June 12, 2012 - Life is timeless

A Course in Miracles Lesson #163

“There is no death. The Son of God is free.”

"Heather at Lake - Sunset
photograph by Aaron Springston

There are many meanings, both literal and metaphorical, which come to mind when thinking of the word "death". The first thought which came to me upon reading today's topic was the death we experience when we are born into this existence. Suddenly our spiritual sense is deadened by the deluge of materialistic stimuli which constantly bombards us. In this forgetting of the Truth of our Being, life becomes very uncertain. We vacillate between multitudes of inharmonious circumstances, until we recognize our relation to divine Mind. Then we begin to see glimpses of eternity. We start to realize the unreality of time and space. I think we've always known this. Perhaps it's part of the dissatisfaction so often felt when "feeling out of sight for the ends of being and ideal grace." (Browning)  We know there's something more than this, and we keep grasping at what it might be. This takes us many places in our search for freedom from the belief that we have no choice in this existence. We have the choice of waking up! Today's lesson gives many examples of how we allow death to be stronger than life. To wake up from this dream of erroneous thought, let's switch on the light of Truth. Then we are able to see that we have it backwards. There is no need to fear this life which can only end in death. Instead we'll allow ourselves to see through the veil we have hung to hide the truth of our being. With this sight will come the understanding of Life as timeless.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The chief stones in the temple of Christian Science are to be found in the following postulates: that Life is God, good, and not evil; that Soul is sinless, not to be found in the body; that Spirit is not, and cannot be, materialized; that Life is not subject to death; that the spiritual real man has no birth, no material life, and no death.”

Science & Health Page 288:20-25

June 11, 2012 - I am not material, I am spiritual

A Course in Miracles Lesson #162

Students, Teachers, Guides - Mongolia 2009

“I am as God created me."

When we hear the above statement, "I am as God created me", we may think that this "me" is our body, which is subject to material circumstance. The same goes when we hear that we are created in the image and likeness of God. How could terrible things be perpetrated by the image and likeness of God? It must be that this body is not what is created by divine Mind, God. Does that make this body worthless, perhaps even abhorrent? Of course not!! By accepting our Being as an idea of divine Mind, we are freed to see the body as a compound idea, an aggregate creation, but not the image and likeness of God, which is spiritual. I remember how upset my oldest son was when he first heard the scientific statement of being, which is the Mary Baker Eddy quote below. It says that there is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. He was angry because he thought it was saying he wasn't smart, and he knew he was. "No intelligence in matter" means that you express all of the intelligence of divine Mind, and none of that Mind is found to originate or even exist in the material shell we call a body. The love we feel and express, the intelligence we utilize in a multitude of ways, these are not originated in a brain or a heart. But they are translated into expression through this human body. So the way I see it, human experience should be celebrated and utilized to its fullest! And that fullness comes from the acknowledgement of the Source of all goodness. "Therefore man is not material; he is spiritual."

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Question: What is the scientific statement of being?

Answer: There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all. Spirit is immortal Truth; matter is mortal error. Spirit is the real and eternal; matter is the unreal and temporal. Spirit is God, and man is His image and likeness. Therefore man is not material; he is spiritual."

Science & Health Page 468:8-16

June 10, 2012 - Transforming Anger

A Course in Miracles  Lesson #161

“Give me your blessing, holy Son of God.”

Aaron and Heather in Glacier National Park
(Unknown Photographer)

