Jai Guru Deva, om

A beautiful song for a beautiful Sunday :)

https://youtu.be/jLfIkb9cpAg

The Threshold of Your Own Mind

“No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of your knowledge.
The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple, among his followers, gives not of his wisdom but rather of his faith and his lovingness.
If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the house of his wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind.”
― Khalil Gibran, The Prophet

Do Better

The last of the Four Agreements is: Do Your Best. For years, I was comforted by thinking that everyone was doing the best that they could. This "best" may not have been what I thought was best, but it was the best they could do at their stage of development. I managed to think that even someone like Hitler thought he was doing a good thing. I truly believed that everyone was working towards being the best that they could be, truly wanting to better humanity and their environment, and they were simply ignorant of how to do those things. Now I've come to think that is not so. Many people are willfully ignorant and seem to revel in it. They witness pain and suffering and find selfish ways to blame the sufferer. They turn their back on animals in pain, giving shadowy excuses for their behavior. Is this the best that they can do? If I could find some reason for their lack of empathy, perhaps I'd still think they were doing the best that they can. But it seems too many people are ruled by a love of money and power; wanting no more than fame and flattery. My heart has been broken by everyone from Bill Clinton to Bill Cosby. We're all just tired. But we must continue to strive to do better. Namaste...

"The best sermon ever preached is Truth practiced and demonstrated..." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 201-1

Don't Make Assumptions

Don’t make assumptions is the 3rd point in The Four Agreements. In today’s world, we seem to have a huge problem when it comes to communicating with each other. I’ve noticed things which keep me from hearing what is really being said. It’s easy to be thinking about what my response will be, rather than listening to someone's actual words. Have you ever thought you knew where someone was going in a conversation, only to discover you were wrong? Hence, if we’re formulating a response to someone rather than hearing what they are saying, we have just given up any hope of having an honest communication with them. Or maybe we misinterpret someone’s actions, thinking they mean harm, when the opposite is true. Today I’ll practice hearing what people are saying to me, without assuming I know what they mean. May those in power do the same...

“The wrong done another reacts most heavily against one’s self. Right adjusts the balance sooner or later.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 449:7

Don't Take Anything Personally

Yesterday I began talking about the Four Agreements, by Don Miguel Ruiz. The second agreement seems difficult for us to understand and put into practice, yet I feel it holds an important key to happiness and peace. Do Not Take Anything Personally. Maybe we've believed something about ourselves all our lives because a person in authority told us, when we were very young, that it was so. I remember a teacher chastising me in 2nd grade about using the colors purple and pink together in a drawing. I thought I had no sense of style for years because of that. It wasn't about me at all, but about her. Perhaps someone laughed at you when you said or did something, and you still cringe when you say or do it. Maybe you were told you weren't athletic because you couldn't perform some feat in childhood, and so now you don't try to dance or bowl. I'm pretty certain each and every one reading this can think of something they have been told which has stuck with them, which they may have come to believe about themselves, some limiting belief they wish they didn't have. Good news! You CAN let it go! As my good friend, Jim Young, says: It's none of my business what anyone thinks of me. So whether you think you don't look good in green, or any other thing, just remember that when someone throws words at you, they probably feel that way themselves. And as the Four Agreements reminds us, "It's not your problem, it's theirs!" Keep on looking up, dear Friends...

"Mortal error will vanish in a moral chemicalization. The mental fermentation has begun, and will continue until all errors of belief yield to understanding. Belief is changeable, but spiritual understanding is changeless." 

