No Words

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ACIM Workbook Lesson #316 “All gifts I give my brothers are my own.”

I have no words today, so I shall leave you with this Course in Miracles lesson: “As every gift my brothers give is mine, so every gift I give belongs to me. Each one allows a past mistake to go, and leave no shadow on the holy mind my Father loves. His grace is given me in every gift a brother has received throughout all time, and past all time as well. My treasure house is full, and angels watch its open doors that not one gift is lost, and only more are added. Let me come to where my treasures are, and enter in where I am truly welcome and at home, among the gifts that God has given me.” ACIM Lesson #316

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“… that joy which finds one’s own in another’s good”

Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, p. 127

The Sustenance of Love

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ACIM Workbook Lesson #315 “All gifts my brothers give belong to me.”

When someone compliments us on something we have done, it’s a gift, don't you think? Perhaps we feel like Snoopy when he levitates from pure joy! We're beginning to understand that anytime anyone gives this gift anywhere, it buoys us, too. When we open ourselves to the radiance of Love, which flows through all existence, we are carried along effortlessly and joyfully. We no longer expect the so-called murphy's law to be in effect, bringing us challenges rather than harmony. Instead, we allow all the goodness and knowledge of the universe to be ours, expecting nothing and welcoming everything. Every good thought we send out into the universe multiplies. The good we do for one is done for all!!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The sun, giving light and heat to the earth, is a figure of divine Life and Love, enlightening and sustaining the universe.”

Science & Health Page 538:11-13

Insight and Perspicacity

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ACIM Workbook Lesson #314 “I seek a future different from the past.”

Often it takes a big shake up to force us to change ways of thought and actions which have become ingrained within us. It seems comfortable, easy, and safe to stay within the bounds of what we know. Looking back on the past decades, I see where I would have been stuck in mundane and perhaps even destructive living had it not been for events which shocked me into new ways. I am most grateful for the times when life seemed good, when I rested in cozy contentment, but then changes were facilitated by seeming tragedy. The move from by-rote living to Upper Case Living takes courage, but to “seek a future different from the past” insures that we shall have one!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“A knowledge of the Science of being develops the latent abilities and possibilities of man. It extends the atmosphere of thought, giving mortals access to broader and higher realms. It raises the thinker into his native air of insight and perspicacity.”

Science & Health Page 128:13-19

Perceiving the Rainbow

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ACIM Workbook Lesson #313 “Now let a new perception come to me.”

It's my understanding that everyone sees a rainbow differently, according to where they are when they view it. Isn't that a perfect metaphor for everything from politics to the clothes we put on our bodies? Where I am in thought is how I will perceive something. Things which I may think of as being for the good of everyone, someone else may see as the downfall of society. It's just a matter of how you look at it. A line from a movie comes to mind in which an octogenarian tells us that life is like a ride on a roller coaster. She says that some people think the ride is frightening and stressful; others see it as fun and exciting. I love this reminder, and there are so many times in our experience where we could go many directions with our perception of a situation. How exciting to test my understanding as I go through this day!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The human mind will sometime rise above all material and physical sense, exchanging it for spiritual perception, and exchanging human concepts for the divine consciousness. Then man will recognize his God-given dominion and being."

Science & Health Page 531:10-14

Idea of Divine Mind

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ACIM Workbook Lesson #312 “I see all things as I would have them be.”

If I tell folks I want to give up the thoughts I think and think the thoughts of divine Mind, they might assume I am involved in a cultish-type of group. But I think of it as just the opposite! If I am making decisions based on past events and learned behaviors, then I have no freedom of thought. I am living by material restrictions and repeating actions dictated by human opinion, including my own. My desire to live as an idea of divine Mind opens me to an expansion of thought and action which has no limit. What an exciting world this is, when we go beyond set boundaries dictated by past education and see our way to a deeper education, facilitated by divine Love!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"The supposed existence of more than one mind was the basic error of idolatry. This error assumed the loss of spiritual power, the loss of the spiritual presence of Life as infinite Truth without an unlikeness, and the loss of Love as ever present and universal."

Science & Health Page 479:5-10

False Testimony

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ACIM Workbook Lesson #311

“I judge all things as I would have them be.”

