Image and Likeness

ACIM Workbook Lesson #237

“Now would I be as God created me."

How did God create me? If I think of creation from a standpoint of human, mortal mind, I may think of the  Adam and Eve story. Looking beyond material, illusory opinions to pure spiritual ideas is a step toward understanding how "God created me". We tell ourselves: I'm only human and I couldn’t be created as the image and likeness of God. If we accept material creation myths as the truth of our being, we live the dream of life in and of matter with all the limitations that implies. The realization that we are an idea of God takes us to the threshold of understanding Life. Today I will see everything in the light of spiritual truth, omitting no one nor thing!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The mythical human theories of creation, anciently classified as the higher criticism, sprang from cultured scholars in Rome and in Greece, but they afforded no foundation for accurate views of creation by the divine Mind.”

Science & Health Page 255: 5-10

Rulers of Thought

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #236 “I rule my mind, which I alone must rule."

We are the rulers of our thought and have the ability to choose Mind as our mind. In other words, rather than living by distressing blind belief, we choose to live in harmonious divine Science. Our best material intentions vacillate greatly according to many circumstances. A favorite quote of mine is, If you have a choice of being right or being kind, be kind. Every day we have numerous occasions to make this choice. Today I will rule my mind by being aware of all the communications I have with others. Everything I say will be brought forth from a space which is not merely repetition of past beliefs and habitual responses, but from a consecrated inner listening. In accepting this gift of Truth from divine Mind, there can be no choice between being right or being kind—after all, Love is all there is!

Mary Baker Eddy quote: “God's thoughts are perfect and eternal, are substance and Life. Material and temporal thoughts are human, involving error, and since God, Spirit, is the only cause, they lack a divine cause. The temporal and material are not then creations of Spirit. They are but counterfeits of the spiritual and eternal.” Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 286:21-27

Simply Saved

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #235

“God in His mercy wills that I be saved."

The mass consciousness we swim in tells us we've done something wrong and can't be saved until we do a whole bunch of things right. Let's release all of those beliefs and concentrate on what feels true, right now, in this moment. Toward this end I will, at every possible moment, quiet my thoughts and allow Truth to permeate my being. It's there all the time, this Love which is God, this divine Love which supports us more surely than the swirling waters of mass consciousness. Our true consciousness is expressed most perfectly in two words: I Am. I think I’ll keep it simple today. Join me!

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. If men would bring to bear upon the study of the Science of Mind half the faith they bestow upon the so-called pains and pleasures of material sense they would not go on from bad to worse …”

Science & Health Page 202:3-9

Reflected Love

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #234

“Father, today I am Your Son again.”

Love, today I Am your reflection! This topic addresses seeing ourselves as we are. My memories are turned to a dear little old lady who lived up the street. Margaret had been alone for more than a decade and she had taken all the mirrors out of her house. When some other neighbors and I began to help her with housekeeping chores and other things, someone put a mirror on the wall in her bathroom. When she first saw it, she got very upset and began trying to pull it off the wall and, when that didn’t work, she tried to break it. She had not seen herself in so many years that she couldn’t face what she saw. Many of us feel the same way about viewing ourselves in the light of Spirit. We have become so accustomed to thinking of ourselves as less than, as separate from, the beauty of Love, that it may not be easy to accept our spiritual Self. We may have a tough time releasing our beliefs and allowing ourselves to Be. Please, let’s be gentle with ourselves and savor the glimpses we see upon the release of what we think we are! 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Matter is a human concept. Life is divine Mind.” Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 569:3-4

A Full Life

"14,000 Feet Up"
photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #233 “I give my life to God to guide today."

Live life to the fullest! What exactly does that mean? I remember watching a cooking show where the host, a well-known hedonist, was in Greece. As he is drinking too much and over-eating, he declares that he’s living life to the fullest. His words caused me to think about what a full life is, and upon seeing this topic requesting us to allow divine Mind, God, to guide me today — well, you can imagine how I laughed when I thought of the idea of gluttony being an indication of a full life! I ask myself: Do I value things I have or things I do, or is valuable substance made up of ideas and the purity of my actions when they are led by divine Love? Giving myself to the Unity of All that Is does not limit my actions nor enjoyment of the moment. I feel it intensifies the joy and excitement of living! Being led by Spirit allows me to stop worrying about what my next step will be and relax into a surety that I’ll be in the right place at the right time. What an adventure life is!

Mary Baker Eddy quote: “The power of the human will should be exercised only in subordination to Truth; else it will misguide the judgment and free the lower propensities. It is the province of spiritual sense to govern man.” Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures, Page 206:2-7

A Freeing Concept

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #232

“Be in my mind, my Father, through the day."

Someone once told me hopes hold us captive, and that if we don't accept the "reality" of what we see around us, we are lost in dreams of what could be, giving up any chance of changing what is. I’m coming to see that the opposite is true. The material picture of good and evil warring with each other is what we have decided is truth, hence we hope and strive for good to win. With the burgeoning knowledge that divine Mind is the reality and mortal mind is the illusion, we are freed to do more than hope. The divinely-endowed, spiritually-scientific consciousness within us is opened, and like a fountain the ideas we need flow forth. This consciousness is realized when we see that God is our Mind, not just in our mind. Our reality is the divine Mind which we reflect. What a freeing concept!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“When we realize that there is one Mind, the divine law of loving our neighbor as ourselves is unfolded; whereas a belief in many ruling minds hinders man’s normal drift towards the one Mind, one God, and leads human thought into opposite channels where selfishness reigns.”

Science & Health Page 227:22-25

What Else, Indeed!

photo credit: Randal Thompson

ACIM Workbook Lesson #231

“Father, I will but to remember You.

Today we begin a series of lessons which fall under the overview, “What is Salvation?”. One phrase which hit me where I live is: "Salvation is undoing in the sense that it does nothing, failing to support the world of dreams and malice.” I pause to contemplate why it is such a difficult task to release the past. We apparently love to support illusions rather than allowing them to disappear into the ethers. Tonight I ask myself: Do I really believe the story I’ve made up for myself? Why do I believe it to be true, rather than an illusive belief I’m holding on to? Must it always come back to cause pain and fear and sorrow, or can I really, truly allow eternity to reign supreme over limited storytelling? We are asked in the last sentence of Lesson 21: “What else could I desire but the truth about myself?” What else, indeed!! 

Mary Baker Eddy quote: “Man should renew his energies and endeavors, and see the folly of hypocrisy, while also learning the necessity of working out his own salvation.” Page 426:13-15 Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures