November 14, 2011 - At-One-Ment

ACIM Lesson #318

“In me salvation's means and end are one.”[Marsha’s thoughts]

We're all in this together. I've said this so many times in so many situations. It seems as though we all see things through different eyes. We seem to be satellites, rotating around something unseen, sometimes floating in unison, often bumping into each other and throwing our orbit out of sync! But we're all in this together. Let's leave out the "in": We're all this together. Occasionally this togetherness manifests itself as groups of people who commingle for the joy of being with each other. We may have book clubs, and study groups, and sewing circles, and various groups of people who come together in communion. This fellowship has been sought-after since the beginning of time. Personally, I have no interest in being a part of any group simply to be with others. I need for there to be a communication which surpasses the ordinary. I want stunning honesty, inspiring exchanges, Love shared. From this at-one-ment, this demonstrated Oneness with each other as reflections of God, salvation is realized as the means, the end, the Only.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Glory be to God, and peace to the struggling hearts! Christ hath rolled away the stone from the door of human hope and faith, and through the revelation and demonstration of life in God, hath elevated them to possible at-one-ment with the spiritual idea of man and his divine Principle, Love.”

Science & Health Page 45:16-21

November 13, 2011 - Following the lead

ACIM Lesson #317
“I follow in the way appointed me.”
[Marsha’s thoughts]

Sweet Spring Stairs
photo by Gerry Toler

For a number of years I have felt that I am yielding my will to "follow in the way appointed me". Usually this yielding goes by unnoticed and I am happy letting go of strong opinions and other emotions which used to lead to turmoil and difficulties. But this was not so today. Often I will work 12 hours on Saturday, and I usually enjoy this time and even look forward to the second-wind high that kicks in at some point. Around the 10th hour, a woman walked into the gallery whom I hadn't seen in a number if years. When she had been a regular customer, I had always found her difficult to be around and often had to work hard at being nice to her. When she came in the gallery, my first reaction was one of recognizing someone I hadn't seen in a long time and greeting her warmly. That feeling lasted about ten seconds and I was suddenly repelled by her demeanor and the things she was saying. In the past, I would have just accepted this as part of the inevitable way life is: some people we like, some we don't. But that’s not enough now. I understand that my true self and her true self are one and the same. If I dislike her, I dislike myself. I don't dislike myself, and I don't dislike her. I look forward to seeing her again to see if this understanding will be demonstrated in action. (And I almost forgot why I mentioned the hours! After my shift in attitude, not one sale was made in the gallery)

Mary Baker Eddy quote:
“All the evidence of physical sense and all the knowledge obtained from physical sense must yield to Science, to the immortal truth of all things.”

November 12, 2011 - Mine for the Giving

ACIM Lesson #316
“All gifts I give my brothers are my own.”

[Marsha's thoughts]

"Hobbs Trail"
photo by Gerry Toler

Thinking of all the good that is being given and received by everyone everywhere, and thinking of all that goodness being given by and to me, right here, right now, all the time – How far out is that??! After expressing this thought to someone, they said, "But what about the bad? Isn’t it given and received by everyone, and doesn’t it cancel out the good?" We could go through lots of conversation about these points, concerning the unreality of bad and the only-ness of good. But I don’t want to think in those ways any longer -- of right and wrong, good and bad -- so I won’t speak in those ways either. There is only One God, expressing only Itself. If we are the idea of God, there’s nothing else to consider. God is Love. We are Love and that’s a powerful principle to abide by! “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right doing, there is a field. I will meet you there.” Rumi

“… that joy which finds one’s own in another’s good”

Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, p. 127

November 11, 2011 - Pay It Forward

ACIM Lesson #315
“All gifts my brothers give belong to me.”



Glowing light
photo from Sandy Starbird



[Marsha’s thoughts]

Pay it Forward. Almost everyone knows what this means. In 2000, Catherine Ryan Hyde wrote a book by this title. A few years later, a movie was made based on the premise. In Utah, a man has started a Pay it Forward movement dedicated to spreading this Love. As part of Charley Johnson's vision, there are Pay It Forward bracelets. When you do something nice for someone and they thank you, you give them a bracelet and ask them to pass it on in the same way. This is only one example of the many ways this thought is spreading!

