January 5, 2012 - No Cause for Upset

"Aaron with Falcon in Mongolia"

ACIM Workbook Lesson #5

“I am never upset for the reason I think.”

We think in terms of something upsetting us. Then we like to build up reasons why we are justified in this upset. Today we are asked to forget about any reason for feeling hurt, or angry, or irritated. When a friend shared with me a step into peace and out of worry which she experienced over the holidays, I was reminded that we don't need to examine the form our feelings take. One of her daughters was very upset with her, for reasons which are not important to this writing. And my friend chose to not make those reasons important to her either. She was aware that her beloved daughter was upset, but she was also aware that she couldn't fix it. She knows that her peace doesn't depend on any outside source."Truth is not contaminated by error." As long as we are living in Truth, no amount of erroneous thought can affect our natural state of harmony. So let's not worry about why we may be upset, but reach to the other side of this emotion and realize the One reason we are at peace.

Mary Baker Eddy quote: "Harmony is produced by its Principle, is controlled by it and abides with it. Divine Principle is the Life of man. Man's happiness is not, therefore, at the disposal of physical sense. Truth is not contaminated by error. Harmony in man is as beautiful as in music, and discord is unnatural, unreal."

Science & Health Page 304:17-22

January 4, 2013 - No Meaning Equals Truth

A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson #4

“These thoughts do not mean anything. They are like the things I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place].” 

"Glacier National Park"
photo by Aaron Springston

Sometimes I think I can trick myself into not placing meaning on things. For instance, I'll decide that if I see something I've never seen before, I won't put any extraneous meaning to it. Wrong! I just saw a photo of an animal I'd never seen before. My first thought was of how cute it looked, then I decided it was a squirrel -- nope, too small; it must be a chipmunk -- and on and on. It seems impossible to see something and not put some sort of meaning onto it. We suppose ourselves to be creators, and that our thought brings forth what is before us. But what is this thing we see? It can seem to be a pretty picture or an ugly one, according to what thoughts we have about it. And that's what we're practicing seeing beyond! Let's place no meaning, neither "good" nor "bad" on anything. To "let go and let God" requires a willingness to see everything around us just as it is, with no long-held beliefs being expressed toward anything, and to have a willingness to listen inwardly for Truth.  I look forward to the day of a universal epiphany of understanding that thought is, in its truest form, Spirit. That time of seeing reality as spiritual, not material, is visible to all who awaken to its knowledge. 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"The artist is not in his painting. The picture is the artist's thought objectified. The human belief fancies that it delineates thought on matter, but what is matter? Did it exist prior to thought? Matter is made up of supposititious mortal mind-force; but all might is divine Mind. Thought will finally be understood and seen in all form, substance, and color, but without material accompaniments. The potter is not in the clay; else the clay would have power over the potter. God is His own infinite Mind, and expresses all."

Science & Health  Page 310:1-10 

January 3, 2013 - Belief Yields to Inner Knowing

"Breckenridge, Colorado"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Lesson #3

“I do not understand anything I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place].”

So far this year, we have practiced releasing meanings which we have placed on everything, while seeing the unreality of these meanings. Today we can relax and admit we don't understand anything! All scholarly beliefs are yielding to the understanding which is revealed when we allow ourselves to be led by God. This listening, this following of intuition, and the demonstration of what we hear moment by moment, is the other-dimensional way of life which we are living in this time of the acknowledgement of enlightenment. Our native state is one which is illumined by this Truth. Overwhelming material beliefs are the only things which keep us separated from Truth. These daily exercises are developing our spiritual perception. Our desire to release erroneous mortal thoughts clear the way for us to see ourselves as God's Idea.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"God's ideas reflect the immortal, unerring, and infinite. The mortal, erring, and finite are human beliefs, which apportion to themselves a task impossible for them, that of distinguishing between the false and the true. Objects utterly unlike the original do not reflect that original. Therefore matter, not being the reflection of Spirit, has no real entity. Understanding is a quality of God ..." Science & Health Page 505:26-5

January 2, 2013 - Perceptions Color Meaning

"Swimming at Sunset - Zion National Park"
photo by Aaron Springston

A Course In Miracles Lesson #2

“I have given everything I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place] all the meaning that it has for me.”

