Extending Love Unto Itself - April 15, 2017

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #105 “God’s peace and joy are mine.”

I love these words from today's ACIM workbook lesson: "True giving is creation. It extends the limitless to the unlimited, eternity to timelessness, and love unto itself." To live our lives from this perspective allows us to express Love freely, with no fear of it being rejected or misinterpreted. We can gently reach out to people we've just met with heartfelt expressions of empathy and compassion. We bloom in unexpected ways when "extending the limitless to the unlimited". It's ours to give and to receive, in an eternal loop of Love. There's no way to measure how far the ripples of our joy and peace may extend. My cup runneth over!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"The calm and exalted thought or spiritual apprehension is at peace. Thus the dawn of ideas goes on, forming each successive stage of progress." Science & Health Page 506:11-14

Joy and Peace and Happiness

photo credit: Chris Fischer 

ACIM Workbook Lesson #104 “I seek but what belongs to me in truth.”

Joy and peace and happiness are my birthright. These things are what belong to me in truth. These gifts do not need to be earned. We needn't barter with a faraway god in order to experience them. We don't need to wait until we die, we don't have to do a certain number of good deeds, we don't need to take communion, it's not necessary to belong to a church. We have been hoodwinked into believing that we must strive all our lives to attain something which seems unattainable. The conflict of the world is so great that we can't make our way through the maze to the prize we know must be hiding somewhere. We are learning that we can confidently clear the altar of our minds, freeing our thought from fear and pain, and embracing our function as forgiveness, thereby healing our minds and allowing us to find what has always been there: joy and peace and happiness!

Mary Baker Eddy quote: “Divine Love blesses its own ideas, and causes them to multiply, — to manifest His power. Man is not made to till the soil. His birthright is dominion, not subjection. He is lord of the belief in earth and heaven, — himself subordinate alone to his Maker. This is the Science of being.” Science & Health Page 517:30-4

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”