What Blesses One Blesses All

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #207 Central Theme: “I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.” Review: #187 “I bless the world because I bless myself.”

What blesses one blesses all! Divine Love does not look fondly on one and turn away from another. Love is boundless and blesses the world as it blesses me — and it blesses me as it blesses the world. Love has never left us. It has nothing to do with form, it is everything. I must let go of the meanings I have placed on divine Love and allow it to Be. Acknowledging the reality of our Being, affirming our goodness as the experience of God, knowing that everyone is created as a manifestation of divine Mind, these are some of the ways we bless ourselves and everyone else. Join me in falling in love today -- with Life!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Divine Love blesses its own ideas, and causes them to multiply, — to manifest [Its] power.” Science & Health Page 501:13-18

The Perfect Concept

photo credit: Kailey Jones

ACIM Workbook Lesson #206

Central theme: “I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.” Review: #186 “Salvation of the world depends on me.”

Would you feel uneasy, perhaps arrogant, if you said the salvation of the world depends on you? I know I would have in the past, but that was before I realized that the opposite is true. The realization that we are united with God and all that Is is a humbling experience. It's easy to get this concept backwards, believing that if we recognize our oneness with divine Mind we are displaying braggadocio. I have found boastful behavior comes about from thinking that my material, personal beliefs are more valid than the experience I share with this gentle presence we call God. The surrender necessary to allow myself to want nothing other than to know God is a yielding of my self-important intellectual sureness. The gratitude I feel from the realization of our unity is priceless.

Mary Baker Eddy quotes:

“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 with Key to the Scriptures  Page 454:21-23

Special Relationship?

ACIM Workbook Lesson #205

Central Theme: “I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.” Review: #185 "I want the peace of God.”

I find myself slipping back into old ways of destructive behavior. The special relationship, as defined by A Course in Miracles, is an ego-based interaction characterized by expectations of having our needs met — i.e., someone making us happy, or any number of things we have come to expect an outside influence to bring to us. Meeting someone in the holy instant is only possible if we do not bring experiences of the past into the moment. A clean, clear, untarnished meeting is the beginning of giving a relationship to divine Love for definition and purpose. Ego tells us we are lacking and we need someone to partner with in order to complete us. It’s perhaps ironic that we carry these same ideas into our relationship with what we call God. We expect results if we’re going to give ourselves to this gentle, all-encompassing presence, and we’re often upset if our expectations are not met. In an attempt to see us all as the experience of divine Love, I am attempting to clear my self of emotional encumbrances and self-serving behaviors. I feel more peaceful just thinking about it!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"The calm and exalted thought or spiritual apprehension is at peace."

Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 506:11-12

Communication

photo credit: Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #204

Central theme: “I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.” Review: #184 “The Name of God is my inheritance.”

Animal communication has always been fascinating to me, as animals respond to the images they pick up from thought. If you call your dog, but see him running away, then he's most likely going to run away. At some point, your dog will become accustomed to the name you have given a particular action, responding to it and becoming a part of the scenario we have created. But in their natural state, and ours, we all respond to the thoughts around us. When I had an art gallery, I would often tell my employees that all of their thoughts were going into the atmosphere of the business. If you are smiling and friendly on the outside, but teaming with turmoil on the inside, there is an uncomfortable feeling surrounding you. True communication is clearly shown by a flock of birds, turning together in the sky as an expression of Mind. Try practicing with your dog while walking, thinking which way you want to turn before you tug on the leash. Expand that practice with the wildlife eating your flowerbeds, or tell ants to leave your house, in the way that J. Allen Boone does in "Kinship With All Life". Let's experiment with different forms of communication. What an adventure!!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The eternal Truth destroys what mortals seem to have learned from error, and man's real existence as a child of God comes to light.” Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 288:31–1

Science of Being

photo credit: Aaron Springston 

ACIM Workbook Lesson #203

Central theme: “I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.” Review: #183 “I call upon God's Name and on my own.”

If you ask a hundred people what they think God is, you will get that many different answers. Whether it’s an old man sitting in the sky and pointing a finger or an ethereal presence, we have created an image in thought from years of belief building, and that is what we envision today. This is one of the main reasons I prefer to think of It as divine Mind or infinite Love. It’s easier for me to depersonalize this God I have made in my own image, to turn the tables and allow myself to be the expression of Mind, the experience of Love. 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Man's individuality is not material. This Science of being obtains not alone hereafter in what men call Paradise, but here and now; it is the great fact of being for time and eternity."

Science  & Health Page 285:2-6

Be Still, Be Home

photo credit: Kailey Jones

ACIM Workbook Lesson #202 

Central Theme: “I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.” Review: #182 “I will be still an instant and go home.”

