What is Love?

"The Well-Loved Child"
creations of Sandy Wythawai Starbird

ACIM Workbook Lesson #103 “God, being Love, is also happiness.”

I know a man who insists he's never known happiness. He often says he doesn't have any idea what love feels like, yet he has a twinkle in his eye and is usually smiling. I think he's happy, but simply doesn't recognize what that means. Perhaps he’s grasping at something he thinks of as being just out of reach. I would guess he feels love, too, but thinks it's supposed to bring on an epiphany of some sort. Personally, I feel intense rushes of love from something as pure as seeing the first flock of butterflies in the spring. A group of swallowtails frolicking in my flower bed is more than enough to break open my heart and leave me feeling giddy. Remembering my friend’s lament over the lack of love in his life, remembering the butterflies' grace which flows to me, I will think twice before I pass by any divine Idea without drinking in its happiness. Love and happiness are our divine heritage as the expression of God. God is Love, and so are we!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Higher enjoyments alone can satisfy the cravings of immortal man.” Science & Health Page 61:1

Harmonizing With Principle

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #101 “God’s Will for me is perfect happiness.”

Were you taught that salvation involved some sort of penance for your sins? Most people were, in some form or fashion. Perhaps this is why so many turn away from religion. I'm really not sure how theology has decided that we're sinners, because when I read the teachings of Jesus, I don't find this. For this reason (and many others), I'm most grateful for the teachings of Mary Baker Eddy and, also, A Course in Miracles. Both of these disciplines attempt to show us that we are the expression of God. As God's experience, we are the embodiment of happiness and joy! Anything opposite of this harmony is but our misunderstanding. As we clear away these misapprehensions, we allow what we've always known, deep inside, to begin lighting our path. As we walk more surely, the brighter the illumination becomes!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“For true happiness, man must harmonize with his Principle, divine Love…” Science & Health Page 337:7-8

A Natural State of Happy

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #102 “I share God’s Will for happiness for me.”

We all know people who seem to be chronically sad, don't we? They share a commonality of repeatedly replaying painful and distressing events in their thought and conversation. I have some sad memories which pop into my head occasionally. When this happens, there's a choice: I can relive the events mentally and/or verbally and thereby keep them alive, or I can acknowledge that they're still in my thoughts, but know that they are not the Truth of my Being. Yes, it happened (whatever it is). It's part of my material history, but my spiritual reality has not been touched by it. The peace brought by this understanding is priceless. I can be happy! Even in the midst of things which I may not think of as particularly joyful, I can give myself permission to be happy. It is, after all, my natural state of Being!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Harmony is produced by its Principle, is controlled by it and abides with it. Divine Principle is the Life of man. Man’s happiness is not, therefore, at the disposal of physical sense.” 

Science & Health Page 304:16-19

Unyielding Happiness

photo credit: Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #100 “My part is essential to God’s plan for salvation.”

Happiness is a stand-out theme in today’s ACIM workbook lesson. What does it take to be happy? Many of us feel that as long as everything is going fine, we’re happy; conversely, when things are not so good, we’re unhappy. Following this line of thinking, we should be happy as long as there is no pain in our lives, but when it raises its head, we would be unhappy. I’m not sure about you, but I don’t know any people who live a pain-free life. What if we don’t think of pain as something to be feared, but as something to be embraced and examined? Think back to painful experiences you’ve had. I know they’ve always left me in a better spot than they found me. Please don’t think I’m saying you should seek out pain for the good it will do. Simply acknowledge that a little rain must fall and it has a purpose. Often we grow into something delightfully surprising!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Harmony in man is as beautiful as in music, and discord is unnatural, unreal.”

Science & Health Page 304:16-21

The Blossom Shines Through the Bud

photo credit: Chris Fischer

ACIM Workbook Lesson #99

“Salvation is my only function here.”

When David Hoffmeister was "called" to go on the road and talk to people about the teachings of A Course in Miracles, he didn't know how he would have the funds to do this. He was told by Spirit that all his needs would be supplied, but he didn't believe that. He found himself trying to teach Jesus about the laws of supply and demand. David is a man with excessive formal education, including knowledge of economics, and so he felt certain that Jesus simply didn't understand how the world worked. We tend to think of people like Buddha and St. Francis and Jesus as being beggars of sorts. They didn't make a lot of money, but trusted in the Universe to provide. David was being asked to rely on Spirit to articulate this new/old curriculum. He was being led to teach using everything available -- music, dance, lectures, gatherings -- to help others express deep Love and peace.  The reign of peace has begun, and many people are fighting against it. Let's not be concerned with that. Let's put our energy where it will grow -- on this peaceful transition. Christ consciousness is coming out of hiding and we're being called to help everyone see (by way of our own sight) that this is not some esoteric thing which must be kept secret. It's to be shouted from the rooftops! Fear not, shine your light, call forth witnesses to this light -- and above all, don't tone down your joy!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Love giveth to the least spiritual idea might, immortality, and goodness, which shine through all as the blossom shines through the bud.” Science & Health Page 518:19-21”

Unformed Thoughts into Proper Channels

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #98

“I will accept my part in God’s plan for salvation.”

To the uninitiated in this way of thought, the topic for today could be interpreted as asking us to accept some sort of predestination. We who are familiar with this study, know it is not. Deepak Chopra once said that there is no free will as long as we are being held by the beliefs of a lifetime. For this reason, we are asked time and again to look through the meaning we have placed on things and allow ourselves to think with divine Mind, feel from the leadings of Love, and create from the depths of Soul. When we are yielding to divine Principle, it doesn't seem to matter what dictates are put before us: they either feel right and we follow them, or else they are part of the ego-driven illusion and we turn away. To me, that's accepting God's plan.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Spirit, God, gathers unformed thoughts into their proper channels, and unfolds these thoughts, even as [It] opens the petals of a holy purpose in order that the purpose may appear." Science & Health Page 506:18-21

Reflection in Multifarious Form

photo credit: Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #97 “I am spirit.”

I've been reading and studying the works of Bicknell Young. This fascinating man was the nephew of Brigham Young, the renowned Mormon leader. I can only imagine his family's surprise when he discovered the teachings of Mary Baker Eddy in the late 1800s, and then went on to gain fame speaking and writing about Christian Science during the next few decades. He's the proverbial person, dead or living, whom I'd choose to sit down with for an evening. These sentences about Spirit are part of what pique my interest to know every thought he ever had! "Consciousness is Spirit. It does not become spiritual nor is it spiritualized. Nor does the evolution of consciousness mean a rising above or a purification from anything; it is the ceaseless unfoldment of infinity." Thank you, Mr. Young!

Mary Baker Eddy quote: “Identity is the reflection of Spirit, the reflection in multifarious forms of the living Principle, Love.” Science & Health Page 277:20-22