January 19, 2012 - I am not alone

ACIM Workbook Lesson #19

"I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my thoughts."

[Marsha's thoughts]

Such a wonderful world is opening up for us with the influx of this Truth concerning our thoughts! I highly recommend a book by J. Allen Boone, "Kinship with All Life". During the 50s, Mr. Boone realized that his dog knew when he was thinking about going for a walk, even before he made a move to get up from his typewriter. This caused him to explore many ideas concerning our interconnectedness. My ah-ha moment for this came when I was in our local office supply to make copies. There were a number of other people there for the same reason. When I commented on how busy they were, the owner told me it had been slow all day until a few minutes before. I began to notice various occurrences such as these and decided to take myself out of the lemming effect in order to save time. When I am getting ready to go to the library, grocery store, or other places people flock to in mass, I simply ask within if this is the right time to go. As often as not, my order of chores is rearranged when I listen for this guidance. It may seem that the impulse we receive from mass consciousness and the guidance we receive from inner listening would be hard to distinguish, one from the other. But paying attention to these callings teaches us to differentiate and follow where we need to be and when!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"...Truth is the light which dispels error. As mortals begin to understand Spirit, they give up the belief that there is any true existence apart from God."

Science & Health Page 282:32-3

January 18, 2012 - Not alone

ACIM Workbook Lesson #18

"I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my seeing."

A Mayan statue stands in Playa Del Carmen, on the Caribbean Coast
.Irael Leal/AP

[Marsha's thoughts]

Yesterday I expressed my desire to be alone in communion with Spirit. Today we  are asked to realize what an impossibility that is -- albeit for different reasons than the solitary need stated by this writer on Day 17. The connection between all Being through the omnipresence of our source cannot be denied. It can be ignored, but that doesn't make it go away. So every modicum of my "seeing" is experienced by all in this infinite web of eternal Life. And everyone's remembering Truth is mine, too. For these reasons, I no longer allow into my experience those who want to recount pain and injustice perceived in their lives. As one who used to take almost everything personally, I fully appreciate how this can consume thought, and how we seem to want commiseration of our feelings. So I find myself being with those who help my Being, while seeing more and more the metaphysical basis of all that Is.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"In the material world, thought has brought to light with great rapidity many useful wonders. With like activity have thought's swift pinions been rising towards the realm of the real, to the spiritual cause of those lower things which give impulse to inquiry. Belief in a material basis, from which may be deduced all rationality, is slowly yielding to the idea of a metaphysical basis, looking away from matter to Mind as the cause of every effect."

Science & Health Page 268:1-9

January 17, 2012 - Neutral

ACIM Workbook Lesson #17

"I see no neutral things".

Colorado Snow
photo by Aaron Springston

[Marsha's thoughts]

What I would give to live alone on a mountaintop, with no neighbors or roommates, with no job to go to or money to think about. What a nice life it would be to meditate, take long walks at any time of day, only cook when I want to, and not have social obligations. What a relief to not hear news or commercials from the media in any form. How nice to not go to church or board meetings or think about marketing of this town and its artists. How lovely to not deal with flat tires and fallen trees. And wouldn't it be sweet for non-profits to have all they need, for no one to be hungry, for everyone to know the true source of their well-being and not be afraid to shout it from the rooftops. Human thought has changed drastically through the centuries. It's changing now, too. I embrace it.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"To corporeal sense, the sun appears to rise and set, and the earth to stand still; but astronomical science contradicts this, and explains the solar system as working on a different plan. All the evidence of physical sense and all the knowledge obtained from physical sense must yield to Science [the knowledge of Christ-consciousness], to the immortal truth of all things."

Science & Health Page 493:2-8

January 16, 2012 - No neutral thoughts

ACIM Workbook Lesson #16

“I have no neutral thoughts.”

[Marsha's thoughts]

Reflections photo by Heather Magnan

[Marsha's thoughts]

Today's lesson stresses that every thought we have is either loving or fearful. Folklore treats this concept through fable and example. One which fits this Truth for the day is the story of "Which Wolf Do You Feed?" In this native American story, a young man is angry to the point of distraction. His grandfather tells him we all have a peaceful wolf and a violent wolf living inside us, and the one which grows is the one that we feed. By recognizing our thoughts as feeding peace or war, Truth or illusion, we start to see how our thinking affects our world. As we go through this day realizing that no thoughts are neutral, it will be interesting to notice how this makes us feel. Are we uneasy or at peace with the thoughts we are thinking? Which ones bring us peace? Which ones make us squirm? Today I will allow Love to rule, which will starve the negative and feed peace.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Christian Science explains all cause and effect as mental, not physical. It lifts the veil of mystery from Soul and body. It shows the scientific relation of man to God, disentangles the interlaced ambiguities of being, and sets free the imprisoned thought. In divine Science, the universe, including man, is spiritual, harmonious, and eternal. Science shows that what is termed matter is but the subjective state of what is termed by the author mortal mind."