The spiritual sense we're developing enables us to interpret things without the material meanings we've attached to them. In line with our daily review, which instructs us to "be still an instant and go home", we are allowing ourselves to listen, rather than immediately thinking we know everything. To me, to "go home" means hearing the spiritual message which comes through loud and clear when we are able to quiet material sense. The freedom we experience when releasing beliefs about God also allows us to free ourselves from what we think we are. Knowing ourSelves as the likeness of God then becomes a present reality!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Erase the figures which express number, silence the tones of music, give to the worms the body called man, and yet the producing, governing, divine Principle lives on,--in the case of man as truly as in the case of numbers and of music,--despite the so-called laws of matter, which define man as mortal." Science & Health Page 81:19-24

Searching...

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #201 Central Theme: “I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.” Review: #181 "I trust my brothers, who are one with me."

"Searching For the Wrong-Eyed Jesus" is a documentary on life in the South of the United States. This film takes us to small towns where people turn to drugs and/or religion when they've given up all hope of finding happiness. I watched in fascination, realizing for the first time what people find in so-called "holy-roller" churches. In their feverish love of God, they find the pleasure they crave. Others turn to mood-elevating drugs for the same reason. One person in the movie says that everyone is "lonely for God" in these desolate towns. Another line which struck me was this: "He was just a regular ol' Southern lunatic. In his quest for union, he ended up being more separate than ever." There is such Truth to be found in their longing! I longed with them as they jumped up and down, speaking in tongues and dancing in odd jerky movements. There wasn't much difference in the drunken barroom scenes on Saturday night and the gyrations of the Sunday morning gatherings. They're all looking for the same thing: They want to fill the emptiness inside. They want excitement, fun, a way to pass time without feeling alone. I can't keep from thinking of how they would be set free with the knowledge of their true Being. The only way this can happen is if I realize it -- really realize it! --not just intellectually, but with my heart.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The rich in spirit help the poor in one grand brotherhood, all having the same Principle, or Father; and blessed is that man who seeth his brother's need and supplieth it, seeking his own in another's good."

Science & Health Page 518:15-19

Peace As An Inalienable Right

Photo Credit: Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #200 “There is no peace except the peace of God.”

Peace is a spiritual attribute. While we may perceive peace as changeable, that is only our material perception of it. As our topic today tells us, "There is no peace except the peace of God." Now, this statement may bring to mind a picture of a big Buddha ohm-ing away up in the sky, because that's the way we've come to think of deity -- something outside of us, looking down on us, watching over us, giving us things. But that's not the God we're beginning to know as Life, Truth, Love. This divine Mind, infinite Spirit, eternal Soul is you and me. As I learn to recognize the difference in material belief and spiritual truth, life becomes easier. The peace that is God is mine right now for the acceptance of it. We can't lose it, because it's eternally available no matter what the outward circumstance!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Truth will at length compel us all to exchange the pleasures and pains of sense for the joys of Soul.” Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 390:10-11

Limitless

photo credit: Alden Stallings

ACIM Workbook Lesson #199 “I am not a body. I am free.”

Have you ever dreamed you could fly? My favorite freedom dream is one of running fast, sometimes leaving the ground and floating in mid-stride. Although I haven't had this recurring dream for some time, I can still feel it. As I watch people dance and use their bodies in other life-affirming ways, I marvel at the beauty and grace expressed in these activities. Just as physical boundaries are broken and new records set, there is more to come in this so-called physical existence. We are learning of the limitlessness of divine Mind’s ideas, of which we are One. What is your highest ideal of freedom? 

Mary Baker Eddy quote: "This mortal is put off, and the new man or real man is put on, in proportion as mortals realize the Science of man and seek the true model." Science & Health Page 408:22-26

Rethinking Avoidance

photo credit: Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #198

“Only my condemnation injures me.”

For several years I avoided one of my neighbors, who was 90-plus years old, because it seemed there was no such thing as a short visit. She would tell me things I didn't want to know about her family and other people, so I began to avoid her. One morning she was sitting on her porch and asked for my help. Her phone was not working and it's connected to a Lifeline button which she can push if she needs help. As it was going to take some time to get the phone company there to reconnect her, I told her I'd come over every hour and make sure she was okay. As we sat on her porch, she started talking about herself, from childhood through more recent times, and it was fascinating! She told me the happiest times of her life were picking cotton with her sisters in the 1930s on a farm in Mississippi. Every visit brought me new stories from her life. When she wandered into condemnation of others, I would simply tell her I had to go, but would be back soon and wanted to hear more stories about her -- not others. It was like watching a documentary -- and I'm glad I was tuned in! She’s gone now and although I’ve forgotten all of her gossipy news, I remember some delightful looks into her life experience — and I am grateful. 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The poor suffering heart needs its rightful nutriment, such as peace, patience in tribulation, and a priceless sense of the dear Father’s loving-kindness.” Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures  Page 365:31-2 

Complete

ACIM Workbook Lesson #197 “It can be but my gratitude I earn.”

