March 19, 2014 - Seeing With Pure Eyes

ACIM Workbook Lesson #78

"Let miracles replace all grievances."

Today's lesson asks us to choose one person and see them as God sees them, with pure eyes, rather than with all the muddled grievances we may be holding. This person might be a co-worker who seems to find ways to undermine us regularly. Perhaps this person is a good friend whose behavior is irritating to us. Maybe it's a neighbor who allows his dog to poop in our yard. Gosh, there are so many, it's hard to choose just one!!  The circumstance really doesn't matter though, because when we choose to see the miracle of Spirit, the false testimony of material sense disappears. Once we fall into the trap of expecting "bad" behavior from others, that's what we get! A fellow shopkeeper and I were discussing this. It seemed that the people coming into her shop were careless with merchandise, loud, dull, and not contributing to the fun-loving atmosphere we are known for in our sweet little tourist town. We wondered if it's true that we get what we expect. Can changing our expectations change the result? Or is the result the same and we're simply seeing it differently? I'm not sure it matters, as seeing a result and trying to change it is not what this way of thought is all about. Our goal is to see with God's eyes, and with that sight we are led to do what needs to be done, in any and every circumstance. It's been said in so many ways by so many people throughout time. Ghandi asks us to be the change we wish to see. Rumi advises us to be with those who help our being. Jesus tells us the kingdom of heaven is within. There are many ways to say what you see with Love. How do I Love? Let me count the ways! 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Human affection is not poured forth vainly, even though it meet no return. Love enriches the nature, enlarging, purifying, and elevating it. The wintry blasts of earth may uproot the flowers of affection, and scatter them to the winds; but this severance of fleshly ties serves to unite thought more closely to God, for Love supports the struggling heart until it ceases to sigh over the world and begins to unfold its wings for heaven."

Science & Health Page 57:22-30

March 18, 2014 - The Miracle is God's Law

by Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #77

"I am entitled to miracles."

These miracles we so desperately seek are the natural order of things, and are ours for the knowing of that Truth. Most,  if not all of our material celebrations are based on myth, and often are quite odd and far-fetched. Why do we do these things? I suppose they're all based on history of some sort; remembrances of past events. Usually, they involve a lot of drinking and so-called celebrating, and there is often some type of nationalism involved. Like this St. Patrick's Day craziness -- what's up with that? Perhaps it's because we want to believe in magical beings which give us happiness and abundance. We tend to think these things are somewhere outside of us, and we can find them if only we get lucky enough to be at the end of the rainbow. Some think everything will be great if they give their lives to Jesus. And let's not forget about those birthday wishes coming true if we blow out all the candles! Maybe we celebrate so hard because we innately know all this good is ours simply for the acknowledgement of it, but we don't understand how to do that.  So we dance, drink, celebrate. We try so hard to find what is already ours, just waiting for us to be still and know it. The miracle is God's law. Now that's something to celebrate!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"A miracle fulfills God's law, but does not violate that law. This fact at present seems more mysterious than the miracle itself."

Science & Health Page 134:31-32

March 17, 2014 - Divine Principle or Material Law?

ACIM Workbook Lesson #76

“I am under no laws but God’s.”

The laws we make for ourselves are very interesting, don't you think? In the late 1600s there was a law in Massachusetts that a woman couldn't kiss her child or husband on the sabbath. It's amusing to look back at some of the limits we used to set, isn't it? But what of the laws of "nature"? We once thought we'd fall off the edge of the world if we traveled too far. Many laws we had concerning the body were just as nonsensical. When Mary Baker Eddy began writing and teaching the Science of the Christ, many thought her to be insane (at best!) -- until they saw physical proof of  this Principle. It could be said that the laws of Mind are unchanging and eternal, whereas the laws of mind change as quickly as our beliefs do. In these studies, we are learning there is a difference in divine Mind and mortal mind. It takes a yielding of the material to the spiritual in order to see the Truth of our being. Often we're afraid because we think we're breaking a law and will be punished for it. The knowledge that we are under no laws but God's brings a freedom before unknown! Soon we will look back on the material laws everyone thought to be so sure -- and realize they were but part of the illusion. Then we will know complete freedom!

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 227:24-28

March 16, 2014 - Love is Reflected in Love

"Utah Light Rise"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #75

"The light has come."

