September 10, 2011

ACIM Lesson #253

“My Self is ruler of the universe.


It is impossible that anything should come to me unbidden by myself. Even in this world, it is I who rule my destiny. What happens is what I desire. What does not occur is what I do not want to happen. This must I accept. For thus am I led past this world to my creations, children of my will, in Heaven where my holy Self abides with them and Him Who has created me.”


[ACIM prayer for today]
“You are the Self Whom You created Son, creating like Yourself and One with You. My Self, which rules the universe, is but Your Will in perfect union with my own, which can but offer glad assent to Yours, that it may be extended to Itself.”

Marsha's thoughts]
Every day's study tells us the same thing. In reality, there is only One. We are that One, and Its (Our) perfection is seen when we are able to look past the self and see The Self. So the question is, why do we do this every day if we already know what it is? Answering for myself, I see that moment-by-moment reminders are needed! After all, every thing we hear in the world is giving us those insistent, erroneous affirmations of a false reality as being all there is, and also that anything other than what we can touch and prove is unreality. How easy it is to feel "airy-fairy" or "Pollyanna-ish" to espouse the thought we're studying! And so we're called on to prove these metaphysical, spiritual, Principles. The way we think, the way we live, the way we interact with others and our environment, in all these ways and more we find ourselves demonstrating this Truth in the most unexpected ways! One of my favorite practices is in finding a parking space in our busy tourist town. If my thought is flustered and busy, there is no space for anything else and I block the Self that knows where to go and when. On the other hand, if I approach this in a quiet knowing that I'm always in the right place at the right time, then room is left for my Oneness to be demonstrated and shown forth in supplying my every need. When I listen, this is a reality. When I assert my superior knowledge and logic, it's always a toss-up!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:
“The pains of sense are salutary, if they wrench away false pleasurable beliefs and transplant the affections from sense to Soul, where the creations of God are good, 'rejoicing the heart.' Such is the sword of Science, with which Truth decapitates error, materiality giving place to man's higher individuality and destiny."
 Science & Health Page 265:31-5

September 9, 2011

ACIM Lesson #252

“The Son of God is my Identity.


My Self is holy beyond all the thoughts of holiness of which I now conceive. Its shimmering and perfect purity is far more brilliant than is any light that I have ever looked upon. Its love is limitless, with an intensity that holds all things within it, in the calm of quiet certainty. Its strength comes not from burning impulses which move the world, but from the boundless Love of God Himself. How far beyond this world my Self must be, and yet how near to me and close to God!”

[ACIM prayer for today]
“Father, You know my true Identity. Reveal It now to me who am Your Son, that I may waken to the truth in You, and know that Heaven is restored to me.”

[Marsha's thoughts]
Today I'm enjoying the metaphor of falling asleep in one's favorite chair. The coziness of it is hard to resist, and even though you may be doing something you enjoy and are engaged in -- such as active reading and writing -- the lure of oblivion is strong. But, then again, anything is possible in our dreams, so perhaps this falling into sleep isn't oblivion but a telling, of sorts, in order for us to experience what seems impossible in daily living. So I choose today to not worry if my waking dreams seem fraught with material limitations and unwanted beliefs, because I know these can be transformed in the "twinkling of an eye". This true Self with its shimmering, brilliant purity and limitless Love seems far from us when we're looking at life from the outside. And so today in my waking dream I will see this real identify as it looks from the inside, in the calm of quiet certainty, with exalted angel-thoughts leading me through this day. With each loving action I will catch glimpses of my true Identify and joyfully expect to see more!


Mary Baker Eddy quote:
“My angels are exalted thoughts, appearing at the door of some sepulchre, in which human belief has buried its fondest earthly hopes. With white fingers they point upward to a new and glorified trust, to higher ideals of life and its joys. Angels are God's representatives. These upward-soaring beings never lead towards self, sin, or materiality, but guide to the divine Principle of all good, whither every real individuality,image, or likeness of God, gathers. By giving earnest heed to these spiritual guides they tarry with us, and we entertain ‘angels unawares.’”
Science & Health Page 299: 7-17

September 8, 2011

ACIM Lesson #251

“I am in need of nothing but the truth.

