July 4, 2012 - Freedom through peace

"London, England, 2006"
photo by Aaron Springston

A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson #185

“I want the peace of God.”

The first two sentences in today's lesson say it all: "To say these words is nothing. But to mean these words is everything." How easy it is to say we want the peace of God. But do we live as though we mean that? That is the question! I am often asked how I expect to pray for the world if I don't know what horrors are happening out there. Even though I don't watch or hear mainstream media news, I do have a few sources of information. My favorite is documentary films. Recently I've watched "Taking Root", telling us about the Green Belt Movement in Kenya. I've received an understanding of how lack of water and forests affect the people, and how things have gotten to the point they're at today. It leads my thought to the personal responsibility we each must take for the environment around us, and ourselves individually. The Christian Science Monitor is a wonderful resource which can be found online or in a weekly print publication. This is a stellar newspaper which Mary Baker Eddy started in the early 1900s, whose mission was and is to "injure no man, but to bless all mankind". Often people tell me that opposites are necessary. For instance, I've been told we wouldn't appreciate peace without unrest, and what would happiness be if we didn't know its opposite, and that we can't know light if we haven't experienced darkness. When these views are voiced, I'm always tempted to say, "Hogwash", or something similar in meaning!! And this seeming need for dualism is what keeps us from wholeheartedly wanting and accepting the peace of God which is ours. If we have peace, how would we recognize it without some sort of struggle to bounce it off of? Let's not think of these things when recognizing the peace of God, which has neither beginning nor end, and is ours now, in this eternity – simply for the acknowledging of it.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Glory be to God, and peace to the struggling hearts! Christ hath rolled away the stone from the door of human hope and faith, and through the revelation and demonstration of life in God, hath elevated them to possible at-one-ment with the spiritual idea of man and his divine Principle, Love.

Science & Health Page 45:16-21

July 3, 2012 - Animal Communications

"Heather in St. Louis'
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #184

“The Name of God is my inheritance.”

Animal communication has always been fascinating to me. We can do away with the words we have designated as meaningful, all symbols we have created to separate us one from the other. Dogs, for instance, don't care if we're speaking Chinese or German, and when we realize this we're on our way to true communication. Animals respond to the images they pick up from thought. If you call your dog to you, but see him running away, then he's most likely going to run away. At some point, your sweet dog will become accustomed to the name you have given a particular action, and begin to respond to it, becoming a part of the scenario we have created for it and ourselves. But in their natural state, and ours, we all respond to the thoughts around us. I often tell my employees that every thought they think is going into the atmosphere of the gallery. If you are smiling and friendly on the outside, but teaming with turmoil on the inside, there is an uncomfortable feeling surrounding you. True communication is clearly shown by a flock of birds, turning together in the sky as an expression of the One. Try practicing with your dog while walking, thinking which way you want to turn before you tug on the leash. Expand that practice with the wildlife eating your flowerbeds! Or tell those ants to leave your house, in the way that J. Allen Boone does in "Kinship With All Life". Experiment with different ways of communication. What an adventure!!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“In the Scriptural allegory of the material creation, Adam or error, which represents the erroneous theory of life and intelligence in matter, had the naming of all that was material. These names indicated matter's properties, qualities, and forms. But a lie, the opposite of Truth, cannot name the qualities and effects of what is termed matter, and create the so-called laws of the flesh, nor can a lie hold the preponderance of power in any direction against God, Spirit and Truth.”

Science & Health Page 177:15-24

July 2, 2012 - Just Call

"South African Sunset"
photo by Aaron Springston

A Course in Miracles Lesson #183

“I call upon God's Name and on my own.”

