Science of Being

photo credit: Aaron Springston 

ACIM Workbook Lesson #203

Central theme: “I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.” Review: #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 that many 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 belief building, 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:

"Man's individuality is not material. This Science of being obtains not alone hereafter in what men call Paradise, but here and now; it is the great fact of being for time and eternity."

Science  & Health Page 285:2-6

Be Still, Be Home

photo credit: Kailey Jones

ACIM Workbook Lesson #202 

Central Theme: “I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.” Review: #182 “I will be still an instant and go home.”

The spiritual sense we're developing enables us to interpret things without the material meanings we've attached to them. In line with our daily review, which instructs us to "be still an instant and go home", we are allowing ourselves to listen, rather than immediately thinking we know everything. To me, to "go home" means hearing the spiritual message which comes through loud and clear when we are able to quiet material sense. The freedom we experience when releasing beliefs about God also allows us to free ourselves from what we think we are. Knowing ourSelves as the likeness of God then becomes a present reality!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Erase the figures which express number, silence the tones of music, give to the worms the body called man, and yet the producing, governing, divine Principle lives on,--in the case of man as truly as in the case of numbers and of music,--despite the so-called laws of matter, which define man as mortal." Science & Health Page 81:19-24

Searching...

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #201 Central Theme: “I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.” Review: #181 "I trust my brothers, who are one with me."

"Searching For the Wrong-Eyed Jesus" is a documentary on life in the South of the United States. This film takes us to small towns where people turn to drugs and/or religion when they've given up all hope of finding happiness. I watched in fascination, realizing for the first time what people find in so-called "holy-roller" churches. In their feverish love of God, they find the pleasure they crave. Others turn to mood-elevating drugs for the same reason. One person in the movie says that everyone is "lonely for God" in these desolate towns. Another line which struck me was this: "He was just a regular ol' Southern lunatic. In his quest for union, he ended up being more separate than ever." There is such Truth to be found in their longing! I longed with them as they jumped up and down, speaking in tongues and dancing in odd jerky movements. There wasn't much difference in the drunken barroom scenes on Saturday night and the gyrations of the Sunday morning gatherings. They're all looking for the same thing: They want to fill the emptiness inside. They want excitement, fun, a way to pass time without feeling alone. I can't keep from thinking of how they would be set free with the knowledge of their true Being. The only way this can happen is if I realize it -- really realize it! --not just intellectually, but with my heart.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The rich in spirit help the poor in one grand brotherhood, all having the same Principle, or Father; and blessed is that man who seeth his brother's need and supplieth it, seeking his own in another's good."

Science & Health Page 518:15-19

Peace As An Inalienable Right

Photo Credit: Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #200 “There is no peace except the peace of God.”

Peace is a spiritual attribute. While we may perceive peace as changeable, that is only our material perception of it. As our topic today tells us, "There is no peace except the peace of God." Now, this statement may bring to mind a picture of a big Buddha ohm-ing away up in the sky, because that's the way we've come to think of deity -- something outside of us, looking down on us, watching over us, giving us things. But that's not the God we're beginning to know as Life, Truth, Love. This divine Mind, infinite Spirit, eternal Soul is you and me. As I learn to recognize the difference in material belief and spiritual truth, life becomes easier. The peace that is God is mine right now for the acceptance of it. We can't lose it, because it's eternally available no matter what the outward circumstance!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Truth will at length compel us all to exchange the pleasures and pains of sense for the joys of Soul.” Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 390:10-11

Limitless

photo credit: Alden Stallings

ACIM Workbook Lesson #199 “I am not a body. I am free.”

Have you ever dreamed you could fly? My favorite freedom dream is one of running fast, sometimes leaving the ground and floating in mid-stride. Although I haven't had this recurring dream for some time, I can still feel it. As I watch people dance and use their bodies in other life-affirming ways, I marvel at the beauty and grace expressed in these activities. Just as physical boundaries are broken and new records set, there is more to come in this so-called physical existence. We are learning of the limitlessness of divine Mind’s ideas, of which we are One. What is your highest ideal of freedom? 

Mary Baker Eddy quote: "This mortal is put off, and the new man or real man is put on, in proportion as mortals realize the Science of man and seek the true model." Science & Health Page 408:22-26

Rethinking Avoidance

photo credit: Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #198

“Only my condemnation injures me.”

For several years I avoided one of my neighbors, who was 90-plus years old, because it seemed there was no such thing as a short visit. She would tell me things I didn't want to know about her family and other people, so I began to avoid her. One morning she was sitting on her porch and asked for my help. Her phone was not working and it's connected to a Lifeline button which she can push if she needs help. As it was going to take some time to get the phone company there to reconnect her, I told her I'd come over every hour and make sure she was okay. As we sat on her porch, she started talking about herself, from childhood through more recent times, and it was fascinating! She told me the happiest times of her life were picking cotton with her sisters in the 1930s on a farm in Mississippi. Every visit brought me new stories from her life. When she wandered into condemnation of others, I would simply tell her I had to go, but would be back soon and wanted to hear more stories about her -- not others. It was like watching a documentary -- and I'm glad I was tuned in! She’s gone now and although I’ve forgotten all of her gossipy news, I remember some delightful looks into her life experience — and I am grateful. 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The poor suffering heart needs its rightful nutriment, such as peace, patience in tribulation, and a priceless sense of the dear Father’s loving-kindness.” Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures  Page 365:31-2 

Complete

ACIM Workbook Lesson #197 “It can be but my gratitude I earn.”

Yesterday we began freeing ourselves from attack. Today we start to loosen the ties imposed by expectations of gratitude. Have you ever felt as though your effort to help someone was met with indifference or, perhaps, disdain? I have a good friend who lives to help others. Recently her actions have not only been unappreciated, but a certain recipient of her goodness has made false accusations against her. She has taken these words to heart, feeling so hurt and used that she has become ill. I discovered today that she had been considering committing suicide. (As a suggested lifeboat to others, may I say she went to the animal shelter and got a cat instead.) In my efforts to help her see past the pain and remember the joy which serving others brings to her, we have become closer friends. As a bonus, I am more deeply understanding of what it means to give with no expectation. We are all complete within each other, and what we give we also receive. Namastè.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“One kind of faith trusts one's welfare to others. Another kind of faith understands divine Love and how to work out one's ‘own salvation, with fear and trembling.’ ‘Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief!’ expresses the helplessness of a blind faith; whereas the injunction, ‘Believe . . . and thou shalt be saved!’ demands self-reliant trustworthiness, which includes spiritual understanding and confides all to God.” Science & Health Page 23:23-31