Giving Impulse to Inquiry

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #18

"I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my seeing."

A good friend who receives these writings has asked me how she is to be compassionate if she is not going to accept the reality of someone’s pain or loss. This is a very good question! Today’s lesson emphasizes the idea that our minds are joined by way of divine Mind. The admission that everything is unified helps us to hold thought to a more elevated level, knowing that I am “not alone in experiencing the effects of my seeing”.  This doesn’t mean we should not help those in need, nor that we should make light of others’ pain and suffering. I strive to give people comfort without accepting within my thought that it’s a horrid event to be feared, or a sad event which will take time to release, or that change is something to avoid. There’s nothing “wrong” with crying with friends, holding their hand and offering comforting words, and helping them to find joy again. Never think that these teachings are meant to make us an automaton which unfeelingly goes forward in some sort of metaphysical trance. We are all individuals with a purpose! Never fear living life to the fullest!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"In the material world, thought has brought to light with great rapidity many useful wonders. With like activity have thought's swift pinions been rising towards the realm of the real, to the spiritual cause of those lower things which give impulse to inquiry." Science & Health Page 268:1-6

Spiritual Intuitions or Material Beliefs?

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #17

"I see no neutral things".

It's difficult to discern if we’re receiving an intuitive feeling warning us about a person, place, or thing, or if we’re simply being wary because of past experiences. I’m remembering a time where I was asked to make a decision about allowing a particular person to be in charge of my gallery. Just looking at him, I immediately thought of motorcycle ruffians, self-declared bigots of varying sorts, and perhaps even the gestapo. I got a good feeling from him in many ways, but wondered if it was because I always want to see the good in everyone. Did this man have a hidden agenda of which I wanted no part? Was I indulging bigoted thinking? It can be hard to tell, and there was no way I could personally know for sure. I see no neutral things and it's impossible for me, the material, mortal, ego-riddled Marsha to tell the difference, either then or now. But the true Self, stripped of past experiences, beliefs, and bias, recognizes Truth without question. I think I’ll listen to her today!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"To corporeal sense, the sun appears to rise and set, and the earth to stand still; but astronomical science contradicts this, and explains the solar system as working on a different plan. All the evidence of physical sense and all the knowledge obtained from physical sense must yield to Science [the knowledge of Christ-consciousness], to the immortal truth of all things." Science & Health Page 493:2-8

No Neutral Thoughts

photo credit: Dan Campbell

ACIM Workbook Lesson #16

“I have no neutral thoughts.”

We are reminded today: "Every thought you have contributes to truth or illusion: either it extends truth or it multiplies illusion." [ACIM] On a regular basis, things occur which we think of as disturbing. For instance, I recently heard of a dear friend's son's surprising suicide, and I found myself repeatedly imaging her pain. But wait -- Does that help her? If every thought is important (which I truly think it is!), then I should hold thought to Love, not pain or grief. What we dwell on multiplies, right? We've all seen it happen, both in our lives and the circumstance of others. So today I will take these words to heart and truly work toward practicing them in every facet of life. I can choose to see the world with ego-based thoughts, prejudiced by long-held beliefs, or I can follow the path cleared by divine Mind. I'm grateful to know there is a choice!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"In divine Science, the universe, including man, is spiritual, harmonious, and eternal. Science shows that what is termed matter is but the subjective state of what is termed by the author mortal mind." Science & Health Page 114:27-31

Images in Thought

"New Zealand"
photo credit: Dan Campbell

ACIM Workbook Lesson #15

“My thoughts are images that I have made.”

