When a Dog Runs Up

 

In Memory of Daffy the Dog

When a Dog Runs Up (by Hafiz)

"Start seeing everything as God, but keep

it a secret.

Become like the man and woman who are

awestruck and nourished

listening to a golden nightingale sing

in a beautiful foreign language while God,

invisible to most, nests upon its tongue.

Hafiz, who can tell in this world that

when a dog runs up to you wagging its

ecstatic tail, you lean over and whisper in

its ear,

“Beloved, I am so glad you are happy to

see me! Beloved, I am so glad, so very glad

you have come!”

Offering Peace

 

Imagine seeing an image of an automatic weapon and the words: "Give peace a chance. I'll cover you if it doesn't work out." Where did we ever get the notion that we could be protected from violence by violence? I read an article from a few years back in which President Jimmy Carter was telling us the time for peace is now. He also asked on-point questions such as, why have we decided that killing people keeps people from killing people, and why do governments wage wars to enforce peace. There are a multitude of ways we seem to think violence will end violence. I look back over the last few decades and it is astounding how often teachers and parents and authority figures think they can control others with threats and corporal punishment. Violent little boys grow up to be violent little men. Let's just stop it -- stop it now!

"Peace is impossible to those who look on war. Peace is inevitable to those who offer peace. How easily, then, is your judgment of the world escaped! It is not the world that makes peace seem impossible. It is the world you see that is impossible. Yet has God's Judgment on this distorted world redeemed it and made it fit to welcome peace. And peace descends on it in joyous answer. Peace now belongs here, because a Thought of God has entered. What else but a Thought of God turns hell to Heaven merely by being what it is? The earth bows down before its gracious Presence, and it leans down in answer, to raise it up again. Now is the question different. It is no longer, 'Can peace be possible in this world?' but instead, 'Is it not impossible that peace be absent here?'" ACIM M-11.4

A Voice as Loud as I'm Willing to Listen

photo credit: Richard Quick

In the past few years, I've noticed that many people want others to tell them what to do. We seem to flock to those who are willing, even eager, to guide us through the maze of life. Perhaps it’s because if we’re doing what someone else tells us, then we can blame them if it doesn’t work out! (I’m only partly joking about that) Sometimes we are afraid to make decisions for ourselves because we don’t trust that we are informed enough to do so. At that point, we either throw up our hands and don’t do anything, or we ask someone else what they’re going to do so we can do it, too. Perhaps we don’t trust our own inner guidance because we have so often mistaken our busy little mind for the calm voice of the divine Mind. We are told in the textbook of A Course in Miracles that “His voice is as loud as I am willing to listen.” Let’s not expect a big, booming human voice to come down from above, but a still, small certainty in the deepness of ourselves, leading us as the expression of Life, Truth, and Love! Trust yourSelf! 

"Infinite Mind creates and governs all, from the mental molecule to infinity. This divine Principle of all expresses Science and art throughout creation, and the immortality of man and the universe." Mary Baker Eddy- Science & Health Page 507:24-28

Trust YourSelf

 

photo credit: Blake Lasater

The world we live in teaches us we should try to defend against every contingency which may come up -- i.e., get your inoculations, take out insurance for every possible disaster, check your blood pressure, teach your children not to talk to strangers -- the list goes on and on. Is it possible to protect our mortal selves from every material malady which may befall us? Of course not. But we can be aware of the still, small voice which is always guiding us in our every action, when we listen. Trust yourself! Listen to your instinctual prompts; this is where safety lies. I now see that defensive behavior is nothing more than trusting in suppositional evil more than the truth of Being. When we trust the Eternal, a peace always dreamed of is actualized, and we find ourselves imparting that peace to others, through our living of it.

