Higher Enjoyments

Photo courtesy of Ramona McNeal

In the 1970s, I spent a good deal of time in a bar called The Swingin' Door. I fell in love with Texas music and more than one musician. It was an interesting time in popular music history, with the Beatles still stirring our souls and disco bringing a canned cadence to music, which most of the people in my circles shunned. We were all sure we knew the secret to happiness, and holiness had absolutely nothing to do with it. As years passed in a blur, we found the alcohol and drugs no longer brought satisfaction. It took years for me to realize that holiness was found within and reflected outwardly in everything. What a long and interesting road it's been to this point. The gratitude I feel for Life is overwhelming!

“Higher enjoyments alone can satisfy the cravings of immortal man.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health

“How can illusions satisfy God’s Son? Father, the truth belongs to me. My home is set in Heaven by Your Will and mine. Can dreams content me? Can illusions bring me happiness? What but Your memory can satisfy Your Son? I will accept no less than You have given me. I am surrounded by Your Love, forever still, forever gentle and forever safe. God’s Son must be as You created him.

“Today we pass illusions by. And if we hear temptation call to us to stay and linger in a dream, we turn aside and ask ourselves if we, the Sons of God, could be content with dreams, when Heaven can be chosen just as easily as hell, and love will happily replace all fear.”

A Course in Miracles W-272.1:1–2:2

Truth Knocks at the Portal of Humanity

Are we finally ready for the truth? I've heard it said that we, as a human race, can’t stand to hear the truth if it contradicts long-held beliefs. This is said about everything from extraterrestrial life to religious doctrine, but I think we are ready to hear it! People say that if the truth were known about everything, society would break down. It seems to me this might be a good thing, because our current belief systems don't appear to be functioning too well! Perhaps everyone's dissatisfaction stems from feeling we’re being lied to on many levels. A few centuries ago, a total eclipse of the full moon would cause many fear-based reactions when the orb turned red, disappeared, then reappeared. As the truth has set us free from that irrational fear, so it will in other ways, allowing us to joyfully look up and say “Wow, that’s beautiful!” I think we're ready, don't you?!

“Truth, independent of doctrines and time-honored systems, knocks at the portal of humanity.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page vii:13-15 

“Christ’s is the vision I will use today. Each day, each hour, every instant, I am choosing what I want to look upon, the sounds I want to hear, the witnesses to what I want to be the truth for me. Today I choose to look upon what Christ would have me see, to listen to God’s Voice, and seek the witnesses to what is true in God’s creation. In Christ’s sight, the world and God’s creation meet, and as they come together all perception disappears. His kindly sight redeems the world from death, for nothing that He looks on but must live, remembering the Father and the Son; Creator and creation unified.

“Father, Christ’s vision is the way to You. What He beholds invites Your memory to be restored to me. And this I choose, to be what I would look upon today.”

A Course in Miracles W-271.1:1–2:3

What’s Your Spiritual Practice?

How do you integrate your spiritual practice into daily life? This is a question someone asked me, which brought a smile. Since I don’t have any rituals which would be defined as “spiritual practice”, I suppose they are asking about the moments I pause to commune with the Universe — perhaps waiting in line at the grocery, or sitting at the bridge table after having decided what to bid on a hand and waiting to do so, or clearing my mind to see a word appear in the Words With Friends board. Hum — I think life IS a spiritual practice, don’t you? When I find myself turning a situation around and ‘round in thought, or when I replay possible scenarios of how things may transpire, that’s the time for a mental reminder to just stop it! Spiritual practice, for me, can be defined as getting out of my own way and listening for the inner voice which could be called intuition. While some may think going to church once a week constitutes a spiritual practice, most folks I know have a moment-to-moment awareness which is guided by Love. How do you know if your life is directed by Spirit or ego? If you’re at peace, it’s God; if you’re uneasy or unhappy, it’s ego!

“Lips must be mute and materialism silent, that man may have audience with Spirit, the divine Principle, Love, which destroys all error.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 15:11-13

“I will not use the body’s eyes today. Father, Christ’s vision is Your gift to me, and it has power to translate all that the body’s eyes behold into the sight of a forgiven world. How glorious and gracious is this world! Yet how much more will I perceive in it than sight can give. The world forgiven signifies Your Son acknowledges his Father, lets his dreams be brought to truth, and waits expectantly the one remaining instant more of time which ends forever, as Your memory returns to him. And now his will is one with Yours. His function now is but Your Own, and every thought except Your Own is gone.

“The quiet of today will bless our hearts, and through them peace will come to everyone. Christ is our eyes today. And through His sight we offer healing to the world through Him, the holy Son whom God created whole; the holy Son whom God created one.”

