April 11, 2014 - Perfect Happiness

ACIM Workbook Lesson #101

“God’s Will for me is perfect happiness.”

Were you taught that salvation involved some sort of penance for your sins? Most people were, in some form or fashion. That's probably one of the main reasons people turn away from religion. I'm really not sure how theology has decided that we're sinners, because when I read the teachings of Jesus, I don't see that being said. For this reason (and many others), I'm most grateful for the teachings of Mary Baker Eddy and, also, A Course in Miracles. Both of these disciplines attempt to show us that we are the expression of God. As God's experience, we are the embodiment of happiness and joy! Anything opposite of this harmony is but our misunderstanding. As we clear away these misapprehensions, we allow what we've always known, deep inside, to begin lighting our path. As we walk more surely, the brighter the illumination becomes!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"The Science of Mind disposes of all evil. Truth, God, is not the father of error. Sin, sickness, and death are to be classified as effects of error. Christ came to destroy the belief of sin. The God-principle is omnipresent and omnipotent. God is everywhere, and nothing apart from Him is present or has power." 

Science & Health Page 472:4-10

April 10, 2014 - Happy!

ACIM Workbook Lesson #100

“My part is essential to God’s plan for salvation.”

A sentence from today's lesson says: "God's Will for you is perfect happiness." Wow! God wants me to be happy!! Today we are urged to be fully present in the joy which is our inheritance as a reflection of God. Sometimes it seems too simple, doesn't it? All we have to do is to allow everything to be Love: to reflect it, to live it, to be it! Here's a little video of happy people dancing to the song, "Happy". Let's scatter joy!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyyQDVVNqFU

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Harmony is produced by its Principle, is controlled by it and abides with it. Divine Principle is the Life of man. Man's happiness is not, therefore, at the disposal of physical sense. Truth is not contaminated by error. Harmony in man is as beautiful as in music, and discord is unnatural, unreal.”

Science & Health Page 304:16-21

April 9, 2014 - Saving Function

ACIM Workbook Lesson #99

“Salvation is my only function here.”

It can be difficult to understand that salvation and forgiveness are a part of this material dream; that there is, in reality, nothing from which to be saved nor forgiven. The distinction between illusion and reality is essential to this understanding. Even an understanding may not preclude a desire to hold onto unreality. I was shown an illustration of this reluctance while sleeping. I had a long and elaborate dream involving not being able to find nor help a loved one who was in trouble. There was snow so deep it couldn't be passed, along with many other impediments which produced anxiety and distress in my slumber. The dream seemed to go on forever. and I kept trying to climb out of it. But when I woke up, my first thought was of going back to sleep to see how the dream would end! As I was sliding back into sleep, the thought came to me that this wasn't necessary. Why should I care how it ended? Couldn't it end any way I wanted it to?? As I came back to conscious awareness, it occurred to me that this was a perfect analogy, illustrating our desire to hold onto illusions. From this perspective, I will notice my actions and thoughts today, looking at them from all sides to see if they are coming from God or my own personal ideas of how things should be. Remembering that God is All, and that I reflect this divine Love as my governing Principle, I gratefully accept this salvation today and always.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The starting-point of divine Science is that God, Spirit, is All-in-all, and that there is no other might nor Mind,--that God is Love, and therefore He is divine Principle.”

Science & Health Page 275 6-9

April 8, 2014 - Resurrection

ACIM Workbook Lesson #98

“I will accept my part in God’s plan for salvation.”

The words crucifixion and resurrection mean different things to us all. Some images in memory may be rather gruesome, while many are joyful and celebratory. I see these words as standing for the freedom which comes with our resurrection from the tomb of material belief. The Christ Idea is risen in all the beauty of divine Love, as our ascension in thought shows us the ultimate reality of Life. I interpret God's plan for salvation as the acceptance of myself as the spiritual idea I Am; a letting go of the material thought-basis which binds me to unreality. Now is the time to rise in the spirit of Truth, to celebrate the transformation which comes with the renewal of my mind. Now is the time to realize that no one can give me salvation, because it's already mine. Now is the time to claim this salvation and wear it with a calm which only comes from yielding mortal mind's control. And I lay down the sword ---

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"RESURRECTION: Spiritualization of thought; a new and higher idea of immortality, or spiritual existence; material belief yielding to spiritual understanding."

