Ramona - She Gathered

 

The beautiful Ramona

When I saw this writing from Donna Ashworth, I immediately thought of my wonderful friend, Ramona McNeal. Her friends and family know she is all this and much more! Thank you for being in our lives …

“SHE GATHERED by Donna Ashworth

She gathered beautiful things along the way to pass on, but not clothes or jewels. 

She gathered starlight when she couldn’t sleep… and sprinkled it on her stories so that the children of her children would listen in wonder and remember with delight.

She gathered lessons, learned at rock bottom, and shared them with strangers and friends alike,  to save them the need to sink so far themselves.

She gathered precious, life-giving laughter, and regaled the world with the humorous reminiscing of her follies, her foibles and her mishaps.

She gathered things that may not have caught anyone’s eye in auction, but when examined closely, became true treasure maps, to this life’s gold mines.”

Donna Ashworth 

From ‘I Wish I Knew’

“The body is beautiful or ugly, peaceful or savage, helpful or harmful, according to the use to which it is put. And in the body of another you will see the use to which you have put yours. If the body becomes a means you give to the Holy Spirit to use on behalf of union of the Sonship, you will not see anything physical except as what it is. Use it for truth and you will see it truly. Misuse it and you will misunderstand it, because you have already done so by misusing it. Interpret anything apart from the Holy Spirit and you will mistrust it. This will lead you to hatred and attack and loss of peace.” 

A Course in Miracles T-8.VII.4:3-9

“The measurement of life by solar years robs youth and gives ugliness to age. The radiant sun of virtue and truth coexists with being. Manhood is its eternal noon, undimmed by a declining sun. As the physical and material, the transient sense of beauty fades, the radiance of Spirit should dawn upon the enraptured sense with bright and imperishable glories.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 246:15-21

Born Again in New Perspective

Thanks to Peter Coffman for editing my photo

In this time of great change, it’s easy to long for the comfort of ritualistic actions and old habits. How nice it would be if we simply floated along, happily enjoying yesterday’s fruits. But life doesn’t seem to be that way. We wake up every morning and experience things in different ways. Changing thoughts bring on changing circumstance. I hope we can all hold onto each other and know that this is a good thing. Personally, I have no idea what tomorrow will bring, but I relish the possibilities!

“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 Bakker Eddy - Science & Health Page 96:15-20

“Let us come daily to this holy place, and spend a while together. Here we share our final dream. It is a dream in which there is no sorrow, for it holds a hint of all the glory given us by God. The grass is pushing through the soil, the trees are budding now, and birds have come to live within their branches. Earth is being born again in new perspective. Night has gone, and we have come together in the light.”
A Course in Miracles W-pII.2.4:1-6

Communication, Cooperation, and Counting

Photo credit: Mark McGee

Once a month, I give an organ recital for a fabulous organization called Heart of Many Ways. Today, my performance was a duet with a flute player. I was a bit nervous about it because I had not played with another instrument since high school 50 years ago! When I have solo performances, I rarely prepare anything, but flip through music books and play what tickles my fancy. Playing alone, I can make mistakes and cover them up, add beats to measures, change the tempo whenever the spirit moves, and generally have a good time with little to no preparation. Playing with someone else, rules must be followed. As I had been out of town, and the flutist had other obligations, we only had an hour to prepare yesterday. Then we did eight beautiful duets today. During the practice period and performance, I realized three things are necessary for a successful melding of instruments. Cooperation, communication — and counting!! It was a good 

“Miracles make minds one in God. They depend on cooperation because the Sonship is the sum of all that God created. Miracles therefore reflect the laws of eternity, not of time.” A Course in Miracles T-1.I.19:1-3

“If Mind is foremost and superior, let us rely upon Mind, which needs no cooperation from lower powers, even if these so-called powers are real.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 144:3-5

