Familiar Patterns

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #240

“Fear is not justified in any form."

Our lives tend to fall into familiar patterns as we move through our days. We may find ourselves going to the same places, saying the same things, thinking the same thoughts -- and all of  these habits become comfortable. Even if we're experiencing disharmony, we often fear change. We may say, "Something told me I should do so-and-so". We often hear this calling, this inner voice leading us toward a different path than we're on, but we feel it takes courage to walk a road less or never traveled, and so we settle. To settle for anything which brings us less than joyful existence is to dishonor ourselves, which is to dishonor God. The next time I think I'm feeling this thing we call fear, I'll choose to interpret the emotion as excitement about what will come next!

Mary Baker Eddy quotes:

“Had Blondin believed it impossible to walk the rope over Niagara's abyss of waters, he could never have done it. His belief that he could do it gave his thought-forces, called muscles, their flexibility and power which the unscientific might attribute to a lubricating oil. His fear must have disappeared before his power of putting resolve into action could appear.” Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 199:25-31

False Humility

photo credit: Aaron Springs

ACIM Workbook Lesson #239 “The glory of my Father is my own"

“Let not the truth about ourselves today be hidden by a false humility.” (ACIM) Often we believe that we are not worthy to accept our divine nature as the image and likeness of God. This false humility is only mortal mind, or ego, trying to keep us from shining. I'm-not-worthy feelings from my past tend to recur in thought, provoked by the most tenuous connection. A teacher's scorn, a friend's put-down, my own disappointment in myself -- these things seem to linger, arguing that I couldn't possibly be good enough to accept myself as a joint heir with Jesus.  But with every affirmation of Truth, with every revelation of divine Mind, I reaffirm  that I Am That I Am, and come a step closer to understanding.

“I celebrate myself, and sing myself,

And what I assume you shall assume,

For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.”

Walt Whitman

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The Divine Being must be reflected by man,--else man is not the image and likeness of the patient, tender, and true, the One 'altogether lovely;' but to understand God is the work of eternity, and demands absolute consecration of thought, energy, and desire.” Science & Health Page 3:12-15

Dreams of Separation

ACIM Workbook Lesson #238

“On my decision, all salvation rests.”

My decision, (my job, if you will) is to forget the dreams of malice, revenge, hatred, and anger. These dreams of separation from our Oneness are simply that — dreams, with no relation to the reality we are coming to know. My self is the one Self we all share, so I may choose to accept this as my identity, or I can continue to choose the illusions of belief in separation. It’s not always easy to see this false identity as something I no longer want. It jumps up and down and insists that it is good and I am bad if I choose anything other than it. How grateful I am to have friends who support my decision to grasp for the heights of my Being, allowing the lower propensities to remain where they lie. Thank you greatly —

“Christian Science commands man to master the propensities, — to hold hatred in abeyance with kindness, to conquer lust with chastity, revenge with charity, and to overcome deceit with honesty.” Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 405:4-9

Creation

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #237 “Now would I be as God created me."

How did God create me? If I think of creation from a standpoint of human, mortal mind, I may think of the  Adam and Eve story. Looking beyond material, illusory opinions to pure spiritual ideas is a step toward understanding how "God created me". We tell ourselves: I'm only human and I couldn’t be created as the image and likeness of God. If we accept material creation myths as the truth of our being, we live the dream of life in and of matter with all the limitations that implies. The realization that we are an idea of God takes us to the threshold of understanding Life. Today I will see everything in the light of spiritual truth, omitting no one nor thing!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The mythical human theories of creation, anciently classified as the higher criticism, sprang from cultured scholars in Rome and in Greece, but they afforded no foundation for accurate views of creation by the divine Mind.”

Science & Health Page 255: 5-10

We Are Rulers of Our Thought

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #236 “I rule my mind, which I alone must rule."

I know someone who often says, You can't help what you think; it's what you do with those thoughts that matters. Unfortunately, this person is miserable in her circular thinking, going over and over events which are distressing to her, telling herself again and again that it's god's plan and she must abide by it. Whew! Today's lesson is teaching us we do have a choice in what goes through our mind. We are the rulers of our thought and have the ability to choose, to turn fear upside down and let it go. In accepting the gift of Truth from divine Mind, there can be no choice between being right or being kind—after all, Love is all there is!

Mary Baker Eddy quote: “God's thoughts are perfect and eternal, are substance and Life. Material and temporal thoughts are human, involving error, and since God, Spirit, is the only cause, they lack a divine cause. The temporal and material are not then creations of Spirit. They are but counterfeits of the spiritual and eternal.” Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 286:21-27

Keep it Simple

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #235 “God in His mercy wills that I be saved."

The mass consciousness we swim in tells us we've done something wrong and can't be saved until we do a whole bunch of things right. Let's release all of those beliefs and concentrate on what feels true, right now, in this moment. Toward this end I will, at every possible moment, quiet my thoughts and allow Truth to permeate my being. It's there all the time, this Love which is God, this divine Love which supports us more surely than the swirling waters of mass consciousness. Our true consciousness is expressed most perfectly in two words: I Am. I think I’ll keep it simple today. Join me!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The scientific unity which exists between God and man must be wrought out in life-practice, and God's will must be universally done. If men would bring to bear upon the study of the Science of Mind half the faith they bestow upon the so-called pains and pleasures of material sense they would not go on from bad to worse …” Science & Health Page 202:3-9

Be Gentle With Yourself

ACIM Workbook Lesson #234 “Father, today I am Your Son again.”

My memories are turned to a dear little old lady who lived up the street. Margaret had been alone for more than a decade and she had taken all the mirrors out of her house. When some other neighbors and I began to help her with housekeeping chores and other things, someone put a mirror on the wall in her bathroom. When she first saw it, she got very upset and began trying to pull it off the wall and, when that didn’t work, she tried to break it. She had not seen herself in so many years that she couldn’t face what she saw. Many of us feel the same way about viewing ourselves in the light of Spirit. We have become so accustomed to thinking of ourselves as less than, as separate from, the beauty of Love, that it may not be easy to accept our spiritual Self. We may have a tough time releasing our beliefs and allowing ourselves to Be. Please, let’s be gentle with ourselves and savor the glimpses we see upon the release of what we think we are! 

Mary Baker Eddy quote: “Matter is a human concept. Life is divine Mind.” Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 569:3-4