The Holy Instant, Celebrated!

"Mongolian Shaman"
creation by Sandy Wythawai Starbird

ACIM Workbook Lesson #241

“This holy instant is salvation come."Today let's celebrate words which have awakened us to the knowledge of salvation within! We all have our favorites -- people whose words are so familiar they have become a natural part of our conversations and thoughts. Today I commemorate the wisdom passed to us by John Lennon, William Blake, Shakespeare, Rumi, and others. I will remember those whose words have encouraged me to live Truth, by way of their living of It. While visiting these well-loved words, I know that salvation is not only something to be desired, but that it is here, right now, for the remembering.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Acquaintance with the Science of being enables us to commune more largely with the divine Mind, to foresee and foretell events which concern the universal welfare, to be divinely inspired,--yea, to reach the range of fetter-less Mind.”

Science & Health Page 84:14-18

No Fear, Omni-Action!

"Mongolia"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #240

“Fear is not justified in any form."

Our lives tend to fall into familiar patterns as we move through our days. We may find ourselves going to the same places, saying the same things, thinking the same thoughts -- and all of  these habits become comfortable. Even if we're experiencing disharmony, we often fear change. We may say, "Something told me I should do so-and-so". We often hear this calling, this inner voice leading us toward a different path than we're on, but we feel it takes courage to walk a road less or never traveled, and so we settle. To settle for anything which brings us less than joyful existence is to dishonor ourselves, which is to dishonor God. The next time I think I'm feeling this thing we call fear, I'll choose to interpret the emotion as excitement about what will come next!

Mary Baker Eddy quotes:

“Had Blondin believed it impossible to walk the rope over Niagara's abyss of waters, he could never have done it. His belief that he could do it gave his thought-forces, called muscles, their flexibility and power which the unscientific might attribute to a lubricating oil. His fear must have disappeared before his power of putting resolve into action could appear.”

Science & Health Page 199:25-31

I Celebrate MySelf!

photo by Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #239

“The glory of my Father is my own"

“Let not the truth about ourselves today be hidden by a false humility.” (ACIM) This "false humility" we use to hide the Truth about ourselves can take many forms. It's usually easy to catch ourselves in self-deprecating actions, which we deem to be humility, but which actually are expressing our inability to accept the glory of our true selves, but there are lots of insidious forms that are not as easily noticed. Do we take things personally and feel attacked when we hear news of governmental actions, friends’ words, co-workers' rivalry, or the thousands of other things that go on around us? These are all forms of accepting something other than the glory of ourselves. Every time I hear or see something today which seems to cause me chagrin, I will smile with the assurance that no one, including my own self, can change the Truth of Being.

“I celebrate myself, and sing myself,

And what I assume you shall assume,

For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.”

Walt Whitman

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Unfathomable Mind is expressed. The depth, breadth, height, might, majesty, and glory of infinite Love fill all space.” 

Science & Health Page 520:3-5

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