Real Purpose

Different Type of Organ at Meow Wolf

My purpose is to forget the dreams of malice, revenge, hatred, and anger. These dreams of separation from our Oneness are simply that — dreams, with no relation to the reality we are coming to know. My self is the one Self we all share, so I may choose to accept this as my identity, or I can continue to choose the illusions of belief in separation. It’s not always easy to see this false identity as something I no longer want. It jumps up and down and insists that it is good and I am bad if I choose anything other than it. How grateful I am to have friends who support my decision to grasp for the heights of my Being, allowing the lower propensities to remain where they lie. Thank you greatly —

“Christian Science commands man to master the propensities, — to hold hatred in abeyance with kindness, to conquer lust with chastity, revenge with charity, and to overcome deceit with honesty.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 405:4-9

“To me, the purpose of everything is to prove that my illusions about myself are real. It is for this purpose that I attempt to use everyone and everything. It is for this that I believe the world is for. Therefore I do not recognize its real purpose. The purpose I have given the world has led to a frightening picture of it. Let me open my mind to the world’s real purpose by withdrawing the one I have given it, and learning the truth about it.”
A Course in Miracles W-55.5:2-7

I Have a Dream

Favorite Room in Meow Wolf — Denver, Colorado

I see a world built on honesty in every endeavor. All liars will be uncovered and replaced with honorable human beings who value lives more than cash. Schools will teach children to love learning, rather than to spit out rhetoric. Religious institutions will be there to help those in need, finding ways to supply their material needs while feeding their spirit. We will be allowed to know what Spirit is, rather than simply repeating religious beliefs which manipulate and punish. We'll know about the good in ourselves as well as our neighbors and love ourselves more as a result. Then we see the value in making art -- music, painting, creativity of all kinds -- and understanding how those practices allow us to be whole, rather than automatons which spit out facts and figures. I see a world where we can trust ourselves enough to stand up for what benefits all, not just those in our tribe. Let's build back a world where all its resources are kept intact and nurtured, using the things which never run out, realizing the sun shines on us all equally, and is here for our supply. We will know the value of every living creature, realizing that the loss of one leaves a hole in the music of the earth. We will be proud of knowledge, science, learning of any and all sorts. We will see that we can understand God, because we are Its reflection and that source lies within us. I have a dream …

"St. John's corporeal sense of the heavens and earth had vanished, and in place of this false sense was the spiritual sense, the subjective state by which he could see the new heaven and new earth, which involve the spiritual idea and consciousness of reality."
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 573:19

“Let us come daily to this holy place, and spend a while together. Here we share our final dream. It is a dream in which there is no sorrow, for it holds a hint of all the glory given us by God. The grass is pushing through the soil, the trees are budding now, and birds have come to live within their branches. Earth is being born again in new perspective. Night has gone, and we have come together in the light.”
A Course in Miracles W-pII.2.4:1-6

Discerning Truth

 

Learning About Coral

My son, Dylan, told me about  a teacher who gave a test and instructed the students to use whatever means they had at hand to answer the questions. In other words, they could do an internet search, call a friend — anything! Some people questioned why he would do such a thing, saying that the students wouldn’t learn anything. He had something very profound to say about this. In this day and age, we have all the answers at our fingertips, but there are also many wrong answers waiting for us to find them. His test had to do with teaching students how to do research and arrive at correct answers. I, personally, think this is a fabulous idea! Teaching and learning are not the same as when I was a child, nor should they be. Times have changed drastically and the way we approach education must move along with our circumstances. Judging by the number of people who swear that foolishness is truth,  I would love to see more classes being given in how to do research in the 21st century. We also would be well-served to learn how to listen to our intuitive Self, or divine Mind. I love thinking about things in different ways and am grateful to my younger son for bringing these thoughts to me today!

“Reality can dawn only on an unclouded mind. It is always there to be accepted, but its acceptance depends on your willingness to have it. To know reality must involve the willingness to judge unreality for what it is. To overlook nothingness is merely to judge it correctly, and because of your ability to evaluate it truly, to let it go. Knowledge cannot dawn on a mind full of illusions, because truth and illusions are irreconcilable. Truth is whole, and cannot be known by part of a mind.” 

