Nobody's Right, Everybody's Wrong?

 

November 19, 2021 Lunar Eclipse

unknown origin

Have you noticed it’s impossible to tell what people are pontificating about if they don’t mention names or political parties? When someone is adamantly against something, or self-righteously promoting their agenda, they sound pretty much the same. After realizing this, I’ve started looking at social media posts with an eye to identifying what people are really talking about. There is a forum called What’s Happening Carroll County which I notice occasionally. Today the topic was the Rittenhouse trial and acquittal. I read the comments on this topic and honestly could not tell who was glad he was released and who was not (unless they specifically said this). Everyone appears to have a firm idea of what is right and what is wrong, but the lines seem to be blurred in many cases. I’ve mentioned in the past that I try not to have strong opinions, because it closes my mind to anything else. It could be that we have all decided where we stand on certain issues and are willing to manipulate facts to fit what we believe. Some say that lunar eclipses bring about events which are part of the cosmic plan. Whatever is happening now, it feels important, so I'll pay attention. Namaste…

“Wrong-mindedness listens to the ego and makes illusions; perceiving sin and justifying anger, and seeing guilt, disease and death as real. Both this world and the real world are illusions because right-mindedness merely overlooks, or forgives, what never happened. Therefore it is not the One-mindedness of the Christ Mind, Whose Will is one with God's." A Course in Miracles - Clarification of Terms

Sacrificing Fear?

art by J. Clement Wall 

judyclementwall.com

 Why is it so difficult to let go of something we don't want? No one wants to live in fear, but it seems we've convinced ourselves its necessary for survival. I know I sometimes fall into this trap. The fear-based life going on around us seems to be contagious. I'm tired of living from a place of worry about what-if situations. The confusion which comes from a mind full of crazy scenarios and potentially dangerous situations is not the way I choose to be. ACIM Workbook Lesson #323 says: “I gladly make the 'sacrifice' of fear". So today I am actively giving away these feelings in favor of peace and Love, knowing it becomes easier with every so-called sacrifice of fear.

"Give up your material belief of mind in matter, and have but one Mind, even God; for this Mind forms its own likeness." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 216:30-32

The Good Life

Josh's Dogs

 Most people I know are yearning for a more simple existence, one in which needs are met in nurturing ways. We want real food, grown with love by people we know. We don't want knick-knacks to fill our shelves, but would rather have meaningful objects which bring grace and beauty to our lives. These changes in material trappings exemplify the changes in our thought, whereby we strive to release illusive beliefs in exchange for the new/old ideas of Spirit. Today I will recognize the difference between unnecessary illusions, which only serve to dull my senses, and the palpably glowing Ideas which nourish me.

“Man is the idea of Spirit; he reflects the beatific presence, illuming the universe with light.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science and Health Page 266:27–29

Living Love's Laws

photo credit: Blake Lasater

I have a cousin who made a post to social media about revenge being best served cold. He went on to expound on how to make our “enemies” uncomfortable while they wait to get what they deserve. I am expressing gratitude for the freedom we are finding through our recognition of everyone as the expression of divine Love. Recognizing ourselves as this Creation frees us from hurt feelings and thoughts of retaliation during times when things don't go as we had hoped and expected. I have a dear friend who has gone through what is traditionally known as a break-up with the woman he was going to marry. He sees this as a natural progression of their relationship, feeling that they had a wonderful time together, that they learned a lot about life, and it's all right if they go their separate ways. I think he feels this way because he knows that Love includes everyone, not just those whose actions he likes. This knowledge brings us the freedom to be joyful and allows others the same right! For which I am thankful!

“God’s being is infinity, freedom, harmony, and boundless bliss.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health 480:3-4

Are We Powerless?

 

Most religious doctrine and non-secular belief propound the idea that we, as humans, are weak, sinful, and powerless. Our interpretation of the language of A Course in Miracles and Mary Baker Eddy could keep us in that belief too, if we are holding onto past perceptions. But we are being asked to release everything we ever knew in order to see ourselves as the actual experience of God. It's very difficult to stop thinking of God as somewhere outside of us, perhaps passing judgment from a throne, and that's why I find it helpful to use some synonyms for Deity. Thinking of myself as a creation of divine Mind, a reflection of divine Love, makes it easier to grasp these concepts without separation. Would I rather see God as an old man in the sky, or as divine Love flowing in and through everything, not as a judgmental figure but as a gentle presence? I know which one brings me peace!

"Mortals must look beyond fading, finite forms, if they would gain the true sense of things. Where shall the gaze rest but in the unsearchable realm of Mind? We must look where we would walk, and we must act as possessing all power from Him in whom we have our being."​ ​Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health  Page 264:7-12

What One Gains is Given to All

 

A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson #318 topic is: “I came for the salvation of the world". This could be interpreted to mean we should go forth and proselytize, or perhaps that we need to save souls, or something of that sort. It is not. I know a large number of loving, compassionate people who want to save the world. This lesson tells us, "...what one gains is given unto all", and the salvation spoken of is not to be found at some future date, but right here, now, always. Every iota of Truth we accept is a gift to the world. We are all the expression of divine Mind and it only takes a cleansing of ego-based thought to accept this. By our humble yielding, we begin to understand that our salvation lies in this knowledge.

