November 4, 2012 - That's Why They Call It The Present

"Mark in Mongolia"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #308

"This instant is the only time 

there is."

A quote from Kung Fu Panda came to mind when I saw today's lesson subject: "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift, that is why it is called the present.” And I'm reminded of something Deepak Chopra said, too: "Time is something we have made up so everything doesn't happen all at once." Albert Einstein showed us that time is relative. Time spent in a dentist chair passes differently from time spent doing something we think of as pleasurable. Later in life, Mr. Einstein came to believe that time was not just relative, but unreal! Here is a quote from him, written in a letter to a friend: "To those of us who believe in physics, this separation between past, present, and future, is only an illusion, if a stubborn one." So why do we limit ourselves with time? We always think we're too young or too old, or this physical malady will pass with time, or that we simply don't have time to do the things we want to do. When I realize that I'm not a mortal living in what seems to be now, but an immortal living in eternity, then some major shifts in perception are taking place and only "time will tell" what happens then!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“God gives you His spiritual ideas, and in turn, they give you daily supplies. Never ask for tomorrow: it is enough that divine Love is an ever-present help; and if you wait, never doubting, you will have all you need every moment. What a glorious inheritance is given to us through the understanding of omnipresent Love! More we cannot ask: more we do not want: more we cannot have. This sweet assurance is the ‘Peace, be still’ to all human fears, to suffering of every sort”

Miscellaneous Writings Page 307

November 3, 2012 - Thy Will Be Done

A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson #307

“Conflicting wishes cannot be my will.”

Marsha in Mad Hatter Ball Hat

To be wide open, with no expectations, frees us in many ways. This state of Being opens us to the demonstration of the One absolute will. I'm reminded of an occasion where I really wanted to assert my own will. I was going about my business when the thought came to me, "Go to the Mad Hatter's Ball". Well, I didn't want to do this! I don't go to balls, I don't dress up in outrageous garb, and I most certainly don't pay cash money for doing what I don't want to do!  A week or so later, (to my chagrin!) I was given two tickets to the ball. What am I going to wear? A stop by the Doggie Thrift Shop answers this question, and I leave with a wonderful hat, in a style I love, with crazy red polyester curls. So it seems as though I'm going, and at this point I acquiesce. And then while talking to someone in the post office about the event, the postal worker behind the counter tells me she's been working on a hat for three years and asks if I want to wear it. Perhaps, I tell her (as I'm already pretty attached to my hat with the red hair.) This is a long story to tell about a concept so simple that it requires no thought: Do whatever you hear/feel is the thing to be doing. There's no right or wrong with this yielding to intuition. I don't know why I needed to be at this event, but everything came together beautifully and I had a great time, and even won first prize in the wildest hat contest. Maybe I needed to be there to stretch my so-called comfort zone a bit. The possibilities are endless, and I don't have to know anything other than this: Thy will be done. And It is done.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“We cannot serve two masters nor perceive divine Science with the material senses.”

Science and Health Page 167:11-12

November 2, 2012 - Return Home

A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson #306

“The gift of Christ is all I seek today.”

"South Africa"
photo by Aaron Springston

What do you think of when you hear the word "repent". Many connotations have been given this word by religion and dogma. I don't think of it as having anything to do with confessing sins in order to receive absolution, nor to do with being sorry for things, and nothing to do with guilt, and certainly it's not begging for forgiveness. I like a definition heard long ago: "return home". When we allow ourselves to see, hear, and feel with spiritual sense, we are returning to our original state of being, and remembering we never went away. So this idea of repenting, or returning home, is only a matter of letting loose anything which is unlike Love. We are the image and likeness of God. God is Love. We are Love. This is a state we cannot leave, but we can lose sight of this perfect peace. Today I will see the Love that is God, the Love that I am, in everything and everyone.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Heaven is not a locality, but a divine state of Mind in which all the manifestations of Mind are harmonious and immortal, because sin is not there and man is found having no righteousness of his own, but in possession of ‘the mind of the Lord,’ as the Scripture says.”

Science & Health Page 291:13-18

November 1, 2012 - Peace in Any Circumstance

"St. Liz Belfry in Fall"
photo by Dale Johnson

ACIM Workbook Lesson #305

“There is a peace that Christ bestows on us.”

