February 3, 2015 - Peace Within and Without

photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #34:
"I could see peace instead of this."

Peace is inherent in every seemingly volatile situation​. Ask someone who has been involved in a violent attack and they will scoff at you at the very least. I was told today that one in every three calls to the police in our little county involve domestic abuse. I can only assume that this is a woman calling concerning a man's actions, although I know this isn't always the case. Alcohol, anger, and a strong sense of right can be a deadly combination when they come together against someone or some thing. I am reminded that I can't change anyone other than within my own thought. By a change in thought, I may be guided to take particular actions in my world, or I may be led to quietly know the Truth about us all and by that knowing facilitate peace. I wish I could force everyone to live by The Four Agreements. I wish I could quiet everyone's mind so they wouldn't need to lash out at others. Hum -- maybe I can, right here within me! Do I really understand Oneness? I sure do want to. 
  
Mary Baker Eddy quote: “Truth and Love enlighten the understanding, in whose 'light shall we see light;' and this illumination is reflected spiritually by all who walk in the light and turn away from a false material sense.” Science & Health Page 510:9-12

February 2, 2015 - Shifting Perceptions

painting by Carol Dickie

ACIM Workbook Lesson #33:
"There is another way of looking at the world."

Everywhere we look, huge changes are occurring. I love that we are not afraid to look at traditional values in a new light! New ways of looking at old words, such as The Lord's Prayer give us new insights and understanding. Some fear these interpretations are sacrilegious, and perhaps they are. Religion should be about spirituality, but often it is no more than dogma and tradition, which is perpetuated from fear. In the late 1800s, Mary Baker Eddy gave us a spiritual interpretation of the prayer which Jesus gave us (or at least the interpretation offered through translation in our modern-day bible). Today I saw a beautiful modern-day interpretation by Peter Russell, which I'd like to include here. I feel these words are very helpful in facilitating our shifting perception.
Peter Russell's Contemporary Lord's Prayer

Our essential Being, that dwells within,

'I am' is thy name.

May thy true nature be revealed.

May thy knowing inform our daily lives,

As it does our inner Being.

Nourish us today with thy Presence.

Release us from any judgment we have held against ourselves,

As we release others from judgments we've held against them.

Let us not be tempted to seek solace in worldly things.

Liberate us from that which veils the truth.

For it is in our Being that we find your Presence,

The Source of all good, the home of all joy,

Eternally, and without change.

So be it.

http://www.peterrussell.com


Mary Baker Eddy quote: "Our Father-Mother God, all harmonious, Adorable One. They kingdom is come; thou art ever present. Enable us to know, -- as in heaven, so on earth, -- God is omnipotent, supreme. Give us grace for today; feed the famished affections. And Love is reflected in love. God leadeth us not into temptation, but delivereth us from sin, disease, and death. For God is infinite, all power, all Life, Truth, Love, over all, and All." Science & Health, Page 16:27-15

February 1, 2015 - Seeing Love in Every Reflection

photo by Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #32:
“I have invented the world I see.”

On this day last year, I wrote about an incident where a woman had made purchases at my gallery and written two large checks on an account which turned out to be frozen. Apparently, she had been having a last fling in our town and I was not the only one who received "bad" checks. I sent her numerous loving notes, trying to help her to feel better about herself. I only called her once and that didn't go well, so I went back to sending her a note every few weeks. At one point, she wrote me a letter and signed it, "your friend". Then around the middle of April, I received money orders for the entire amount owed. Most people thought there would be no way to collect this debt without resorting to legal means, but every time I thought of her, it was with kindness, seeing her true nature as a child of Love. I refused to see her the way others described similar situations and the people involved. When doubt would creep in, I would replace it with an assurance of good. This is the world I wish to see, and so I do. I know you do, too!
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

January 31, 2015 - Unrealized Abilities

"Great Wall of China"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #31:
"I am not the victim of the world I see"

