Life After Hate

Santa Fe Flower

Photo from Aaron Springston

So-called hate groups have increased by a large percentage over the past few years. A man named Tony McAleer describes himself as being beaten and bullied as a child; bitter and isolated as a teenager. He became involved in one of these groups while seeking a connection with others. To quote him: "When you're starving and somebody keeps feeding you what you think are your favorite foods, even though it's junk food, there's going to be a while where you're not going to get up from the table." He continued to practice violence and anger until after the birth of his daughter. He said that was the first time in his life he had felt connected to another human being, and he started to want to change. He has now organized a group called "Life After Hate" and he is helping others to build relationships with people. He says if we are to counter these groups, we must get to a place where empathy outweighs fear. That is what we are realizing through these studies, too. "Light and joy and peace abide in me" -- and in everyone!

“Light is a symbol of Mind, of Life, Truth, and Love, and not a vitalizing property of matter. Science reveals only one Mind, and this one shining by its own light and governing the universe, including man, in perfect harmony.."
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 510:27-1

“Why would you not be overjoyed to be assured that all the evil that you think you did was never done, that all your sins are nothing, that you are as pure and holy as you were created, and that light and joy and peace abide in you? Your image of yourself cannot withstand the Will of God. You think that this is death, but it is life. You think you are destroyed, but you are saved.”
A Course in Miracles W-93.4:1-4

The Company You Keep …

Unknown image creator

“The company you keep is important. If you leave your coat in a room where people are smoking, pretty soon it will smell of smoke. If you leave it outside in the garden, later on, when you bring it indoors, it will carry with it the fragrance of fresh air and flowers.

“Such is the case with the mind. Your garment of thoughts absorbs the vibrations of those with whom you mix. If you mingle with pessimists, in time you will become a pessimist. And if you mingle with cheerful, happy people, you yourself will develop a cheerful, happy nature.

“Environment is stronger than will power. Whether one becomes a saint or a sinner is, to a great extent, determined by the company he keeps.”  

Paramhansa Yogananda

“Your influence for good depends upon the weight you throw into the right scale. The good you do and embody gives you the only power obtainable. Evil is not power. It is a mockery of strength, which erelong betrays its weakness and falls, never to rise.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 192:21-23

“It is as needful that you recognize you made the world you see, as that you recognize that you did not create yourself. They are the same mistake. Nothing created not by your Creator has any influence over you. And if you think what you have made can tell you what you see and feel, and place your faith in its ability to do so, you are denying your Creator and believing that you made yourself. For if you think the world you made has power to make you what it wills, you are confusing Son and Father; effect and Source.” 

A Course in Miracles T-21.II.11:1-5

Skills of Observation

"The manual arts develop the skills of observation, problem solving and hypothesis, while also creating a sense of the dignity of all labor and empathy toward those who perform it." These words, from Doug Stowe, echo in my mind. Manual arts of all kinds develop skills which many modern-day activities simply cannot. Some parts of our brains are not used by anything other than this translation of thoughts into things. As someone who learned to play the piano and type on a toy typewriter before I began formal education, I hold those skills responsible for the ease with which many of us learned once we began school. There was a period of time I did not touch a musical keyboard for 12 years, and as a result I became quite dull. As a matter of fact, that's when I took up duplicate bridge, back in the 80s, when I realized my brain had slowed down appreciably. An intensive exercise of its capabilities brought me back to a point where I didn't feel quite so slow, but I don't think those synapses opened up again until I began playing keyboards in the mid-90s. To practice skills which cause the brain and hands to work together (cursive writing?) is an important part of our growth, one which I feel develops critical thinking skills, especially when combined with reading and discussion of ideas. Thank you, Doug, for bringing these things out for us to ponder and, hopefully, help others to understand!