The world seems so real that it’s easy to get caught up in the image-making story. This topic reminds me of an experiment I witnessed in a video. A woman sitting at a table was asked to hold her right arm out, resting it from elbow to hand on the surface. They erected a barrier so she couldn't see her real hand and then they placed a rubber hand and arm in front of her, which she could see, with the elbow ending at her body. Then the person sitting on the other side of the table used a soft paint brush to stroke both her hand and the rubber hand. She stated she was feeling a little odd because she was beginning to experience sensation in the rubber hand. When the person moved the brush to the rubber thumb, stroking it but not hers, she jerked back because the feeling was so odd. Then the man across the table pulled out a hammer and hit the rubber hand. You can imagine how the woman reacted! This demonstrated how, in a matter of two minutes or less, a rubber hand became a human hand in the thought of this woman. This is, in essence, what we've done with everything around us. Belief becomes our reality -- and very quickly. So today I will practice moving away from beliefs and opening my thought to the reality of Spirit!

Mary Baker Eddy quotes:

"Mortals evolve images of thought." "Mortal mind sees what it believes as certainly as it believes what it sees. It feels, hears, and sees its own thoughts. Pictures are mentally formed before the artist can convey them to canvas. So is it with all material conceptions." Science & Health Page 86:13 and 86:29:1

The Error of Belief

photo credit: Dan Campbell

ACIM Workbook Lesson #14

“God did not create a meaningless world.”

The last few days we've been seeing the world as meaningless and examining how that affects us. Today we are asked to see that this meaningless world was not created by God. People become confused or disillusioned when they see so much unlike good in this world, often deciding there is no God. Some may explain the situation by blaming something called the devil for bad things, but then there is a conflict in their mind because that means God is not all-powerful in this scenario.  Some may say that God created both good and bad to give us choices, and this is a testing ground we live in. The possibilities are limitless when it comes to trying to make sense of the confusion surrounding spiritual beliefs! In our study, we're seeing that God did create everything, and it is all good, but that this creation is spiritual, not material. When we distance ourselves from the concept that life is in matter, we are able to realize that we actually have a divine origin. We can then understand that we are not governed by mental influences over which we have no control, and this realization frees us to live the Love which is our true heritage as the children of God!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“When will the error of believing that there is life in matter, and that sin, sickness, and death are creations of God, be unmasked? When will it be understood that matter has neither intelligence, life, nor sensation, and that the opposite belief is the prolific source of all suffering? God created all through Mind, and made all perfect and eternal.” Science & Health Page 205:7-13

Peaceful Reality

photo credit: Dan Campbell

ACIM Workbook Lesson #13

“A meaningless world engenders fear.”

When we say no to Spirit, we believe that something outside — some cause other than divine Mind — is creating circumstances. We give this outside cause reality and make it and its effects real — but they are meaningless, and this false creation engenders fear. Today we realize that mind cannot create beyond itself and, by this realization, go beyond the fear we are creating in our confusion. Most of us who read these writings live in the United States, which is a country that drops a bomb on someone, somewhere, on an average of every 20 minutes. When I look at this fact and its effects, I feel dismayed. I am not attempting to find a way to accept this fear and what it stands for, but I am looking for a way to transcend this way of seeing the world and, thereby, bring meaning to the meaningless events created by the ego, or mortal mind. This day I will look toward the reality of Love for peace within myself, finding meaning there.

Mary Baker Eddy quote: “History teaches that the popular and false notions about the Divine Being and character have originated in the human mind.”  Science & Health Page 357:19-21

I'll Meet You in the Field!

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #12

“I am upset because I see a meaningless world.”

Today's lesson asks us to witness events without giving them any meaning. By not assigning meaning to everything, we allow ourselves to see the Truth which is hidden by our personal interpretations. This exercise is designed to help us see that the world has no meaning, other than what we apportion to it. When we allow Spirit (God) to manifest through us -- which is our native state as the experience and expression of divine Mind -- we open ourselves to the field of all possibilities. We then become a blank slate for Love to write on. Who's to know where this will lead us? To quote the Persian poet, Rumi: "Out beyond ideas of right doing and wrong doing, there is a field. I'll meet you there".

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Alas for the blindness of belief, which makes harmony conditional upon death and matter, and yet supposes Mind unable to produce harmony! So long as this error of belief remains, mortals will continue mortal in belief and subject to chance and change.” Science & Health Page 486:18-22