Science & Health Page 493:9-12

April 7, 2014 - Fearless Living

ACIM Workbook Lesson #97

“I am spirit.”

Seeing Spirit as substance shows us how to live beyond thought which holds us in the belief that we are a body. Seeing past this mental image of ourselves caged in matter allows a breaking free within us. The much-quoted "Our Deepest Fear" from Marianne Williamson's book, A Return to Love, tells us that what we fear most isn't our inadequacies but our power. Here is the paragraph from the book: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Mary Baker Eddy quote: [This is from a dialogue between matter and Spirit. Spirit is speaking here]

“I am Spirit. Man, whose senses are spiritual, is my likeness. He reflects the infinite understanding, for I am Infinity. The beauty of holiness, the perfection of being, imperishable glory,--all are Mine, for I am God. I give immortality to man, for I am Truth. I include and impart all bliss, for I am Love. I give life, without beginning and without end, for I am Life. I am supreme and give all, for I am Mind. I am the substance of all, because I AM THAT I AM.”

Science & Health Page 252:32-8

April 6, 2014 - One Self

ACIM Workbook Lesson #96

“Salvation comes from my one Self.”

Communications are a tricky thing! A friend and I were discussing how interesting it is to be recounting events and have someone else tell of them from an entirely different angle. Sometimes it seems you weren't even at the same place, seeing and hearing the same things! The practice of quieting the mind is integral to listening. I've found that when thought is jumping about, it's impossible to truly listen to anything. One thought leads to another, and before you know it, you've gone all around the world and have no idea what's happening right in front of you. By the same token, it I want to hear from the point of spiritual discernment, it's pretty darn hard to do if my own self won't be quiet long enough to concentrate on a simple sentence in a book. This is always a good indicator me: If I can't read and digest what I've read, then I'd best have a "time out" and quiet my monkey mind from its busy-ness! What a peaceful, harmonious world this will be when we all take time to quiet self-importance and listen for Self-knowledge.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"The point for each one to decide is, whether it is mortal mind or immortal Mind that is causative. We should forsake the basis of matter for metaphysical Science and its divine Principle."

Science & Health Page 195:11-14

April 5, 2014 - I Am One

"Full Moon & Flowing Waters"
Sandy Wythawai Starbird

ACIM Workbook Lesson #95

“I am one Self, united with my Creator.”

You are the presence of God. Does this statement make you uneasy? Perhaps traditional theology has taught you that such an idea is sacrilege. Maybe you simply feel too inferior to accept yourself as Godlike. It's not so difficult to say that you are one with everything. We're happy to feel a connection with all things and often go on retreats and to workshops which help us feel this unity. But what does this thing called Oneness really mean? It could be taken wholly on a material basis, and you might say that we're all the same in our physical makeup of minerals and flesh, etc. You might be willing to go a step further and say we're all the same because God made us in Its image and likeness. Does it make you cringe to call God It rather than He? We're rather accustomed to anthropomorphizing God, making deity like us rather than the other way around. As we learn to accept and embrace our identity as the experience and expression of God, we learn we can proudly announce our goodness, our wholeness, even our perfection. This honors God and Its creation in a way that self-conscious deprecation or self-righteous pride cannot. What a beautiful day to explore what all this means in daily practice!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"God, without the image and likeness of Himself, would be a nonentity, or Mind unexpressed. He would be without a witness or proof of His own nature. Spiritual man is the image or idea of God, an idea which cannot be lost nor separated from its divine Principle."

Science & Health Page 303:25-30