June 14, 2013 - Experiencing Divine Love

"Park City, Utah"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #165

“Let not my mind deny the Thought of God.”

Most of us "deny the Thought of God" without even realizing it. To understand that we are spiritual, right here and now, is to accept this Thought of God. I love this line from today's workbook lesson: “Sureness is not required to receive what only your acceptance can bestow." How cool is that??! We don't have to be sure of anything, we don't have to know anything, all we need do is be open to the Thought of God. There is no requirement, other than a desire to expand thought, to be willing to live Truth. When we actively set aside all supposititious material laws, another way of living opens to us. We experience divine Love as a palpable force, and it shows us a peace deeper than we ever imagined. A single glimpse of eternity is sufficient to show us that is what's been missing in this existence. Today I will demonstrate spiritual reality and glory in its every manifestation!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Mind, joyous in strength, dwells in the realm of Mind. Mind's infinite ideas run and disport themselves. In humility they climb the heights of holiness.”

Science & Health Page 514:6-9

June 13, 2013 - One With God

"Artrageous Parade"
photo by Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #164

“Now are we one with Him Who is our Source."

With the understanding that we are one with God, glimmers of Truth start to shine in our thought. If we truly are united in goodness, wondrous avenues open for us! We needn't be victims of mortal mind and its manifestations. We can take a stand for goodness and harmony, knowing that it is our birthright as a child of God.

Mary Baker Eddy quote: 

"As mortals gain more correct views of God and man, multitudinous objects of creation, which before were invisible, will become visible. When we realize that Life is Spirit, never in nor of matter, this understanding will expand into self-completeness, finding all in God, good, and needing no other consciousness.”

Science & Health Page 264:13-19

June 12, 2013 - Life is Timeless

"Timeless Beauty"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #163 

"There is no death. The Son of God is free."

There are many meanings, both literal and metaphorical, which come to mind when thinking of the word "death". The first thought which came to me upon reading today's topic was the death we experience when we are born into this existence. Suddenly our spiritual sense is deadened by the deluge of materialistic stimuli which constantly bombards us. In this forgetting of the Truth of our Being, life becomes very uncertain. We vacillate between inharmonious circumstances, until we recognize our relation to divine Mind. Then we begin to see glimpses of eternity. We start to realize the unreality of time and space. I think we've always known this. Perhaps it's part of the dissatisfaction so often felt when "feeling out of sight for the ends of being and ideal grace." (Browning)  We know there's something more than this, and we keep grasping at what it might be. We search for freedom from the belief that we are victims of circumstance. We have the choice of waking up! Today's lesson gives many examples of how we allow death to be stronger than life. To wake up from this dream of erroneous thought, let's switch on the light of Truth. Then we are able to see that we have it backwards. There is no need to fear this life which can only end in death. Instead we'll allow ourselves to see through the veil we have hung to hide the truth of our being. With this sight will come the understanding of Life as timeless.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The chief stones in the temple of Christian Science are to be found in the following postulates: that Life is God, good, and not evil; that Soul is sinless, not to be found in the body; that Spirit is not, and cannot be, materialized; that Life is not subject to death; that the spiritual real man has no birth, no material life, and no death.”

Science & Health Page 288:20-25

June 11, 2013 - How am I Created?

"Mongolia 2009"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #162

“I am as God created me."

When we hear the above statement, "I am as God created me", we may think that this "me" is our body, which is subject to material circumstance. The same goes when we hear that we are created in the image and likeness of God. How could terrible things be perpetrated by the image and likeness of God? It must be that this body is not what is created by divine Mind, God. Does that make this body worthless, perhaps even abhorrent? Of course not!! By accepting our Being as an idea of divine Mind, we are freed to see the body as a compound idea, an aggregate creation, but not the image and likeness of God, which is spiritual. I remember how upset my oldest son was when he first heard the scientific statement of being, which is the Mary Baker Eddy quote below. It says that there is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. He was angry because he thought it was saying he wasn't smart, and he knew he was. "No intelligence in matter" means that you express all of the intelligence of divine Mind, and none of that Mind is found to originate or even exist in the material shell we call a body. The love we feel and express, the intelligence we utilize in a multitude of ways, these are not originated in a brain or a heart. But they are translated into expression through this human body. So the way I see it, human experience should be celebrated and utilized to its fullest! And that fullness comes from the acknowledgement of the Source of all goodness. "Therefore man is not material; he is spiritual."

