November 10, 2012 - See Spiritual Perfection

A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson #314

“I seek a future different from the past.”

"Bridge into Beaver, Arkansas"
photo by Jim Young

History was always my least favorite subject in school. I questioned why I needed to know these things. Of course, people told me I must know this in order to benefit from the good things and not to repeat the bad. This never felt right -- and it still doesn't! Now that we're more fully realizing the possibility of living in an entirely new way, through other-dimensional thought, my reluctance to read and study past events makes more sense to me than ever before. With new understanding concerning the nature of our Being, there is no need to educate ourselves by past mistakes. When we live by the understanding of spiritual Truth, many material laws seem pointless and we are able to turn away from them with no worries for our well-being. It is this understanding which allows us to surpass what has been thought of as human limits. I see a future of happiness and love. Giving up strong opinions, along with expectations based on past experience, helps me to see spiritual perfection. How exciting!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The human mind, imbued with this spiritual understanding, becomes more elastic, is capable of greater endurance, escapes somewhat from itself, and requires less repose. A knowledge of the Science of being develops the latent abilities and possibilities of man. It extends the atmosphere of thought, giving mortals access to broader and higher realms. It raises the thinker into his native air of insight and perspicacity.”

Science & Health Page 128:11-19

November 9, 2012 - It's All in How I Look at It

Fall 2012 in Eureka Springs
photo by Lori Carter

ACIM Workbook Lesson #313

“Now let a new perception come to me.”

Our thought for today is very exciting! "Now let a new perception come to me." I've been told that everyone sees a rainbow differently, according to where they are when they view it. Isn't that a perfect metaphor for everything from politics to the clothes we put on our bodies? Where I am, in thought, is how I will perceive something. Things which I may think of as being for the good of everyone, someone else may see as the downfall of society. It's just a matter of how you look at it. A line from a movie comes to mind in which an octogenarian tells us that life is like a ride on a roller coaster. Some people think it's frightening and stressful; others see it as fun and exciting. My excitement in living combines with the calm of resting in divine completeness. New ways of seeing and acting on that sight are revealed to us as we tap into the thought which is God, supplying us in ways we never knew existed. I eagerly anticipate this new perception!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"The effects of Christian Science are not so much seen as felt. It is the 'still, small voice' of Truth uttering itself. We are either turning away from this utterance, or we are listening to it and going up higher."

Science & Health Page 323

November 8, 2012 - Take Possession of Your Body

"November Fall Day in the Ozarks"
photo by Sandy Wythawai Starbird

ACIM Workbook Lesson #312

“I see all things as I would have them be.”

We seem to have enacted laws of illness for ourselves. The common cold (as it's called!) is a perfect example of this, along with all the other disease we take for granted as being unavoidable. We think that certain symptoms appear then progress through phases, either to disappear or to become chronic. Do we have a choice in this progression? Many people, including myself, think that we do. A year ago today, I awoke with a runny nose and scratchy throat. I know it was a year ago because I first wrote about it last year on this date. It was a rainy day in late fall. Although the leaves were exceptionally beautiful at the time, something spectacular happened as the brown oak leaves evolved into glorious gold. I spent most of the day in a back room which overlooks the forest. As the rainy day progressed, so did the symptoms of this so-called cold . I would occasionally pick up Science & Health, open it at random, and ponder a passage as I enjoyed the exquisite fall colors. Around dusk, the rain stopped and something wonderful happened. The air seemed to be golden! The trees glowed and the sky was purple/pink. As I walked through our neighborhood, I realized two things: I didn't have a camera with me, and there were no more cold symptoms.  I'm glad my friend took this photo which is included today, and I'm glad to demonstrate the Truth of our Being as written of below by Mary Baker Eddy.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Take possession of your body, and govern its feeling and action. Rise in the strength of Spirit to resist all that is unlike good. God has made man capable of this, and nothing can vitiate the ability and power divinely bestowed on man."

Science & Health Page 393:10-15

November 7, 2012 -One Unified World

"Eureka Springs Fall"
photo by Randal Thompson

A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson #311

“I judge all things as I would have them be.”

