Too Many Decisions!

photo courtesy of Alden Stallings

ACIM Workbook Lesson #238

“On my decision all salvation rests."

It seems we have too many decisions in daily life. Even the tea section in the grocery store has so many choices it can be daunting! And so when we are told that "On my decision all salvation rests", it's tempting to say "No thanks!" But this salvation spoken of here is received by one decision: to wake up and accept our own divinity. There are no considerations to mull over in this decision, there are no choices which are better than others, nor is there any reason for fear of failure. All duality, all choice, vanishes when we realize there is only one thing to desire: to know that God is Life: not my life, or your life, but Life! From this understanding, everything is manifested in our experience, all from the freedom of knowing that the Love which is God is the only Principle of our existence.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“By interpreting God as a corporeal Savior but not as the saving Principle, or divine Love, we shall continue to seek salvation through pardon and not through reform…" Science & Health Page 285:23-26

Releasing Myths

"Beaver Bridge"
photo by Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #237

“Now would I be as God created me."

Seeing past our thoughts about words to the true meaning behind them is part of letting go of the beliefs and dogma with which we have been indoctrinated. There are so many words I’ve had “problems” with, but those illusions are fading away as I learn that the words in these workbook lessons are leading me to peace and love, and the forgiveness of my belief is part of that journey. Letting go of the myths of creation, dramas which attempt to bring us guilt and limitation, is all a part of the changing thought we are experiencing as we allow the light of Mind to shine away the illusions of mortality. Today I will see myself and everyone as extensions of divine Love, allowing nothing to convince me otherwise.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The mythical human theories of creation, anciently classified as the higher criticism, sprang from cultured scholars in Rome and in Greece, but they afforded no foundation for accurate views of creation by the divine Mind.”

Science & Health Page 255: 5-10

Stop the Babble!

"Mongolia"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #236

“I rule my mind, which I alone must rule."

Today's topic brings a remembrance of a school trip where I had five students in my car. During the six-hour drive, one of the boys kept up an almost non-stop stream-of-consciousness babble. I finally told him that everything that went through his head didn't need to come out of his mouth! That's sort of what we're learning today, too. We don't have to allow every thought that pops into our head to rule us. I don't freak out when I do have thoughts I'm not interested in having, but I do turn them away. We have that power!  We're not victims of random thoughts flying around like pollen. We are created by divine Mind and have that heritage to call upon. Mortal mind, ego, is not our ruler, and we can just say no when fearful thinking wants our attention. What a relief!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“God's thoughts are perfect and eternal, are substance and Life. Material and temporal thoughts are human, involving error, and since God, Spirit, is the only cause, they lack a divine cause. The temporal and material are not then creations of Spirit. They are but counterfeits of the spiritual and eternal.”

Science & Health Page 286:21-27

I Am

"Bryce Canyon"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #235

“God in His mercy wills that I be saved."

Do you ever feel punished and try to make deals with God? The mass consciousness we swim in keeps telling us we've done something wrong and can't be saved until we do a whole bunch of things right. Let's allow all of those beliefs to go away today and concentrate on what feels like Truth, right now, in this moment. Toward this end, I will, at every possible moment, quiet my thoughts and allow Truth to permeate my being. It's there all the time, this Love which is God, this divine Love which supports us more surely than the waters of mass consciousness. Our true consciousness is expressed most perfectly in two words: I Am. I'm going to keep it simple today. Join me!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The scientific unity which exists between God and man must be wrought out in life-practice, and God's will must be universally done. If men would bring to bear upon the study of the Science of Mind half the faith they bestow upon the so-called pains and pleasures of material sense they would not go on from bad to worse …”

Science & Health Page 202:3-9

Reflecting Love

photo by Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #234

“Father, today I am Your Son again.”

Once again, I read this topic differently than it is written: Love, today I Am your reflection again. Seeing ourselves as we really are reminds me of a sweet little old lady who used to live up the street. Margaret had lived alone for more than a decade and had taken all the mirrors out of her house. When some other neighbors and I began to help her with housekeeping chores and other things, someone put a mirror on the wall in her bathroom. When she first saw it, she got very upset and began trying to pull it off the wall and, when that didn’t work, tried to break it. She had not seen herself in so many years that she couldn’t face what she saw. Many of us feel the same way about seeing ourselves in a spiritual light. We have become so accustomed to thinking of ourselves as less than, as separate from the beauty of Love, that it’s difficult to accept our spiritual Self. We may have a tough time releasing our beliefs and simply Being. Let’s be gentle with ourselves and see what we find when we release what we think we are! Namasté ~~~

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Matter is a human concept. Life is divine Mind.”

Science & Health Page 569:3-4

Living Life to the Fullest!

photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #233

“I give my life to God to guide today."

Live life to the fullest! What exactly does that mean? I was watching a cooking show where the host, a well-known hedonist, was in Greece. As he is over-drinking and eating he declares that he’s living life to the fullest. It made me start thinking about what a full life is, and then when seeing this topic requesting us to allow divine Mind, God, to guide me today — well, you can imagine how I laughed when I thought of the idea of gluttony being an indication of a full life! I suppose we can ask ourselves what it is we value. Do we value things we have, things we do? Or is valuable substance made up of ideas and the purity of our actions when they are led by divine Love? Giving ourselves to the Unity of All that Is does not limit our actions and enjoyment of the moment. I feel that it intensifies the joy and excitement of living. Being led by Spirit allows me to stop worrying about what my next steps will be and relax into a surety that I’ll be in the right place at the right time. What an adventure life is!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“When we fully understand our relation to the Divine, we can have no other Mind but His,--no other Love, wisdom, or Truth, no other sense of Life, and no consciousness of the existence of matter or error. The power of the human will should be exercised only in subordination to Truth; else it will misguide the judgment and free the lower propensities. It is the province of spiritual sense to govern man.”

Science & Health Page 205:32-7

Be My Mind

photo by Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #232

“Be in my mind, my Father, through the day."

Certain words cause me to cringe and so (at this point in my releasing of belief and learned behavior) I simply leave them out or change them. For instance, in today’s topic I prefer to leave out the words ”in" and “my Father”. With the word “in”, I immediately think there is something missing that I need to bring into me, so I prefer to say “be my mind”. Changing the wording allows me to feel more at One with this ever presence I am acknowledging. I’ve also left out the word "Father" for much the same reason. The human connotations which have been given to this term overwhelm some people, perhaps even me, although I've worked hard to give up any idea of a man in the clouds giving out favors or throwing lightning bolts! I urge you to not worry about semantics and other word games we tend to play with ourselves. But when something causes me discomfort in the wording of these spiritual exercises, I have no problem with thinking of it in another way, until my thinking about the words has changed. After all, this is what it's all about: changing our thought!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“IN:  A term obsolete in Science if used with reference to Spirit, or Deity.”

Science & Health Page 588:22-23