"If the soft palm, upturned to a lordly salary, and architectural skill, making dome and spire tremulous with beauty, turn the poor and the stranger from the gate, they at the same time shut the door on progress."
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 142:11

“Innocence is incapable of sacrificing anything, because the innocent mind has everything and strives only to protect its wholeness. It cannot project. It can only honor other minds, because honor is the natural greeting of the truly loved to others who are like them.”
A Course in Miracles T-3.I.6:1-3

No Idle Thoughts

Photo by Aaron Springston

Our hearts cry for the children, the animals, the adults, the trees, the insects — all of life is in need of our higher thoughts and positive actions! When we see a heartbreaking situation and translate it into Love, we are helping. Everything we say or do is either a reflection of Love or of fear, and fear seems to try to attach itself to us with every new travesty we witness. Fearful responses get us nowhere and only cause the situation to be more solid in our thoughts. We are easily-influenced, but we are also smart and intuitive. The choices we have may seem overwhelming sometimes, but when we realize there is only one real choice, Love, it becomes easier to see truth. We all want to be loved, to be safe, to be comfortable, to be at peace. It may seem as though hatred spreads like wildfire, but Love puts out the flames of hatred as surely as light brightens a dark room. The light may hurt our eyes at first, but those reflective organs are made to adjust. I hope you can do something joyous today. Love as strongly as some are fearing, because it's an incredibly strong and unstoppable force which we hold right here in our hearts.

“Lulled by stupefying illusions, the world is asleep in the cradle of infancy, dreaming away the hours. Material sense does not unfold the facts of existence; but spiritual sense lifts human consciousness into eternal Truth. Humanity advances slowly out of sinning sense into spiritual understanding; unwillingness to learn all things rightly, binds Christendom with chains.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 95:28-3

“Besides your recognizing that thoughts are never idle, salvation requires that you also recognize that every thought you have brings either peace or war; either love or fear. A neutral result is impossible because a neutral thought is impossible.”
A Course in Miracles W-16.3:1-2

Reading With New Eyes

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater

Most of us have favorite books from childhood; many of us have a favorite book which we enjoy revisiting throughout our lives. Recently I decided to reread Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy. I haven’t read it straight through since I took class instruction in the late 1990s, and I’m amazed by how much I’m enjoying it! I read it first thing in the morning, and it’s sometimes difficult to stop and go about the day’s activities. Almost every page has an ah-hah moment, a sentence or paragraph which I read multiple times with increasing wonder. Today’s find was: “Love will finally mark the hour of harmony, and spiritualization will follow, for Love is Spirit. Before error is wholly destroyed, there will be interruptions of the general material routine. Earth will become dreary and desolate, but summer and winter, seedtime and harvest (though in changed forms), will continue unto the end, — until the final spiritualization of all things. ‘The darkest hour precedes the dawn.’” (Page 96:4-11) I find comfort in this prophecy.

“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)

Free Will?

New Mexico Art Museum in Santa Fe

Photo from Aaron Springston

I'm beginning to see that I have no will of my own, if I'm simply regurgitating well-rehearsed lines from the history of my life. Glimpses of freedom come from throwing off chains I’ve bound myself with throughout a lifetime of fear and learned behavior. Listening for Mind (with a capital M) is beginning to take precedence over knee-jerk reactions to life’s circumstances. A friend told me a story about how his misperception of things caused a rift in a relationship. He thought his stepmother had never liked him, then one day he found out she was almost deaf. With this realization, he saw that the actions he had interpreted as slights to him were actually moments of confusion on her part. Now, viewed from this understanding, he sees their relationship as a loving one. Today I will quietly listen for that still, small voice which frees me from long-held beliefs which have been created by my ego-driven mortal mind. Clarity, consideration, compassion — three things of which we can never have too much!

“The Garden of Eden, or the pre-separation condition, was a state of mind in which nothing was needed. When Adam listened to the ‘lies of the serpent,’ all he heard was untruth. You do not have to continue to believe what is not true unless you choose to do so. All that can literally disappear in the twinkling of an eye because it is merely a misperception. What is seen in dreams seems to be very real. Yet the Bible says that a deep sleep fell upon Adam, and nowhere is their reference to his waking up. The world has not yet experienced any comprehensive reawakening or rebirth. Such a rebirth is impossible as long as you continue to project or miscreate. It still remains within you, however, to extend as God extended His Spirit to you. In reality this is your only choice, because your free will was given you for your joy in creating the perfect.”
A Course in Miracles T-2.I.3:1-10

“Man is tributary to God, Spirit, and to nothing else. God’s being is infinity, freedom, harmony, and boundless bliss.” 
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 480:2-4

Good Luck/Bad Luck — Who Knows?

Altai Mountains in Mongolia

Photo by Aaron Springston

There is a story of a farmer who used an old horse to till his fields. One day, the horse ran away and when the farmer's neighbors sympathized with the man over his bad luck, the farmer replied, "Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?" A week later, the horse returned with a herd of horses from the hills and this time the neighbors congratulated the farmer on his good luck. His reply was, "Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?" The farmer's son attempted to tame one of the wild horses, fell off, and broke his leg, Everyone thought this very bad luck, but not the farmer, whose only reaction was, "Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?" Then war broke out and the son didn't have to fight because of his broken leg. Bad luck, good luck -- who knows? It's wonderful to be open to Life with no expectations, not thinking in terms of good and bad, letting Love live through us!

“Let truth be what it is. Do not intrude upon it, do not attack it, do not interrupt its coming. Let it encompass every situation and bring you peace. Not even faith is asked of you, for truth asks nothing. Let it enter, and it will call forth and secure for you the faith you need for peace. But rise you not against it, for against your opposition it cannot come.” A Course in Miracles T-17.VIII.2:2-7

“Harmony is produced by its Principle, is controlled by it and abides with it.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 304:16-17

Give Your Light to the World

Laughter is contagious, don’t you think? Most of us have “gotten the giggles” and been unable to stop laughing. There are numerous videos on the internet where people are sharing laughter in the most joyous of ways. I particularly like one which shows people’s reactions when someone tells them they are beautiful. The sheepish grins which emerge, the eyes which light up, are sure to bring a smile to my face and an expansion of my heart no matter how many times I’ve seen it. Joy, laughter, happiness — these are given freely to us as a part of our divine heritage. Today I will make the most of every opportunity I have to give these gifts, freely, joyously, with no reservations or restrictions!

"Happiness is spiritual, born of truth and love. It is unselfish; therefore it cannot exist alone, but requires all mankind to share it." 

Mary Baker Eddy- Science & Health Page 57:18-21

“This is the way salvation works. As you step back, the light in you steps forward and encompasses the world. It heralds not the end of sin in punishment and death. In lightness and in laughter is sin gone, because its quaint absurdity is seen. It is a foolish thought, a silly dream, not frightening, ridiculous perhaps, but who would waste an instant in approach to God Himself for such a senseless whim?”
A Course in Miracles W-156.6:1-5

A Song of Thanks

Buffalo River

Unknown Photographer

Today I received delivery of an ultra-lightweight wheelchair. It weighs closer to 20 pounds than the typical weight of around 40 pounds. This will make it easier for the women who drive me places to load my means of ambulation into their vehicles. When the man delivered this lovely chair to me today, he knew I mainly needed it to get to my job as a church keyboardist. As he was getting ready to leave he said: “I know you’re a church lady so shall we pray together and give thanks?” And that is why I am telling you this story. I do not pray with others, nor out loud in public. While my gratitude is great for all the wonderful help I have received on my journey, I declined holding hands and praising God with him. I have never been comfortable with praying in group situations, although silent giving of gratitude and quiet affirmations of Good are welcomed events when gathering with others. I’m going to think about all of this some more, asking for guidance in my thoughts and actions. Thank you greatly …

“Audible prayer can never do the works of spiritual understanding, which regenerates; but silent prayer, watchfulness, and devout obedience enable us to follow Jesus’ example. Long prayers, superstition, and creeds clip the strong pinions of love, and clothe religion in human forms. Whatever materializes worship hinders man’s spiritual growth and keeps him from demonstrating his power over error.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 4:27-2