Science & Health  Page 114:23-31

January 15, 2012 - Images of thought

ACIM Workbook Lesson #15

“My thoughts are images that I have made.”

[Marsha's thoughts]

I just saw a thought-provoking experiment in which a woman sat down at a table. They asked her to put her right arm on the table, resting it from the elbow to hand. They placed a barrier so she couldn't see her hand, and then put a rubber hand and arm in front of her, with the elbow ending at her body. Then the person sitting in front of her used a soft paint brush to stroke both her hand (which she couldn't see) and the rubber hand, which she could see. She stated she was feeling a little odd because she was starting to feel as though the rubber hand in front of her was her own. When the paint brush stroker moved the brush to the rubber thumb, and not hers, she jerked back because the feeling was so odd. Then the man across the table pulled out a hammer and hit the rubber hand. You can imagine how the woman reacted! This showed us how, in a matter of two minutes, or less, a rubber hand became a human hand in the thought of this person. This is, in essence, what we've done with everything around us. Belief becomes our reality --and very quickly! So today I will see how quickly I can move away from beliefs and open my thought to the reality of Spirit.

"Mortals evolve images of thought." "Mortal mind sees what it believes as certainly as it believes what it sees. It feels, hears, and sees its own thoughts. Pictures are mentally formed before the artist can convey them to canvas. So is it with all material conceptions." Science & Health Page 86:13 and 86:29:1

January 14, 2012 - Meaningless?

ACIM Workbook Lesson #14

“God did not create a meaningless world.”

PHoto by Aaron Springston

The last few days we've been seeing the world as meaningless and examining how that affects us. Today we are asked to see that this meaningless world was not created by God. This means that everything in this material world is not a creation of God. How can that be? We've been told that God created everything, is in everything, and it is good. But that can't be true because we see so many things which aren't good! How can this be explained? Some choose to deny God, perhaps with thoughts of a devil which is as powerful as any god we've ever imagined. Some of us may say that God created both good and bad to give us choices in this testing ground we live in. The possibilities are limitless when it comes to trying to make sense of the confusion surrounding spiritual beliefs. In our study, we're seeing that God did create everything, and it is all Good, but that this creation is spiritual, not material. Our true selves are spiritual; our material selves are but another belief, an illusion, which we are living. When we distance ourselves from the concept that life is in matter, we are able to realize that our true selves have a divine origin. We can know that we are not governed by mental influences over which we have no control, and then we are free to live the Love which is our true heritage as the children of God.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“When will the error of believing that there is life in matter, and that sin, sickness, and death are creations of God, be unmasked? When will it be understood that matter has neither intelligence, life, nor sensation, and that the opposite belief is the prolific source of all suffering? God created all through Mind, and made all perfect and eternal.” Science & Helth Page 205:7-13

January 13, 2012 - Meaningless fear

ACIM Workbook Lesson #13

“A meaningless world engenders fear.”

Photo from Aaron Springston

[Marsha's thoughts]

What is it about a meaningless world that would make us afraid? Today's lesson discussion tells us this: "A meaningless world engenders fear because I think I am in competition with God." So often we act as though we're in charge and that we must tell God what we want in order for it to be done. We bargain and cajole to get our way, then get angry with God when we don't. We blame God when anything less than our idea of good comes our way. We thank God when we get our way, perhaps in a boastful or self-satisfied way. All these actions are symptoms of the separation we feel. Allowing everything to be meaningless is similar to letting go of an addiction! Interesting symptoms show up, such as irritableness when giving up caffein. Today I repeatedly found myself thinking less than charitable and loving thoughts toward people I barely know. For instance, while reading on Facebook about the problems the daughter of an old friend was having, I thought to myself how she had brought them on herself. I immediately stopped and questioned my motives, uncovering the remembrance of a perceived painful period of antagonism between people I love. And then I stopped and remembered the reasons I love and appreciate these dear old friends. Let's not be afraid of any rogue thoughts that may seem to assault us, but simply acknowledge them as symptoms of a clearing away of self to allow our Self to be demonstrated.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"The Hebrew Lawgiver, [Moses], slow of speech, despaired of making the people understand what should be revealed to him. When, led by wisdom to cast down his rod, he saw it become a serpent, Moses fled before it; but wisdom bade him come back and handle the serpent, and then Moses' fear departed. In this incident was seen the actuality of Science. Matter was shown to be a belief only. The serpent, evil, under wisdom's bidding, was destroyed through understanding divine Science, and this proof was a staff upon which to lean. The illusion of Moses lost its power to alarm him, when he discovered that what he apparently saw was really but a phase of mortal belief." 

Science & Health Page 321:5-18