November 4, 2014 - It's a Present!

photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #308

"This instant is the only time there is."

A quote from "Kung Fu Panda" came to mind when I saw today's lesson subject: "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.” And I'm also reminded of something Deepak Chopra said: "Time is something we have made up so everything doesn't happen all at once." Albert Einstein showed us that time is relative. Time spent in a dentist chair passes differently from time spent visiting with a dear friend. Later in life, Mr. Einstein came to believe that time was not just relative, but unreal! Here is a quote from him, written in a letter to a friend: "To those of us who believe in physics, this separation between past, present, and future, is only an illusion, if a stubborn one." So why do we limit ourselves with time? We always think we're too young or too old, or this physical malady will pass with time, or that we simply don't have time to do the things we want to do. When I realize that I'm not a mortal living in what seems to be now, but an immortal living in eternity, then some major shifts in perception can take place. Only "time will tell" what happens with that realization!

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. This sweet assurance is the ‘Peace, be still’ to all human fears, to suffering of every sort”

Miscellaneous Writings Page 307

November 3, 2014 - A Single Eye

"Fall in Eureka"
photo by Dale Johnson

ACIM Workbook Lesson #307

“Conflicting wishes cannot be my will.”

In the realm of the material world, we often have conflicting wishes concerning events. One area of conflict occurs within what we think of as family problems. When someone in our immediate family has a problem, we tend to think of it as our own. We have been conditioned to think we can fix others, and if we don't try, we fear people will think we don't care. Then we're thrown into a quandary of feelings: love for our family, perhaps embarrassment over their actions, worry about what will happen to them, concern over what others will think -- the list can be endless! When we are able to release these feelings and see everyone as the spiritual creation they truly are, we begin to let go our sense of personal responsibility, while affirming their goodness as a reflection of divine Love. Before we know it, we're thinking something wonderful about them when they come to mind, and we're free from the conflicting wishes born of material sense.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“We cannot serve two masters nor perceive divine Science with the material senses.”

Science and Health Page 167:11-12

November 2, 2014 - Going Home

photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #306

“The gift of Christ is all I seek today.”

What do you think of when you hear the word "repent? Many definitions come to my mind, but my most favored definition is "return home". This meaning has nothing to do with confessing sins in order to receive absolution, nothing to do with being sorry for actions, nothing to do with guilt, nothing to do with begging forgiveness. Returning home allows us to see, hear, and feel with the sense of God. We are returning to our original state of being and remembering we never went away. So this idea of repenting, or returning home, is only a matter of letting loose anything which is unlike Love. We are the image and likeness of God. God is Love. We are Love. This is a state we cannot leave, but we can lose sight of this perfect peace. Today I will see the Love that is God, the Love that I am, in everything and everyone.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Heaven is not a locality, but a divine state of Mind in which all the manifestations of Mind are harmonious and immortal, because sin is not there and man is found having no righteousness of his own, but in possession of ‘the mind of the Lord,’ as the Scripture says.”

Science & Health Page 291:13-18

November 1, 2014 - Pure Peace

photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #305

“There is a peace that Christ bestows on us.”

What is the second coming? This is the question we've been exploring in these past few days. We are learning that it is an internal awakening. It involves seeing and feeling the never-beginning, never-ending Truth of our being. This burgeoning understanding has brought me the peace which intellectual reasoning never did. I see the world as a loving place, filled with people who care about each other and their environment. In the past, almost every day numerous people would tell me why they felt the world was a hate-filled place. Now it's a rarity. Have they changed or have I? Is there a difference if we're all One? Love = Peace = Harmony. Feel the Love!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:[This is from the Glossary, where she gives us the spiritual significance of terms.]

"Japhet (Noah’s son): A type of spiritual peace, flowing from the understanding that God is the divine Principle of all existence, and that man is His idea, the child of His care." 

Science & Health Page 589:8-11

October 31, 2014 - Clear Sight

Park City, Utah
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM  Workbook Lesson #304

“Let not my world obscure the sight of Christ.”

Throughout the ages, we've been given hints as to unrealized possibilities. As attested by powerful mythological and fictional characters, we have longed for the ability to change what seems to be the reality of situations in and around our personal existence. The world tells us that we are victims of circumstance, with life experiences being changed by the whim of happenstance. Every time we hear a story telling of something we think is impossible, but which contains an outcome so beautiful we wish and hope it could be true, let's contemplate the fact that there are no limits. Who knows what we're capable of doing? We seem to exceed expected outcomes in every avenue of existence. Wasn't it said that running a mile in less than four minutes was impossible? Today I set free any thought of limitation, any assumptions I may have as to what's what, and by doing so open the inner door to new sight.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Truth never destroys God's idea. Truth is spiritual, eternal substance, which cannot destroy the right reflection. Corporeal sense, or error, may seem to hide Truth, health, harmony, and Science, as the mist obscures the sun or the mountain; but Science, the sunshine of Truth, will melt away the shadow and reveal the celestial peaks.”

Science & Health Page 299:24-30

October 30, 2014 - Leaving Dogma Behind

Utah Fall
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #303

“The holy Christ is born in me today.”

These writings often contain words which elicit negative reactions in many of us. Within myself, I have watched negative  reactions dissipate by letting go of preconceived meanings and learned dogma. There is only One God and we have no need to think in terms of your god or my god. Only our interpretation of what that means allows for a belief in many ruling principles. Let's release these thoughts and see where that takes us! "The Christ is born in me today" is the acknowledgement that the presence of God is within. Please, please, change these words into whatever feels right to you. And please, please don't allow these words' connotations to turn you away from the Love which you are. If you feel disoriented and sort of happily confused, don't fear that either! This giddiness is part of the shift to the beautiful realization of God within! Embrace it and be free!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“CHRIST: The divine manifestation of God, which comes to the flesh to destroy incarnate error.”

Science & Health Page 583:10-11

October 29, 2014 - I Look Upon the Light!

"Bryce Canyon"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #302

“Where darkness was I look upon the light.”

It is said that when we are ready, the teacher we need will show up. I've always felt this to be true, haven't you? Of course, there were many times I turned away from that teaching. Even now, it's difficult to accept wholeheartedly the Truth which is set before me. I love these lessons which are telling us to look upon light, that our sight is finally restored and we can look upon a holy world. In recent weeks, I've had difficulty seeing. The world has become dim enough that I have partaken of the magic of an ophthalmologist. They say I have cataracts on my eyeballs and that it's an easy procedure to correct this. This is a wonderful analogy -- or would it be a metaphor? -- for the dimming of the light which happens when we trust in the illusion we have created rather than the Truth of Creation. I am grateful for this reminder of dimming sight. It brings a new resolve to look through the eyes of Love, to realize that is the only true vision, and anything else is the illusion of fear. Where darkness was, I look upon Light!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“EYES: Spiritual discernment,--not material but mental.”

Science & Health Page 586:3