I heard myself say to someone, "We could all have animosity toward         our parents , either actual or imagined." Hum -- isn't all animosity imagined?? We like to think that some outside influence has forced us to feel hurt or angry, but is that true? Aren't we just setting ourselves up as a victim to say that someone else "made us angry"? After all, I don't have to react with a specified emotion; I can choose to see any given situation as a calm witness rather than as an upset personality, can't I? It's tempting to say things like, He/she pushes my buttons. By blaming outside influences for our actions, we can pretend we're victims of life's circumstances. We're so accustomed to looking for help outside of ourselves that we also blame outside influences for our reactions, thinking we have no choice. Truth shows us that we are more than we believe we are. We aren't mortal victims, but spiritual beings with unrealized abilities and power. It's time to wake up to Truth!
Mary Baker Eddy quote: "Man is tributary to God, Spirit, and to nothing else. God's being is infinity, freedom, harmony, and boundless bliss." Science & Health Page 481:2-4

January 30, 2015 - Seeing Within

photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #30:
"God is in everything I see because God is in my mind."

Seeing everything as a part of us by looking within rather than without is the point of today's exercise. And this is not limited to what we can see with our eyes in the limited proximity of them. Close your eyes and see what pops into your thought and include that in your knowing. We are working toward changing sight to vision. I look at my sweet dog and see my experience of him. I close my eyes and envision all the Love expressed by all the dogs I have known. I feel the Love expressed by my parents and children and friends. I can feel the warmth of a spring day, smell the earth and flowers, see past my limiting thoughts to the ideas of Soul. 

Mary Baker Eddy quote: "It is the illumination of the spiritual understanding which demonstrates the capacity of Soul, not of material sense. This Soul-sense comes to the human mind when the latter yields to the divine Mind." Science & Health Page 85:2-6

January 29, 2015 - Everything I See

ACIM Workbook Lesson #29: 

"God is in everything I see". 

A dear friend, Patricia Robinett, has recorded these daily workbook lessons, which can be found on youTube by searching for Auntie Patricia.  She also posts them on her Facebook page. Before starting to write, I went there to listen to this lesson. Following her post, someone had asked if God is in "rapists, pedophiles, and murderers". Mary Baker Eddy tells us that the word "in" is obsolete if used in reference to Spirit, or Deity. So just a slight change in thought would render the statement to be that God is Everything.  Where does that leave evil? "Spirit is the real and eternal; matter is unreal, temporal." (MBE) Evil is a mortal belief, often seeming vividly real. But it's not, because the only true reality is spiritual. To see past the material miasma to the spiritual Truth takes practice. And that's what we're doing today. I'm so glad we're doing it together!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"God is individual, incorporeal. He is divine Principle, Love, the universal cause, the only creator, and there is no other self-existence. He is all-inclusive, and is reflected by all that is real and eternal and by nothing else. He fills all space, and it is impossible to conceive of such omnipresence and individuality except as infinite Spirit or Mind. Hence all is Spirit and spiritual."

Science & Health Page 331:18-25

January 28, 2015 - Seeing Differently

"Mongolia"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #28:
"Above all else, I want to see things differently."

Today's lesson asks us to give up any notion we have concerning the meaning of anything and everything. By doing this, we cease to look at a thing and start to look at the consciousness which sustains it. With enough practice, we can see everything as God revealed. When we begin asking what things are rather than telling them what they are, interesting answers may be coming our way. For instance, the way we, as a society, punish wrong-doing: Does our present system of retaliation and retribution actually accomplish anything? In reading a book, "The Buddhist and the Terrorist", an alternative to the treatment of a murderer is explored. This book is one of many which encourage me to see differently, to see myself as God sees me, to continue asking mySelf how that sight is gained and kept, to practice the Presence in every moment.
Mary Baker Eddy quote: "The objects cognized by the physical senses have not the reality of substance. They are only what mortal belief calls them." Science & Health Page 311:26-28