A Course in Miracles T-10.IV.2:1-6

“When we fully understand our relation to the Divine, we can have no other Mind but His, — no other Love, wisdom, or Truth, no other sense of Life, and no consciousness of the existence of matter or error.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 205:32-3

Every Moment is Cause for Celebration

Fabulous Day at Meow Wolf

Denver, Colorado

Exciting days, routine days — what’s the difference? Truly, there is none. Every moment is cause for celebration! One of my favorite Wayne Dyer quotes is, “If you drop a pen and don’t enjoy picking it up, drop it again!” But of course, I think you’ll agree with me that some days feel enchantingly delicious with prospect and fruition. Some times in our lives feel full of possibilities and we eagerly go forward, ready to grasp all the wonder-filled moments. This day is Love’s and it is my gift to It!! Let me embrace every action with the same anticipation that I would expect from a day at Meow Wolf!

“In dreams we fly to Europe and meet a far-off friend. The looker-on sees the body in bed, but the supposed inhabitant of that body carries it through the air and over the ocean. This shows the possibilities of thought. Opium and hashish eaters mentally travel far and work wonders, yet their bodies stay in one place. This shows what mortal mentality and knowledge are.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 90:16-23

“Miracles occur naturally as expressions of love. The real miracle is the love that inspires them. ³In this sense everything that comes from love is a miracle.”
A Course in Miracles T-1.I.3:1-3

Free Yourself From Memory

All the Flowers in the Universe

Art by Eli Halpin

“It takes a huge effort to free yourself from memory, but when you succeed, you start to realize that you’re capable of far more than you imagined. You live in this vast body called the Universe, which contains all the solutions and all the problems. Visit your soul; don’t visit your past.” Paulo Coelho, Aleph

Seeing this quote from one of my favorite authors caused me to think about something which has been happening recently: I’ve been regretting things from the past.  This is a practice I thought had been forsaken long ago, but I’ve found myself waking up in the morning and remembering things I would like to change. Self-examination is a good thing, and anytime anyone chastises me for an action, I examine my motives and double check to see if my thinking needs correction. But I don’t tend to have regrets and feel sad about past actions. As I write this, a quote comes to mind — perhaps from this same author, and maybe even the same book: “You can’t change the past, but what you do in the present rectifies the past and changes the future.” I’ve quoted this many times to other people, and it’s time to practice what I preach!

“We should examine ourselves and learn what is the affection and purpose of the heart, for in this way only can we learn what we honestly are. If a friend informs us of a fault, do we listen patiently to the rebuke and credit what is said? Do we not rather give thanks that we are ‘not as other men’? During many years the author has been most grateful for merited rebuke. The wrong lies in unmerited censure, — in the falsehood which does no one any good.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 8:28-4

“In Him you have no cares and no concerns, no burdens, no anxiety, no pain, no fear of future and no past regrets. In timelessness you rest, while time goes by without its touch upon you, for your rest can never change in any way at all. You rest today. And as you close your eyes, sink into stillness. Let these periods of rest and respite reassure your mind that all its frantic fantasies were but the dreams of fever that has passed away. Let it be still and thankfully accept its healing. No more fearful dreams will come, now that you rest in God. Take time today to slip away from dreams and into peace.” 

A Course in Miracles W-109.5:1-8

Loving Grandchildren

My daughter-in law and grandson

I’ve been with my son’s family for the last week. Imagine my delight when the topic of Marianne Williamson’s morning email was her granddaughter! I give you these beautiful thoughts for today —-

From Marianne Williamson: “I’ve been in London for the last three weeks, as my daughter who lives here gave birth to my first grandchild. And today was Elizabeth’s baby naming! Parents, grandparents, and friends gathered to pray for her health and happiness throughout her life.

