Concepts of Love

ACIM Workbook Lesson #282

“I will not be afraid of love today.”

A friend from the west coast visits our fair village once a year and he is here now. We were having a conversation and he told me he has decided he is incapable of love. Now this is the kind of statement that I relish because I know we're going to have a great conversation! I started out asking him if he's ever loved an animal. "Sure," he says, "but I can't love another person." After asking him a barrage of questions, I dropped the major Truth that he refuses to accept: There is only one Love, expressed in whatever way we choose. This is a man whose company I enjoy for his love of music, his passion for quantum physics, and his never-ending interest in things he doesn't understand. He went away pondering that there is no such thing as an inability to love, only a decision to choose something else instead. I look forward to our next conversation!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Love is priestess at the altar of Truth. Wait patiently for divine Love to move upon the waters of mortal mind, and form the perfect concept.”

Science & Health Page 454:21-23

Unified by Love

photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #280

"What limits can I lay upon God's Son?"

I went into a local shop which sells the best olive oils in the world and fabulous balsamic vinegars. It’s always a treat to see what new taste treats they have and this visit was especially fun because I took a friend in who had never been there before. While we were tasting and shopping, a nice young man was helping us and I thought I knew who he was. Actually, I thought he was someone I’d known since he was a small child and I was very friendly, asking him questions about a play our local dance studio is performing and other things. Then just before we were leaving, he answered the phone and identified himself as “Josh”. At this point, I realized I didn’t know him from Adam! I think it was a lovely example of how we can be friendly and loving to everyone, anytime, anywhere, with nothing to hold us back other than our idea of how we should interact with others, be they strangers or friends. We are unified by Spirit, Soul, Mind, and Love!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"The everlasting I AM is not bounded nor compressed within the narrow limits of physical humanity, nor can He be understood aright through mortal concepts. The precise form of God must be of small importance in comparison with the sublime question, What is infinite Mind or divine Love?"

Science & Health Page 256:13-18

Freedom of Mind

photo from Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #279

“Creation's freedom promises my own.”

When we are told we are free, we usually have an idea of what that means. But what of our imagined bondage? I know I live with limiting beliefs every day, and it often seems impossible to be released from them. As children we are told not to talk to strangers, to be careful lest we fall, to be afraid of God, to live in certain ways in order to gain the approval of others -- the list goes on. We think a multitude of rules and beliefs must be obeyed in order to survive and thrive, and when we start to realize most of these so-called rules have nothing to do with our true existence, it can be frightening -- and exhilarating! The freedom of our true creation is seen through a change in our perception of reality. Taking ourselves out of the prison of preconceived notions allows the Love we are to show through our actions in sublime ways. And we glimpse freedom.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The periods of spiritual ascension are the days and seasons of Mind’s creation, in which beauty, sublimity, purity, and holiness — yea, the divine nature — appear in man and the universe never to disappear.”

Science and Health Page 509:24-28

Free!

photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #278

“If I am bound, my Father is not free.”

Sometimes the miasma of materiality seems overwhelming. It's easy to feel bound by illnesses and injuries, financial burdens, grief. Our lives appear to have a beginning and an end. Physicists tell us of a perspective called quantum entanglement, in which particles separate yet remain connected, reacting to stimuli in the same way even though they no longer occupy the same space. In a book by Dan Cowan, Mind Underlies Spacetime, he explains, "...this direct connectedness occurs because each real entity is already everywhere." How perfectly this explains Oneness! This omnipresence is our perfect identity, without boundaries. We are free!!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The admission to one's self that man is God's own likeness sets man free to master the infinite idea.”

Science & Health Page 90:24-25

Shifting Thought

photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #277

“Let me not bind Your Son with laws I made."

A universal shift in thought is upon us and we're each feeling it in our own way. The understanding that our true identify is spiritual and , as such, we’re not bound by any material beliefs, is bringing us to a tipping point in thought. Mass media and collective human consciousness tell us what to expect from material laws of cause and effect. Just think about how many things have been "proven" untrue which we learned as "fact" at some point. We can laugh when we see old advertisements proclaiming that lard makes families happy, or that cigarettes are good for you, but many of us are frightened by giving up the crutches we have relied on for years. Today I will notice the appearance of long-held beliefs telling me what is good and bad for me. I'll let them go and listen within for Truth!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Divine Mind rightly demands man's entire obedience, affection, and strength. No reservation is made for any lesser loyalty. Obedience to Truth gives man power and strength. Submission to error superinduces loss of power.”

Science & Health Page 183:21-25

Listening and Speaking

photo by Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #276

“The Word of God is given me to speak.”

For years, I didn’t speak up when I heard people talking about their pain, although I wanted to. Then I went through a phase where you couldn’t keep me quiet because I so desired to help people fix their problems. Even though I now realize I can’t fix anyone, I still can’t keep quiet, nor do I think I should when hearing divine Mind asking for an audience. For instance, at the market today a woman was telling me about physical problems she was having and how upset she was about upcoming medical procedures. My heart went out to her as I gave her a big hug and said something like, “It is what it is. You’ll face it moment by moment and do whatever is needed. All is well.” This thought brought her happiness, and I’m glad I listened to Love!

 Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Let discord of every name and nature be heard no more, and let the harmonious and true sense of Life and being take possession of human consciousness.”

Science and Health Page 355:11-14

Listening

"Great Salt Flats"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #275

“God's healing Voice protects all things today.”

Yesterday, I wrote about a movie about a man who had a blow to the head which left him in a happy state. What I did not mention was that when his wife passed on, he was upset because he wasn't upset. He wanted to cry for his wife, but he didn't feel there was any reason to do so. In order to feel grief, he allowed an operation to take away the blood clot in his brain which had supposedly caused his joyous demeanor. Afterwards, he was back to his old unhappy self, being mean and miserly and able to cry. The questions this story brought to me were multiple, but mainly I wonder why we feel the need to grieve. Is this some sort of duality belief or a learned behavior which demands we are sad in certain situations? Have we become accustomed to extremes of emotions to convey that we are caring human beings? Perhaps peace of mind in any situation comes from that healing Voice for God protecting me from grief and other unnecessary human beliefs. I shall continue to listen for answers.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Faith, if it be mere belief, is as a pendulum swinging between nothing and something, having no fixity. Faith, advanced to spiritual understanding, is the evidence gained from Spirit, which rebukes sin of every kind and establishes the claims of God."

Science & Health Page 23:14-17