Present Truth

 

Photo credit: Aaron Springston

There are many personal identities we cling to, and it's certainly difficult to keep from mentioning one or more when asked "who are you?”. In the new year, I plan on putting my focus on truth. Whether it’s my personal self or the whole world, let there be TRUTH! It doesn't matter to me what horrible things happen as the result of truth being known; I simply want everything to be out in the open. While pondering that, I realized that the predilections we identify with are decisions we have agreed upon as our personal truth. As part of my new, more-open thought, I resolve to not fault anyone for thinking in ways I find to be odd or disconcerting. We all have different expressions of the divinity we are, and it is not my place to pass judgment — although I'm not sure what's up with people who think the earth is flat! In the coming new year, I want to stop lying to myself and about others, while living in the honesty of the present moment, and celebrating every moment of Life!

"Love, too, would set a feast before you, on a table covered with a spotless cloth, set in a quiet garden where no sound but singing and a softly joyous whispering is ever heard. This is a feast that honors your holy relationship, and at which everyone is welcomed as an honored guest. And in a holy instant grace is said by everyone together, as they join in gentleness before the table of communion. And I will join you there, as long ago I promised and promise still. For in your new relationship am I made welcome. And where I am made welcome, there I am." 

A Course in Miracles T-19.IV.A.16.

“The power of the human will should be exercised only in subordination to Truth; else it will misguide the judgment and free the lower propensities. It is the province of spiritual sense to govern man. Material, erring, human thought acts injuriously both upon the body and through it.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health  Page 205:4-9

Hardwired For Goodness

 

I read a review of the book, “Blueprint, the Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society”, written by Nicholas Christkis, a professor at Yale. His basic premise is that love, friendship, cooperation, and teaching have been hardwired into human beings, but we tend to deploy these qualities selectively, only toward those who are like ourselves. He says America is an unprecedented social experiment, testing whether we humans can share these behaviors more broadly. This statement of his feels especially true: “The less segregated we are — not just racially, but by ideology, religion, income, and education — the stronger the democracy.” His conclusions I’m sure are many, but one discussed in this review is that we need to overcome the urge to tribalism, if we are to have a diverse democracy. He believes that political tides can push against our innate desire for love, friendship, and cooperation, “but only for a while.” I am thrilled to read of this and other messages of hope! 

"It should be thoroughly understood that all men have one Mind, one God and Father, one Life, Truth, and Love. Mankind will become perfect in proportion as this fact becomes apparent, war will cease and the true brotherhood of man wlll be established." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 467:9

“The Holy Spirit was given you with perfect impartiality, and only by recognizing Him impartially can you recognize Him at all. The ego is legion, but the Holy Spirit is one. No darkness abides anywhere in the Kingdom, but your part is only to allow no darkness to abide in your own mind. This alignment with light is unlimited, because it is in alignment with the light of the world. Each of us is the light of the world, and by joining our minds in this light we proclaim the Kingdom of God together and as one.” 

A Course in Miracles T-6.II.13:1-5

Christ Within

Hubble Image

“The sign of Christmas is a star, a light in darkness. See it not outside yourself, but shining in the Heaven within, and accept it as the sign the time of Christ has come. He comes demanding nothing. No sacrifice of any kind, of anyone, is asked by Him. In His Presence the whole idea of sacrifice loses all meaning. For He is Host to God. And you need but invite Him in Who is there already, by recognizing that His Host is One, and no thought alien to His Oneness can abide with Him there. Love must be total to give Him welcome, for the Presence of Holiness creates the holiness that surrounds it. No fear can touch the Host Who cradles God in the time of Christ, for the Host is as holy as the perfect Innocence which He protects, and Whose power protects Him.” A Course in Miracles T-15.XI.2:1-9