I sought for many things, and found despair. Now do I seek but one, for in that one is all I need, and only what I need. All that I sought before I needed not, and did not even want. My only need I did not recognize. But now I see that I need only truth. In that all needs are satisfied, all cravings end, all hopes are finally fulfilled and dreams are gone. Now have I everything that I could need. Now have I everything that I could want. And now at last I find myself at peace.”


[ACIM prayer for today]
“And for that peace, our Father, we give thanks. What we denied ourselves You have restored, and only that is what we really want.”


[Marsha's thoughts]
How sublime it is to know I need nothing but the Truth! All worry and anxiety disappear when I'm not chasing something illusive which I can't quite name. Oh, sure, we may put lots of names on this je ne sais quoi -- names like success, fame, marriage. The list of personal fulfillments desired can be quite long. We are even encouraged to make these lists, to create affirmations surrounding them, to hold them in thought until they become realities in our existence. At this point, I must quote a Bible verse: "Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven [not forgetting another verse which tells that kingdom is within us] and all these things shall be added unto you." So let's set aside material desires, just as quickly as we turn from fears. And when these desires are no longer with us, the void left by them cries to be filled, and it's tempting to just let the old, outgrown expectations come back in. Today I choose to look only toward the Truth we are learning to recognize; to want nothing else; and to listen confidently for where that takes me.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:
“Dost thou ‘love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind’? This command includes much, even the surrender of all merely material sensation, affection, and worship. This is the El Dorado of Christianity. It involves the Science of Life, and recognizes only the divine control of Spirit, in which Soul is our master, and material sense and human will have no place.”
Science & Health Page 9:17-24

September 7, 2011

ACIM Lesson #250
“Let me not see myself as limited.
Let me behold the Son of God today, and witness to his glory. Let me not try to obscure the holy light in him, and see his strength diminished and reduced to frailty; nor perceive the lacks in him with which I would

(ACIM Prayer for today)
“He is Your Son, my Father. And today I would behold his gentleness instead of my illusions. He is what I am, and as I see him so I see myself. Today I would see truly, that this day I may at last identify with him.”


(Marsha's thoughts)
This lesson reminds me of something which has come to my attention numerous times in the past few days. That is, the importance of refraining from talking about people's seeming mistakes and weaknesses, avoiding any negative banter concerning others, and not indulging in deprecating thoughts about onesself. All these activities are impediments to allowing consciousness to rise past the material picture of life to the other-dimensional realization of Life. There will be many opportunities to practice this today, even if we see no other people. By freeing ourselves of our stories, we free ourselves (and everyone!) to the actualization of our true identities.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:
“It would require an infinite form to contain infinite Mind. Indeed, the phrase infinite form involves a contradiction of terms. Finite man cannot be the image and likeness of the infinite God. A mortal, corporeal, or finite conception of God cannot embrace the glories of limitless, incorporeal Life and Love. Hence the unsatisfied human craving for something better, higher, holier, than is afforded by a material belief in a physical God and man. The insufficiency of this belief to supply the true idea proves the falsity of material belief.” Science & Health Page 257: 30-8

September 6, 2011

ACIM Lesson #249
“Forgiveness ends all suffering and loss.

Forgiveness paints a picture of a world where suffering is over, loss becomes impossible and anger makes no sense. Attack is gone, and madness has an end. What suffering is now conceivable? What loss can be sustained? The world becomes a place of joy, abundance, charity and endless giving. It is now so like to Heaven that it quickly is transformed into the light that it reflects. And so the journey which the Son of God began has ended in the light from which he came.”


[ACIM Prayer for the day]
“Father, we would return our minds to You. We have betrayed them, held them in a vise of bitterness, and frightened them with thoughts of violence and death. Now would we rest again in You, as You created us."

