September 12, 2012 - Perfect Peace

A Course in Miracles Lesson #255

“This day I choose to spend in perfect peace."

"The Beaver Bridge"
photo by Steve Shogren

If you could do anything at all today, what would it be?  To choose perfect peace as our reality is to reject fear and worry. To reject fear and worry is to have an absolute trust in divine Love's presence within us at every moment. The word "absolute" has been showing up everywhere for me, so I decided to see if I know what it means. According to Mr. Webster it is: complete, unadulterated, perfect, not mixed, free from restriction, unlimited. Absolute peace sounds perfect!  As I move through the activities of this day, I will remember to live absolutely in the moment, enjoying each perfect moment absolutely, with absolute trust that I am reflecting the One absolute Truth, and that peace is the only reality.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“This material world is even now becoming the arena for conflicting forces. On one side there will be discord and dismay; on the other side there will be Science and peace. The breaking up of material beliefs may seem to be famine and pestilence, want and woe, sin, sickness, and death, which assume new phases until their nothingness appears. These disturbances will continue until the end of error, when all discord will be swallowed up in spiritual Truth.”

Science & Health Page 92:12-20

September 11, 2012 - Hearing God

Photo by Dale Johnson

A Course in Miracles Lesson #254

“Let every voice but God's be still in me.”

I met a young woman who told me that God was talking to all of us -- and it was time to listen! As we chatted briefly, she told a story of finding out her husband had a girlfriend, getting divorced, feeling hopeless. Then she left a job she didn't enjoy and followed her dream of starting a little antique store where she has lots of cool stuff, like freshly ground coffee and books she wants to share with others: a place where everyone feels welcome. She tells me this happened because she listened to God. Now, this guidance can be called many things -- following your heart, listening for the still small voice, living your dream -- but whatever it's called, it can only be heard by shutting out ego thoughts, the material-based fears, all those other voices telling us we're not good enough, not capable enough. It's heard by silencing the advice of mortal mind, telling us to just stay put because it's safe there and who knows what might happen if we listen to intuition and follow an unknown path. Well, I was very much buoyed by her joy and new-found confidence. It was inspiring that she started the conversation by telling me it was time to listen to God! She made me want to shout Hallelujah!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Nature voices natural, spiritual law and divine Love, but human belief misinterprets nature. Arctic regions, sunny tropics, giant hills, winged winds, mighty billows, verdant vales, festive flowers, and glorious heavens,--all point to Mind, the spiritual intelligence they reflect. The floral apostles are hieroglyphs of Deity. Suns and planets teach grand lessons. The stars make night beautiful, and the leaflet turns naturally towards the light.”

Science & Health Page 240:1-9

September 10, 2012 - Living What We Learn

"Bryce Canyon"
photo by Aaron Springston

A Course in Miracles Lesson #253

“My Self is ruler of the universe.

Every day's lesson is leading us to the same end. We are learning that we have a choice. We can accept ourselves as limited humans, or we can learn to recognize ourselves as spiritual beings. So the question is, why do we do this every day if we already know what it's all about? Answering for myself, I see that moment-by-moment reminders are needed. After all, every thing we hear in the world is telling us those insistent, erroneous affirmations of a false reality is all there is. We have come to believe that anything other than what we can touch and prove is unreality. How easy it is to feel "airy-fairy" or "Pollyanna-ish" when living this new-old thought. And so we're called upon to demonstrate this metaphysical, spiritual, Principle. The way we think, the way we live, the way we interact with others and our environment, in every activity we find ourselves demonstrating this Truth in the most unexpected ways! One of my favorite practices is in finding a parking space in our busy tourist town. If my thought is flustered and busy, there is no space for anything else and I block the Self that knows where to go and when. On the other hand, if I approach this in a quiet knowing that I'm always in the right place at the right time, then room is left for my Oneness to be demonstrated and shown forth in supplying my every need. When I listen, this is a reality. When I assert my superior knowledge and logic, it's always a toss-up!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The pains of sense are salutary, if they wrench away false pleasurable beliefs and transplant the affections from sense to Soul, where the creations of God are good, "rejoicing the heart." Such is the sword of Science, with which Truth decapitates error, materiality giving place to man's higher individuality and destiny. Science & Health Page 265:31-5

September 9, 2012 - True Identity

"Aaron at Glacier National Park
photo by Heather Magnan

A Course in Miracles Lesson #252

“The Son of God is my Identity."