“Instead of tenaciously defending the supposed rights of disease [and other seeming threats], while complaining of the suffering disease brings, would it not be well to abandon the defense, especially when by so doing our own condition can be improved and that of other persons as well?” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 348:21-25

A Million Light Years of Being

•  [Art Diana Sudyka]

By J. L. Stanley​

[taken from Cosmic Dancer]

​  ​

"When they ask to see your gods

your book of prayers

show them lines

drawn delicately with veins

on the underside of a bird's wing

tell them you believe

in giant sycamores mottled

and stark against a winter sky

and in nights so frozen

stars crack open spilling

streams of molten ice to earth

and tell them how you drink

a holy wine of honeysuckle

on a warm spring day

and of the softness

of your mother who never taught you

death was life's reward

but who believed in the earth

and the sun

and a million, million light years

of being."

​~ J.L. Stanley

Gratitude as a Reset for Thought

There was an interesting editorial in the Christian Science Monitor which talked about gratitude in times of crisis. Gratitude was expressed for health care professionals working to contain and treat the current virus outbreak, among other things. The essay mentioned how gratitude helps put a focus on the good in a situation, dampening fear. It helps people form stronger bonds across borders and through their differences. It encourages generosity. I found it particularly interesting that they referred to expressing appreciation as a kind of reset for thoughts, saying that it allows calm reflective thinking, which is just what we need to bring a healing perspective during these times. These wise words can certainly be applied to many situations in our current atmosphere, don't you think? I'm going to practice this as a way of turning around fearful or defensive thinking when it occurs. If someone is expressing a thought which I find abrasive, I will find something to be grateful for about them. When a politician has upset me with his actions, I shall try to follow my own advice. Whatever the case, I love thinking about gratitude as a "reset"!!

"Gratitude is much more than a verbal expression of thanks. Action expresses more gratitude than speech." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 3:25-26

The Thought System of Separation

creations of and photo from Dale Johnson

I listen to audiobooks while I do chores and cook. Lately, I’ve heard numerous thought-provoking books. Right now, I’m listening to The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, and the concepts presented are fascinating. A young 19th-century girl laments her life, wishing she had more freedom and wasn’t being forced into a marriage. She makes a pact with the “old gods”, but she wishes for the wrong thing and ends up living forever, but no one can remember her once she’s out of their sight. The life of isolation she is thrown into is haunting, frightening, sad. Her plight brings to mind the many present-day people who are lonesome. I listen, trying to understand what brings on their feelings of wistful longing. Or is it even longing? I’m not sure, but I’d like to empathize. Another recent audiobook, What Alice Forgot, is about a woman who has a head injury and forgets the last ten years of her life. The lack of connection she feels with family and friends is sort of the flip side of Addie’s isolation. It takes my thoughts to the different aspects of loneliness and the perceptions associated with this feeling of lack. Perhaps the quest to understand our unity, to feel unseparated from our source, precludes this feeling I do not know. Walking with God may not mean the same thing to me as it might to others. This is yet another thing to ponder on these winter evenings! Stay warm and happy, everyone. Namaste…

“The ego thought system must hide our awareness of our oneness in God in order to make the image of having a separate life for ourselves alone appear real to us. In order to experience this false thought system, we must be willing to set up barriers against remembering God’s oneness through denying our natural awareness of Love’s eternal presence. To experience this thought system of separation, we dream up a world where separate bodies rule the universe. In this dream, we, as separate individuals, are the judge of what is real and what is denied. We build up images of a kingdom that we rule alone and God’s oneness is sacrificed.” A Course in Miracles, Chapter 26, Section I. (pages 542-544)

Is Happiness a Learned Behavior?

