March 14, 2012 - Willpower?

ACIM Workbook Lesson #73

“I will there be light.”

Heather on Skateboard
photo by Aaron Springston

[Marsha's thoughts]

So much is said about willpower and its role in the control of ourselves. And there is always more to be said and written about the subject because of its changeable nature. Human willpower is another belief which we can set aside in favor of the power of Soul, Spirit, Mind. Whether it's cessation of a habit, better diet, more exercise -- the list is quite long in what we should and shouldn't be doing with our bodies -- all of these things are subordinate to the laws of Spirit, the principle of Life. For some reason, I've gained quite a few pounds in the last couple of years. This is particularly surprising to me as I had slowly lost weight for a number of years and had reached what I thought of as my ideal size. This weight loss had not been premeditated and I thought of it as a byproduct of clearer metaphysical thought. So now that the weight is back, am I to think of it as muddy metaphysical thought? The temptation is certainly there to do such! But wouldn't this be looking at the problem rather than the solution? And I use these terms loosely as there is no problem, hence no solution! There is none if I am placing myself at the point of spiritual perfection, which is where we eternally are. Seeing my will as God's will, or the only will, is where I want to be in thought. Constantly stepping back from material circumstances and repositioning my sight on spiritual realities is the answer to every seeming problem or material question. So to me the statement, "I will there be light", is a constant reminder that light is all there is. Any darkness of thought is counteracted by this correction in perception. When I look in a mirror and see reflected back at me something I'd prefer not to see, I will remember my true reflection is one of Spirit. By returning my thoughts to this Truth, I will be led in ways of which reflect this true identity.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"The power of the human will should be exercised only in subordination to Truth; else it will misguide the judgment and free the lower propensities. It is the province of spiritual sense to govern man. Material, erring, human thought acts injuriously both upon the body and through it."

Science & Health Page 206:4-9

March 13, 2012 - Paulo Coelho, "Aleph"

ACIM Workbook Lesson #72:

“Holding grievances is an attack on God’s plan for salvation.”

"Mongolian Journey"
photo by Aaron Springston

[Marsha's thoughts]

For those of you who are fans of Paulo Coelho there is cause for celebration! His latest book, "Aleph" gives me exactly what I've been wanting -- A good read! As in his most well-known book, "The Alchemist", he takes us on a spiritual journey which shows us that we are indeed not alone in either our fears or our realizations of Truth. This newest novel is described as his most personal, and from the little I know of Mr. Coelho's life, our main character seems to have many common characteristics with his creator. When he writes of spiritual progress feeling stagnant, I ache for him. These  sentences ask for remembrance: "It isn't what you did in the past that will affect the present. It's what you do in the present that will redeem the past and thereby change the future." What a vibrant, hopeful statement! And now is the time! What you do right now is the pivotal point in your life. Let go of any and all grievances of any kind. Notice your thoughts as they peek out at you during the day. Are they reinforcing old, often-painful beliefs, or are they leading you to salvation? In the lesson today, we learn that God did not create this body. God created everything that is real and eternal, and it's our realization of this true Self which brings us peace and harmony of being. I find novels such as those written by Mr. Coelho to be delightful! After the intense study of divine metaphysics, it's pure joy to read a book which speaks to these ideas so unabashedly. I urge each of you to write! Write in blogs, write letters to the editor, keep a journal -- anything and everything which solidifies our yearning to know Oneness needs to be written. It deserves a voice which contains no fear, no shame, only Truth.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Is Spirit the source or creator of matter? [The] Science [of the Christ] reveals nothing in Spirit out of which to create matter. Divine metaphysics explains away matter. Spirit is the only substance and consciousness recognized by divine Science. The material senses oppose this, but there are no material senses, for matter has no mind. In Spirit there is no matter, even as in Truth there is no error, and in good no evil. It is a false supposition, the notion that there is real substance-matter, the opposite of Spirit. Spirit, God, is infinite, all. Spirit can have no opposite."

Science & Health Page 278:1-11

March 12, 2012 - Music Opens the Way

ACIM Lesson #71:

“Only God’s plan for salvation will work.”

