Keep Listening!

“No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep. The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple, among his followers, gives not of his wisdom but rather of his faith and his lovingness. If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the house of his wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind.” — Khalil Gibran

When reading this Gibran quote, I immediately thought of my dear friend, Jim Young. Since I have known him, scores of books have flown through him and onto pages. And I love them all. I can hardly wait to dip into this newly-released book. Here’s to you, dear Friend! 

“Acquaintance with the Science of being enables us to commune more largely with the divine Mind, to foresee and foretell events which concern the universal welfare, to be divinely inspired, — yea, to reach the range of fetterless Mind.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 84:14-19

“God created every mind by communicating His Mind to it, thus establishing it forever as a channel for the reception of His Mind and Will. Since only beings of a like order can truly communicate, His creations naturally communicate with Him and like Him.” 

A Course in Miracles T-4.VII.3:7-8

Frances Xu - A Love Story

When the student is ready, the teacher appears. Most of us have heard these words, have we not? Frances Xu is a young woman who wasn’t sure what it meant “to go for God”, but she knew she was going to do it. Being clueless, but with a desire to be helpful, is the way she describes her journey with Spirit. When she heard a presentation by David Hoffmeister in Australia, she knew what she was meant to do. David invited her to a retreat they were giving in a month or so, but she had a home and husband and job and didn’t think it would be possible. She began watching his YouTube videos and decided she had to attend the next retreat. After doing so, she fully understood this was the most pure love she had ever felt. Now that she knew there was another way to live, she didn’t want to go back to the old one. So she closed her business, left her relationship, and sold her house. Her teacher had shown up and she was ready. She had found real freedom and love, and she was brave enough to accept it. Recently, this young woman passed from the physical world, into her true identity as Spirit. If you want to read the beautiful words she left us about this event, please go to Frances Xu - A Love Story

“We call it death, but it is liberty. It does not come in forms that seem to be thrust down in pain upon unwilling flesh, but as a gentle welcome to release. If there has been true healing, this can be the form in which death comes when it is time to rest a while from labor gladly done and gladly ended. Now we go in peace to freer air and gentler climate, where it is not hard to see the gifts we gave were saved for us. For Christ is clearer now; His vision more sustained in us; His Voice, the Word of God, more certainly our own.” 

A Course in Miracles S-3.II.3:1-5

“There is but one spiritual existence, — the Life of which corporeal sense can take no cognizance. The divine Principle of man speaks through immortal sense. If a material body — in other words, mortal, material sense — were permeated by Spirit, that body would disappear to mortal sense, would be deathless. A condition precedent to communion with Spirit is the gain of spiritual life.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 72:1-8

Healing Our Past, With Dogs

Photo of unknown origin

Interpersonal relationships can often feel out of control. Dogs and their people are the focus of Cesar Milan, a/k/a the Dog Whisperer. I love watching these shows and seeing how he helps people pinpoint their anxieties and understand how they are passing them on to their dogs. In watching Season 3, Episode 12 of his current show, “Better Human, Better Dog”, I was struck once again by the healing which can occur in our lives through understanding from whence the problem comes. An attack in a dog park triggered memories and fears for one woman, who had experienced an attack on her person in the past. She became nervously fearful, passing on her fright to her dog, which then responded with uncontrolled aggression. Every time they went out or anyone came to their home, she became anxious. Through Cesar’s peaceful, assertive presence, she was able to regain her calm, and then she could pass on this confident energy to her dog. I love seeing these examples of how traumas are faced and lives are healed. Much work is being done in the field of healing traumatic memories. It’s enlightening to watch this occur through recognition, acceptance, and release. It’s a fascinating study and I hope to learn more. 

“Casting out evil and fear enables truth to outweigh error. The only course is to take antagonistic grounds against all that is opposed to the health, holiness, and harmony of man, God’s image.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 392:7-10

“It is enough to heal the past and make the future free. It is enough to let the present be accepted as it is. It is enough to let time be the means for all the world to learn escape from time, and every change that time appears to bring in passing by.” 