Be Impeccable With Your Word

One of the most important books of our age is The Four Agreements, by Don Miguel Ruiz. Today I've been thinking about the first agreement: Be Impeccable With Your Word. What a wonderful world we would have if everyone did this one simple thing. When we hear something which sounds too awful to be true, it may very well be a lie. For example: Hillary Clinton is running a prostitution ring out of Pizza Hut. If you hear something so ridiculous, wonder why you're hearing it. If a friend tells you something derogatory about a mutual friend, don't tell anyone else. Remember the Mark Twain statement: “A lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth can get its boots on.” If you tell someone you're going to do something, do it. But if you cannot, for whatever reason, be honest with them; don't make up an excuse or pretend you never said it.  If you promise your dog a walk every day, by golly you'd better do it, because you can't lie to a dog. (the same goes for any promise) If you're writing something similar to this, practice what you preach. It's easy to know what to do, but sometimes difficult to live in truth and love. Do it anyway. And finally, if someone says something you think to be incredibly foolish, be gentle in your correction. This one is tough for me, so I saved it for last. Go forward with joy, sowing good will and compassion! Namaste...

"Love will finally mark the hour of harmony, and spiritualization will follow, for Love is Spirit. Before error is wholly destroyed, there will be interruptions of the general material routine. Earth will become dreary and desolate, but summer and winter, seedtime and harvest (though in changed forms), will continue unto the end, -- until the final spiritualization of all things. 'The darkest hour precedes the dawn.'" Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 96:4-11

Hillbilly, Revisited

I rewatched the documentary, Hillbilly, this evening. So am reposting this from November last year.

photo credit: Aaron Springston

Hillbillies. What comes to mind when you hear this word? Perhaps the Beverly Hillbillies, or depictions in cartoons of this group of people, maybe a mixture of the redneck genre and hillfolk. Whatever the case, more than likely it is a caricature of the reality. I’ve read Hillbilly Elegy and I live in the Ozark hills, so my study is more than intellectual. I truly want to know the motivation behind those who voted for our current president, so I listen and learn. A documentary called “Hillbilly” is perhaps the most poignant portrayal I’ve seen or read. A young woman who escaped her Kentucky home and makes films in California put together this movie. She has made me think deeply about my prejudices. It reinforces my feeling that we all want the same things in life: love, a warm home, a feeling of security in our jobs and environment. How we become confused in those desires is what fascinates me.

"The history of our country, like all history, illustrates the might of Mind, and shows human power to be proportionate to its embodiment of right thinking. A few immortal sentences, breathing the omnipotence of divine justice, have been potent to break despotic fetters and abolish the whipping post and slave market; but oppression neither went down in blood, nor did the breath of freedom come from the cannon's mouth. Love is the liberator." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 225

Be Peace

From Hippie Peace Freaks

Saturday is my big church gig day, with recording and also a live feed service being done between noon and 5. Today both services centered around peace and what we must do to stand up and allow goodness to surround and dissipate anger. The Presbyterian minister always slips something unexpected into his sermons, which I think he does just to see if we are listening carefully. Today's entry into his hall of fame remarks was this: Peace, even beauty queens believe in it! Every beauty pageant always has at least one contestant saying all they want is world peace, don't you know? I also enjoy the six-feet-away-from-each-other passing of the peace. We use the old hippie hand peace sign and smile at everyone while giving them rabbit-ear blessings. There's something quaint and endearing about this, I think. But the bottom line is peace: live it, talk it, walk it, pass it, think it, sing it, love it, never be afraid to stand up for it! Happy Sunday to all!!

"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 belong to wisdom and Love." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 265:23

Lighting the Way

photo credit: Aaron Springston

Some people's lights are so bright they never disappear. This morning after my quiet time, as usual I checked youtube to see if any of my favorite seers had posted anything new. I was extremely delighted to see an old interview, newly posted, where Eckhart Tolle is talking with Lothar Schäfer! I wrote a tribute to him earlier this year when he passed away. Seeing this video was like sitting in a room chatting with him. The light in his eyes took me back to the time we would toast each other with fine wine, absolutely certain that our ringing glasses were resonating with the vibrations of our very being. I loved Lothar, and always will. Right after I saw this interview, I sent the link to his wife and a couple of dear friends. Their responses have solidified the connection we all had with this lovely man, whom I am so grateful to have known. Later in the day, I received word that the husband of a dear friend had suddenly passed. My heart goes out to her and all of their friends and family. Through the sadness, there is a sweet certainty that these dear ones are all right, and that we will be all right, too. Much Love to all...