“Prayer is a ladder reaching up to Heaven. At the top there is a transformation much like your own, for prayer is part of you. The things of earth are left behind, all unremembered. There is no asking, for there is no lack. Identity in Christ is fully recognized as set forever, beyond all change and incorruptible. The light no longer flickers, and will never go out. Now, without needs of any kind, and clad forever in the pure sinlessness that is the gift of God to you, His Son, prayer can again become what it was meant to be. For now it rises as a song of thanks to your Creator, sung without words, or thoughts, or vain desires, unneedful now of anything at all. So it extends, as it was meant to do. And for this giving God Himself gives thanks.”
A Course in Miracles S-1.II.7:1-10

Art Prayers

By Marjorie Theodore

A woman named Marjorie Theodore has been posting daily art prayers for Ukraine on her social media page. It may be a simple sunflower, as the photo I’ve included with this writing, which she posted along with the words “sunflowers for strength, and peace, and hope”. She’s done it every day for more than a year. When asked if she planned to continue, she answered: “How could I not? I hope that my commitment will last as their commitment does. I do think art is prayer. I think that song is prayer. When you are thinking of someone that you love, that is prayer. So when I think of Ukraine and I express my feelings through these daily pictures, it is a prayer.” Ms. Theodore has caused me to realize that my daily writings are also prayers: prayers for you, prayers for me, prayers for the world. We all have the opportunity to express Love in everything we do. I hope you will appreciate yourself today, and shine your love into the world. Namaste…

“The test of all prayer lies in the answer to these questions: Do we love our neighbor better because of this asking? Do we pursue the old selfishness, satisfied with having prayed for something better, though we give no evidence of the sincerity of our requests by living consistently with our prayer? If selfishness has given place to kindness, we shall regard our neighbor unselfishly, and bless them that curse us; but we shall never meet this great duty simply by asking that it may be done. There is a cross to be taken up before we can enjoy the fruition of our hope and faith.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 9:5-16

“Prayer is a stepping aside; a letting go, a quiet time of listening and loving. It should not be confused with supplication of any kind, because it is a way of remembering your holiness. Why should holiness entreat, being fully entitled to everything Love has to offer? And it is to Love you go in prayer. Prayer is an offering; a giving up of yourself to be at one with Love. There is nothing to ask because there is nothing left to want. That nothingness becomes the altar of God. It disappears in Him.”

A Course in Miracles S-1.I.5:1-8

Cosmic Time

We all have experienced the relativity of time passing. Time spent in the dentist’s chair passes much slower than time laughing and talking to friends! Years ago, it seemed that we had sped up time with all of the rushing about we do. Even youngsters think time passes quickly. Then the pandemic came along and time took on a whole new persona. It seems to be both slow and fast at the same time. In the 1970s, we were told that big cosmic changes were on the way. I don’t think anyone could have predicted the world we are now experiencing. Individually, we are feeling both torn and united. And somehow there seems to be greater clarity than ever. It’s an impossible thing for me to define, but I know we need to talk to each other when we become afraid. Love is stronger than fear, and we only need a reminder of that to bring us back to Truth.

“You may know when first Truth leads by the fewness and faithfulness of its followers. Thus it is that the march of time bears onward freedom’s banner. The powers of this world will fight, and will command their sentinels not to let truth pass the guard until it subscribes to their systems, but Science, heeding not the pointed bayonet, marches on. There is always some tumult, but there is a rallying to truth’s standard.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 7

“The miracle minimizes the need for time. In the longitudinal or horizontal plane the recognition of the equality of the members of the Sonship appears to involve almost endless time. However, the miracle entails a sudden shift from horizontal to vertical perception. This introduces an interval from which the giver and receiver both emerge farther along in time than they would otherwise have been. The miracle thus has the unique property of abolishing time to the extent that it renders the interval of time it spans unnecessary. There is no relationship between the time a miracle takes and the time it covers. 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.6:1-10