A Course in Miracles W-110.2:2-4

Renewing Your Mind

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater

Do you think the study of divine metaphysics is difficult to understand? One person tells me he thinks it's incomprehensible, without years of study and training. Another says she's not smart enough to "get it". Yet another thinks she's not up for the hard work this way of living entails. I've been pondering these statements. Are they true? Does it take some special dispensation, some quantum gift from beyond, an unraveling of DNA, or perhaps years of study? Maybe we think it will take a long time to change our thought because it's taken us decades to solidify our present matter-based belief systems. The spiritual Truth we're uncovering has always been a part of us: It's our birthright as a child of God. What takes practice is leaving behind the erroneous teachings of a lifetime. The easy part is the realization that Truth is always within us, just waiting to be discovered. With this discovery comes a renewal of our mind, by pushing aside false beliefs and uncovering the truths we've always known. So, no, I don't think it's hard work. But it is dedicated work. It takes discipline to see and feel as Love. Not through Love, not with Love, but AS Love. That is our essence. That is our Truth. Let's keep it simple!

“Individuals are consistent who, watching and praying, can ‘run, and not be weary; . . . walk, and not faint,’ who gain good rapidly and hold their position, or attain slowly and yield not to discouragement.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 254:2-6

“Put not your faith in illusions. They will fail you. Put all your faith in the Love of God within you; eternal, changeless and forever unfailing. This is the answer to whatever confronts you today. Through the Love of God within you, you can resolve all seeming difficulties without effort and in sure confidence. Tell yourself this often today. It is a declaration of release from the belief in idols. It is your acknowledgment of the truth about yourself.” 

A Course in Miracles W-50.4:1-8

Celebrating Friendship

Lifelong Friends Celebrating 80!

After attending a dear friend’s 80th birthday celebration today, I came home and saw this poem posted on the Ravenous Butterflies social media page. Being with glorious elders this afternoon, I was particularly struck by many of these lines. It’s wonderful to be alive!

"When we are young, it’s the illusion of perfection

that we fall in love with. As we age, it’s the humanness

that we fall in love with- the poignant stories of

overcoming, the depthful vulnerability of aging, the

struggles that grew us in karmic stature, the way a

soul shaped itself to accommodate its circumstances.

With less energy to hold up our armor, we are revealed

and, in the revealing, we call out to each other’s

hearts....

Where we once saw imperfect scars, we now see evidence of a life fully lived.”

Jeff Brown

“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 246:10-16

“Death is the central dream from which all illusions stem. Is it not madness to think of life as being born, aging, losing vitality, and dying in the end? We have asked this question before, but now we need to consider it more carefully. It is the one fixed, unchangeable belief of the world that all things in it are born only to die. This is regarded as “the way of nature,” not to be raised to question, but to be accepted as the “natural” law of life. The cyclical, the changing and unsure; the undependable and the unsteady, waxing and waning in a certain way upon a certain path,—all this is taken as the Will of God. 

And no one asks if a benign Creator could will this.” 

A Course in Miracles  M-27.1:1-7

The Right To Vote

In August of 1920, the 19th Amendment was ratified giving women the right to cast a vote in elections. We tend to think of this as something that “just happened”, with men suddenly deciding to let the little ladies have what they want. Not so. It took nearly 70 years of hard work to win the right to vote. It was not given; they took it. At the time, the country was slipping into an economic depression, a global pandemic had claimed 600,000 lives in the U.S., racial unrest was boiling up all over the country, the KKK had come out of hiding, immigration was a contentious issue, and a nasty presidential race was underway with one candidate having the divisive slogan, America First. Sound familiar?? That was over 100 years ago, and against all odds the women persisted and won the vote. There is a lot more to this story, and it’s all fascinating! But for now, remember that it was not an easy ask, with lovely ladies dressed in white sweetly requesting to vote. It was a fight, it wasn’t an easy one, and they never backed down. The difference in then and now (as I see it), is that we have many more men on our side than they did then. Thank you...