“The star that looked lovingly down on the manger of our lord, lends its resplendent light to this hour; the light of Truth, to cheer, guide, and bless man as he reaches forth for the infant idea of divine perfection dawning upon human imperfection, — that calms man’s fears, bears his burdens, beckons him on to Truth and Love and the sweet immunity these bring from sin, sickness, and death.” Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896 Page 320

Passing Peace

Art by Peter Max

Sometimes we feel as though our peace has been taken from us by external events. The peace of God is a spiritual quality which can be realized through various avenues — once we know it’s possible. I remember years ago when I took a course in Oneness Blessing. This process appeals to me because there is no need to delve into all the reasons we are not peaceful. When becoming a Oneness Blessing Giver, you first go through an intense day of releasing the past. We started with rectifying our relationships with our parents. And this is not done by counting all the ways we feel we have been wronged, or that we have wronged them. It is a release of guilt and blame, then a replacement of the space left with the realization of divine Love. When you are given this Oneness Blessing you can expect to feel happiness. After completing my training, I gave a blessing to my son, and he immediately started to laugh. I asked why: was he nervous? No, he said, he just felt happy. And that is what this transmission of divine Love is all about: feeling happy and sharing the peace of God. The best gift of all!

“Holy child of God, when will you learn that only holiness can content you and give you peace? Remember that you learn not for yourself alone, no more than I did. It is because I learned for you that you can learn of me. I would but teach you what is yours, so that together we can replace the shabby littleness that binds the host of God to guilt and weakness with the glad awareness of the glory that is in him. My birth in you is your awakening to grandeur. Welcome me not into a manger, but into the altar to holiness, where holiness abides in perfect peace. My Kingdom is not of this world because it is in you. And you are of your Father. Let us join in honoring you, who must remain forever beyond littleness.” 

A Course in Miracles T-15.III.9:1-9

“This material world is even now becoming the arena for conflicting forces. On one side there will be discord and dismay; on the other side there will be Science and peace. The breaking up of material beliefs may seem to be famine and pestilence, want and woe, sin, sickness, and death, which assume new phases until their nothingness appears. These disturbances will continue until the end of error, when all discord will be swallowed up in spiritual Truth.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 96:12-20

The Fight Before Christmas

 

After watching a documentary called “The Fight Before Christmas”, I have a better understanding of how people manipulate facts to turn them into half-truths. In this film, a man in Idaho wants to decorate his house to the hilt, including live camels and other excesses, and have people come from far and near to enjoy hot cocoa and sing carols. His neighbors think this is a bad idea. He does it anyway. Well, this seems like a straightforward situation, but the decorating man calls news media and starts a campaign against what he calls his anti-Christian neighbors. He turns the whole scenario into an attack against himself, the innocent man who is only trying to save Christmas. Well, this story has twists and turns and unkind actions on both sides. But what struck me about it was how easy it was for him to portray himself as a victim and set his neighbors up to be grinches and horrid people. I’m not sure why I’m writing about this, other than it has stuck with me. I keep feeling the neighbors sense of hopelessness in the face of a pointless attack. Also, it turns out this guy wanted to run for political office and was trying to make a name for himself. Which he has done. 

“The world gives rise but to defensiveness. For threat brings anger, anger makes attack seem reasonable, honestly provoked, and righteous in the name of self-defense. Yet is defensiveness a double threat. For it attests to weakness, and sets up a system of defense that cannot work. Now are the weak still further undermined, for there is treachery without and still a greater treachery within. The mind is now confused, and knows not where to turn to find escape from its imaginings.” 

A Course in Miracles W-153.2:1-6

“Evil thoughts, lusts, and malicious purposes cannot go forth, like wandering pollen, from one human mind to another, finding unsuspected lodgment, if virtue and truth build a strong defence.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 231:31-3

True Colors

I cannot find the creator of this image

Did you know that the same color may appear to look different when placed on various background colors? I read an article about this which explained that the way we perceive a color is based on our education about color perception and how we've been conditioned to see it. Who knew?? As I struggled to grasp this fact, I realized it's the same with our perceptions of what reality is. Spiritual perception allows us to see beyond the seeming reality of our material senses. Interactions with others may be full of judgment and supposition when we look at situations with by-rote, learned behavior, and the immediacy of emotions. But Truth, which shines forth when we see from a spiritual perspective, allows for improved interactions with others. This is true because our human experience is the visible expression of our thinking. To see the world through the eyes of Love frees us to love as God loves: purely, without a skewed view of the color and fabric of everything we see. Now I know what the expression "showing your true colors" means!

