Perfect Happiness

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #101

“God’s Will for me is perfect happiness.”

Today's ACIM lesson states: "Today we will continue with the theme of happiness. This is a key idea in understanding what salvation means. You still believe it asks for suffering as penance for your 'sins.' This is not so. Yet you must think it so while you believe that sin is real, and that God's Son can sin." Were you taught that salvation involved some sort of penance for your sins? Most people were, in some form or fashion. I'm really not sure how theology has decided that we're sinners, because when I read the teachings of Jesus, I don't see that as being taught. For this reason (and many others), I'm most grateful for the teachings of Mary Baker Eddy and, also, A Course in Miracles. Both of these disciplines attempt to show us that we are the reflection of God. As Love's expression, we are the embodiment of happiness and joy! Anything unlike this harmony is but our misunderstanding. As we clear away these misapprehensions, we allow what we've always known, deep inside, to begin lighting our path. As we walk more surely, the illumination becomes brighter!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"The Science of Mind disposes of all evil. Truth, God, is not the father of error. Sin, sickness, and death are to be classified as effects of error. Christ came to destroy the belief of sin. The God-principle is omnipresent and omnipotent. God is everywhere, and nothing apart from Him is present or has power." 

Science & Health Page 472:4-10

Happiness Arising

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #100

“My part is essential to God’s plan for salvation.”

Today we are urged to be fully present in the joy which is our inheritance as a reflection of God. When I hear the word joy, I tend to think of exuberant happiness, but quiet, peaceful happiness spreads joy, too. We've all had times in our lives when happiness doesn't seem to be present at all. At times like those, it's even more important to understand our part in all of this — and that is to express Love. In every situation, whether solemn or celebratory, our function is the same. Sometimes it seems too simple, doesn't it? All we need do is allow everything to be Love: to reflect it, to live it, to be it! A sentence from today's lesson says: "God's Will for you is perfect happiness." Wow! God wants me to be happy!! And not just wants me to, but tells me how to do this, if I will listen. Once again, quieting the material senses is the key to hearing guidance. There are so many ways to open up to spiritual sense. Let's listen and see what joyous ways we discover today!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Harmony is produced by its Principle, is controlled by it and abides with it. Divine Principle is the Life of man. Man's happiness is not, therefore, at the disposal of physical sense. Truth is not contaminated by error. Harmony in man is as beautiful as in music, and discord is unnatural, unreal.”

Science & Health Page 304:16-21

Holding On To The Dream

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #99

“Salvation is my only function here.”

It can be difficult to understand that salvation and forgiveness are a part of this material dream; that there is, in reality, nothing from which to be saved nor forgiven. The distinction between illusion and reality is essential to this understanding. Even a bit of understanding may not preclude a desire to hold onto unreality. I was shown an illustration of this reluctance while sleeping. I had a long and elaborate dream involving not being able to find nor help a loved one who was in trouble. There was snow so deep it couldn't be passed, along with many other impediments which produced anxiety and distress in my slumber. The dream seemed to go on forever. and I kept trying to climb out of it. But when I woke up, my first thought was of going back to sleep to see how the dream would end! As I was sliding back into sleep, the thought came to me that this wasn't necessary. Why should I care how it ended? Couldn't it end any way I wanted it to?? As I came back to conscious awareness, it occurred to me that this was a perfect analogy, illustrating our desire to hold onto illusions. From this perspective, I will notice my actions and thoughts today, looking at them from all sides to see if they are coming from God or my own personal ideas of how things should be. Remembering that God is All, and that I reflect this divine Love as my governing Principle, I gratefully accept this salvation today and always.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The starting-point of divine Science is that God, Spirit, is All-in-all, and that there is no other might nor Mind,--that God is Love, and therefore He is divine Principle.”

Science & Health Page 275 6-9

Looking Through Beliefs

"Cowboy Hat Chef of Thailand"
photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #98

“I will accept my part in God’s plan for salvation.”