“A feasible as well as rational means of improvement at present is the elevation of society in general and the achievement of a nobler race for legislation — a race having higher aims and motives.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 63:23

“Unless you think that all your brothers have an equal right to miracles with you, you will not claim your right to them because you were unjust to one with equal rights. Seek to deny and you will feel denied. Seek to deprive, and you have been deprived. A miracle can never be received because another could receive it not. Only forgiveness offers miracles. And pardon must be just to everyone.” A Course in Miracles T-25.IX.8:1-6

Here’s to Friends

Dina, Marsha, Carol

Having spent the day with long-time, dear friends at an art show one of them is hosting, my heart is too full to write just a little bit. So I’ll let Donna Ashworth express some of my feelings.

HERE’S TO THE FRIENDS

“Here’s to the friends, 

who give us grace to cancel the plans we made, when we were a different version of ourselves.

Here’s to the friends, 

who never say ‘I told you so’ but instead, sit down and get comfortable, to hear the entire story they predicted already.

Here’s to the friends,

who send little videos of the things they know bring basic joy to your day.

Here’s to the friends,

who have our secrets in their pocket, and keep them safely guarded.

Here’s to the friends,

who show up for the happy, and the sad. 

And see the importance in both.

Here’s to the friends, 

we just could not be without, on this rollercoaster ride.

Here’s to the friends, 

who bring in light, when light is scarce.

Here’s to you, 

and here’s to them,

we’re blessed indeed,

to have that friend.”

Donna Ashworth

From ‘Life’

“Love never loses sight of loveliness. Its halo rests upon its object. One marvels that a friend can ever seem less than beautiful.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 248:3-5

“How long is an instant? As long as it takes to re-establish perfect sanity, perfect peace and perfect love for everyone, for God and for yourself. As long as it takes to remember immortality, and your immortal creations who share it with you.” 

A Course in Miracles T-15.I.14:1-3

A Leap of Faith

 

A woman I know always puts herself down when she thinks she has not done her best (which is often). She will finish her self-put-downs with something like, “Oh, well, I’m not not walking on water yet.” She has told me she will never meet Jesus’ expectations of her. Father Joseph, the priest at the Catholic Church where I am the organist, had a homily where he tied walking on water with taking a leap of faith. He encouraged us to speak to people we normally would ignore, or try a food we don’t think we’ll like, or to try anything which takes us out of our comfort zone. Writing, for instance, is a frightening activity at first, because you’re putting your thoughts out there for everyone to interpret, critique, or challenge. Art, in all of its forms, is an act of bravery. Raising a child is a supreme leap of faith! The world needs us right now, so let’s open our hearts and follow where we are led — today!

“Now try to slip past all concerns related to your own sense of inadequacy. It is obvious that any situation that causes you concern is associated with feelings of inadequacy, for otherwise you would believe that you could deal with the situation successfully. It is not by trusting yourself that you will gain confidence. But the strength of God in you is successful in all things.” 

A Course in Miracles W-47.5:1-4

"The calm, strong currents of true spirituality, the manifestations of which are health, purity, and self-immolation, must deepen human experience, until the beliefs of material existence are seen to be a bald imposition, and sin, disease, and death give everylasting place to the scientific demonstration of divine Spirit and to God's spiritual, perfect man." 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 99:23

Loving and True Ideas

We’re all trying to be kinder in our communications. We’re all learning how to listen and ask questions without being confrontational. To me, these have been some of the most difficult life lessons. Listening without reaction, questioning without self-righteousness, learning from everyone — even those with opinions diametrically opposed to mine — maybe especially from them! One thing I’ve discovered is that it doesn’t matter what I say out loud, if my thoughts are confrontational. We can’t hide our true feelings behind the facade of kind words: we must be kind. Those of you who have pets know how true this is. You can’t hide your real feelings from an animal — or an aware human. Go forth with joy, because it shines through in your actions!

“A spiritual idea has not a single element of error, and this truth removes properly whatever is offensive. The new idea, conceived and born of Truth and Love, is clad in white garments.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 463:12

“Every loving thought is true. Everything else is an appeal for healing and help, regardless of the form it takes. Can anyone be justified in responding with anger to a brother’s plea for help? No response can be appropriate except the willingness to give it to him, for this and only this is what he is asking for. Offer him anything else, and you are assuming the right to attack his reality by interpreting it as you see fit. Perhaps the danger of this to your own mind is not yet fully apparent. If you believe that an appeal for help is something else you will react to something else. Your response will therefore be inappropriate to reality as it is, but not to your perception of it.” 

