Peace Within

photo credit: Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Lesson #70

“My salvation comes from me.”

An old friend tells me that it has taken her seven decades to stop believing the things her parents told her about herself. They said she was ugly, stupid, worthless, and other hurtful damnations. She believed these things and they stayed with her until being in a group with spiritually aware people allowed her to see the truth about herself. She no longer feels unworthy of love and goodness. Hallelujah! Her salvation has come! How often do we all believe lies about the reality of our being? We don’t realize we have chosen guilt for ourselves, but thankfully we are recognizing this and seeing that we have a choice! Nothing outside of our own self can save us; nothing from outside can bring us peace. The source of salvation and peace lies within. This acceptance is, indeed, cause for celebration!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Innocence and Truth overcome guilt and error.”  Science & Health Page 568:1

Love Never Dies

Resting Place

ACIM Workbook Lesson #69

“My grievances hide the light of the world in me.”

Every animal which has come into my life, every person I’ve loved, have enriched my daily experience and helped me see through the illusion of separation, allowing me to feel the light of the world shining. Every dog I’ve ever known has taught me more about pure Love, and I am most grateful. Today I choose to see the light, to let it shine through me in everything I do, to allow it to brighten all. Even though I no longer have my Chili Dog by my side, I feel his presence and cherish the Love which never dies. 

Mary Baker Eddy Quote:

“The mortal mind through which Truth appears most vividly is that one which has lost much materiality--much error--in order to become a better transparency for Truth. Then, like a cloud melting into thin vapor, it no longer hides the sun.” Science & Health Page 295:19-24

An Angel Entertained Unawares

ACIM Workbook Lesson #68: “Love holds no grievances.”

"You want to switch off your heart and mind", I was told by a dear woman who used to read these writings. This is how she interpreted A Course in Miracles teachings. Wow, really?! I wanted to know more about why she felt this way, as strong opinions tend to close the mind and I try to stay open. She was translating these teachings into a mind control system which is just the opposite of what it is meant to be. On the contrary, it seems to me that the opinions we hold about ourselves shut us off from the function for which we were created -- which, as we learned a few days ago, is happiness! I love to have conversations like this, testing my understanding of what I am learning, to see if there are holes in my logic, or dead-ended trails of principles. Let's allow ourselves to experience the one Mind, through which we shall express infinite individuality, with open hearts and minds!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The circumstance, which your suffering sense deems wrathful and afflictive, Love can make an angel entertained unawares.”

Science & Health Page 574:27-30

The Great Miracle

photo credit: Richard Quick

 ACIM Workbook Lesson #67

“Love created me like itself.”

In today’s lesson we are asked to recognize ourselves as unchanging Love, rather than the limited self we have been thinking we are. “Love created me like Itself.” Love has created everyone like Itself!! We have many false ideas about what we are and what others are, but let’s realize the illusory nature of those ideas and see ourselves as the one infinite divine Love. It’s fairly easy to see ourselves as loving, but as pure Love its own Self?? Let’s try to undo our ideas of what God is, what we are, releasing all our beliefs and asking Holy Spirit to fill us with the Truth of our being! 

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 560:11-15

Gather Joy and Spread Happiness

Joy in Mongolia

ACIM Workbook Lesson #66: “My happiness and my function are one.”

I recently heard about a study which has been taking place for 40+ years, following certain people throughout their lives and coming to conclusions on why they are or are not happy. Turns out happiness isn’t reliant on how much money people have, nor does it matter what religion they espouse — or not. Happiness isn’t dependent or where people live, what job they have, nor if they’re married or single. But it does have a direct correlation to their interpersonal relationships, their friendships, their interactions with others. While there was no direct correlation to marriage nor job, the way we relate to our spouse or co-workers affects our happiness levels. Those who were not married or didn’t have a job were still happier if they interacted with others on a regular basis. So let’s go out and gather joy, spread happiness, and be Love!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love. It is unselfish; therefore it cannot exist alone, but requires all mankind to share it."

Science & Health Page 57:18-21

Yielding to Love

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #65: “My only function is the one God gave me.”

As a restless young person, I resisted the only thing which was required in order to experience peace. I thought that to live in Spirit would be predictable and boring. Decades past that time, I find that everything is exciting and new! Without the willingness to be open to the field of all possibilities, I would be repeating by-rote behaviors and following learned beliefs. That, I now see, is what would be boring! By being willing to go inward and listen, I'm never sure of what I will say or do, but I'm confident of where that guidance will lead. On the occasions I forget to listen but rather hold forth with long-held opinions, things don't usually work out in the same harmonious ways as they do when I'm willing to yield. That is a strong reminder to remember that I, of my own self, know nothing. 

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

Be Happy and Bloom

ACIM Workbook Lesson #64:

"Let me not forget my function"

Have you ever been accused of something you did not do? An unjust charge carries with it a terrible feeling. This same feeling follows many of us around because we have been told that we were born sinners and there is nothing we can do about it. We have come to believe it is our function on this earth to try ever so hard to overcome this innate badness. Isn't it a wonderful thing to experience teachings which show us that this is not true? The understanding of our essence as the pure expression of God, and the realization that anything unlike this experience is a material illusion brought to us courtesy of tainted human beliefs, frees us to be happy. Gone is all the guilt we may have carried around, thinking we were condemned by a power from which we couldn't escape. There has been no condemnation by any power, only illusionary powers to which we have given credence. Breaking free from these beliefs, we are free to be happy, healthy, whole -- and we bloom! 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Can we gather peaches from a pine-tree, or learn from discord the concord of being? Yet quite as rational are some of the leading illusions along the path which Science must tread in its reformatory mission among mortals. The very name, illusion, points to nothingness.”  Science & Health Page 129:24-29