Absolutely any situation can be filled with peace. There are accounts of people facing the direst of situations calmly, with a seeming other-worldly sense of peace. I witnessed one of these situations when visiting with a couple in the midst of a life-changing disease. When I walked into their home, the first thing I felt was an all-encompassing peace. My dear friend related how inspired she was by the leaves falling from the trees this autumn. She told me how they take care of themselves. She never rakes them up into piles, but allows them to go where they need to be, and there they change to whatever form is required of them -- soil, protection for seedlings, shelter for insects and small animals. She sees perfection in this plan and knows that the same perfection is taking place in all existence. I am grateful to have experienced this deep and quiet peace with them. The peace of God is there for all, no matter what the material circumstance. It satisfies the hungering senses, it calms fear, it answers questions before they're asked.

Mary Baker Eddy poem

“Satisfied”

 It matters not what be thy lot,

        So Love doth guide;

For storm or shine, pure peace is thine,

        Whate'er betide.

 And of these stones, or tyrants' thrones,

        God able is

To raise up seed — in thought and deed —

        To faithful His.

 Aye, darkling sense, arise, go hence!

        Our God is good.

False fears are foes — truth tatters those,

        When understood.

 Love looseth thee, and lifteth me,

        Ayont hate's thrall:

There Life is light, and wisdom might,

        And God is All.

 The centuries break, the earth-bound wake,

        God's glorified!

Who doth His will — His likeness still —

        Is satisfied.

 (Poems by Mary Baker Eddy, p. 79)

October 31, 2012 - Hints of Truth

A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson #304

“Let not my world obscure the sight of Christ.”

"Somewhere in China - 2009"
photo by Aaron Springston

Writings throughout the ages have given us hints as to the grand possibilities we might have as realities. As attested by powerful mythological characters and poetry which transforms our being, we have longed for the ability to change what seems to be the reality of situations in and around our personal existence. The world tells us that we are victims of circumstances, with life being experienced at the whim of chance meetings with luck, this being termed either good or bad. Every time we hear a story telling of something we think is impossible to us, but which contains outcomes so beautiful we wish it were within the realm of our world, let's accept the fact that there are no limits. Who knows what we're capable of doing? We seem to exceed expected outcomes in every avenue of existence. Wasn't it said that running a mile in less than four minutes was impossible? And it sure seems like the sun is going around the earth, don't you think? Today I set free any thought of limitation, any assumptions I may have as to what's what, and by doing so open the inner ways of sight.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Truth never destroys God's idea. Truth is spiritual, eternal substance, which cannot destroy the right reflection. Corporeal sense, or error, may seem to hide Truth, health, harmony, and Science, as the mist obscures the sun or the mountain; but Science, the sunshine of Truth, will melt away the shadow and reveal the celestial peaks.”

Science & Health Page 299:24-30

October 30, 2012 - Don't Let Words Bother You

"Yellowstone Park Sunset"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #303

“The holy Christ is born in me today.”

Today's ACIM lesson and commentary and prayer contain many of the words which sometimes trigger adverse reactions in us. Perhaps these reactions can be set aside by a repetition of what God and Christ truly mean. I reiterate that there is One God and so we need not think in terms of my god and your god. There is only One God, and our interpretation of what that means is the only way there can appear to be many ruling principles. By saying that "the Christ is born in me today", we are acknowledging that the divine manifestation of God is realized within me today. Please, please, change these words into whatever feels right to you. And please, please don't allow these words' connotations to turn you away from the Love which you are. And if you feel disoriented and sort of happily confused, don't fear that either! This giddiness is part of the shift to this beautiful realization of God within! Embrace it and be free!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“CHRIST: The divine manifestation of God, which comes to the flesh to destroy incarnate error.”

Science & Health Page 583:10-11

October 29, 2012 - Looking with Light Eyes

"Autumn Splendor"
watercolor by Carol Dickie

ACIM Workbook Lesson #302

“Where darkness was I look upon the light.”

We've all had experiences where we are recounting an event, probably in great detail, and someone who was with us insists that the details are other than the way we remember them. I can think of many instances when things weren't as I thought they were. Perceptions are interestingly nuanced by our expectations and experiences. Now that so many people are seeing the world through the eyes of illumination, it seems to be easier to turn away from the dark and be in the light. When there are other people seeing through these eyes of light, it gives us the confidence to admit that we see it, too! Remember "the emperor has no clothes"? If everyone were pretending to not see the shift in our perception of reality, then we might keep silent, too. But they're not! People are not only admitting to this change, but are shouting it from the pinnacle of their understanding. We join hearts today in the Truth.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“EYES: Spiritual discernment,--not material but mental.”

Science & Health Page 586:3