A Course in Miracles T-12.I.3:3-10

The Stories We Tell Ourselves

Photo courtesy of Aaron Springston

Childhood memories: We all have them. But I've begun to question how many of mine actually happened! Perhaps the memories are stories parents or siblings told over and over, or maybe they come from photographs that you've looked at repeatedly. Don't get me wrong here, because I don't think that's a bad thing. Stories teach us and stories lead us to places we need to be. But sometimes those stories can mislead us, too. Recently an aged-aunt called me wanting confirmation about a family rumor. I had never heard about this occurrence and told her so. While she was questioning me, she said she was calling me rather than writing on Messenger (our usual mode of communication) because another relative had told her that I was getting off of Facebook. I have never considered doing such a thing, because I keep up with friends and family through that medium. But this has caused me to think on many things! What we believe to be true may be nothing more than words we want to believe. So let's keep an open mind and heart, whether we are remembering our past or listening to someone else's ideas which they want us to believe are true. We live in an age of rampant propaganda, whether it be from commercials bombarding us or bots inundating our social media feed, we must be aware that many people have an agenda which they are doing their best to propel into being. Our brains are pretty good at picking out illusions, and I'm going to practice ascertaining truth by looking back through those childhood moments which seem so real. 

“And when the memory of God has come to you in the holy place of forgiveness you will remember nothing else, and memory will be as useless as learning, for your only purpose will be creating. Yet this you cannot know until every perception has been cleansed and purified, and finally removed forever. Forgiveness removes only the untrue, lifting the shadows from the world and carrying it, safe and sure within its gentleness, to the bright world of new and clean perception. There is your purpose now. And it is there that peace awaits you.” 

A Course in Miracles T-18.IX.14:1-5

"As vapor melts before the sun, so evil would vanish before the reality of good. One must hide the other. How important, then, to choose good as the reality!" 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 480:31

Invest in What is True

Starting over. Making changes. Reinventing ourselves. Most of us have done this more than once, haven't we? A sea change in our lives may come about because of illness, loss of a job, losing a loved one, or just needing to let go of behaviors which no longer serve us. Whatever the case, many of us resist these changes. Presently, it seems we are all in the midst of major shifts in our perceptions and our daily activities, and it can be frightening. We may wish someone would throw us a life preserver and tow us to safety! Perhaps we know someone grasping at illusions of hope, not seeing through the mist to the pitfalls on the other side. In our desire to show others the danger, we can drive them further away from seeing what's actually going on. And so we must remember that we cannot save anyone, we cannot change anyone; only ourselves. Our values can be expressed through our votes during elections, by the foods we purchase, by the entertainment we choose, and many other daily choices. We’re all in this together. The longer I live, the more I realize what that means. Let's be here for each other. It's the most we can do!

"This scientific sense of being, forsaking matter for Spirit, by no means suggests man's absorption into Deity and the loss of his identity, but confers upon man enlarged individuality, a wider sphere of thought and action, a more expansive love, a higher and more permanent peace." 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 265:10-15

“The way to correct distortions is to withdraw your faith in them and invest it only in what is true. You cannot make untruth true. If you are willing to accept what is true in everything you perceive, you let it be true for you. Truth overcomes all error, and those who live in error and emptiness can never find lasting solace. If you perceive truly you are cancelling out misperceptions in yourself and in others simultaneously. Because you see them as they are, you offer them your acceptance of their truth so they can accept it for themselves. This is the healing that the miracle induces.” 

A Course in Miracles T-3.II.6:1-7

War — Ugh!

