Yielding to Love

photo credit: Heather Peters

ACIM Workbook Lesson #253

“My Self is ruler of the universe.

For today’s topic to make sense, we must differentiate between self and Self. The self perceives things in an illusory way, colored by beliefs and propaganda left over from our education and mass media. It may be difficult for us to believe that we want the drama we sometimes seem to experience, but it’s part of the ego’s dream of specialness, and it’s something we don’t even realize we’re doing. The Self, with a capital S, is the One Self, of which we are an inseparable, even integral, reflection. I’m not sure the change from self to Self realization can be made by a simple decision. To live as a creation of divine Mind requires an overwhelming desire to do so, along with yielding to Love at every moment. I had a dear friend who insisted on believing that vehemently declaring spiritual truths, closing her eyes and almost yelling, was the way to change thought and live as the experience of God. Watching her was a wake-up call to me (one of many!) and this journey of realization is unfolding even as I write these words. What a trip!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“There is but one I, or Us, but one divine Principle, or Mind, governing all existence; man and woman unchanged forever in their individual characters, even as numbers which never blend with each other, though they are governed by one Principle." Science & Health Page 588:11-15

True Identity

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #252

“The Son of God is my Identity."

A well-known quote tells us we are not afraid of our inadequacies but, on the contrary, of our greatness. Looking at ourselves as a creation of divine Love may be frightening at first, but once our belief systems and histories -- which we have accepted as truth -- begin to fall away, our true identity as Spirit, as Love, as Mind, becomes more easily seen and accepted. Today, in my waking dream, I will nurture glimpses of this real identity, as it appears from within mySelf. I will listen with the calm of quiet certainty, allowing exalted thought to lead me in each loving action, from which I will catch sight of my true Identity and joyfully expect to see more!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Identity is the reflection of Spirit, the reflection in multifarious forms of the living Principle, Love." Science & Health Page 472:20-22

Marianne Williamson: “Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.”

Infinite Possibilities!

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIs Workbook Lesson #251

“I am in need of nothing but the truth."

Ask a group of people “What is truth?” and you will receive as many answers as there are people asked, don’t you think? You’ll hear talk of “my truth” and “your truth”, but hardly ever does Truth with a capital “T” come into the conversation. I’m beginning to understand that Truth is always unfolding as individual intuition and inspiration. This Truth doesn’t stand still in one spot and ask to be defined. It’s not opinion or belief, but rather the ideas heard within ourselves when listening for divine Mind which is the source of all. Leaving behind mortal mind’s ego definitions of the truth of our being opens the door to infinite possibilities! 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“A spiritual idea has not a single element of error, and this truth removes properly whatever is offensive.” Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 453:12-13

Adventures Unlimited

"Mongolia" photo credit, Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #250

“Let me not see myself as limited." 

Thinking of ourselves as unlimited contradicts everything we've been taught. From our first steps, we're told to be careful or else something dire will happen. Quantum physics is helping us to understand that form isn't as solid as we've always believed. With that understanding, it becomes clear that many limitations we've placed upon ourselves are nothing more than beliefs in material laws. Limitations are set aside when an athlete breaks a record in the Olympics, or if someone performs a seemingly-impossible feat like lifting a car off of a trapped loved one. We've all heard people tell tales we think of as supernatural, such as falling great distances and feeling as though they landed on a cushion, or so-called incurable diseases disappearing. I'm not suggesting we exchange one human belief for yet another, but that we look to divine Mind to tell us the truth of our being and that we allow ourselves to be led in paths we wouldn't have considered otherwise. Thought is shifting so rapidly at this time! Let's not be afraid to listen.

Mary Baker Eddy quote: “A mortal, corporeal, or finite conception of God cannot embrace the glories of limitless, incorporeal Life and Love. Hence the unsatisfied human craving for something better, higher, holier, than is afforded by a material belief in a physical God and man.” Science & Health Page 258: 1-6

Bathed in Beauty and Light

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #249

“Forgiveness ends all suffering and loss."

I remember a time when so-called new age thought was not often spoken of in the media or anywhere other than the privacy of our homes. Now these new-old ideas are seen and heard everywhere. Every day we are witness to more proof that this shift in consciousness is happening now -- and we're talking about it! Thanks, Oprah! Even when these ideas are fictionalized, as in best-selling novels such as "The Lost Symbol", the possibilities presented are easily translated into plausible realities. This shift in consciousness allows us to naturally embrace peace and harmony, and we each support this realization in our own individual way. Every instance of pure peace we feel, each yielding of our personal sense to spiritual sense, brings us closer to living Love, which is where we always have been, but we've forgotten. We are all needed at this time, to calm the tumultuous collective thought which fights the idea of such freedom!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Love, redolent with unselfishness, bathes all in beauty and light."

Science & Health Page 516:9-13

Freedom Through Truth

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #248

“Whatever suffers is not part of me."

"Whatever suffers is not part of me" could possibly be taken as an unfeeling, heartless statement. I see it as an expression of pure Love which allows us to pass through illusions into the reality of good, God. The death of a loved one is difficult in many ways, but I think the myths we have concocted surrounding this passage may do more harm than good. We tell children they'll see grandma in heaven. We say things like, God took her to be with him because she was so good. These words are spoken in the name of kindness. As we begin to understand divine reality, we are released from the stories we tell ourselves in favor of the Truth which sets us free! I'll always remember reading the book, "Beloved Prophet", which is the story of Kahlil Gibran and the woman who loved him. She sat at his funeral with a peaceful smile on her face, and when asked asked why she wasn't upset, she responded that she had never felt closer to him. What a lovely realization of Oneness and eternity!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"It was the divine law of Life and Love, unfolding to me the demonstrable fact that matter possesses neither sensation nor life; that human experiences show the falsity of all material things; and that immortal cravings, “the price of learning love,” establish the truism that the only sufferer is mortal mind, for the divine Mind cannot suffer."

Science & Health Page 108:5-11

Forgive and Live!

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #247

“Without forgiveness I will still be blind."

Do you have an incident from childhood which has stayed with you, perhaps even affecting the way you live today? I know someone who, as a young child, caught her mother in a compromising position with a man other than her father. She refuses to marry. I know a man who found his father dead from a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. His whole life is a series of dramatic events which he blames on that incident. I'm sure you know many stories, too. The Disappearance of the Universe, a book by Gary Renard, speaks to these events such as these, and more. When we let go of beliefs, we can turn loose our history, too. I love hearing stories of people who live through horrendous-seeming events and remain not only happy but proactive. This thing we call forgiveness isn't some sort of divine pardon, but a yielding within ourselves to purity of thought, without the impediments of holding on to memories of wrongdoing, resentment, and pain of all sorts. This yielding includes the release of things which we think have been done to us and things we think we have done to others. So let's choose again, rest in Love, and go forward, with joy!

Mary Baker Eddy quote: “As the crude footprints of the past disappear from the dissolving paths of the present, we shall better understand the Science which governs these changes, and shall plant our feet on firmer ground.”  Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 223:4-7