Our perseverance in dropping false testimony of the material senses is celebrated today: The light has come! Of course, it has always been there, waiting for us to notice it. But now the sun (son?) has risen and we are basking in its arrival! In my line of work, I meet numerous people every day. It's really fun getting to know so many people who seem different from each other, while noticing the Light they all share. One day I met a man who referred to his wife as an angel, telling me of the ways she brings joy to their life. The light has come. And then there was the grandmother from Canada, meeting her daughter and granddaughter who were from South Texas. The stories they told me during our short time together were humorous and loving.  The light has come. There was an old hippie couple, visiting from a short distance away, where they live hidden and happy in the deep forest. The light has come. I could go on and on with stories of these manifestations of Light. May we all bask in this celebration today! And if we meet someone whose light is in shadow, shine yours a little brighter at them, because love is reflected in love! 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Let us feel the divine energy of Spirit, bringing us into newness of life and recognizing no mortal nor material power as able to destroy. Let us rejoice that we are subject to the divine 'powers that be.' Such is the true Science of being. Any other theory of Life, or God, is delusive and mythological.” 

Science & Health Page 249:6-10

March 15, 2014 - Single Eye

ACIM Workbook Lesson #74

“There is no will but God’s.”

"The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light." Matthew 6:22 As I contemplate today's ACIM workbook topic, this thought keeps coming to mind. I love that these teachings bring us back time and again to the thought that there is only one thing we need do, and that is, basically, to see with a single eye. What, you may ask, does that mean? To me it means that everything I do, say, or think is from the standpoint that I am an expression of God. My only goal is to be a transparency through which that experience can shine. Last night I attended a sweet, love-based meeting of gentle people. At the end, the speaker encouraged us to stay in the same frame of mind we were in while listening to him. He stated a number of things that we might have been doing had we not been there: going to bars, getting into disagreements with family, things of that sort. I wondered if he really thought that about this group, or if perhaps he didn't think we were serious students of Life. Whatever the case, it made me happy that I can honestly say I want to know God more than all else.  I can't imagine anything which would tempt me to be otherwise!

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.”

Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, Page 307

March 14, 2014 - My Will Be Done!

ACIM Workbook Lesson #73

“I will there be light.”

So much is said about willpower and its role in our self-control. And there is always more to be said and written about the subject, because of its changeable nature. But that's not the type of will that is being written of in today's ACIM workbook lesson. It's the same type of will talked about in "thy will be done". But it's the realization that "thy" is the same as "my" will be done. This will which we are yielding to is not some outer authority in the sky telling us what we should want. It's the omniscient, omnipresent gentle presence which is always present, but we so often hide with our human will, our mortal mind. This yielding of self will to the ever-present divine Mind manifests Itself in many wonderful ways. I witnessed one of those tonight. One of the constant complaints in our small tourist town is that our merchants are not open late enough at night. A local publicity agency in our town has come up with the idea to focus on what does go on at night in our town: 13 bars within walking distance in our historic downtown area. I hope this idea will grow to include the two music shows and the Great Passion Play which are nightly events  in our town. By focusing on what Is, rather than what isn't -- now, that's bringing in the light! Let It Be ~~~~

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"The power of the human will should be exercised only in subordination to Truth; else it will misguide the judgment and free the lower propensities. It is the province of spiritual sense to govern man. Material, erring, human thought acts injuriously both upon the body and through it."

Science & Health Page 206:4-9

March 13, 2014 - Preparing to Hear Truth

"Ozark Sunset"
photo by Arthus Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #72

“Holding grievances is an attack on God’s plan for salvation.”

An upside down world seems normal to us. We have become accustomed to believing that the testimony of our physical senses is reality, while intuition is often discounted as being imaginary. Many of my favorite authors write about the  metaphysical concepts we are learning of, and some of them use the genre of fiction to allow them leeway to take this new/old thought all the way without the need for empirical evidence in support. And I applaud this method! What better way to introduce ideas to a skeptical audience than through the entertainment field? Dan Brown is an expert at this form of writing. He brings us thought-provoking concepts without asking us to accept them as true, such as in his book, "The Lost Symbol". Paulo Coelho gently hits closer to home in two of my favorite books, "The Alchemist" and "The Aleph". The enjoyment of these novels is softly preparatory for the life-changing concepts presented in A Course in Miracles and, also, Science & Health. Without prior opening of thought, the ideas contained in these books can be jarring indeed! We have been preparing for this opening of mind and heart for eternity, and there is no other time but that, is there?

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Is Spirit the source or creator of matter? Science reveals nothing in Spirit out of which to create matter. Divine metaphysics explains away matter. Spirit is the only substance and consciousness recognized by divine Science. The material senses oppose this, but there are no material senses, for matter has no mind. In Spirit there is no matter, even as in Truth there is no error, and in good no evil. It is a false supposition, the notion that there is real substance-matter, the opposite of Spirit. Spirit, God, is infinite, all. Spirit can have no opposite."

Science & Health Page 278:1-11