What, Me Worry?

"Blue Moon Set Over the Ozarks"
photo by Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #215

Central theme: "I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me." Review: #195 "Love is the way I walk in gratitude."

Today's review tells us to release the future: What does that mean? We've learned that we must release the past in order to live in the present. "Those who live in the past are condemned to live there alone." (Einstein's Dreams, by Alan Lightman) But what of releasing the future? Does that mean we can't make plans and have dreams of what we'd like to do? No, of course not. It simply means that we mustn't allow those "what-if" situations to control us. If we take the future to the level of constant worry, affecting our every moment in the present, then it's time to release it! I feel there is nothing wrong with thinking about the past or the future, unless it begins to be our focus. No fear of the future nor regret in the past places me in the now. Woo-hoo!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“As the crude footprints of the past disappear from the dissolving paths of the present, we shall better understand the Science which governs these changes, and shall plant our feet on firmer ground.”

Science & Health Page 224:4-7

Letting Go - August 2, 2015

photo from Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #214

Central theme: "I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me." Review: #194 "I place the future in the Hands of God."

Some of us are uncomfortable with relinquishing control and may recoil at the idea of placing the future in God's hands. But I see no loss of individuality in this process. On the contrary, there is more freedom from allowing divine Mind to be in charge than there is with making decisions dictated by material belief and habit. I know a woman who is involved in the messy settlement of her mom's estate. When she gets letters from the attorneys, she puts them in her bible and says she's giving it to God. This is not what we're talking about today! The willingness to radically rely on God opens the way for ideas and spiritual sense to lead us in ways we may not have considered before. Things may then "come up" from the depths of our emotional stores, allowing them to be acknowledged and released. That's what I call "giving it to God"! The past is gone. With every letting go of well-rehearsed past events, or the quiet release of guilt or pain, peace becomes reality for me. It doesn't matter if anyone was right or wrong, it doesn't make any difference what motives were involved, part of me has been emptied to be filled with the only reality: Love.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“We cannot fill vessels already full. They must first be emptied. Let us disrobe error. Then, when the winds of God blow, we shall not hug our tatters close about us.”

Science & Health Page 201:13-15

Listening and Learning

photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #213

Central Theme: “I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.” Review: #193 “All things are lessons God would have me learn.”

I think most of us would agree that listening isn't always an easy task. Today I saw an example of a type of listening which is difficult to put into practice. My neighbor has a cat named Wyatt. This pretty feline goes outside regularly and returns when Jane whistles for him, but this afternoon he didn't return when she called. When it was starting to get dark and he still hadn't come home, she told her other cat, Doc, to "go find Wyatt", and then she listened to what Doc had to say. He went to a house up the street where no one lives, a house that is for sale. Doc went to the back door and stood there, looking from it to his person, who then called the realtor who has the house listed for sale. It turns out she had shown the property to a prospective buyer, and she drove back to our street to open the door. Sure enough, there was Wyatt inside the house. What a lovely demonstration of the power we possess when we're willing to listen and learn!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Spiritual sense, contradicting the material senses, involves intuition, hope, faith, understanding, fruition, reality.”

Science & Health Page 298:13-15

Fulfilling Our Function

Tailand Sunset
photo from Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #212

Central Theme: “I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.” Review: #192 “I have a function God would have me fill.”

Have you noticed people are making major shifts in their lives? The cool thing I've observed is that these are not painful changes, but beautifully flowing shifts which seem almost effortless in their perfection. I love seeing people coming alive with the excitement of doing things which bring them happiness and deep fulfillment! Whether it's moving to another part of the globe, or starting a new career, or "retiring" and finding that life is just beginning, people are changing their focus in major ways. It's so wonderful that we're feeling free to follow our heart and move into the space of Love which fulfills our function. And how do we know what that is? Listen inwardly and Trust yourSelf!!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Spirit, God, gathers unformed thoughts into their proper channels, and unfolds these thoughts, even as [It] opens the petals of a holy purpose in order that the purpose may appear.”

Science & Health Page 506:18-21

No Division

ACIM Workbook Lesson #211

Central Theme: “I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.” Review: #191 “I am the holy Son of God Himself.”

We have insisted on separating ourselves from each other by setting up divisions such as nationality, gender, and religion. It seems as though it should be simple to accept our unity as an idea of divine Mind. We all have a song to sing, and we are all part of the grand symphony of Life. To rejoice in being One with everyone, to live from Love rather than fear and its imaginings, is to humbly accept the goodness we inherently are. I pray to turn away from the illusion of human differences, as I wholeheartedly accept my function as the experience of God, seeing that expression mirrored in everyone I meet.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"One infinite God, good, unifies men and nations; constitutes the brotherhood of man; ends wars; fulfils the Scripture, 'Love thy neighbor as thyself;' annihilates pagan and Christian idolatry, — whatever is wrong in social, civil, criminal, political, and religious codes; equalizes the sexes; annuls the curse on man, and leaves nothing that can sin, suffer, be punished or destroyed."

Science & Health Page 340:23-29

Choices - July 29, 2015

"Ugly Bunny Garden Peppers"
photo by Judy Kavan

ACIM Workbook Lesson #210

Central Theme: “I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.” Review: #190 “I choose the joy of God instead of pain.”

We have so many choices these days! From the time we wake up and decide which tea to drink, there are a myriad of choices every minute of the day. It seems as though the choice of joy or pain would be an easy one, wouldn’t you think? But making wholesome choices aren’t always easy. Today I was at the farmers' market and had a conversation with a few people who said that good food was a luxury and that they couldn't afford it regularly. I was prompted to think of the choices they had. If a person quits smoking, that frees up money for organic, fresh food. It was tempting to ask how much they spend on alcoholic beverages. There are all sorts of expensive luxuries, such as Starbucks coffee, which could be exchanged for a farm-fresh salad. Perhaps if they did a little research on how to easily prepare food, they would be prompted to do so. There's a book called "This Organic Life" where the author explains in detail how almost anyone with a small backyard can grow enough vegetables to feed themselves and their family. The main point of my rant today is that we most always have a choice. As we are told in ACIM: Don't like your choice? Choose again!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“As vapor melts before the sun, so evil would vanish before the reality of good. One must hide the other. How important, then, to choose good as the reality!”

Science & Health Page 480:31-2

Love is the Liberator

ACIM Workbook Lesson #209

Central Theme: “I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.” Review: #189 “I feel the Love of God within me now.”

During my lifetime, I've seen oppression of various types evaporating. I admit that there are more walls waiting to fall  — but just look how far we've come! The strides I, personally, have made in releasing preconceived notions about people who seem different from me are huge! A man told me that he was afraid to come to Eureka Springs. Of course, I asked him why. He said if we were having one of our "diversity" weekends he didn't want to be here. He assured me he had nothing against  gay people, but he didn't want it “rubbed in his face”. This is a learned behavior of prejudice on his part and has nothing to do with the way he felt when he came out of the womb into this life. As we release what we have come to believe, all those things that we’ve been taught to think, we open the way for divine Love to guide us. Love truly is the liberator!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The history of our country, like all history, illustrates the might of Mind, and shows human power to be proportionate to its embodiment of right thinking. A few immortal sentences, breathing the omnipotence of divine justice, have been potent to break despotic fetters and abolish the whipping-post and slave market; but oppression neither went down in blood, nor did the breath of freedom come from the cannon's mouth. Love is the liberator.”

Science and Health Page 225:14-22