"Prophet: A spiritual seer, disappearance of material sense before the conscious facts of spiritual Truth." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 593:4

https://youtu.be/lNVb4Aa1KmM 

Never Fear the Consequences

photo credit: Aaron Springston

Many of us shy away from speaking truth to erroneous thought. I read an article today by a woman who was growing up in the 1960s, a time when people of different races did not, as a rule, mingle voluntarily. She told the story of being at a friend's house and being confronted by her friend's father. The writer of this story was working with a program for rural Black people and he had seen her holding a Black child's hand, with another child sitting on her lap. He felt her actions merited corporeal punishment. She immediately said to the man, "God loves that little boy. Why don't you?" This made the man more angry and he started to take his belt off, advancing towards her. She said, "God loves you too, and you must love all whom God loves." He dropped his belt and began sobbing, reaching out to hug the girl who had forced him to face himself. This story caused me to think of times I have seen a simple statement change a situation. There is a power in truth; a power which lies only appear to have. These are difficult times indeed, but whether it's a woman sitting naked before angry forces, or pregnant women banding together against injustice, or you speaking up to your friend, we must stand for what is right and good, never fearing the consequences.

"Millions of unprejudiced minds -- simple seekers for Truth, weary wanderers, athirst in the desert -- are waiting and watching for rest and drink. Give them a cup of cold water in Christ's name, and never fear the consequences." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 570:14

Engage Whimsy!

Crow Johnson Evans playing in
 husband, Arthur's, flower garden​

My fine friend, Crow Johnson, made a Facebook post today which enthralled me so thoroughly that I asked her if I could use it for my daily post. You can find out more about this delightful musician, artist, writer at her website: www.crowspun.com 

"How do you engage whimsy? Have you allowed your inner child to get out of your stuffy adult 'I’m too busy and grown to play' closet?  Come on out!

Are you willing to let go of holding on and simply enjoy being where you are?

Perhaps imagine you are barefoot on a high wire trapeze walking above the crowds...and they may all just be applauding you or wondering how they can walk the wire too!

Maybe imagine you are in the tropics smelling the heady aromas...

There is so much to be concerned about right now, but even more to get delighted by if you’ll only allow yourself to play... too.

Might as well balance in this unbalanced world.

Arthur’s flowers invite play... of course you might want to turn off the electric fence first or it might be a whole ‘nother hot wire act."

Posted by Crow on July 22, 2020

Look Up!

art may be found at:
JudyClementWall.com

It’s easy to look down all the time. Maybe we’re checking our phones, or worried about falling down, or wondering what’s going to happen next and imagining terrible events — and on and on. One woman I know is in a state of panic because her air conditioner was leaking water in a way it should not. Another is hysterical about a sick relative. Anxiety is rampant, and I have caught a bit of it today with news of a bug infestation in our neighborhood. Thought can easily snowball from one disaster to another when we get into that state of mind. I’m glad this has happened to me today, because it gives me empathy when talking to someone who is feeling chronically anxious. Today my worried mind was calmed by the drawing you see here. This artist lives far away and I only know her through Facebook, but I’m sure glad I do! We can do this for each other, whether we’re friends, acquaintances, or complete strangers. Let’s remind each other to look up, as there’s a whole other world of wonder up there!

“The condemnation of mortals to till the ground means this, — that mortals should so improve material belief by thought tending spiritually upward as to destroy materiality.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 545:7

Seeking Understanding

In our country, the division between tribes has become so virulent and excessive that people are almost constantly in a state of judgment and battle in one form or another. Many are resorting to violent behavior and speech when confronted by something they don’t understand or disagree vehemently about. I’m keeping my finger on the pulse of these divisions and searching for ways we can communicate. It is not easy. One woman, whom I met through metafizzies years ago, has decided to come out of the closet and admit she’s a Trump supporter. I’ve started a private conversation with her about this development, because I truly want to understand how this could happen to her. It’s simpler than I wanted to admit. She listens to and reads fringe news sources, feeds her fear of conspiracy theories, and thinks that our current administration will change its outlook on the environment and animal and human welfare (she's a vegan). It takes all my strength not to argue with her. And so I continue to calmly and privately send her refutations of things she posts as facts on social media. I don’t want to be one who screams at people to wake up, but it’s tempting. Namaste...

