September 15, 2012 - Let me remember

"Dancing on Cosmic Jello"
fabric creation by Sandy Starbird

A Course in Miracles Lesson #258

“Let me remember that my goal is God.”

Many of us have gone through life feeling that something is missing; that there's an empty place which can never be filled. When we discover that it's not something lacking in us that we must find, we get very excited! This training of our minds, which is spoken of in today's lesson, is not some sort of system of mind control, it's not hypnotism or cult-like obedience -- on the contrary! We train our minds to recognize and release all the "senseless aims ... and pointless little goals" which have become life practices, learned behaviors which come at us from a multitude of sources. And then we are able to see what those senseless aims have obscured: the only Source from which all reality flows. The insights and answers which appear in our lives are often thought of as serendipitous, which implies an element of luck. This is yet again something we have made up to explain the inexplicable. But spiritual sense needs no explanation. A mere glimpse through these eyes is enough to convince us of our true Identity.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Spiritual sense is a conscious, constant capacity to understand God. It shows the superiority of faith by works over faith in words. Its ideas are expressed only in ‘new tongues;’ and these are interpreted by the translation of the spiritual original into the language which human thought can comprehend.”

Science & Health Page 209:31-4

September 14, 2012 - Let Me Not Be Put to Confusion

Surprise! I seem to have skipped from lesson #255 on Wednesday to #259 on Thursday. So we will get back on track by doing the correct ones until it's time for #259, when we shall revert to #256! The first sentence in today's lesson seems apropos: "If I forget my goal I can be but confused" :)

"Aaron's Purpose - Joy"
photo by Marsha Havens

A Course in Miracles Lesson #257

“Let me remember what my purpose is.”

I love the first sentence in the commentary above: "If I forget my goal, I can be but confused ..."! Looking back over the last half-century, I see many times of major confusion, and lots of minor confusions which flutter around constantly, asking for more room to spread their wings. I like seeing them from this standpoint, that these confusions are nothing more than times when I've forgotten that my Life is Spirit. So then I wonder, What is this purpose I am to remember? It's unfolding every moment, and all I need do is show up and be willing. Willing to be open-hearted, open-minded -- just open! -- with no expectations and no plans of how things should be. It's tempting to think of this as undisciplined, and others may be critical of this attitude. But I can attest to the fact that wandering around in college for five years perfectly prepared me for free-lance court reporting. And thirty years of taking down and transcribing depositions was an incredible education which paved the way for the things I'm doing today. And none of it could have been planned. Today, I think of this as listening and following. Back then, I didn't think of it at all …

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Jesus urged the commandment, Thou shalt have no other gods before me," which may be rendered: Thou shalt have no belief of Life as mortal; thou shalt not know evil, for there is one Life,-- even God, good. He rendered "unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's." He at last paid no homage to forms of doctrine or to theories of man, but acted and spake as he was moved, not by spirits but by Spirit."

Science & Health Page 19:29-5

One Goal

A Course in Miracles Lesson #256

"Somewhere in Mexico"
photo by Dr. James Young

“God is the only goal I have today.”

It seems simplistic and perhaps impossible to state that I'm only going to think about God today. But when I analyze this thought, it's pretty inclusive! If it's true that God is All, that God is synonymous with Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, and Love -- as Mary Baker Eddy declares -- then how can we do anything other than think of God?? When seeing ourselves as a reflection of God, as embodying all these attributes of God, it becomes easier to see ourselves as the consciousness of all good, from which nothing need be added nor taken away. "God is the only goal I have today." "There is but one primal cause." What effect can there be, what end result can occur, other than a realization that God is all there is? And so it will be easy to attain this goal today, because nothing else exists!!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“There is but one primal cause. Therefore there can be no effect from any other cause, and there can be no reality in aught which does not proceed from this great and only cause.”

Science & Health Page 207:20-22

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