling, heartless statement. I see it as an expression of pure Love which allows us to pass through illusions into the reality of good, God. The death of a loved one is difficult in many ways, but I think the myths we have concocted surrounding this passage may 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. These words are spoken in the name of kindness. As we begin to understand divine reality, we are released from the stories we tell ourselves in favor of the Truth which sets us free! I'll always remember reading the book, "Beloved Prophet", which is the story of Kahlil Gibran and the woman who loved him. She sat at his funeral with a peaceful smile on her face, and when asked 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:

"It was the divine law of Life and Love, unfolding to me the demonstrable fact that matter possesses neither sensation nor life; that human experiences show the falsity of all material things; and that immortal cravings, “the price of learning love,” establish the truism that the only sufferer is mortal mind, for the divine Mind cannot suffer."

Science & Health Page 108:5-11

Forgive and Live!

photo credit: 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. The Disappearance of the Universe, a book by Gary Renard, speaks to these events such as these, and more. When we let go of beliefs, we can turn loose our history, too. 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: “As the crude footprints of the past disappear from the dissolving paths of the present, we shall better understand the Science which governs these changes, and shall plant our feet on firmer ground.”  Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 223:4-7

Protected by Love

photo credit: Aaron Springston

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:

“As a drop of water is one with the ocean, a ray of light one with the sun, even so God and man, Father and son, are one in being.”  Science & Health Page 361:16-18

A Peaceful Mind

photo credit: Arthur Lau-Sed

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 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 years of trying to change loved ones, I think it was my children who finally taught me the meaning of Oneness. They showed me this as I watched the household mood change its tone along with my emotions. Holding to peace within myself is all I can do — and that’s a lot! Jumping on the bandwagon of resentment or other negative emotions can seem impossible to avoid, but it’s possible 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’re all in this together, in every way, at every moment. And so today I will make an effort to see through the eyes of Love, excluding nothing, no matter what!

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 with Key to the Scriptures Page 264:24-27

Safe and Sound

"Thailand" photo credit: Aaron Springston

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 see this as God setting aside material law in favor of spiritual principle, but as the demonstration of how Principle operates. Holding on to my own personal 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 horrible things 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

Judge Nothing - August 31, 2016

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #243

“Today I will judge nothing that occurs."

It’s easy to not judge things as long as everyone agrees with you, don’t you think? I can rock along and be happily non-judgmental and then bam! — someone says something I don’t understand, or don’t agree with, and I get up on my high horse and pontificate on how silly they are. Good grief! And so today I will read these words from our daily lesson and attempt to freely accept them into my being: “I will be honest with myself today. I will not think that I already know what must remain beyond my present grasp. I will not think I understand the whole from bits of my perception, which are all that I can see. Today I recognize that this is so. And so I am relieved of judgments that I cannot make. Thus do I free myself and what I look upon, to be in peace as God created us.” [ACIM] I send these thoughts to all I may have judged today. Namastè ~~~

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The optical focus is another proof of the illusion of material sense. On the eye’s retina, sky and tree-tops apparently join hands, clouds and ocean meet and mingle. The barometer, — that little prophet of storm and sunshine, denying the testimony of the senses, — points to fair weather in the midst of murky clouds and drenching rain. Experience is full of instances of similar illusions, which every thinker can recall for himself.” Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 122:15-23

Celebrate Life!

"Crystal Bridges, creations by Phillip Haas"

ACIM Workbook Lesson #242
“This day is God's. It is my gift to Him."


Exciting days, routine days — what’s the difference? Truly, there is none. Every moment is cause for celebration! One of my favorite Wayne Dyer quotes is, “If you drop a pen and don’t enjoy picking it up, drop it again!” But of course, I think you’ll agree with me that some days feel enchantedly delicious with prospect and fruition. Some times in our lives feel pregnant with possibilities and we eagerly go forward, ready to grasp all the wonder-filled moments. This day is Love’s and it is my gift to It!! Let me embrace every action with the same anticipation that I would expect from a day at Crystal Bridges! 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:
“Spiritual perception brings out the possibilities of being, destroys reliance on aught but God, and so makes man the image of his Maker indeed and in truth.” Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 203:13-16

Celebrate Awakening

Creation of Sandy Wythawai Starbird
"Mongolian Shaman"

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 me by John Lennon, William Blake, Shakespeare, Rumi, Mary Baker Eddy, 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 with Key to the Scriptures Page 84:14-18

Resolve Into Action

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #240

“Fear is not justified in any form."

Has fear kept you from doing something you really want to do? A few years ago, through these writings, I became acquainted with a man who lives halfway around the world. Recently, he asked if he could come to visit and get to know me and our sweet village in person. I immediately said, “Yes”! When telling a close friend of this impending visit, she stated that she could never do anything like that because she would be too afraid. I reflected on this statement of hers, realizing how many events cause a fear response to rise up within us. And I also realized that to settle for anything which brings us less than joyful existence is to dishonor ourselves, hence dishonoring God. How could I do anything other than go forward with joy?? And this meeting of Mind with a kindred spirit has been nothing but joyful and filled with Love. And so, the next time I think I'm feeling what 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 with Key to the Scriptures Page 199:25-31

I Celebrate Myself!

photo credit: 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 may take many forms. It's usually easy to catch ourselves in self-deprecating actions, deemed to be humility, but which actually are expressions of our inability to accept the glory of our true selves. There are many insidious forms which 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 which occur around us? 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 with Key to the Scriptures Page 520:3-5 

Forget the Dream - August 26, 2016

photo credit: Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #238

“On my decision, all salvation rests.”

My decision, (my job, if you will) is to forget the dreams of malice, revenge, hatred, and anger. These dreams of separation from our Oneness are simply that — dreams, with no relation to the reality we are coming to know. My self is the one Self we all share, so I may choose to accept this as my identity, or I can continue to choose the illusions of belief in separation. It’s not always easy to see this false identity as something I no longer want. It jumps up and down and insists that it is good and I am bad if I choose anything other than it. How grateful I am to have friends who support my decision to grasp for the heights of my Being, allowing the lower propensities to remain where they lie. Thank you greatly —

“Christian Science commands man to master the propensities, — to hold hatred in abeyance with kindness, to conquer lust with chastity, revenge with charity, and to overcome deceit with honesty.” Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 405:4-9

Image and Likeness

ACIM Workbook Lesson #237

“Now would I be as God created me."

How did God create me? If I think of creation from a standpoint of human, mortal mind, I may think of the  Adam and Eve story. Looking beyond material, illusory opinions to pure spiritual ideas is a step toward understanding how "God created me". We tell ourselves: I'm only human and I couldn’t be created as the image and likeness of God. If we accept material creation myths as the truth of our being, we live the dream of life in and of matter with all the limitations that implies. The realization that we are an idea of God takes us to the threshold of understanding Life. Today I will see everything in the light of spiritual truth, omitting no one nor thing!

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