The crux of what I'm gleaning from today's lesson is that it doesn't matter what you call it, as long as you call it! It also seems to be about beginning to "get" our true relation to God as Its image and likeness. It has also caused me to think about people's reactions to the word "God". Often you will see shades pulled closed in the eyes of those who hear you say this word. And so, over time, we may stop saying it and go with such words as Source, All that Is, et cetera. For myself, what I will stress in thought today are the synonyms given for God by Mary Baker Eddy. These seven words build upon each other and totally define Deity. Each word alone does not do the job, but when you start learning the magnitude of these synonyms, there is an overwhelming Allness which starts to be understood. Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, Love. These seven words combine to give us a gift. This gift grows more each moment as it is accepted and practiced within your mind. Through this material insight, we are able to see a bit of our spiritual reality. Translate the word God in any way it feels correct within yourself. If you'd like more to chew on concerning these synonyms for God, there is a wonderful book I've recently been introduced to: "Your Divinity Revealed: The Seven-fold Revelation of Your Being", by Helen M. Wright. I highly recommend it!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Question: What is God?

Answer: God is incorporeal, divine, supreme, infinite Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, Love.

Question: Are these terms synonymous?

Answer: They are. They refer to one absolute God. They are also intended to express the nature, essence, and wholeness of Deity. The attributes of God are justice, mercy, wisdom, goodness, and so on.

Question: Is there more than one God or Principle?

Answer: There is not."

Science & Health Page 465: 8-17

July 1, 2012 - There's no place like Home

Fantasy Photography by Melanie Myhre

A Course in Miracles Lesson #182

“I will be still an instant and go home.”

Although I realize today's subject has nothing to do with the physical presence of home, it causes me to realize how I cherish that space. There is absolutely no place I'd rather be. If I suddenly had a month to do anything I wanted with no obligation, I would remain at home. I'd putter in the garden, I'd read, I'd sit on the back deck and watch the birds and wildlife -- I'd do all the things I do every day, but more of it!! Often I feel I'm in a cocoon of peaceful harmony. My dog loves to hang out and do nothing with me. Although my children are grown, the one who is with me on weekends loves to stay in his downstairs "man cave" and rarely leaves our end-of-the road haven. We live in the type of neighborhood where we freely call on one another for things as simple as borrowing an egg; as complex as fixing a car. It's a lifelong dream to be living this exact life, and I couldn't be happier. And so it seems natural to "be still an instant and go home". This lesson is asking us to quiet all the hubbub in our existence for just an instance, in order to feel the peace of God which is ours. And so I will today pause for many instants. I will sink deeper into the wonder of Truth, knowing all else is but a made-up dream of existence. When I hear anything which might cause me to think in a defensive way, I'll remember what is true and what is imagined. If the world has decided to live in an attack mode, defending against everything which it deems to be harmful, I will do my part in bringing in the dawn of Truth by accepting spiritual reality and rejecting material myth. An instant is all it takes to feel the presence of God!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“As mortals begin to understand Spirit, they give up the belief that there is any true existence apart from God.”

Science & Health Page 282:30-32

June 30, 2012 -Trust Yourself

A Course in Miracles Lesson #181

“I trust my brothers, who are one with me.”

"Joy at Great Wall of China"
photo by Aaron Springston

How easy it is to condemn others for their actions! As I look at my inner thoughts toward people, I see that I am projecting my fears and insecurities outward onto everyone today. The woman with the little boy whose sticky handprints dot my gallery's window, the couple who ignore my greeting and look through me as though I'm not there, the countless people who seem alternatively bored and critical -- they all combine to cause me to take today's lesson to heart and hold it there.  These lines from the workbook lesson #181 speak to the critical assessment I'm throwing at everyone: "When you attack a brother, you proclaim that he is limited by what you have perceived in him. You do not look beyond his errors. Rather, they are magnified, becoming blocks to your awareness of the Self that lies beyond your own mistakes, and past his seeming sins as well as yours." I'll always remember how this was brought home to me one day during a parade. I was standing outside by the door watching the festivities. A fellow shopkeeper on our street was telling me about a rude couple and how the woman had refused to speak to her because (in her opinion) she had tattoos and was a lesbian. She then pointed out the couple, who were walking down the sidewalk. They went into my gallery. I followed them in and began a conversation with the man. I asked him why he wasn't watching the parade. He gruffly said that they were on vacation and they had a schedule to keep; that they didn't have time for fun! He actually said this, in all seriousness. I persisted in talking to him and found out that his wife had lost her voice the year before. She was an attorney, and having been a court reporter myself for years, I know just how much lawyers like to talk! This was the woman the fellow shopkeeper had judged as being rude to her because she didn't respond verbally to a greeting. This so perfectly showed me how our own perceptions are put onto others, and how totally off the mark they can be! Once again, I vow to look past all notions I may have about my brothers, seeing their real Being as the image and likeness of God.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“I saw the love of God encircling the universe and man, filling all space, and that divine Love so permeated my own consciousness that I loved with Christlike compassion everything I saw.”