After the ceremony, I carried Elizabeth into a room where we had a few minutes alone. Nothing like the birth of a child reminds us of our ancestors who are no longer with us, as well as our descendants who are yet to arrive. We are reminded of our place in history when a child is born, as well as the responsibilities that go along with it. Praying for the wellbeing of a newborn child, we’re reminded to pray for the world in which she will grow up.

I worry about the world Elizabeth is inheriting, and I know that most new parents and grandparents feel the same these days. We’re anxious about the state of things, including the state of the planet itself. Yet with the birth of each new child comes the arrival of new hope. In our quiet moments that we had together today, I promised Elizabeth I would do my best to make the world a better place for her. Every person who surrounded her made a similar commitment today, and in our hearts we really meant it.

I feel sad to be leaving London next week, for every day Elizabeth’s little face takes on new layers of beauty. Watching my daughter and her husband parent her so lovingly, I’m present to a miracle simply gazing at their family. I’m sad to think of little things that I’ll be missing, not being a Mimi who lives around the corner as my own grandmother did. But I do know I’m supposed to go home next week, to hit the ground running on our campaign for a better world.

As I held Elizabeth in my arms, I spoke from my soul to hers. I told her how much I love her, and I reminded her to remember what she herself is here to do. In the ceremony of blessing, the rabbi had prayed she would grow up to be a woman of learning and a woman of service. When I had my own time with her, I added my prayer for her power and strength. May the love she has brought into the world already be magnified millions and millions of times throughout her life.

Meanwhile, her Mimi will travel back to the United States in a few days; but being a grandmother, I am changed. More than ever, I will commit our campaign to the wellbeing of children. More than ever, I will commit our campaign to the repair of the earth. More than ever, I will commit our campaign to love.

For Elizabeth, and for all the children just arriving in the world right now, together let’s create something beautiful for them all.”

Happy Children

 

My Grand Baby

It’s vacation time and I will not be writing to you for the next week. If anyone feels the need for an encouraging word, go to the blog where there are daily writings from the last 12 years. You can plug in any word in the search and be surprised by a morning note just for you! Please enjoy these coming days…

Blogspot.DivineMetaphysics.com

“Children are more tractable than adults, and learn more readily to love the simple verities that will make them happy and good.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 236:25-27

“Salvation can be thought of as a game that happy children play. It was designed by One Who loves His children, and Who would replace their fearful toys with joyous games, which teach them that the game of fear is gone. His game instructs in happiness because there is no loser. Everyone who plays must win, and in his winning is the gain to everyone ensured. The game of fear is gladly laid aside, when children come to see the benefits salvation brings.” A Course in Miracles W-153.12:1-5

Awakening Mind

Part of a light exhibit at Crystal Bridges Museum in

Bentonville, Arkansas

Are you as excited as I am about the multitude of documentaries about the brain and Mind? Today I ran across one titled “Awakening Mind (Part 1) Know Thyself.” Numerous people are telling of their experiences leaving behind belief and allowing their brain to open to the field of all possibilities. This yielding to allow Mind to flow into our thoughts, to guide our actions, to nourish our being, is being demonstrated and celebrated everywhere! I know many people who will tell me to get my head out of the sand and look around at the outlandish thoughts and actions which follow in the wake of closed minds. That’s right, I choose not to pay attention to this — and why? Because there is So Much Good happening everywhere I look! Why should I backtrack and put my attention on its opposite? I can hardly wait to see what catches my attention tomorrow, as I got forward refusing to see anything but the good which is unfolding!

(This writing is sometimes attributed to Mary Baker Eddy, and sometimes Bicknell Young. It doesn’t matter to me as it is a product of Divine Mind. Namaste…)

“I have learned how to make Science a thing of life, not words, and I am going to tell you what the wonderful secret is, for it is wonderful. Now it is this: not to see or hear or repeat any kind of imperfection. It is seeing, hearing, and repeating only good at all times, under all circumstances, in spite of everything that appears to the contrary.

