June 7, 2013 - What Are We Receiving?

"Colorado Summer"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #158

“Today I learn to give as I receive.”

Before we learn to give as we receive, we must realize what we are receiving! It could be said we're receiving the gifts of God. But what is that? We are learning it is the knowledge that our true state is Spirit, that we are one with All That Is. We needn't worry that we're not good enough, that we don't know enough, that we've made too many mistakes to qualify as the reflection of God. All those thoughts have been propagated as fact, but they are only material belief. What we are receiving is this Truth, and that is what we give with every breath, with every inspiration.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Mind creates [Its] own likeness in ideas, and the substance of an idea is very far from being the supposed substance of non-intelligent matter. Hence the Father Mind is not the father of matter. The material senses and human conceptions would translate spiritual ideas into material beliefs, and would say that an anthropomorphic God, instead of infinite Principle,--in other words, divine Love,--is the father of the rain, ‘who hath begotten the drops of dew,’ who bringeth ‘forth Mazzaroth in his season,’ and guideth ‘Arcturus with his sons.’” 

Science & Health Page 257:12-21

June 6, 2013 - I Am God's Image

"China - 2009"
Photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #157

“Into His Presence would I enter now.”

"Practicing the Presence" is the first book I read by Joel Goldsmith. What wonderful, Life-affirming writings he has penned for us! Let us remember that we already are and always will be "in his Presence". The space "I enter now" is a shift in perception, a change of thought. This shift allows us to realize that we always were and always will be the image, the reflection, of God. I Am that I Am. If good news were reported in the media, it would be proclaiming instances of this yielding to Truth. I see it everywhere! I trust you do, too. That's what it's all about, huh? What I give, I receive. What I receive, I give. We are being "renewed by the transforming of our mind". We're transforming our mind into Mind, and entering into the kingdom of heaven. How lovely to know we have that choice!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“One moment of divine consciousness, or the spiritual understanding of Life and Love, is a foretaste of eternity. Time is a mortal thought, the divisor of which is the solar year. Eternity is God's measurement of Soul-filled years.”

Science & Health Page 598:23-28

June 5, 2013 - Trust

"Mongolian Mountaintop"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #156

“I walk with God in perfect holiness.”

Do you think you do -- or even can! -- "walk with God in perfect holiness"? How would a person do that? It certainly would involve giving up all need to know what's going to happen next. There must be a certain yielding of self will; a yielding to being led by Love, by Mind, by Truth. I must trust that these attributes of God, in which we share, are reliable reality, here and now, forever. Today I will follow intuition, listening for divine Mind to guide.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“We must look where we would walk, and we must act as possessing all power from Him in whom we have our being.”

Science & Health Page 264:10-12

June 4, 2013 - Choose Again

"Reflections in Vietnam Memorial"
photo by Aaron Springston

A Course in Miracles Lesson #155

“I will step back and let Him lead the way.”

Our burgeoning understanding of the one Principle is setting us free from the bonds of mortal laws. And yet sometimes it seems as though we're back to baby steps, faltering over the simplest of decisions and becoming fearful of all the what-ifs. At times like this, we tend to say we're having a bad day. I often laugh when people tell me this, observing that the day has nothing to do with it; it's our perception of events. Well, I've had a difficult day today. That's the way I took it. It seems that once something goes awry, our little self starts to expect more of the same. And so we get it. But acceptance of myself as God's image and likeness allows me to  step back from the planning and worry which can so easily become habitual. I don't like the choices I made today, so tomorrow I'll choose again!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Spiritual sense, contradicting the material senses, involves intuition, hope, faith, understanding, fruition, reality. Material sense expresses the belief that mind is in matter. This human belief, alternating between a sense of pleasure and pain, hope and fear, life and death, never reaches beyond the boundary of the mortal or the unreal. When the real is attained, which is announced by Science, joy is no longer a trembler, nor is hope a cheat. Spiritual ideas, like numbers and notes, start from Principle, and admit no materialistic beliefs. Spiritual ideas lead up to their divine origin, God, and to the spiritual sense of being.” 