The first line of today's lesson is thus: “Today we practice differently, and take a stand against our anger, that our fears may disappear and leave room for love." Just when I think anger will never flare within me again, it does! My first reaction is always self-righteous: I'm right; you're not. And examining the seeming motive for my anger usually brings about more self-righteous thought. So I've found the only escape is by replacing the anger with the Love which is our only true nature as the image and likeness of God. If self-justifying thoughts persist, they are replaced again with the Truth of our being. This process may take a while because mortal mind insists that it is justified in this action. But when we know it is not, the process becomes more natural to us. And if anger is not replaced, it can mutate into many forms, all erroneous. Recently a dear, sad woman known to many in our little town committed suicide. A few weeks later, so did her husband. What sadness, fear, anger and other turmoil must have been present in these dear people's minds. We seem to become stuck in feelings, thinking there is no way out. Mrs. Eddy posits that we will be surprised when we die and find out we're not dead. Salvation must be worked out here or hereafter. I remember this in times of sadness or turmoil. There is no escape other than through an understanding that we are a reflection of God, good, and that everything else is unreal. By bringing thought back to this truth time and again, we begin to see the veracity of it and the falsity of any other way of seeing this experience. Our inner peace cannot be taken away, even if joy seems to have disappeared!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"’Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.’ It should be thoroughly understood that all men have one Mind, one God and Father, one Life, Truth, and Love. Mankind will become perfect in proportion as this fact becomes apparent, war will cease and the true brotherhood of man will be established. Having no other gods, turning to no other but the one perfect Mind to guide him, man is the likeness of God, pure and eternal, having that Mind which was also in Christ." Science & Health Page 467:16-22

June 9, 2012 - At Home in Love. No Fear Here!

"Quan Yin"
painting by Sherry Young

A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson #160

“I am at home. Fear is the stranger here.”

I love this acronym for fear: False Evidence Appearing Real. Through our studies, we learn to recognize what this false evidence is, and what it isn't! Yesterday I related a story of a man telling me about his health issues. What I didn't tell you was that at one point he took a step back and said in a surprised voice, "You're a Christian Scientist!" After admitting that he was indeed correct, we spoke for a short time and he hastily left. Well, today he returned. He somehow seemed softer around the edges. He put his hand on my shoulder and said, "I've been thinking about what you said and you might be onto something there." The fear which he had expressed the day before seemed secondary now. He was somehow more alive, perhaps more "at home". Awakening to Truth brings light in unexpected ways. Not so long ago, I was overcome with a variety of fears centered around so-called lack -- lack of time, lack of cool air, lack of ability, lack of patience -- but the realization of the abundance of Love brought things back into focus. I hadn't known quite how flustered I was until our featured artist said to me, "Hold onto Quan Yin", and thrust her painting into my arms. Walking around for a few moments holding this peaceful image broke the spell of erroneous thought. Whether it's called Quan Yin, Buddha, The Christ, God, Holy Spirit -- the words don't matter. The realization that we contain the essence of all we need is enough in which to rest. And soon everything I was distraught about was completed easily, and I even remembered my innate love for the people walking through the doors of the gallery. I was at home in divine Love.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The Apostle John says: "There is no fear in Love, but perfect Love casteth out fear. . . . He that feareth is not made perfect in Love." Here is a definite and inspired proclamation of Christian Science.”

Science & Health Page 410:17-21

June 8, 2012 - Setting aside so-called laws

A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson #159

“I give the miracles I have received.”

"Forbidden City Acrobats - China"
photo by Aaron Springston

Today I had an interaction with someone who tells me he has cancer. I nearly wrote this as "tells me he has the claim of cancer", because that's the vernacular used in Christian Science to denote the unreality of erroneous thought. But that sounds awfully pompous, don't you think? Semantics notwithstanding, the principle is sound. We are not trying to change a physical condition, but rather to change thought about the basis of Being and what that means. This dear man told me that he felt there were certain laws of living which could not be usurped. Most of us have seen numerous examples of how this is not so. We have witnessed what appears to be a law set aside, and society generally thinks of this as supernatural intervention. In Christian Science, we call these events the demonstration of Truth. Today's ACIM workbook lesson asks us to give what we have received. This sharing of the understanding of our relationship with God is given through our living of it. When we let ourselves slip into that space which releases all mortal thought, we allow that "Mind to be us, which was also Christ Jesus". Through this simple -- yet not always easy --process, we give all we have accepted, and this is referred to as healing. I look forward to a day of flowing miracles!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Though demonstrating his control over sin and disease, the great Teacher [Jesus] by no means relieved others from giving the requisite proofs of their own piety. He worked for their guidance, that they might demonstrate this power as he did and understand its divine Principle. Implicit faith in the Teacher and all the emotional love we can bestow on him, will never alone make us imitators of him. We must go and do likewise, else we are not improving the great blessings which our Master worked and suffered to bestow upon us. The divinity of the Christ was made manifest in the humanity of Jesus."

