Gifts of Love and Light

photo credit: Arthur Bruno

ACIM Workbook Lesson #316 “All gifts I give my brothers are my own.”

Sometimes these concepts are not only difficult to comprehend but they may, at first, sound downright silly! Yesterday we pondered that everything anyone gives is mine; now we are told that everything we give is ours, too. How can that be? Ideas like this cause our mortal mind, also known as ego, to jump up and say that if this is true, evil can be spread to everyone, also. And if that is so, how can we keep from feeling doomed? But it's not true because the only thing which is One is what God created. God did not create anything unlike itSelf, so what we term "evil" is actually unreal, as it is only found in the mortal mind, never in divine Mind. And so there is a choice! I can live as though one or the other is true. As Einstein said, You can live as though everything is a miracle or as if nothing is. My choice is easy on this one!

Mary Baker Eddy quote: “The sun, giving light and heat to the earth, is a figure of divine Life and Love, enlightening and sustaining the universe.” Science & Health Page 538:11-13

Scatter Joy!

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #315

“All gifts my brothers give belong to me.”

Every kind word spoken, every heart overflowing with Love, every freeing thought of forgiveness, enriches me and everyone in the world, whether we acknowledge it or not. There are many movements based on spreading love and kindness. One of my favorites was started by Charley Johnson in Utah. It's based on the book and movie, Pay it Forward. As part of his vision, there are bracelets which read Pay it Forward. When someone thanks you for a kindness you've done, you take off your bracelet and give it to them, asking them to do the same for someone else. Let me know about instances you've witnessed which scatter joy!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The sun, giving light and heat to the earth, is a figure of divine Life and Love, enlightening and sustaining the universe.”

Science & Health Page 538:11-13

Stuck in a Time Warp?

photo credit: Stephen Shogren

ACIM Workbook Lesson #314 “I seek a future different from the past.”

Often it takes a big shake up to force us to change ways of thought and actions which have become ingrained within us. It seems comfortable, easy, and safe to stay within the bounds of what we know. Looking back on the past decades, I see where I would have been stuck in mundane and perhaps even destructive living had it not been for events which shocked me into new ways. I am most grateful for the times when life seemed good, when I rested in cozy contentment, but then changes were facilitated by seeming tragedy. The move from by-rote living to Upper Case Living takes courage, but to “seek a future different from the past” insures that we shall have one!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“A knowledge of the Science of being develops the latent abilities and possibilities of man. It extends the atmosphere of thought, giving mortals access to broader and higher realms. It raises the thinker into his native air of insight and perspicacity.”

Science & Health Page 128:13-19

New Perception

photo credit: Arthur Bruno

ACIM Workbook Lesson #313 “Now let a new perception come to me.”

A dear friend told a group of us about being terribly afraid of the dark. She said she had always been this way, to the point she had asked her husband to never leave her alone if it wasn't light. She told us that three days after he died, the fear she had always lived with left her. It was just gone! This story has stayed with me and come to mind often. What a beautiful demonstration of letting go! Just like that, in the blink of an eye, we can be past anything, no matter how long we have claimed it as a part of us. What gratitude I feel to this woman for sharing her story of shifting perception making a huge difference in experience! 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The human mind will sometime rise above all material and physical sense, exchanging it for spiritual perception, and exchanging human concepts for the divine consciousness. Then man will recognize his God-given dominion and being."

Science & Health Page 531:10-14

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #312 “I see all things as I would have them be.”

If I tell folks I want to give up the thoughts I think and think the thoughts of divine Mind, they might assume I am involved in a cultish-type of group. But I think of it as just the opposite! If I am making decisions based on past events and learned behaviors, then I have no freedom of thought. I am living by material restrictions and repeating actions dictated by human opinion, including my own. My desire to live as an idea of divine Mind opens me to an expansion of thought and action which has no limit. What an exciting world this is, when we go beyond set boundaries dictated by past education and see our way to a deeper education, facilitated by divine Love!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"The supposed existence of more than one mind was the basic error of idolatry. This error assumed the loss of spiritual power, the loss of the spiritual presence of Life as infinite Truth without an unlikeness, and the loss of Love as ever present and universal." Science & Health Page 479:5-10

Clearer Views

photo credit: Heather Peters

ACIM Workbook Lesson #311

“I judge all things as I would have them be.”

As I read today's lesson -- which begins the first of ten lessons asking us, "What is the Last Judgment?" -- I think of ancient Toltec wisdom given to us by Don Miguel Ruiz in the Four Agreements. Two of these agreements lead us easily to non-judgment: "Don't make assumptions" and "Don't take anything personally". These suggestions always come to mind when I'm tempted to take offense by someone's statements or to apportion blame in any way. If I don't take anything personally, then I need make no assumptions as to others' motives. If I make no assumption about why someone says or does something, then I won't be thinking they are attacking me or anyone else. With the realization that there is no judgment in divine Love, no condemnation in the one Mind, no censure from Spirit, we are able to stop doing those things to ourselves and those we perceive as others. Our thoughts of separation are free to cease as we embrace Unity!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The earth’s diurnal rotation is invisible to the physical eye, and the sun seems to move from east to west, instead of the earth from west to east. Until rebuked by clearer views of the everlasting facts, this false testimony of the eye deluded the judgment and induced false conclusions.” Science & Health Page 121:17-22 

Fearless Love

photo credit: Arthur Bruno

ACIM Workbook Lesson #310 “In fearlessness and love I spend today.”

The love we feel for friends and family is a foretaste of the possibilities of all-encompassing Love. This omniscient Love is what we are left with when all material belief and opinion is gone from thought. At the time my children were growing up, I spent much more time every day in prayerful study and contemplation than I do now. Or so it seemed! But when I stop to think about it, every interaction is expressing this Love with a fearlessness which grows more complete every day. These seeds were planted and are still being nurtured by moment-to-moment expressions of Love. No matter what we do on a daily basis, this Love can be expressed in many ways – actually, in every way! And by loving yourself, you’re loving everyone. By living fearlessly, you’re spreading this confidence to all. I will go forth with loving gratitude today and expect only Good.

Mary Baker Eddy quote: “Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true, and you will bring these into your experience proportionably to their occupancy of your thoughts.” Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 261:4-7