Paul McCartney in Utah Summer 2010
photo by Aaron Springston

[Marsha's thoughts]

The above statement, taken without prior knowledge of what it means in these writings, absolutely smacks of everything from predestination to some fundamental religious teachings with all the punishment and consequence taught therein. Mrs. Eddy's definition of salvation  is, "Life, Truth, and Love understood and demonstrated as supreme over all." When looked at in this way, salvation is an ongoing event, realized when we part the veil of belief in separation from God. I recently attended a concert of area musicians who performed adeptly and from the heart. Music is of great benefit in assisting us to get out of our own way, to allow thought to progress past limited repetition of beliefs and habitual practices of rituals. Music is an aid which opens our thought to things we may have forgotten or never have known. I love to sit with an all-encompassing symphony orchestra, opening my mind to only the music, until at some point I feel there is nothing else in the world. I recall Wayne Dyer talking about muscle testing using different items. An organic banana allowed full strength in his son, where holding a CD of raucous music left him much weakened. Each of us enjoys different kinds of music, and there are many levels of this enjoyment. Something we would like with friends at a party won't be the same as the quiet strains of Bach which take us deeper within ourselves prior to meditation or writing. Find the music which opens you to hearing the messages Life, Truth, and Love are offering you. Surround yourself with this river of salvation and see where it takes you.

Mary Baker Eddy quotes:

“‘Now,’ cried the apostle, ‘is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation,’ – meaning, not that now men must prepare for a future world salvation, or safety, but that now is the time in which to experience that salvation in spirit and in life. Now is the time for so-called material pains and material pleasures to pass away, for both are unreal, because impossible in [the] Science [of the Christ]. To break this earthly spell, mortals must get the true idea and divine Principle of all that really exists and governs the universe harmoniously.”

Science & Health  Page 39:18-27

March 11, 2012 - Who will save us?

ACIM Lesson #70:

“My salvation comes from me.”

                                                                                                                    [Marsha's thoughts]

Happy Belize Man and his Happy Dogs
photo by Ramona Hambrick

Perhaps it's always been that we expect someone else to right the wrongs we see all around us. We point fingers and expect guilty parties to fix what wrongs we perceive to have been done. It's easy to expect someone else to do things, and then be disgruntled when "they" don't respond in the way we expect and hope. And so when we see someone step up and do whatever they can to alleviate pain, to bring the light of salvation to a situation, it's an occasion to rejoice! Today has been a day of such happiness for me. A group of women have been meeting monthly for eight years under the guise of a book club. We really just get together because of our fondness for each other, and the book leads us in discussions which are poignant, heartfelt, and personally meaningful in individual ways which are not always immediately discerned. Today we were witness to an astounding series of events which are being facilitated by one of our group who is a veterinarian. Five years ago, she vacationed in Belize, a beautiful tropical paradise. While there, she realized that many, perhaps most, dogs were left to fend for themselves, particularly when it came to reproduction -- or the stopping of it! She was led to return and spend a week spaying and neutering, and performing any other tasks which their limited budget and care facilities would allow. In the past five years, other veterinarians have joined the cause and there have been donations enabling the building of a facility from which these volunteers can do their work. What started out as one woman doing what she could has snowballed into many people sharing in an awareness (a salvation, if you will), of how to improve conditions for animals and humans alike. This wonderful woman has followed her heart, and through this action she has inspired others to do what they can, and more in return are doing the same. I see this as the perfect demonstration of living Love. Her love for and kinship with all things living is an inspiration to so many. The realization of this inner knowing and her fearless efforts to improve conditions for these animals and the ones who love them, this is the salvation we all hold within ourselves. And it blossoms when we set it free through our action.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“To ascertain our progress, we must learn where our affections are placed and what we acknowledge and obey as God. If divine Love is becoming nearer, dearer, and more real to us, matter is then submitting to Spirit. The objects we pursue and the spirit we manifest reveal our standpoint, and show what we are winning.” 

Science & Health Page 239:16-22

March 10, 2012 - Let your Light Shine

ACIM Workbook Lesson #69

“My grievances hide the light of the world in me.”

Mongolian Night
photo by Aaron Springston

[Marsha's thoughts]

The last words of today's lesson are: "Be sure to tell yourself: If I hold this grievance the light of the world will be hidden from me, if you are tempted to hold anything against anyone today." Confusion is the word I keep hearing when I meditate on these lines. Most assuredly I don't want to hold anything against anyone -- particularly myself! When I think about grievances I may be holding onto, I get confused about my function in all of this. Actually, I can't even articulate what I may be aggrieved about! Anytime I delve into thought to see if I'm holding onto anything, tightly refusing to let it go because it's comfortable and the light holds unknown wonders, I simply get confused and don't know where I was going with the thought. Yippee! This I take as a sign of spiritual progress and material allowance. I don't need to deconstruct grievances by understanding them. I only need to acknowledge that they're there in order to see their unreality and to know that they have no real purpose in my life.  It makes me so happy to not need to examine every little reason about why things are as they are. By acknowledging what is, it becomes unimportant what isn't! Without grievances to cloud my transparency, what wonderful Truth will flow into, out of, and through my being! In this flow, I will never be put to confusion.

