Let Your Golden Self Glow

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photo credit: Aaron Springston

There’s a fine documentary about Joseph Campbell called Finding Joe. Its introduction tells the story of a golden Buddha in a small town in Thailand. The townspeople learned there were marauders on their way to plunder the village, and they knew the golden statue would be taken or destroyed. In order to preserve their beloved statue, they covered it in mud, making it look worthless and ugly. It worked, and no one bothered the Buddha. As years went by, there came a point when no one remembered the statue was made of gold. One day when a young man was meditating at the stone statue’s feet, a piece of the concrete fell off and the gold showed through. Everyone came together to chip away the stone and reveal the true beauty. This is a lovely metaphor for humanity. We are born golden. But when we are toddlers, we are put into categories of male, female, black, white, smart, and not so much. We are blocked off from our true Selves. Then something comes along and knocks off a piece of our armor — it may be a personal tragedy or some other trauma. Once we see a glimpse of the gold which we truly are, we don’t want to do anything but uncover the whole picture. We’re not content to stay stone, because the gold is so much more fun! Fear often holds us back from this transition, but we're starting to realize it's always better than staying mired in the mud. Namaste...

“Whatever enslaves man is opposed to the divine government. Truth makes man free.”  Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 225:2-4

White Fragility

 

At the beginning of 2021, I decided my personal focus would be on gaining a better understanding of racism, along with trying to figure out why we humans have such a tough time in discerning truth. The latest book I’m reading is: White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism. I am starting to recognize many things about the roots of racism and how we perpetuate those beliefs in our daily lives. This evening I’m pondering the statement: “I don’t see color; everybody is the same.” These are words I’ve heard many times and it has never felt quite right, and now I’m realizing why that is. Not only can it not be true, but it should not be true. Saying this is but one way we attempt to absolve ourselves of responsibility. Then we can say, “I’m not racist”, and feel good about ourselves. But what if it takes more than that? I leave you with this quote from the book: "I believe that white progressives cause the most daily damage to people of color. I define a white progressive as any white person who thinks he or she is not racist, or is less racist, or in the ‘choir,’or already ‘gets it.’ White progressives can be the most difficult for people of color because, to the degree that we think we have arrived, we will put our energy into making sure that others see us as having arrived. None of our energy will go into what we need to be doing for the rest of our lives: engaging in ongoing self-awareness, continuing education, relationship building, and actual antiracist practice. White progressives do indeed uphold and perpetrate racism, but our defensiveness and certitude make it virtually impossible to explain to us how we do so.” ― Robin DiAngelo

"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 and Health Page 225:14-22

Internal Awakening

 

photo credit: Steve Shogren

​I feel the “second coming” is 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, most every day numerous people would tell me why they felt the world was a hate-filled place. 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!

[This is from the Glossary, where she gives us the spiritual significance of terms.]

"Japhet (Noah’s son): A type of spiritual peace, flowing from the understanding that God is the divine Principle of all existence, and that man is His idea, the child of His care." Mary Baker Eddy  Science & Health Page 589:8-11

Primal Order

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photo credit: Richard Quick

I​ love this quote attributed to Albert Einstein: “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” Through various religious teachings, most of us think of a miracle as divine power setting aside a material law, allowing something otherworldly or supernatural to occur. What if a miracle is simply a correction of our limiting beliefs, opening us to divine Mind and the limitless Life which is our true heritage as a child of Love? By this remembrance, we heal our mind of separation, giving us a clarity of thought and sight before unknown. I am very grateful —

“The miracle introduces no disorder, but unfolds the primal order, establishing the Science of God’s unchangeable law. Spiritual evolution alone is worthy of the exercise of divine power.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 135:6-10

Taking Off Human Shackles

photo credit: Aaron Springston

 ​I received a call from a political pollster which has left me confused about more than a few things. Mainly, I’m wondering when three words in particular began to imply varying degrees of lunacy. Here are the words, with a short definition: Liberal - open to new behavior or opinions and willing to discard traditional values. Conservative - holding to traditional attitudes and values and cautious about change or innovation. Moderate - average in amount, intensity, quality, or degree. These words and their definitions do not convey the extreme meaning which the news media apparently wants us to feel. When I was asked by the pollster which I considered myself to be, I was speechless. But then I threw caution to the wind and answered boldly, remembering what I write about every day: change of thought, seeing a new world where illusions appear to be, living fearlessly as Love!

