January 7, 2012 - Past memories

ACIM Workbook Lesson #7

 “I see only the past.”

"Heather at Butterfly World"
Photo by Aaron Springston

[Marsha's thoughts]

 Our preparations to accept the Truth mainly consists of ways to forget the meaning we have placed on things from past experience and learning. In yesterday's writings, I mentioned a man named Joe Hutto who spent a year living with wild turkeys and seeing the world from their perspective. I related this understanding he gained to the understanding we are aiming for in this metaphysical study. Today's lesson brings to mind something he said about the baby turkeys. He noticed that they knew, without teaching of any sort, which creatures and situations in the woods were potentially harmful to them. I found this to be further proof that when we listen inwardly, we have all the answers. This instinctual behavior is resting within us all, but we, as humans, have found ways to override these knowings with false beliefs based on what others tell us and what we have learned from past experiences. And if we notice our domesticated animals, they have come right along with us! They have lost their inner knowing, to some extent, and have picked up on our fears and doubts.  With these thoughts in mind, I will strive to be more like a young wild animal, with no preconceived notions about what is presented to me today!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"The history of error or matter, if veritable, would set aside the omnipotence of Spirit; but it is the false history in contradistinction to the true.” 

Science and Health, Page 521:29-2

January 6, 2012 - Vision

ACIM Workbook Lesson #6

“I am upset because I see something that is not there.”

Glacier National Park
photo by Aaron Springston

[Marsha's thoughts]

I love incorporating events in daily life into my study of divine metaphysics. Last night I watched a documentary called "My Life as a Turkey". I found it to be profound in many ways, but today I relate it to our practices in seeing the unreality of everything we have come to think of as real. For more than a year, Joe Hutto lived with a flock of 16 wild turkeys which he incubated and bonded with while they were still in the eggs. He didn't just live with them as you and I might; he was with them 24 hours a day to the exclusion of seeing any humans. He spent his days walking the woods as part of the flock, seeing through their eyes, speaking their language, striving to match their awareness of nature and their ability to live totally in the moment. The dedication and Love expressed by this man is wonderfully inspiring to me. By his all-encompassing need to understand nature, to be a part of it without any learned beliefs he may have acquired in his life, he shows me what is possible when you approach a discipline with a "single eye". It is this singularity of purpose which we are learning to recognize in our study of both A Course in Miracles and Christian Science. I want to know God as much as Joe wanted to know turkeys. He gave it his all, and so will I!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Close your eyes, and you may dream that you see a flower,--that you touch and smell it. Thus you learn that the flower is a product of the so-called mind, a formation of thought rather than of matter. Close your eyes again, and you may see landscapes, men, and women. Thus you learn that these also are images, which mortal mind holds and evolves and which simulate mind, life, and intelligence. From dreams also you learn that neither mortal mind nor matter is the image or likene of God, and that immortal Mind is not in matter." S&H P71

January 5, 2012 - Other Reasons

ACIM Workbook Lesson #5

“I am never upset for the reason I think.”

[Marsha's thoughts]

A few hours before reading today's message, a friend shared with me a step into peace and out of worry which she experienced over the holidays. One of her daughters was very upset with her, for reasons which are not important to this writing. And my friend chose to not make those reasons important to her either. She was aware that her beloved daughter was upset, but she was also aware that she couldn't fix it. She knows that her peace doesn't depend on any outside source. When similar incidents occur in my life, I do take the time to examine my motives in the situation, and to realize that "Truth is not contaminated by error." As long as I am living in Truth, no amount of erroneous thought can affect my natural state of harmony. So I don't worry about why I may be upset, but reach to the other side of this emotion to realize the One reason I am at peace.

"Harmony is produced by its Principle, is controlled by it and abides with it. Divine Principle is the Life of man. Man's happiness is not, therefore, at the disposal of physical sense. Truth is not contaminated by error. Harmony in man is as beautiful as in music, and discord is unnatural, unreal."

Science & Health Page 304:17-22

January 4, 2012 - True Meaning?

ACIM Workbook Lesson #4

“These thoughts do not mean anything. They are like the things I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place].” 

