Grateful for You!

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #197

“It can be but my gratitude I earn.”

Perhaps you think you should be appreciated more, or maybe you know someone who is always "fishing for compliments". Both of these fall under the category of expecting something which you already have. When you appreciate yourself, when you are grateful for the wonder which is you, that's all you need. And it is an all-encompassing gratitude! This recognition is one of the after-effects of loosing the bonds of materiality. The more we let go of expectations and beliefs, the more opportunity there is for Truth to take their place. We needn't do anything but clear the way! And that’s what we’re doing!!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“When man is governed by God, the ever-present Mind who understands all things, man knows that with God all things are possible."

Science & Health Page 180:25-27

Clear Sense and Calm Trust

ACIM Workbook Lesson #196

“It can be but myself I crucify.”

One of my neighbors stopped me in the market today saying excitedly that we had an “incident” on our street two nights ago. She told me she was crossing the street to visit her neighbor when a man was coming down the street, swinging a flashlight from side to side of the road and walking in a zig-zag manner, as though he was looking for something. She asked if she could help him, and she asked him his name, both of which he declined to answer. She became fearful and called the police, who promptly came and escorted the man away. This incident was still so powerful in her memory that it was all she could talk about. She had been frightened by something I interpreted as a benign event, and she was continuing to crucify herself over it. I shall ponder ways I may be crucifying myself, while releasing any judgment I am tempted to have of the situation!

Mary Baker Eddy quotes:

“Let neither fear nor doubt overshadow your clear sense and calm trust, that the recognition of life harmonious — as Life eternally is — can destroy any painful sense of, or belief in, that which Life is not.” Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 495:16-20 

Simply Love

Sandy Wythawai Starbird creations

ACIM Workbook Lesson #195

“Love is the way I walk in gratitude.”

A return to Love is a simpler way of living. There need be no battle within yourself as to which choice is better than the other, whatever those choices may be. Comparisons needn’t exist in the way of Love and, without them, an arena of conflict is dissolved. We are learning that Oneness is more than an airy-fairy concept; it is reality! The concepts brought forth from these realizations are unlike anything humanity has experienced to this point! Seeing everyone as reflections of Love, all from the same source,  frees us in ways we haven’t hitherto allowed. We then can experience Love in all of the harmonious paths which are so easily overlooked by mortal eyes — and I am grateful!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“We walk in the footsteps of Truth and Love by following the example of our Master in the understanding of divine metaphysics.” 

Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Pages 192:27-29

What, Me Worry?

photo credit: Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #194

“I place the future in the Hands of God.”

I heard well-known author and speaker, Marianne Williamson, say that worry was a lot like praying for something horrible to happen. Holding thought to the best possible outcome, without outlining what that outcome is, feels right to me. Whatever I put my attention on grows! Years of trying to plan my life (and that that of those around me!) has taught me the futility of this. I now vow to listen for divine Mind’s ideas to lead me in the paths of Love. I don’t always hear this guidance above the cacophony of material existence, but I’m learning how to tune in to that still, small voice, and for this I am grateful.

Mary Baker Eddy quote: “Life is divine Mind. Life is not limited.” Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 469:4-5

A New Earth

photo credit: Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #193

“All things are lessons God would have me learn.”

"A new species is arising on the planet. It is arising now, and you are it!" These lines end the Eckhart Tolle book, A New Earth. I wish it could be required reading for every person on this old earth! The beautifully clear way he explains how we cling to old belief, allowing ourselves to be influenced by fear, by the past, by illusion, is both inspiring and illuminating. We are told in today's workbook lesson,  "Forgive, and you will see this differently.” Mr. Tolle's book gives numerous examples of seeing differently. Every moment I will dedicate to seeing this new world, allowing the disappearance of old belief and hypnotic thought to provide a transparency for the arising of our new way of Living. What an exciting time for humanity!

Mary Baker Eddy quote: “The Revelator tells us of “a new heaven and a new earth.” Have you ever pictured this heaven and earth, inhabited by beings under the control of supreme wisdom?”

Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures  Page 91:1-4

The Forms of Extended Love

photo credit: Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #192

“I have a function God would have me fill.”

We are created from Love and it is our function to extend this Love to the world. It may seem that our little offerings aren’t worth much, but I’ve recently heard of the effect of a small offering given in the form of $20 a month many years ago. My boys and I gave to an organization which helped children in Africa. We occasionally got notes from a boy named Paul Ndungu and we would send him letters back. I always wondered if our small gesture really made a difference. Recently this boy, now a young man, found me on Facebook and wrote asking if I was the same person who had helped him when he was a child. He tells me it did make a difference! He would not have been able to go to school without this gift and he is now in the Kenya Air Force and attended university, too! And so, whatever form your giving may take, never be afraid to follow through with your intuitive feelings, because we never know how far Love will extend!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Truth not error, Love not hate, Spirit not matter, governs man.” Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 419:3-4

Living the Law of Love

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #191

“I am the holy Son of God Himself.”

This topic is a tender affirmation of who we are. If we are thinking of our limited material body and brain as the child of God, we may begin to wonder why we are so unlike this Source which we supposedly reflect. Let's expand our mind beyond human assumptions of creation. Seeing ourselves as the spiritual idea of divine Mind, we are free to claim our birthright as the "holy Son of God". To accept that we are really, truly spiritual allows us to put aside limiting beliefs and see through the illusions which have been created for us. This new-old thought cleanses the murky lens of our sight and allows knowledge to replace beliefs, whereby we see our perfection as an idea of divine Mind, living the law of Love!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“God creates neither erring thought, mortal life, mutable truth, nor variable love.”

Science & Health Page 503:24-25