The Road Less Traveled

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Lesson #128

"The world I see holds nothing that I want."  

The topic of today's ACIM lesson is one of those which could cause you to say, "Thanks, but no thanks”!! But before you close the door, really think about the meaning of “The world I see holds nothing that I want”. It isn't asking you to give up enjoyment of everyday life. On the contrary! It's asking you to look past the world which is the creation of mortal mind, to the world of divine Mind. By setting aside the unrealities of belief, we are breaking the same kind of thought barriers which had to be set aside for humanity to realize the world was round. When asked to see everything with new eyes, daring to stretch past belief and learned behavior, we may be frightened or confused. In this state of mind, our "ego" can tell us it's all just nonsense and we’d best stay with what is well-known. But is it? If you feel -- really feel, deep inside, there must be more to this existence than meets the human eye, then you will want to know what that is. We are capable of so much more than we realize. The veil is getting thinner! 

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. Belief in a material basis, from which may be deduced all rationality, is slowly yielding to the idea of a metaphysical basis, looking away from matter to Mind as the cause of every effect."  Science & Health Page 268:1-9

No Division in Love

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #127 “There is no love but God's”

Often self-help books talk of the many faces and facets of love. In divine metaphysics, there is no division in Love. Love does not judge. No one is more worthy than another. No one is more able than another, when it comes to expressing Love. Love may not appear to be a factor in the world we daily witness. We see love that’s variable and hate that is solid, but we are learning the unreality of changing love and abiding hate. Reality is the Love which is God. Today's ACIM workbook lesson asks us to affirm this often today: "I bless you, brother, with the Love of God, which I would share with you. For I would learn the joyous lesson that there is no love but God's and yours and mine and everyone's." My awareness of this true Love allows me to experience it. It is always present, and I'm learning to be, also.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Love is infinite. Therefore all that really exists is in and of God, and manifests [Its] love.”

Science & Health Page 340:12-14

Giving and Receiving

photo credit: Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #126 "All that I give is given to myself."

Here are a few examples of what we often give: advice, judgment of another's actions, support for loved ones, opinions which we hope will change the world — this list could go on and on. In examining what I'd like to give today, I see that the only true thing which can be given is Love; anything else is but a material opinion in some form. Often what we think of as forgiveness is a mortal concept which generally includes stipulations. There may be an implication that I'm forgiving you because I'm a better person than you are. Oh my! We know that forgiveness is the key to the door of truth, so how do we forgive without material trappings? Love! When we give and live Love, there is nothing else to think about. Before I give anything today, I will ask myself, Is this what I want to receive? If it's not, then I'd best not give it. My realization that God is Love and that Love is all there is, allows me to slip into that sweet space of living from Truth, which is expressing all the Good which is our essence.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“We cannot fathom the nature and quality of God's creation by diving into the shallows of mortal belief. We must reverse our feeble flutterings--our efforts to find life and truth in matter--and rise above the testimony of the material senses, above the mortal to the immortal idea of God. These clearer, higher views inspire the God-like man to reach the absolute centre and circumference of his being.” Science & Health Page 262:9-16

Lifted Above the Thinking of the World

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #125

"In quiet I receive God's Word today."

I’ve been having conversations with someone about listening, finding common ground, and seeing the sameness in our differences. Today’s topic highlights things we have been discussing, and I find comfort and courage in the text, including this: “Only be quiet. You will need no rule but this, to let your practicing today lift you above the thinking of the world, and free your vision from the body's eyes.” [ACIM #125] Today I will practice silencing my busy thoughts while listening quietly for guidance from divine Mind. This is what I think of as God’s Word — the voice heard only when my own is quiet. We, as the experience and expression of God, are capable of this listening and hearing. My gratitude is overflowing for these teachings and the people from whom I continually learn!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The ‘still, small voice’ of scientific thought reaches over continent and ocean to the globe's remotest bound. The inaudible voice of Truth is, to the human mind, ‘as when a lion roareth’. … Then is the power of Truth demonstrated,--made manifest in the destruction of error.”

Science & Health Page 559:8-16

Just As You Are

photo credit: Aaron Springston

A Course in Miracles Lesson #120 Review of: #109 "I rest in God." #110 "I am as God created me."

An astute reader tells me that I skipped Lesson #120 a few days ago. To rectify that error, I repeat the entry from last year. 

A friend recommended that I read, Dying to be Me: My Journey from Cancer, to Near Death, to True Healing by Anita Moorjani. One of the important points made in this book is something that is recognized in our studies: Sickness is not your fault. Often new-age teachings tell us that past thoughts and actions create karma which returns to you in terrible ways. Ms. Moorjani assures us that this is not the case. The recognition that you are pure Love, the knowledge that you are connected to everything, the joy which comes from acceptance of yourself just as you are -- this understanding of your being is what allows the body to be well. It doesn't matter what caused it, what "stage" the problem has advanced to, what mortal predictions are on the table -- nothing matters but the acceptance of yourself as a product of Love. When feeling the purity of Oneness, all material thought must be silenced. We can stop striving and start Being. When slipping into this space of pure Love, nothing else matters. And all is well.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Mortal mind must part with error, must put off itself with its deeds, and immortal manhood, the Christ ideal, will appear.”

Science & Health Page 430:3-5

Restored to Tranquility

"Bryce Canyon" photo credit Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #124 "Let me remember I am one with God."

"Today we see only the loving and the lovable. We see it in appearances of pain, and pain gives way to peace. We see it in the frantic, in the sad and the distressed, the lonely and afraid, who are restored to the tranquility and peace of mind in which they were created." [ACIM Lesson #124] Today I saw an old friend who feels like she’s drowning in sadness. A man she didn’t want to live without died, and she’s having a tough time going forward on her own. I can understand how she feels as she tries to remember how to be happy. The things we spoke of today led me to tell her about Mary Haskell, the woman who loved Kahlil Gibran. Although she was much older than him, he died many years before her. At his funeral, her friends were amazed that she was so peacefully happy and they wanted to know how that could be. She told them she felt closer to him than she ever had before. I talked to my friend about our unity in divine Love and our inseparability as the experience of God. I’m not sure if she felt better, but I certainly did!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Principle and its idea is one, and this one is God, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent Being, and [Its] reflection is man and the universe." Science & Health Page 465:17-1

The Gifts of Divine Love

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #123 "I thank my Father for His gifts to me."

Our whole world seems to be telling us we are special and that we deserve much more than the gifts of divine Love can supply. We yearn for peace and plenty, purity of heart and environment, joy, satisfaction -- but we keep forgetting the spiritual Principle which guarantees this reality, simply for our perception of it. Sometimes we catch glimpses of what could be. For instance, I witnessed a man and woman in their 70s cavorting like teenagers in giddy expectation of exchanging marriage vows. Their happiness was infectious! A true new beginning is at hand -- your hand and mine, today, right now.  I will not be distracted by ego-based taunting to play the game being enacted all around me. I will look through the temptation to stay stuck in the muddle of material belief by giving energy to the lower propensities. Raising thought above what cries out so loudly for attention, I'll see a beginning in every situation. If there is no end, can there be a beginning? Ah -- ever-flowing, forever, now!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Gratitude is much more than a verbal expression of thanks. Action expresses more gratitude than speech.

Science & Health Page 3:25-26