No-Fault Forgiveness

photo credit: Gerry Toler

ACIM Workbook Lesson #297

“Forgiveness is the only gift I give.”

Today’s topic turns my thoughts to wondering what it is which causes us to “get our feelings hurt” by the actions and words of others. I often quote lines from “The Four Agreements” by Don Miguel Ruiz and I love the agreement which tells us not to take anything personally. He goes so far as to say that even if someone shoots you in the head, it’s their problem, not yours! This recommendation is particularly appropriate during these days leading up to a national election in the United States. People are becoming upset at the slightest provocation. The realization that I needn’t take anything personally comes with a lovely side effect: there is no blame to apportion to anyone, hence I have forgiven without the stress of casting stones at others! What a relief!

 Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“True prayer is not asking God for love; it is learning to love, and to include all mankind in one affection.”

No and Yes, p. 39:17-18

The Strains of Truth and Love

photo credit: Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #296

“The Holy Spirit speaks through me today.”

There are many ego-busters in this Course, any one of which may ruffle our feathers! I like to think I’m quietly listening for Spirit to speak through me today and everyday, but I’m sure that’s not always true. Often I have an uneasy feeling somewhere around the solar plexus, or maybe there’s an odd, tired feeling in my spine, both of which I’ve learned to recognize as symptoms of an errant ego making itself known. Sometimes I might be self-righteous in response to a situation, or perhaps I feel defensive when I’m not absolutely sure about my position. When these things happen, I can choose to back up, perhaps apologize to someone, and start over with a fresh perspective, because my words and actions were coming from my mind rather than the one Mind. And so, dear Reader, please feel free to tell me if you think I’m wrong, or point out a situation in which I may have been insensitive. I promise not to take it personally! 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Eloquence re-echoes the strains of Truth and Love. It is due to inspiration rather than to erudition."

Science & Health Page 88:26-27

Seeing Love

photo credit: Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #295

“The Holy Spirit looks through me today.”

For years I was in love with love. I loved being in love and flitted from one love affair to another. When I began a serious study of divine metaphysics, the love I had always chased seemed small in comparison to the wholeness of the Love which is God. While discovering that I am the expression of this Love, I spent quite some time separating these feelings and cordoning off the love which I had humanly craved. I now see the increased separation I created with my definitions and restrictions on love. There is only one Love, as we are told in today's ACIM workbook lesson: "Fear appears in many different forms, but love is one." My foolish giving up of love in favor of Love was simply another form of fear. I invite divine Love to look through me today, and I ask that I recognize what that means!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“But eyes accustomed to darkness are pained by the light. When outgrowing the old, you should not fear to put on the new.” Science & Health Page 452:8-11

The Idea of Love

"Bird at Heart"
creation of Sandy Starbird

ACIM Workbook Lesson #294

“My body is a wholly neutral thing.”

A Course in Miracles tells us that the body is a communication device; that it is a tool to be used and then laid aside when its use is over. In this world, we have mistaken the body for our true identity. If we no longer see our body as either good or bad, but rather as a totally neutral thing, it can be realized as what it is in truth: an extension of Love. A dear man reminded me today of something a mutual friend said about Love: there is no unconditional love, only Love. If there are conditions, it’s not really Love! Today I shall think of my body in this way, too, without conditions and limitation, but only as the Idea it is!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Identity is the reflection of Spirit, the reflection in multifarious forms of the living Principle, Love.” Science & Health Page 477:20-22

Unspeakable Peace

photo credit: Arthur Lau-Sed

A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson #293

"All fear is past and only love is here."

One of my dearest friends in the world moved away a few years ago, and he is visiting us now and attended our Course in Miracles meeting today. The first thing I said to him was, I didn’t think I’d ever see you again. He responded, You see me every time you think of me. I love today’s lesson because it reminds me of my long association with this wonderful man. What beautiful, peaceful memories he and I have of our parenthesis in eternity! “…let [not] my ears be deaf to all the hymns of gratitude the world is singing underneath the sounds of fear. There is a real world which the present holds safe from all past mistakes. And I would see only this world before my eyes today.” ACIM

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Spiritual living and blessedness are the only evidences, by which we can recognize true existence and feel the unspeakable peace which comes from an all-absorbing spiritual love.”

Science & Health Page 264:24-27

Happiness Assured

A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson #292

“A happy outcome to all things is sure.”

The sky is falling!! I'm often reminded of the proverbial Chicken Little and his incessant worries. Many people I know remind me of him, with their certainty that something awful is going to happen. A dear woman came to me asking for advice. She told me that she was afraid to go outside her home, and so she would drink alcohol before she went out in order to have the courage to leave. She had been drinking heavily when she came to talk to me. She related many concerns she had about life in general and a few things in specific. I mentioned Wayne Dyer's words about worry: If you can do something about a situation, you will; if you can't, why worry?? She was very excited by this because she has heard him on television and she really wants to live from this perspective, too. I told her she can, that all it takes is practice and applying the ideas in daily life. Replacing habitual, circular thought with realized spiritual Truth may seem difficult, but a happy outcome is sure!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Choke these errors in their early stages, if you would not cherish an army of conspirators against health, happiness, and success.” Science & Health Page 405:9-11

What is the Real World?

photo credit: Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #291

“This is a day of stillness and of peace.”

What is the real world? This is the question we are exploring for the next few days in the ACIM workbook lessons. While we think we are seeing the real world — with all of its pain, sorrow, fear, and horror — we are not. The unreal world, which is reported on the news and purported to be reality by those who scoff at anything unseen to human eyes, is not the reality of spiritual creation. After years of believing that this world of duality will in some way bring us peace and happiness, most of us are ready to release that perception and see with purer eyes, looking beyond illusion toward the true substance of Life as created by divine Mind and interpreted through Love. Today I will look past the chaotic thoughts presented through outside sources and find the still, small voice of peace which is always present within mySelf. 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Certain moods of mind find an indefinable pleasure in stillness, soft, silent as the storm's sudden hush; for nature's stillness is voiced with a hum of harmony, the gentle murmur of early morn, the evening's closing vespers, and lyre of bird and brooklet." 

Christian Science versus Pantheism Page 3:8-13