Lake Leatherwood

photograph by Gerry Toler

[Marsha's thoughts]
A few short years ago, the above words were rarely spoken of, and then only by the non-conformist, the spiritual rebel (if you will!) But every day we see and feel more proofs that this shift in consciousness is happening now -- and we're talking about it! Thanks, Oprah! And even when fictionalized, as in best-selling novels, these possibilities are easily translated into plausible realities, full with peace and harmony, understanding and demonstration. We each support this realization in our own way, and every instance of pure peace felt in a single moment, each yielding of personal sense, each acceptance, is bringing us closer to realizing this realm of Love, where we always were and ever will be.We are all much needed at this time to calm the tumultuous thought which fights the idea of such freedom!. And so today I forgive, renew my mind, and am transformed.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:
“God fashions all things, after His own likeness. Life is reflected in existence, Truth in truthfulness, God in goodness, which impart their own peace and permanence. Love, redolent with unselfishness, bathes all in beauty and light. The grass beneath our feet silently exclaims, "The meek shall inherit the earth." The modest arbutus sends her sweet breath to heaven. The great rock gives shadow and shelter. The sunlight glints from the church-dome, glances into the prison-cell, glides into the sick-chamber, brightens the flower, beautifies the landscape, blesses the earth. Man, made in His likeness, possesses and reflects God's dominion over all the earth. Man and woman as coexistent and eternal with God forever reflect, in glorified quality, the infinite Father-Mother God.”
Science & Health Page 516:9-23

September 5, 2011

ACIM Lesson #248

“Whatever suffers is not part of me.

I have disowned the truth. Now let me be as faithful in disowning falsity. Whatever suffers is not part of me. What grieves is not myself. What is in pain is but illusion in my mind. What dies was never living in reality, and did but mock the truth about myself. Now I disown self-concepts and deceits and lies about the holy Son of God. Now am I ready to accept him back as God created him, and as he is.”

(ACIM prayer for today)

“Father, my ancient love for You returns, and lets me love Your Son again as well. Father, I am as You created me. Now is Your Love remembered, and my own. Now do I understand that they are one.”

(Marsha's thoughts)

I am reminded of a family friend from long ago. She was a wonderful, spiritually-aware person who proved the Truth of the above statements. During the course of a year, her husband passed on, her daughter was in a car wreck which left her in a coma for months before she died, and her house burned down. While I know she felt pangs of grief and despair, she continued to live a life of loving and giving to others. When she herself passed some 20 years later, I am told she went with a smile on her face. I often think of her. "Whatever suffers is not a part of me". This is not a heartless statement, denying the feelings we have in favor of a hardness which allows no emotion. On the contrary! It's a pure Love which allows us to pass through the hard times with a firm understanding of the beauty of Truth. I've always found it best to totally wallow in sadness, to feel everything there is to feel there, and then rise to new heights with the knowledge that nothing can touch my true Self or change the reality of Love.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“A blundering dispatch, mistakenly announcing the death of a friend, occasions the same grief that the friend's real death would bring. You think that your anguish is occasioned by your loss. Another dispatch, correcting the mistake, heals your grief, and you learn that your suffering was merely the result of your belief. Thus it is with all sorrow, sickness, and death. You will learn at length that there is no cause for grief, and divine wisdom will then be understood. Error, not Truth, produces all the suffering on earth.”
Science & Health Page 386:16-25

September 4, 2011

ACIM Lesson #247
“Without forgiveness I will still be blind.

Sin is the symbol of attack. Behold it anywhere, and I will suffer. For forgiveness is the only means whereby Christ's vision comes to me. Let me accept what His sight shows me as the simple truth, and I am healed completely. Brother, come and let me look on you. Your loveliness reflects my own. Your sinlessness is mine. You stand forgiven, and I stand with you.”

[ACIM prayer for today]
“So would I look on everyone today. My brothers are Your Sons. Your Fatherhood created them, and gave them all to me as part of You, and my own Self as well. Today I honor You through them, and thus I hope this day to recognize my Self.”

[Marsha's Thoughts]

The topic of sin and forgiveness is a tough one. I feel this is because they are not a part of our real Being, and so we recoil at the words.  And that’s what this lesson today is about: the nothingness of sin and the meaning of forgiveness. I think of sin as being anything -- anything! -- which separates us from the Love that is God. And since we are the image and likeness of God, there can be no separation other than in our belief. Forgiveness isn't some sort of divine pardon, but a yielding within ourselves to the purity of our thought, without the impediments of holding on to memories of wrongdoing, resentment, and pains of all sorts -- and this letting go includes things which we think have been done to us and things we think we have done to others. So choose again, rest in Love, and go and sin no more!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:
“Sin was, and is, the lying supposition that life, substance, and intelligence are both material and spiritual, and yet are separate from God,”
Mary Baker Eddy wrote in Retrospection and Introspection (p. 67)