"Thought will finally be understood and seen in all form, substance, and color, but without material accompaniments." 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 310: 6:8

“True vision is the natural perception of spiritual sight, but it is still a correction rather than a fact. Spiritual sight is symbolic, and therefore not a device for knowing. It is, however, a means of right perception, which brings it into the proper domain of the miracle. A ‘vision of God’ would be a miracle rather than a revelation. The fact that perception is involved at all removes the experience from the realm of knowledge. That is why visions, however holy, do not last.” 

A Course in Miracles T-3.III.4:1-6

Adaptation

 

Art by Anna Speshilova

“Plants and animals don’t fight the winter; they don’t pretend it’s not happening and attempt to carry on living the same lives that they lived in the summer. They prepare. They adapt. They perform extraordinary acts of metamorphosis to get them through. Winter is a time of withdrawing from the world, maximising scant resources, carrying out acts of brutal efficiency and vanishing from sight; but that’s where the transformation occurs. Winter is not the death of the life cycle, but its crucible.”

~ Katherine May: Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times 

(With thanks to the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids)

“Love is impartial and universal in its adaptation and bestowals. It is the open fount which cries, ‘Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters.’” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 13:2-4

“Now is the temple of the living God rebuilt as host again to Him by Whom it was created. Where He dwells, His Son dwells with Him, never separate. And They give thanks that They are welcome made at last. Where stood a cross stands now the risen Christ, and ancient scars are healed within His sight. An ancient miracle has come to bless and to replace an ancient enmity that came to kill. In gentle gratitude do God the Father and the Son return to what is Theirs, and will forever be. Now is the Holy Spirit’s purpose done. For They have come! For They have come at last!” 

A Course in Miracles T-26.IX.8:1-9

Why Wait For Joy?

 

Our true selves are the image and likeness of God. So why is there so much which seems to be unGodlike? Because God did not create matter. This human body we seem to reside in, to be inseparable from, is not our true self. When we declare our perfection as a child of God, that perfection has absolutely nothing to do with this material world we are living in. If God created everything and it is good, that cannot encompass the dual good/bad stuff we see around us. Our vision for today is to see with the eyes of our true Being. That true Being does not change. Reality does not change. Our true Selves, which are the image and likeness of the One, that which we all truly are, does not change. So what good does it do to realize that we're not what we see with our so-called mortal eyes? It brings us into harmony with what IS true. Declaring the Truth of our Being is more than just a mental exercise. By establishing this idea within our thought, we are finding the Truth which brings us back to where we began, and never leads us anywhere other than home, wherever in eternity that may be.

“Why should I wait, my Father, for the joy You promised me? For You will keep Your Word You gave Your Son in exile. I am sure my treasure waits for me, and I need but reach out my hand to find it. Even now my fingers touch it. It is very close. I need not wait an instant more to be at peace forever. It is You I choose, and my Identity along with You. Your Son would be Himself, and know You as his Father and Creator, and his Love.” 

A Course in Miracles W-355.1:1-8

"To divest thought of false trusts and material evidences in order that the spiritual facts of being may appear,--this is the great attainment by means of which we shall sweep away the false and give place to the true." 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 423:8-12

The Reason Birds Can Fly

Image: C.F.A. Voysey

Storage by Mary Oliver 

"When I moved from 

one house to another,

there were many things 

I had no room for. 

What does one do? 

I rented a storage space 

and filled it.

Years passed.