 

photo from movie, Brad's Status

After watching the movie, Brad's Status, I'm seeing people in a different way. In this movie, Brad -- played by Ben Stiller -- is dissatisfied with his life. He thinks all his friends are better off than him, in every way. When he sees that they're not really, he decides they're not even his friends, but only pretending. Everyone he meets, he imagines enriching his life, then quickly imagines them using him and throwing him away. He thinks his son is going to Harvard and gets very excited thinking about his success; then he imagines his son making fun of him on national tv and he resents the imagined success. This goes on and on with every situation, until finally someone he has just met calls him on his self-pity. I won't tell you how it ends in case you want to see this film. But I did have the realization that many people I know feel exactly the same way as Brad. What causes some people to be happy with what's right in front of them, and others to want everything to be different? I don't know the cause, but I do know the cure: Gratitude for every little thing you see and do. I think being happy might just be a learned behavior. We tend to think of it as some sort of divine dispensation, but nothing can give you what you do not want. This movie has given me much to ponder. Namaste, my friends ...

"Many theories relative to God and man neither make man harmonious nor God lovable. The beliefs we commonly entertain about happiness and life afford no scatheless and permanent evidence of either. Security for the claims of harmonious and eternal being is found only in divine Science." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 323:5

The Storm - by Mary Oliver

 

Arthur Bruno's Dog, Winter

The Storm - by Mary Oliver​

Now through the white orchard my little dog
romps,

breaking the new snow
with wild feet.


Running here running there, excited,
 hardly able to stop, 

he leaps, he spins


until the white snow is written upon
in large, exuberant letters,


a long sentence, expressing
 the pleasures of the body in this world.


Oh, I could not have said it better

Have a Dream

 

art by Jesse Stone

I read the below-cited quote on a social media site called Cosmic Dancer. When seeing it was from The Alchemist, a flood of memories rushed at me. When I first read this book, my gallery was on the verge of closing down due to lack of business. This book caused me to open myself to the field of infinite possibilities, and we ended up staying open five more years, in a different and exciting location. The gist of the quote which changed my life is this: “Most people don’t realize they have a dream. Of those who know they have a dream, most fear to follow it. Of those who follow it, most stop one step short of realizing it.” Wow. I knew I had a dream and I was following it. After reading this book, I knew I couldn’t stop short! Authors such as Paulo Coelho have helped me to see the advantages of concentrating our intentions on what we DO want, rather than passionately worrying about the down side. And I am grateful…

“We are travelers on a cosmic journey, stardust, swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. Life is eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share. This is a precious moment. It is a little parenthesis in eternity.” ~ Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

Feast on Your Life

 

Good Friend on Ozark Farm

photo credit: Donna Doss

Love After Love -- by Derek Walcott

The time will come

when, with elation

you will greet yourself arriving

at your own door, in your own mirror

and each will smile at the other's welcome,
and say, sit here. Eat.

You will love again the stranger who was your self.

Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart

to itself, to the stranger who has loved you
all your life, whom you ignored

for another, who knows you by heart.

Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
the photographs, the desperate notes,

peel your own image from the mirror.

Sit. Feast on your life.

Derek Walcott

No Condemnation = Forgiveness

 

Love, forgiveness, salvation -- these and many other words have taken on interesting connotations through our material interpretations and beliefs. How often does our version of love include jealousy, attachment, and various demands we insist upon for someone to be a worthy recipient of our matter-based love? And forgiveness seldom is an acknowledgement that there is truly nothing to forgive, but carries with it superior thoughts and magnanimous gestures. Salvation has an odd interpretation which includes a paying of penance to someone or something. As we turn away from the material conceptions of these and other words, we are allowed to glimpse Love, wherein there is no forgiveness nor salvation as we think of them. A Course in Miracles assures us that "God does not forgive because He has never condemned." Also, the forgiveness we humans are learning about is "the reflection of God's Love on earth." How beautiful is that!!  When looked at from this perspective, it seems senseless to say that we can forgive but not forget. We can release all thoughts of retaliation or revenge and live by the law of grace. How I long to forget everything and begin again from 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. Love, the divine Principle, is the Father and Mother of the universe, including man." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 256:1-8

The Invincible

my grand baby, Torin ...

