Changing Hurtful Thought

Harry Dog and the Christmas Bears

ACIM Workbook Lesson #284

“I can elect to change all thoughts that hurt.”

The process of turning around all hurtful thoughts is an interesting one! Through years of desiring to see with the eyes of Truth, its realization now comes more frequently and with more ease. As a 12-year-old, the loss of my dog was devastating. I wouldn't allow myself to love another animal for more than ten years. After giving myself permission to love again, I have gradually brought my thought closer to understanding the Oneness of Love. When looking in the eyes of a beloved pet, I see those which I've loved in the past. Often when talking to a new friend, I may have deja-vu-ish feelings of being with someone in the past. All these experiences bring the realization of the Oneness of all being, and I relish each loss and gain in this embrace. Whatever the hurt or suffering seems to be, it can be perceived in another way. Love fills our being from its core to its edge. This unbroken reality allows me to feel a gentle Presence in every experience. And I am grateful.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The human mind will sometime rise above all material and physical sense, exchanging it for spiritual perception, and exchanging human concepts for the divine consciousness.” Science & Health Page 531:11-13

Truth Shining Through

photo credit: Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #283

“My true Identity abides in You.”

Imagine the utopia of living life in the acceptance of our true Identity as a creation of divine Mind. When we see that we are a reflection of Love, when we understand that our essence is Truth, then we are able to accept our identity and watch it blossom in daily life. Over the years, we develop a complex idea of who we are, and we spend a great deal of time defending and adding to this concept. The thought of giving that up can be distressing, and many of us refuse to even consider it. But what if this yielding expanded our identity rather than causing it to disappear? There is no need of losing yourself in the process of acknowledging unity. Just imagine — 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Man is not absorbed in Deity, and God’s man cannot lose his individuality, for he reflects eternal Life; nor is he an isolated, solitary idea, for he represents infinite Mind, the sum of all substance.” Science & Health Page 259:1-5

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