January 20, 2015 - Throwing Away the Veil

photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #20
"I am determined to see"

Today's topic has prompted me to look back on the past fifty years and think about the extremes I have gone to in order to NOT see. We, as humans, clutter our selves with any number of trivial pursuits in order to keep from seeing and knowing Truth. We may occupy our time with busy-ness in order to keep Truth from sneaking in. There was a time in my life when I was a semi-hermit. I read five or six books a week, but nothing of import;  lots of horror stories and historical romances. Time spent with others was in a bar, talking about politics, gossip, and other mind-humbing topics. I went to extremes to keep from thinking about the reality of my being. I see others using television, the internet, anything that will totally occupy their minds to keep from seeing. What is this we refuse to see? The Truth of our being, the Truth that is God, the essence which I Am, the meaning of Life and our function as the expression of divine Love. There are many ways to define this sight, but only one way to see. We must have the desire to want sight and the willingness to let illusions disappear. "I am determined to see!".

Mary Baker Eddy quote: “The question, 'What is Truth', convulses the world. Many are ready to meet this inquiry with the assurance which comes of understanding; but more are blinded by their old illusions, and try to 'give it pause'. The efforts of error to answer this question by some ology are vain. Spiritual rationality and free thought accompany approaching Science, and cannot be put down. They will emancipate humanity, and supplant unscientific means and so-called laws.”
Science & Health Page 223:14-24

January 19. 2015 - Never Alone

photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #19
"I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my thoughts."

How often has someone come to mind, then the phone rings and there they are? Many things we consider to be coincidence are leading us to the truth of our connectivity, but we insist on finding reasons they can't be true. For instance, the 100th monkey theory is constantly being "debunked". But that's all right, because we are always witnessing ways in which our thoughts pass to others with no spoken words. Once again, animals are our proving ground. Try thinking well-known commands toward your dog, without using your voice, and watch what happens! Similarly, if we say we want world peace yet fill our thought with violent movies and dooms-day conjectures about everything, are we truly choosing peace? Every thought is important. That tipping point (which many say does not exist) is getting closer all the time. I feel that's why such violence and craziness is happening everywhere: fear of losing control, fear of change, fear of Love. Let's live as though every thought DOES make a difference!
Mary Baker Eddy quote:
"...Truth is the light which dispels error. As mortals begin to understand Spirit, they give up the belief that there is any true existence apart from God."

Science & Health Page 282:32-3

January 18, 2015 - A Foretaste of Eternity

"Altai Mountains"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #18

"I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my seeing."

The realization that we're not alone in our seeing of Truth is a great incentive to see it more! Every glimpse I catch of what I Am is a foretaste of eternity. Every taste savored of eternity whets my appetite to leave belief and dogma behind and make room for spiritual reality to fill its void. I don't fear that this leaving will cause me to be an automaton or puppet for something wanting to control me. It will simply allow me to be more of me. Divine Mind's expression is as idividual as your experience of it. Think of your favorite spiritual seer and how different he is from another metaphysical maven, even though they espouse the same Principle. Divine Love flows through us all, and manifests Itself in a myriad of ways. The way I see it, our Oneness allows us to experience everything there is, but individually through our own expression. The more we understand and see, the more everyone does, too. And what keeps us all from experiencing horrible things together? Their unreality!!

Mary Baker Eddy quote: "In the material world, thought has brought to light with great rapidity many useful wonders. With like activity have thought's swift pinions been rising towards the realm of the real, to the spiritual cause of those lower things which give impulse to inquiry. Belief in a material basis, from which may be deduced all rationality, is slowly yielding to the idea of a metaphysical basis, looking away from matter to Mind as the cause of every effect." Science & Health Page 268:1-9

January 17, 2015 - Can I Be Neutral?

photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #17
"I see no neutral things".

It's difficult to discern if I'm receiving an intuition about a person, place, or thing, or if I'm simply being wary because of past experiences with something similar. I'm in a bit of a quandary concerning a person who has placed himself in a position of leadership in my world. Just looking at him, I immediately think of motorcycle ruffians, self-declared bigots of varying sorts, and perhaps even gestapo. I get a good feeling from him in many ways -- but is this just because I want to see the good in everyone and insist on it? Does he have a hidden agenda of which I want no part? Am I just being a bigot myself to think these things? It can be hard to tell, and there's no way I can personally know such a thing. I see no neutral things and it's impossible for me, the material, mortal, ego-riddled Marsha to tell the difference. But the true Self, stripped of past experiences, beliefs, and bias, knows without a doubt what is Truth. I'm going to look for her today.
Mary Baker Eddy quote:
"To corporeal sense, the sun appears to rise and set, and the earth to stand still; but astronomical science contradicts this, and explains the solar system as working on a different plan. All the evidence of physical sense and all the knowledge obtained from physical sense must yield to Science, to the immortal truth of all things."