Yesterday we began freeing ourselves from attack. Today we start to loosen the ties imposed by expectations of gratitude. Have you ever felt as though your effort to help someone was met with indifference or, perhaps, disdain? I have a good friend who lives to help others. Recently her actions have not only been unappreciated, but a certain recipient of her goodness has made false accusations against her. She has taken these words to heart, feeling so hurt and used that she has become ill. I discovered today that she had been considering committing suicide. (As a suggested lifeboat to others, may I say she went to the animal shelter and got a cat instead.) In my efforts to help her see past the pain and remember the joy which serving others brings to her, we have become closer friends. As a bonus, I am more deeply understanding of what it means to give with no expectation. We are all complete within each other, and what we give we also receive. Namastè.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“One kind of faith trusts one's welfare to others. Another kind of faith understands divine Love and how to work out one's ‘own salvation, with fear and trembling.’ ‘Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief!’ expresses the helplessness of a blind faith; whereas the injunction, ‘Believe . . . and thou shalt be saved!’ demands self-reliant trustworthiness, which includes spiritual understanding and confides all to God.” Science & Health Page 23:23-31

Set Down Your Burden - July 15, 2017

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ACIM Workbook Lesson #196 “It can be but myself I crucify.”

“The dreary, hopeless thought that you can make attacks on others and escape yourself has nailed you to the cross.” [from today’s workbook lesson] I watched a dual attack happen in the street outside my house today. My volatile neighbor, whom I’ve mentioned before in these writings, and the son-in-law of a woman who passed away this year, became embroiled in a loud and profane exchange of words. As I witnessed their angry attacks on each other, I thought how miserable they both appeared to be. I would be willing to bet these two men are still replaying these angry words in their thoughts, crucifying themselves time and again on what was said, what could have been said, and what would be said next time. If we’re tempted to attack someone for whatever the reason, let’s remember where that attack ultimately comes to rest. I saw so clearly the heaviness of the cross carried by these men today. May they realize their burden and set it down. 

Mary Baker Eddy quotes:

“The real cross, which Jesus bore up the hill of grief, was the world’s hatred of Truth and Love.” Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 50:30-31

Dwelling and Inquiring

ACIM Workbook Lesson #195 “Love is the way I walk in gratitude.”

Yesterday, I quoted a verse from Psalms concerning dwelling in a house and inquiring in a temple. I've been asked by an old friend and mentor to clarify what I think that means. I believe today's ACIM lesson can be used as an aid to this end: "Love is the way I walk in gratitude." Living this Love and being a transparency for its transmission certainly feels like "dwelling in the house of the Lord". I do not think it's a place for which to be searched, but rather a gentle presence to be felt. And I see the phrase "inquiring in his temple" to be telling us to ask within ourselves for clarity   as to living within the single eye of all-encompassing Love. We are the experience and expression of divinity, Love, so we needn't go searching here and there for something we feel is lacking. We already are whole, complete, and ready to acknowledge this unity of Spirit. 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Temple: Body; the idea of Life, substance, and intelligence; the superstructure of Truth; the shrine of Love…”

Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Pages 595:7-10

Thanks For The Reminder!

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #194 “I place the future in the Hands of God.”

It takes practice to let go. A mere 25 years ago, I still thought I was in control. It took a child's illness for me to realize I didn't have the power to bend life to my liking. In the space it took to hear a diagnosis, I had a change of heart. I'm sure I went through all the emotions associated with this sort of thing: sorrow, anger, blame, and so on. But I knew deep down that there was only one answer: to release my wants and desires, then listen deeply for guidance. "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple." (Psalms:27:4) Sometimes I forget this. I'm happy to have this reminder today!

Mary Baker Eddy quote: “Life is divine Mind. Life is not limited.” Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 469:4-5

A New Way of Living

Bryce Canyon
photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #193

“All things are lessons God would have me learn.”

"A new species is arising on the planet. It is arising now, and you are it!" These lines end Eckhart Tolle’s book, A New Earth. I wish it was required reading for every person on earth! The beautifully clear way he explains how we cling to old belief, allowing ourselves to be influenced by fear, by the past, by illusion, is both inspiring and illuminating. We are told in today's ACIM workbook lesson, "Forgive, and you will see this differently.” Mr. Tolle's book gives numerous examples of seeing differently. I am dedicated to seeing this new world, allowing the disappearance of old belief and hypnotic thought to provide a transparency for the arising of our new way of living. What an exciting time for humanity!

