March 3, 2012 - Forgiveness is My Function

ACIM workbook lesson #62:

"Forgiveness is my function as the light of the world."

"Zion National Park"
photo by Aaron Springston

[Marsha's thoughts]
Seeing illusions for what they are and letting them go is my function as the light of the world. With this true sight we are enabled to live a life of peace and joy. In the realization that none of the seeming threats are reality, something happens to us which we never thought possible. We experience true bliss. Not just a momentary high, but a lasting peace. I'm sure we all know people who seem to go from one disaster to another. And they delight in telling everyone the gory details! And if nothing horrible is happening to them at that moment, they are anticipating what will befall them next. I know a woman who lives in a constant state of panic. She will tell me what diseases are coming our way, how the government (both small and huge) is plotting to do us in, the weather is either too hot or cold (or it's going to be awful soon) -- You've met her, haven't you? Of course she wants sympathy and feels slighted if you won't give it to her. A couple of days ago, our electricity was out for a few hours. She came over wringing her hands, telling me there was going to be a storm in the evening and asking what we were to do in a worst case scenario. I suggested that the lightning would be delightful in our darkened homes and asked if she wanted to watch with me. Every possible horror she came up with as easily seen through as illusion, leaving nothing but peace passing between us. This forgiveness, this lifting of the veil of materialism, is not only possible, it is inevitable, when seeing Love everywhere.

Mary Baker Eddy has a spiritual interpretation for the Lord's prayer. Her correlation for the line, "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors" is this: "For Love is reflected in love."

Science & Health Page 17:7

March 2, 2012 - Light

ACIM Workbook Lesson #61:

“I am the light of the world”

"Lightshow"
photo by Aaron Springston

[Marsha's thoughts]

The understanding that we are all "the light of the world" is a freeing one! So often when we catch glimpses of our Godly reflection, we deny the sight in the name of humility, or a false sense of sinfulness, or perhaps because Jesus said that's what he was and we don't think we can be, too. We are learning that there are no degrees of perfection, and this realization enables us to proudly reflect the light which we are, never hiding under a guise of smallness. This light which we are is demonstrated in many ways, and it makes no difference if ours is different from what we've been taught it should be! A friend and I were recently talking about our children and how wonderful they are and how glad we are to know them. She said she didn't know how her boys had turned out so great, as she had moved them around frequently when they were young, and many of her ways wouldn't have been advocated by the so-called experts in childrearing. Yet because she was honest with her children, and she always loved them fully without judgment, they are wonderful human beings and super parents in their own right. My boys also are wonderful, but the physical circumstances of their childhood was entirely different. They attended a beautiful independent school in a small town, had a full-time mom and every-other-weekend dad, and made lifelong friends while learning about the world from their small neighborhood. There are some things my friend and I had in common raising these boys. We didn't place limitations and judgments on them. We encouraged their light to shine and made sure they knew what that meant. We weren't afraid to teach them about God, but we didn't threaten them with this knowledge. Now that they're adults, we have the pleasure of watching their light shine, fearless and loving, giving forth what they have received.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Light: Symbol of Truth; revelation and progress."

Science & Health Page 591:23-24

March 1, 2012 - Guided by Love

ACIM Lesson #60

Today is the tenth of a ten-day review of the first lessons. For a guide to this review, and a short description of each of the five, go to this link:

http://acim.org/Lessons/lesson.html?lesson=60

Mardi Gras Parade in Eureka Springs
photo by Melanie Myhre

[Marsha's thoughts]