War is incomprehensible to most of us. Personally, I can’t think of anything horrific enough to cause me to file a lawsuit against another person, much less to want to kill them. Somewhere I read that countries and groups of people will do things collectively which individuals would find abhorrent. Wars often begin because of religious- and/or power-driven causes. I’m sure everyone involved thinks they have a noble cause and they are standing up for righteous reasons, I’m not sure there is such a thing as a “righteous reason” — unless it is love-based. We learn in A Course in Miracles that everything either comes from love or is a call for love. As we watch wars swell intensely, our hearts go out to the people. May this love we send out to the innocents be for all the people, not just the ones we deem to be in the right. God sees no difference in Hitler or Mother Teresa. And we are the image and likeness of that divine Love. Namaste to All …

“Help Me to wake My children from the dream of retribution and a little life beset with fear, that ends so soon it might as well have never been. Let Me instead remind you of eternity, in which your joy grows greater as your love extends along with Mine beyond infinity, where time and distance have no meaning. While you wait in sorrow Heaven’s melody is incomplete, because your song is part of the eternal harmony of love. Without you is creation unfulfilled. Return to Me Who never left My Son. Listen, My child, your Father calls to you. Do not refuse to hear the Call for Love. Do not deny to Christ what is His Own. Heaven is here and Heaven is your home.” 

A Course in Miracles S-3.IV.8:1-9

“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 will be established.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 467:9-13

Lest We Compare Ourself With Another

Image of unknown origin

I listen to audio books while cooking, cleaning, exercising, and driving. Today I finished a book written for middle school students called Fish in a Tree, by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. The title caught my attention while browsing through the possibilities for my next read. (I use a library app called Libby, so if I don’t care for the book, I simply return it) The book’s title refers to this: “Everybody is smart in different ways. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its life believing it is stupid.” As I finished this book, I was thinking about my friends who think they can’t understand my metaphysical studies and writing. One man tells me he doesn’t have enough time left in his life to learn about A Course in Miracles or Christian Science. While I feel fortunate that my parents were students of Mary Baker Eddy and I grew up with a basic understanding of these teachings, there is always more to learn. I don’t even think of it as learning any longer, but as an unfolding. Is it ever too late to accept new ideas? We needn’t compare ourselves with anyone else when it comes to any form of learning or understanding. What fun we all have waiting for us!

“Individuals are consistent who, watching and praying, can 'run, and not be weary; . . . walk, and not faint,' who gain good rapidly and hold their position, or attain slowly and yield not to discouragement. …  Imperfect mortals grasp the ultimate of spiritual perfection slowly; but to begin aright and to continue the strife of demonstrating the great problem of being, is doing much.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 254:1-15

“The miracle substitutes for learning that might have taken thousands of years. It does so by the underlying recognition of perfect equality of giver and receiver on which the miracle rests. The miracle shortens time by collapsing it, thus eliminating certain intervals within it. It does this, however, within the larger temporal sequence.”

A Course in Miracles T-1.II.6:7-10

Developing Latent Possibilities

Photo courtesy of Aaron Springston

Often it takes a big shake up to force us to change ways of thought and actions which have become ingrained in us. It seems comfortable, easy, and safe to stay within the bounds of what we know. Looking back on the past decades, I see where I would have been stuck in mundane perhaps even destructive living had it not been for events which shocked me into new ways of thought and action. I am most grateful for the times when life seemed good, when I rested in cozy contentment, but then changes were facilitated by seeming tragedy. The move from by-rote living to Uppercase Living takes courage, but to seek a future different from the past ensures that we shall have one!

“A knowledge of the Science of being develops the latent abilities and possibilities of man. It extends the atmosphere of thought, giving mortals access to broader and higher realms. It raises the thinker into his native air of insight and perspicacity.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 128:13-191

“Learning is change. Salvation does not seek to use a means as yet too alien to your thinking to be helpful, nor to make the kinds of change you could not recognize. Concepts are needed while perception lasts, and changing concepts is salvation’s task. For it must deal in contrasts, not in truth, which has no opposite and cannot change. In this world’s concepts are the guilty ‘bad’; the ‘good’ are innocent. And no one here but holds a concept of himself in which he counts the ‘good’ to pardon him the ‘bad.’ Nor does he trust the ‘good’ in anyone, believing that the ‘bad’ must lurk behind. This concept emphasizes treachery, and trust becomes impossible. Nor could it change while you perceive the ‘bad’ in you.” 

A Course in Miracles T-31.VII.1:1-9