Science & Health Page 298:13-24

June 3, 2013 - I'm Listening!

"Fun at Crystal Bridges"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #154

“I am among the ministers of God.”

As I ponder what it means to be a minister of God, many thoughts come to mind. First I think of my half-brother, Little George Havens, traveling evangelist. He was quite short and very flamboyant! I can still hear him singing, to the tune of Battle Hymn of the Republic, "The circuit ridin' preacher traveled through the mire and mud; preached about the fiery furnace and of Noah and the flood". What a character he was! He spend his life spreading the Word of God as he knew it. And he helped countless people find hope along the way. But did he ever listen for the voice for God, or did he just recite what he had come to believe as Truth? That, I can't say. We can only know our own heart, not others'. And so today I will examine my motives in my interactions. Am I truly listening for that still, small voice when I respond to life's situations? That's a question I'll ask more than once today!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Millions of unprejudiced minds--simple seekers for Truth, weary wanderers, athirst in the desert--are waiting and watching for rest and drink. Give them a cup of cold water in Christ's name, and never fear the consequences.”

Science & Health Page 570:14-17 

June 2, 2013 - Acceptance of Good

photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #153

“In my defenselessness my safety lies.”

The world we live in teaches us we should try to defend against any contingency which may come up -- i.e., get your inoculations, take out insurance for every possible disaster, check your blood pressure, teach your children not to talk to strangers -- the list goes on and on. Acceptance of good as the only reality is where our safety lies. Is it even possible to protect our mortal selves from every material malady which may befall us? Of course not. But we can be aware of the still, small voice which is always guiding us in our every action, when we listen. Trust yourself! Listen to your instinctual prompts. This is where safety lies. I now see that defensive behavior is nothing more than trusting in suppositional evil more than the good which is God. Trusting Mind, Soul, Spirit, Principle, Truth, Life, Love, God, is how safety is experienced. Then a peace you've always dreamed of is actualized, and you find yourself imparting that peace to others, through your living of it.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Instead of tenaciously defending the supposed rights of disease, while complaining of the suffering disease brings, would it not be well to abandon the defense, especially when by so doing our own condition can be improved and that of other persons as well?”

Science & Health Page 348:21-25

June 1, 2013 - My Decision

Photo by Aaron Springston

A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson #152

“The power of decision is my own.”

A dear friend sends out a monthly newsletter. The focus of the latest one is how much he enjoyed a movie about Jackie Robinson. He tells us of how racial prejudice has changed since the days he was a child. While he acknowledges that its face has changed, he feels it is still prevalent, and perhaps worse. Today's topic addresses this in its expansive infinity: "The power of decision is my own."  The way I think about things can be changeable, but the way I really think about things, in my function as a reflection of God, is unchangeable. Basically the only decision I need make is whether to think in changeable, material beliefs or allow myself the freedom to think as God does. I know this can seem impossible, but it is certainly a worthy endeavor! My parents considered themselves to be free of prejudice. After all, my dad had married a Chicano girl from South Texas, and in 1931 this was tantamount to marrying outside of "your race", which wasn't often done. I'll always remember a day when I was around 10 years old and we riding in the car. My mom and dad were talking about Sammy Davis, Jr., a black man, marrying May Britt, a very white woman. I piped up and said, "I wouldn't mind marrying a black man". Dead silence ensued. Not another word was said until we got to our destination and my mom took me aside and told me never to say anything like that again. I didn't understand it then, and I don't understand it now. The difference is that now I have the option of making a decision to stand with Oneness as my only choice in Life. We are all the children of God. There is no decision to be made when you leave aside the strange human interpretations we have placed on everything in this world. So I will continue to strive to recognize what we have created in this illusive world, look through it to the other side, and live that as my reality. Namaste' to the World!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The point for each one to decide is, whether it is mortal mind or immortal Mind that is causative. We should forsake the basis of matter for metaphysical Science and its divine Principle.”

Science & Health Page 195:11-14