Occasionally, 

I went there 

and looked in, 

but nothing happened, 

not a single twinge 

of the heart.

As I grew older 

the things I cared about 

grew fewer but were 

more important,

so one day I undid the lock

and called the trash man. 

He took everything.

I felt like the little donkey 

when his burden is finally 

lifted.

Things! Burn them, burn them!

Make a beautiful fire! 

More room in your heart 

for Love, for the trees.

For the birds who own

nothing; 

✨

the reason they 

can fly."

Mary Oliver

“Your Father knoweth that you have need of nothing. In Heaven this is so, for what could you need in eternity? In your world you do need things. It is a world of scarcity in which you find yourself because you are lacking. Yet can you find yourself in such a world? Without the Holy Spirit the answer would be no. Yet because of Him the answer is a joyous yes! As Mediator between the two worlds, He knows what you have need of and what will not hurt you. Ownership is a dangerous concept if it is left to you. The ego wants to have things for salvation, for possession is its law. Possession for its own sake is the ego’s fundamental creed, a basic cornerstone in the churches it builds to itself. And at its altar it demands you lay all of the things it bids you get, leaving you no joy in them.” A Course in Miracles T-13.VII.10:2-13

“Nature voices natural, spiritual law and divine Love, but human belief misinterprets nature. Arctic regions, sunny tropics, giant hills, winged winds, mighty billows, verdant vales, festive flowers, and glorious heavens, — all point to Mind, the spiritual intelligence they reflect. The floral apostles are hieroglyphs of Deity. Suns and planets teach grand lessons. The stars make night beautiful, and the leaflet turns naturally towards the light.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 240:1-9

On the Verge of Qualitative Shift

 

Crescent Hotel, Eureka Springs, AR

Photo credit: Richard Quick

Years ago a friend gave me a coin purse with the words “change is good” printed on the front. She said she thought of me when she saw it because I said this phrase so often. We are all letting go of ties which hold us to ways which are simply not in our best interest. We are being called on to change everything in our experience, from the way we shop to the way we love. As we examine the beliefs we live by, we realize we can be a law unto ourselves. The fears which have followed us throughout our lives have shaped our views of ourselves and everything around us. But a universal paradigm shift is upon us and we're each feeling it in our own way. The understanding that we don't have to be bound by any material belief, because our true identity is spiritual, is bringing us to a tipping point in consciousness realization. This freedom will be absolutely experienced. When? Well, since we're not slaves to time, why not now!!

“Laws of nature are laws of Spirit; but mortals commonly recognize as law that which hides the power of Spirit. Divine Mind rightly demands man's entire obedience, affection, and strength. No reservation is made for any lesser loyalty. Obedience to Truth gives man power and strength. Submission to error superinduces loss of power.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health, with Key to the Scriptures - Page 183:18-25

“The Holy Spirit, the shared Inspiration of all the Sonship, induces a kind of perception in which many elements are like those in the Kingdom of Heaven itself:

First, its universality is perfectly clear, and no one who attains it could believe for one instant that sharing it involves anything but gain.

Second, it is incapable of attack and is therefore truly open. This means that although it does not engender knowledge, it does not obstruct it in any way.

Finally, it points the way beyond the healing that it brings, and leads the mind beyond its own integration toward the paths of creation. It is at this point that sufficient quantitative change occurs to produce a real qualitative shift.” 

A Course in Miracles - T-5.I.7:1-6

Returning Awareness of Reality

 

Morning in St. Elizabeth

What do you think when you hear the term “second coming”? To me, this phrase implies 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, almost every day 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? Does it make any difference if we're all One? Love = Peace = Harmony. May we all feel the Love!

“The impossible can happen only in fantasy. When you search for reality in fantasies you will not find it. The symbols of fantasy are of the ego, and of these you will find many. But do not look for meaning in them. They have no more meaning than the fantasies into which they are woven. Fairy tales can be pleasant or fearful, but no one calls them true. Children may believe them, and so, for a while, the tales are true for them. Yet when reality dawns, the fantasies are gone. Reality has not gone in the meanwhile. The Second Coming is the awareness of reality, not its return.” 