Today's review is just what I need to open my sight in loving ways to a construction situation outside my gallery. "They" are getting ready to tear up the street in order to repair a falling wall underneath said street. They have told me all the horrible things that could go wrong, how they have no idea what they'll find once they get under there, and on and on. So applying this review to the situation, I start with no condemnation or blame because this work wasn't done earlier. I am holding to the fact that everything happens at the correct time and this is happening now. And as God is the strength in which I trust, I don't have to search for a stronghold to keep me from blame and fear in this situation. Everything is contained within divine order and I trust in that principle to guide and guard everyone. I see that there is nothing to fear in this or any situation. Even though there are variables which depend on human judgment, I know that everyone's actions are a part of this divine order and that they will be listening to intuition rather than forging ahead with blind determination. And by my own listening, I will know what objects to move in the gallery. Although I cannot be given assurance by mortal minds that the jackhammers and concrete cutters and rebuilding of underground walls will not cause damaging vibrations, I can be certain that I will know what to do in any given situation. As I am sustained by the Love which is God, I know that everyone else is, too, as they are maintained within that same Love. Today I've been seeing these workmen in the light of Love, knowing that they are expressing the wisdom of the Ages, and already I'm seeing Love reflected in Love. A simple act of turning around their truck, so the sawdust from the cutting of boards would not be dropped in front of my entry -- that's enough to assure me that Love is here and all is well.

Mary Baker Eddy correlative quote:

"Progress takes off human shackles. The finite must yield to the infinite. Advancing to a higher plane of action, thought rises from the material sense to the spiritual, from the scholastic to the inspirational, and from the mortal to the immortal. Love, the divine Principle, is the Father and Mother of the universe, including man."

Science & Health Page 256:1-8

February 28, 2012 - Real Thoughts

ACIM Lesson #59

Today is the ninth of a ten-day review of the first lessons. For a guide to this review, and a short description of each of the five, go to this link:**http://acim.org/Lessons/lesson.html?lesson=59

"Reflections in Glacier National Park"
photo by Aaron Springston

As usual, today's review offers so many avenues to explore that I find it impossible to settle on one! Of course, it all comes back to one thing: I Am One with All That Is. And so it is that God goes with me wherever I go; God is my strength, and vision is Its gift; God is my Source, and I see only Truth; God is the sight with which I see; God is the Mind with which I think. I have also been considering the writings of yesterday, in which I was filled with negative and erroneous thought. My stated way of coming back to Truth was through deeper spiritual study in every way, and an allowing of the purity of nature to show me my Real thoughts. A dear friend reminded me that only the inner voice, the relaxing into Truth as discerned from within, is necessary to get "back in tune". Of course, I know this is so -- and yet I find it difficult to still the illusory voices which seem to come from within! And this is why I resort to outside influences such as the writings of people whose works mirror what I've come to know as True. They bring me back to the realization that I Am One, that any seeming disruptive thoughts come from without, and allow physical senses to take a backseat to the spiritual sense which replaces material appearances. I look forward to the day when a moment of stillness will accomplish what I seem to strive for now! This harmony is my true Being -- so why won't I allow it in every moment? A Course in Miracles calls it ego; Christian Science refers to it as mortal mind. It doesn't matter what it's called as it's all unreal.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"This scientific sense of being, forsaking matter for Spirit, by no means suggests man's absorption into Deity and the loss of his identity, but confers upon man enlarged individuality, a wider sphere of thought and action, a more expansive love, a higher and more permanent peace."

Science & Health Page 265:10-15

February 27, 2012 - Transforming Thought

ACIM Lesson #58

Today is the eighth of a ten-day review of the first lessons. For a guide to this review, and a short description of each of the five, go to this link:**http://acim.org/Lessons/lesson.html?lesson=58

Butterfly Garden in St. Louis
Photo by Aaron Springston

[Marsha's thoughts]

This is a perfect time for me to be reviewing lessons concerning my purity and holiness. For some reason, terrible thoughts have been coming to mind. After all these years of practicing holding thought to "the enduring, the good, and the True", it seems to be easy seeing things through the proverbial rose-colored glasses. But thoughts have turned murky in the last few days. For instance, I packed up a box of mobiles to ship back to an artist. As I'm sending it off, I see the box as damaged and the mobiles broken. One of my sons works in a factory and when he left for work I saw a possible accident involving him. What's up with this?? It seems every thought I have is colored by a horrible interpretation. Of course, since I'm thinking like this, I'm also having horrible interpretations as to why I'm thinking like this!  So today must be a cleaning day for me. I will delve deeply into my daily studies rather than a cursory reading. I'll listen to an audio chat from spirituality.com while doing some household chores. I'll play an inspirational recording in the car while running errands. And while out, I'll stop by a peaceful little lake and soak up some sunshine and see what early flowers are peeking out, showing me pure holiness without thought. All these things I will see in Truth, and if anything else wants attention, I'll just say no!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Man walks in the direction towards which he looks, and where his treasure is, there will his heart be also. If our hopes and affections are spiritual, they came from above, not from below, and they bear as of old the fruits of the Spirit." 

