June 16, 2012 - One Life

"One in Soccer"
photo by Aaron Springston

A Course in Miracles Lesson #167

“There is one life, and that I share with God.”

I was in the grocery store check-out line. The kid sacking the groceries was trying on the checker's glasses. He tells us he doesn't know how anyone can see through them and the checker tells him they're reading glasses and he'll find out some day.  He says, "I hope God comes before that happens." The checkout lady says, "That's horrible! No, that's wonderful. No ..." At this point, I mentioned that I, too, was somewhat speechless. We interpreted his comment to mean he hoped he died before he lost his 20/20 vision. But upon reflection, he could have meant other things -- perhaps "the rapture"?? The whole conversation reflected muddled, confused thought in so many ways. For one thing, the assumption is being made that getting older requires a loss of close-up sight. Erroneous assumptions abound here! But ultimately the kid was right in hoping "God comes before this happens". This appearing of God doesn't require us to die, and it doesn't require some miraculous change in the way things are, it simply requires a change in our thought about reality. In this change, all sorts of things we thought to be law are seen to be illusion. I prefer to consider what Life is, rather than what it is not. After this event at the grocery store, I came home and watered my flower garden. The beauty of a sunset, combined with earthy scents, brought Life into focus. The fireflies began to come out and the scent of mint, anise hyssop, and wet earth took over my senses. I saw not only the unreality of erroneous material thought but the unnecessity of it. To be still and experience the beauty of this life is enough. All questions are answered in the stillness of yielding to All that Is. I Am that I Am. Amen ~~~

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Question: What is Life?

Answer: Life is divine Principle, Mind, Soul, Spirit. Life is without beginning and without end. Eternity, not time, expresses the thought of

Life, and time is no part of eternity. One ceases in proportion as the other is recognized. Time is finite; eternity is forever infinite. Life is neither in nor of matter. What is termed matter is unknown to Spirit, which includes in itself all substance and is Life eternal. Matter is a human concept. Life is divine Mind. Life is not limited. Death and finiteness are unknown to Life. If Life ever had a beginning, it would also have an ending.”

Science & Health Pages 468:26-6

June 15, 2012 - Spreading Joy!

A Course in Miracles Lesson #166

“I am entrusted with the gifts of God.”

"Peaceful Joy in Mongolia"
photo by Aaron Springston

I receive a lot of good-natured chiding for having a "Pollyanna" attitude.  Sometimes I'm chastised for being happy when others are sad. The following line from today's workbook lesson speaks to this: “For God entrusts the giving of His gifts to all who have received them. He has shared His joy with you. And now you go to share it with the world.” The action of happiness is profound. It affects everything, everyone around it. We all have stories of watching situations change when we touch them with peaceful joy. This doesn't mean we laugh in the face of misery. That is not compassion. But neither is being overly sympathetic while perpetuating the illusion.  To illustrate that I feel sadness just like you do, I've wept three times today. A young man's sudden death has been deeply moving to me. I recently received word that a relative who lives far away is succumbing to the ravages of multiple sclerosis. I haven't slept much in the last few days, so perhaps that's what precipitated the third bout of tears while telling a customer about a work of art.  Whatever the case, I tell you this simply to assure you that I feel sadness, that I am moved by daily life, and I hope to never lose the ability to empathize with others. But, also, I hope to always retain the ability to see past the form of sorrow and know the Truth of the situation. With all the emotional events of the past few days, I'll refrain from maudlin recounting of "what-ifs" and blame apportioning.  But when someone tells of a wonderful remembrance, I'll be there to share the joy. To carry a calm, buoyant feeling of happiness wherever we go is to bring healing to everything, everywhere. Whether it's a peaceful internal smiling or an outward giggling eruption, I invite you to join me today in the expression of Love, "giving living waters to the thirsty", and never fearing the consequences.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Whatever inspires with wisdom, Truth, or Love--be it song, sermon, or Science--blesses the human family with crumbs of comfort from Christ's table, feeding the hungry and giving living waters to the thirsty.”

