Breaking Up Of Belief

St. Liz, Eureka Springs, AR
PC: Richard Quick

A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson #255

“This day I choose to spend in perfect peace."

Having chosen to spend every day in perfect peace, it always surprises me when I don't! Those first thoughts in the morning are so important, and recently it seemed they had a mind of their own and I couldn't change what was going through my head. From planning busywork for the day, to judgmental nitpicking, to total inanities, that was all I could think. I would affirm what is true of spiritual man and then end up thinking what seems true of mortal man. It was exhausting! Midday a friend came over to visit and immediately said she'd never seen me look so bad and asked what was wrong. Apparently more was wrong than I'd been willing to admit, as it all poured out in response to her. And that broke the spell. The act of speaking what frightened me took the fear and confusion away. As I read the below quoted material, I wonder how many of us are feeling the same thing. Fear not! It is the breaking up of error!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“This material world is even now becoming the arena for conflicting forces. On one side there will be discord and dismay; on the other side there will be Science and peace. The breaking up of material beliefs may seem to be famine and pestilence, want and woe, sin, sickness, and death, which assume new phases until their nothingness appears. These disturbances will continue until the end of error, when all discord will be swallowed up in spiritual Truth.” Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 92:12-20

Divine Mind's Voice

ACIM Workbook Lesson #254 “Let every voice but God's be still in me.”

"Let's set our intention for a good result!" These were the unexpected words I heard over the telephone while working with a tech person in a far-away country. At their best, these types of phone calls can be stressful, so I was particularly delighted to hear this! And it has stuck with me. I find this thought helpful while assimilating today's topic. Telling ourselves we want to still all voices other than divine Mind, but not really knowing what that is, can be confusing and perhaps frightening. So I choose to set the intention for a good result, without dictating what said result might be. This eternal, all-knowing Mind which I will listen for will show forth in Life, Truth, Love. I neither know how this will happen, nor do I want to. Trusting as the plants trust the sun to shine on them is my goal. I know nothing and everything. As nature flows, so may I!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Nature voices natural, spiritual law and divine Love, but human belief misinterprets nature. Arctic regions, sunny tropics, giant hills, winged winds, mighty billows, verdant vales, festive flowers, and glorious heavens,--all point to Mind, the spiritual intelligence they reflect. The floral apostles are hieroglyphs of Deity. Suns and planets teach grand lessons. The stars make night beautiful, and the leaflet turns naturally towards the light.” Science & Health Page 240:1-9

One Self

ACIM Workbook Lesson #253 “My Self is ruler of the universe.

For today’s topic to make sense, we must differentiate between self and Self. The self perceives things in an illusory way, colored by beliefs and propaganda left over from our education and mass media. It may be difficult for us to believe that we want the drama we sometimes seem to experience, but it’s part of the ego’s dream of specialness, and it’s something we don’t even realize we’re doing. The Self, with a capital S, is the One Self, of which we are an inseparable, even integral, reflection. I’m not sure the change from self to Self realization can be made by a simple decision. To live as a creation of divine Mind requires an overwhelming desire to do so, along with yielding to Love at every moment. I had a dear friend who insisted on believing that vehemently declaring spiritual truths, closing her eyes and almost yelling, was the way to change thought and live as the experience of God. Watching her was a wake-up call to me (one of many!) and this journey of realization is unfolding even as I write these words. What a trip!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“There is but one I, or Us, but one divine Principle, or Mind, governing all existence; man and woman unchanged forever in their individual characters, even as numbers which never blend with each other, though they are governed by one Principle. Science & Health Page 588:11-15

Dream, Dream, Dream

photo credit: Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #252 “The Son of God is my Identity."

