June 11, 2015 - What Creation?

"Tailand"
photo from Aaron Springston

ACIM A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson #162

“I am as God created me."

In reading the lesson which goes with the topic above, I was struck by a statement: “It will mean far more to you as you advance.” As I think back to being a small child and pondering what “I am as God created me” meant to me at that point, I have vague recollections of the Garden of Eden with naked Adam and Eve frolicking in the perfect environment. As years went by, I would often wonder how the world we live in could have been created so imperfectly by perfect Love. Today I’m catching glimpses of Truth, beginning to understand that God did not create an imperfect world, but we have. These ideas have been the basis for many pages in many books, so I won’t attempt to go deeper with this thought today. But I will leave you with an all-encompassing passage by Mary Baker Eddy:

“There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all. Spirit is immortal Truth; matter is mortal error. Spirit is the real and eternal; matter is the unreal and temporal. Spirit is God, and man is [Its] image and likeness. Therefore man is not material; he is spiritual."

Science & Health Page 468:10-16

June 10, 2015 - We Are One

Cozy Thailand Alley
photo by Aaron Springston

ACiM Workbook Lesson #161

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

We are asked today to see our perfection through seeing it in another. I am choosing someone I don’t particularly enjoy being around, and undoing the separation which has caused me to think of him as an enemy. I no longer want to replay past events and conversations. I don’t want to remember things which caused me to think I’m somehow better than him. I want to allow hard feelings to dissipate and fill up the void which is left with Love. This Love is the source of his being as much as it is mine and yours. I am the Love I want him to be. He is the Love I strive to understand and live. We are One whether I think so or not, so now is the time to allow myself to be blessed by his perfection. Namastè!!

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, 2015 - No Fear in Love

"Thailand"
photo from Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #160

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

When we are afraid of a situation, we often want someone to be with us to comfort us and, perhaps, share in that fear. When I was admitted into the hospital last year, I was repeatedly asked if I wanted to call someone to be with me. I assured everyone I was fine. Remaining cheerful throughout the whole stay was also an anomaly to the staff. I haven’t thought about those days very much, but today’s topic brings it to mind as I look for a time of fear in order to write about it. But I really think “I am at home and fear is the stranger here”. As an expression of divine Love, there is no need to ask for more. And so it is! 

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, 2015 - Giving/Receiving Miracles

"Thai Joy"
photo from Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #159

“I give the miracles I have received.”

A quote attributed to Albert Einstein, paraphrased, says something like this: We can live as though nothing is a miracle or as if everything is a miracle. I’ve always leaned toward the side of wonderment, looking at life with rose-colored glasses and being tickled pink at the ever-changing miracle of  life as witnessed by trees and flowers and flowing water and the like. Today I’m pleased to enjoy the miracle of driving a car! It has been almost six months since I’ve driven, because of a lower leg amputation. Today, while starting my car for its daily engine revving and 6 inches of movement back and/or forward, I thought to myself, I can drive! Interestingly enough, I can feel my invisible foot. Some people may think of that as phantom pain, but I believe I'll look at it as a gift of Life. I'll nurture the feeling, knowing Truth in all its forms and functions as I continue to recognize the miracle so I can give it away!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"The great miracle, to human sense, is divine Love, and the grand necessity of existence is to gain the true idea of what constitutes the kingdom of heaven in man."  

Science & Health Page 560:11-16   

June 7, 2015 - Learning to Receive

Adventures in Thailand
photo from Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #158

“Today I learn to give as I receive.”

A dear friend, Jim Young, did an interview today on a radio show called Reality Spirituality. The woman who interviewed him told us that at one point she went for 40 days without speaking. I think this was a lovely exercise in learning to give what she was receiving. Bypassing words, which can so often be misinterpreted, she was communicating purely with the energy of her Being. At one point during the program Jim asked us what if, rather than try to tell someone how much we love them, we simply sit and BE love, and through this sharing of energy we impart our true feelings. Opening ourselves to Love allows this transfer of energy to occur naturally with no misunderstanding by another.  

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Let us feel the divine energy of Spirit, bringing us into newness of life and recognizing no mortal nor material power as able to destroy.” 

Science & Health Page 249:6-8

June 6, 2015 - Transforming Thought

"Monkey in Thailand"
photo from Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #157

“Into His Presence would I enter now.”

"Practicing the Presence" was the first book I read by Joel Goldsmith. In it, he reminds us that we already are and always will be "in his Presence", as this Course in Miracles lesson is reminding us today. The space "I enter now" is a shift in my perception, a change of my thought. This shift allows me to realize that I always was and always will be the experience and expression of God. I Am that I Am. If good news were reported in the media, they would be proclaiming instances of this yielding to Truth, because we're seeing it everywhere! That's what it's all about, huh? We are being "renewed by the transforming of our mind". We're transforming our mind into Mind and entering into the kingdom of heaven which is within. How wonderful to know we have that choice!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“One moment of divine consciousness, or the spiritual understanding of Life and Love, is a foretaste of eternity.”

Science & Health Page 598:23-25

June 5, 2015 - I Give Up Nothing

photo courtesy of 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 [It] in whom we have our being.”

Science & Health Page 264:10-12