No Words

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #316 “All gifts I give my brothers are my own.”

I have no words today, so I shall leave you with this Course in Miracles lesson: “As every gift my brothers give is mine, so every gift I give belongs to me. Each one allows a past mistake to go, and leave no shadow on the holy mind my Father loves. His grace is given me in every gift a brother has received throughout all time, and past all time as well. My treasure house is full, and angels watch its open doors that not one gift is lost, and only more are added. Let me come to where my treasures are, and enter in where I am truly welcome and at home, among the gifts that God has given me.” ACIM Lesson #316

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“… that joy which finds one’s own in another’s good”

Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, p. 127

The Sustenance of Love

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #315 “All gifts my brothers give belong to me.”

When someone compliments us on something we have done, it’s a gift, don't you think? Perhaps we feel like Snoopy when he levitates from pure joy! We're beginning to understand that anytime anyone gives this gift anywhere, it buoys us, too. When we open ourselves to the radiance of Love, which flows through all existence, we are carried along effortlessly and joyfully. We no longer expect the so-called murphy's law to be in effect, bringing us challenges rather than harmony. Instead, we allow all the goodness and knowledge of the universe to be ours, expecting nothing and welcoming everything. Every good thought we send out into the universe multiplies. The good we do for one is done for all!!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The sun, giving light and heat to the earth, is a figure of divine Life and Love, enlightening and sustaining the universe.”

Science & Health Page 538:11-13

Insight and Perspicacity

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #314 “I seek a future different from the past.”

Often it takes a big shake up to force us to change ways of thought and actions which have become ingrained within us. It seems comfortable, easy, and safe to stay within the bounds of what we know. Looking back on the past decades, I see where I would have been stuck in mundane and perhaps even destructive living had it not been for events which shocked me into new ways. I am most grateful for the times when life seemed good, when I rested in cozy contentment, but then changes were facilitated by seeming tragedy. The move from by-rote living to Upper Case Living takes courage, but to “seek a future different from the past” insures that we shall have one!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“A knowledge of the Science of being develops the latent abilities and possibilities of man. It extends the atmosphere of thought, giving mortals access to broader and higher realms. It raises the thinker into his native air of insight and perspicacity.”

Science & Health Page 128:13-19

Perceiving the Rainbow

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #313 “Now let a new perception come to me.”

It's my understanding that everyone sees a rainbow differently, according to where they are when they view it. Isn't that a perfect metaphor for everything from politics to the clothes we put on our bodies? Where I am in thought is how I will perceive something. Things which I may think of as being for the good of everyone, someone else may see as the downfall of society. It's just a matter of how you look at it. A line from a movie comes to mind in which an octogenarian tells us that life is like a ride on a roller coaster. She says that some people think the ride is frightening and stressful; others see it as fun and exciting. I love this reminder, and there are so many times in our experience where we could go many directions with our perception of a situation. How exciting to test my understanding as I go through this day!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The human mind will sometime rise above all material and physical sense, exchanging it for spiritual perception, and exchanging human concepts for the divine consciousness. Then man will recognize his God-given dominion and being."

Science & Health Page 531:10-14

Idea of Divine Mind

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #312 “I see all things as I would have them be.”

If I tell folks I want to give up the thoughts I think and think the thoughts of divine Mind, they might assume I am involved in a cultish-type of group. But I think of it as just the opposite! If I am making decisions based on past events and learned behaviors, then I have no freedom of thought. I am living by material restrictions and repeating actions dictated by human opinion, including my own. My desire to live as an idea of divine Mind opens me to an expansion of thought and action which has no limit. What an exciting world this is, when we go beyond set boundaries dictated by past education and see our way to a deeper education, facilitated by divine Love!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"The supposed existence of more than one mind was the basic error of idolatry. This error assumed the loss of spiritual power, the loss of the spiritual presence of Life as infinite Truth without an unlikeness, and the loss of Love as ever present and universal."

Science & Health Page 479:5-10

False Testimony

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #311

“I judge all things as I would have them be.”

As I read today's lesson -- which begins the first of ten lessons asking us, "What is the Last Judgment?" -- I think of ancient Toltec wisdom given to us by Don Miguel Ruiz in the Four Agreements. Two of these agreements lead us easily to non-judgment: "Don't make assumptions" and "Don't take anything personally". These suggestions always come to mind when I'm tempted to take offense by someone's statements or to apportion blame in any way. If I don't take anything personally, then I need make no assumptions as to others' motives. If I make no assumption about why someone says or does something, then I won't be thinking they are attacking me or anyone else. With the realization that there is no judgment in divine Love, no condemnation in the one Mind, no censure from Spirit, we are able to stop doing those things to ourselves and those we perceive as others. Our thoughts of separation are free to cease as we embrace Unity!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The earth’s diurnal rotation is invisible to the physical eye, and the sun seems to move from east to west, instead of the earth from west to east. Until rebuked by clearer views of the everlasting facts, this false testimony of the eye deluded the judgment and induced false conclusions.” Science & Health Page 121:17-22 

Fearless!

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #310 “In fearlessness and love I spend today.”

It seems as though we instill fear and worry in our children even before they're born. Most mothers-to-be are worried about a myriad of things, having been taught to believe it's necessary that they do so. From the moment we stand up and toddle we hear, Be careful, don't fall! When I was a child, I loved to walk in the woods alone, and the only warnings I was given had to do with snakes or perhaps the occasional wild carnivore. Nowadays, everything from ticks to the sun may attack us, and we go to great lengths to protect ourselves, putting poisons on our skin to avoid something we perceive to be worse. This is yet another example of the material illusions we have made for ourselves. As I go through this day, I will notice what learned behaviors are ruling my life, holding me in fear rather than Love. The words of a great teacher come to mind: Perfect Love casts out fear!

Mary Baker Eddy quote: “Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true, and you will bring these into your experience proportionably to their occupancy of your thoughts.” Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 261:4-7