As I read today's lesson -- which begins the first of ten lessons asking us, "What is the Last Judgment?" -- I think of ancient Toltec wisdom given to us by Don Miguel Ruiz in the Four Agreements. Two of these agreements lead us easily to non-judgment: "Don't make assumptions" and "Don't take anything personally". These suggestions always come to mind when I'm tempted to take offense by someone's statements or to apportion blame in any way. If I don't take anything personally, then I need make no assumptions as to others' motives. If I make no assumption about why someone says or does something, then I won't be thinking they are attacking me or anyone else. With the realization that there is no judgment in divine Love, no condemnation in the one Mind, no censure from Spirit, we are able to stop doing those things to ourselves and those we perceive as others. Our thoughts of separation are free to cease as we embrace Unity!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The earth’s diurnal rotation is invisible to the physical eye, and the sun seems to move from east to west, instead of the earth from west to east. Until rebuked by clearer views of the everlasting facts, this false testimony of the eye deluded the judgment and induced false conclusions.” Science & Health Page 121:17-22 

Fearless!

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ACIM Workbook Lesson #310 “In fearlessness and love I spend today.”

It seems as though we instill fear and worry in our children even before they're born. Most mothers-to-be are worried about a myriad of things, having been taught to believe it's necessary that they do so. From the moment we stand up and toddle we hear, Be careful, don't fall! When I was a child, I loved to walk in the woods alone, and the only warnings I was given had to do with snakes or perhaps the occasional wild carnivore. Nowadays, everything from ticks to the sun may attack us, and we go to great lengths to protect ourselves, putting poisons on our skin to avoid something we perceive to be worse. This is yet another example of the material illusions we have made for ourselves. As I go through this day, I will notice what learned behaviors are ruling my life, holding me in fear rather than Love. The words of a great teacher come to mind: Perfect Love casts out fear!

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 with Key to the Scriptures Page 261:4-7

What If ...?

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ACIM Workbook Lesson #309

“I will not fear to look within today.”

Why would we fear to look within? Why would we fear seeing our true self? I think it's because we believe that all the little horrible things we've done in our lives are what we’d be looking at. Perhaps we feel that to look within would involve some sort of life review which would require us to answer for every supposed sin we've committed. But what if we're looking within at our pure and perfect Self, as we are created by divine Mind? And what if, after we find what we've forgotten, we allow it to come forth and live with us, as us? In the process, we truly forgive ourselves for all of it, allowing thought to stay in the realm of Oneness, releasing guilt and fear, living only in Love. What if ...

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“For right reasoning there should be but one fact before the thought, namely, spiritual existence. In reality there is no other existence, since Life cannot be united to its unlikeness, mortality.” Science & Health Page 491:3-6

No Time Like the Present!

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ACIM Workbook Lesson #308

"This instant is the only time there is."

Numerous sayings about time come to thought when reading today’s topic: “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.” (Kung Fu Panda) I'm also reminded of something Deepak Chopra said: "Time is something we have made up so everything doesn't happen all at once." Albert Einstein showed us that time is relative. Time spent in a dentist chair passes differently from time spent visiting with a dear friend. Later in life, Mr. Einstein came to believe that time was not just relative, but unreal! Here is a quote from him, written in a letter to a friend: "To those of us who believe in physics, this separation between past, present, and future, is only an illusion, if a stubborn one." So why do we limit ourselves with time? We always think we're too young or too old, or this physical malady will pass with time, or that we simply don't have time to do the things we want to do. When I realize that I'm not a mortal living in what seems to be now, but an immortal living in eternity, then some major shifts in perception can take place. Only "time will tell" what happens with that realization!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Never ask for tomorrow: it is enough that divine Love is an ever-present help; and if you wait, never doubting, you will have all you need every moment.” Miscellaneous Writings Page 307

No Conflict in Truth

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ACIM Workbook Lesson #307 “Conflicting wishes cannot be my will.”

I personally witnessed how conflicting wishes influence experience. I was going to a friend’s house and had a number of items I was going to take to her. I had quickly cleaned up my living room the day before and knew I had put these things somewhere — but could not find them! I searched for thirty minutes (maybe more!) and finally gave up, with a sneaking suspicion I may have thrown them in the garbage, which had been picked up that morning. Throughout the course of the day, a number of  upsetting things happened, one of which was an incident of road rage aimed at me for no reason that I could ascertain! Upon returning home, I sat down and calmed my thought, releasing any residual turmoil that was flitting around the edges, then I walked right to the bag of things I had wanted to deliver to my friend. It’s so easy to fall into conflicting wishes which are not my will, but I’m happy to be learning how to release them to the nothingness from which they came!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The suppositional warfare between truth and error is only the mental conflict between the evidence of the spiritual senses and the testimony of the material senses, and this warfare between the Spirit and flesh will settle all questions through faith in and the understanding of divine Love.”