Isn't it interesting how the meaning we give something can be entirely different from the meaning someone close to us has given it? And how often we can become embroiled in disagreements stemming from these different perceptions and meanings we affirm to be truth! This was illustrated for me when I wrote a transition piece about Bob the Cat which was published in our local paper. This was done (from my viewpoint) with no thought other than the love that our neighborhood felt for this exceptional animal. But one of my neighbors felt that she was slighted in my depiction of the role she played in Bob's life. The meaning she and I had placed on a number of things soon became evident. As I mulled these difference over, I vowed not to make any assumptions about how she was feeling. By not placing any meaning on her reactions, I was able to walk away from our discussion with no hurt feelings on my part. So does this mean that I won't be interpreting anything and putting it in writing? Obviously not! But it does mean I will continue to work daily, moment by moment, to see through pure eyes, devoid of changeable material beliefs, and glowing with Love.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Erroneous belief is destroyed by truth. Change the evidence, and that disappears which before seemed real to this false belief, and the human consciousness rises higher. Thus the reality of being is attained and man found to be immortal. The only fact concerning any material concept is, that it is neither scientific nor eternal, but subject to change and dissolution."

Science & Health Page 297:12-19

January 1, 2013 - Freedom from Belief

"Bryce Canyon Sunrise"
photo by Aaron Springston

A Course in Miracles Lesson #1

“Nothing I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place] means anything.”

Everything is important; nothing is important. This much-repeated Buddhist axiom is the first thing which comes to mind when reading today's lesson. We tend to place meaning and importance on everything around us, in varying degrees of intensity, with good and bad connotations. We set up a dualistic situation with absolutely everything, and then we tell ourselves that it's necessary. People often say that if we didn't have bad, we wouldn't know and appreciate good. I think it's worth giving it a try, don't you? Let's allow it to just Be and see if we don't appreciate how wonderfully perfect it all is! Let's not worry when things are harmonious, wondering how long it can last. Let's accept what's happening around us without placing a meaning on it. The freedom gained from this abandonment of preconceived notions is our heritage. Let's not be shy about claiming it!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"The enslavement of man is not legitimate. It will cease when man enters into his heritage of freedom, his God-given dominion over the material senses."

Science & Health Page 228:11-13

December 31, 2012 - Retrospection

"Yield" Steel Sculpture at Crystal Bridges
by Roxy Paine
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #365

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

At this time of introspection and retrospection, I'm remembering the disciplines people practice which are based in Love. In this parenthesis in eternity we are all recognizing the principle we know as Love. Everyone I talk to is excited about the prospect of this shift in consciousness! Even those who fear change are wondering what is happening, and many are embracing it. The number of changes we're witnessing around us testify to the major thought turn-arounds we're experiencing. We are learning what reality is, and spending every moment seeing it in our experience. This knowledge and demonstration is what spurs us onward in our daily expression of Oneness. We have a willingness to expel from thought anything which is not a reflection of this Love. The peace of God is ours for the recognition of it.  Happy New Year -- now and every moment! 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"The divine hand led me into a new world of light and Life, a fresh universe -- old to God, but new to His 'little one.' It became evident that the divine Mind alone must answer, and be found as the Life, or Principle, of all being; and that one must acquaint himself with God, if he would be at peace."

Retrospection and Introspection Page 27:29-4

December 30, 2012 - Living Love

"Aaron and the Great Wall"
photographer unknown

ACIM Workbook Lesson #364

"This holy instant would I give to You.

Be You in charge. For I would follow You,

Certain that Your direction gives me peace."

All the insecurities, the feelings of loss and lack, the guilt and blame, all these things are losing their reality to us. Now that we see the unreality of these beliefs within ourselves, it's hard not pointing them out to others when they present themselves! These last few days, I've noticed what I do say in the face of negativity, fear, anger, and hate. After a snide racial comment from a terse-lipped woman, I said, "Keep smiling!" Upon which she gave me a fake smile, and I gave her a small Namaste' bow and left. When asked advice concerning someone's unhappiness, (knowing through experience that none of us can fix any other of us) my only suggestion was to concentrate on what brings happiness and fulfillment, and the unhappiness and emptiness will be lost in its face. We live what we've learned, giving to others from our receiving. What fun to see the joy this day will bring!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The sculptor turns from the marble to his model in order to perfect his conception. We are all sculptors, working at various forms, moulding and chiseling thought. What is the model before mortal mind? Is it imperfection, joy, sorrow, sin, suffering? Have you accepted the mortal model? Are you reproducing it? Then you are haunted in your work by vicious sculptors and hideous forms. Do you not hear from all mankind of the imperfect model? The world is holding it before your gaze continually. The result is that you are liable to follow those lower patterns, limit your lifework, and adopt into your experience the angular outline and deformity of matter models. To remedy this, we must first turn our gaze in the right direction, and then walk that way. We must form perfect models in thought and look at them continually, or we shall never carve them out in grand and noble lives.”

Science & Health Page 248:12-29