Science & Health Page 493:2-8

January 16, 2015 - Every Thought

"Sunset in Mongolia"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #16
“I have no neutral thoughts.”

We are reminded today that "Every thought you have contributes to truth or illusion: either it extends truth or it multiplies illusion." In talking with an acquaintance, it was brought home to me what a Pollyanna attitude I have! His outlook on life is that it must be endured; that we're miserable most of the time and we should not only put up with it, but we should embrace it. Now, I'm not sure he realizes that this is his attitude! I found myself mentally contradicting everything he said -- and this was not because I want to be difficult or to put him down in any way, but to protect myself from his rapidly-multiplying and negative illusions. He wanted to give me graphic details of an operation he recently had, and he was also offering pity towards my situation. In the past, I might have made up an excuse to cut our conversation short, perhaps saying that someone was at the door. But I felt it was important to break the illusion within myself by telling him that I really didn't feel put-upon in any way, that I felt that life was an adventure and I was smack dab in the middle of a good one, and that I had many thank you notes to write and I must be getting to them. I am very grateful to everyone whose thoughts "contribute to Truth"!! Namaste ----
Mary Baker Eddy quote:
"In divine Science, the universe, including man, is spiritual, harmonious, and eternal. Science shows that what is termed matter is but the subjective state of what is termed by the author mortal mind."

Science & Health Page 114:27-31

January 15, 2015 - Who Made My Thoughts?

"Aaron on the Slopes"

ACIM Workbook Lesson #15 
“My thoughts are images that I have made.”

Often it seems our thoughts are not our own but are provided courtesy of advertising and the endless play of horrible events some people like to perpetuate in thought. I know a few people who speculate on what awful things can happen in any given circumstance — and I try to steer clear of them! During the last month, I have been thrown into a world I’ve never experienced: the medical milieu. Now that I have doctors’ appointments and am experiencing one of my pet peeves, prescription drugs, it would seem natural to trade stories with others in similar situations. That is not the world in which I choose to live. A friend said to me today, upon hearing of the wonderfully good results of a recent vascular procedure, that I must know ‘the secret’ and stated that perhaps some day he, too, could learn it. The secret is that there is no secret! It’s an open secret which anyone can experience, if you choose good rather than its opposite. It’s hard for some to believe that these current events in my life are strengthening my metaphysical experience, but I’m seeing more clearly every day!

Mary Baker Eddy quotes: "Mortals evolve images of thought." "Mortal mind sees what it believes as certainly as it believes what it sees. It feels, hears, and sees its own thoughts. Pictures are mentally formed before the artist can convey them to canvas. So is it with all material conceptions."

Science & Health Page 86:13 and 86:29:1

January 14, 2015 - Creation

photo by Mawuena Davies

ACIM Workbook Lesson #14
“God did not create a meaningless world.”

The last few days we've been seeing the world as meaningless and examining how that affects us. Today we are asked to see that this meaningless world was not created by God. This means that everything in this material world is not a creation of God. How can that be? We've been told that God created everything, is everything, and that it is good. But that can't be true, because we see so many things which aren't good! How can this be explained? Some choose to deny God, perhaps with thoughts of a devil which is as powerful as any god we've ever imagined. Some may say that God created both good and bad to give us choices in this testing ground we live in. The possibilities are limitless when it comes to trying to make sense of the confusion surrounding spiritual beliefs. In our study, we're seeing that God did create everything, and it is all good, but that this creation is spiritual, not material. Our true selves are spiritual; our material selves are but another belief, an illusion, which we are living. When we distance ourselves from the concept that life is in matter, we are able to realize that we actually have a divine origin. We can know that we are not governed by mental influences over which we have no control, but that we are free to live the Love which is our true heritage as the children of God.
Mary Baker Eddy quote:
“When will the error of believing that there is life in matter, and that sin, sickness, and death are creations of God, be unmasked? When will it be understood that matter has neither intelligence, life, nor sensation, and that the opposite belief is the prolific source of all suffering? God created all through Mind, and made all perfect and eternal.” Science & Health Page 205:7-13