“Millions of unprejudiced minds--simple seekers for Truth, weary wanderers, athirst in the desert--are waiting and watching for rest and drink.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 570:14-17

Allow

 

photo credit: Aaron Springston

Newton County, AR

Allow - by Danna Faulds

There is no controlling life.

Try corralling a lightning bolt,

containing a tornado. Dam a

stream and it will create a new

channel. Resist, and the tide

will sweep you off your feet.

Allow, and grace will carry

you to higher ground. The only

safety lies in letting it all in –

the wild and the weak; fear,

fantasies, failures and success.

When loss rips off the doors of

the heart, or sadness veils your

vision with despair, practice

becomes simply bearing the truth.

In the choice to let go of your

known way of being, the whole

world is revealed to your new eyes

By: Danna Faulds

A Satisfying Visit With Friends

 

Magnetic Springs Road - Eureka Springs, AR

Today brought a satisfying visit with a couple of nonagenarian friends who have been dealing with various health problems. The sweet woman had broken a hip and recently returned home from five weeks in the hospital and rehabilitation. Her husband has been having memory problems and recently was diagnosed with cancer. The visit was satisfying because my sweet female friend is doing so well — walking and laughing and trying to learn new things. (I took her a portable CD player so she can listen to books and she happily learned how to use it!) She is also a life-long student of Christian Science, although she hasn’t actively studied in many years. But once you know the principles of metaphysics, you look at life in a different way. She is sure in her understanding of her true being as the image and likeness of God — of Life, Truth, and Love. Her husband, on the other hand, is materialistic in his understanding of life. He is distressed and thinks his life is over and he wants to be done with it all. We are good enough friends that I was able to tell him about a time in my own life when I could have felt as he does, but I chose to be grateful for the things I could do, rather than being angry or sad over what I could no longer have. We talked about how great his life has been and still is! If anyone reading this feels helpless or hopeless, start a gratitude journal. Every day I’m thankful for the sunshine, or the butterflies, or my friends, or books — well, you get the idea. Allow yourself to feel joy in the little things. Life is Good…

“All the evidence of physical sense and all the knowledge obtained from physical sense must yield to Science, to the immortal truth of all things.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health 493:6-8

Finding Joy in Another's Good

photo credit: Blake Lasater

 A Course in Miracles workbook lesson #316 states: “All gifts I give my brothers are my own.” I take that to mean all the good that is being given and received by everyone, everywhere, is goodness being given by and to me, right here, right now, all the time. Well, how far out is that??! After expressing this thought to someone, they said, "But what about the bad? Isn’t it given and received by everyone, and doesn’t it cancel out the good?" We could go through lots of conversations about these points, concerning the unreality of bad and the only-ness of good. But I don’t want to think in those ways any longer -- of right and wrong, good and bad -- so I won’t speak or write in those ways either. There is only One God, expressing only Itself. If we are the idea of God, there’s nothing else to consider. God is Love. We are Love and that’s a powerful principle by which to abide! “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right doing, there is a field. I will meet you there.” Rumi

“… that joy which finds one’s own in another’s good.” Mary Baker Eddy - Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, p. 127

Gifts For Everyone

Lothar, Jim, Jenny 

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

“The sun, giving light and heat to the earth, is a figure of divine Life and Love, enlightening and sustaining the universe.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 538:11-13

Perceiving Change

photo credit: Aaron Springston

Have you ever felt that you're a victim of life's circumstances? Someone I know repeatedly falls into similar types of dramatic victimization. He spends his waking hours worrying about what will happen in the future and blaming others for what has happened in the past. His perception of the world is one of expecting the worst in every case scenario. How can we break free of this debilitating way of thought ""From new perception of the world there comes a future very different from the past."[ACIM workbook lesson #314] Could it possibly be so simple? It hasn't been easy for me to change the way I think and to allow myself to live with no expectations, but the concept is certainly simple enough. As with any new skill we learn, it's a matter of practice. Every day is yet another chance to live this new/old thought as the expression of Love!

“The human mind, imbued with this spiritual understanding, becomes more elastic, is capable of greater endurance, escapes somewhat from itself, and requires less repose. A knowledge of the Science of being develops the latent abilities and possibilities of man. It extends the atmosphere of thought, giving mortals access to broader and higher realms. It raises the thinker into his native air of insight and perspicacity.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 128:11-19

New Perceptions

 

Crescent Hotel - Eureka Springs

It's my understanding everyone sees a rainbow differently, according to where they are when they view it. Isn't that a perfect metaphor for everything from politics to the clothes we put on our bodies? Where I am, in thought, is how I will perceive something. Things which I may think of as being for the good of everyone, someone else may see as the downfall of society. It's just a matter of how you look at it. A line from a movie comes to mind in which an octogenarian tells us that life is like a ride on a roller coaster. She says that some people think the ride is frightening and stressful; others see it as fun and exciting. I love this reminder, and there are so many times in our experience where we could go either way with our perception of a situation. A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson #313 states: "Now let a new perception come to me." How exciting to look at everything through new eyes as we go through the day!