To the uninitiated in this way of thought, the topic for today could be interpreted as asking us to accept some sort of predestination. We who are familiar with this study, know it is not. I once heard Deepak Chopra say that there is no free will as long as we are being held by the beliefs of a lifetime. For this reason, we are asked time and again to look through the meaning we have placed on things and allow ourselves to think with divine Mind, feel from the leadings of Love, and create from the depths of Soul. It seems no one likes to be told what to do. I spoke with a woman today who was upset with her daughter for "bossing her around". When we are yielding to divine Principle, it doesn't seem to matter what dictates are put before us: they either feel right and we follow them, or they don't and we don't! To me, that's accepting God's plan.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Spirit, God, gathers unformed thoughts into their proper channels, and unfolds these thoughts, even as [It] opens the petals of a holy purpose in order that the purpose may appear."

Science & Health Page 506:18-21

I Am Spirit

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #97

“I am spirit.”

I've been reading and studying the works of Bicknell Young. This fascinating man was the nephew of Brigham Young, the renowned Mormon leader. I can only imagine his family's surprise when he discovered the teachings of Mary Baker Eddy in the late 1800s, and then went on to gain fame speaking and writing about Christian Science during the next few decades. He's the proverbial person, dead or living, whom I'd choose to sit down with for an evening. These sentences about Spirit are part of what pique my interest to know every thought he ever had! "Consciousness is Spirit. It does not become spiritual nor is it spiritualized. Nor does the evolution of consciousness mean a rising above or a purification from anything; it is the ceaseless unfoldment of infinity." Thank you, Mr. Young!

Mary Baker Eddy quote: “Identity is the reflection of Spirit, the reflection in multifarious forms of the living Principle, Love.” Science & Health Page 277:20-22

Salvation Found in Oneness

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #96

“Salvation comes from my one Self.”

Yesterday we pondered what our one Self is. Today we are contemplating how salvation comes from this knowledge. I know I have been saved much grief by the realization that my mind doesn’t need to be busy all the time. Relaxing of the mind is as important (if not more) than resting the body. For one thing, the practice of quieting the mind is integral to listening. I've found that when thought is jumping about, it's impossible to truly listen to anything. One thought leads to another, and before you know it, you've gone all around the world and have no idea what's happening right in front of you. By the same token, if I expect to understand from the point of spiritual discernment, it's pretty darn hard to do if my own self won't be quiet long enough to concentrate on a simple sentence in a book. This is always a good indicator me: If I can't read and digest what I've read, then I'd best have a "time out" to still my monkey mind from its busy-ness! What a peaceful, harmonious world this will be when we all take time to quiet self-importance and listen for Self-knowledge!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"The point for each one to decide is, whether it is mortal mind or immortal Mind that is causative. We should forsake the basis of matter for metaphysical Science and its divine Principle."

Science & Health Page 195:11-14

I Am One Self

photo credit: Chris Fischer

ACIM Workbook Lesson #95

“I am one Self, united with my Creator.”

You are the presence of God. Does this statement make you uneasy? Perhaps traditional theology has taught you that such an idea is sacrilege. Maybe you simply feel too inferior to accept yourself as Godlike. It's not so difficult to say that you are one with everything. We're happy to feel a connection with all things and often go to retreats and workshops which help us feel this unity. But what does this thing called Oneness really mean? It could be taken wholly on a material basis, and you might say that we're all the same in our physical makeup of minerals and flesh, etc. You might be willing to go a step further and say we're all the same because God made us in Its image and likeness. Does it make you cringe to call God It rather than He? We're accustomed to anthropomorphizing God, making deity like us rather than the other way around. As we learn to accept and embrace our identity as the experience and expression of God, we find we can proudly announce our goodness, our wholeness, even our perfection. This honors God and Its creation in a way that self-conscious deprecation or self-righteous pride cannot. It's a beautiful day to explore what all this means in daily practice!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"God, without the image and likeness of [Itself], would be a nonentity, or Mind unexpressed. [It] would be without a witness or proof of [Its] own nature. Spiritual man is the image or idea of God, an idea which cannot be lost nor separated from its divine Principle."

Science & Health Page 303:25-30