Belief Becomes Reality

"Ancient Enigma"
sculpture by Ken Starbird

ACIM Workbook Lesson #15

“My thoughts are images that I have made.”

I witnessed a thought-provoking experiment. A woman sitting at a table was asked to hold her right arm out, resting it from elbow to hand on the surface. They erected a barrier so she couldn't see her real hand and then they placed a rubber hand and arm in front of her, which she could see, with the elbow ending at her body. Then the person sitting on the other side of the table used a soft paint brush to stroke both her hand and the rubber hand. She stated she was feeling a little odd because she was beginning to experience sensation in the rubber hand. When the person moved the brush to the rubber thumb, stroking it but not hers, she jerked back because the feeling was so odd. Then the man across the table pulled out a hammer and hit the rubber hand. You can imagine how the woman reacted! This demonstrated how, in a matter of two minutes or less, a rubber hand became a human hand in the thought of this woman. This is, in essence, what we've done with everything around us. Belief becomes our reality -- and very quickly. So today I will practice moving away from beliefs and opening my thought to the reality of Spirit!

Mary Baker Eddy quotes:

"Mortals evolve images of thought." "Mortal mind sees what it believes as certainly as it believes what it sees. It feels, hears, and sees its own thoughts. Pictures are mentally formed before the artist can convey them to canvas. So is it with all material conceptions."

Science & Health Page 86:13 and 86:29:1

Divine Mind's Creation

photo credit: Mawuena Davies

ACIM Workbook Lesson #14

“God did not create a meaningless world.”

The last few days we've been seeing the world as meaningless and examining how that affects us. Today we are asked to see that this meaningless world was not created by God. This means that everything in this material world is not a creation of God. People become confused or disillusioned when they see so much unlike good in this world, often deciding there is no God. Some may explain the situation by blaming something called the devil for bad things, but then there is a conflict in their mind because God is not all-powerful in this scenario.  Some may say that God created both good and bad to give us choices, and this is a testing ground we live in. The possibilities are limitless when it comes to trying to make sense of the confusion surrounding spiritual beliefs! In our study, we're seeing that God did create everything, and it is all good, but that this creation is spiritual, not material. When we distance ourselves from the concept that life is in matter, we are able to realize that we actually have a divine origin. We can then understand that we are not governed by mental influences over which we have no control, and this realization frees us to live the Love which is our true heritage as the children of God!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“When will the error of believing that there is life in matter, and that sin, sickness, and death are creations of God, be unmasked? When will it be understood that matter has neither intelligence, life, nor sensation, and that the opposite belief is the prolific source of all suffering? God created all through Mind, and made all perfect and eternal.” Science & Health Page 205:7-13

The Illusions We Believe

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #13

“A meaningless world engenders fear.”

Violent crime in the United States has gone down 50% since the year 1990, but most of us, if asked, would say it has increased in the last 25 years. This is because the media has dictated our perception of life! Not only do we have constant reporting by news networks, but there's the factor of social media and online sources adding to our misconceptions. Also, the big-impact violent situations cause us to think that overall violence is up. I was reminded of this when pondering the ramifications of a "meaningless world". If we were able to see the world as meaningless, releasing our beliefs and assumptions about it, this is when we could tap into the truth imparted by divine Mind. But once we have the void of a still mind waiting for Love to flow in and out of it, then our ego jumps up and says, No, you can't do that! Our little mind proceeds to infuse our thought with fear and dread, once again keeping harmony away. If we can face the clamor of our little mind without fear, we will see that a meaningless world cannot exist, but our thoughts about it can certainly be without meaning!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"The Hebrew Lawgiver, [Moses], slow of speech, despaired of making the people understand what should be revealed to him. When, led by wisdom to cast down his rod, he saw it become a serpent, Moses fled before it; but wisdom bade him come back and handle the serpent, and then Moses' fear departed. In this incident was seen the actuality of Science. Matter was shown to be a belief only. The serpent, evil, under wisdom's bidding, was destroyed through understanding divine Science, and this proof was a staff upon which to lean. The illusion of Moses lost its power to alarm him, when he discovered that what he apparently saw was really but a phase of mortal belief." 

Science & Health Page 321:5-18

I'll Meet You There

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #12

“I am upset because I see a meaningless world.”

