The Art of Loving People

photo credit: Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #189

“I feel the Love of God within me now.”

I was visiting with friends and talk turned to traveling and problems which arise concerning transportation. Someone made the observation that we remember the really bad things and the really good things. In listening to their recounting of events, I noticed the line between a bad experience and a good one is very thin. One woman told about the frustration of muddled connections being smoothed out by someone offering to make her a sandwich. She was tired and hungry, and this loving gesture from a stranger made everything all better. I would love to write a book called "The Art of Loving People". It would be based around all the beautiful stories of us being kind to each other. The Love which is God is everywhere! All we need do is allow ourselves to feel it and express it.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Love inspires, illumines, designates, and leads the way. Right motives give pinions to thought, and strength and freedom to speech and action. Love is priestess at the altar of Truth."

Science & Health Page 454:17-21

Reflected Illumination

"John Muir Trail"
photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #188 “The peace of God is shining in me now.”

It’s a wonderful thing to realize the peace we so crave has always been within, waiting for us to discover it. This peace of God is ours, now and always. The recognition of this fact is the meaning of enlightenment. It isn't necessary to seek for ways to change ourselves in order to experience this light. We're not being asked to change anything, to do anything differently; only to see the truth of our Being. I have a dear friend who moved to a remote area in an idyllic setting. She sat herself down and read through the Course in Miracles textbook, in its entirety, three times! As I spoke with her on the phone recently, I felt a softness about her which has been growing for years. Its appearance isn't indicative of enlightenment to something new, but of recognizing the Truth of her own Self. Some days I feel this same knowing about myself. Other days it seems impossible to climb out of the busy-ness which can hide this reality. One thing I know for sure, laughter and joy are the keys to opening the door. The more joy which is shared, the easier it becomes to express the qualities of Spirit, which come flowing through us with our recognition of what we truly are: Love!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Truth and Love enlighten the understanding, in whose ‘light shall we see light;’ and this illumination is reflected spiritually by all who walk in the light and turn away from a false material sense.”

Science & Health Page 510:9-12

Things Represent Thoughts

photo credit: Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #187 “I bless the world because I bless myself.”

If I have something and give it away, my material belief tells me I don't have it any longer. Through these studies, I am beginning to see how giving increases what I possess. Things represent thoughts. I am discovering that when I give ideas away they become stronger in everyone's mind. The form of what we give and receive may change, but it never leaves us lacking. Thoughts and ideas cannot be lost, whereas material form is constantly changing. By living consciously as the reflection of Love, with the wisdom of Mind, the freedom of Spirit, the creativity of Soul, the purity of Truth, we are blessing ourselves and we are blessing the world!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Divine Love blesses its own ideas, and causes them to multiply, — to manifest His power. ” Science & Health, Page 517:30-31

Freedom Through Storytelling

photo credit: Gerry Toler

ACIM Workbook Lesson #186

“Salvation of the world depends on me.”

I once took a weekend workshop on the art of storytelling. We had a great instructor named Elaine Blanchard, and the group consists of nine beautiful, passionate women, all of us as different as we were the same. We were all there to release a story from where it had been hiding within us. It was an emotional weekend, full of tears and laughter, with joy being the frontrunner coming down the stretch when we were through. Elaine has gained national attention from going into women’s prisons, gathering stories, writing them into screenplays, performing them, and allowing the prisoners to see their stories on stage. This process frees everyone involved and many of the inmates have been empowered to release the past and go forward into a new life. Sometimes you just need someone to listen in order to understand what must be done. Truth does set us free!

Mary Baker Eddy quote: “Love is priestess at the altar of Truth. Wait patiently for divine Love to move upon the waters of mortal mind, and form the perfect concept.” Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 454:21-23

Happy Independence Day, Indeed!

photo credit: Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #185

“I want the peace of God.”

On this day of celebrating the independence of these United States, I'm reminded of something from Eckhart Tolle's book, "A New Earth". He speaks of collective consciousness being more powerful than individual thought. He cites instances of groups of people doing things which one alone cannot. He also tells how some of the things countries do would be thought of as insanity if one person were committing the action. With this in mind, I urge everyone to hold to our topic for the day: "I want the peace of God." With a tipping point of people in the world wanting the same thing, then everyone will join together in not only wanting this peace, but having it! Happy Independence Day indeed!!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"A few immortal sentences, breathing the omnipotence of divine justice, have been potent to break despotic fetters and abolish the whipping-post and slave market; but oppression neither went down in blood, nor did the breath of freedom come from the cannon’s mouth. Love is the liberator."

Science & Health Page 225:16-22

Claiming Our Inheritance

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #184 “The Name of God is my inheritance.”

From the moment we come into this form, we are taught what things are called, what those names represent, and the meaning we should place on them. These names and meanings tend to separate us from each other: they de-unify us. We think of learning as knowing what these things are, and we study to find out everything about them. In this world we have made, we need these symbols, these names, in order to convey information, yet we keep getting glimpses of true communication -- and, if you're like me, you want more! Watching birds fly in formation is but one way we glimpse a higher form of knowing. Rather than learning more about the illusion of names and notions, I'd rather work toward understanding the reality of a shared unity, led by Love.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The press unwittingly sends forth many sorrows and diseases among the human family. It does this by giving names to diseases and by printing long descriptions which mirror images of disease distinctly in thought. A new name for an ailment affects people like a Parisian name for a novel garment. Every one hastens to get it.” 

Science & Health Page 196:31-5

I Am

ACIM Workbook Lesson #183 “I call upon God's Name and on my own.”

If you ask a hundred people what they think God is, you will get a hundred  different answers. Whether it’s an old man sitting in the sky and pointing a finger or an ethereal presence, we have created an image in thought from years of propaganda, and that is what we envision today. This is one of the main reasons I prefer to think of It as divine Mind or infinite Love. It’s easier for me to depersonalize this God I have made in my own image, to turn the tables and allow myself to be the expression of Mind, the experience of Love. 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Question: What is God?

Answer: God is incorporeal, divine, supreme, infinite Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, Love." Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 465: 8-11