Mary Baker Eddy Quote:

“The manifestation of God through mortals is as light passing through the window-pane. The light and the glass never mingle, but as matter, the glass is less opaque than the walls. The mortal mind through which Truth appears most vividly is that one which has lost much materiality--much error--in order to become a better transparency for Truth. Then, like a cloud melting into thin vapor, it no longer hides the sun.” Science & Health Page 295:14-24

March 9, 2012 - No Grievances

ACIM workbook lesson #68:

“Love holds no grievances.”

Principia College Soccer 2006

[Marsha's thoughts]

How many of you can remember something said in grade school which hurt your feelings or humiliated you? With me, these things are becoming dimmer as they are less rehearsed. In years past, there were certain instances which played regularly in my mind at the slightest provocation. Although these remembrances are mostly gone now, what of the day-by-day events which seem to beg me to take offense? They jump up and down asking to be remembered and retold, wanting to hold us to the past through emotion. To hold a grievance, you must live in the past. I remember a line from a little book by Alan Lightman called Einstein's Dreams. He says that those who live in the past are condemned to live there alone.  And how could it be otherwise? Habitually recounting what used to be, or wishing for what never was, or wanting what could have been, are thought processes which are symptoms of holding grievances. Today's lesson commentary tells us that forgetting that I am Love, that everyone is Love, that everything is Love, is holding a grievance. I've witnessed this forgetfulness in someone very dear to me. It has caused what could be thought of as a persecution complex. She lives in great fear and dread, with constant feelings of guilt and all the defenses this causes her to enact, blaming everyone and everything for her unhappiness and discord. It seems to me that anyone would want to replace this with the knowledge of Love as their reality, letting all the rest fade away as mistaken belief. But apparently you have to want to see. So today I will hold thought to a return to Love, a figurative return, as I remember that I never left, and neither has anyone else. This Love replaces all grievances in my thought, and by this process I am safely and peacefully at One with God and all.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The circumstance, which your suffering sense deems wrathful and afflictive, Love can make an angel entertained unawares.”

Science & Health Page 574:27-30

March 8, 2012 - What is Love?

Workbook Lesson #67:

“Love created me like itself.”

Portrait by
Melanie Myhre Photography

[Marsha's thoughts]

What is love? As a personal value, love changes and shifts. Friendships end over disagreements, marriages fall apart, societies struggle with how to remain cohesive while accepting those who think differently. As an attribute of God, Love is unchanging. Actually, this Love is more than just an attribute, or a part, of God. It is God. Mary Baker Eddy gives us seven synonyms for God which intertwine and flow through everything we experience. These are: Life, Truth, Love, Spirit, Soul, Mind, Principle. This Love which is God is the divine Principle of being. This sustaining Principle is never changed by human whims. On the contrary! This Love changes our material expectations and perceived shortcomings, when we can allow it to. There is currently a situation in my life where two people I care for do not get along with each other. It's interesting to see what they perceive in each other, then bounce it off of my own personal perception. And while these observations could change my view of each of them, I am striving to see them both in their true identity as spiritual expressions of Love. They both share in the wisdom of the ages, because they reflect divine Mind. We are all the joyful manifestations of Soul, and this is shown by sharing it freely with all. Seeing others as the expression of Father-Mother Love helps them to see themselves this way. Seeing ourselves as complete allows shifts to occur in the way we treat others and ourselves. All problems, large and small, are symptoms of a basic misconception that we are fallen humans separated from God's Love. The acceptance that we are Love, wholly and purely, starts a domino-effect process which inevitably includes everyone in this shift of thought, from the unreal belief in what we are to the pure understanding of Love.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“From Love and from the light and harmony which are the abode of Spirit, only reflections

of good can come. All things beautiful and harmless are ideas of Mind. Mind (Love) creates and multiplies them, and the product must be mental.”

Science & Health Page 280:4-8