Science & Health Page 25:22-33

June 7, 2012 - I give as I receive

"Photographer at Rest"
photo by Heather Magnan

A Course in Miracles Lesson #158

“Today I learn to give as I receive.”

The first paragraph of this workbook lesson states: “What has been given you? The knowledge that you are a mind, in Mind and purely mind, sinless forever, wholly unafraid, because you were created out of Love. Nor have you left your Source, remaining as you were created. This was given you as knowledge which you cannot lose. It was given as well to every living thing: for by that knowledge only does it live.” I've said it before and I'll probably say it again: It would be much easier to demonstrate this way of living if I could be sequestered on an unreachable island! Intellectually, I grasp today's lesson and know that what I'm giving by receiving is the knowledge that we are creations of the same Mind, that we are pure ideas of All that Is, that when I see this in others, it becomes what I see in me. Now, I know this to be true. So why is it that when I feel bothered by someone or something, I look for ways to apportion blame and/or find ways to fix it, rather than going straight to the source of my Being and recognizing this Love to be the only fact, both in me and in whatever-it-is-I-think-is-bothering-me? If I find someone to be irritating, perhaps it's because I am. Maybe the neighbor who seems dull and mean-spirited is my reflection pointing to something within my mortal self. What if the micro-managing busybody down the street is me? And with that said, do I really want to pull apart every emotional response, lay it out on the table with the purpose of dissecting it until it disappears? No! I choose to recognize creation in Its perfection. I know this is true for the same reason you do. We all have this knowledge at the core of our Being. We've forgotten this, but we're remembering! This Truth is not just something to be repeated, but rather I will send it out as love reflected in Love. In that emanation there is no place for mortal blame and guilt. Voila! Pure peace is mine -- and yours!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Mind [God] creates [Its] own likeness in ideas, and the substance of an idea is very far from being the supposed substance of non-intelligent matter. Hence the Father Mind is not the father of matter. The material senses and human conceptions would translate spiritual ideas into material beliefs, and would say that an anthropomorphic God, instead of infinite Principle,--in other words, divine Love,--is the father of the rain, ‘who hath begotten the drops of dew,’ who bringeth ‘forth Mazzaroth in his season,’ and guideth ‘Arcturus with his sons.’” 

Science & Health Page 257: 12-21

June 6, 2012 - A shift makes all the difference!

A Course in Miracles Lesson #157

“Into His Presence would I enter now.”

Photo by Aaron Springston

Let us remember that we already are and always will be "in his Presence". The space "I enter now" is a shift in perception, a change of thought. This shift allows us to realize that we always were and always will be the image, the reflection, of God. Anything which separates us in thought from this Love, from this gentle presence, is unreal and will dissolve with our realization of the Truth. In a popular advice-to-the-artist newsletter by Robert Genn, he speaks to what the Course refers to as "ego": "These days, some high-priced shrinks are talking about "Your Inferior Shadow." This creepy critter is a dark presence--always with you--and he wants you to be fearful, incompetent, lousy, victimized, procrastinatory and self-loathing. Some of us have almost untamable Shadows while others have small ineffective ones." This false sense of self jumps out at us in ways which seem logical to mortal mind. When we enter into his Presence in thought, this shadow disappears as we step into that light. Our living in Truth erases any shadow of erroneous thought which seemed so real. I Am that I Am. If good news were reported in the media, it would be proclaiming all the instances of this yielding to Truth. I see it everywhere! I trust you do, too. That's what it's all about, huh? What I give, I receive. What I receive, I give. We are being "renewed by the transforming of our mind". We're transforming our mind into Mind, and entering into the kingdom of heaven. How lovely to know we have that choice!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“One moment of divine consciousness, or the spiritual understanding of Life and Love, is a foretaste of eternity. Time is a mortal thought, the divisor of which is the solar year. Eternity is God's measurement of Soul-filled years.”

Science & Health Page 598:23-28