A Course in Miracles T-9.IV.11:1-10

“Jesus bade his disciples beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees, which he defined as human doctrines. His parable of the ‘leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened,’ impels the inference that the spiritual leaven signifies the Science of Christ and its spiritual interpretation, — an inference far above the merely ecclesiastical and formal applications of the illustration. Did not this parable point a moral with a prophecy, foretelling the second appearing in the flesh of the Christ, Truth, hidden in sacred secrecy from the visible world?” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 117:29-9

The Primal Order of Miracles

 

Art by Mickey McGrath

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.” Because of 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

“You can do anything I ask. I have asked you to perform miracles, and have made it clear that miracles are natural, corrective, healing and universal. There is nothing they cannot do, but they cannot be performed in the spirit of doubt or fear. When you are afraid of anything, you are acknowledging its power to hurt you. Remember that where your heart is, there is your treasure also.” 

A Course in Miracles T-2.II.1:1-5

Renewing Tired Hearts

 

The Joy of Friendship

Many people think of winter as a time of new beginnings. The winter solstice signifies a time of dying and being reborn, and that feels good to me. Visiting with friends, old and new, is energizing in and of itself. When that is coupled with spiritually uplifting conversations, beautiful music, and all the other nurturing events clustered into a few scant days,  most of us are floating on Cloud 9 before the end of the year. Throw in a few sappy holiday movies and I’m in heaven. Of course, a seer once told us the kingdom of heaven is within us, and we’ve celebrated that knowledge ever since! As we grow in our understanding of the metaphysical Truth which Jesus was here to teach us, we gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a reflection of divine Love. Realizing everything is either an expression of love or a call for love allows us to release attack thoughts about others and enjoy the peace of a quiet mind. Namaste, dear Friends …

“The peace of God is shining in you now, and from your heart extends around the world. It pauses to caress each living thing, and leaves a blessing with it that remains forever and forever. What it gives must be eternal. It removes all thoughts of the ephemeral and valueless. It brings renewal to all tired hearts, and lights all vision as it passes by. All of its gifts are given everyone, and everyone unites in giving thanks to you who give, and you who have received.” 

A Course in Miracles W-188.3:1-6

“As mortals gain more correct views of God and man, multitudinous objects of creation, which before were invisible, will become visible. When we realize that Life is Spirit, never in nor of matter, this understanding will expand into self-completeness, finding all in God, good, and needing no other consciousness.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 264:13-19

Body as Idea

Art by Duy Huynh Studio 

A Poem by Cleo Wade 

a love note to my body:

first of all,

I want to say

thank you

for the heart you kept beating

even when it was broken

for every answer you gave me in my gut

for loving me back

even when

I didn’t know how to love you

for every time you recovered when I pushed you past our limits

for today,

for waking up.

~ Cleo Wade 

“Temple: Body; the idea of Life, substance, and intelligence; the superstructure of Truth; the shrine of Love; a material superstructure, where mortals congregate for worship.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 595:7-10

“The many body fantasies in which minds engage arise from the distorted belief that the body can be used as a means for attaining ‘atonement.’ Perceiving the body as a temple is only the first step in correcting this distortion, because it alters only part of it. It does recognize that Atonement in physical terms is impossible. The next step, however, is to realize that a temple is not a structure at all. Its true holiness lies at the inner altar around which the structure is built. The emphasis on beautiful structures is a sign of the fear of Atonement, and an unwillingness to reach the altar itself. The real beauty of the temple cannot be seen with the physical eye. Spiritual sight, on the other hand, cannot see the structure at all because it is perfect vision. It can, however, see the altar with perfect clarity.” 

