Living Love

Creation of Sandy Wythawai Starbird

ACIM Workbook lesson #142: Review of: #123 "I thank my Father for His gifts to me." #124 "Let me remember I am one with God."

I rarely leave the beautiful, liberal-thinking village in which I live, but occasionally I must, and recently was one of those times. As I sat in a waiting room with dilated eyes, the other five or six patients began a conversation which quickly turned to politics and related subjects. At one point, it was revealed that everyone in the room had a gun and that most of them carried them on their person. As I already had my eyes closed, I didn't open them. I'll just say the conversation deteriorated to the point of my almost running from the room when my name was called to proceed down the hall! We are in the midst of a great shift in consciousness, which also means a good deal of holding on to the past and a fear of the future. My daily work toward recognizing and living Love is called into practice often in this time of political drama. Let's all be grateful that we are one with Love, while knowing that our only mind is divine. By doing so, the fear of change will banish as quickly as the fear of falling off the edge of the earth did centuries ago!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Identity is the reflection of Spirit, the reflection in multifarious forms of the living Principle, Love.” 

Science & Health Page 477:20-22

Thinking With Divine Mind

photo credit: Chris Fischer

ACIM Workbook Lesson #141:

Today begins a review of the last 20 lessons. Our main theme is: “My mind holds only what I think with God"  Review of:

#121 “Forgiveness is the key to happiness”

#122 “Forgiveness offers everything I want.”

There is a delightful little book called, The Holy Man, by Susan Trott. It is comprised of numerous scenarios recounted through a group of people who are waiting in line to see The Holy Man. They feel all their questions will be answered, all their problems solved, if only they can meet and speak with him. The irony is that when they are finally admitted to his home, he simply leads them through the house and out the back door. The beauty of the book is that everyone sees what they need to see from their interactions with others while waiting in the long line. We, too, have these aha moments while going about our day-to-day activities. The realization that our true thoughts are those we think with divine Mind brings a newness to everyday life. By releasing our by-rote reactions, we are free to practice forgiveness with every blameless thought we have. With this clean slate, who knows what insights will be ours? Like those people waiting to speak to The Holy Man, whom they believed had all the answers, we will be finding insight in every moment, simply by allowing ourselves to accept that we are One!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Life is divine Mind. Life is not limited.”

Science & Health Page 469:4-5

Remembering Who We Really Are

photo credit: Heather Peters

ACIM Workbook Lesson #140:

“Only salvation can be said to cure.”

Almost everyone has something they wish could or would be cured. Perhaps it’s an addiction to cigarettes, or maybe you have a relationship which is painful and you wish for resolution. Of course, there are the myriad of physical maladies which we are bombarded with daily, many of which are manifest in us or those we love. The multitude of magic potions given us to deal with these conditions are proof that none of them are a healing cure, only a temporary stop-gap put into place while we falter towards salvation. And this salvation spoken of is “the day when separation ends and we remember Who we really are.” (ACIM) Today let’s remember that illusions are not true, and we needn’t feel guilty for denying their veracity!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Salvation: Life, Truth, and Love understood and demonstrated as supreme over all.” Science & Health Page 593:20-21

United in the Oneness of Love

photo credit: Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #139:

"I will accept Atonement for myself."

Life is an unfoldment of consciousness. As today’s Course in Miracles workbook lesson tells us: “We have a mission here. We did not come to reinforce the madness that we once believed in. Let us not forget the goal that we accepted. It is more than just our happiness alone we came to gain. What we accept as what we are proclaims what everyone must be, along with us. Fail not your brothers, or you fail yourself. Look lovingly on them, that they may know that they are part of you, and you of them…Today accept Atonement, not to change reality, but merely to accept the truth about yourself, and go your way rejoicing in the endless Love of God.” As this day unfolds, with all its beauty and wonder, I shall allow myself to be the individual expression of divine Love, knowing what I see in others is what I see in myself and vice versa.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Atonement is the exemplification of man’s unity with God, whereby man reflects divine Truth, Life, and Love."

Science & Health Page 18:1-3

I'm In Heaven!

photo credit: Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #138

“Heaven is the decision I must make.”

Jesus told us that knowing the Truth would set us free. He also mentioned that the kingdom of heaven is within. With these ideas in mind, it seems possible to understand that the Truth he's speaking of is the inner knowing we all hold inside of us: the knowledge that we are holy. We really are the image and likeness of divine Mind, with all the perks that implies. We are the experience and expression of God! We have no function other than to live every moment in the acceptance of our holiness. As spiritual sight outshines material illusions, the kingdom of heaven is our only reality! 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The great miracle, to human sense, is divine Love, and the grand necessity of existence is to gain the true idea of what constitutes the kingdom of heaven in man.” Science & Health Page 560:12-15

Love Heals

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #137

“When I am healed I am not healed alone.”

Love heals. We hear this so often, it's probably become somewhat of a cliché. We may think that nothing can heal the ills of the world, certainly not something as intangible as love. What if love were the most powerful force in the universe? Not just an emotion called love, but an omnipotent, gentle presence which is a synonym for God. What if this Love is sufficient to heal every thought of evil or sickness or misery which has ever been imagined? Then we'd all be lining up to get some of this stuff, don't you think? And it's even easier than that! We only need get out of our own way to experience what has always been there. Love heals!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"One moment of divine consciousness, or the spiritual understanding of Life and Love, is a foretaste of eternity.”

Science & Health Page 598:23-25

Defenses Against the Truth

photo credit: Chris Fischer

ACIM Workbook Lesson #136:

“Sickness is a defense against the truth.”

Many new-age thought systems try to find reasons for disease, then work to get rid of the "problem" which is causing you to be unwell. This is something which has no place in quantum thought.  When Mary Baker Eddy realized the nothingness of matter and the substance of Spirit, not many were willing to imagine the possibility until they saw physical proof. The healing which comes about through this understanding is not a manipulation of matter, but a yielding of erroneous belief to the Truth of creation by divine Mind. The Catch-22 is that if you are trying to heal something, you can't. But if you're knowing the Truth of existence, and that knowledge becomes more than just wishful thinking, the changeability of matter is shown in ways which we think of as healing. Knowing that there is nothing to be healed, that all is perfectly reflected as a creation of divine Mind, therein lies the healing. Going to the core of yourSelf and recognizing that your consciousness is One with Spirit, that is what brings an all-encompassing joy and peace which makes us happy to release false belief. Once that is gone, Truth shines forth in all Its magnificence! To learn more about this, here is the link to today's ACIM workbook lesson: http://acim.org/Lessons/lesson.html?lesson=136

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Truth has a healing effect, even when not fully understood.”

Science & Health Page 152:7-8