August 31, 2012 - Judging Nothing

"Happy or Sad? - World Cup 2006"

A Course in Miracles Lesson #243

“Today I will judge nothing that occurs."

It seems as if we're expected to judge everything all the time. Which political party is right? Should there be a deer hunt in downtown Eureka Springs? What's wrong with our educational system and what can be done to fix it? The list is endless. How is it possible to "judge nothing that occurs"? This practice of non-judgment is a constant meditation with me, and I must admit I often feel like a failure at it. (Which in itself is a judgment!) This basic metaphysical precept of letting go and letting God, realizing that we of our own selves know nothing, facilitates giving up judgment because how can we judge what we do not know? And so I will continue to make note that my opinion is simply that: an opinion, not a Universal Truth. I thank Mr. Shakespeare for a thought that is in the front of Science & Health: "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“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.”

Science and Health Page 467:9-13

August 30, 2012 - Centering Thought

"Salt Lake City Sunrise"
photo by Aaron Springston

A Course in Miracles Lesson #242

“This day is God's. It is my gift to Him."

What's the first thing you think in the morning? It's easy to immediately start making plans for the day, thinking of what to do first and how to do it. Obviously there are many things to be attended, but as often as not our plans must change -- due to a multitude of factors. To give this day to God is to listen for intuition to lead the way. Starting our day with clear, spiritual thought allows this intuition to be heard more easily, without that back-and-forth volley we fall into when weighing the possibilities of our actions. I'm not sure how people manage who must begin to speak to others when they first wake up. As a child, I found it upsetting to be forced to talk first thing in the morning. Even then, I innately knew that silence, a certain centering, needed to occur before facing the cacophony of daily life. But even with this centering of thought, there is still that first moment upon awakening and that last thought before falling asleep at night. Through our studies, we have many quotations on which to call to start and end our day. I have no ritual to these moments; no set prayers or by-rote actions, but simply a clearing of thought and acceptance of what comes. The practice of turning every thought away from worrying and wondering "what-if" is sufficient to supply me with everything I need to walk this path. And it's exciting to see what will unfold!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Emerge gently from matter into Spirit. Think not to thwart the spiritual ultimate of all things, but come naturally into Spirit through better health and morals and as the result of spiritual growth.”

Science & Health Page 485:13-16

August 29, 2012 - Celebration of Seers

A Course in Miracles Lesson #241

 “This holy instant is salvation come."

"Sunburst in Zion National Park"
photo by Aaron Springston

For millennia we have been moving toward this point of awakened consciousness! We celebrate joy today, as sorrow and pain pass away. As part of this celebration, I am going to be remembering seers whose words have awakened the knowledge of salvation within me. These seers are people who have become a part of us all, who are so prominent that they are often in our conversations and thoughts. I want to remember the salvation which was passed to us by John Lennon, Emerson, Shakespeare, Rumi. I will celebrate those whose words have encouraged me to live Truth, through knowing I'm not the only one who feels this way. And while visiting these words I love, I will know that this salvation is not only something to be desired, but that it is here, now, for the remembering.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The ancient prophets gained their foresight from a spiritual, incorporeal standpoint, not by foreshadowing evil and mistaking fact for fiction,--predicting the future from a groundwork of corporeality and human belief. When sufficiently advanced in Science to be in harmony with the truth of being, men become seers and prophets involuntarily, controlled not by demons, spirits, or demigods, but by the one Spirit. It is the prerogative of the ever-present, divine Mind, and of thought which is in rapport with this Mind, to know the past, the present, and the future.

Acquaintance with the Science of being enables us to commune more largely with the divine Mind, to foresee and foretell events which concern the universal welfare, to be divinely inspired,--yea, to reach the range of fetterless Mind.”

Science & Health Page 84:3-18

August 28, 2012 - Fear or Excitement?

"Aaron in Zion National Park"
photo by Heather Magnan

A Course in Miracles Lesson #240

“Fear is not justified in any form."

Living in familiar patterns, moving through our days in similar ways, saying the same things, thinking the same thoughts -- all these habits seem to bring us comfort. Even if the conditions of our lives are not bringing us happiness, we fear change. Perhaps all fear stems from a resistance to change!  We sometimes say, "Something told me I should do so-and-so". We often hear this calling, this inner voice leading us toward a different path than we're on, but we feel it takes courage to walk a road less or never traveled, and so we settle. To settle for anything which brings us less than joyful existence is to dishonor ourselves, which is to dishonor God. The next time I think I'm feeling this thing we think of as fear, I choose to interpret the emotion as excitement about what will come next!!

Mary Baker Eddy quotes:

“Had Blondin believed it impossible to walk the rope over Niagara's abyss of waters, he could never have done it. His belief that he could do it gave his thought-forces, called muscles, their flexibility and power which the unscientific might attribute to a lubricating oil. His fear must have disappeared before his power of putting resolve into action could appear.”

