April 16, 2014 - Sharing Silence

photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #106

“Let me be still and listen to the truth.”

We are advised today to "be still and listen" for Truth. We are also told that for every five minutes we spend listening, a thousand minds are opened to the Truth we hear. Don't you feel we are very close to a tipping point in spiritual discernment? Every thought we have is important, especially during difficult times. When events occur which bring forth strong negative emotions in people, it is even more important to hold thought to this Truth which is heard in silence. Listening, hearing, receiving, and giving the Truth which is God is my job today and every day!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The effects of Christian Science are not so much seen as felt. It is the 'still, small voice' of Truth uttering itself. We are either turning away from this utterance, or we are listening to it and going up higher. Willingness to become as a little child and to leave the old for the new, renders thought receptive of the advanced idea. Gladness to leave the false landmarks and joy to see them disappear,--this disposition helps to precipitate the ultimate harmony. The purification of sense and self is a proof of progress. ‘Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.’”

Science & Health Page 323:28-8

April 15, 2014 - Am I Blocking Joy?

photo by Chris Fischer

ACIM Workbook Lesson #105

“God’s peace and joy are mine.”

Have you withheld peace and joy from someone? You may wonder how this could be done, but every time I hold a grievance about someone, or have feelings of separation stemming from things I think have been done to  me, I withhold peace and joy. And every time I withhold this harmony from others, I block it from myself. While we may know intellectually that God's gifts of peace and joy are continually being supplied to us, we may not be able to receive them fully for many reasons. But, basically, those reasons come down to one thing: I'm not giving and so I can't receive. By removing  the dams we have set up which are blocking this flow, we  allow them to go out to others as they are rushing in to us. Yes, God's peace and joy are mine. But I must give to receive."True giving is creation. It extends the limitless to the unlimited, eternity to timelessness, and love unto itself." ACIM

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"The calm and exalted thought or spiritual apprehension is at peace. Thus the dawn of ideas goes on, forming each successive stage of progress." Science & Health Page 506:11-14

April 14, 2014 - Peaceful Computers

ACIM Workbook Lesson #104

“I seek but what belongs to me in truth.”

I hate computers! This is not something I would say, and that's so because I've learned what happens if you do: they hate you back. I'm saying this semi-jokingly, but a lot of you have probably experienced this phenomenon. If we get frustrated and tense, this translates into blocked ability to know what's going on. I often tell people to think like a computer. Appreciate seeing what it has to teach you, and listen for instruction on how to learn. Computers are actually very zen-like machines, don't you think? My experience with computers is generally very meditative. If I'm not achieving the results I want, it's tempting to throw up my hands and give up. That's the time to sit quietly and ask for the knowledge which divine Mind always is providing. Once again, we're asking ourselves to be still and know. Silence mortal mind and hear divine Mind. This is part of "what belongs to me in truth": peace, joy, happiness -- the kingdom of heaven which is within. Ommmm ~~~~

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“God has built a higher platform of human rights, and He has built it on diviner claims. These claims are not made through code or creed, but in demonstration of "on earth peace, good-will toward men."

Science & Health Page 226:14-17

April 13, 2014 - If You're Happy and You Know It ...

ACIM Workbook Lesson #103

“God, being Love, is also happiness.”

I know a man who insists he's never known happiness. He also says he doesn't have any idea what love feels like. Yet he has a twinkle in his eye and is usually smiling. I'm pretty sure he's happy, but just doesn't recognize what that means, perhaps grasping for something he feels is always just out of reach. And I would guess he feels love, too, but thinks it's supposed to bring on an epiphany of some sort. Personally, I feel intense rushes of love from something as purely beautiful as seeing the first flock of butterflies in the spring. A group of swallowtails frolicking in my flower bed is more than enough to break open my heart and leave me feeling the Love which is God. Remembering my friend lament the lack of love in his life, remembering the butterflies' grace which passes to me, I will think twice before I pass by any divine Idea without drinking in its happiness. Love and happiness are our divine heritage as the expression of God. God is Love, and so are we!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Soul has infinite resources with which to bless mankind, and happiness would be more readily attained and would be more secure in our keeping, if sought in Soul. Higher enjoyments alone can satisfy the cravings of immortal man.”

Science & Health Page 60:28-1

April 12, 2014 - Happiness, Your Natural State

ACIM Workbook Lesson # 102

“I share God’s Will for happiness for me.”

We all know people who seem to be chronically sad, don't we? I needn't recount the circumstances of those individuals, as I'm sure you know a few, too. They share a commonality of repeatedly replaying sad and distressing events in their thought and conversation. I have a few sad memories which pop into my head occasionally. When this happens, there's a choice: I can relive the event mentally and/or verbally and thereby keep it alive. Or I can acknowledge that it's still in my thoughts, but it is not the Truth of my Being. Yes, it happened (whatever it is). It's part of my material history. But my spiritual reality has not been touched by it. The peace brought by this understanding is priceless. I can be happy. Even in the midst of things which we may not think of as particularly joyful , we can give ourselves permission to be happy. It is, after all, our natural state of Being!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"An ill-attuned ear calls discord harmony, not appreciating concord. So physical sense, not discerning the true happiness of being, places it on a false basis. Science will correct the discord, and teach us life's sweeter harmonies."

Science & Health Page 60: 24-28

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