Science and Health Page 287:3-8

True Idea Voicing Good

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ACIM Workbook Lesson #306 “The gift of Christ is all I seek today.”

To allow light to fill your mind, to live grace as your natural state, to learn this Course and experience a mind healed of fear and limitation, requires you to be willing to question every value you hold. We tend to think it’s a good thing to hold strong opinions on any number of subjects, such as politics. I’m not saying we shouldn’t work for social reform, or stand up to harmful behaviors, or that we should become the proverbial doormat.  But I do feel that giving up things which make us angry enable us to open ourselves to this gift of the Christ, this Love which guides us in meaningful ways which were being hidden by strong mindsets. I think it will be an interesting exercise to take note of the thoughts I have which keep me from the gift of divine Love. I hope you’ll join me!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Christ is the true idea voicing good, the divine message from God to men speaking to the human consciousness.” Science & Health Page 332:9-11

Bathed in Beauty and Light

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ACIM Workbook Lesson #305 “There is a peace that Christ bestows on us.”

What is the second coming? This is the question A Course in Miracles has been exploring recently. We're learning that it's an internal awakening. It involves seeing and feeling the never-beginning, never-ending Truth of our being. This burgeoning understanding has brought me the peace which intellectual reasoning never did. I see the world as a loving place, filled with people who care about each other and their environment. In the past, people would tell me, on a regular basis, why they felt the world was a hate-filled place of irrevocable turmoil. Now it's a rarity. Have they changed or have I? Is there a difference if we're all One? Love = Peace = Harmony. Feel the Love!

Mary Baker Eddy quote: “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

Glimpses of Possibilities

ACIM Workbook Lesson #304 “Let not my world obscure the sight of Christ.”

Throughout the ages, we've been given glimpses of unrealized possibilities. As attested by powerful mythological and fictional characters, we have longed for the ability to change what seems to be the reality of situations in and around our personal existence. The world tells us that we are victims of circumstance, with life experiences being changed at the whim of happenstance. Every time we hear a story telling of something we think is impossible, but which contains an outcome so beautiful we wish and hope it is true, let's contemplate the fact that there are no limits. Who knows what we're capable of doing? We seem to exceed expected outcomes in every avenue of existence. Wasn't it said that running a mile in less than four minutes was impossible? Today I set free any thought of limitation, any assumptions I may have as to what's what, and by doing so open the inner door to new sight!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Corporeal sense, or error, may seem to hide Truth, health, harmony, and Science, as the mist obscures the sun or the mountain; but Science, the sunshine of Truth, will melt away the shadow and reveal the celestial peaks.”

Science & Health Page 299:26-30

Releasing Connotations

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ACIM Workbook Lesson #303 “The holy Christ is born in me today.”

These writings often contain words which elicit negative reactions in many of us. Within myself, I have watched them dissipate by letting go of preconceived meanings and learned dogma. "The Christ is born in me today" is the acknowledgement that the presence of God is within. Please, please, change these words into whatever feels right to you. And please, please don't allow these words' connotations to turn you away from the Love which you are. If you feel disoriented and sort of happily confused, don't fear that either! This giddiness is part of the shift to the beautiful realization of God within! Embrace it and be free!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“CHRIST: The divine manifestation of God, which comes to the flesh to destroy incarnate error.”

Science & Health Page 583:10-11

Joyfully Shifting!

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ACIM Workbook Lesson #302 “Where darkness was I look upon the light.”

Haven't we all had times when we were recounting an event and someone insists that the details are different than what we remember? Our perceptions are nuanced by expectations and personal experiences, including our understanding of these teachings. A mere hundred years ago, the things we speak of today would have been thought of as blasphemous. What a relief to openly speak about quantum theory and metaphysics without fear! Any bookstore will have an abundance of books by people looking “upon the light”, and they give us confidence to admit that we see it, too! Remember the story of ”the emperor has no clothes"? If everyone were pretending not to see and feel this paradigm shift, then we might stay silent, too. But they're not! We are joyfully acknowledging this shift, and we're shouting it from the pinnacle of our understanding. We look upon the light!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Willingness to become as a little child and to leave the old for the new, renders thought receptive of the advanced idea. Gladness to leave the false landmarks and joy to see them disappear, — this disposition helps to precipitate the ultimate harmony.” Science & Health Page 323:32-4

Hearing Consciousness

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ACIM Workbook Lesson #301 “And God Himself shall wipe away all tears.”

