November 8, 2014 - Practice

photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #312

“I see all things as I would have them be.”

I have the chance today to "look upon a liberated world, set free from all the judgments I have made." Thank goodness, because I've been blaming the world for lots of stuff! I've recently pontificated on the fact that the world is selling us diseases. Everywhere we look there are certain well-publicized maladies blossoming. I've also been blaming the world for the proliferation of bigotry and closed-mindedness. I've been blaming the world for being willing to spend money on clothing and recreation, but not on art. I could probably find a few other things I've been blathering about, but that's enough for now.  It's difficult to get past ego's need to know everything and be special. It seems difficult to let go of beliefs and trust the divine Mind which flows through all that Is. But that's what I want to do, and so I'll continue to catch myself in judgmental thought, and ask holy Spirit what divine thought is on the subject. Spiritual sense awakens with practice!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"The supposed existence of more than one mind was the basic error of idolatry. This error assumed the loss of spiritual power, the loss of the spiritual presence of Life as infinite Truth without an unlikeness, and the loss of Love as ever present and universal."

Science & Health Page 479:5-10

November 7, 2014 - Of Elections and Such ...

photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #311

“I judge all things as I would have them be.”

Recently, in the USA, we've had some major elections. I've always thought our political system was just another way of dividing us. I don't watch network television, news in traditional forms, nor political debates and such. I glance through our local newspaper and occasionally watch Colbert and/or the Daily Show (comedy based on the news) to "keep up" with what's going on out there. I did vote a few days ago, but haven't made the effort to find out who won or lost. These results are seeping in to me by various means, but I have no strong opinions on the outcome. I am in total agreement with Mary Baker Eddy in today's  quote concerning politics. I haven't always been this way. I used to campaign, and get involved, and even cry when "my" candidate lost. I like the way I feel now so much more!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

 "I am asked, 'What are your politics?' I have none, in reality, other than to help support a righteous government;  to love God supremely, and my neighbor as myself."

Miscellaneous Writing Page 276:23-25

November 6, 2014 - Letting Go

Structure of Truth and Love

ACIM Workbook Lesson #310

“In fearlessness and love I spend today.”

I spent today in fearlessness and love, loosing some of the past I've been holding tightly. Our hundred-year-old edifice of the Christian Science church here in Eureka Springs has been a part of my life for more than 50 years. I've played the organ for services more times than I can count. I've sat in its sanctuary and soaked in the years of Love this structure has witnessed. It's a part of me. I've been trying to release it from the emotional bonds I've put on it. It's taken a number of years, but I believe it's done. Today I met with a newspaper writer who will be doing a story about its history and its possible future. I felt like it was more than a goodbye I said today. One of Mary Baker Eddy's definitions of church is, "The structure of Truth and Love." As I sat in its walls today, I felt that I Am that, too. We all are! The place you stand is holy ground. Makes me feel like dancing!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true, and you will bring these into your experience proportionably to their occupancy of your thoughts.”

Science & Health  Page 261:4-7

November 5, 2014 - What if ...

photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #309

“I will not fear to look within today.”

Why would we fear to look within? Why would we fear seeing our true self? I think it's because we believe all the little horrible things we've done in our lives are what we'll be looking at. Perhaps we feel that to look within would involve some sort of life review which would require us to answer for every supposed sin we've committed. But what if we're looking within at our pure and perfect Self, as we are created by divine Mind? And what if, after we find what we've forgotten, we allow it to come forth and live with us? In the process, we truly forgive ourselves for all of it, allowing thought to stay on the good and the true, releasing guilt and fear, living only in Love. What if ...

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“When speaking of God's children, not the children of men, Jesus said, "The kingdom of God is within you;" that is, Truth and Love reign in the real man, showing that man in God's image is unfallen and eternal."

 Science & Health Page 476:28-32

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