I make this resolution every morning when I wake up, when first I open my eyes, and I review it every hour of the day. I see perfection, a perfect cause and effect, perfect God and perfect man. And I refuse to admit the slightest imperfection in myself, of my friends, and in my so-called enemies, in my affairs or in the affairs of the world. I take my radical stand every day for the perfection of God in everything and everybody He has made.

I look upon the world with God’s eyes and see it as He sees it. I refuse to see it any other way. I stop a dozen times a day to review this resolution and to make sure that I am not giving way to fear or criticism. I watch my thoughts about people – the lame, the old, the unlovely (to sense) that I meet – and stray animals. I have taken a radical stand for the perfection of all things, and I will not, absolutely will not, release the perfect standard.

The results have been marvelous. Try it, and you will forget to wear your glasses, as they will not be necessary. You will be seeing with God’s eyes. You will behold a perfect universe, since outward conditions are pictures of our inward thinking. To change the picture, we must change the thought that produces the picture.” Bicknell or Mary or … 

Summer Day

Photo credit: Judy Kavan

The Summer Day by Mary Oliver

Who made the world?

Who made the swan, and the black bear?

Who made the grasshopper?

This grasshopper, I mean--

the one who has flung herself out of the grass,

the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,

who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down--

who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.

Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.

Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.

I don't know exactly what a prayer is.

I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down

into the grass, how to kneel in the grass,

how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,

which is what I have been doing all day.

Tell me, what else should I have done?

Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?

Tell me, what is it you plan to do

With your one wild and precious life?”

By Mary Oliver

“The senses of Spirit abide in Love, and they demonstrate Truth and Life” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 274:1-15

“All miracles mean life, and God is the Giver of life. His Voice will direct you very specifically. You will be told all you need to know.” 

A Course in Miracles 

Of Trans Fear and Cult Worship

 

Having just finished the book Mad Honey, written by one of my favorite authors, Jodi Picoult, in tandem with Jennifer Finley Boulanger, my head is swimming with new ideas concerning gender and the limits and boundaries which have been set for us. I’m contemplating questions which have many answers, but ultimately we come back to those two responses: fear or love. I’m also in the middle of a four-part series called Shiny, Happy People, the horror story about the Duggar Family and the  other families who have followed the lead of their guru, Bill Gothard who founded The Institute of Basic Life Principles. From the Picoult book, I have reinforced the loving compassion I want to feel toward all things living. From the Duggar documentary, I have faced the feelings of disgust which accompany learning about teachings which profess to be Christian. The revelations in this documentary have definitely triggered a fear response from me.  I am finding a loving response by being grateful to the film makers and family members who are brave enough to tell the truth. That’s all we need from everyone, everywhere, all the time: truth. Namaste…

“Gender means simply kind or sort, and does not necessarily refer either to masculinity or femininity. The word is not confined to sexuality, and grammars always recognize a neuter gender, neither male nor female.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 508:17-21

“The first corrective step in undoing the error is to know first that the conflict is an expression of fear. Say to yourself that you must somehow have chosen not to love, or the fear could not have arisen. Then the whole process of correction becomes nothing more than a series of pragmatic steps in the larger process of accepting the Atonement as the remedy. These steps may be summarized in this way:

Know first that this is fear.

Fear arises from lack of love.

The only remedy for lack of love is perfect love.

Perfect love is the Atonement.”

A Course in Miracles T-2.VI.7:1-8

Friendship

Photo credit: Susan Luddy

The longer I live, the more I appreciate the importance of women friends. Don’t get me wrong, I can think of a handful of men who are every bit as important to me, but right now I want to think about the women friends I love so dearly. They come from all walks of life, and every story of how we met and why we’re important in each other’s lives is different. But it’s all important. We are the stuff of which life is lived! When we’re in need, when we want to share joy, when we want advice, when we want to relax on the porch and chat about nothing, when we need to talk through political horrors, when we need comfort during times of loss, when we need a hand to hold, when we need to let off steam, when we are thirsty for small talk or hungry for deep conversation — whatever the scenario, I am incredibly grateful for my women friends. If I had one bit of advice for a young person, it would be to cultivate friendships all through your life. If you got busy and forgot to plant these perennials in your garden, it’s not too late!