A Course in Miracles W-270.1:1–2:3

The Face of Love

Photo credit: Aaron Springston

I love A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson #269: “My sight goes forth to look upon Christ's face.” This acknowledgement, that everything and everyone we look upon is the face of divine Love, takes our perception to another level! With this sight, we do not need to see race, or nationalities, nor gender; there are no political parties for which to wave flags, and no enemies to fight against, nor allies to side with. I see beautiful things happening in our world. Long-held beliefs are being released in favor of an open-hearted acceptance of everyone as they are, not as we want them to be. Change can seem difficult, but our new perceptions of Life are a conscious choice by which we break free of habits and old thought patterns, which have held us in bondage for far too long. Let’s celebrate our new-found sight today!

“The eternal Truth destroys what mortals seem to have learned from error, and man's real existence as a child of God comes to light.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science and Health Page 288:31-1

“My sight goes forth to look upon Christ’s face. I ask Your blessing on my sight today. It is the means which You have chosen to become the way to show me my mistakes, and look beyond them. ³t is given me to find a new perception through the Guide You gave to me, and through His lessons to surpass perception and return to truth. I ask for the illusion which transcends all those I made. Today I choose to see a world forgiven, in which everyone shows me the face of Christ, and teaches me that what I look upon belongs to me; that nothing is, except Your holy Son.

“Today our sight is blessed indeed. We share one vision, as we look upon the face of Him Whose Self is ours. We are one because of Him Who is the Son of God; of Him Who is our own Identity.”

A Course in Miracles W-269.1:1–2:3

Let It Be

Photo courtesy of Aaron Springston

One of my friends has a particularly hard time letting “all things be exactly as they are”, which is the topic of A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson #268. She plays events over and over in her mind, making suppositions about why things were said or done, and trying to find solutions to fix everyone involved. Recently, she received a phone call from a lifelong friend whom she hadn’t heard from in the past few years. She didn’t answer the call and was full of worries as to what she may have done wrong which caused her friend to break off contact with her. While I try not to laugh in the face of others’ distress, I couldn’t help myself this time! I quickly reminded her of The Four Agreements, in particular “don’t make assumptions” and “don’t take anything personally”. After a brief conversation, she returned to her home and called her old friend. And sure enough, she had done nothing wrong; her friend was going through a rough time and needed a friendly shoulder to lean on. How much easier life is without speculations and suppositions! 

“Let all things be exactly as they are. Let me not be Your critic, Lord, today, and judge against You. Let me not attempt to interfere with Your creation, and distort it into sickly forms. Let me be willing to withdraw my wishes from its unity, and thus to let it be as You created it. For thus will I be able, too, to recognize my Self as You created me. In love was I created, and in love will I remain forever. What can frighten me, when I let all things be exactly as they are?

“Let not our sight be blasphemous today, nor let our ears attend to lying tongues. Only reality is free of pain. Only reality is free of loss. Only reality is wholly safe. And it is only this we seek today.”

A Course in Miracles W-268.1:1–2:5

"Human sense may well marvel at discord, while, to a diviner sense, harmony is the real and discord the unreal.” 

Mary Baker Eddy — Science & Health Page: 563: 1-3 

Each Heartbeat Brings Peace

 

Photo credit: Aaron Springston

Living the peace of God may seem like a fantasy to those who abide by the laws of materiality. It's a common belief that in order to live in peace a person must be delusional, sticking their head in the sand, or at least denying reality in favor of wishful thinking. But many of us see this state of mind in another way. As we learn about the Truth of our being, we are able to glimpse this peace, and the joy it brings. This joy spreads exponentially through our daily activities, as it is expressed through our actions and words. This state of mind does more for the world than all the preaching we may be tempted to do!

“My heart is beating in the peace of God. Surrounding me is all the life that God created in His Love. It calls to me in every heartbeat and in every breath; in every action and in every thought. Peace fills my heart, and floods my body with the purpose of forgiveness. Now my mind is healed, and all I need to save the world is given me. Each heartbeat brings me peace; each breath infuses me with strength. I am a messenger of God, directed by His Voice, sustained by Him in love, and held forever quiet and at peace within His loving Arms. Each heartbeat calls His Name, and every one is answered by His Voice, assuring me I am at home in Him.

“Let me attend Your Answer, not my own. Father, my heart is beating in the peace the Heart of Love created. It is there and only there that I can be at home.”