“Progress takes off human shackles. The finite must yield to the infinite. Advancing to a higher plane of action, thought rises from the material sense to the spiritual, from the scholastic to the inspirational, and from the mortal to the immortal.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 256:1-5

Love Supports the Struggling Heart

 

My neighbor across the street was in her ​90s​ when she moved away​. ​After her husband passed on, she ​was unhappy with everything around her. Holidays reminded​ her of times they shared, and she​ was​ sad they​ were ​over. The changing of seasons ​brought grief for various husband-related reasons. She d​idn't enjoy meals or celebrations of any sort because she ​couldn't share them with him. We spoke ​many times about th​ese things​, ​because she talked about him a lot. ​When she would lament her life and tell me why she was sad, I​'d​ remind her of ​the joy around her and encourage her to participate. ​I talked her into going to a Willie Nelson concert with me once, but she mentioned time and again what Jack (her husband) would say. ​I don't think she​ understood ​it​ was all right to be happy. She fe​lt she would dishonor him by having fun without him. ​But I saw it as the opposite: the dishonor ​was in turning from joy to sadness in the name of love. ​I highly advocate honoring grief and feeling it to its full extent, giving it its due and turning it inside out. I know many widow women (as my mother would have called us), and I hope you will post your feelings and ideas on the blog, which is linked below. Namaste, dear friends ...

“Human affection is not poured forth vainly, even though it meet no return. Love enriches the nature, enlarging, purifying, and elevating it. The wintry blasts of earth may uproot the flowers of affection, and scatter them to the winds; but this severance of fleshly ties serves to unite thought more closely to God, for Love supports the struggling heart until it ceases to sigh over the world and begins to unfold its wings for heaven.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 346: 13-16

Vibrational Energies on the Rise

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photo credit: Richard Quick

In the years I was involved with the metafizzies here in Eureka Springs, I learned many things. Never would I have been exposed to crystal skulls, or pyramid power, or any number of other fascinating thought systems if not for our weekly meetings. Because of those years, nothing surprises me today. One of the main topics of conversation in the first decade of the 2000s was that of the Mayan Calendar. Some believed that in 2012 time would end and we would simply disappear. Others predicted huge upheavals in the environment which would cause us all to die. Many people saw it as the end of an era, rather than the end of time. We have certainly seen that occur, and are still witnessing changes we never dreamed of back then. Most humans acknowledge that everything is made of energy -- and some even happily opine that we are all the same energy. As much as I dislike saying so, it seems many people are not able to accept the rising vibrational energies which are swirling around in this time of shifting consciousness. This inability to accept change is manifested in horrific ways, along with those who embrace the new paradigm and are finding joyous expressions of living the Love which is our natural state. Perhaps some of us simply can't or won't participate in these changes and are returning to pure energy to await whatever comes next. Our lives are quite an adventure on the calmest of days, and it's been a while since we've seen those! Let's love life right now, just as it is, and be kind to those who can't leave the old for the new. And please, remember to laugh and dance whenever possible!

"Think of this, dear reader, for it will lift the sackcloth from your eyes, and you will behold the soft-winged dove descending upon you. The very circumstance, which your suffering sense deems wrathful and afflictive, Love can make an angel entertained unawares. Then thought gently whispers: 'Come hither! Arise from your false consciousness into the true sense of Love, and behold the Lamb's wife, -- Love wedded to its own spiritual idea.' Then cometh the marriage feast, for this revelation will destroy forever the physical plagues imposed by material sense." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 574:25

Arise and Shine

 ​[This is an article from the Christian Science Monitor on Easter 2018. I particularly liked it. Happy Easter!]​

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This year Easter fell on what’s called April Fools’ Day in the United States and several other countries. The coincidence of these days got me thinking that some people might feel anyone who believes a man named Jesus literally rose from the dead is a fool of sorts.

The Bible says, “The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God” (I Corinthians 3:19). What is wisdom – the obvious appearance that death is inevitable and irreversible? Or could there be a wisdom Christ Jesus and a few others in history have had that overcame death?