Science & Health Page 234:4-8

June 14, 2012

A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson #165

“Let not my mind deny the Thought of God.”

"Washington D.C. Sunset"
photo by Aaron Springston

Most of us "deny the Thought of God" without even realizing it. To understand that we are spiritual right here and now is to accept this Thought of God. When I allow every moment to be a sweet yielding, a peaceful world is mine. I love this line from today's workbook lesson: “Sureness is not required to receive what only your acceptance can bestow." How cool is that??! We don't have to be sure of anything, we don't have to know anything, all we need do is be open to the Thought of God. When we are willing to accept everything as ideas of divine Mind, this breaks through our defense that we don't know enough to put this Truth into practice in daily life. There is no requirement other than a desire to expand thought, to be willing to live Truth. When we actively set aside all supposititious material laws, another way of living opens to us. We experience divine Love as a palpable force, and it shows us a peace deeper than we ever imagined. A single glimpse of eternity is sufficient to show us that's what's been missing in this existence. Today I will demonstrate spiritual reality and glory in its every manifestation!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“God creates all forms of reality. His thoughts are spiritual realities. So-called mortal mind--being nonexistent and consequently not within the range of immortal existence--could not by simulating deific power invert the divine creation, and afterwards recreate persons or things upon its own plane, since nothing exists beyond the range of all-inclusive infinity, in which and of which God is the sole creator. Mind, joyous in strength, dwells in the realm of Mind. Mind's infinite ideas run and disport themselves. In humility they climb the heights of holiness.”

Science & Health Page 513:26

June 13, 2012 - Now, we are One

A Course in Miracles Lesson #164

“Now are we one with Him Who is our Source."

"Aaron and Heather in Montana"
unknown photographer 

Today our little town is saddened by the  passing of a young man who has been a part of this community for most of his 28 years. Every time he comes to mind, I see his mother. A few short months ago, this beautiful woman said goodbye to a daughter not much older than her son. There could be nothing worse than losing a child. When my oldest son went to boarding school at the tender age of 14, I missed him so much I felt as though I'd never smile again. I couldn't imagine feeling joy. At some point, I realized I was feeling the same way I would if he had died. So I examined that. Mary Baker Eddy reminds us that if we think someone is dead because of a mistaken communication, we react in the same way as we would if they were truly gone from our lives. And so I looked at why I was so sad. I would miss talking to him, laughing with him, watching him play soccer. Everything I came up with ultimately was a self-serving feeling on my part. It had nothing to do with him! When someone dies at a young age, we hear people say they feel bad because this person isn't going to get to do the things they "should have". Who are we to judge? None of us know what happens when we leave this plane of existence. We have made up all sorts of interesting and down-right odd things about this change, but none of us really knows. But as we study and practice today's thought of "Now are we one with Him who is our Source", we come closer to understanding what that means! NOW are we one; not sometime in the future, but now. And it doesn't matter if that is in this lifetime or sometime before or after what we're doing now. We are learning to let go of before, after, and even now, because they're all human measures we've made up for various reasons. They have nothing to do with the Is-ness which we are. And that Is-ness doesn't recognize yesterday or tomorrow, life or death, because all is an emanation of Mind, and Life is eternal, without time or space, or illusion of form. So as difficult as it may be for everyone to feel joy at this point, I have decided to do it for them. When they come to mind, I will acknowledge them as emanations of Love, a fire which can never be put out. I recall that the woman who loved Kahlil Gibran sat smiling peacefully at his funeral. When asked how she could do that, she replied that she felt closer to him than she ever had before. ("The Beloved Prophet") Let's all feel this inseparable nearness as we acknowledge our Unity.

“As mortals gain more correct views of God and man, multitudinous objects of creation, which before were invisible, will become visible. When we realize that Life is Spirit, never in nor of matter, this understanding will expand into self-completeness, finding all in God, good, and needing no other consciousness.”

Science & Health Page 264:13-19

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