If I Had Words …

Mr. Hoggett and Babe 

https://youtu.be/9lOuXnwWVWM?si=I52N_j62TN8XESaD

I’ve spent the last day joyfully celebrating the miracle of connectivity between people. Sometimes we meet someone and it seems as though we’ve known them forever, or perhaps you know a married couple who have been together for decades and still enjoy each others’ company, or maybe you have a childhood friend who has been a part of your life for as long as you can remember. These musings brought back memories of a woman I was friends with for 50 years. We learned to play the trumpet together, and we had shared memories of playing reveille for school flag raising and taps for soldiers’ funerals. I played the piano at her wedding and she held my hand through divorces. Our ties were deep and filled with Love. When she was in hospice care, I visited her for the last time. She was having a hard time talking, so we sat quietly and looked into each others’ eyes. Every moment we ever shared was relived in the space of a few seconds. It was a miraculous communication and I was reminded of Mr. Hoggett singing to Babe in the movie by the same title. And so I sang it to her, and I did his dance in my imagination. Namasté, sweet Friend! 

“We think of an absent friend as easily as we do of one present. It is no more difficult to read the absent mind than it is to read the present. Chaucer wrote centuries ago, yet we still read his thought in his verse. What is classic study, but discernment of the minds of Homer and Virgil, of whose personal existence we may be in doubt?” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 81: 2-10

“Your mind will elect to join with mine, and together we are invincible. You and your brother will yet come together in my name, and your sanity will be restored. I raised the dead by knowing that life is an eternal attribute of everything that the living God created. Why do you believe it is harder for me to inspire the dis-spirited or to stabilize the unstable? I do not believe that there is an order of difficulty in miracles; you do. I have called and you will answer. I understand that miracles are natural, because they are expressions of love. My calling you is as natural as your answer, and as inevitable.” 

A Course in Miracles T-4.IV.11:5-12

The Attentive Soul

Photo creation from Aaron Springston

“Ten times a day something happens to me like this - some strengthening throb of amazement - some good sweet empathic ping and swell. This is the first, the wildest and the wisest thing I know: that the soul exists and is built entirely out of attentiveness.”
― Mary Oliver

“Hence the eternal wonder, — that infinite space is peopled with God’s ideas, reflecting Him in countless spiritual forms.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 503:15-17

“To be in the Kingdom is merely to focus your full attention on it. As long as you believe you can attend to what is not true, you are accepting conflict as your choice. Is it really a choice? It seems to be, but seeming and reality are hardly the same. You who are the Kingdom are not concerned with seeming. Reality is yours because you are reality. This is how having and being are ultimately reconciled, not in the Kingdom, but in your mind. The altar there is the only reality. The altar is perfectly clear in thought, because it is a reflection of perfect Thought. Your right mind sees only brothers, because it sees only in its own light.”
A Course in Miracles T-7.III.4:1-10

Weaving Webs of Illusion

“Autumn Cycling” painting by

Robert Gonsalves

I’ve been thinking about the illusions we create for ourselves and others. Perhaps we don’t want our children to know things about our past, or maybe there is a deep, dark secret we think would bring shame on our family, or perhaps it’s something as simple as not examining ourselves in the mirror because we can’t accept the physical changes we see. I remember years ago when I was helping a neighbor who was in denial about many things. I would take her with me to an empty church and play the organ for her, while other neighbors sneaked into her house to clean. She probably hadn’t cleaned her house, or herself, for years. She had two huge dogs which she fed chicken and rice, but she, herself, would only eat green beans and ice cream. Part of the illusion she had created involved taking down the mirrors in her house. Once someone took a picture of us in her front yard, with her dogs. When I showed her the photo, she asked if one of the women was her. She had decided how things were in her life, and nothing was going to change her illusions. Sometimes we weave such an intricate web that everything would fall apart without its false security. There is much to be considered here …

“Miracles honor you because you are lovable. They dispel illusions about yourself and perceive the light in you. They thus atone for your errors by freeing you from your nightmares. By releasing your mind from the imprisonment of your illusions, they restore your sanity.”
A Course in Miracles T-1.I.33:1-4

“We must look deep into realism instead of accepting only the outward sense of things. Can we gather peaches from a pine-tree, or learn from discord the concord of being? Yet quite as rational are some of the leading illusions along the path which Science must tread in its reformatory mission among mortals. The very name, illusion, points to nothingness.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 129:22-29

