Peace Within

Mongolia - photo credit: Aaron Springston

Although I know peace is a choice within my own self, I would love 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 spending years trying to change thoughts and actions of husbands and friends, I think it was my children who finally taught me the meaning of Oneness. I could watch the mood of the household change with my emotions. Holding to peace within myself is all I can do. Jumping on the bandwagon of resentment and other negative emotions used to seem impossible to avoid, but I don’t find it as difficult now 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 are all in this together, in every way, at every moment. Today I will make an effort to see everything through the eyes of Love.

“Spiritual living and blessedness are the only evidence​ ​by which we can recognize true existence and feel the unspeakable peace which comes from an all-absorbing spiritual love.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 264:24-27

Thank you, Marianne Williamson

Today Marianne Williamson says everything I want to say. And she does it so well... Happy Sunday!

photo credit: Aaron Springston

“The mindset that dominates this world is simply an inadequate container for the energies that need to come through now if humanity is to survive. Putting our separate needs before the well-being of the earth and its inhabitants, we’ve created political and economic systems that subconsciously plan the obsolescence of the human race. American politics, which one would have hoped would be an incubator for understanding and solutions, is dominated by a perspective that at its worst perpetuates the problem and at it’s best simply enables the ever-quickening race towards planetary destruction. The good news - and there is good news - is that more and more people are awakening to the intersectionality of the problem and to the personal as well as political dimensions of the needed transformation. We’re like at the stage where you’ve woken up, made your first cup of coffee and are just starting to feel the brain fog of sleep receding. Clarity and spirituality first, then illumination and guidance. A new state of being calls forth a new kind of doing. It’s a stretch, but who’s not being forced to stretch right now. There’s no way we’ll pull off the salvation of the world unless we’re willing to change, to become different, to drop our preoccupations with smaller, ultimately meaningless things. No littleness allowed. Only magnitude, and love. The world won’t be what we want it to be until we’re no longer who we used to be. It’s hard to be alive at times; we’re all learning lessons, shedding old skin and growing into who we need to be. But the effort is worth it. The world is on fire. And those of us who have walked through the fire are the ones who will put it out.” Marianne Williamson

"The broadcast powers of evil so conspicuous today show themselves in the materialism and sensualism of the age, struggling against the advancing spiritual era." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 65:13

Reflections

An interesting question was posed to me today: If you met yourself, would you like you? I love this question! Let's all think about that -- and ask our social media "friends" to do the same...

Happy Weekend, Lovely Ones!

"Love it reflected in Love." Mary Baker Eddy 

Happiness is the Secret

Photo Credit: Tina Cone - Belize

Recently someone asked me: What next? Locusts? I couldn't keep from laughing as I told her, yes, this was the year the locusts cycled out of hibernation in our area. And therein is the secret we all need to remember: Laughter. I've been noticing who is happy and adjusting to the changes we are experiencing on a day-to-day basis. I'm pretty sure it's the people who were happy all along, don't you think? It seems this is what will bring us through to the other side, whatever that will be. Nobody can predict what's going to happen tomorrow, but we can predict how we will react to it. Laughing in the face of tragedy is NOT what I mean by this; please, don't think it is. There are many dire circumstances which need our attention, and we shall give it wherever we are led to participate. But let's tap into that innate joy which is programmed into us from before we were conceived, the Love which is our true being, and the peace that cannot be touched by outside influence. Kevin saved a cat and two kittens today. That is cause for celebration! There was a gentle rain which nurtured the plants and animals in our woods. Therein is joy. Pollyanna is on the Disney Channel! That makes me very happy...

