January 5, 2014 - Unnecessary Conflict

"Utah Sunrise"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #5

“I am never upset for the reason I think.”

We think in terms of something upsetting us. Then we usually build up reasons why we are justified in this upset. Today we are asked to forget about any reason for feeling hurt, or angry, or irritated. I recently watched a movie called "Where Do We Go Now?". It's set in a small village in Lebanon. It starts out with a group of women, Christian and Muslim, making their weekly visit to the side-by-side cemeteries where their husbands and sons are buried. This movie is a combination of musical comedy and tragedy. I won't give away the ending as you may want to enjoy this fine film, but I will say that these women find a unique way of stopping their men from fighting over religious beliefs. When I think back on their fighting about what I deem to be nothing, I wonder if they are truly upset over what they think they're upset about! It seems that sometimes we're upset because things are changing, ideas are causing us to see everything in a new light, and we're afraid of the necessary shifts which are staring us in the face. In living true to our heart, let's not fear change or what others think of us for leaving behind anything which binds us to anger in any form. The harmony we long for is waiting for us!

Mary Baker Eddy quote: "Harmony in man is as beautiful as in music, and discord is unnatural, unreal." Science & Health Page 304:20-21

January 4, 2014 - What Do My Thoughts Mean?

ACIM Workbook Lesson #4

“These thoughts do not mean anything. They are like the things I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place].” 

I heard Wayne Dyer tell us that the average human has around 50,000 thoughts a day. Unfortunately, he said, those thoughts are the same ones we had yesterday! I think this realization makes it easier to see the meaningless-ness of our thoughts. They are, for the most part, by-rote responses to circumstance. Recently I told you that I've been having vivid dreams and wake up wondering what they mean. Today's practice of seeing the lack of meaning to our thoughts is just what I need! It doesn't matter what these dreams mean, because it's all meaningless material interpretation I'm wondering about. By seeing the non-sense of this exercise I've been involved with, I'm freed to forget about it and seek to establish spiritual sense in place of these illusions. I look forward to a universal epiphany of understanding that thought is, in its truest form, Spirit. That time of viewing reality as spiritual, not material, is visible to all who want to see. 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Thought will finally be understood and seen in all form, substance, and color, but without material accompaniments. The potter is not in the clay; else the clay would have power over the potter. God is His own infinite Mind, and expresses all."

Science & Health  Page 310:6-10 

January 3, 2014 - Deeper Knowing

"Breckenridge, Colorado"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #3

“I do not understand anything I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place].”

The more educated we are, the more difficult it seems to be to admit that we don't understand anything -- don't you think? We are taught from childhood that it's good to know things, to understand everything, and to be able to figure out anything we don't know or understand. Let's not think of this admission of not understanding anything as a dumbing-down process. On the contrary! We're simply learning to look within for an innate knowledge which resides there. The workout we're engaged in is designed to develop spiritual sense. It's difficult, if not impossible, to recognize Spirit if we think we know and understand everything through our material senses. While the knowledge we've amassed can serve us well in this world, let's not allow it to preclude a deeper knowing which is only audible when the material senses are stilled.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"God's ideas reflect the immortal, unerring, and infinite. The mortal, erring, and finite are human beliefs, which apportion to themselves a task impossible for them, that of distinguishing between the false and the true. Understanding is a quality of God ..." 

Science & Health Page 505:26-2 & 506:5

January 2, 2014 - Changeable Beliefs

"Loveland Pass, Colorado"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #2

“I have given everything I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place] all the meaning that it has for me.”

While walking in a cemetery, I was struck by how individuals would look at the grave markers and their possible meaning. There is a plot which has a mother and father and six children, all of whom died before reaching adolescence. In another part of the maze, there is a grave totally covered with crystals of varying sizes. The only thing the marker says is their surname. As I pondered the stories behind these stones and markers, I realized how very true it is that the meaning of anything is exactly what we give to it. Perhaps that's why we like to be in groups, such as churches or families, so there will be others who know where we're "coming from". And maybe that's why we're afraid to step outside of long-held beliefs. To me, the realization that we can give up belief and all walk together in Truth is far more unifying than wandering through changeable illusions. What heady heights await us!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"The only fact concerning any material concept is, that it is neither scientific nor eternal, but subject to change and dissolution."