 “He said, 'In the midst of hate, I found there was, within me, an invincible love. In the midst of tears, I found there was, within me, an invincible smile. In the midst of chaos, I found there was, within me, an invincible calm. I realized, through it all, that in the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer. And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there's something stronger -- something better, pushing right back." Albert Camus 

"If I am not feeling peaceful, it is important for me to remember that I have made a judgment on my own. If I am not peaceful, I have not listened to the Holy Spirit. The way I return to peace is to once again open my mind to the healing perceptions of my inner Comforter, the One Who straightens my mind. My one vocation now becomes that of stepping back and following the lead of my inner Teacher, the One Who can return me to my true Identity." A Course in Miracles - Workbook Lesson #352

Music of the Spheres

 

photo of Miten, from Deva Primal

Science fiction, the speculation of how life will be in the future, has always fascinated me. The serene surroundings of those who neither want nor need is very appealing. A place where there is no room for anger or warlike behavior because all actions are filled with Love, where the rare disagreement is settled through the decision of a "fair witness", the utopia which ensues in this atmosphere seems so simple. It feels as though these dreams of future perfection are here with us now. They are being realized in a myriad of ways. Do an internet search on good deeds, or Age of Aquarius, or peaceful living, if you feel the need for affirmation that this reality is with us here and now. I recently saw a movie in which a 102-year-old woman said these words: "We ain't what we should be, we ain't what we gonna be, but at least we ain't what we were." The major shifts in thought that we're experiencing is making many people uncomfortable. Some tell me that they feel restless and discontented. I think this is a symptom of the shift we're experiencing. It is tempting for many to cover these feelings of distress with alcohol and drugs, perhaps even with extreme physical activity. I urge you to fear not, but to hold thought steadily to the good and true. Follow your intuition to find ways to assuage this discontent. I see now that nothing can keep the miracle away, no matter how hard we try.

"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

Sweeping Away Distortion

 

Newton County, Arkansas

unknown photographer (probably Tim Ernst)

"Forgiveness sweeps away distortion, and opens the hidden altar to the truth." Looking at this sentence from A Course in Miracles -- even through the limited eyes of our mortal mind -- it seems so beautifully true! I was chatting with a friend who tells me that her neighbor is convinced there is a mountain lion in their country neighborhood. He's going through all sorts of interesting practices in an attempt to "insure his family's safety". I live in town and my next door neighbor has strobe lights going all night long off of his back porch, attempting to deter turkey vultures from bedding down in the trees surrounding his house. Both of these people are afraid for reasons only they know. I can join them, either by fearing along with them or thinking about how silly I believe their actions to be. Either way would exacerbate their fears. So knowing that our minds are joined by virtue of our parent Mind, I choose forgiveness and allow love to replace any feelings of ridicule which may tempt me. Now that I've said it, let's see if I can do it!

"The nearer a false belief approaches truth without passing the boundary where, having been destroyed by divine Love, it ceases to be even an illusion, the riper it becomes for destruction. The more material the belief, the more obvious its error, until divine Spirit, supreme in its domain, dominates all matter, and man is found in the likeness of Spirit, his original being."Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 97:14-20

Lest We All Fall Into the Pit ...

 

Most of us know someone who lives with debilitating depression. Something I did not realize is that many family members feel guilty being happy around their depressed loved one. So oftentimes, the whole family ends up depressed on some level because of the one who is at the depths. Hum. While listening to BK Shivani talk about this phenomenon, I suddenly realized how much I have witnessed this happening amongst people I know. She gives an example of how a family may be walking in the woods and one member falls into a pit. Right away, one by one, the others jump in to be with the trapped member. They’re family after all, and they stick together. But wait! At least one must stay out of the pit if they are to survive. And so it is with depression and grief: one person must be willing to keep their vibrations high and joyous in order to bring the others up to that level, raising them out of the pit. And so, instead of guilt over feeling happy in the face of someone who is chronically depressed, we need to be proud that we have the courage to stay out of the pit and be happy, raising the vibration of everyone around us. An example came to mind of a dark closet. When you open the door, the dark doesn’t escape into the light room; the light chases away the darkness. Keep on keeping on everyone!

