September 18, 2013 - Clearing the Clutter

"South Africa"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #261

“God is my refuge and security."

We all are in the process of getting rid of unnecessary things. The stuff we no longer need comes in different forms. They may be cluttering up our house and material surroundings. More importantly, we're clearing out thoughts and beliefs which no longer are needed in our newfound perception of reality. Recently my son, who is making his once-a-year visit with us, single-handedly carried everything out of a very large storage area in our house. I sat outside going through things and deciding what, if anything, should be kept. As with our mental clutter, there is very little which needs to stay. Tomorrow I will have a second going through of what I decided to keep.  Just as we accumulate more and more books and music and all sorts of things, so we also accumulate erroneous thought. Isn't it just as easy to hold on to Truth as it is error? Now is the time to do just that!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Citizens of the world, accept the ‘glorious liberty of the children of God,’ and be free! This is your divine right. The illusion of material sense, not divine law, has bound you, entangled your free limbs,

crippled your capacities, enfeebled your body, and defaced the tablet of your being.”

Science & Health Page 227:24-29

September 17, 2013 - I Reflect Divine Mind

"South Africa Sunset"
photo by Heather Magnan

ACIM Workbook Lesson #260

“Let me remember God created me.”

Today let us remember that I am a reflection of divine Mind. The Source of our being is Spirit. That is our essence. We are not material; we are spiritual. In its infinitude, divine Mind  knows nothing of the material beings we are portraying. As various sages have told us, "We're not material beings having a spiritual experience; we're spiritual Beings having a material experience." Today I will remember not to limit God through my expectations. One of my favorite books is "Practicing the Presence" by Joel Goldsmith. In it we are reminded that Truth is experienced in the stillness within our own selves. We hear this stillness when we quiet material senses. It needn't be for a long period, but it does need to be thorough. And so I will look for every opportunity to slip into a few moments of deep stillness, and let them spill over at their will.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Infinite Mind creates and governs all, from the mental molecule to infinity. This divine Principle of all expresses Science and art throughout His creation, and the immortality of man and the universe. Creation is ever appearing, and must ever continue to appear from the nature of its inexhaustible source. Mortal sense inverts this appearing and calls ideas material. Thus misinterpreted, the divine idea seems to fall to the level of a human or material belief, called mortal man. But the seed is in itself, only as the divine Mind is All and reproduces all--as Mind is the multiplier, and Mind's infinite idea, man and the universe, is the product. The only intelligence or substance of a thought, a seed, or a flower is God, the creator of it."

Science & Health Page 507:24-6

September 16, 2013 - Reality Awaits

"Mt Timpanogos Goat"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #259

“Let me remember that there is no sin.”

It certainly seems as though sin is a tangible thing in our world. We look at the news and see things which seem too horrible to be anything but. But, once again, this is the material illusion. The reality is God and the creation thereof. This creation is spiritual, everlasting substance, non-changing goodness. That is why there is no sin, because it is unreal. This same revealing of reality exposes other material discord as being mist to be seen through and dispelled. There is no magic potion which allows us to look past the mirage of sin. So many reports of our senses seem real until we look to the other side. And then what a treat we have in store for us! There is the reality of our Being, just waiting for us to discover it.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Question: Is there no sin?

Answer: All reality is in God and His creation, harmonious and eternal. That which He creates is good, and He makes all that is made. Therefore the only reality of sin, sickness, or death is

the awful fact that unrealities seem real to human, erring belief, until God strips off their disguise. They are not true, because they are not of God.”

Science & Health Page 472:23-30

September 15, 2013 - Let Me Remember ...

"Bryce Canyon Reflections"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #258

“Let me remember that my goal is God.”

Many of us have gone through life feeling that something is missing; that there's an empty place which can never be filled. When we discover that it's not something lacking in us, we get very excited! This mind training, which is spoken of in today's lesson, is not a system of mind control, it's not hypnotism or cult-like obedience -- on the contrary! We train our mind to recognize and release all the "senseless aims ... and pointless little goals" which have become life practices and learned behaviors. The insights and answers which appear in our lives through spiritual awareness are often thought of as serendipitous, which implies an element of luck. This is yet again something we have made up to explain the inexplicable. But spiritual sense needs no explanation! A mere glimpse through the eye of Spirit is enough to convince us of our true Identity.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Spiritual sense is a conscious, constant capacity to understand God. It shows the superiority of faith by works over faith in words. Its ideas are expressed only in ‘new tongues;’ and these are interpreted by the translation of the spiritual original into the language which human thought can comprehend.”

Science & Health Page 209:31-4

September 14, 2013 - One Purpose

photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #257

“Let me remember what my purpose is.”

To paraphrase a Bible verse: One thing do I desire: to love God above all else, with all my heart, soul, mind. And that is my purpose. To Love and be an expression of that Love. This happens in countless ways, which we individualize as a compound Idea of divine Mind. What ways will I be an expression today? Each day is an adventure!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Jesus urged the commandment, Thou shalt have no other gods before me," which may be rendered: Thou shalt have no belief of Life as mortal; thou shalt not know evil, for there is one Life,-- even God, good. He rendered "unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's." He at last paid no homage to forms of doctrine or to theories of man, but acted and spake as he was moved, not by spirits but by Spirit."

Science & Health Page 19:29-5

September 13, 2013 - One Goal

Bryce Canyon"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #256

“God is the only goal I have today.”

It seems simplistic and perhaps impossible to state that I'm only going to think about God today. But when I analyze this thought, it's pretty inclusive! If it's true that God is All, that God is synonymous with Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, and Love -- as Mary Baker Eddy declares -- then how can we do anything other than think of God?? When seeing ourselves as a reflection of God, as embodying all these attributes of God, it becomes easier to see ourselves as the consciousness of all good, from which nothing need be added nor taken away. "God is the only goal I have today." "There is but one primal cause." What effect can there be, what end result can occur, other than a realization that God is all there is? And so it will be easy to attain this goal today, because nothing else exists!!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“There is but one primal cause. Therefore there can be no effect from any other cause, and there can be no reality in aught which does not proceed from this great and only cause.”

Science & Health Page 207:20-22

September 12, 2013 - Breaking the Spell of Error

"Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs"
photo by Steve Shogren

A Course in Miracles Lesson #255

“This day I choose to spend in perfect peace."

Having chosen to spend every day in perfect peace, it always surprises me when I don't! Those first thoughts in the morning are so important, and recently it seemed they had a mind of their own and I couldn't change what was going through my head. From planning busywork for the day to judgmental nitpicking, to total inanities, that was all I could think. I'd try to get on track by repeating well-loved quotations, but it was as though I'd forget and slip into something else. I would determine to affirm what is true of spiritual man and then end up thinking what seems so true of mortal man. It was exhausting! Midday a friend came over to visit and immediately said she'd never seen me looking so bad and asked what was wrong. Apparently more was wrong than I'd been willing to admit, as it all poured out in response to her. And that broke the spell. The act of speaking what frightened me took the fear and confusion away. As I read the below quoted material, I wonder how many of us are feeling the same thing. Fear not! It is the breaking up of error!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“This material world is even now becoming the arena for conflicting forces. On one side there will be discord and dismay; on the other side there will be Science and peace. The breaking up of material beliefs may seem to be famine and pestilence, want and woe, sin, sickness, and death, which assume new phases until their nothingness appears. These disturbances will continue until the end of error, when all discord will be swallowed up in spiritual Truth.”

Science & Health Page 92:12-20