"The loss of earthly hopes and pleasures brightens the ascending path of many a heart. The pains of sense quickly inform us that the pleasures of sense are mortal and that joy is spiritual." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 265: 26

Change is the Bottom Line Here

"No Looking Back"
Creation of Sandy Starbird

I hear a lot of news. My Kevin is a news guy and has read and/or listened to every bit of news put out since the mid-70s, so I get lots of information by osmosis. I purposely follow some people on Facebook in order to find out what Fox is baiting folks with nowadays. I follow Steve Grant's (KY3) page so I can gauge the way everyone is leaning on multiple issues. I read the Christian Science Monitor for moments of clarity and sanity. It's exhausting and it would be easy to shut down, but we shouldn't pretend all is well, or that we needn't act as it will work itself out. When people send me their particular views on matters via a video on youTube, or a particularly biased meme, or anything other than their own words expressing how they feel/think about something, I have begun to tell them exactly how I feel. The bottom line here is that things need to change. Our actions which have been destructive to the Earth, which harm people, which put money ahead of everything else -- well, we need to examine that and do things differently. We have a great opportunity at this time of forced change, so let's embrace it and find better ways to do things! I'm weary of political parties and strong opinions which keep us stuck in our ways, believing "I'm right and you're wrong". Let's give up these beliefs and look at what is actually happening here. It might be simpler than we think!

"Right motives give pinions to thought, and strength and freedom to speech and action. Love is priestess at the altar of Truth." Mary Baker Eddy - Science and Health Page 454:19

The Panoply of Love

Altai Mountains - PC: Aaron Springston

Every day we hear more truth. Every day we see that money has become the most important thing in many people's lives, and we witness where it has taken them. Every day another person is shown to be a wolf in lamb's clothing. Preachers and politicians are the expected charlatans, as they are so publicly blatant in their use of words to manipulate their flocks. But occasionally we see a seemingly sweet woman, or someone who should be the finest of our community, showing their true colors. Today I heard about a white supremacist group, a statewide organization, which features a local deputy as one of its prominent members and organizers. In the same organization was a woman from the big city who is a nurse. She has since retracted her affiliation with this militant, bigoted group of people. These are the sort of uncoverings which assure me everything is going to be alright. No matter what horrors people are perpetrating on others, they will become known, and while we must witness the nasty workings of these vicious minds, we can also see those who rise up to meet the hate with love. We are finding out how adamantly we must love in order to overturn the ingrained attitudes of centuries. And we know we can do it, because we've been practicing a long time. I have a vision of Sean Connery as King Arthur rising up shouting, Never surrender! Let us go forward with joy and wisdom, facing whatever challenges are in our path. Namaste...

"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."  Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 571:18

A New Way of Living

photo by Aaron Springston

This is a time of rapid change in thought. Most everyone I know senses something important in the air. I notice myself doing things differently without planning a change. Think about it! Aren't you evolving into more You? We're doing things we never considered possible in the past. A good friend, who is a veterinarian, is allowing herself to communicate with animals on an entirely different level than when she started her career.  I know a woman who gardens and is experimenting with talking to the deer and other animals who want to eat her vegetables. We are all waking up to new ways of living -- or is it old ways of Being? When I allow my beliefs to take a rest, the world I see and experience is one of common ground amongst everyone and everything. We are not different, you and I. We may have convinced ourselves that the material differences we see in each other make us separate, but look past all of that to your heritage as a child of Love. Let go of preconceived notions about how things are or should be. Let's allow ourselves this freedom of thought -- and see where it takes us!

“When will the ages understand the Ego [note capitalization], and realize only one God, one Mind or intelligence?” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 204:19-20

I Worried

John Gibson, the pastor of the Presbyterian Church where we record services for their website, built today's inspirational talk around this Mary Oliver poem. It has found a place in my head and heart...

I Worried

"I worried a lot. Will the garden grow, will the rivers
flow in the right direction, will the earth turn
as it was taught, and if not how shall
I correct it?

Was I right, was I wrong, will I be forgiven,
can I do better?

Will I ever be able to sing, even the sparrows
can do it and I am, well,
hopeless.

Is my eyesight fading or am I just imagining it,
am I going to get rheumatism,
lockjaw, dementia?

Finally I saw that worrying had come to nothing.
And gave it up. And took my old body
and went out into the morning,
and sang.”

Of Hamilton and Mickey Mouse ...