A Course in Miracles W-267.1:1–2:3

“Teach them that their being is sustained by Spirit, not by matter, and that they find health, peace, and harmony in God, divine Love.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 416:32-2

A World Full of Saviors

Photo credit: Aaron Springston

Today’s Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson #266 ends by saying — and I paraphrase — that we have been given a world full of saviors, and we have been given the sight to understand what that means. When someone misinterprets our motives or actions, it seems natural to try to set them straight. A dear friend on the west coast called with accusations, and I foolishly tried to defend myself. I wasn’t trying to change his mind, only attempting to correct what I saw as his misinterpretation. This was a perfect example of what I do not want to do. Rather than hearing the words as a cry for love, I saw them as an attack and attempted to turn the situation into what I wanted it to be. The result was not harmonious! But after reading today’s lesson, along with the following Mary Baker Eddy words, I see him as one of the many saviors given me, and I am at peace. “Thus the dawn of ideas goes on, forming each successive stage of progress.” Namaste, my friend …

“The calm and exalted thought or spiritual apprehension is at peace. Thus the dawn of ideas goes on, forming each successive stage of progress.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 506: 11-14

 “My holy Self abides in you, God’s Son. Father, You gave me all Your Sons, to be my saviors and my counselors in sight; the bearers of Your holy Voice to me. In them are You reflected, and in them does Christ look back upon me from my Self. Let not Your Son forget Your holy Name. Let not Your Son forget his holy Source. Let not Your Son forget his Name is Yours.

“This day we enter into Paradise, calling upon God’s Name and on our own, acknowledging our Self in each of us; united in the holy Love of God. How many saviors God has given us! How can we lose the way to Him, when He has filled the world with those who point to Him, and given us the sight to look on them?”

A Course in Miracles W-266.1:1–2:3)

The Way of Gentleness

Photo of unknown origin

A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson #265 states: “Creation's gentleness is all I see.”  Although this gentleness is everywhere, we’re often distracted by the universal belief in harshness, seeing it as the way of the world.  More and more, we're noticing animals showing us the way of gentleness, by way of their interactions with each other. As we begin to understand Oneness, we're seeing that when violence is done to or by one, it's done to or by all. It is a noble and possible goal, to allow our thoughts to change from fear and anger to Love and gentleness. Many people are holding with the old paradigm, and some say it's necessary for heinous acts to be committed, and also retaliation in kind. On the other hand, multitudes of us are reaching out in kindness, realizing the error of harshness in its many forms, innately knowing that it is possible for the lion to lay down with the lamb. Every thought is important as we rush toward a new way of living. Filling our lives with beauty and joy helps us find the pathway, and show others the way!

“The fowls, which fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven, correspond to aspirations soaring beyond and above corporeality to the understanding of the incorporeal and divine Principle, Love.” 

Mary Baker Eddy-Science & Health Page 511:2

“Creation’s gentleness is all I see. I have indeed misunderstood the world, because I laid my sins on it and saw them looking back at me. How fierce they seemed! And how deceived was I to think that what I feared was in the world, instead of in my mind alone. Today I see the world in the celestial gentleness with which creation shines. There is no fear in it. Let no appearance of my sins obscure the light of Heaven shining on the world. What is reflected there is in God’s Mind. The images I see reflect my thoughts. Yet is my mind at one with God’s. And so I can perceive creation’s gentleness.

“In quiet would I look upon the world, which but reflects Your Thoughts, and mine as well. Let me remember that they are the same, and I will see creation’s gentleness.”

A Course in Miracles W-265.1:1–2:2

Surrounded By Love

Photo credit: Aaron Springston

Do you recall a time when you felt swaddled in Love? Perhaps it was immediately following the birth of a child or grandchild, or maybe it was watching a sunset, or seeing whales in the ocean — well, there are many times when we feel totally encompassed in the Love which is more than the everyday I-love-this-dessert type of love. The images our ego projects and calls love are a shadow of the divine Love of which we speak today. We all have believed the false image of love which this life has taught us. The songs we sing, the movies we watch, the things we expect from love, these do not begin to tell us what it means to be surrounded by Love. As we begin to see ourselves as a creation of Love, it becomes possible to see everyone and everything as the same beautiful substance. This sight is tested every moment in this crazy, old world. I look forward to the challenge!

“When the divine precepts are understood, they unfold the foundation of fellowship, in which one mind is not at war with another, but all have one Spirit, God, one intelligent source, in accordance with the Scriptural command: 'Let this Mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.' Man and his Maker are correlated in divine Science, and real consciousness is cognizant only of the things of God.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 276:4-11

“I am surrounded by the Love of God. Father, You stand before me and behind, beside me, in the place I see myself, and everywhere I go. You are in all the things I look upon, the sounds I hear, and every hand that reaches for my own. In You time disappears, and place becomes a meaningless belief. For what surrounds Your Son and keeps him safe is Love itself. There is no source but this, and nothing is that does not share its holiness; that stands beyond Your one creation, or without the Love which holds all things within itself. Father, Your Son is like Yourself. We come to You in Your Own Name today, to be at peace within Your everlasting Love.