Purveyors of Love

Art by Lucy Campbell

“Dedicate your life to being a purveyor of love, and mystical companions will appear on your path – to collaborate, encourage, and guide you.” These words from Marianne Williamson were posted on the Cosmic Dancer Facebook page, along with this art. When I stop to think about the “mystical companions” I’ve met in this lifetime, I’m left a bit breathless with awe. You are all very dear to me and I love you so much!! Remembering you has caused songs to float through my thoughts: I’m So Glad We Had This Time Together, Thanks For The Memories, Hakuna Matata … 

“To all who share the Love of God the grace is given to be the givers of what they have received. And so they learn that it is theirs forever. All barriers disappear before their coming, as every obstacle was finally surmounted that seemed to rise and block their way before. This veil you and your brother lift together opens the way to truth to more than you. Those who would let illusions be lifted from their minds are this world’s saviors, walking the world with their Redeemer, and carrying His message of hope and freedom and release from suffering to everyone who needs a miracle to save him.” 

A Course in Miracles T-22.IV.6:1-5

“The universe of Spirit is peopled with spiritual beings, and its government is divine Science. Man is the offspring, not of the lowest, but of the highest qualities of Mind. Man understands spiritual existence in proportion as his treasures of Truth and Love are enlarged.” 

Mary Baker Eddy- Science and Health Page 264:32-4

Held In Fear By The Past

Cesar Milan, “The Dog Whisperer", (whom I mention often in these writings) tells us he rehabilitates dogs and trains people. He observes that dogs live in the moment. When he is helping people to understand a dog which seems maimed by past experiences in its life, he always tells us that feeling sorry for the animal is of no benefit. How can this be? The dog is hurting and we're being asked to deny that? Yes!! This is why we are learning that it's necessary to give up all beliefs -- not just those we deem to be "bad", but all material beliefs. By letting them go and replacing them with an openness of thought which allows us to hear the Truth of our Being, we experience the miracle which is the natural order of Life. It may not seem logical to say that we can simply release feelings of fear and anger. They can appear very real to us, but if we stop and examine them, do they have any purpose other than to bind us to the past? One dog Cesar worked with slid into a glass door. The dog was now afraid to walk on any floor without a carpet. Upon investigation of its people's reactions, they had immediately reinforced the dog's fears by petting, and commiserating, and talking about what a horrible experience it had been. They held the dog in fear by acts they thought of as compassion. What Cesar explains is that dogs live in the moment, unless they're held in the past by everyone around them. I’m so grateful for every experience which helps me to discern between belief and reality -- especially when it's shown to me by a dog!

“When an accident happens, you think or exclaim, 'I am hurt!' Your thought is more powerful than your words, more powerful than the accident itself, to make the injury real."

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 397:12-16

“The present now remains the only time. Here in the present is the world set free. For as you let the past be lifted and release the future from your ancient fears, you find escape and give it to the world. You have enslaved the world with all your fears, your doubts and miseries, your pain and tears; and all your sorrows press on it, and keep the world a prisoner to your beliefs. Death strikes it everywhere because you hold the bitter thoughts of death within your mind.“

A Course in Miracles W-132.3:1-5

An Offering of Contentment

Art by Lucy Almey Bird

For years, my fondest wish was to be content. For decades, it seemed this was an out-of-reach dream. I didn’t find peace by myself, nor when married, or in a roomful of friends, or with a comfortable companion. It felt as though something was missing and I couldn’t find it. Then circumstances brought me to Eureka Springs and a serious study of Christian Science. Every day brought a deeper understanding of my relationship with everyone and everything by way of the universal flow of infinite Love. Years of running a business in a tourist town showed me I needn’t agree with everyone in order to empathize and feel compassionate when faced with disagreeable attitudes. Raising children taught me to feel the joy of learning, while developing patience in trying circumstances. Being associated with spiritual groups has shown me that diversity of thought is a wonderful thing. The peace and contentment I feel this evening has been learned through surrender to not knowing everything — perhaps not even anything. Thank you greatly …

“Better is the frugal intellectual repast with contentment and virtue, than the luxury of learning with egotism and vice.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 452:15-17

“Be not content with littleness. But be sure you understand what littleness is, and why you could never be content with it. Littleness is the offering you give yourself. You offer this in place of magnitude, and you accept it. Everything in this world is little because it is a world made out of littleness, in the strange belief that littleness can content you. When you strive for anything in this world in the belief that it will bring you peace, you are belittling yourself and blinding yourself to glory. Littleness and glory are the choices open to your striving and your vigilance. You will always choose one at the expense of the other.” 