"Glacier National Park"
photo by Aaron Springston

[Marsha's thoughts]

Sometimes I think I can trick myself into not placing meaning on things. For instance, I'll decide that if I see something I've never seen before, I won't put any extraneous meaning to it. Wrong! I just saw a photo of an animal I'd never seen before. My first thought was of how cute it looked, then I decided it was a squirrel -- nope, too small; it must be a chipmunk -- and on and on. It seems impossible to see something and not put some sort of meaning onto it. We suppose ourselves to be creators, and that our thought brings forth what is before us. But what is this thing we see? It can seem to be a pretty picture or an ugly one, according to what thoughts we have about it. And that's what we're practicing seeing beyond! Let's place no meaning, neither "good" nor "bad" on anything. To "let go and let God" requires a willingness to see everything around us just as it is, no long-held beliefs being expressed toward anything, and to have a willingness to listen inwardly for the Truth.  I look forward to the day of a universal epiphany of understanding that thought is, in its truest form, Spirit. That time of seeing reality as spiritual, not material, is visible to all who awaken to its knowledge. 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"The artist is not in his painting. The picture is the artist's thought objectified. The human belief fancies that it delineates thought on matter, but what is matter? Did it exist prior to thought? Matter is made up of supposititious mortal mind-force; but all might is divine Mind. Thought will finally be understood and seen in all form, substance, and color, but without material accompaniments. The potter is not in the clay; else the clay would have power over the potter. God is His own infinite Mind, and expresses all."

Science & Health  Page 310:1-10 

January 3, 2012 - Understanding Nothing

ACIM Lesson #3

“I do not understand anything I see in this room

[on this street, from this window, in this place].”

Photo by Aaron Springston

[Marsha's thoughts]

This year we have practiced releasing meanings which we have placed on everything, while seeing the unreality of these meanings. Today we can relax and admit we don't understand anything! All scholarly beliefs are yielding to the knowledge and understanding which are revealed when we allow ourselves to be led by God. This listening, this following of intuition, and the demonstration of what we hear moment by moment, is the other-dimensional way of life which we are living in this age of the acknowledgement of enlightenment. Our native state is one illumined by this Truth.  Overwhelming material beliefs are the only things which keep us separated from Truth. These daily exercises are developing our spiritual perception. Our desire to release erroneous mortal thoughts clear the way for us to see ourselves as God's Idea.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"God's ideas reflect the immortal, unerring, and infinite. The mortal, erring, and finite are human beliefs, which apportion to themselves a task impossible for them, that of distinguishing between the false and the true. Objects utterly unlike the original do not reflect that original. Therefore matter, not being the reflection of Spirit, has no real entity. Understanding is a quality of God ..." Science & Health Page 505:26-5

January 2, 2011 - Changeable Beliefs

ACIM Lesson #2
“I have given everything I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place] all the meaning that it has for me.”

Photo by Aaron Springston

[Marsha's thoughts]
Isn't it interesting how the meaning we give something can be entirely different from the meaning someone close to us has given it? And how often we can become embroiled in disagreements stemming from these different perceptions and meanings we affirm to be truth! Recently I wrote a transition piece about Bob the Cat which was published in our local paper. This was done, from my viewpoint, with no thought other than the love that our neighborhood felt for this exceptional animal. But one of my neighbors felt that she was slighted in my depiction of the role she played in Bob's life. The meaning she and I had placed on a number of things soon became evident. As I mulled these differences over, I vowed not to make any assumptions about how she was feeling. By not placing any meaning on her reactions, I was able to walk away from our discussion with no hurt feelings on my part. So does this mean that I won't be interpreting anything and putting it in writing? Obviously not! But it does mean I will continue to work daily, moment by moment, to see through pure eyes, devoid of changeable material beliefs, and glowing with Love.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:
"Erroneous belief is destroyed by truth. Change the evidence, and that disappears which before seemed real to this false belief, and the human consciousness rises higher. Thus the reality of being is attained and man found to be immortal. The only fact concerning any material concept is, that it is neither scientific nor eternal, but subject to change and dissolution."
Science & Health Page 297:12-17

January 1, 2012 - Meaning?

ACIM Lesson #1

“Nothing I see in this room [on this street,

from this window, in this place] means anything.”

Photo by Aaron Springston

[Marsha's thoughts]

Everything is important; nothing is important. The much-repeated Buddhist axiom is the first thing which comes to mind when reading today's lesson. We tend to place meaning and importance on everything around us, in varying degrees of intensity, with good and bad connotations. We set up a dualistic situation with absolutely everything, and then we tell ourselves that it's necessary. People often say that if we didn't have bad, we wouldn't know and appreciate good. How would we know what light was if we didn't have dark as a contrast? I think it's worth giving it a try, don't you? Let's allow it to just Be and see if we don't appreciate how wonderfully perfect it all Is! Let's not worry when things are harmonious, wondering how long it can last. But rather, let's accept what's happening around us without placing a meaning on it. The freedom gained from this abandonment of preconceived notions is our heritage.

 Let's not be shy about claiming it!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"The enslavement of man is not legitimate. It will cease when man enters into his heritage of freedom, his God-given dominion over the material senses."

Science & Health Page 228:11-13