Mary Baker Eddy quote: “The Revelator tells us of “a new heaven and a new earth.” Have you ever pictured this heaven and earth, inhabited by beings under the control of supreme wisdom?” Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures  Page 91:1-4

Function Filling

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #192 “I have a function God would have me fill.”

We are created from Love and it is our function to extend this Love in the world. It may seem as though our little offerings aren’t worth much, but I’ve recently heard of the effects of a small gift given many years ago in the form of $20 a month. My boys and I gave to an organization which helped children in Africa. We occasionally got notes from a boy named Paul Ndungu, and we would write letters in return. I always wondered if our donation really made a difference. Recently this boy, now a young man, found me on Facebook and wrote asking if I was the same person who had helped him when he was a child. He tells me it did make a difference! He would not have been able to go to school without this gift and he is now in the Kenya Air Force — and he attended university, too! And so, whatever form your giving may take, never be afraid to follow through with your intuitive feelings, because we never know how far Love will extend!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Truth not error, Love not hate, Spirit not matter, governs man.” Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 419:3-4

Reflection of Love

ACIM Workbook Lesson #191c“I am the holy Son of God Himself.”

There's a young woman who works in a market I frequent. I was surprised when she told me she had been gone for almost a year. Time is so elastic! She tells me she got married and it was a horrible experience. She said she didn't think she could ever look at herself in the mirror without blame. She wanted to tell me details, but I asked her not to. I told her she's the reflection of divine Love and that nothing could change that. I suggested she walk in the woods, plant some flowers, get plenty of exercise. She said there was nothing she would rather do than walk in the woods and talk to God, but that she didn't know where to go. I suggested a beautiful spot not far from town. When I described it to her and explained a bit about her nature as a child of Love, she cried tears of happiness. We all have times we need to hear about our true, pure Being.  Namasté dear friends.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“God creates neither erring thought, mortal life, mutable truth, nor variable love.”

Science & Health Page 503:24-25

The Lightness of Hope

"Timpanogos"
photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #190 “I choose the joy of God instead of pain.”

The idea that we have a choice between joy and pain may not be easy to accept. Let’s not allow mortal mind or ego to lay a guilt trip on us in this regard. The only thing we are guilty of is a mistaken perception, for which there is immediate remedy: Change your thought! Through the wonder of social media, I have become acquainted with a woman I never would have met otherwise, as her life’s circumstance and mindset are on the opposite side of the world from mine. She openly writes of her pain and weaknesses, lashing out at others in a way so honest my heart aches in empathy. I feel I know this woman, perhaps because there was a point in my life I could have been her. I felt victimized by circumstances and didn’t think there was a way out. It’s difficult to believe we have a choice when everything we see appears solidly hopeless. Unfortunately, it will stay that way as long as we believe it to be true. What can cause our mind to open up to the lightness of hope? The willingness to do so…

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

The Art of Loving People

photo credit: Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #189

“I feel the Love of God within me now.”

I was visiting with friends and talk turned to traveling and problems which arise concerning transportation. Someone made the observation that we remember the really bad things and the really good things. In listening to their recounting of events, I noticed the line between a bad experience and a good one is very thin. One woman told about the frustration of muddled connections being smoothed out by someone offering to make her a sandwich. She was tired and hungry, and this loving gesture from a stranger made everything all better. I would love to write a book called "The Art of Loving People". It would be based around all the beautiful stories of us being kind to each other. The Love which is God is everywhere! All we need do is allow ourselves to feel it and express it.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Love inspires, illumines, designates, and leads the way. Right motives give pinions to thought, and strength and freedom to speech and action. Love is priestess at the altar of Truth."

Science & Health Page 454:17-21

Reflected Illumination

"John Muir Trail"
photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #188 “The peace of God is shining in me now.”

It’s a wonderful thing to realize the peace we so crave has always been within, waiting for us to discover it. This peace of God is ours, now and always. The recognition of this fact is the meaning of enlightenment. It isn't necessary to seek for ways to change ourselves in order to experience this light. We're not being asked to change anything, to do anything differently; only to see the truth of our Being. I have a dear friend who moved to a remote area in an idyllic setting. She sat herself down and read through the Course in Miracles textbook, in its entirety, three times! As I spoke with her on the phone recently, I felt a softness about her which has been growing for years. Its appearance isn't indicative of enlightenment to something new, but of recognizing the Truth of her own Self. Some days I feel this same knowing about myself. Other days it seems impossible to climb out of the busy-ness which can hide this reality. One thing I know for sure, laughter and joy are the keys to opening the door. The more joy which is shared, the easier it becomes to express the qualities of Spirit, which come flowing through us with our recognition of what we truly are: 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