Science & Health Page 451:14-18

February 26, 2012 - Radical Reliance on Truth

ACIM workbook lesson #57:

Today is the seventh of a ten-day review of the first lessons. For a guide to this review, and a short description of each of the five, go to this link:http://acim.org/Lessons/lesson.html?lesson=57

[Marsha's thoughts]

Aaron in Mongolia

I have often been asked if (or perhaps told that) Christian Science is a cult. Having been affiliated with this way of life since childhood, it assuredly is not. I've never been controlled by anyone, or asked to worship anyone, or any of the other criteria necessary to qualify for this category of action. And I'm sure that Course in Miracles students often get the same thing, judging from what a quick search of YouTube videos reveal! What we do ask of ourselves is a radical reliance on God, a wholehearted acceptance of God as the only power, to recognize that Love leads every action. This is the goal I set for myself at every moment. And this is why I see such a strong interaction with these two disciplines: they both ask us to give up material beliefs and rely on Truth. This may not be as hard as we'd like to make it out to be! Think back on the so-called laws of life you have adopted in the past. Shouldn't' it be as easy to allow spiritual principles to guide your actions as it is to accept material rules which make no sense? For example, why should being cold and wet give you a cold? What silly admonitions we have heard about things that will cause us to "catch cold". This is only one example, but I'm sure you can think of many you have heard and lived by in your life. This quote from Lesson 34 says it all: "When I see the world as a place of freedom, I realize that it reflects the laws of God instead of the rules I made up for it to obey." And the rules of God are simple to hear when we have cleared out the cacophony which hides them from our thought. To live from the Truth within rather than the made-up rules of material existence, this is the freedom which will lead us into harmonious peace for all.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"The conceptions of mortal, erring thought must give way to the ideal of all that is perfect and eternal. Through many generations human beliefs will be attaining diviner conceptions, and the immortal and perfect model of God's creation will finally be seen as the only true conception of being."

Science & Health Page 260:7-12

February 25, 2012 - Seeing Love

ACIM workbook lesson #56:

Today is the sixth of a ten-day review of the first lessons. For a guide to this review, and a short description of each of the five, go to this link:http://acim.org/Lessons/lesson.html?lesson=56

Photo by Mawuena Davies

[Marsha's thoughts]

Once we develop the habit of seeing everything in Love, it is jolting to hear someone speaking from a space of fear and attack. One of my neighbors has become so sure that everything is attacking him, that everything is attacking him! For almost 20 years, I've watched him as he goes from one drama to the next, including divorces, lost jobs, personal attacks of various types, all of his thoughts magnetized and attracting more of the same. Many of us have been there to some extent or another, and most of us reading these words have made a conscious choice to see -- to see Love, to see the Reality of our being rather than the attacks often envisioned in uneducated thought. Wanting to see differently more than anything else is the key to finding this open secret. The acknowledgement that God is everything, including my true self, is the first step in demonstrating Truth. Closing the door on the illusionary images we have become accustomed to thinking of as reality allows us to see true Reality. And when we see it, we can live it.  As soon as we allow ourselves to not only observe this truth, but to actualize it in daily practice, we start to notice synchronicities in various surprising ways. It may be that we're in the right place at the right time in order to meet people we need to meet to facilitate projects and other related things. Or maybe we notice we are where we need to be in order to help someone else by the utilization of a particular skill or resource that we have. The only thing more satisfying than noticing these parting-of-the-veil experiences in ourselves is watching this light come on within others. It's with childlike wonder that we relate these events to each other, until they become such a part of our lives we expect nothing else but good, God, to be manifest in our experience. There is nothing to fear in this change of thought. Embrace it and feel joy!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Here let a word be noticed which will be better understood hereafter,--chemicalization. By chemicalization I mean the process which mortal mind and body undergo in the change of belief from a material to a spiritual basis.”

Science & Health Page 168:30-2