October 15, 2011

ACIM Lesson #288
“Let me forget my brother's past today.”

"Apartheid 2"
Stoneware sculpture
by Ken Starbird

[Marsha's thoughts]
It's interesting that this lesson topic has come up, because today I've been in an email discussion in which my last note stated that I tend to not remember much of anything! And now here I am being told to forget my brother's past. I think I can do that!! While pondering these points, I'm listening to a person singing on the balcony of a nearby hotel/restaurant. The performer seems to me to be very unmelodious, and as if to rub it in, he's singing some of my favorite songs. I'm really trying not to blame him for this! And so I'm seeing him as innovative in the changes he's making to well-loved Beatles songs. I'm not attacking him, even though he's so loud I've had to turn off my jazzy piano music 'cause the decibels can't compete! Now this exercise is getting easier. He's playing something I've never heard of, and it doesn't sound so bad! And so I'm forgetting that I don't like him, and I'm not going to jump up on my high-horse with a holier-than-thou attitude (which crossed my mind to the point of envisioning what I would say to the manager of the hotel!), and I'm remembering that we are the same because our source is the same, and I'm not blaming him because he doesn't sing the way I'd like for him to. I'm now singing along with the Eagles song he's currently butchering and it's become a lovely, comedic parenthesis in eternity. I am not blaming myself for these thoughts any more than I'm blaming him for his actions. It is what it is. Whew ~~~~
Mary Baker Eddy quote:
"One infinite God, good, unifies men and constitutes the brotherhood of man; ends wars; fulfils the Scripture, "Love thy neighbor as thyself;" annihilates pagan and Christian idolatry,--whatever is wrong in social, civil, criminal, political, and religious codes; equalizes the sexes; annuls the curse on man, and leaves nothing that can sin, suffer, be punished or destroyed."
Science & Health Page 340:23:30

October 14, 2011

ACIM Lesson #287
“You are my goal, my Father. Only You.”
 

"Dancing on Cosmic Jello"
from Sandy Wythawai Starbird

[Marsha's thoughts]

In the early 1900s, people flocked to Eureka Springs for the healing waters. Thousands of people in need found their way here, as they still do today. People are drawn to our town, often without knowing why! I love watching transformation of circumstance as people's thought changes from focusing on the problem to looking toward the solution. In varying degrees, we are all realizing that true healing comes when we release our beliefs in things and open ourselves to feeling the presence of Love. When this is our only desire, when there is no other need or want, wonderful avenues appear. Often it takes extreme conditions to cause us to seek the understanding of our unity with this Love. But isn't it sweet when we skip that step and fall straight into the Love!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:
“All nature teaches God's love to man, but man cannot love God supremely and set his whole affections on spiritual things, while loving the material or trusting in it more than in the spiritual.”
Science & Health Page 326:3

October 13, 2011

ACIM Lesson #286
“The hush of Heaven holds my heart today.”

"Black Bass Spillway"
Carol Dickie

 [Marsha's thoughts]

We're doing less and accomplishing more;

soon we'll be doing nothing and accomplishing everything! I don't know where I first heard this, but I love it!! And I love the word "hush", as it's used in the sentence above. It sounds and feels like what it means! A quiet susserence which feels like nestling into a featherbed, or maybe the sound of a snowfall late at night -- the hush of something unspeakably cozy. These are the feelings I'll call to mind today while remembering there is nothing I need do, because it is already done.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:
"Having no other gods, turning to no other but the one perfect Mind to guide him, man is the likeness of God, pure and eternal, having that Mind which was also Christ."
Science & Health 467:13-16



October 12, 2011

ACIM Lesson #285
“My holiness shines bright and clear today.”

Aaron and Heather
Graduation Day

[Marsha's thoughts]

Today someone said something I hadn't heard in a long, long time: Misery loves company. Is that why so many of the conversations we hear daily center around disease and inclement weather? Yikes! I suppose it would be too rude to tell people why this way of existence is not conducive to happiness. But I can feel

joy -- and scatter it!! -- in the face of any suffering thought that is brought to me today. No, this won't be a laughing-in-the-face-of-sorrow type of joy. This will be a gentle joy, a quiet joy, sent out in true compassion while seeing divine reality. This will be my holiness shining today. We know that joy loves company, too!

Let's see how infectious happiness can be.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:
“We must form perfect models in thought and look at them continually, or we shall never carve them out in grand and noble lives. Let unselfishness, goodness, mercy, justice, health, holiness, love—the kingdom of heaven—reign within us, and sin, disease, and death will diminish until they finally disappear”
Science & Health Page 248:25-32

October 11, 2011

ACIM Lesson #284
“I can elect to change all thoughts that hurt.”

[Marsha's thoughts]

This process of turning around all hurtful thoughts is an interesting study! Through years of striving to see through the eyes of Truth, Its realization now comes more frequently and with more ease. I could make a graph of the changing face of grief I've felt through the years surrounding the loss of friends and pets. As a 12-year-old, the loss of my dog was devastating. I wouldn't allow myself to love another pet for more than ten years. For the next 30 years these losses have seemed painful, but have always brought my thought closer to another realization concerning continuity. When looking in the eyes of a beloved pet, I see those I've loved in the past. Often when talking to a new friend, I may have deja-vu-ish feelings of being with someone departed long ago. All these experiences bring the realization of the Oneness of all being, and I relish each loss and gain in this embrace. Whatever the hurt or suffering seems to be, it can be perceived in other ways. Love (God) fills our being at its core and its edge. This unbroken reality allows us to feel a

gentle Presence in every experience.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“It is self-evident that we are harmonious only as we cease to manifest evil or the belief that we suffer from the sins of others. Disbelief in error destroys error,

and leads to the discernment of Truth”

Science & Health Page 346: 13-16

October 10, 2011

ACIM Lesson #283
“My true Identity abides in You.”

[Marsha's thoughts]

"The Well-Loved Child"
fabric creations of
Sandy Wythawai Starbird

It is good to remind ourselves of today's topic on a regular basis. Already this morning there have been three instances in which people who have forgotten their true Identity have attempted to pull me into their forgotten state. By the remembering that these illusions are only that -- illusions -- and the true Being of everything is the Love which creates all, I have been able to look for answers to seeming personal conflicts without resorting to speculation and psychological nit-picking. When we get into a "he-said-she-said" playing of people against each other, there is no true resolution. So I've stepped back and said, inwardly, that I know there is only one solution, the Love-based One, and now I'm waiting to hear (see, feel, know) how these seeming conflicts will be resolved. I refuse to speculate on what they may be, or wonder who is going to "back down", because we are all in this together and there is only Good to be reflected by us all. I will not project my thoughts onto others, and I reject any that are thrown toward me from them. Divine Mind guides and governs us all, when we allow it.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Human thought never projected the least portion of true being. Human belief has sought and interpreted in its own way the echo of Spirit, and so seems to have reversed it and repeated it materially; but the human mind never produced a real tone nor sent forth a positive sound.”

Science & Health Page 126:8-14

October 9, 2011

ACIM Lesson #282
“I will not be afraid of love today.”

[Marsha's thoughts]

I will live Love today. Having just read an article about Steve Jobs' final days and his realizations of what is important, I am inspired to live with a single goal -- to reflect Love through the multitude of ways in which it is possible. Join with me in taking to heart these words from Mr. Jobs: "Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Love is priestess at the altar of Truth. Wait patiently for divine Love to move upon the waters of mortal mind, and form the perfect concept.”

Science & Health Page 454:21-23