December 29, 2012 - Your Direction Gives me Peace

"Mountaintop Experience in Mongolia"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #363

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

It's tempting to think that following divine direction leads to epiphanies in thought and action.  The daily, quietly-received followings are the ones that excite me. This was shown to me when my son and I were making video segments for a virtual studio tour of the artists of Eureka Thyme. After a full day of interviewing and recording artists, it was my turn to do a shoot at the gallery. I didn't anticipate any problems and hadn't planned what to say because I trust these thoughts to flow from their source through me. After the first "take" my son made some suggestions about what I should be saying. At this point, I started to think and plan what I was going to say. He even suggested I practice what I would say, and I did. This was the beginning of an hour-long series of starts and stops which digressed to the point of me not being able to get past saying my name before being tongue-tied or making an odd face. It was ridiculous! At this point, he suggested I speak from the heart. And so I slipped back into my native state of trusting that I will know what to say and do. I got out of my way and let the only Way come through. Could this be why so many creative geniuses have been imbibers of spirits? When we get away from habitual mindsets, there is a freedom which flows through us. It's easy to believe we need help in leaving worn out thoughts behind. But do we? I'm going to let my heart answer this one.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Mind is not necessarily dependent upon educational processes. It possesses of itself all beauty and poetry, and the power of expressing them. Spirit, God, is heard when the senses are silent. We are all capable of more than we do. The influence or action of Soul confers a freedom, which explains the phenomena of improvisation and the fervor of untutored lips."

Science & Health Page 89:18-24

December 28, 2012 - Kinship with All Things

"Whitefish Lake - Montana"
photo by Aaron Springston 

ACIM Workbook Lesson #362

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

I have mentioned many times in this past year that I feel animals are showing us the way to living our true Being. Not only do they mirror back to us any emotions we may be secretly harboring, they show us how to communicate more effectively through telepathy and actions, rather than words. In watching "The Dog Whisperer", I have gained many insights into the reasons our dogs often seem neurotic and out of control. The reason always comes back to us, the people who love these dogs. It’s a wonderful opportunity for us to see what we're really thinking! Calm, assertive behavior is the mantra of Cesar Milan, the dog Whisperer. And assertive doesn't mean aggressive. It involves a certainty which is only attained through inner knowledge only heard in quiet, calm moments. These moments express the eternal holy instant where we forever abide with the certainty of peace. So I will continue to watch and learn from observing this kinship with all things living. 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Let us rid ourselves of the belief that man is separated from God, and obey only the divine Principle, Life and Love. Here is the great point of departure for all true spiritual growth."

Science & Health Page 91:3-6

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