August 17, 2013 - I Am Love

"Rocky Mountain Trail"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #229

“Love, which created me, is what I am."

Very few of us have no regrets when we look back at our lives. Sometimes it's tempting to replay them in our minds and think of ways we could have done things differently. Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese man who lost his family during the war in the 60s. He has spent his life practicing peace and showing others how to do the same. He helps American Viet Nam vets forgive themselves. He tells them that no matter how bad they feel, it will never bring back the lives that were lost. But they can help people today. He shows us how to be the Love which we are. Peace Is the Path, he tells us. I want to follow that Path, without looking back.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Love inspires, illumines, designates, and leads the way. Right motives give pinions to thought, and strength and freedom to speech and action. Love is priestess at the altar of Truth. Wait patiently for divine Love to move upon the waters of mortal mind, and form the perfect concept. Patience must 'have her perfect work.'" 

Science & Health Page 454:18-24

August 16, 2013 - Choose again

"Mongolia Sky"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #228

“God has condemned me not. No more do I."

It seems so easy to condemn thoughtlessly. When this happens with me, I always feel like I've "fallen off the wagon". Oops, another condemnation! During a charity event recently, I found myself in a conversation where I was condemning a faction of tourists who visit our town, and the woman I was chatting with was blaming another segment of our society for other things. Was my face red when I realized what I was doing. Pointing a finger always leaves three pointing back at myself, and I really felt it tonight! For this reason, I will practice loving actively. Or maybe it's gratitude that will trigger a return to Love. Whatever the case, I will hasten to drop the inflammatory words and thoughts I experienced in this interlude. And I will choose again.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Now is the time for so-called material pains and material pleasures to pass away, for both are unreal, because impossible in Science. To break this earthly spell, mortals must get the true idea and divine Principle of all that really exists and governs the universe harmoniously. This thought is apprehended slowly, and the interval before its attainment is attended with doubts and defeats as well as triumphs.”

Science & Health Page 39:23-30

August 15, 2013 - Released to See

"Wildflowers in the Rockies"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #227

“This is my holy instant of release.”

What it is which keeps people from wanting to know God? It would seem there are many reasons, ranging from a misunderstanding of what deity actually is, extending to a fear of losing independence and individuality, and including simple embarrassment from giving yourself to something which cannot be intellectually explained. Some of us want a quick fix and believe it would take too much time to understand something we've been taught is unknowable. Others of us feel unworthy of gaining favor from this great judgmental being, and run the other way. There are as many reasons as there are people, but ultimately it doesn't matter what we think about such things. Every moment is a holy instant whether we realize it or not. Let's not worry about what is not, but let us focus on what Is. By recognizing illusion, the way is cleared to see Truth. I relax into it today!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“If Life or Soul and its representative, man, unite for a period and then are separated as by a law of divorce to be brought together again at some uncertain future time and in a manner unknown, — and this is the general religious opinion of mankind, — we are left without a rational proof of immortality. But man cannot be separated for an instant from God, if man reflects God. Thus Science proves man’s existence to be intact."

Science and Health Page 306:11-20

August 14, 2013 -Hurry Home!

"Aaron in South Africa"
photo by Heather Magnan

ACIM Workbook Lesson #226

“My home awaits me. I will hasten there.”

What does it mean that my home awaits me? How does this affect my existence? Accepting the Truth of our being has surprising translations. One manifestation I look forward to experiencing is communication without words. We see this sharing of thought in the animal kingdom. It can be observed in watching birds fly in formation, or your dog expecting you home five minutes before you get there, or any number of insights we allow into our awareness. With each stretching past our accepted limitations, fresh insights will appear. I watch those who are frightened of this new/old way of living. They find reasons to stand still, afraid that things could be worse than they are. I see you, dear One, flying, leaving behind stuck thought and seeing from a higher perspective than you knew was possible. Today I change my mind about the purpose of the world, and live the kingdom of God which is within. Therein lies the safety of home.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Take heart, dear sufferer, for this reality of being will surely appear sometime and in some way. There will be no more pain, and all tears will be wiped away. When you read this, remember Jesus' words, "The kingdom of God is within you." This spiritual consciousness is therefore a present possibility.”

Science & Health Page 573:27-2

August 13, 2013 - Living Love

"Happy Child in Mongolia"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #225

“God is my Father, and His Son loves Him.”

The ebb and flow of divine Love does not mean that it comes and goes like the tide, but that there is an ever-present circulation between its Source and the creation of divine Mind. Divine creation includes you and me, our true Selves as the reflection of this Love. The admission to myself that there is only one thing I want, which is to know God, to understand the relation of myself to All that Is, allows me to confess the Love I feel for God and all of Creation. Releasing the full power of this divine Love is translated into loving actions and thoughts in everyday life. We need not plan to be kind and loving, but by loving only God this expression is found in surprising ways!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Not materially but spiritually we know Him as divine Mind, as Life, Truth, and Love. We shall obey and adore in proportion as we apprehend the divine nature and love Him understandingly, warring no more over the corporeality, but rejoicing in the affluence of our God. Religion will then be of the heart and not of the head. Mankind will no longer be tyrannical and proscriptive from lack of love,--straining out gnats and swallowing camels.”

Science & Health Page 140:7-14

August 12, 2013 - One

"South Africa - World Cup 2010"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #224

“God is my Father, and He loves His Son.”

Today's ACIM lesson tells us that God is my Father and He loves His Son. Take away material gender-related terms and know that we are all God's reflection and divine Love is equally available for all of us. There is no division by race or religion, no Love bestowed on someone who does good things and someone who fits the requirements to be called sinner. This perfect Love is available to all, simply for the accepting of it. So as we go through our daily activities, let's remember to treat everyone with the loving respect and courtesy with which we would afford a dearly beloved parent or child. Let kindness and joy spread to every person you come into contact with today, and everyday. We really are all created equally!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"One infinite God, good, unifies men and nations; constitutes the brotherhood of man; ends wars; fulfils the Scripture, “Love thy neighbor as thyself;” annihilates pagan and Christian idolatry, — whatever is wrong in social, civil, criminal, political, and religious codes; equalizes the sexes; annuls the curse on man, and leaves nothing that can sin, suffer, be punished or destroyed. "

Science & Health Page 340:21-29

August 11, 2013 - Life Expressed

"Happy Bird"
by Sandy Wythawai Starbird

ACIM Workbook Lesson #223

“God is my life. I have no life but His.”

I often wonder if we all have this inner knowing that God is our life, but this knowledge is covered up by the material teachings we accept as truth. I met a man who seems to epitomize this knowledge within our Being. He started playing drums and realizing his communion with music at the age of four years. For the last 37 years, he has followed his heart through the expression of music. He is now buying a drum-making business from a local man who has become renowned for attention to detail and trueness of resonance. As he sat in my gallery playing from the heart, I felt filled with the joy that he exuded with his whole demeanor. I loved watching his hands on the drum heads, and the look on his face as he glorified Life unabashedly. I can still feel his joy! I am grateful for this proof of connection with All that Is. Namaste'

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"God is divine Life, and Life is no more confined to the forms which reflect it than substance is in its shadow. If life were in mortal man or material things, it would be subject to their limitations and would end in death. Life is Mind, the creator reflected in His creations. If He dwelt within what He creates, God would not be reflected but absorbed, and the Science of being would be forever lost through a mortal sense, which falsely testifies to a beginning and an end.”

Science & Health Page 331:1-10