I hope everyone had a fine 4th of July, whatever you did. Our special event for the day was subscribing to the Disney Channel to watch Hamilton. Wow, wow, wow! We only watched half of it, as it's close to 3 hours long (yay!), and will finish tomorrow. But what a production, what a presentation, what a concept to educate the masses and pique the curiosity of the people of these United States! This is the type of thing which, I trust, will bring us together, enabling us to get past the petty differences and great divides. And if that doesn't work, I would suggest we all sit down and watch some old Mickey Mouse cartoons! Following our amazement over the Broadway production, we were knocked out by the 1936 animation and fabulous story lines in these old cartoons. If laughing with these characters can't bring "we the people" together, nothing can. So I'm going to advocate mandatory watching of great cartoons as a cure-all for what ails us! Take some time to enjoy life, laugh, and love each other. We're all in this together -- really, truly!

"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." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 66:13

Truth is Knocking at the Door!

Fireworks in the Snow
PC: Aaron Springston

Fireworks. Decades ago when I was a child, we would look forward to 10 or 20 firecrackers (which we would light with fear and excitement), a sparkler or two apiece (my personal favorite), and then an adult would set off a Roman candle for the big finale. We celebrated the freedom we believed our country was founded upon, and went to bed full of expectations of good. Now, in 2020, I am hearing fireworks crackling (illegally) all over town the night before Independence Day, and I am pondering what became of the simpler celebrations from decades ago. Everything has gone the way of fireworks: too much, too soon, too long. Our values have shifted into the high gear of hyper-materialism, and I see our excessive consumption of fireworks as a perfect example of what we have done with everything. We thought there was an endless supply of gasoline, so we began owning and driving multiple vehicles more and more miles every passing year, until we had superhighways built all across our land, constantly filled with bumper-to-bumper traffic. Our grocery stores ballooned into obscene orgies of processed foods and plastics, highlighted by sugar and caffeine drinks in a poisonous-looking array of colors. I think we all long for a simpler, more honest way of living. And we can have it! On this day of Independence, let’s celebrate the re-inventing of our country. America has always led the world with its innovative thinking, and now is the time for us to do it again! 

"The time for thinkers has come. Truth, independent of doctrines and time-honored systems, knocks at the portal of humanity. Contentment with the past and the cold conventionality of materialism are crumbling away." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page VII:13

New-Old Idea

Piney Creek Garden
Berryville, Arkansas

“When we traded nature for concrete, we destroyed our soul.” I heard this in a documentary series called “Broken Bread”. This show highlights people who are working to change the way we think about food. In many parts of our country, the only nearby places to buy food are convenience stores or liquor stores. The question was asked: Why are we normalizing the fact that fresh food is not available nearby? One man in Los Angeles says, “You don’t have to be a critical thinker to figure this out. Plant vegetables!” And so he has done this in vacant lots and areas which would usually be given to grass. He even has banana trees! By doing this and allowing others to pick what they need, they are being empowered to grow food in their own small spaces. This, dear friends, is exactly what the “new world” looks like: seeing ways to bring us closer to the earth and each other and acting on them! Building community through food is a great way to begin. 

"As a material, theoretical life-basis is found to be a misapprehension of existence, the spiritual and divine Principle of man dawns upon human thought, and leads it to 'where the young child was,' -- even to the birth of a new-old idea, to the spiritual sense of being and of what Life includes. Thus the whole earth will be transformed by Truth on its pinions of light, chasing away the darkness of error." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 191:8

A New Earth

A Foretaste of Eternity

Love heals. We hear this so often, it's probably become somewhat of a cliché. We may think that nothing can heal the ills of the world, much less something as intangible as love. What if love were the most powerful force in the universe? Not just an emotion called love, but an omnipotent, gentle presence which is a synonym for Source. What if experiencing this Love was sufficient to heal every thought of evil or sickness or misery which has ever been imagined? Then we'd all be lining up to get some of this stuff, don't you think? And it's even easier than that. We need but get out of our own way to see what has always been there. Love heals.

