What If ...?

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #309

“I will not fear to look within today.”

Why would we fear to look within? Why would we fear seeing our true self? I think it's because we believe that all the little horrible things we've done in our lives are what we’d be looking at. Perhaps we feel that to look within would involve some sort of life review which would require us to answer for every supposed sin we've committed. But what if we're looking within at our pure and perfect Self, as we are created by divine Mind? And what if, after we find what we've forgotten, we allow it to come forth and live with us, as us? In the process, we truly forgive ourselves for all of it, allowing thought to stay in the realm of Oneness, releasing guilt and fear, living only in Love. What if ...

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“For right reasoning there should be but one fact before the thought, namely, spiritual existence. In reality there is no other existence, since Life cannot be united to its unlikeness, mortality.” Science & Health Page 491:3-6

No Time Like the Present!

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #308

"This instant is the only time there is."

Numerous sayings about time come to thought when reading today’s topic: “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.” (Kung Fu Panda) I'm also reminded of something Deepak Chopra said: "Time is something we have made up so everything doesn't happen all at once." Albert Einstein showed us that time is relative. Time spent in a dentist chair passes differently from time spent visiting with a dear friend. Later in life, Mr. Einstein came to believe that time was not just relative, but unreal! Here is a quote from him, written in a letter to a friend: "To those of us who believe in physics, this separation between past, present, and future, is only an illusion, if a stubborn one." So why do we limit ourselves with time? We always think we're too young or too old, or this physical malady will pass with time, or that we simply don't have time to do the things we want to do. When I realize that I'm not a mortal living in what seems to be now, but an immortal living in eternity, then some major shifts in perception can take place. Only "time will tell" what happens with that realization!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Never ask for tomorrow: it is enough that divine Love is an ever-present help; and if you wait, never doubting, you will have all you need every moment.” Miscellaneous Writings Page 307

No Conflict in Truth

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #307 “Conflicting wishes cannot be my will.”

I personally witnessed how conflicting wishes influence experience. I was going to a friend’s house and had a number of items I was going to take to her. I had quickly cleaned up my living room the day before and knew I had put these things somewhere — but could not find them! I searched for thirty minutes (maybe more!) and finally gave up, with a sneaking suspicion I may have thrown them in the garbage, which had been picked up that morning. Throughout the course of the day, a number of  upsetting things happened, one of which was an incident of road rage aimed at me for no reason that I could ascertain! Upon returning home, I sat down and calmed my thought, releasing any residual turmoil that was flitting around the edges, then I walked right to the bag of things I had wanted to deliver to my friend. It’s so easy to fall into conflicting wishes which are not my will, but I’m happy to be learning how to release them to the nothingness from which they came!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The suppositional warfare between truth and error is only the mental conflict between the evidence of the spiritual senses and the testimony of the material senses, and this warfare between the Spirit and flesh will settle all questions through faith in and the understanding of divine Love.”

Science and Health Page 287:3-8

True Idea Voicing Good

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #306 “The gift of Christ is all I seek today.”

To allow light to fill your mind, to live grace as your natural state, to learn this Course and experience a mind healed of fear and limitation, requires you to be willing to question every value you hold. We tend to think it’s a good thing to hold strong opinions on any number of subjects, such as politics. I’m not saying we shouldn’t work for social reform, or stand up to harmful behaviors, or that we should become the proverbial doormat.  But I do feel that giving up things which make us angry enable us to open ourselves to this gift of the Christ, this Love which guides us in meaningful ways which were being hidden by strong mindsets. I think it will be an interesting exercise to take note of the thoughts I have which keep me from the gift of divine Love. I hope you’ll join me!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Christ is the true idea voicing good, the divine message from God to men speaking to the human consciousness.” Science & Health Page 332:9-11

Bathed in Beauty and Light

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #305 “There is a peace that Christ bestows on us.”

What is the second coming? This is the question A Course in Miracles has been exploring recently. We're learning that it's an internal awakening. It involves seeing and feeling the never-beginning, never-ending Truth of our being. This burgeoning understanding has brought me the peace which intellectual reasoning never did. I see the world as a loving place, filled with people who care about each other and their environment. In the past, people would tell me, on a regular basis, why they felt the world was a hate-filled place of irrevocable turmoil. Now it's a rarity. Have they changed or have I? Is there a difference if we're all One? Love = Peace = Harmony. Feel the Love!

Mary Baker Eddy quote: “Life is reflected in existence, Truth in truthfulness, God in goodness, which impart their own peace and permanence. Love, redolent with unselfishness, bathes all in beauty and light.”

Science & Health Page 516:9-13

Glimpses of Possibilities

ACIM Workbook Lesson #304 “Let not my world obscure the sight of Christ.”

Throughout the ages, we've been given glimpses of unrealized possibilities. As attested by powerful mythological and fictional characters, we have longed for the ability to change what seems to be the reality of situations in and around our personal existence. The world tells us that we are victims of circumstance, with life experiences being changed at the whim of happenstance. Every time we hear a story telling of something we think is impossible, but which contains an outcome so beautiful we wish and hope it is true, let's contemplate the fact that there are no limits. Who knows what we're capable of doing? We seem to exceed expected outcomes in every avenue of existence. Wasn't it said that running a mile in less than four minutes was impossible? Today I set free any thought of limitation, any assumptions I may have as to what's what, and by doing so open the inner door to new sight!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Corporeal sense, or error, may seem to hide Truth, health, harmony, and Science, as the mist obscures the sun or the mountain; but Science, the sunshine of Truth, will melt away the shadow and reveal the celestial peaks.”

Science & Health Page 299:26-30

Releasing Connotations

photo credit: Alden Stallings

ACIM Workbook Lesson #303 “The holy Christ is born in me today.”

These writings often contain words which elicit negative reactions in many of us. Within myself, I have watched them dissipate by letting go of preconceived meanings and learned dogma. "The Christ is born in me today" is the acknowledgement that the presence of God is within. Please, please, change these words into whatever feels right to you. And please, please don't allow these words' connotations to turn you away from the Love which you are. If you feel disoriented and sort of happily confused, don't fear that either! This giddiness is part of the shift to the beautiful realization of God within! Embrace it and be free!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“CHRIST: The divine manifestation of God, which comes to the flesh to destroy incarnate error.”

Science & Health Page 583:10-11