December 27, 2012 - Peace

"Peaceful Christmas"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #361

"This holy instant would I give to You. Be You in charge. For I would follow You, Certain that Your direction gives me peace."

The introduction to these final lessons tells us that we now want to go beyond words. Words will be used only as a reminder of that which we do not want in our lives any longer. We have been practicing letting go of each and every belief we've ever held to be true -- or false! I am reminded of an Infinite Way tape which is entitled "There Is No Health". By the admission that there is good health, you leave the door open for the belief that there is bad health. This same principle is at work in every facet of our lives. In ceasing to think of anything as good or bad, we are simply open to what Is. Everything I need, whether it be a word, a thought, any thing, appears when I am open with no expectations. 

Peace ~~~

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"God gives you His spiritual ideas, and in turn, they give you daily supplies.”

Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, Page 307

December 26, 2012 - Acts of Kindness

"Mongolian Mountains at Dusk"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #360

"Peace be to me, the holy Son of God. Peace to my brother, who is one with me. Let all the world be blessed with peace through us."

Every time I see a bumper sticker which proclaims "Random Acts of Kindness", or hear of another person promoting good deeds through something like a "Pay It Forward" campaign, it reaffirms my conviction that soon everyone will be expressing the Love from which they are made. Many friends have related their personal stories of such events, and a favorite is from one who lives in Chicago. She has a business on a busy street and has set up her own pay it forward campaign with a box for people to put spare change for the needy. Recently she noticed that a truck stopped outside and two men got out. They were looking at the sign explaining what the box was for, and one of the men bent over the box. So she went outside to see what they were up to. As money was missing from the box, she explained to the man what it was for, whereupon he became verbally abusive to her and got into his vehicle and drove away. Shortly after this, she was relating the story to a couple of people who came into her flower shop. They all decided that this was not the innate nature of this man and they should be silent for a few moments and affirm his reality as a child of Love. She tells me an hour had barely passed when this man came back in and apologized to her and put money into the box. I think this story exemplifies every change of heart we are all witnessing everywhere! I encourage you to share your stories with others through blogs and Facebook pages and everyone you interact with. One of my favorite ways of encouraging the growth of expressed goodness is through Charlie Johnson's campaign: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orzoXmx6b3g

Just this moment I received an email with a blog which seems pertinent to our affirmative expressions:www.LifeTapestryCreations.com

Of course, I love Jim Young's site: www.CreationSpirit.net 

Join with me in spreading the Word in whatever way is comfortable for you. Love and light to you, dear Friends!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Let us learn of the real and eternal, and prepare for the reign of Spirit, the kingdom of heaven,—the reign and rule of universal harmony, which cannot be lost nor remain forever unseen."

Science & Health Page 208:20-24

December 25, 2012 - Peace Like a River

ACIM Workbook Lesson #359 

"God's answer is some form of peace. All pain is healed; all misery replaced with joy. All prison doors are opened. And all sin is understood as merely a mistake." 

Peace like a river. As I read the above words this is what keeps coming to mind. Peace like a river. On this beautiful Christmas morning, I allow all imprisoning beliefs to leave my mind, while welcoming God through the Science of the Christ. The Christ that we celebrate today is the spirit which is God, which flows through each and every thing there is. It leads us to healing in all thought and deed. It keeps us happy, safe, wholly directed by eternal Truth to green pastures and quiet repose. Peace like a river, flowing before and around us, pulling and pushing wherever we need to be. I won't fight the flow. I'll float and rest in the Christ consciousness which we celebrate today. This Spirit which permeates everything is recognized by me for what it is: God's answer.

Mary Baker Eddy quote: "This homely origin of the babe Jesus falls far short of my sense of the eternal Christ, Truth, never born and never dying. I celebrate Christmas with my soul, my spiritual sense, and so commemorate the entrance into human understanding of the Christ conceived of Spirit, of God and not of a woman—as the birth of Truth, the dawn of divine Love breaking upon the gloom of matter and evil with the glory of infinite being.”

The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 262

December 24, 2012 - Desire is Prayer

"Mongolian Shaman"
fabric Creation of
Sandy Wythawai Starbird

ACIM Workbook Lesson #358 

"No call to God can be unheard nor left unanswered. And of this I can be sure; His answer is the one I really want." 