A Course in Miracles T-15.III.1:1-8

Retraining Our Thoughts

“Vain are the beliefs and teachings that make man miserable, and false is the goodness that leads him into sorrow and despair, for it is man's purpose to be happy on this earth and lead the way to felicity and preach its gospel wherever he goes. He who does not see the kingdom of heaven in this life will never see it in the coming life. We came not into this life by exile, but we came as innocent creatures of God, to learn how to worship the holy and eternal spirit and seek the hidden secrets within ourselves from the beauty of life. This is the truth which I have learned from the teachings of the Nazarene.”
Kahlil Gibran

“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

“Truth is a savior and can only will for happiness and peace for everyone. It gives its strength to everyone who asks, in limitless supply. It sees that lack in anyone would be a lack in all. And so it gives its light that all may see and benefit as one. Its strength is shared, that it may bring to all the miracle in which they will unite in purpose and forgiveness and in love.”

A Course in Miracles W-92.5:3-7

Joined In Peace

https://youtu.be/ZWqT1OPvI7I?si=rMWv023JZKDLEpw7

When a horrible event happens, why must we find someone to blame? Why can’t we simply say this is awful and it must stop? The priest at the church where I play keyboards opines it is because we go to our tribe for consolation, and then we end up banding together with them, which sets up an us-against-them situation. I remember when the terrible attack occurred on 9/11, I felt this was a turning point in which the world would band together and stand against terrorism and other heinous crimes. I saw us all coming together for goodness and love, overwhelming the forces which want to cause harm to others and the world at large. We didn’t see that happen, not visibly, but I still feel the great majority of us are standing on the side of love. If we can only see ourselves as One, created in the image of Love, as the reflection of divine Mind, then we can easily unite for the Universal Good, knowing that differences of opinion are no more than that. Reaching out in Love allows true forgiveness into our hearts. We can release judgment and blame, and pray that “walls of pride and prejudice shall cease when we are instruments of peace.” [from Make Us Instruments of Your Peace]

“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

“All forms forgiveness takes that do not lead away from anger, condemnation and comparisons of every kind are death. For that is what their purposes have set. Be not deceived by them, but lay them by as worthless in their tragic offerings. You do not want to stay in slavery. You do not want to be afraid of God. You want to see the sunlight and the glow of Heaven shining on the face of earth, redeemed from sin and in the Love of God. From here is prayer released, along with you. Your wings are free, and prayer will lift you up and bring you home where God would have you be.”
A Course in Miracles S-2.II.8:1-8

Projecting a Quiet Mind

Morning Coffee - Art by Mary Bradish Titcomb

“The world is a reflection of our internal state. If we dwell on turmoil, anger and confusion then that is how the world will be perceived to an individual. A quiet mind and an open heart are important attributes to project into the world.” Ram Dass

“Progress takes off human shackles. The finite must yield to the infinite. Advancing to a higher plane of action, thought rises from the material sense to the spiritual, from the scholastic to the inspirational, and from the mortal to the immortal. All things are created spiritually. Mind, not matter, is the creator. Love, the divine Principle, 

is the Father and Mother of the universe, including man.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 256:1-8

“Peace, then, be unto everyone who becomes a teacher of peace. For peace is the acknowledgment of perfect purity, from which no one is excluded. Within its holy circle is everyone whom God created as His Son. Joy is its unifying attribute, with no one left outside to suffer guilt alone. The power of God draws everyone to its safe embrace of love and union. Stand quietly within this circle, and attract all tortured minds to join with you in the safety of its peace and holiness. Abide with me within it, as a teacher of Atonement, not of guilt.” 

A Course in Miracles T-14.V.8:1-7