A Course in Miracles T-2.III.1:4-12

Perception is a Choice, Not a Fact

Photo credit: Teresa Pellicco DeVito

 We, as humans, have a tendency to focus on what we don’t want, rather than what we do want. I remember a teacher once telling me to reinforce behaviors in our children, rather than trying to turn them away from things we do not want them doing. For example, if you say, “Don’t play in the street”, all they hear is “play in the street”. I see similar behavior in ways we affirm our safety in different situations. Rather than knowing that we are all a product of divine Mind and by listening for this still, small voice we are led in paths of safety and harmony, we tend to defend against the dangers we see around us. With this in mind, my goal is to listen — to listen quietly, inwardly, for that intuition which tells me when to slow down the car, when to delay leaving the house, what to do in any and every situation. I am one with and inseparable from divine Love, And I need only remember this glorious fact!

“The still, small Voice for God is not drowned out by all the ego’s raucous screams and senseless ravings to those who want to hear It. Perception is a choice and not a fact. But on this choice depends far more than you may realize as yet. For on the voice you choose to hear, and on the sights you choose to see, depends entirely your whole belief in what you are. Perception is a witness but to this, and never to reality. Yet it can show you the conditions in which awareness of reality is possible, or those where it could never be.” 

A Course in Miracles T-21.V.1:6-11

"It is only by acknowledging the supremacy of Spirit, which annuls the claims of matter, that mortals can lay off mortality and find the indissoluble spiritual link which establishes man forever in the divine likeness, inseparable from his creator."

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 491:12-16

Choose to Listen

 

Photo credit: Blake Lasater

I often remind myself that if I have a choice of being right or being kind, I’d rather be kind. Another personal reminder is to choose peace over specialness. I’m sure I’ve self-righteously proclaimed to others about my pain, my divorce, my cold, my sciatica, my low bank account — you get the picture! It’s much nicer to look past MY specialness and follow the guidance of divine Mind, which is everywhere and I need only listen. Divine Love is eternal, and when I follow Its lead I don’t need reminders to be kind. Living with the excitement of Spirit in daily activity brings miraculous adventures, which occur when I stop dictating reality. Living in gratitude and appreciation brings a peaceful, easy feeling. I choose the harmony of unity, releasing separation and relaxing into infinity!

"Let us rid ourselves of the belief that man is separated from God, and obey only the divine Principle, Life and Love. Here is the great point of departure for all true spiritual growth." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 91:5-8

“‘Many are called but few are chosen’ should be, ‘All are called but few choose to listen.’ Therefore, they do not choose right. The ‘chosen ones’ are merely those who choose right sooner. Right minds can do this now, and they will find rest unto their souls. God knows you only in peace, and this is your reality.” A Course in Miracles T-3.IV.7:12-16

Truth Makes A New Creature

 

I have always felt as though there is a tipping point in mass consciousness, a point where everyone sees their perfection and recognizes there is no difference in their own self and the self of that person over there. In this view, there is a world bathed in peace and contentment. There are no conflicts because everything good and pure is done for the good of everyone, and nothing contrary exists because we do not have such thoughts in the face of beauty and Love. There is no world of separation because we are all One and happily recognize this Truth. In order for perfection to emerge, error must be washed away. A dear friend, who has never believed the things I espouse, called to ask me what’s happening to this tipping point of Love, as he feels we’ve tipped the other way. Once again, I reiterate: Every thought is important! I feel like we're getting close!

Mary Baker Eddy quote: "We cannot build safely on false foundations. Truth makes a new creature, in whom old things pass away and ‘all things are become new’."  Science & Health Page 201: 7-9

“Now are we one in thought, for fear has gone. And here, before the altar to one God, one Father, one Creator and one Thought, we stand together as one Son of God. Not separate from Him Who is our Source; not distant from one brother who is part of our one Self Whose innocence has joined us all as one, we stand in blessedness, and give as we receive. The Name of God is on our lips. And as we look within, we see the purity of Heaven shine in our reflection of our Father’s Love.” A Course in Miracles W-187.10:1-5

Forgive Your Madness

 

`

Art: Adrian Borda

 Therefore, dark past,

I'm about to do it.