Science & Health Page 297:16-19

January 1, 2014 - A Meaningless Day!

"Loveland Pass, Colorado"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM WOrkbook Lesson #1

“Nothing I see in this room [on this street,

from this window, in this place] means anything.”

At the start of this new year, with its many possibilities and prospects, I reaffirm the desire to release preconceived meaning which I have placed on everything. I know many people think of this as a "bad" thing. I am told that if nothing means anything, then we don't have a reason to be "good". When confronted with this thought, it's difficult for me to keep a straight face! Our innate goodness as the experience and reflection of God shines forth unabashed when allowed to do so. The shackles we've placed on ourselves, either collectively or individually, hold no meaning other than what we give to them. Through the daily practice of letting go of long-held beliefs, we step into the light of Truth. By this discipline, we are allowing ourselves to see through the illusions we have accepted as reality. What a beautiful new day!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"The enslavement of man is not legitimate. It will cease when man enters into his heritage of freedom, his God-given dominion over the material senses."

Science & Health Page 228:11-13

December 31, 2013 - New Year's Wish

"Yield" stainless steel sculpture
at Crystal Bridges
by Roxy Paine
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #365

"This holy instant would I give to You. Be You in charge. For I would follow You,  Certain that Your direction gives me peace."

My New Year's wish is for more silence, more stillness, in which to experience what that has to show me. It's too easy to fall into habits which keep us busy, always on the go, or always listening to the radio or some such thing. I was on the phone for more than an hour today with a tech guy who was helping me work out some weird things on my new online shopping web site. While we were waiting for something to happen on his computer, we chatted about regular things -- where do you live, do you like working in tech support, things like that. He told me that he went to school, had a small business, and worked at night helping people over the phone. He also said that if he didn't keep busy he would go "insane". So I questioned him about that. Turns out he's never been quiet in his life and he fears it.  I wonder how many people in this world feel that way? In line with "being the change I want to see", I believe I'll have a three-day retreat of silence! Happy New Year Everyone!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Spirit, God, is heard when the senses are silent. We are all capable of more than we do." 

Science & Health Page 89:20-22

December 30, 2013 - First Thoughts in the Morning

"Utah Morning"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #364

"This holy instant would I give to You. Be You in charge. For I would follow You, Certain that Your direction gives me peace."

The first thought we have in the morning can shape the way our day develops. Having spent years training myself to stay away from worry and busy-ness, its disheartening to find myself waking to wondering thoughts. For a few weeks, I've been having vivid dreams and I wake up thinking about what they mean. I've forgotten to bring thought to Spirit and rather I lay there wandering through a maze of odd events featuring people, animals, and places which are well-known to me. And this seems to be affecting the way I think about things all day long. It doesn't matter how much I try to push and pull my thoughts in other directions, they insist on making judgments, comparison, and searching for hidden meanings. I am very grateful for these closing lessons of the year, which urge us to go beyond thought and know that if we can only get out of our own way, God's thoughts are supplying us with direction and peace.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The sculptor turns from the marble to his model in order to perfect his conception. We are all sculptors, working at various forms, moulding and chiseling thought. What is the model before mortal mind? Is it imperfection, joy, sorrow, sin, suffering? Have you accepted the mortal model? Are you reproducing it? Then you are haunted in your work by vicious sculptors and hideous forms. Do you not hear from all mankind of the imperfect model? The world is holding it before your gaze continually. The result is that you are liable to follow those lower patterns, limit your lifework, and adopt into your experience the angular outline and deformity of matter models. To remedy this, we must first turn our gaze in the right direction, and then walk that way. We must form perfect models in thought and look at them continually, or we shall never carve them out in grand and noble lives.”

Science & Health Page 248:12-29