I write this on the eve of a day of decisions for the people of the United States of America. I don't know who our president will be when we read this in the morning. And I don't care. Please don't take this to mean I haven't had my preferences based on numerous policies and choices which these candidates have told us they will enact or uphold. But I have never understood why we should have two or more political parties if everyone is for the good of all. This shift in consciousness we are incorporating into our lives on a moment-by-moment basis through these and other teachings -- these ideas which are showing us the truth of what we are -- this is all that matters. As with events in our daily lives, it is impossible to make a set of rules and follow them no matter what. We must have the flexibility to change and evolve in thought as circumstances unfold before us. We have come to believe we must have rules to protect ourselves from numerous forces. In the realization that there is only one force, one omniscient, omnipresent God, we are acknowledging and recognizing our Oneness. This unfoldment can take many faces, but if we're only expressing the Love that is God, there is nothing other than peace, justice, the innate goodness which we truly are, being expressed in every action -- for the Good of All.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“One infinite God, good, unifies men and nations; constitutes the brotherhood of man; ends wars; fulfils the Scripture, 'Love thy neighbor as thyself;' annihilates pagan and Christian idolatry,--whatever is wrong in social, civil, criminal, political, and religious codes; equalizes the sexes; annuls the curse on man, and leaves nothing that can sin, suffer, be punished or destroyed.”

Science & Health Page 340: 23-29

November 6, 2012 - I Spend This Day in Love

"Aaron and Friends World Cup 2010"

ACIM Workbook Lesson #310

“In fearlessness and love I spend today.”

The love we feel for friends and family is a foretaste of the possibilities of all-encompassing Love. This omniscient Love is what we are left with when all material belief and opinion is gone from thought. Recently, two of my son’s friends from forever came by to visit. It was as though they’d been with us every day. The time spent in our home was a sweet reminder of days gone by. At the time my children were growing up, I spent much more time every day in prayerful study and contemplation than I do now. Or so it seemed! But when I stop to think about it, every interaction is expressing this Love with a fearlessness that grows more complete every day. These seeds were planted and are still being nurtured by moment-to-moment expressions of Love. No matter what we do on a daily basis, this Love can be expressed in many ways – actually, in every way! And by loving yourself, you’re loving everyone. By living fearlessly, you’re spreading this confidence to all. I will go forth with loving gratitude today and expect only Good.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“If we look to the body for pleasure, we find pain; for Life, we find death; for Truth, we find error; for Spirit, we find its opposite, matter. Now reverse this action. Look away from the body into Truth and Love, the Principle of all happiness, harmony, and immortality. Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true, and you will bring these into your experience proportionably to their occupancy of your thoughts”

Science & Health  Page 260

November 5, 2012 - Election Decisions

"Aaron Listening in the Woods"
unknown photographer

ACIM Workbook Lesson #309

“I will not fear to look within today.”

On this day before a major election in the United States, most people are receiving an onslaught of commercials delineating reasons they should vote for various political candidates. Although I've taken myself out of this loop of communication, an occasional one slips through when I'm in a public setting. The intensity of the attacks on character and actions is surprising and unsettling to me. While I have made up my mind concerning who I plan to vote for, I've felt it's important to listen to the "other side" before voting. I have read about what the candidates espouse in their overall plans, and reluctantly have listened to a couple of youtube videos which a relative has sent me, telling why my ideas are wrong. This is a nice intellectual exercise, but it does nothing to show me Truth. That can only be found from going within. Mary Baker Eddy once told a reporter her only politics were to pray for a righteous government, to love her neighbor as herself, and to love God above all else. This last imperative is where I find Truth within. By giving away all beliefs concerning personality and past experiences, through the desire to know God, Truth is revealed in a sureness of inner knowing. With this knowledge, there is no reason for the material listenings I have done concerning the "facts" surrounding the political candidates. I think we've all seen that these so-called facts are no more than wishful dreams. Part of listening to Love includes prayerful affirmations that everyone, including our candidates, hears with this divine ear. Through this knowing, their actions will express the Love of God for the good of All. Be still and know ...

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“When speaking of God's children, not the children of men, Jesus said, 'The kingdom of God is within you;' that is, Truth and Love reign in the real man, showing that man in God's image is unfallen and eternal. Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals. In this perfect man the Saviour saw God's own likeness, and this correct view of man healed the sick. Thus Jesus taught that the kingdom of God is intact, universal, and that man is pure and holy. Man is not a material habitation for Soul; he is himself spiritual. Soul, being Spirit, is seen in nothing imperfect nor material.”

Science & Health Page 476-28-8

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