I'm about to forgive you

for everything.

~ Mary Oliver

“Forgive yourself your madness, and forget all senseless journeys and all goal-less aims. They have no meaning. You can not escape from what you are. For God is merciful, and did not let His Son abandon Him. For what He is be thankful, for in that is your escape from madness and from death. Nowhere but where He is can you be found. There is no path that does not lead to Him.” 

A Course in Miracles T-31.IV.11:1-7

Activating Empathy

 

A Meeting of Novel Women

Do you feel connected to others? With the proliferation of wireless connections through phones and other electronic devices, it’s easy to be in contact with friends and strangers all over the globe. But what about having face-to-face conversations about meaningful topics? I belong to a book club which has met once a month for almost 20 years. The books we read are the vehicles which drive our conversations deeper and wider. The discussion following the reading of Kristen Hannah’s book Magic Hour filled our hearts with compassionate empathy for children who could be termed “feral”.  In our Novel Women group we have both adoptive parents and child advocates for little ones who can easily get lost in our broken system. More than once I was moved to tears by the thought of babies surviving without the love of a parental figure. How do you build community in your area? I would suggest starting a book club, developing relationships with others, and allowing empathy lead you from there. Compassion is not an idle boast, but a nurturing action. Let us not be afraid of caring…

“To empathize does not mean to join in suffering, for that is what you must refuse to understand. That is the ego’s interpretation of empathy, and is always used to form a special relationship in which the suffering is shared. The capacity to empathize is very useful to the Holy Spirit, provided you let Him use it in His way. His way is very different. He does not understand suffering, and would have you teach it is not understandable. When He relates through you, He does not relate through your ego to another ego. He does not join in pain, understanding that healing pain is not accomplished by delusional attempts to enter into it, and lighten it by sharing the delusion.” A Course in Miracles T-16.I.1:1-7

“God is the Principle of divine metaphysics. As there is but one God, there can be but one divine Principle of all Science; and there must be fixed rules for the demonstration of this divine Principle. The letter of Science plentifully reaches humanity to-day, but its spirit comes only in small degrees. The vital part, the heart and soul of Christian Science, is Love. Without this, the letter is but the dead body of Science, — pulseless, cold, inanimate.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 113:1-8

A Song of Freedom

Woman in France protesting treatment of Iranian Women

“Iran’s anthem for changing rusted minds” — this editorial headline pulled me in immediately! The writer tells us how a protest song became an anthem. The song is “Baraye” and was composed by a young Iranian man named Shervin Hajpour after the death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who was arrested by Iran’s morality police for not covering her hair sufficiently. The song reflects “exhaustion with theocratic rule, gender inequality, economic sanctions, and lack of opportunity”. A professor at Berkeley College of Music in Boston, Christian’s Karam, who grew up in Lebanon during the civil war, speaks from her experience: “Music has that ability to cut through our defenses and go straight to our hearts. It brings us to a place where we’re reminded of our shared humanity.” It’s inspiring to see how music in general, and this song in particular, reflect changes in thinking. As Ms. Karam says: “It goes beyond ideology; it goes beyond politics. It becomes a human affair. This is how momentum is built. A momentum for positive change and momentum where we are reminded that we are all in this together.” I pray that we listen and learn from each other, finding ways to celebrate our commonality and bypass the need to be always right. Namaste, dear ones…

“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 255:1-6

“The song of freedom, which sings the praises of another world, brings to it hope of peace. For it remembers Heaven, and now it sees that Heaven has come to earth at last, from which the ego’s rule has kept it out so long. Heaven has come because it found a home in your relationship on earth. And earth can hold no longer what has been given Heaven as its own.”  A Course in Miracles T-21.IV.7:4-7