Remembering to Remember

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #258

“Let me remember that my goal is God.”

I had a friend who died from cancer. She was very active and always busy doing things. I once asked her if she ever had any quiet time and she told me that she didn't want any because then she would have to think. Many traumatic events had happened in her life, including the violent deaths of her parents and tragic passing of her children. Our thoughts can be occupied by many temporal things, such as collecting material possessions, or perhaps we simply need the busyness of daily life to keep us from thinking about painful memories -- whatever the case, we rarely allow ourselves the quiet we need to hear Spirit. We may fear the unknown and think that the activities we busy ourselves with are necessary, rather than looking beyond them to the Truth which heals our fear. We may use alcohol and drugs to cover up the turmoil for a little while, but lasting peace only comes through knowledge of Love. Sometimes love is used as a soporific, placating our desire for an all-encompassing Love with no beginning nor end. Today I will remember to remember what I have forgotten, which is only found within.

Mary Baker Eddy quote: “This scientific sense of being, forsaking matter for Spirit, by no means suggests man’s absorption into Deity and the loss of his identity, but confers upon man enlarged individuality, a wider sphere of thought and action, a more expansive love, a higher and more permanent peace.” Science & Health Page 265:10-15

Remembered Purpose

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #257

“Let me remember what my purpose is.”

I love the first sentence in today’s lesson commentary: "If I forget my goal, I can be but confused ..."! Looking back over the last half-century, I see many times of major confusion, and lots of minor confusions which flutter around constantly, asking for more room to spread their wings. I like seeing them from this standpoint, that these confusions are nothing more than times when I've forgotten that my Life is Spirit. So then I wonder, What is this purpose I am to remember? It's unfolding every moment, and all I need do is show up and be willing -- willing to be open-hearted, open-minded -- just open! -- with no expectations and no plans of how things should be. It's tempting to think of this as undisciplined, and others may be critical of this attitude, but I can attest to the fact that wandering around in college for five years perfectly prepared me for freelance court reporting. And thirty years of taking down and transcribing depositions was an incredible education which paved the way for running an art gallery for ten years. All those things brought me to where I am today, and none of it could have been planned. Today, I think of this as listening and following. Back then, I didn't think of it at all …

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Spirit, God, gathers unformed thoughts into their proper channels, and unfolds these thoughts, even as He opens the petals of a holy purpose in order that the purpose may appear.”

Science & Health Page 506:18-21

Stay The Course of Love

Belladonna Cottage
photo by Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #256

“God is the only goal I have today.”

My goal today is to return to Love. (Of course, we have never left this Source and, hence, there is nowhere to go!) It seems difficult to see the world without judgment, and I am reminded of this when finding fault with people or events. With Love as my only goal, I needn’t blame myself or anyone, as there is no fault to find. This doesn’t mean a denial of what I see manifested in thought and deed, but rather an inner examination and release of mindless choices based on illusion and lies. We have a choice with the words we use, and we’re learning that we have a choice in the thoughts we think, too. Let’s stay the course on Love today — and tomorrow, too!

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 560:11-16

Absolute Peace

photo credit: Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #255

“This day I choose to spend in perfect peace."

If you could do anything at all today, what would it be? To choose perfect peace as our reality is to reject fear and worry. To reject fear and worry is to have an absolute trust in the presence of divine Love. The word "absolute" has been showing up from many avenues, so I decided to see if I know what it means. According to Mr. Webster it is: complete, unadulterated, perfect, not mixed, free from restriction, unlimited. As I move through activities today, I will remember to live absolutely in the present, enjoying each perfect moment absolutely, with absolute trust that I am reflecting the One absolute Truth, knowing that peace is the only reality! 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“This material world is even now becoming the arena for conflicting forces. On one side there will be discord and dismay; on the other side there will be Science and peace. The breaking up of material beliefs may seem to be famine and pestilence, want and woe, sin, sickness, and death, which assume new phases until their nothingness appears. These disturbances will continue until the end of error, when all discord will be swallowed up in spiritual Truth.” Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 92:12-20

Time to Listen

photo credit: Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #254

“Let every voice but God's be still in me.”

I met a young woman who told me that God was talking to all of us -- and it was time to listen! As we chatted briefly, she told a story of finding out her husband had a girlfriend, getting divorced, feeling hopeless. Then she left a job she didn't enjoy and followed her dream of starting a little antique store where she has lots of cool things, like freshly ground coffee and books she wants to share with others: a place where everyone feels welcome. She told me this happened because she listened to God. Now, this guidance may be called many things -- following your heart, listening for the still small voice, living your dream -- but whatever it's called, it can only be heard by shutting out ego thoughts, the material-based fears telling us we're not good enough. I was buoyed by her joy and new-found confidence, and happy that she started the conversation by telling me it was time to listen to God! She made me want to shout Hallelujah!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Nature voices natural, spiritual law and divine Love, but human belief misinterprets nature. Arctic regions, sunny tropics, giant hills, winged winds, mighty billows, verdant vales, festive flowers, and glorious heavens,--all point to Mind, the spiritual intelligence they reflect. The floral apostles are hieroglyphs of Deity. Suns and planets teach grand lessons. The stars make night beautiful, and the leaflet turns naturally towards the light.” Science & Health Page 240:1-9

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.”