"We Knew Mary Baker Eddy" Page 68

June 29, 2012 - By Grace I Am Released

A Course in Miracles Lesson #180

Central Theme: "God is but love and therefore so am I."

Review of:

(169) "By grace I live. By grace I am released."

(170) "There is no cruelty in God and none in me.

"Ozark Mountains"
photo by Aaron Springston

For me, preparation for reception of Grace has but one essential quality: silence. Whether you call it meditation, prayer, communion, listening, it matters not. Be kind to yourself. Allow your heart to hear. There's a Joel Goldsmith book entitled "Practicing the Presence" which contains wonderful words speaking to this subject. One analogy he gives is of a person sitting in the dark and declaring that electricity gives light. Of course this is true, but we're still sitting in the dark until we flip the switch and make a connection with the source of the light. He states that nothing is going to happen to us, regardless of how many affirmations of truth we know or repeat, unless we attain the consciousness of that truth and realize our Oneness with the Source. I am particularly struck by the two statements in today's review: "By grace I live. By grace I am released" and "There is no cruelty in God and none in me." Recently I had a conversation with a friend in which it was disclosed that her in-laws and her husband had been abused by their father. The father has passed away and the three children, now in their 60s, suffer in numerous ways from these past actions. The mother knows this, but won't admit it happened. If only she could do this for her beloved children, they could all be set free. Everyone knows, but no one will acknowledge it. "By grace I live. By grace I am released." This grace is ours whether anyone gives it to us or not. This mother does not need to release her children, but they don't know this and so they remain trapped. How many situations do we feel ensnared by, when in actuality nothing can keep us in bondage. All we need do is realize our source is God. Nothing else matters.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"As aforetime, the spirit of the Christ, which taketh away the ceremonies and doctrines of men, is not accepted until the hearts of men are made ready for it."

Science & Health Page Page 131:22-25

June 28, 2012 - Grace for All

A Course in Miracles Lesson Review #179

Central Theme: "God is but love and therefore so am I."

Review of:

(167) "There is one life, and that I share with God."

(168) "Your grace is given me. I claim it now."

"Wildflower"
photo by Aaron Springston

There are many definitions given in the dictionary for grace. It is a noun, a verb, and an adverb, so it covers a lot of ground. The definition which best suits our review today would be this: "Divine love and protection bestowed freely on people." This grace which is ours shows itself in many ways. Perhaps it is seen in our kindness to others, and them to us. It is emerging in the synchronicities we see in daily life. It is active when everything works together to bring order to our activities. Perhaps it is demonstrated in an apology, or an act of benevolence, a charitable deed, or an acceptance of someone's opinion which is opposite of ours. Grace is mine today, simply for the knowing of it. To quote William Blake:

“To see the world in a grain of sand,

And heaven in a wild flower,

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,

And eternity in an hour.”

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Throughout all generations both before and after the Christian era, the Christ, as the spiritual idea,--the reflection of God,--has come with some measure of power and grace to all prepared to receive Christ, Truth. Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and the prophets caught glorious glimpses of the Messiah, or Christ, which baptized these seers in the divine nature, the essence of Love. The divine image, idea, or Christ was, is, and ever will be inseparable from the divine Principle, God. Jesus referred to this unity of his spiritual identity thus: "Before Abraham was, I am;" "I and my Father are one;" "My Father is greater than I." The one Spirit includes all identities.” 

Science & Health Page 333:19-