Today is 11/11/11. When I'm asked what I think this means to humanity, my only response can be that anything which brings us together in ways of mutual devotion to good is a wonderful thing. The more people who center their thought in Love, the more we realize how very much we like this way of life and we want it all the time. So let's go forward with Love, joining with all who are gathering in thought to this end today and every day, and paying IT forward with each and every loving action.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:
"In the scientific relation of God to man, we find that whatever blesses one blesses all, as Jesus showed with the loaves and the fishes,--Spirit, not matter, being the source of supply."
Science & Health Page 206;15-17

November 10, 2011

ACIM Lesson #314
“I seek a future different from the past.”

Beaver Bridge
Photo from Jim Young

[Marsha’s thoughts]

History was always my least favorite subject in school. And I always questioned why I needed to know these things. Of course people told me I must know this in order to benefit from the good things and not to repeat the bad. This never felt right and it still doesn't! The statement that "the future now is recognized as but an extension of the present" seems all too true of our existence. And so now that we're more fully realizing the possibility of living in an entirely new way through other-dimensional thought, my reluctance to read and study past events makes more sense to me than ever. With new understanding concerning the nature of our Being, there is no need to educate ourselves by past mistakes. When we live through the understanding of spiritual Truth, many material laws seem pointless and we are able to turn away from them with no worries for our well-being. It is this understanding which allows us to surpass what has been thought of as human limits. I see a future of happiness and love. Giving up strong opinions helps me to see spiritual perfection. How exciting!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:
“The human mind, imbued with this spiritual understanding, becomes more elastic, is capable of greater endurance, escapes somewhat from itself, and requires less repose. A knowledge of the Science of being develops the latent abilities and possibilities of man. It extends the atmosphere of thought, giving mortals access to broader and higher realms. It raises the thinker into his native air of insight and perspicacity.”
Science & Health Page 128:11-19

November 9, 2011

ACIM Lesson #313
“Now let a new perception come to me.”

[Marsha’s thoughts]

The gift of a whole day to enjoy Being is the epitome of luxury to me! Having spent this day in quiet contemplation (prayer, if you will), I can honestly say there’s nothing I’d rather be doing! The fall colors on this gray and rainy day have intensified throughout, culminating in a dusk which reflected glows of orange and yellow and red. This other-worldly feeling has permeated everything today, including my Self. The electrically-charged atmosphere of rain/ lightning/thunder has mingled with the peace of gently falling leaves. My excitement in living combines with the calm of resting in holy completeness. What a joy, looking inward for the guidance so needed today. What fun to see activities unfold in unthought-of ways, unplanned, even unknown to my current perception! New ways of seeing and opening of Self are revealed to us as we tap into the thought which is God, supplying us in ways we never knew existed. I eagerly look toward new perceptions!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:
“This apodictical Principle points to the revelation of Immanuel, ‘God with us,’--the sovereign ever-presence, delivering the children of men from every ill ‘that flesh is heir to.’ Through Christian Science, religion and medicine are inspired with a diviner nature and essence; fresh pinions are given to faith and understanding, and thoughts acquaint themselves intelligently with God."
Science & Health Page 107:7-15

November 8, 2011

ACIM Lesson #312
“I see all things as I would have them be.”

[Marsha’s thoughts]

Rain catching light

We seem to have enacted laws of illness for ourselves. The common cold (as it's called!) is a perfect example of this, along with all the other dis-ease we take for granted as unavoidable and even necessary. We think that certain symptoms appear, progress through phases with time, and then diminish and disappear. Well, this is not the way I choose to judge today! This morning I awoke with a runny nose and scratchy throat. I am not going to judge what this means. Instead, I choose to drop this illusion as quickly as I would drop one of any false sense which comes to me. Would I be tempted to be mean to an animal or stab my neighbor in the back? No! And so I turn away from the thoughts of coughing and sneezing with the same authority I have to turn away from thoughts of doom and gloom. Today I will keep as a constant companion the words of Mary Baker Eddy which are quoted herein. And as I sit looking at the beautiful fall colors and listening to the intermittent rain, I will see my perfection in every falling leaf.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:
"Take possession of your body, and govern its feeling and action. Rise in the strength of Spirit to resist all that is unlike good. God has made man capable of this, and nothing can vitiate the ability and power divinely bestowed on man."
Science & Health Page 393:10-15