Learning a New Language

photo credit: Gerry Toler

ACIM Workbook Lesson #149

Review of: #137 "When I am healed I am not healed alone." #138 "Heaven is the decision I must make." The main thought to hold to in this review: “My mind holds only what I think with God.” 

We’re learning the language of Spirit through our study of divine metaphysics. For instance, the word "Spirit”, as I used it in the last sentence, has an entirely different meaning from its use on the Ghost Tours at the Crescent Hotel! The capitalization of the word Spirit not only indicates a synonym for God, but incorporates all the other nuances which are a part of its spiritual interpretation. For instance: Spirit is tangible; Spirit is substance. It "blesses the multiplication of its own pure ideas". (MBE) As with the learning of anything new, this new language requires practice for it to become second-nature to us; allowing the incorporation of these ideas into our lives without specific thought of doing so. As we bring this Truth to our illusionary beliefs, we begin to understand that healing is universal, and that heaven is within. Have a joyous day everyone!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:    

“God is Spirit; therefore the language of Spirit must be, and is, spiritual.” 

Science & Health Page 117:6-7

Spiritual Activism

photo credit: Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #148

Review of: #135 "If I defend myself I am attacked." #136 "Sickness is a defense against the truth." The main idea to hold to in this review: “My mind holds only what I think with God.”

I know many people who wear the hat of social activist. They have worked for years to improve our environment, politics, and the multitude of things in need of advancement. Some have told me they are tired of the fight. I am extremely grateful to each and every one of you who work to clean up rivers, who are passionate about producing uncontaminated food, who stand up to various tyrants and declare, "The emperor has no clothes!" Not a single person has told me that they're tired of the physical effort involved in these projects; it's the butting up against thought stuck in strong opinion, or that which is fueled by hate and fear, which is frustrating to them. This is where our metaphysical advice can be helpful: Don't try to change anyone else's mind, only your own. More and more of us are witnessing Truth brought to seemingly impossible situations, and we're finding that new avenues of action appear when this is done. There is no need to defend ourselves or proclaim our own strong opinions in support of this Truth. Knowing it, within our own selves, is sufficient!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“As when an acid and alkali meet and bring out a third quality, so mental and moral chemistry changes the material base of thought, giving more spirituality to consciousness and causing it to depend less on material evidence.” 

Science & Health Page 422:14-18

Life is Good!

photo credit: Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #147

Review of: #133 "I will not value what is valueless." #134 "Let me perceive forgiveness as it is." The main thought to hold to in this review: “My mind holds only what I think with God.”

Today has been spent in gratitude for every little thing! I love going to my monthly book club meeting, but tonight I skipped it. The reason I'm writing about this is because it illustrates listening to an inner voice. There are about ten small reasons I felt the need to stay home. Alone, none of these things could keep me from my favorite group of women, but as the reasons kept coming to thought, I stopped and examined what was bringing them. Without going into the details of the miasma of thought processes involved in canceling this anticipated engagement, I feel that to ignore them would be turning my back on intuition -- or that still, small voice in my heart. As I sit on my screened-in porch and watch the rain clouds and the birds playing on the wind gusts, I am grateful for many things, including the love and understanding of good friends.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Spiritual sense, contradicting the material senses, involves intuition, hope, faith, understanding, fruition, reality.” 

Science & Health Page 298:13-15

Optical Illusion of Consciousness

photo credit: Mawuena Davies

ACIM Lesson #146

Review of: #131 "No one can fail who seeks to reach the truth." #132 "I loose the world from all I thought it was." The main thought to hold to in this review: “My mind holds only what I think with God.”

This Albert Einstein quote has played in my thought all day. I share it with you: "A human being is a part of the whole called by us 'the universe,' a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separate from the rest - a kind of optical illusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening the circle of understanding and compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." - Albert Einstein

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Science reveals only one Mind, and this one shining by its own light and governing the universe, including man, in perfect harmony.”

Science & Health Page 510:28-31

Oh, The Changes We've Seen!

Eureka Springs, Arkansas
unknown photographer

ACIM Workbook Lesson #145

Review of: #129 "Beyond this world there is a world I want." #130 "It is impossible to see two worlds." The main thought to hold to in this review: “My mind holds only what I think with God.”

The changes we have witnessed in our lifetime have been exciting and (to take a phrase from the ‘70s) mind blowing! Decades ago, when we were told about the Age of Aquarius and recently when 2012 was explained as a shift in consciousness, I'm not sure we thought there would be any real change in our lives. Those who are looking for purely material reasons to explain the huge changes in everything from politics to weather are feeling helpless and overwhelmed. Looked at from a different perspective, we see that changes are necessary in order to facilitate the realization of this new earth we are ready to embrace. As with any shift in thought, some are afraid and working to keep the old ways. But it is impossible to "see two worlds" and, once again, I choose Love!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“During this final conflict, wicked minds will endeavor to find means by which to accomplish more evil; but those who discern Christian Science will hold crime in check. They will aid in the ejection of error. They will maintain law and order, and cheerfully await the certainty of ultimate perfection.”

Science & Health Page 96:31-4

A World of Love

photo credit: Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #144 Review of:

#127 "There is no love but God's."

#128 "The world I see holds nothing that I want.”

And the main thought to hold to in this review:

“My mind holds only what I think with God.”

Thinking about love and perception brings to mind the story a friend once told about a relative who had been married seven times. This man seemed to feel he was a  failure at love for having been divorced so many times, so he was very much surprised when an uncle told him it was a wonderful thing! Why would you say that?, everyone wanted to know. The uncle said, How wonderful that seven women have loved you enough to marry you! This is an example of a slight shift in perception making a huge difference to everyone involved, don't you think? Seeing the world through the love of God shows us reality which looks nothing like what we've become accustomed to seeing. A world of judgment and fear is not one which holds an interest for me.  If "my mind holds only what I think with God", that world doesn't exist -- and I see a world of Love.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“God is individual, incorporeal. He is divine Principle, Love, the universal cause, the only creator, and there is no other self-existence.” 

Science & Health Page 331:18-20

Non-existent Dictators

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #143: Review of:

#125 "In quiet I receive God's Word today."

#126  "All that I give is given to myself."

And the main thought to hold to in these review: “My mind holds only what I think with God.”

Two things which, in reality, do not exist -- mortal mind, as termed by Mary Baker Eddy, and ego as it's called in A Course in Miracles -- want you to think you would no longer be you if you admit that you are unified in Oneness. What if free will does not exist unless you DO embrace this unity and give up what you think of as individuality? I'm beginning to see that I have no will of my own if I'm simply regurgitating well-rehearsed lines from the history of my life. I'm starting to glimpse the freedom which comes from throwing off the chains I have bound myself with throughout a lifetime of fears and learned behavior. The false beliefs which dictate our actions was illustrated by a story told me by a dear friend. He thought his stepmother had never liked him, then one day he found out she was almost deaf. With this realization, he saw that the actions he had interpreted as slights to him were actually moments of confusion on her part. He now sees their relationship in a totally different way, viewed from this new understanding. Today I will quietly listen for that still, small voice which frees me from long-held beliefs!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Man is tributary to God, Spirit, and to nothing else. God’s being is infinity, freedom, harmony, and boundless bliss.” 

Science & Health Page 480:2-4