“PSALM XXIII

[Divine love] is my shepherd; I shall not want.

[Love] maketh me to lie down in green pastures: [love] leadeth me beside the still waters.

[Love] restoreth my soul [spiritual sense]: [love] leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for [love] is with me; [love’s] rod and [love’s] staff they comfort me.

[Love] prepareth a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: [love] anointeth my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house [the consciousness] of [love] for ever.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 578:4-17


“Love is freedom. To look for it by placing yourself in bondage is to separate yourself from it. For the Love of God, no longer seek for union in separation, nor for freedom in bondage! As you release, so will you be released. Forget this not, or Love will be unable to find you and comfort you.”
A Course in Miracles T-16.VI.2:1-5

Finding Beauty

 

Art by  Bettina Baldassari

Words from Donna Ashworth’s “I Wish I Knew”

“You search for your beauty in the mirror, in photographs, in the label of clothes… when you really should be searching through the messages sent to you by loving friends, the cards written to you on special days, and the memories of smiles you created from tears. Your beauty lies in all the ways you touch and care for those around you. The jokes you made to reroute a gloomy day and the music you shared to inspire. The times you showed up when no one else did and the invisible network of love, laughter and light you have sprinkled across this planet without glory or vanity. That’s where you find your beauty.”

Donna Ashworth

From, I WISH I KNEW

“Beauty, wealth, or fame is incompetent to meet the demands of the affections, and should never weigh against the better claims of intellect, goodness, and virtue. 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 57:15-21

“Communication ends separation. Attack promotes it. The body is beautiful or ugly, peaceful or savage, helpful or harmful, according to the use to which it is put. And in the body of another you will see the use to which you have put yours. If the body becomes a means you give to the Holy Spirit to use on behalf of union of the Sonship, you will not see anything physical except as what it is. Use it for truth and you will see it truly.” 

A Course in Miracles T-8.VII.4:1-6

Flowers

Art by Mia Tarney

 “The earth laughs in flowers.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson - (from) Hametreya, 1803-1882.

“Mortals have a modus of their own, undirected and unsustained by God. They produce a rose through seed and soil, and bring the rose into contact with the olfactory nerves that they may smell it. In legerdemain and credulous frenzy, mortals believe that unseen spirits produce the flowers. God alone makes and clothes the lilies of the field, and this He does by means of Mind, not matter.” 

Mary Baker Eddy Science & Health Page 212:17-24

“There is a light in you which cannot die; whose presence is so holy that the world is sanctified because of you. All things that live bring gifts to you, and offer them in gratitude and gladness at your feet. The scent of flowers is their gift to you. The waves bow down before you, and the trees extend their arms to shield you from the heat, and lay their leaves before you on the ground that you may walk in softness, while the wind sinks to a whisper round your holy head.” 

A Course in Miracles  W-156.4:1-

Take a Break. Take Heart!

Take heart. When I read those words in the statement from Mary Baker Eddy quoted below, I did just that. Take Heart. Take Heart! Sometimes it seems the world is trying to wear us down, making us pull the covers over our heads and declare that we've had enough; we surrender. When I feel that way, I know it's time to take a break. Getting into fresh air, communing with animals and trees, is probably the best break possible for me. Any connection with anything not electronic seems to do the trick, don't you think? Although listening to joyous music, preferable something which brings up memories of dancing and laughing, is also a good cleansing for me. Whatever it is you do -- yoga, exercise, gardening, dog walking -- be sure you do it. I can't remember who said, Don't let the bastards get you down! But it was good advice. We can't always be strong, and that's okay. Take a break, but then come back and continue the good fight, spreading truth and love everywhere you go and in everything you do! Never surrender!! 