"One moment of divine consciousness, or the spiritual understanding of Life and Love, is a foretaste of eternity.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 598:23-25

Maintain Your Dignity

I’m reading “The Nickel Boys”. While this is not exactly a light read, it is an important, interesting, well-written one. Colton Whitehead has written a novel which takes us into a world I do not know. Although I’m only 30 pages into this book, I was stopped in my tracks by a quote from Martin Luther King. The main character is working in a tobacco shop where children often steal candy and comic books. The proprietor allows this because he says if he called them on it, their parents would be too embarrassed to shop in his establishment. He has told Elwood to allow them to take things, as he thinks of it as a promotion. This doesn’t sit right with Elwood, and at first he can’t understand why. But a quote of Dr. King’s brings it into focus for him: “We must believe in our souls that we are somebody, that we are significant, that we are worthful, and we must walk the streets of life every day with this sense of dignity and this sense of somebody-ness.” Elwood comes to the realization that to do nothing about the kids stealing was to undermine his own dignity. I think that’s the position we the People are in today. To do nothing is to undermine our own dignity. I urge you to listen to your own inner guidance, your soul (if you will), and do whatever it takes to maintain your dignity. Namaste...

"Is it not professional reputation and emolument rather than the dignity of God's laws, which many leaders seek? Do not inferior motives induce the infuriated attacks on individuals...?" Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 236:6

Helpless/Helpful

photo from Christian Science Monitor

I read an article about an English woman who loved animals so much she moved to Australia so she could be near and work with them in the wild. Then the fires came and millions were killed and maimed. Her house burned down, but that didn't bother her too much. It was sadness about the wildlife which sent her into depression. She thought of going back to England, but knew she would still be sad and feel helpless. So she began to save wallabees. She's been doing this for months and helps other people who are despondent over losses of various kinds due to the horrific fires. Reading this woman's story caused me to think back to people I know who have had traumatic events in their lives. I can only think of one who has become solitary and angry at the world; the rest have found ways to help others -- usually in the way their trauma occurred. There are many avenues we can take to help others in this life. Let me never become complacent...

"Creation is ever appearing, and must ever continue to appear from the nature of its inexhaustible source." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 507:28

Involved or Committed?

photo credit: Jerry Dupy

As long as we believe that there is something more important than healing our mind, we will never find peace. This is an idea I heard on a Course in Miracles video. It goes hand-in-hand with the homily given at a church where I provide musical accompaniment. Father Joseph, a young Nigerian priest who serves three congregations in our area, began his message by asking if we knew the difference between being involved and being committed. He then told us if we were having a breakfast of eggs and bacon, the chicken would be involved, but the pig would be committed. While getting a laugh from the congregation, it made his point clear: If you’re not giving 100%, you’re not committed, but merely involved. There are a number of issues in the world which we are involved in, but it's difficult to be committed to something which is far away from your home. And it's overwhelming to think of all the things which need our help. If that is true for you, too, pick something in your town, in your neighborhood, in your backyard, and be committed today! Let's sweep our own porch and our neighbor will want to do it, too. It grows exponentially, don't you think? 
"Legally to abolish unpaid servitude in the United States was hard; but the abolition of mental slavery is a more difficult task. The despotic tendencies, inherent in mortal mind and always germinating in new forms of tyranny, must be rooted out through the action of the divine Mind." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 225:22-28

Highest Ideal of Freedom?

photo credit: Aaron Springston

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 the perfection of 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 God's ideas, of which we are One. What is your highest ideal of freedom?

“Freedom cannot be learned by tyranny of any kind, and the perfect equality of all God's Sons [people] cannot be recognized through the dominion of one mind over another.” A Course in Miracles 

"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." Mary Baker Eddy -Science & Health Page 408:22-26

Let It Go!