Science & Health Page 199:25-31

“Walking in the light, we are accustomed to the light and require it; we cannot see in darkness. But eyes accustomed to darkness are pained by the light. When outgrowing the old, you should not fear to put on the new. Your advancing course may provoke envy, but it will also attract respect.”

Science & Health Page 452:7-12

August 27, 2012 - False Humility?

"Eureka Springs Eternal"
fabric creation by Sandy Starbird

A Course in Miracles Lesson #239

“The glory of my Father is my own"

The truth about ourselves is often hidden by a false humility, as today's workbook lesson in ACIM tells us. This "false humility" we use to hide the truth about ourselves can take many forms. It's usually easy to catch ourselves in self-deprecating actions, which we deem to be humility, but actually are expressions of our inability to accept the glory of our true Selves. But there are many insidious ways we reject Truth. Many of us take things personally and we feel attacked when we hear news of governmental actions. Perhaps friends’ words seem to bring hurt feelings. Maybe our co-workers' rivalry is hard to handle. These and thousands of other things can be seen as actions which somehow diminish us. Accepting the glory of ourselves allows us to see the unity we share with God and all of creation. Holding to a calm, positive attitude neutralizes ugly situations, whereas agreeing often brings escalation in negativity. Recently a woman expressed her anger to me concerning the motorcycles in our town. She stated it was no longer peaceful here, as it was when she had been here twenty years earlier. I happily told her that peace was everywhere in Eureka and not to become discouraged, ending the conversation by asking her if she didn't feel peace standing right where she was. This caused her to pause and realize she did. And so every time I hear or see something today which seems to come from a space of unhappiness, I will smile with the assurance that no one and nothing can change the harmonious Truth of Being. How glorious!

“I celebrate myself, and sing myself,

And what I assume you shall assume,

For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.”

Walt Whitman

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The Divine Being must be reflected by man,--else man is not the image and likeness of the patient, tender, and true, the One 'altogether lovely;' but to understand God is the work of eternity, and demands absolute consecration of thought, energy, and desire.”

Science & Health Page 3:12-15

August 26, 2012 - Decisions

"Salt Lake City, Utah"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Lesson #238

“On my decision all salvation rests."

It seems we have too many decisions in daily life. Even the tea section in the grocery store has so many choices it can be daunting! And so when we are told that "On my decision all salvation rests", it's tempting to say "No thanks!" But this salvation spoken of here is received by one decision: to wake up and accept our own divinity. There are no considerations to mull over in this decision, there are no choices which are better than others, nor is there any reason for fear of failure. All duality, all choice, vanishes when we realize there is only one thing to desire: to know that God is Life. Not my life, or your life, but Life. From this understanding, everything is manifested in our experience from the freedom we have in knowing that the Love which is God is the only Principle of our existence.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“By interpreting God as a corporeal Savior but not as the saving Principle, or divine Love, we shall continue to seek salvation through pardon and not through reform, and resort to matter instead of Spirit for the cure of the sick. As mortals reach, through knowledge of Christian Science [the Science of the Christ], a higher sense, they will seek to learn, not from matter, but from the divine Principle, God, how to demonstrate the Christ, Truth, as the healing and saving power.”

Science & Health Page 285:23-30

August 25, 2012 - Disappearance of the Universe

A Course in Miracles Lesson #237

“Now would I be as God created me."

Photo by Aaron Springston

One of our material beliefs is that we are only human and that we cannot be as we were created by God. When we think of ourselves as material beings, it seems impossible to see more than a mere glimpse of our spiritual perfection. And that is the key to the way of thought we're studying. This material body, and all the wonder of this world we know so well, is not created by God. This is what Gary Renaud is referring to in his popular book, "The Disappearance of the Universe". To look past material illusionary so-called reality into the depth of pure spiritual reality is to begin to understand how "God created me". It's easy to imagine that the horrors around us are not of Spirit, but the beauty seems to demand a divine origin. The acceptance of the idea that God did not create matter opens us to another dimension of life.  If we accept the Adam and Eve story (or other material creation myths) as the truth of our being, we live the dream of life in and of matter with all the dead ends it contains. But we are an idea of God, and this realization takes us to another level. So today I will not only accept myself in this spiritual truth, but also everything and everyone. And I will remember a key fact: Reality is that which does not change.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Eternal Truth is changing the universe. As mortals drop off their mental swaddling-clothes, thought expands into expression. "Let there be light," is the perpetual demand of Truth and Love, changing chaos into order and discord into the music of the spheres. The mythical human theories of creation, anciently classified as the higher criticism, sprang from cultured scholars in Rome and in Greece, but they afforded no foundation for accurate views of creation by the divine Mind.”

Science & Health Page 255: 1-10