“Take heart, dear sufferer, for this reality of being will surely appear sometime and in some way. There will be no more pain, and all tears will be wiped away. When you read this, remember Jesus' words, 'The kingdom of God is within you.' This spiritual consciousness is therefore a present possibility.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 573:29-2

“Stand still an instant, now, and think what you have done. Do not forget that it is you who did it, and who can therefore let it go. Hold out your hand. This enemy has come to bless you. Take his blessing, and feel how your heart is lifted and your fear released. Do not hold on to it, nor onto him. He is a Son of God, along with you. He is no jailer, but a messenger of Christ. Be this to him, that you may see him thus.”
A Course in Miracles S-1.III.5:1-9

Divine Mind’s Transmissions

 

I was listening to BK Shivani today and once again she said something I had never thought about. We have compassion for physical and mental illness. We need to cultivate compassion for emotional illness. What is emotional illness? Anger, fear, irritation, jealousy, doubt, worry — these are all illnesses which don’t allow a person to be “normal”. But when someone is going through this, we shouldn’t question it, because we get sucked into their emotional pain. To have true compassion, we must be in a state of mind which is pure, positive energy. It’s easy for us to fall into their lower frequency, but if we stay with higher vibrational energy, they will match it. I remember talking to a woman one day who told me she had a twin sister who was having a surgical procedure that day. She told me she was feeling her sister’s pain. I asked her if she thought she could send her sister calm, assertive energy, rather than receiving agitated fear. She liked that idea. Next time you’re with someone who is upset, experiment and see if you can spread joyous peace in place of whatever is being projected. Namaste…

“Mortal thought transmits its own images, and forms its offspring after human illusions. God, Spirit, works spiritually, not materially. Brain or matter never formed a human concept. Vibration is not intelligence; hence it is not a creator. Immortal ideas, pure, perfect, and enduring, are transmitted by the divine Mind through divine Science, which corrects error with truth and demands spiritual thoughts, divine concepts, to the end that they may produce harmonious results.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page   259:22-31

“It is hard to recognize that thought and belief combine into a power surge that can literally move mountains. It appears at first glance that to believe such power about yourself is arrogant, but that is not the real reason you do not believe it. You prefer to believe that your thoughts cannot exert real influence because you are actually afraid of them. This may allay awareness of the guilt, but at the cost of perceiving the mind as impotent. If you believe that what you think is ineffectual you may cease to be afraid of it, but you are hardly likely to respect it. There are no idle thoughts. All thinking produces form at some level.” 

A Course in Miracles T-2.VI.9:8-14

Stand Strong

 

Photo Credit Blake Lasater 

“We’re weakening the world by talking about others’ weaknesses.”  One of my favorite Indian gurus made this amazing statement (which I heard on youtube). She stopped me in my tracks with that one! She also spoke about a trait most of us exhibit. Let’s say we have a disagreement with a good friend. We tend to want to tell the story to someone else, relating the circumstances and hoping to find someone to take our side. If that person joins you in worry, anxiety, or fear about the situation, then you have just added to the problem. So she suggests we be very carefula about who we discuss things with. If it’s someone who is going to worry for you, don’t do it! She also says we should never endorse anyone who is blaming others for their pain. If you agree with them and commiserate, you have just gotten tangled up in their story. It takes practice to be compassionate, yet not exacerbate the situation. But it’s a worthy effort! 

“Attempts to conciliate society and so gain dominion over mankind, arise from worldly weakness. He who leaves all for Christ forsakes popularity and gains Christianity. Society is a foolish juror, listening only to one side of the case. Justice often comes too late to secure a verdict. People with mental work before them have no time for gossip about false law or testimony. To reconstruct timid justice and place the fact above the falsehood, is the work of time.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 228:22-30

“Miracles are natural signs of forgiveness. Through miracles you accept God’s forgiveness by extending it to others.” 

A Course in Miracles T-1.I.21:1-2