Today's lesson tells us why there is no need for audible prayer, constant pleadings, repetitious affirmations, or anything else which falls under the heading of talking to God. All is known to the divine Principle of all being. We can't tell It anything! But we can listen. By this listening we remember who we are and become aware of our purpose. There is nothing other than the Love that is God. When we yield to this fact, wonderful things unfold!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Thoughts unspoken are not unknown to the divine Mind. Desire is prayer, and no loss can occur from trussing God with our desires, that they may be molded and exalted before they take form in words and in deeds." 

Science & Health Page 1:1-10

December 23, 2012 - The Truth Is The Truth

"Mongolian Mountains"
photo by Aaron Springston

A CIM Workbook Lesson #357

"Truth answers every call we make to God, Responding first with miracles, and then

Returning unto us to be itself."

The Course in Miracles lessons are such sweet tools to guide us through the principles we examine daily. The Christian Science Weekly Lesson consists of 26 topics which are rotated through twice a year. Watching these two disciplines flirt with each other and culminate in a merging which is imperceptible in its union has been an exciting adventure this year! The Truth is the Truth no matter where you find it. What I love about these two ways of thought is that there is no conflict, no space where I must set one aside for the other, they are both saying the exact same thing. They each have an elegant delivery, and I see images from them in different ways, but it's the same thing. May we all realize our sameness when we meet and talk. As a popular soft drink commercial has been telling us for years: "I'd like to teach the the world to sing in perfect harmony!" And now we're realizing we've always known this, and we're finding ways to demonstrate this Truth.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"We call the absence of Truth, error, Truth and error are unlike. In Science, Truth is divine, and the infinite God can have no unlikeness. Did God, Truth, create error? No! 'Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?' God being everywhere and all-inclusive, how can He be absent or suggest the absence of omnipresence and omnipotence? How can there be more than all?"

Science & Health Page 287:9-15 

December 22, 2012 - Sunlight of Truth

"Full Moon/Misty Night: Eureka"
photo by Chris Fischer

ACIM Workbook Lesson #356 "Sickness is but another name for sin. Healing is but another name for God. The miracle is thus a call to Him."

The first sentence in today's ACIM workbook lesson could be upsetting to someone who is not familiar with the spiritual sense of the words we use in both these teachings and Christian Science. When we hear "Sickness is but another name for sin", the immediate response could be to think this means we're sinners and, hence, are being punished for it by sickness. We are learning that sin is defined as anything which separates us from the Love which is God. If we believe in another power other than God, this is termed sin. Most of us have been taught that sickness, evil, and many other negative aspects of this existence are powers unto themselves, over which we have little to no control. The law of God, the spiritual Principle which we are learning, negates these material, mesmeric thoughts. By that negation, we come to see that our real Being is as a reflection of the one and only Cause, God. Anything else is a learned response in a material world. As we wake up to the Truth of Being, multitudes of things we thought to be our masters turn out to be nothing more than smoke and mirrors. As we lift the veil and reveal reality, the quotations we read here today begin to be more than mere words. They are principles we live.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Christian Science brings to the body the sunlight of Truth, which invigorates and purifies." 

Science & Health Page 162:4-5

December 21, 2012 - No End to Peace & Joy

"Sunny Ski Day in Utah"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #355 

"There is no end to all the peace and joy, And all the miracles that I will give, When I accept God's Word. Why not today?"

Our true selves are the creation, the image and likeness of God. Why then is there so much which seems to be unGodlike? Because God did not create matter. This human body we seem to reside in, to be inseparable from, is not our true self. When we declare our perfection as a child of God, that perfection has absolutely nothing to do with this material world we are living in. If God created everything and it is good, that cannot encompass the dual good/bad stuff we see around us. Our vision for today is to see with the eyes of our true Being. That true Being does not change. Reality does not change. What doesn't change? Our true Selves which are the image and likeness of the One; that which we all truly are. So what good does it do to realize that we're not what we see with our so-called mortal eyes? It brings us into harmony with what is True. Declaring the Truth of our Being is more than just a mental exercise. It's establishing this Truth within our thought. This establishment leads to demonstration of Truth. This demonstration of Truth brings us back to where we began, and never leads us anywhere other than to the home which is forever within -- wherever in eternity that may be.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"To divest thought of false trusts and material evidences in order that the spiritual facts of being may appear,--this is the great attainment by means of which we shall sweep away the false and give place to the true. Thus we may establish in truth the temple, or body, 'whose builder and maker is God.'" 

Science & Health Page 423:9-14