“My brothers, join with me in this today. This is salvation’s prayer. Must we not join in what will save the world, along with us.”

A Course in Miracles T-264.1:1–2:3

A Purer Vision

Moonset in the Ozarks

Photo courtesy of Susan Luddy

The commentary in today's Course in Miracles lesson asks us to "Let all appearances seem pure .. that we may pass them by in innocence ..." Wow! I want to do that, don't you?  This is a perfect time for me to practice seeing with a pure vision, rather than my faulty material vision. Thousands of motorcycles are in town for a gathering in our area. In the past, I've seen them as a nuisance, disrupting peace and quiet in our serene village. I vow today to see with holy vision, pure and true.  Om ~~~~~~~~~~

“My holy vision sees all things as pure. Father, Your Mind created all that is, Your Spirit entered into it, Your Love gave life to it. And would I look upon what You created as if it could be made sinful? I would not perceive such dark and fearful images. A madman’s dream is hardly fit to be my choice, instead of all the loveliness with which You blessed creation; all its purity, its joy, and its eternal, quiet home in You.

“And while we still remain outside the gate of Heaven, let us look on all we see through holy vision and the eyes of Christ. Let all appearances seem pure to us, that we may pass them by in innocence, and walk together to our Father’s house as brothers and the holy Sons of God.”

A Course in Miracles W-263.1:1–2:2

“When we learn that error is not real, we shall be ready for progress, ‘forgetting those things which are behind.’”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 353:22-24

Together

Aspens - photo by Aaron Springston

William Blake said: "I am in you and you in me, mutual in divine Love". I understand this to mean that the perfection we are learning to see as ourselves also is everyone else. I often tell people “We’re all in this together”, but I think I’ll change it to “We are all this – together!” I love the study of the Science of Being! Every day, every moment, revelations in thought bring me a deeper understanding of how this Truth sets us free. I am learning more of what it means that God is Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, Love. It's joyous to expand understanding, including myself in that definition, as a reflection of All that Is!

“So-called mineral, vegetable, and animal substances are no more contingent now on time or material structure than they were when ‘the morning stars sang together.’ 

Mind made the ‘plant of the field before it was in the earth.’ The periods of spiritual ascension are the days and seasons of Mind’s creation, in which beauty, sublimity, purity, and holiness — yea, the divine nature — appear in man and the universe never to disappear.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 509:20-28

“Let me perceive no differences today. Father, You have one Son. And it is he that I would look upon today. He is Your one creation. Why should I perceive a thousand forms in what remains as one? Why should I give this one a thousand names, when only one suffices? For Your Son must bear Your Name, for You created him. Let me not see him as a stranger to his Father, nor as stranger to myself. For he is part of me and I of him, and we are part of You Who are our Source, eternally united in Your Love; eternally the holy Son of God.

“We who are one would recognize this day the truth about ourselves. We would come home, and rest in unity. For there is peace, and nowhere else can peace be sought and found.”

A Course in Miracles W-262.1:1–2:3

Cleaning Out Clutter

Photo courtesy of Kailey Jones

Most people I know are getting rid of things they don’t need. We’re letting go of items which are cluttering up our house and material surroundings. More importantly, we're clearing out thoughts and beliefs which no longer are needed in our new-found perception of reality. As with our surroundings, we look through the accumulation of years and decide what to release and what to keep. Sometimes we keep more than we had planned, but with our mental clutter, there is very little which needs to stay. Just as we accumulate more and more books and music and all sorts of things, we also accumulate erroneous beliefs. Isn't it just as easy to hold on to Truth as it is error? Now is the time to do just that!

“Citizens of the world, accept the ‘glorious liberty of the children of God,’ and be free! This is your divine right. The illusion of material sense, not divine law, has bound you, entangled your free limbs, crippled your capacities, enfeebled your body, and defaced the tablet of your being.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 227:24-29

“God is my refuge and security. I will identify with what I think is refuge and security. I will behold myself where I perceive my strength, and think I live within the citadel where I am safe and cannot be attacked. Let me today seek not security in danger, nor attempt to find my peace in murderous attack. I live in God. In Him I find my refuge and my strength. In Him is my Identity. In Him is everlasting peace. And only there will I remember Who I really am.