As someone who insists she lives by the non-attachment principle of "the glass is already broken", I'm rather hesitant to admit I have suffered angst over giving up my 22-year-old automobile! Last fall, my ever-dependable 1998 Honda Odyssey gave up the ghost. I couldn't stand to let it go at that time, and so it has sat out in front of my house for far too long. Today, I allowed our mechanic to take it away. It was like losing a family member. I remember the day my young sons and I bought it and brought it home. It perfectly suited our kid-oriented lifestyle and it was wonderfully comfortable -- perfect for us. On our way home the first evening we had it, we saw tire tracks leaving the road and a car's headlights in the tall brush. Of course, we stopped and aided the two women and children who were rather hysterical following their accident. One little boy was bleeding from a stomach wound and I wrapped him in a blanket we had in our new vehicle, sat down with him on the ground, and proceeded to sing a Mary Baker Eddy hymn to him: "Oh, Gentle Presence, peace and joy and power. Oh, Life divine that owns each waiting hour." As soon as the authorities came, we got into our new vehicle and came home, leaving our blanket wrapped around the calm child. I've often wondered what that family thought of our appearance and disappearance! Whatever the case, that was the beginning of two decades of trouble-free service from the vehicle I owned for 1/3 of my life! Good times...

"Who that has felt the loss of human peace has not gained stronger desires for spiritual joy? The aspiration after heavenly good comes even before we discover what belongs to wisdom and Love. The loss of earthly hopes and pleasures brightens the ascending path of many a heart. The pains of sense quickly inform us that the pleasures of sense are mortal and that joy is spiritual." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 265:23

Thought Expands Into Expression

"County Road"
painting by Carol Dickie

Today was a day of talking with friends, and it's been fabulous. First thing this morning, I had a long email from a woman I love, one who was an artist at the gallery I ran. She is a skilled writer and I saw every story she told me about her daily life and things in her past (of which I had no clue)! Then I got a snail mail letter from another artist friend who describes herself as "the cut and paste queen of the geriatric set" (and she doesn't mean computer, because she doesn't have one). This quirky and fun friend wrote to me on a page from a coloring book, on which she had intricately filled in the beautiful design. Then I touched base with a nonagenarian whom I met a few years back over the bridge table. She told me of falling out of bed and breaking something, asking if I knew of anyone who might help her with household chores and, she honestly told me, to visit with her. So this prompted me to call another old friend whom I thought would enjoy this task. Then I called someone I've known for almost 40 years, whom I was hoping to help sell some furniture, and while we were chatting, a carpenter I had called stopped by to check out my needed repair. While he was here, a friend stopped by to drop off some clothing she had cleared out of a closet. After she left, the carpenter and I sat down to visit in the carport and he told me of his oldest daughter's problems stemming from Aspberger's and loneliness. In the process, he told me many things I did not know about him. Life is so very rich, and I appreciate each moment in this wild world. But today, it seemed as though all the energies in the universe conspired to bring me happiness. And I am thankful...

"Eternal Truth is changing the universe. As mortals drop off their mental swaddling-clothes, thought expands into expression. 'Let there be light,' is the perpetual demand of Truth and Love, changing chaos into order and discord into the music of the spheres." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 255:1

Escaping From Your Thoughts

Contemplating the Moab
photo credit: Aaron Springston

It is estimated that we have more than 50,000 thoughts every day. As I heard Wayne Dyer tell us in one of his outstanding talks, the problem with this is that the thousands of thoughts we have today are the same ones we had yesterday! Waking up from the circular thinking in which we are trapped requires an honesty we’re not accustomed to practicing. I know habitual thought is not an easy habit to break, but the desire to do so is the first step. Just like changing any behavior, you have to want to change or you never will. How can we begin to think differently? We can’t simply stop thinking, but we can exchange the trivial musings for substantial ideas. As Eleanor Roosevelt once said: “Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.” As I go through this day, I’ll often ask myself: What would Eleanor think? Namastè, each and every One! 

“My angels are exalted thoughts, appearing at the door of some sepulchre, in which human belief has buried its fondest earthly hopes. With white fingers they point upward to a new and glorified trust, to higher ideals of life and its joys.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 299:1-11