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Question: What is the scientific statement of being?

Answer: There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all. Spirit is immortal Truth; matter is mortal error. Spirit is the real and eternal; matter is the unreal and temporal. Spirit is God, and man is His image and likeness. Therefore man is not material; he is spiritual."

Science & Health Page 468:8-16

June 10, 2013 - Inner Peace

"Yellowstone National Park"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #161

“Give me your blessing, holy Son of God.”

Often in times of trouble, we seem to become stuck in our feelings, thinking there is no way out, perhaps wishing we could die. Mrs. Eddy posits that we will be surprised when we die and find out we're not dead! Salvation must be worked out here or hereafter, she tells us. I remember this in times of sadness or turmoil. There is no escape other than through an understanding that we are a reflection of God, good, and that everything else is unreal. By bringing thought back to this truth time and again, we begin to see the veracity of it and the falsity of any other way of seeing this experience. Our inner peace cannot be taken away, even if joy seems to have disappeared!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"’Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.’ It should be thoroughly understood that all men have one Mind, one God and Father, one Life, Truth, and Love. Mankind will become perfect in proportion as this fact becomes apparent, war will cease and the true brotherhood of man will be established." Science & Health Page 467:16-20

June 9, 2013 - Be Yourself!

"South Africa Lake"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #160

“I am at home. Fear is the stranger here.”

Just be yourself! Countless times I heard this admonition from my mom. I don't recall wanting to think like my friends did, as much as wanting to have what they had and do what they did. And so then I'd hear from her, "If everyone was jumping off a cliff, would you do it, too?" "Well, yes, mom, I certainly would", I would tell her. It's so easy to fall into the habit of being a lemming and thinking as those around us do. The act of realizing our true heritage as the child of divine Mind is the beginning of freedom from this bondage of mortal mind. My home is Love. Anything else is a stranger in that home. And so I relax into the comfort of my true home, turning away from every fearful thought. This acronym for fear will help me do this: False Evidence Appearing Real.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The Apostle John says: "There is no fear in Love, but perfect Love casteth out fear. . . . He that feareth is not made perfect in Love." Here is a definite and inspired proclamation of Christian Science.”

Science & Health Page 410:17-21

June 8, 2013 - What is Healed?

"Forbidden City Acrobats"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #159

“I give the miracles I have received.”

When someone asks us for help with healing, we are not trying to change a physical condition, but rather to change thought about the situation. Although we tend to think there are certain laws of living which cannot be usurped, most of us have witnessed numerous examples of how this is not so. We have witnessed what appears to be a law set aside, and society generally thinks of this as supernatural intervention. In Christian Science, we call these events the demonstration of Truth. Today's ACIM workbook lesson asks us to give what we have received. This sharing of the understanding of our relationship to God is gained through our living of it. When we let ourselves slip into that space which releases all mortal thought, we allow the "Mind to be us, which was also Christ Jesus". Through this simple -- yet not always easy -- process, we give all we have accepted, and this is sometimes referred to as healing. I look forward to giving everything I have received, and by that giving, I will come to understand what it truly is.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Implicit faith in the Teacher and all the emotional love we can bestow on him, will never alone make us imitators of him. We must go and do likewise, else we are not improving the great blessings which our Master worked and suffered to bestow upon us. The divinity of the Christ was made manifest in the humanity of Jesus."

Science & Health Page 25:27-33