"The calm and exalted thought or spiritual apprehension is at peace. Thus the dawn of ideas goes on, forming each successive stage of progress." Science & Health, Page 506:13

Standing By Truth

"Illusion of Danger"
photo credit: Aaron Springston

Today I received an excited message from an old friend who is a newcomer to social media. He was forwarding to me a message about a prominent Chinese scientist informing us about the "truth" concerning the ongoing viral situation. I immediately did a search on this and found numerous sources telling me this had been circulated since April, 2020, and it was not true. I wrote him back, telling him what I had found and how he, too, could discover these facts, mentioning that it was our responsibility to not pass on things designed to divide us and create fear-based responses. He wrote back telling me others had informed him that his urgent post was, indeed, misinformation. He was downhearted and said he should know better and he was going to ignore these posts from now on. "NO", I said to him. It is our responsibility as capable, intelligent people to seek truth and pass it on, while quashing lies and doing our best to correct them. I assured him he was one of these capable, intelligent folks and he could play an important role in this maze of misinformation. I urge you, each and every one, to be bearers of truth and goodness, not caving in to lies, but finding the truth and standing by it, today and every day. And to do so with kindness whenever possible -- and it's always possible!

"You do not deny the mathematician's right to distinguish the correct from the incorrect among the examples on the blackboard, nor disbelieve the musician when he distinguishes concord from discord  ... Right and wrong, truth and error, will be at strife in the minds of students, until victory rests on the side of invincible truth." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 452:32

Translating Things Into Thoughts

photo credit: Heather Peters

Many spiritual disciplines concentrate on getting things. As a student of divine metaphysics, I am learning to ”resolve things into thoughts”! Let's say we need a place to live. How do we think about this in order to manifest it in our existence? By understanding the substance of an idea! What are the spiritual qualities of this place to live, this house, this home? What does it represent? Some of the qualities of home could be warmth, comfort, peace, safety, beauty, love, and hospitality. Home is really a spiritual idea, and these qualities already exist in our individual consciousness, so we don't have to go out and find them because they're already a permanent part of our being. We can express all the qualities included in the concept of home no matter where we are, and by this expression we are cherishing our spiritual home. This translation of material things into spiritual ideas gets easier with practice, so don't be surprised if your needs are met before you even know you have them!

"Divine Science, rising above physical theories, excludes matter, resolves things into thoughts, and replaces the objects of material sense with spiritual ideas.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 123:12-15

A Great Secret

I ran across this jewel today. I share it with you because I'm going to start my days with it for the immediate future! 

It is called: Demonstration

"I have learned a great secret.

I have learned how to demonstrate, I have learned how to make Science a thing of life, not of words.

I am going to tell you what the secret is, and it is wonderful.

It is this: Not to see or hear or repeat any kind of imperfection.

It is seeing and hearing and repeating good only, at all times and under all circumstances, and in spite of everything that appears to the contrary.

I make this resolve every morning, when I first open my eyes, and I renew it every hour of the day.

I see perfection in myself, in my friends, in my so-called enemy, in my affairs and in world affairs.

I take my radical stand for the perfection of God and everything and for everything and everybody [It] has created. I look upon the world with God's eyes and see it just as [Love] sees it, and I refuse to see it in any other way.

I stop a dozen times a day, and renew the resolve, and make sure that I am not repeating error or giving way to criticism. I watch my thoughts about people, the lame, the old, the unloved to sense that I pass in the street, stray animals; I except nothing. I have taken my radical stand for perfection and I will not, absolutely will not, relax this perfect standard.

The result has been simply marvelous. Try it and you will find that you forget your glasses; they will become unnecessary.

You will be seeing with God's eyes, [Mind's] perfect sight, and you will behold a perfect universe, the outward condition of your inward thinking. To change the picture you must change the sight that produced the picture." 

