No Problem!

photo credit: Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #80

"Let me recognize my problems have been solved."

Yesterday we were told that our only problem is thinking we are separate from God. The understanding that it is impossible to be separated from our source solves that seeming problem! This topic caused a close friend to respond to yesterday's writing in the most perfect analogy, and I'd like to share it with you. "Oh that is perfect and just what is needed. I thought of it as a huge sigh...all tensions flowing away, and Peace returning. Our current situation, portrayed in a movie, would be like the moment when Luke Skywalker is led into the roots of that very large tree, meets Darth Vader, responds instantly with a lightsaber swipe and finds that the severed head is his own.  Observing without emotional reference to what we think we know would be a step in the right direction!" I love that she was inspired to write this! Let's all spread this knowledge by living it!!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"This is the doctrine of Christian Science: that divine Love cannot be deprived of its manifestation, or object; that joy cannot be turned into sorrow, for sorrow is not the master of joy; that good can never produce evil; that matter can never produce mind nor life result in death. The perfect man -- governed by God, his perfect Principle -- is sinless and eternal." Science & Health Page 304:9-15

What IS The Problem?

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #79

"Let me recognize the problem so it can be solved."

For someone who says she has no strong opinions, I certainly seem to have lots of them! In a recent conversation, I found myself critiquing a number of restaurants in a most judgmental way, one of which is frequented by many people that I know. Although I am a self-proclaimed "food snob", it hasn't been my habit to put down the opinions of others. And what is the problem with this thinking? I could say that it is my judgment, but actually it is my feeling of separation from divine Love. And so today I shall spend time pondering this lesson which begins with the following words: "A problem cannot be solved if you do not know what it is. Even if it is really solved already you will still have the problem, because you will not recognize that it has been solved. This is the situation of the world. The problem of separation, which is really the only problem, has already been solved. Yet the solution is not recognized because the problem is not recognized." ACIM

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Ontology receives less attention than physiology. Why? Because mortal mind must waken to spiritual life before it cares to solve the problem of being, hence the author's experience; but when that awakening comes, existence will be on a new standpoint."

Science & Health Page 556:25-30

No Room For Grievances

www.EroicaTrio.com

ACIM Workbook Lesson #78

"Let miracles replace all grievances."

Today's lesson asks us to choose one person and see them as God sees them, with pure eyes, rather than with all the muddled grievances we may be holding. I have just returned from an event which made it very easy to see with the eyes of divine Mind because this group of musicians were expressing divine Love to such an extent that they brought us along with them! The Eroica Trio are a cellist, a violinist, and a pianist who enjoy what they’re doing so much that any grievance I may have had toward anyone or anything has been driven from my body with their music and the joy flowing from their eyes. If fear or anger tempt me to join them today, I shall remember this beauty I’ve witnessed — and be at peace. 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Truth is affirmative, and confers harmony. All metaphysical logic is inspired by this simple rule of Truth, which governs all reality.”  Science & Health Page 418:20-22

The Miracle of Love

Mr. Hoggett and Babe

ACIM Workbook Lesson #77

"I am entitled to miracles."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pExCByqi0NU

I’ve spent the last day joyfully celebrating the miracle of connectivity between people. Sometimes we meet someone and it seems as though we’ve known them forever, or perhaps you know a married couple who have been together for decades and still enjoy each others’ company, or maybe you have a childhood friend who has been a part of your life for as long as you can remember. I was recently at the bedside of a woman I’ve been friends with for 50 years. We learned to play the trumpet together and have memories of playing reveille for school flag raising and taps for soldiers’ funerals. I played the piano at her wedding and she held my hand through divorces. Our ties are deep and filled with Love. She is in hospice care and I knew it was our last visit. She was having a hard time talking, so we were sitting quietly and looking into each others eyes. Every moment we ever shared was relived in the space of a few seconds. It was a miraculous communication and I was reminded of Mr. Hoggett singing to Babe in the movie by the same title. And so I sang it to her, and I did his dance in my imagination! Namasté, sweet Friend! 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The miracle of grace is no miracle to Love.”

Science & Health Page 494:15

Glorious Liberty

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #76

“I am under no laws but God’s.”

How do we find out about these laws of God which we are under? Certainly they’re not in any book which has been written, even though many texts may be referred to as the word of God. I’m not trying to say that there isn’t some wonderful advice in these books. I particularly like Jesus’s words concerning commandments: love your neighbor as yourself and God above all else. How many wars could have been avoided by the simple realization that we are united in the Love which is God! Does it matter what historians or tyrants or mystical seers have dictated? Perhaps the world is not ready to live by the divine edict which is found within our consciousness — but I think we are!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Citizens of the world, accept the ‘glorious liberty of the children of God,’ and be free! This is your divine right. The illusion of material sense, not divine law, has bound you, entangled your free limbs, crippled your capacities, enfeebled your body, and defaced the tablet of your being.”

Science & Health Page 227:24-28

Inextinguishable Light

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #75

"The light has come."

Perseverance in dropping false testimony of the material senses is celebrated today: The light has come! Of course, it has always been there, waiting for us to notice it. Thinking that we need a tribe in order to prosper, or that family is necessary for us to feel whole, or that a religion is needed to see God, these are all beliefs we have come to rely upon. We are seeing the Truth, and it has nothing to do with belief, dogma, or creed. The light has come! Critical mass tipping point isn't 51%, because just a taste of goodness spreads exponentially, as all Reality must. The light has come! To very loosely quote Mahatma Gandhi: I am Muslim. I am Hindu. I am Christian. I am woman. I am man. I am gay. I am straight. I am everything and nothing. I am free!The light has come! Let's join thought today in the realization that Love is all that is enduring. Other things pass away, but not this light which cannot be extinguished.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Let us feel the divine energy of Spirit, bringing us into newness of life and recognizing no mortal nor material power as able to destroy. Let us rejoice that we are subject to the divine 'powers that be.' Such is the true Science of being. Any other theory of Life, or God, is delusive and mythological.” 

Science & Health Page 249:6-10

One Will, One Mind

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #74

“There is no will but God’s.”

Yesterday we pondered what it means to “will there be light”. Today we examine the thought, “there is no will but God’s”, and then ask ourselves what, exactly, that means. I don’t take this to mean that there is a divine laundry list which I am expected to complete each day to win favor from a higher being. Rather, by realizing that my will and God’s will are the same thing, by virtue of the fact that I am an idea of divine Mind, I can comfortably allow myself to listen inwardly for this thing we call intuition, trusting that I will be led in paths of productivity, harmony, and Love. I vow today to not dictate what those paths are, but I will go forward with an open heart and mind, letting my will be God’s! 

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.” 

Science & Health, with Key to the Scriptures 202:3-5