September 7, 2013 - Unlimited Life

"Fun in the Gobi Desert"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #250

“Let me not see myself as limited."

Today we are reminded to view ourselves as unlimited. A limited view of ourselves traps thought into a circumstance un-deserving of our true being as unlimited consciousness. To view myself as unlimited is to view others that way, too. I'm reminded of the importance of refraining from talking about people's seeming mistakes and weaknesses. For that matter, it's important to avoid ANY negative banter concerning others. While we're cleaning up our act, let's not indulge in deprecating thoughts about ourselves. All these activities are impediments to the consciousness which sees beyond the material picture of life. In seeing past this illusion, we are able to witness the other-dimensional realization of life as Life. Even if we see no other people today, there will be many opportunities to practice this. When we free ourselves of our stories, we free ourselves (and everyone!) to the actualization of our true identities. And this identity is an unlimited idea of divine Mind. Let's celebrate that!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“It would require an infinite form to contain infinite Mind. Indeed, the phrase infinite form involves a contradiction of terms. Finite man cannot be the image and likeness of the infinite God. A mortal, corporeal, or finite conception of God cannot embrace the glories of limitless, incorporeal Life and Love. Hence the unsatisfied human craving for something better, higher, holier, than is afforded by a material belief in a physical God and man. ” Science & Health Page 257: 30-6

September 6, 2013 - Changes in Perception

"Glacier National Park"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #249

“Forgiveness ends all suffering and loss."

I remember a time when so-called new-age thought was not often spoken of in the media or anywhere other than the privacy of our homes. Now these new-old ideas are seen and heard everywhere. Every day we are witness to more proof that this shift in consciousness is happening now -- and we're talking about it! Thanks, Oprah! And even when these ideas are fictionalized, as in best-selling novels such as "The Lost Symbol", these possibilities are easily translated into plausible realities. This shift in consciousness allows us to embrace peace and harmony. Through this change in perception, we are understanding Truth and the demonstration thereof. It is happening now. We each support this realization in our own individual way. Every instance of pure peace we feel, each yielding of our personal sense to spiritual sense, brings us closer to living this realm of Love. This is where we always have been, but we've forgotten. We are all much-needed at this time, to calm the tumultuous collective thought which fights the idea of such freedom!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“God fashions all things after His own likeness. Life is reflected in existence, Truth in truthfulness, God in goodness, which impart their own peace and permanence. Love, redolent with unselfishness, bathes all in beauty and light."

Science & Health Page 516:9-13

September 5, 2013 - The Unreality of Suffering

"Toboggan Run at the Great Wall of China"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #248

“Whatever suffers is not part of me."

"Whatever suffers is not a part of me". This is not a heartless statement. It doesn't deny the feelings we have in favor of a hardness which excludes emotion. On the contrary! It's a pure Love which allows us to pass through the hard times with a firm understanding of the beauty of Truth. Losing a loved one is difficult in many ways, but I really think the myths we have concocted surrounding death do more harm than good. We tell children they'll see grandma in heaven. We say things like, God took him to be with him because he was so good. What lies we tell ourselves in the name of kindness! As we begin to understand divine reality, we are able to let loose the stories we tell ourselves in favor of the Truth which sets us free. I'll always remember reading in "Beloved Prophet" the story of the woman who loved Kahlil Gibran. She sat at his funeral with a smile on her face. When asked how she could do such a thing she replied that she had never felt closer to him. Never born, never dying -- Life eternal.  

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“A blundering dispatch, mistakenly announcing the death of a friend, occasions the same grief that the friend's real death would bring. You think that your anguish is occasioned by your loss. Another dispatch, correcting the mistake, heals your grief, and you learn that your suffering was merely the result of your belief. Thus it is with all sorrow, sickness, and death. You will learn at length that there is no cause for grief, and divine wisdom will then be understood. Error, not Truth, produces all the suffering on earth.”

Science & Health Page 386:16-25

September 4, 2013 - Definitive Terms

"Fun at the Great Wall of China"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #247

“Without forgiveness I will still be blind."