Our true identity is so much more than we have imagined. In this time of shifting perception and actualized reality, we humbly and happily accept our identity as the child of God! To illustrate this awakening, let's take as a metaphor the act of falling asleep in our favorite chair. The coziness of it is hard to resist, and even though we may be engaged in something enjoyable, such as reading or writing, the lure of oblivion is strong. We may succumb to blissful sleep, which includes both sweet dreams and nightmares. Anything is possible in our dreams, so maybe this falling into sleep isn't only oblivion. Perhaps there's more to our dream state than we realize. Maybe it allows us to experience what seems impossible in daily living, and by it we realize the limitlessness of our true Selves. And so today I'm not going to worry if my waking dream of material existence seems fraught with limitations and unwanted beliefs, because I know these can be transformed in the "twinkling of an eye". My true Self with its shimmering, brilliant purity and limitless Love may seem like a dream, but I will look past mere belief to the depth of spiritual reality. 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“My angels are exalted thoughts, appearing at the door of some sepulchre, in which human belief has buried its fondest earthly hopes. With white fingers they point upward to a new and glorified trust, to higher ideals of life and its joys." Science & Health Page 299: 7-12

Truth

photo credit: Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #251 “I am in need of nothing but the truth."

Ask a group of people “What is truth?” and you will receive as many answers as there are people asked, don’t you think? You’ll hear talk of “my truth” and “your truth”, but hardly ever does Truth with a capital “T” come into the conversation. I’m beginning to understand that Truth is always unfolding as individual intuition and inspiration. This Truth doesn’t stand still in one spot and ask to be defined. It’s not opinion or belief, but rather the ideas heard within ourselves when listening for divine Mind which is the source of all. Leaving behind mortal mind’s ego definitions of the truth of our being opens the door to infinite possibilities! 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“A spiritual idea has not a single element of error, and this truth removes properly whatever is offensive.” Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 463:12-13

Rapidly Shifting Thought

photo credit: Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #250 “Let me not see myself as limited."

Thinking of ourselves as unlimited contradicts everything we've been taught. Many of our first memories are of being told to be careful or else something dire will happen. Quantum physics is helping us to understand form isn't as solid as we've been told. With that understanding, it becomes clear that many limitations we've placed upon ourselves are nothing more than beliefs in material laws. Limitations are discarded when an athlete breaks a record in the Olympics, or if someone performs a seemingly-impossible feat like lifting a car off of trapped loved ones. We've all heard people tell tales we think of as supernatural, such as falling great distances and feeling as though they landed on a cushion, or so-called incurable diseases disappearing.  Now, I'm not suggesting we exchange one human belief for yet another, but that we look to divine Mind to tell us the truth of our being and that we allow ourselves to be led in paths we wouldn't have considered otherwise. Thought is shifting so rapidly at this time! Let's not be afraid to listen.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“A mortal, corporeal, or finite conception of God cannot embrace the glories of limitless, incorporeal Life and Love. Hence the unsatisfied human craving for something better, higher, holier, than is afforded by a material belief in a physical God and man. ” Science & Health Page 258: 1-6

Bathed in Love

ACIM Workbook Lesson #249 “Forgiveness ends all suffering and loss."

One reason I loved working with the public was the stories I would hear every day. There was a 68-year-old woman celebrating a first marriage to a man she had been friends with for 15 years. I once talked with a woman who was dying of cancer. She came in showing me her beautiful red shoes which she planned to wear to her impending chemotherapy (which she described as throwing a bucket of water at a forest fire). I remember a child-like middle-aged man who spent quite some time telling me about Sheldon on a TV show called The Big Bang Theory. I’ll never forget the woman who gave away her home and all her belongings to her children and moved to a remote area in the woods, riding and tending to horses and building a rustic cabin while living in a small make-shift abode. Her friends all thought she had lost her mind; I thought she had found it! People share the most astonishing things when we’re open to hearing them! It’s beautiful to laugh with those who do not fear death, to cry happy tears with a giddy newly-wed couple, to giggle at a man’s happy childish tales, and cheer on a woman brave enough to follow her dream!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Love, redolent with unselfishness, bathes all in beauty and light." Science & Health Page 516:9-13