“The human mind will sometime rise above all material and physical sense, exchanging it for spiritual perception, and exchanging human concepts for the divine consciousness. Then man will recognize his God-given dominion and being." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 531:10-14

One Mind

 

photo credit: Aaron Springston

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

"The supposed existence of more than one mind was the basic error of idolatry. This error assumed the loss of spiritual power, the loss of the spiritual presence of Life as infinite Truth without an unlikeness, and the loss of Love as ever present and universal."Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 479:5-10

Pondering Judgment

 

Leatherwood Trail

Eureka Springs, AR

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

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

What, Me Worry?

Aaron riding Leatherwood Trail

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

“Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true, and you will bring these into your experience proportionably to their occupancy of your thoughts.”Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health  Page 261:4-7

Forgotten Truth

 

photo credit: Aaron Springston

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

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

“Within me is the Holiness of God. Within me is the memory of Him.” https://acim.org/acim/en/s/729#1:7-8 | W-309.1:7-8)

Timesless Thoughts

Eureka Springs, AR

 Time is an interesting concept. It passes differently depending on whether we’re in a dentist’s chair or having fun with loved ones. We always think we're too young or too old, or this physical malady will pass with time, or that we simply don't have time to do the things we want to do. I’m reminded of some favorite quotes about this thing we call time. Deepak Chopra said: "Time is something we have made up so everything doesn't happen all at once." Albert Einstein came to believe that time was not only relative, but unreal​.​ Here is a quote from him, written in a letter to a friend: "To those of us who believe in physics, this separation between past, present, and future, is only an illusion, if a stubborn one." I love novels having to do with time and its elasticity. When I realize that I'm not a mortal living in what seems to be now, but an immortal living in eternity, then some major shifts in perception can take place. Sleeping dreams, waking dreams, alternate realities, time travel — Beam me up, Scottie!

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

Freed From Conflicting Thought

 
When someone close to us has a problem, we tend to think of it as our own. We have been conditioned to think we can fix others, and if we don't try, we fear people will think we don't care. Then we're thrown into a quandary of feelings: love for them, perhaps embarrassment over their actions, worry about what will happen to them, concern over what others will think -- the list can be endless! When we are able to release these feelings and see everyone as the spiritual creation they truly are, we begin to release our sense of personal responsibility, while affirming their goodness as a reflection of divine Love.  Opening to ideas from divine Mind frees us of the conflict imposed by material wishes!

“We cannot serve two masters nor perceive divine Science with the material senses.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science and Health Page 167:11-12

True Idea, Voicing Good

 A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson #306 states, “The gift of Christ is all I seek today”. To learn this course requires a willingness to question every value that you hold, to allow the sun to shine into your mind, to allow grace to be your natural state. To learn this course and have your mind healed from fear and limitation requires you to be willing to question every value you hold. We tend to think it’s a good thing to hold strong opinions on any number of things, such as politics. It may seem as though I’m saying we shouldn’t work for social reform, that we shouldn’t stand up to wrong-doers, that we should become the proverbial doormat. I think that giving up the things which make us angry, the things for which we become fighting mad, enables us to open ourselves to this gift of the Christ: this Love which guides us to do meaningful work in ways we hadn’t realized because strong mindsets were hiding them. I think it will be an interesting exercise to take note of the thoughts I have which keep me from the gift of divine Love. I hope you’ll join me!

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

Allowing Peace

 

photo credit: Gerry Tyler

You've probably heard of, or witnessed, accounts of people facing the direst of situations calmly, with a seeming other-worldly sense of peace. I experienced one of these situations when visiting with a couple who were learning how to cope with the change we call death. When I walked into their home, the first thing I felt was an all-encompassing peace. My dear friend related how inspired she was by the leaves falling from the trees in their regular autumnal cycle. She told me how they take care of themselves. She never rakes them into piles, but allows them to go where they need to be, and there they change to whatever form is required of them -- soil, protection for seedlings, shelter for insects and small animals. She sees perfection in this plan and knows that the same perfection is taking place in all existence. I am grateful to have experienced this deep and quiet peace with them. The peace of God is there for all, no matter what the material circumstance. The gift of Love satisfies the hungering senses, it calms fear, it allows us to release the ties which bind us to material existence, giving us more than we knew was possible.

“Life is reflected in existence, Truth in truthfulness, God in goodness, which impart their own peace and permanence. Love, redolent with unselfishness, bathes all in beauty and light.” Mary Baker Eddy- Science & Health Page 516:9-13