The sight which comes through forgiveness is our topic today. We are also told that sin is the symbol of attack. The topics of sin and forgiveness can make us cringe! I feel this is because they are not a part of our real Being, and so we recoil at the words.  And that’s what this lesson is about today: the nothingness of sin and the meaning of forgiveness. I think of sin as being anything -- anything at all  -- which separates us from the Love which is God. Since we are the image and likeness of God, there can be no separation other than in our belief. And this thing we call forgiveness isn't some sort of divine pardon, but a yielding within ourselves to purity of thought, without the impediments of holding on to memories of wrongdoing, resentment, and pains of all sorts. This yielding includes the release of things which we think have been done to us and things we think we have done to others. So let's choose again, rest in Love, and go and sin no more!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Sin was, and is, the lying supposition that life, substance, and intelligence are both material and spiritual, and yet are separate from God,”

Retrospection and Introspection (p. 67).

September 3, 2013 - The Panoply of Love

"St, Louis Zoo Penguins"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #246

“To love my Father is to love His Son."

One of my favorite Mary Baker Eddy quotes is, "Clad in the panoply of Love, human hatred cannot reach you." I've always thought of that statement as meaning that the human hatred of others cannot reach me. I now see that it precludes the hatred I may feel toward others, also. It's very easy for me to think that I don't hate anyone or anything. Actually, it's a word I have pruned from my vocabulary and simply do not use. BUT if I am irritated by another's actions or words, or if I replay a past situation in my mind which caused anger in the past, or if I allow criticism to gnaw at me and I think of retaliatory statements which could have been made -- isn't that human hatred? Wearing this cloak of Love calms these nagging feelings and thoughts. I know that if I'm wearing the armor of Love, hatred cannot enter from inside or out!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"God is universal; confined to no spot, defined by no dogma, appropriated by no sect. Not more to one than to all, is God demonstrable as divine Life, Truth, and Love; and His people are they that reflect Him -- that reflect Love."

Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896 Page 150

September 2, 2013 - Peace Within

"Great Wall of China"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACiM Workbook Lesson #245

“Your peace is with me, Father.  I am safe."

Today's statement of peace and safety may seem downright silly to some people. While we know that peace is a choice within our own selves, we really want that peace to spread to every corner of the world. And while we can affirm our safety, it seems heartless to see war-torn countries as a place of peaceful safety. So we set up a guilt trip for ourselves and won't allow ourselves to feel peace and safety because we think that would be selfish. But wait a minute! There is no separation in the essence of our Being.  While I can't change what anyone else is thinking or feeling or experiencing, I can adjust my vision of reality. Every thought is important! We are all in this together, in every way, at every moment. Today I will make an effort to see everything through the eyes of God, with the vision of Love.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Spiritual living and blessedness are the only evidences, by which we can recognize true existence and feel the unspeakable peace which comes from an all-absorbing spiritual love.”

Science & Health Page 264:24-27

September 1, 2013 - No Danger

"Aaron in Altai Mountains"

ACIM Workbook Lesson #244

“I am in danger nowhere in the world."

Reading the above affirmation of our safety in any situation reminds me of many examples of this Truth. Often when we hear of material laws being usurped, we think of this as divine intervention.  Let's not think of this as God setting aside material law in favor of spiritual principle, but as the demonstration of how this Principle operates. Knowing the Truth of our Being enables us to put it into practice. This knowledge has also enabled me to peacefully know my son is safe during his numerous travels. He's been away from home since he was 14, and flitting around the globe on his own since he was 19. Friends have wondered how I can be so calm and free from worry about him. It's because I know where his safety lies -- as does he. The following Mary Baker Eddy poem is set to music as a hymn. I admit to singing it often, with gratitude for the reminder it has brought.

Mary Baker Eddy poem:

Mother's Evening Prayer

O gentle presence, peace and joy and power;

         O Life divine, that owns each waiting hour,

Thou Love that guards the nestling's faltering flight!

         Keep Thou my child on upward wing tonight.

Love is our refuge; only with mine eye

         Can I behold the snare, the pit, the fall:

His habitation high is here, and nigh,

         His arm encircles me, and mine, and all.

O make me glad for every scalding tear,

         For hope deferred, ingratitude, disdain!

Wait, and love more for every hate, and fear

         No ill, — since God is good, and loss is gain.

Beneath the shadow of His mighty wing;

         In that sweet secret of the narrow way,

Seeking and finding, with the angels sing:

         "Lo, I am with you alway," — watch and pray.

No snare, no fowler, pestilence or pain;

         No night drops down upon the troubled breast,

When heaven's aftersmile earth's tear-drops gain,

         And mother finds her home and heav'nly rest.

(Poems by Mary Baker Eddy, pp. 4, 5)