November 5, 2013 - Fearlessly Look Within

ACIM Workbook Lesson #309

“I will not fear to look within today.”

Why would we fear to look within? Why would we fear seeing our true self? I think it's because we believe all the little horrible things we've done in our lives are what we'll be looking at. Perhaps we feel that to look within would involve some sort of life review which would require us to answer for every supposed sin we've committed. But what if we're looking within at our pure and perfect Self, as we are created by divine Mind? And what if, after we find what we've forgotten, we allow it to come forth and live with us? In the process, we truly forgive ourselves for all of it, allowing thought to stay on the good and the true, releasing guilt and fear, living only in Love. What if ...

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“When speaking of God's children, not the children of men, Jesus said, "The kingdom of God is within you;" that is, Truth and Love reign in the real man, showing that man in God's image is unfallen and eternal."

 Science & Health Page 476:28-32

November 4, 2013 - The Gift of Now

"Fall in Eureka"
photo by Phyllis Poe

ACIM Workbook Lesson #308

"This instant is the only time there is."

A quote from "Kung Fu Panda" came to mind when I saw today's lesson subject: "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.” And I'm also reminded of something Deepak Chopra said: "Time is something we have made up so everything doesn't happen all at once." Albert Einstein showed us that time is relative. Time spent in a dentist chair passes differently from time spent visiting with a dear friend. Later in life, Mr. Einstein came to believe that time was not just relative, but unreal! Here is a quote from him, written in a letter to a friend: "To those of us who believe in physics, this separation between past, present, and future, is only an illusion, if a stubborn one." So why do we limit ourselves with time? We always think we're too young or too old, or this physical malady will pass with time, or that we simply don't have time to do the things we want to do. When I realize that I'm not a mortal living in what seems to be now, but an immortal living in eternity, then some major shifts in perception can take place. Only "time will tell" what happens with that realization!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“God gives you His spiritual ideas, and in turn, they give you daily supplies. Never ask for tomorrow: it is enough that divine Love is an ever-present help; and if you wait, never doubting, you will have all you need every moment. What a glorious inheritance is given to us through the understanding of omnipresent Love! More we cannot ask: more we do not want: more we cannot have. This sweet assurance is the ‘Peace, be still’ to all human fears, to suffering of every sort”

Miscellaneous Writings Page 307

November 3, 2013 - No Conflicting Wishes

photo by Heather Magnan

ACIM Workbook Lesson #307

“Conflicting wishes cannot be my will.”

So often, in the realm of the material world, we tend to have conflicting wishes concerning events. One of the main conflicts arises within the scope of what we think of as family problems. When someone within our immediate family has a problem, we tend to think of it as our own. We have been conditioned to think we can fix others, and if we don't try, we fear people will think we don't care. Then we're thrown into a quandary of feelings: love for our family, perhaps embarrassment over their actions, worry about what will happen to them, worry over what others will think -- the list can be endless when we begin to worry over the circumstances. But when we are able to release these feelings and see everyone as the spiritual creations they truly are, we begin to release our sense of personal responsibility while affirming their goodness as a reflection of divine Love. Before we know it, we're thinking of something wonderful about them when they come to our mind. And we're free from the conflicting wishes born of material senses.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“We cannot serve two masters nor perceive divine Science with the material senses.”

Science and Health Page 167:11-12

November 2, 2013 - Return Home

"South Africa"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #306

“The gift of Christ is all I seek today.”

When hearing the word "repent", many things may come to mind. My most favored definition is "return home". This meaning has nothing to do with confessing sins in order to receive absolution, nothing to do with being sorry for actions, nothing to do with guilt, nothing to do with begging forgiveness. Returning home allows us to see, hear, and feel with the sense of God. We are returning to our original state of being and remembering we never went away. So this idea of repenting, or returning home, is only a matter of letting loose anything which is unlike Love. We are the image and likeness of God. God is Love. We are Love. This is a state we cannot leave, but we can lose sight of this perfect peace. Today I will see the Love that is God, the Love that I am, in everything and everyone.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Heaven is not a locality, but a divine state of Mind in which all the manifestations of Mind are harmonious and immortal, because sin is not there and man is found having no righteousness of his own, but in possession of ‘the mind of the Lord,’ as the Scripture says.”

Science & Health Page 291:13-18

November 1, 2013 - Pure Peace is Ours

photo by Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #305

“There is a peace that Christ bestows on us.”

The ten workbook lessons we are delving into (301-09) ask the question: What is the second coming? We are learning that this is an internal awakening. It involves seeing and feeling the never-beginning, never-ending Truth of our being. This burgeoning understanding has brought me the peace which intellectual reasoning never did. I see the world as a loving place, filled with people who care about each other and their environment. In the past, most every day numerous people would tell me why they felt the world was a hate-filled place. Now it's a rarity. Have they changed or have I? Is there a difference if we're all One? Love = Peace = Harmony. Feel the Love!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:[This is from the Glossary, where she gives us the spiritual significance of terms.]

"Japhet (Noah’s son): A type of spiritual peace, flowing from the understanding that God is the divine Principle of all existence, and that man is His idea, the child of His care." 

Science & Health Page 589:8-11

October 31, 2013 - Clear Sight

"Zion National Park"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #304

“Let not my world obscure the sight of Christ.”

Throughout the ages, we have been given hints as to unrealized possibilities. As attested by powerful mythological characters, we have longed for the ability to change what seems to be the reality of situations in and around our personal existence. The world tells us that we are victims of circumstance, with life being experienced at the whim of luck, this being either good or bad. Every time we hear a story telling of something we think is impossible, but which contains outcomes so beautiful we wish it could be true, let's contemplate the fact that there are no limits. Who knows what we're capable of doing? We seem to exceed expected outcomes in every avenue of existence. Wasn't it said that running a mile in less than four minutes was impossible? Today I set free any thought of limitation, any assumptions I may have as to what's what, and by doing so open the inner ways of sight.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Truth never destroys God's idea. Truth is spiritual, eternal substance, which cannot destroy the right reflection. Corporeal sense, or error, may seem to hide Truth, health, harmony, and Science, as the mist obscures the sun or the mountain; but Science, the sunshine of Truth, will melt away the shadow and reveal the celestial peaks.”

Science & Health Page 299:24-30

October 30, 2013 - One God, One Mind

"Lake Leatherwood, Eureka Springs"
photo by Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #303

“The holy Christ is born in me today.”

These writings often contain words which elicit negative reactions in many of us. Perhaps these reactions can be set aside by letting go of preconceived meanings and learned dogma.  I reiterate that there is One God, and no need of thinking in terms of my god and your god. There is only One God. Only our interpretation of what that means allows for a belief in many ruling principles. So let's release these thoughts and see where that takes us! "The Christ is born in me today" is the acknowledgement that the presence of God is within. Please, please, change these words into whatever feels right to you. And please, please don't allow these words' connotations to turn you away from the Love which you are. And if you feel disoriented and sort of happily confused, don't fear that either! This giddiness is part of the shift to this beautiful realization of God within! Embrace it and be free!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“CHRIST: The divine manifestation of God, which comes to the flesh to destroy incarnate error.”

Science & Health Page 583:10-11