By Mary Baker Eddy

Set Yourself Free

"Loveland Pass"
photo credit: Aaron Springston

Sometimes material-based life seems overwhelming. It's easy to feel bound by illnesses and injuries, financial burdens, grief, and world conditions. Our lives appear to have a beginning and an end. Physicists tell us of a perspective called quantum entanglement, in which particles separate yet remain connected, reacting to stimuli in the same way even though they no longer occupy the same space. In a book by Dan Cowan, Mind Underlies Spacetime, he explains, "...this direct connectedness occurs because each real entity is already everywhere." How perfectly this explains Oneness! This omnipresence is our perfect identity, without boundaries. We are free!!

“The admission to one's self that man is God's own likeness sets man free to master the infinite idea.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 90:24-25

Hate -- Inside or Out?

unknown photographer

"Clad in the panoply of Love, human hatred cannot reach you." This Mary Baker Eddy quote is one 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 also includes the hatred I may feel toward others. 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!

“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.”  Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 361:16-18

Be Kind Whenever Possible

I know a young woman who is trying to move forward with her life, but her parents and sister seem to want her to stay in place. They tell her she is not capable of holding a job, that she is mentally ill and should be on disability, and imply that she is not worthy of love. She is working toward moving away from behavior which no longer serves her, and perhaps never did. I am proud of her and tell her so every chance I get. Today she texted asking for my advice on how to get along with her parents, who are very conservative and have different life values than hers. She has mentioned numerous times that she feels mentally ill, because her family keeps telling her she is. It's sort of a "which came first, the chicken or the egg" kind of situation, it seems to me. She has been told something all her life, which she has come to believe -- at least enough of a belief that when something doesn't go right in her life, she feels something is wrong with her. Schools and workplaces are not generally set up for anyone who doesn't fit into whatever sized box they want to put them in. In this time of change, I see people relaxing their beliefs on what is correct behavior. This is more than a live-and-let-live attitude; it is an embracing compassion for all things living. I could no more fault my dog for being black rather than white than I would ask my sweet cat to be more like my smart cat. Let's be kind to one another, and gentle with ourselves. Namaste... 

"The great difference between voluntary and involuntary mesmerism is that voluntary mesmerism is induced consciously and should and does cause the perpetrator to suffer, while self-mesmerism is induced unconsciously and by his mistake a man is often instructed. In the first instance it is understood that the difficulty is a mental illusion, while in the second it is believed that the misfortune is a material effect. The human mind is employed to remove the illusion in one case, but matter is appealed to in the other. In reality, both have their origin in the human mind, and can be healed only by the divine Mind." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 403:2

Neowise and the International Space Station

"Overexposed Milky Way"
photo credit: Richard Quick

We were outside looking for the comet, Neowise, this evening. There were conflicting accounts of where to see it, with Accuweather saying close to the archer and milky way in the east-ish sky, and astronomy.com telling us we could see it below the big dipper in the other direction. I have the app, Sky View Lite on my phone, and so we had a fun time discovering various night lights which were not the comet! My favorite one was the International Space Station! At one point, I thought I was seeing an airplane, so I pointed my phone toward it to see how the app would identify a plane. What a surprise to find it was the space station! All this conflicting data reminded me of the stories we hear through various media. We may hear one thing from one place, and a conflicting version from another. Some folks are upset that the "big" news organizations -- Associated Press and Reuters -- are not reporting the things they are hearing in the sensational news. They take this to mean it's a conspiracy for the mainstream news sources to hide stories from the masses. The instance which was brought to my attention was a police-blotter-type story which has no reason to be reported on by the AP, but some sources are treating it as a #BLM killing. This type of sensationalized headline leaves out vital details; details which turn it into just another horrid happening at 3 a.m. in somewhere USA. But I digress. The point is: Go look at the sky, watch bugs crawl through the grass, breathe the cool night air. Generate joy, and let your intuition lead you in paths of righteousness. 

"So we have goodness and beauty to gladden the heart, but man, left to the hypotheses of material sense unexplained by Science, is as the wandering comet or the desolate star -- 'a weary searcher for a viewless home.'" Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 121:12