Common science describes human life as made of material elements that finally die. Yet it’s becoming more accepted in physics today that consciousness, rather than matter, may be the foundational reality.

Christian Science accepts that premise, not just intellectually but as something that can be proved by degrees in daily life. It takes the Bible accounts of Jesus’ power to heal disease and injury and even raise people from death as evidence that he understood each life as the expression of an indestructible Principle called God. His advanced consciousness of life as wholly spiritual could restore what we observe as physical life.

It’s a big claim to say that even one person actually rose from the dead, but one way to think of it as not just a legend is to begin taking small steps ourselves toward proving it. For example, it’s possible to rise from the death of joy regarding something we’re missing by gaining the consciousness that happiness isn’t in something physical but is always present if we live to give it to others. Many people have risen from the death of hope and have overcome fear or shame or sickness through the consciousness that they are loved by the perfect Love that gives life.

Easter is a celebration of healing possibilities for those who accept that consciousness, rather than physicality, constitutes life. That’s not foolishness. It’s the promise of expanding life for everyone, one risen thought at a time.

Free Your Mind

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photo credit: Richard Quick

In my lifetime, I have seen a huge evolution in thought! A video story set in Australia in the 1950s has reminded me of how far we’ve come. (For you video buffs, it’s called A Place to Call Home.) It’s beautiful to see what beliefs we have given up, replacing them with Love rather than fear. For instance, we had many closed-minded ideas about people of different skin color marrying each other, not to mention the barriers imposed by religious separation and gender. People had to live through electrical shock treatment and its aftermath to “cure” homosexuality or hysteria. Natural acts, such as giving birth, were thought of as a disease which needed to be managed in torturous ways. We’ve come a long way in dispelling erroneous thought and replacing it with what we now see as advanced thinking! What if we’re meant to advance even further? We’ll never know until we are able to divest ourselves of the shackles holding us in place, and listen to the guidance of divine Mind inspiring us to heights never before imagined!

"Our false views of matter perish as we grasp the facts of Spirit. The old belief must be cast out or the new idea will be spilled, and the inspiration, which is to change our standpoint, will be lost." ​Mary Baker Eddy - ​Science & Health Page 281:28-1

Ethereal Flights

 

photo credit: Datura Böes

I vividly remember a sleeping dream from a few years ago. In it, we had no need to speak, as we knew each other's thoughts. We had no fear, as our thoughts were uncluttered and pure. Everywhere I looked there were happy people, busy at tasks which would benefit everyone. There was no need for television or radios, as we knew everything, and it was Good. At one point, I thought I was lost in the woods, but that was impossible because others sensed my confusion and were there immediately to lead me to a safe and beautiful home. While traveling on a road, suddenly the way was filled with huge boulders and ancient fallen trees, but to the left side there was a field filled with beautiful flowers, and a pathway leading to my destination. All needs were met before I knew of them. And there was the most wonderful sense of peace. I will hold to these beautiful feelings today, while seeing the meaningless basis of my ego-driven thoughts and desires. [I wrote this a number of years ago. There was also a man in the dream who reminded me of Steve Jobs. A few years later, I met a man and remembered him from this dream]

“Sleep and apathy are phases of the dream that life, substance, and intelligence are material. The mortal night dream is sometimes nearer the fact of being than are the thoughts of mortals when awake. The night-dream has less matter as its accompaniment. It throws off some material fetters. It falls short of the skies, but makes its mundane flights quite ethereal.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 249:24-30

Art Is The Answer

 

Tsagaglalal​ - creation of Sandy Wythawai Starbird​

Ask anyone why art is essential and you may hear that it's useless, or that it's necessary for the survival of our species. I've come to think that art is the answer to our current problems involving beliefs and our inability to assimilate facts. Any society which wants to suppress its people tries to eliminate art in its various forms. In the United States, we have been taught to believe that art is a luxury and is not essential in educating our children. This has caused some to think that anyone who appreciates art in its various forms is highfalutin in some way, perhaps defined as elitist for their love of beauty and critical thinking. I ask that we stop and remember the Coal Miner's Daughter, Loretta Lynn. She was as down-home as a person could be, and her songs praise the evolution of thought and the revolution for women and the pointlessness of sending our loved ones to war. Her stories rival those we think of as coming through great authors, and her melodies are as pure as our finest composers brought forth. Art in the United States is fabulously diverse and is representative of our country far more than corporations and politicians. We could list pages of writers and musicians and artists in all their glory, and they have all opened us to something more than we were before we heard or saw their creations. Yes, I think the answer to every question is art! 

