November 9, 2013 - New Perception

November Sunset
photo by Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #313

“Now let a new perception come to me.”

Recently a dear friend told a group of us about being terribly afraid of the dark. She said she had always been this way, to the point she had asked her husband to never leave her alone if it wasn't light. She told us that three days after he died, the fear she had always lived with left her. It was just gone! This story has stayed with me and come to mind often. What a beautiful demonstration of letting go! Just like that, in the blink of an eye, we can be past anything, no matter how long we have claimed it as a part of us. What gratitude I feel to this woman for sharing her story of shifting perception making a huge difference in experience! 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The human mind will sometime rise above all material and physical sense, exchanging it for spiritual perception, and exchanging human concepts for the divine consciousness. Then man will recognize his God-given dominion and being."

Science & Health Page 531:10-14

November 8, 2013 - An Idea of Divine Mind

"First Day Skiing in Utah"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #312

“I see all things as I would have them be.”

When I tell people I want to give up the thoughts I think and think the thoughts of divine Mind, they often assume I want to be controlled by a cultish-type of group. But I think of it as the opposite. If I am making decisions based on past events and learned behaviors, then I have no freedom of thought. I am living by material restrictions and repeating thoughts dictated by human opinion. My desire to live as an idea of divine Mind opens me to an expansion of thought and action which has no limit. What an exciting world this is, when we release the restrictions dictated by past education and see our way to a deeper education, facilitated by divine Love!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"The supposed existence of more than one mind was the basic error of idolatry. This error assumed the loss of spiritual power, the loss of the spiritual presence of Life as infinite Truth without an unlikeness, and the loss of Love as ever present and universal.

Science & Health Page 479:5-10

November 7, 2013 -Live Love

photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #311

“I judge all things as I would have them be.”

As I read today's lesson -- which begins the first of ten lessons asking us, "What is the Last Judgment?" -- I think of ancient Toltec wisdom as shown to us by Miguel Ruiz in the Four Agreements. Two of these agreements lead perfectly to non-judgment: "Don't make assumptions" and "Don't take anything personally". These dictates are my constant companions. They always come to mind when I'm tempted to take offense by someone's statements or to apportion blame in any way. If I don't take anything personally, then I need make no assumptions as to others' motives. If I make no assumption about why someone says or does something, then I won't be thinking they are attacking me or anyone else. When we are living our true Being as a child of God, we can rest guiltless and blameless, with none of the dis-ease or inharmonious manifestations which result from living outside divine Principle. Let me live Love today and always!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"No final judgment awaits mortals, for the judgment-day of wisdom comes hourly and continually, even the judgment by which mortal man is divested of all material error. As for spiritual error, there is none."

Science & Health Page 291:28-32

November 6, 2013 - I Spend Today in Love

"Eureka Springs in the Woods"

ACIM Workbook Lesson #310

“In fearlessness and love I spend today.”

From the moment we stand up and toddle we hear, Be careful, don't fall!! We instill fear and worry in our children even before they're born, don't we? Most mothers-to-be are worried about a myriad of things, and have been taught to believe it's necessary. Everywhere we turn, there is something to fear. When I was a kid, the only things I was warned about in the woods were snakes, poison ivy, and perhaps an occasional wild carnivore. Now everything from ticks to the sun may attack us, and we go to great lengths to protect ourselves, putting poisons on our skin to avoid something we perceive to be worse. This is yet another example of the material illusions we have made for ourselves. Is there a way out of this? Yes! By living in fearlessness and Love we can realize Truth, which dispels illusions of dread. As I go through this day, I will notice what learned behaviors are ruling my life, holding me in fear rather than Love. The words of a great teacher come to mind: Perfect Love casts out fear! 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true, and you will bring these into your experience proportionably to their occupancy of your thoughts.”

Science & Health  Page 261:4-7

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