Today's lesson asks us to witness events without giving them any meaning. By not assigning meaning to everything, we allow ourselves to see the Truth which is hidden by our personal interpretations. This exercise is designed to help us see that the world has no meaning, other than what we apportion to it. When we allow Spirit (God) to manifest through us -- which is our native state as the experience and expression of divine Mind -- we open ourselves to the field of all possibilities. We then become a blank slate for Love to write on. Who's to know where this will lead us? To quote Rumi: "Out beyond ideas of rightdoing and wrongdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there".

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Alas for the blindness of belief, which makes harmony conditional upon death and matter, and yet supposes Mind unable to produce harmony! So long as this error of belief remains, mortals will continue mortal in belief and subject to chance and change.” Science & Health Page 486:18-22

Substantive Thought

from Sandy Wythawai Starbird

ACIM Workbook Lesson #11

“My meaningless thoughts are showing me a meaningless world.”

I still vividly remember a sleeping dream I had a few years ago. We had no need to speak, as we knew each others' thoughts. We had no fear, as our thoughts were uncluttered and pure. Everywhere I looked there were happy people, busy at tasks which would benefit everyone. There was no need for television or radios, as we knew everything, and it was Good. At one point, I thought I was lost in the woods, but that was impossible because others sensed my confusion and were there immediately to lead me to a safe and beautiful home. While traveling on a road, suddenly the way was filled with huge boulders and ancient fallen trees, but to the left side there was a field filled with beautiful flowers, and a pathway leading to my destination. All needs were met before I knew of them. And there was the most wonderful sense of peace. I will hold to these beautiful feelings today, while seeing the meaningless basis of my ego-driven thoughts and desires. 

Mary Baked Eddy quote:

“Sleep and apathy are phases of the dream that life, substance, and intelligence are material. The mortal night dream is sometimes nearer the fact of being than are the thoughts of mortals when awake. The night-dream has less matter as its accompaniment. It throws off some material fetters. It falls short of the skies, but makes its mundane flights quite ethereal.” 

Science & Health Page 249:24-30

Open to Divine Ideas

photo credit: Alden Stallings

ACIM Workbook Lesson #10

“My thoughts do not mean anything.”

Humility is the word which keeps coming to mind as I read today's lesson. We are accustomed to believing that everything we think and do is important, and it can be hard to admit our thoughts mean nothing. Sometimes it is even difficult to admit we don't know or understand things in daily life, so how can we admit that our own thoughts mean nothing? For me, it's a matter of realizing that my true self isn't contained in this body, and any thoughts which are based in materialism are changeable. And so I can then admit that my thoughts (even those which seem to be pretty good ones!) are not "founded on the divine rock". With this admission, I am happy to see the beliefs of a lifetime dissipate, leaving me open to the divine ideas which are my true reality as a child of God. 

Mary Baker Eddy quote: 

"Human thoughts have their degrees of comparison. Some thoughts are better than others. A belief in Truth is better than a belief in error, but no mortal testimony is founded on the divine rock. Mortal testimony can be shaken. Until belief becomes faith, and faith becomes spiritual understanding, human thought has little relation to the actual or divine." 

Science & Health Page 297:24-30

No Understanding Needed

"Yield"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #9

“I see nothing as it is now.”

I was asked by a person who recently began receiving my daily writings, “Are all the topics as random as the first ones have been?” She stated that there seemed to be no reason for thinking of such things, and so I stopped to ponder that. I realized that her question made a good point, which is addressed in the text of workbook lesson #9: "the recognition that you do not understand is a prerequisite for undoing your false ideas." What a relief to relinquish understanding! When we have admitted that we know nothing, but we are open to learning everything, we will learn it. These early lessons are helping us to see what it means to know nothing. We’ve been taught from early childhood that we want to know everything, and so releasing this need can be daunting. But, when you think about it, we never have known anything for sure. All the “facts” keep changing and we start all over with a new vision of truth — you know, things like you should eat margarine because butter is bad for you — stuff like that! What an exciting adventure we have awaiting us each day, as we learn to understand the difference in what we seem to know through material sense and the reality of Spirit. 

[If you want to read these lessons, please go to this site: http://acim.org/Lessons/lesson.html?lesson=9

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“We must silence this lie of material sense with the truth of spiritual sense.” Science & Health Page 318:12-13