"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

Surrendering Defenses

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Many words and actions may seem to bring on feelings of being attacked. The realization that all attack comes from within is an eye-opener! I may feel I’m defending myself when I attack others, but I’m not. It's not a defense against anything, only my acceptance of  perceived attack and the resultant retaliation. When I realize I cannot be attacked from anywhere except  within my own self, I can surrender the defenses I have built for protection against outside circumstances. Through a conscious choice to reject the unreality of material existence and claim our heritage as powerful spiritual beings, unafraid to stand up and declare our Oneness with divine Love and all of Its creation, we are able to transcend the fears we think are inevitable. I love the new world which is being revealed through this understanding!

"Every law of matter or the body, supposed to govern man, is rendered null and void by the law of Life, God. Ignorant of our God-given rights, we submit to unjust decrees, and the bias of education enforces this slavery." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 380:32-4

Boundless Bliss

 It's easy to feel victimized by current events. It seems as if "they" are going to do whatever they want and come up with reasons why it's necessary. I don't know and don't want to wonder why things are as they are, but I am excited and expectant of good as I watch individuals working to improve communications and provide knowledge. One of my heroes is Michael Moore. He dares to question the powers that be on topics most of us are afraid to broach. One of his documentaries is "Capitalism: A Love Story". While he shows us transgressions of government and corporations, he also tells of individuals and businesses daring to challenge the accepted standards and bring about much-needed change. He gives us hope by showing how we, too, can carry a light and spread it to others. While we can never know what material truth is, as it is ever-changing and fickle, we can know spiritual Truth and allow it to lead our way toward a brave new world!

"Man is tributary to God, Spirit, and to nothing else. God's being is infinity, freedom, harmony, and boundless bliss." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 481:2-4

Empathy Builds Community

I’m reading Dan Rather’s book, What Unites Us. He is old enough to remember what life was like in the aftermath of the great depression, times before we had government programs to help people in need, along with the suffering which was thought of as normal. When someone lost their job, it felt like death, because there was not another job to be found. Neighbors would do what they could for each other, and when Dan asked his mother why they were helping the people across the street, thinking perhaps it was pity which inspired his folks to give, he was told it wasn’t because they felt sorry for them, but because they understood the feeling of being in need. He writes of how empathy builds community. That feeling is strong here in Eureka Springs. In the last two-and-a-half decades, I’ve watched our town band together to help people in every kind of need imaginable. I have been the recipient of that kindness more than once, and it has built empathy within me, too. When we don’t blame people for their misfortune, we don’t judge their circumstances, but simply meet their need, whatever it may be. It seems so simple, and it is a beautiful thing to watch in action. I wish everyone in our country could read or listen to this book by Mr. Rather. Good will multiplies exponentially, don’t you think? Let’s go forth and multiply!

"Do we love our neighbor better because of this asking? Do we pursue the old selfishness, satisfied with having prayed for something better, though we give no evidence of the sincerity of our requests by living consistently with our prayer? If selfishness has given place to kindness, we shall regard our neighbor unselfishly, and bless them that curse us, but we shall never meet this great duty simply by asking that it may be done. There is a cross to be taken up before we can enjoy the fruition of our hope and faith."  Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 9:6

What is Morality?

 

“If I had to write a book on morality, it would have a hundred pages and ninety-nine would be blank. On the last page I should write: 

'I recognize only one duty, and that is to love.'” 

Albert Camus

Peaceful, Thoughtful Resolution

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Working to correct injustice is not attacking — unless we make it so with thought! Many people feel the way of life we’re studying demands we sit around having happy thoughts, meditating, and turning away from pain and suffering. Of course, it does! But that does not preclude speaking truth to error when it is uncovered. By turning away from attack and demonstrating the Love which is our reality, we begin to understand our purpose on a totally different level than we may have espoused all our lives. I remind myself time and again of these words from A Course in Miracles: “There is no point in trying to change the world. It is incapable of change because it is merely an effect. But there is indeed a point in changing your thoughts about the world. Here you are changing the cause. The effect will change automatically.” It takes a change of thought to bring freedom. Let's free ourselves today -- and forever!