"Harmony is produced by its Principle, is controlled by it and abides with it. Divine Principle is the Life of man. Man's happiness is not, therefore, at the disposal of physical sense. Truth is not contaminated by error. Harmony in man is as beautiful as in  music, and discord is unnatural, unreal." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 304:17-21

Soul

 

Anna Pavlova with her pet swan, Jack, 1905.

“How it is that animals understand things I do not know, but it is certain that they do understand. Perhaps there is a language which is not made of words and everything in the world understands it. Perhaps there is a soul hidden in everything and it can always speak, without even making a sound, to another soul.” Frances Hodgson Burnett – A Little Princess, 1905.

Finding Joy Within Sorrow

photo credit: Blake Lasater

 In yesterday’s blog, I hailed the wonder of joyful living. A few people tell me I was wrong. I fully understand that sometimes things happen in our lives, and we are overcome with grief. I know this is true, and I think grief should be honored. Cry when you feel like it, and ask for help if you can’t stand the pain alone. These are parts of active grieving and I think they are necessary. One person told me it was impossible to be joyous when so many people in this world are starving, homeless, seemingly without hope. I remember one of my favorite wise men saying that no matter how bad we feel, it won’t change what someone is experiencing. And writing this reminds me of another author who said that what we do in the present changes the future and redeems the past. This stream-of-consciousness post is to clear my thoughts. What has come from it, for me, is the knowledge that joy is still there within the grief. At some point, we begin to see glimmers of that light. My hope is that we’re not afraid to accept our feelings of joy and sadness, even when they occur simultaneously. When we witness children in need, we can hold them high in our thoughts, leading humankind to acknowledge their need and seeing how, individually and collectively, to supply it. There is a solution to every problem, and joy, love, and compassion lead the way to answers. 

“My angels are exalted thoughts, appearing at the door of some sepulcher, 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 P 299:11

Happiness is Unselfish

 A Little Night Magic - by J. Clement Wall -- judyclementwall.com

Waking up joyfully, full of expectations for good, anticipating hot coffee, study, and meditation — life is good! I love days with nowhere to be and no one to see. When I got around to checking Facebook, many friends were talking about the same thing: how happy they felt, for no particular reason. Then Judy Wall posted this drawing she calls “A Little Night Magic” and I realized exactly how thoughts spread through us all. I feel like everyone I know is happily following their dreams and enjoying their family and friends. We are all anticipating spring and planting flowers and walking in the woods. Babies are being born and plans are being made for lives to be flexible and family-oriented. I know families who have shown how it is possible to work together productively and create nests of loving support for each other. Strangers are meeting up and sharing homes and working for the common good. For instance, my neighbor needed help with home repairs and met an aging drag queen who is a master carpenter and needed a place to stay temporarily. Let’s never forget we’re all in this together! Namaste…

"Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love. It is unselfish; therefore it cannot exist alone, but requires all mankind to share it." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 57:18-21

A Freedom Before Unknown

 

photo credit: Sandy Starbird

Be with those who help your being. I've always loved that thought, haven't you? More and more, I find myself reveling in the company of friends, and being even more content in solitude. This seeming conundrum feels similar to the realization that I'm not a body: It's both exhilarating and calming! I'm excited that I needn't be a victim of the false beliefs of material life. I'm content in knowing there is so much to realize in this unfolding Life. Thinking back through the years and recognizing momentous friendships which have helped change my perspective from life to Life, I am grateful beyond words. The Love I feel for these precious people is eternal, and with this knowledge comes a freedom before unknown. 

"Mind has set me free from every error. Divine Love fills every avenue, flows through every channel and removes every obstruction."
[This is an excerpt from an article entitled "Body" by Mary Baker Eddy, filed in the Congressional Library, January 19, 1886]