June 10, 2014 - No More Thorns

Photo courtesy of Creation Spirit

ACIM Workbook Lesson #161

“Give me your blessing, holy Son of God.”

Have you ever heard these statements? "It's my cross to bear." "He/She's a thorn in my side." These are ways of saying that some things and/or people seem to be a problem in our life, and we're carrying them around as though they're a part of us and we have no choice but to bear it. There's a particular topic of contention in our town that never fails to get me riled. I like to think nothing bothers me, but this seems to be my "cross to bear." Motorcycles. Big, loud, revving motorcycles. Obviously I can change the way I think about them. It should be easy to see the drivers as reflections of God, unified by our humanity, not separated by our mode of transportation. Today I choose to look at this differently. Another saying comes to mind: God, give me strength! 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"’Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.’ It should be thoroughly understood that all men have one Mind, one God and Father, one Life, Truth, and Love. Mankind will become perfect in proportion as this fact becomes apparent, war will cease and the true brotherhood of man will be established." Science & Health Page 467:16-20

June 9, 2014 - At Home in Love

photo courtesy of Jim Young

ACIM Workbook Lesson #160

“I am at home. Fear is the stranger here.”

At times my identity with fear is so great that I think it can never be exchanged for my identity with Love. Everywhere I look, it seems someone is running around like Chicken Little declaring "the sky is falling!"  The act of realizing my true heritage as the child of divine Mind is the beginning of freedom from the bondage of mortal mind's beliefs. My home is Love. Fear is a stranger in that home. I want to relax into the comfort of my true home, turning away from every fearful thought. This acronym for fear will help me do this: False Evidence Appearing Real. Years of identification with duality have made me believe it's necessary to have fear and love, good and bad, health and illness. I'm beginning to see the fallacy of this story!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The Apostle John says: "There is no fear in Love, but perfect Love casteth out fear. . . . He that feareth is not made perfect in Love." Here is a definite and inspired proclamation of Christian Science.”

Science & Health Page 410:17-21

June 8, 2014 - Healing

ACIM Workbook Lesson #159

“I give the miracles I have received.”

When someone asks for help with healing, I am not trying to change a physical condition, but rather to change thought from a material viewpoint to one of spiritual reality. Although we tend to think there are certain laws of living which cannot be usurped, most of us have witnessed numerous examples of how this is not so. We have seen what appears to be a physical law set aside, and society generally thinks of this as supernatural intervention. In Christian Science, we call these events the demonstration of Truth. Receiving understanding of our relationship to God is gained by letting ourselves slip into a space which releases all mortal thought, allowing that "Mind to be us, which was also Christ Jesus". Through this simple yet not always easy process, we give all we have accepted. This is healing. I look forward to giving everything I have received, and by that giving, I will come to understand what it truly is.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Implicit faith in the Teacher and all the emotional love we can bestow on him, will never alone make us imitators of him. We must go and do likewise, else we are not improving the great blessings which our Master worked and suffered to bestow upon us. The divinity of the Christ was made manifest in the humanity of Jesus." Science & Health Page 25:27-33   

June 7, 2014 - The Flow of Love

ACIM Workbook Lesson #158

“Today I learn to give as I receive.”

Before we learn to give as we receive, we must realize what we are receiving! It could be said we're receiving the gifts of God. But what is that? We are learning it is the knowledge that our true state is Spirit; that we are one with All That Is. We needn't worry that we're not good enough, or that we don't know enough, or that we've made too many mistakes to qualify as the reflection of God. Thoughts of that ilk have been propagated as fact, but they are only material belief. What we are receiving is Truth, and that is what we give with every breath, with every inspiration.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Mind creates [Its] own likeness in ideas, and the substance of an idea is very far from being the supposed substance of non-intelligent matter. Hence the Father Mind is not the father of matter. The material senses and human conceptions would translate spiritual ideas into material beliefs, and would say that an anthropomorphic God, instead of infinite Principle,--in other words, divine Love,--is the father of the rain, ‘who hath begotten the drops of dew,’ who bringeth ‘forth Mazzaroth in his season,’ and guideth ‘Arcturus with his sons.’” 

Science & Health Page 257:12-21

June 6, 2014 - No Choice

photo by Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #157

“Into His Presence would I enter now.”

Entering into divine Presence is a choice. It is always there welcoming me, but I can easily block that reality with what I have chosen to see. I attended a luau this evening, set in a beautiful garden with perfect weather conditions. Everything was delightful, from the surroundings to the food. I first sat at a table with two women who bombarded me with multiple questions about trivialities and proceeded to find negative things to say about every topic they brought up. As I watched them with amusement, I noticed that the choices they made all involved fear. dread. and defense. As I looked around the crowd, it became obvious that joyful people were glowing, while fearful people's eyes seemed blank and dull. What's the difference? If we all share the same essence, why do some people shine and some shrink away? It's a matter of choice, don't you think? Loving every moment, or fearing everything; embracing the Presence, or turning away with disdain; seeing everything as a difficult choice, or recognizing  Truth. Hum -- maybe there is no choice!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“One moment of divine consciousness, or the spiritual understanding of Life and Love, is a foretaste of eternity. Time is a mortal thought, the divisor of which is the solar year. Eternity is God's measurement of Soul-filled years.”

June 5, 2014 - I Walk With Love

photo by Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #156

“I walk with God in perfect holiness.”

I've always had a resistance to yielding. Walking with God in perfect holiness implies a yielding, don't you think? How else could you walk this walk without giving up what you think of as yourself? You can't. What finally got through to me was the realization that what I was giving up was NOT myself, but a mishmash of everything I had ever been told was true, combined with an erratic belief system I had decided was me. Add to that the hypnotism of media and the pull of mass consciousness and we're left with a pretty convoluted idea of what we are. Little by little, I'm letting go of beliefs and learned behaviors. Being present in the moment, giving my full attention to whatever may be in front of me, loving myself and all in Its oneness -- this is what I see as walking with God. Accepting myself and everything as holy becomes easier when viewed without judgment. Simply witnessing events, perhaps with amusement, is certainly more fun! 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“We must look where we would walk, and we must act as possessing all power from Him in whom we have our being.”

Science & Health Page 264:10-12

June 4, 2014 - I Am All Right

photo by Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #155

“I will step back and let Him lead the way.”

I really try to let Truth lead the way in everything I do. For instance, today I was driving to the country to visit with friends. Before I left the house, I sat and quieted my thoughts and reminded myself to be open to guidance in all ways. By this, I mean everything, including slight variations in driving which would put my tires where they need to be, safe from any sharp rocks or nails. Now, I don't think about these details in particular, or that would be counter productive. I simply say something like, Let me be open to your thought. By silencing my plans and controlling tendencies, there is a protection at work because I'm listening. Today my dog took a tumble down a steep staircase. As he was rolling down, I began affirming to myself his safety -- and knowing the reason why. It's a simple shift from saying, Are you all right? to knowing, You ARE all right! I am very grateful.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Spiritual sense, contradicting the material senses, involves intuition, hope, faith, understanding, fruition, reality." Science & Health Page 298:13-15

"When an accident happens, you think or exclaim, 'I am hurt!' Your thought is more powerful than your words, more powerful than the accident itself, to make the injury real. Now reverse the process. Declare that you are not hurt and understand the reason why, and you will find the ensuing good effects to be in exact proportion to your disbelief in physics, and your fidelity to divine metaphysics, confidence in God as All…" Science & Health Page 397:12-21