“By purifying human thought, this state of mind permeates with increased harmony all the minutiae of human affairs.” Mary Baker Eddy - Miscellaneous Writings Page 204:23-25

Seeing Through New Eyes

 

photo credit: Gerry Toler

Everywhere​,​​ huge changes are occurring. Let​'s​ not be afraid to look at traditional values in a new light! New ways of looking at old words, such as The Lord's Prayer, give us new insights and understanding. In the late 1800s, Mary Baker Eddy gave us a spiritual interpretation of this well-known prayer. Here is a beautiful modern-day interpretation by Peter Russell, which I feel is helpful in facilitating our shifting perception.

Peter Russell's Contemporary Lord's Prayer

​"​Our essential Being, that dwells within,

'I am' is thy name.

May thy true nature be revealed.

May thy knowing inform our daily lives,

As it does our inner Being.

Nourish us today with thy Presence.

Release us from any judgment we have held against ourselves,

As we release others from judgments we've held against them.

Let us not be tempted to seek solace in worldly things.

Liberate us from that which veils the truth.

For it is in our Being that we find your Presence,

The Source of all good, the home of all joy,

Eternally, and without change.

So be it."

http://www.peterrussell.com

Mary Baker Eddy quote: "Our Father-Mother God, all harmonious, Adorable One. They kingdom is come; thou art ever present. Enable us to know, -- as in heaven, so on earth, -- God is omnipotent, supreme. Give us grace for today; feed the famished affections. And Love is reflected in love. God leadeth us not into temptation, but delivereth us from sin, disease, and death. For God is infinite, all power, all Life, Truth, Love, over all, and All." Science & Health, Page 16:27-15

Peace Inherent

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photo credit: Aaron Springston

Peace is inherent in every seemingly volatile situation. Tell this to someone who has been involved in a violent attack and they will scoff at you — at the very least. It’s my understanding that one in every three calls to the police in our area involves domestic abuse. I can only assume this is a woman calling concerning a man's actions, although that isn't always the scenario. I know I can’t change anyone; only my thoughts about them or the situation. By this peaceful resolution within myself, I may be guided to take particular actions in my world, or I may be led to quietly know the Truth about us all and, by that knowing, facilitate peace. I wish I could quiet everyone's mind so they wouldn't need to lash out at others. Hum -- maybe I can, right here within me! Do I really understand Oneness? I certainly want to...  

 
“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.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 510:9-12

Reflections of Good

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photo credit: Kailey Jones

A good friend once called me and said she felt as though she had been punched in the face by God. Of course, I asked what she meant by this — as many different interpretations crossed my thought, mainly that she had awakened from the illusion! It turns out she had a toothache. So I immediately told her not to put that [expletive deleted] on God! We talked of definitions for God, specifically that we are the image and likeness of divine Love, and there is no way that this gentle Presence would ever punch us in the face. This particular friend is so receptive to Truth that she almost immediately felt better and has spoken with me often about the many instances wherein this new understanding has changed her outlook. What a joy it is to see someone open the door and not be afraid of the light!

"Man is, and always has been, God's reflection." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 471:17-18

Book Club in the Time of Covid

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Last fall, I was Zooming with my book club and Kevin was fascinated by the exchanges he overheard. He had always admired the books we read and how energized I was after attending one of our meetings, so when he heard us talking via computer, the journalist in him came to life and he wanted me to write an essay about our group, its history, and how the pandemic had affected us. I had forgotten our conversation and was happily surprised today to find these notes he made for me. He slipped the piece of paper into a stack of 2020 tax stuff I had in my desk. Since his passing two months ago, he is in my dreams almost every night, but seeing this note today brought him into the room as surely as if he had walked through the door! What a welcome surprise this was...

"Life is the law of Soul, even the law of the spirit of Truth, and Soul is never without its representative. Man's individual being can no more die nor disappear in unconsciousness than can Soul, for both are immortal." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 427:5