Our true identify is so much more than we have ever imagined. In this time of shifting perception and actualized reality we humbly and happily accept our identity as the child of God! To illustrate this awakening, let's take as a metaphor the act of falling asleep in our favorite chair. The coziness of it is hard to resist, and even though you may be doing something you enjoy and are engaged in -- such as active reading and writing -- the lure of oblivion is strong. So we succumb to the blissful sleep, which includes both sweet dreams and nightmares. But, then again, anything is possible in our dreams, so perhaps this falling into sleep isn't only oblivion. Perhaps there's more to this dream state than we realize. Maybe it comes to allow us to experience what seems impossible in daily living. But now we're realizing the limitlessness of our true Selves. And so today I'm not going to worry if my waking dream of material existence seems fraught with limitations and unwanted beliefs, because I know these can be transformed in the "twinkling of an eye". This true Self with its shimmering, brilliant purity and limitless Love seems far away when we're looking at life from the outside. And so today in my waking dream I will see this real identify as it looks from the inside, in the calm of quiet certainty, with exalted angel-thoughts leading me through this day. With each loving action, I will catch glimpses of my true Identify and joyfully expect to see more!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“My angels are exalted thoughts, appearing at the door of some sepulchre, in which human belief has buried its fondest earthly hopes. With white fingers they point upward to a new and glorified trust, to higher ideals of life and its joys. Angels are God's representatives. These upward-soaring beings never lead towards self, sin, or materiality, but guide to the divine Principle of all good, whither every real individuality, image, or likeness of God, gathers. By giving earnest heed to these spiritual guides they tarry with us, and we entertain ‘angels unawares.’”

Science & Health Page 299: 7-17

September 8, 2012 - I need only Truth

photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Lesson #251

“I am in need of nothing but the truth."

How reassuring it is to know I need nothing but the Truth! All worry and anxiety disappear when I'm not chasing something illusive which I can't quite name. Oh, sure, we may put lots of names on these things we seek in good faith, totally believing they will bring us the happiness we crave -- names like success, fame, marriage. The list of personal fulfillments desired can be quite long. We are even encouraged to make lists of these goals, to create affirmations surrounding them, to hold them in thought until they become realities in our existence. At this point, I must quote a Bible verse: "Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven and all these things shall be added unto you." And this kingdom is found within, in the understanding and acceptance of our Source. So let's set aside material desires, just as quickly as we turn from fears. When these desires are no longer with us, the void left by them cries to be filled, and it's tempting to just let the old, outgrown expectations come back in. Today I choose to look only toward the Truth we are learning to recognize; to want nothing else; and to listen confidently for where that takes me.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Dost thou ‘love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind’? This command includes much, even the surrender of all merely material sensation, affection, and worship. This is the El Dorado of Christianity. It involves the Science of Life, and recognizes only the divine control of Spirit, in which Soul is our master, and material sense and human will have no place.”

Science & Health Page 9:17-24

September 7, 2012 - Limitless Life

A Course in Miracles Lesson #250

“Let me not see myself as limited."

"Principia goes to Mongolia - 2009"
photo by Aaron Springston

Today we are reminded to view ourselves as unlimited. A limited view of ourselves traps thought into a circumstance undeserving of our true being as unlimited consciousness. To view myself as unlimited is to view others that way, too. I'm reminded of the importance of refraining from talking about people's seeming mistakes and weaknesses. For that matter, it's important to avoid ANY negative banter concerning others. While we're cleaning up our act, let's not indulge in deprecating thoughts about ourselves. All these activities are impediments to the consciousness which sees beyond the material picture of life. In seeing past this illusion, we are able to witness the other-dimensional realization of life as Life. Even if we see no other people today, there will be many opportunities to practice this. When we free ourselves of our stories, we free ourselves (and everyone!) to the actualization of our true identities. And this identity is an unlimited idea of divine Mind. Let's celebrate that!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“It would require an infinite form to contain infinite Mind. Indeed, the phrase infinite form involves a contradiction of terms. Finite man cannot be the image and likeness of the infinite God. A mortal, corporeal, or finite conception of God cannot embrace the glories of limitless, incorporeal Life and Love. Hence the unsatisfied human craving for something better, higher, holier, than is afforded by a material belief in a physical God and man. ” 
Science & Health Page 257: 30-6

September 6, 2012 - Forgiveness Ends Loss

A Course in Miracles Lesson #249

“Forgiveness ends all suffering and loss."

"Glacier National Park"
photo by Aaron Springston

I remember a time when so-called new-age thought was not often spoken of in the media or anywhere other than the privacy of our homes. Now these new-old ideas are seen and heard everywhere. Every day we are witness to more proof that this shift in consciousness is happening now -- and we're talking about it! Thanks, Oprah! And even when these ideas are fictionalized, as in best-selling novels such as "The Lost Symbol", these possibilities are easily translated into plausible realities. This shift in consciousness allows us to embrace peace and harmony. Through this change in perception, we are understanding Truth and the demonstration thereof. It is happening now. We each support this realization in our own individual way. Every instance of pure peace we feel, each yielding of our personal sense to spiritual sense, brings us closer to living this realm of Love. This is where we always have been, but we've forgotten. We are all much-needed at this time, to calm the tumultuous collective thought which fights the idea of such freedom!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“God fashions all things after His own likeness. Life is reflected in existence, Truth in truthfulness, God in goodness, which impart their own peace and permanence. Love, redolent with unselfishness, bathes all in beauty and light."

Science & Health Page 516:9-13