October 24, 2011

Photo by Dale Johnson

ACIM Lesson #297

“Forgiveness is the only gift I give.”

[Marsha's thoughs]We so often think of forgiveness as being given by ourselves to others. It seems that when we give this grace to ourselves, it is automatically given to everyone. I have a good friend who glows with inner beauty and Love. She recently told me that she realized she had no guilt. All those little things she had blamed herself for are gone. Most of us have things we feel bad about, whether it's something unintentionally hurtful said to a friend or perhaps a premeditated act from childhood. I know I do. By following my friend’s beautiful example, I hope to feel this grace which is God, and through this feeling will watch all blame and pain disappear and be replaced with the peace and acceptance which is mine.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:
“True prayer is not asking God for love; it is learning to love, and to include all mankind in one affection”
No and Yes, p. 39:17-18

October 23, 2011

ACIM Lesson #296
“The Holy Spirit speaks through me today.”



Book Club Friends Forever

[Marsha's thoughts]

Yesterday, two things struck me as profoundly, oddly wonderful! At one point, there were ten or so people in the gallery, happily enjoying art and listening to the jazzings of Diana Krall. Suddenly, we heard shouting outside. It was someone yelling out his window at another driver. Immediately -- and I mean immediately!! -- we all burst into laughter! It was so wonderful. What a beautiful shift in thought that none of us saw anything either right or wrong with this behavior, but we did see how ridiculous it was -- in a funny way! Wow. I was and am awestruck by the way this felt. And later on, a woman asked me if I was going to take "early ascension"! Now that was a conversation!! All of these signs and wonders are very exciting as we watch and meld into this shift of consciousness which is being evidenced everywhere! As a movie on quantum physics asks us:

How far down the rabbit hole do you want to go?

Hum -- I'm not sure we have a choice!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Eloquence re-echoes the strains of Truth and Love.

It is due to inspiration rather than to erudition."

Science & Health Page 88:26-27

October 22, 2011

ACIM Lesson #295
“The Holy Spirit looks through me today.”

"View Through the Barn: #6"
photo by Jerry Dupy

[Marsha's thoughts]

Things are changing very quickly. Everywhere we look, people are seeing through different eyes as they open themselves to the reality of other-dimensional thought. Today three people asked me why people came to Eureka Springs. And they didn't ask it in the general way people often ask about this phenomenon; they leaned on the counter, looked me deep in the eyes, and sincerely asked it! And from the opposite end of this thought a friend who lives here asked why so many people were in town today. There is no "event" to draw them and many are surprised to see the throngs in the streets. But I see it as a lovely symptom of everything that's happening everywhere. We're waking up! We're being drawn to what will help our Being. We're talking to each other about things that matter.

What an exciting time to be alive!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The seasons will come and go with changes of time and tide, cold and heat, latitude and longitude.

The agriculturist will find that these changes cannot affect his crops.  The mariner will have dominion over the atmosphere and the great deep, over the fish of the sea and the fowls of the air. The astronomer will no longer look up to the stars,-- he will look out from them upon the universe; and the florist will find his flower before its seed.”

Science & Health Page 124:21-28



October 21,2011

ACIM Lesson #294
“My body is a wholly neutral thing.”[Marsha's thoughts]

"Changing the Net"

I'm glad we're getting past the thought that something must be "wrong" with the body in order for it to be cast off. I've had two friends who died in their 50s with no physical cause. One of these people was traveling, stopped at a hotel, laid down on the bed and was gone. As this was an unattended death, all the legal protocol were followed and it was determined that there was no physical reason at all for her passing. I think this is great! The new realms of thought we're accessing allow many old beliefs to be abandoned -- finally! How many material laws have imprisoned us with unlocked doors? This body as a wholly neutral thing is an empty vessel waiting to be filled up with thought. Let's make sure that it’s thought independent of erroneous learning and dogma. Everything is important; nothing is important -- neutrality.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The elements and functions of the physical body and of the physical world will change as mortal mind changes its beliefs. What is now considered the best condition for organic and functional health in the human body may no longer be found indispensable to health. Moral conditions will be found always harmonious and health-giving. Neither organic inaction nor overaction is beyond God's control; and man will be found normal and natural to changed mortal thought, and therefore more harmonious in his manifestations than he was in the prior states which human belief created and sanctioned.”
Science & Health Page 124:32-10



October 20, 2011

ACIM Lesson #293
"All fear is past and only love is here."