People feel that someone is not reacting appropriately unless they cry profusely upon a loved one's death. They may even go so far as to say that the dry-eyed person isn't grieving, and that this will come back on them in various ways unless they release their sorrow through active sorrow. Kahlil Gibran had a life-long platonic love affair with a woman named Mary Haskell. When he died, she was peacefully smiling while greeting the mourners at his funeral. No one understood how this could be. At one point, she quoted words which he had written her: "You listen to so much more than I can say. You hear consciousness. You go with me where the words I say can’t carry you." How could she be sad when the love they shared had always been experienced through thought rather than physical expression? She understood what we are learning about the true reality of our Being.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Love propagates anew the higher joys of Spirit, which have no taint of earth. Each successive stage of experience unfolds new views of divine goodness and love.” Science & Health Page 573:28-2

The Waters of Mortal Mind

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ACIM Workbook Lesson #300 “Only an instant does this world endure.”

This is the last of ten lessons which ask the question, "What is the real world?" Is reality what we are told it is by the daily news? Is it what we learn in school? I remember how surprising and embarrassing it was to find out that most of the American history we studied in lower school classes was no more than a myth perpetuated by men who wanted it to be that way. We are beginning to understand that spiritual Truth is not to be found within the religious institutions of our world. It seems that every day another illusion is being uncovered, dissipated by truth. Happily leaving behind our stories of duality and erroneous thought frees us to discover truth. Listen, Love, Live!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Love is priestess at the altar of Truth. Wait patiently for divine Love to move upon the waters of mortal mind, and form the perfect concept.”

Science & Health Page 454:21-23

Truth Within

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ACIM Workbook Lesson #299 “Eternal holiness abides in me.”

A friend made a comment pertaining to the erroneous thought we sometimes glom onto in daily life. He said that once you hear something, it's a part of you -- a part of your consciousness, if you will. Even if we hear something and know it’s not true, it can be difficult to get it out of our mind. While I admit that it can be difficult to forget something, I do not think it’s impossible! The key to this letting-go is realizing what you are. As long as I see myself as a material human, a victim of life’s circumstances, then, yes, it is difficult, even impossible, to release erroneous thought. When I start to glimpse that I am not this body, that I am Idea, then, and only then, am I freed from the bombardment of daily illusions and the lies of material sense. Looked at from this perspective, my goal is not to release anything; it is to understand my Being as an expression of divine Mind, an emanation of divine Love, the experience of divine Life! I will not think of this as an impossible task, but as a reachable Truth.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“How are veritable ideas to be distinguished from illusions? By learning the origin of each. Ideas are emanations from the divine Mind. Thoughts, proceeding from the brain or from matter, are offshoots of mortal mind; they are mortal material beliefs. Ideas are spiritual, harmonious, and eternal.” Science & Health Page 88:9-14

The Loved of Love

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ACIM Workbook Lesson #298

“I love You, Father, and I love Your Son.”

I grew up in a small town and have lived all my life in close proximity to it, and so there are many people I’ve known for decades. Looking back at my dearest friends through the years, most of us have grown apart, finding that we no longer share the same viewpoints or interests.  Friendships ebb and flow, change over the years, and mature into majestic alliances. The few treasured relationships which have endured are so sweet! Loving God extends into loving Its expression, in the form of other humans. I am grateful for the burgeoning understanding which allows me to love without fear, to extend a hand when needed, and never fear the consequences. Namaste!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Love never loses sight of loveliness. Its halo rests upon its object. One marvels that a friend can ever seem less than beautiful. Men and women of riper years and larger lessons ought to ripen into health and immortality, instead of lapsing into darkness or gloom.” Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 249:3-7

No-Fault Forgiveness

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ACIM Workbook Lesson #297

“Forgiveness is the only gift I give.”

Today’s topic turns my thoughts to wondering what it is which causes us to “get our feelings hurt” by the actions and words of others. I often quote lines from “The Four Agreements” by Don Miguel Ruiz and I love the agreement which tells us not to take anything personally. He goes so far as to say that even if someone shoots you in the head, it’s their problem, not yours! This recommendation is particularly appropriate during these days leading up to a national election in the United States. People are becoming upset at the slightest provocation. The realization that I needn’t take anything personally comes with a lovely side effect: there is no blame to apportion to anyone, hence I have forgiven without the stress of casting stones at others! What a relief!

 Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“True prayer is not asking God for love; it is learning to love, and to include all mankind in one affection.”

No and Yes, p. 39:17-18