“Let me not seek for idols. I would come, my Father, home to You today. I choose to be as You created me, and find the Son whom You created as my Self.”

A course in Miracles W-261.1:1–2:3

No Dead Ends

Great Salt Flats - Utah

Photo credit: Aaron Springston

I Am the experience and expression of God. We are learning what that means — and it's a wonderful adventure! For too many years, high officials of churches have tried to tell us that we are mortal sinners and the only way we can gain favor with God is to go through them, performing odd penances and other rituals which I feel certain have nothing to do with the Oneness we are embracing. God Is; I Am. There really isn't anything else to say, but yet there is so much! We have questions that seem unanswerable, but perhaps that's because we have been told there are things we must simply accept, because we can't understand. Through the study of divine metaphysics, we find there are no unanswerable questions. I’m finding there are no dead ends; no statements I must simply believe, relying on blind faith alone. God is as close as I am to myself, and all answers lie within, available for the asking -- and, most importantly, for the listening! Remembering what is true leaves me with a powerful peace. I am most grateful.

“Infinite Mind creates and governs all, from the mental molecule to infinity. This divine Principle of all expresses Science and art throughout His creation, and the immortality of man and the universe. Creation is ever appearing, and must ever continue to appear from the nature of its inexhaustible source.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 507:24-28

“Let me remember God created me. Father, I did not make myself, although in my insanity I thought I did. Yet, as Your Thought, I have not left my Source, remaining part of Who created me. Your Son, my Father, calls on You today. Let me remember You created me. Let me remember my Identity. And let my sinlessness arise again before Christ’s vision, through which I would look upon my brothers and myself today.

“Now is our Source remembered, and Therein we find our true Identity at last. Holy indeed are we, because our Source can know no sin. And we who are His Sons are like each other, and alike to Him.”

A Course in Miracles W-260.1:1–2:3

Doing the Most We Can

Ozark Milky Way - photo by Richard Quick

I love to sit on my back deck, where nothing exists other than a forest and the insects and birds talking to me. My gratitude for this peace is all-encompassing. Of course, we are conditioned to feel guilty when we are happy in spite of other people’s misery and fear, so the thought crossed my mind that I should feel bad for others. But this was quickly corrected, because I know that no matter how awful I feel about the plight of another, it will do nothing to improve their lot. This does not mean that I have no compassion for them, but that I correct the picture of despair in my thoughts and see them according to the first book of Genesis rather than the second: God created everything and it was good. That is the spiritual reality of Life. So rather than dwelling on images burned into my retina by my knowledge of world events,  I translate them into the purity of creation in its natural state: Love.  The compassion I feel for all of the earth is not dimmed by my turning away from the material picture; rather it expands to include everything in the panoply of this Love, unmarred by fires and earthquakes and pandemics and political unrest. This is the least I can do for my earthly family — or perhaps it’s the most.

“The notion of a material universe is utterly opposed to the theory of man as evolved from Mind. Such fundamental errors send falsity into all human doctrines and conclusions, and do not accord infinity to Deity. Error tills the whole ground in this material theory, which is entirely a false view, destructive to existence and happiness.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 545:1

“Sin is the only thought that makes the goal of God seem unattainable. What else could blind us to the obvious, and make the strange and the distorted seem more clear? What else but sin engenders our attacks? What else but sin could be the source of guilt, demanding punishment and suffering? And what but sin could be the source of fear, obscuring God’s creation; giving love the attributes of fear and of attack?

“Father, I would not be insane today. I would not be afraid of love, nor seek for refuge in its opposite. For love can have no opposite. You are the Source of everything there is. And everything that is remains with You, and You with it.”

A Course in Miracles W-259.1:1–2:5

A World of Glory

Photo courtesy of Mark McGee

My dear friend, Richard, brought to my attention that this is leap year and he (and others) had skipped over the leap day in order to end the year on A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson #365. I am posting the lovely words below in order to get back on track with the elasticity of time. 

The Journey - By Mary Oliver

“One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice—
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
‘Mend my life!’

each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do—
determined to save

the only life you could save.”

Written by Mary Oliver

“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

“Forgiveness turns the world of sin into a world of glory, wonderful to see. Each flower shines in light, and every bird sings of the joy of Heaven. There is no sadness and there is no parting here, for everything is totally forgiven. And what has been forgiven must join, for nothing stands between to keep them separate and apart. The sinless must perceive that they are one, for nothing stands between to push the other off. And in the space that sin left vacant do they join as one, in gladness recognizing what is part of them has not been kept apart and separate.”

A Course in Miracles T-26.IV.2:1-6