[Marsha's thoughts]

Last evening, I had planned on going to our Course in Miracles meeting, but something kept holding me at my gallery until well past the starting time. Although I didn't know what, I dutifully followed this prompting. Although numerous people were in and a few sales were made, nothing seemed "worthy" of keeping me from someplace I wanted to be! So around 7:15 I started to close up and was turning off the lights when a woman came in the door, in tears, asking if I'd found her wallet. She had been in earlier in the day, but had no idea where she may have left all her credit cards and money. She said her husband was very angry with her because they'd had their "identity stolen" a few years ago. We retraced her steps while in the gallery and found her wallet in a print rack. While she was very grateful to have found her things, she was still very fearful because of her husband's reactions concerning things from the past. After she left, I realized what I'd kept repeating to her: You're good. You're good. I'm not sure why I was saying this, but hopefully she knows! This incident has shown me how living in the past is the only place fear exists, and that living in the now allows loving reality to shine forth as our only reality.



Mary Baker Eddy quote:
"The Apostle John says: "There is no fear in Love, but perfect Love casteth out fear. . . . He that feareth is not made perfect in Love." Here is a definite and inspired proclamation of Christian Science."
Science & Health Page 410:17-21

October 19, 2011

ACIM Lesson #292
“A happy outcome to all things is sure.”

Lyla Allison in
May Festival of the Arts Parade

[Marsha's thoughts]

Putting God first is living a life of constant prayer. This prayer brings us into harmony with divine Mind, and from this we witness happy outcomes. Twelve years ago I took my young boys on a 3,000-mile road trip. We made no reservations and had no plans other than to attend women's World Cup soccer games and look for miniature golf courses. In preparation for this trip, I spent a lot of time studying the science of Mind and working to bring myself into alignment with these metaphysical principles. Through this process, we witnessed many happy outcomes, but the most dramatic was on the first day of our trip. I had worn glasses to see far away for more than 30 years and suddenly found I could see without them. I enjoyed this freedom until a few years ago when renewing my drivers' license and found that they were needed again. It is said by many that these things are to be expected as we grow older. In steadfastly refusing to accept this prognosis, yesterday I renewed my license with no restrictions as to sight. Instances such as this affirm my conviction to live single-mindedly, with only God as my goal, expecting only happy outcomes.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The scientific unity which exists between God and man must be wrought out in life-practice,

and God's will must be universally done.”

Science & Health Page 203:3-5

October 18, 2011

ACIM Lesson #291
“This is a day of stillness and of peace



                                                         

"Lake Wedington"
photo by Marsha Havens

[Marsha's thoughts]             

This still and peaceful day is a perfect backdrop for the thoughts we are holding today. It's a beautiful, gray day in the Ozarks and the peace is easily felt in the misty splendor of the fall stillness. I am grateful for these words in A Course in Miracles. I am grateful for the words of Mary Baker Eddy and her determination to practice absolutely the Science of The Christ. These words point toward the Truth of our Being, and assure us that it is there for us all the time. These writings show us how to move away from the learned behaviors of a lifetime. I am grateful that they help us to see these Truths and by their living pass them on to others, especially our children and those who have not been indoctrinated in material belief as heavily as we have. The stillness and peace of wildlife help to show me the way of this Truth. I will watch for signs everywhere today --

and be grateful for them.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Certain moods of mind find an indefinable pleasure in stillness, soft, silent as the storm's sudden hush; for nature's stillness is voiced with a hum of harmony, the gentle murmur of early morn, the evening's closing vespers,

and lyre of bird and brooklet."

Christian Science versus Pantheism Page 3:8-13