Only One Thing I Desire

photo credit: Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #339 "I will receive whatever I request."

I was reminded recently of a meeting in which a woman confided a situation of abuse from her childhood. Some of the people in the metaphysical meeting we were attending insisted that she had chosen this scenario, whether to rectify something from a past life or for some other reason. This woman became very upset to think that a little girl would be tortured and want such a thing. Today's workbook lesson reiterates that no one desires pain, but often we are confused about what we would want. Without going into the possibility of past lives, or reincarnation and retribution, I remind myself that all I want is One Thing. My only desire is to know God, and everything else will be attained without my delineation of what that is. I also remind myself not to judge others in any way, as we are all on an individual path. That's what it's all about, after all. We are the experience of God, and there are no outlines as to what that means!

Mary Baker Eddy quote: "Materialists contradict their own statements. Their belief in material laws and in penalties for their infraction is the ancient error…”

Science & Health Page 389:22-24

What Am I Thinking?

PC: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #338 "I am affected only by my thoughts."

It is estimated that we have more than 50,000 thoughts every day. As I heard Wayne Dyer tell us in one of his outstanding talks, the problem with this is that the thousands of thoughts we have today are the same ones we had yesterday! Waking up from the circular thinking in which we are trapped requires an honesty we’re not accustomed to practicing. I know habitual thought is not an easy habit to break, but the desire to do so is the first step. Just like changing any behavior, you have to want to change or you never will. How can we begin to think differently? We can’t simply stop thinking, but we can exchange the trivial musings for substantial ideas. As Eleanor Roosevelt once said: “Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.” As I go through this day, I’ll often ask myself: What would Eleanor think? Namastè, each and every One! 

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 299:1-11

Protected

PC: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #337 "My sinlessness protects me from all harm."

First of all, let's define sin as anything which separates us from the Love which is God. When my children were small, we'd often talk about how they could experience the safety which comes from listening to intuition. When driving a car, I often hear an inner prompting to slow down or sometimes to speed up, once to even stop completely. So when my children began driving, I naturally talked to them about this listening which insures we are where we need to be. That split second which puts you in the same place as a car crossing into your lane, or the moment a deer is stepping into your path, these are the situations which are avoided by listening to intuition. And what allows us to hear this inner direction? First it takes a willingness to hear it, of course. And the recognition of our Oneness with All that Is creates an open heart, willing to know God. To the so-called logical mind, this listening to intuition makes no sense, and so we don't pay attention. Think how many times you've said to yourself that you felt like you should or shouldn't have done something -- after the fact, after you refused to listen because you decided it was just your imagination. And if you do pull to the side of the road due to a "feeling", there's usually no proof that it was necessary. So living this way of life does develop a certain trust in yourself. What could be better than that!!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"In reality there is no mortal mind, and consequently no transference of mortal thought and will-power. Life and being are of God. In Christian Science, man can do no harm, for scientific thoughts are true thoughts, passing from God to man." Science & Health Page 103:29-32

New/Old Insights

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #336 "Forgiveness lets me know that minds are joined."

After listening to a program on National Public Radio called Invisibilia, I am even more certain we are coming to see the truth of our being. The first segment of this show dealt with emotions and how we are not truly the victim of our feelings, but rather that our emotions create the world around us. They told a story of a truck driver who hit a car which had spun out of control in a rainstorm. He was overwhelmed with guilt about the incident and the ensuing death of a young girl. He sued the people whose daughter had died, stating that it was their fault for the uncontrollable guilt and pain he was experiencing. The facts of this case are beside the point to me, but the findings of a behavioral scientist caught my attention. She says we are born only knowing pleasant or unpleasant feelings, along with arousal or calm. Everything else, she states, are leaned behaviors and within our control. This woman is extremely compassionate to the pain we all feel upon, for instance, the death of a loved one. Yet she acknowledges degrees of pain and examines why we react in these different ways. Fascinatingr! I highly recommend this beautiful program.

Mary Baker Eddy quote: "The nearer a false belief approaches truth without passing the boundary where, having been destroyed by divine Love, it ceases to be even an illusion, the riper it becomes for destruction. The more material the belief, the more obvious its error, until divine Spirit, supreme in its domain, dominates all matter, and man is found in the likeness of Spirit, his original being." Science & Health Page 97:14-20

The Gift of Divine Love

painting by Judy Griffith

ACIM  Workbook  Lesson #334

"Today I claim the gifts forgiveness gives."

An event which remains unforgiven within myself is brought to mind every time I see a turtle crossing the road. When I was quite young, I was sent to get the mail from the box which was located across the highway from our house. As I was going to the mailbox, I met a turtle coming toward me as he crossed the road. I thought I'd get the mail and then pick him up and take him across on my way back. Before I completed my task and turned back, a car came by and hit the turtle. The regret in not picking it up immediately, the guilt for "failing" to safely carry it across the road, these feelings recur every time I see a turtle. In recounting this event, I realize there is no need to examine our lives and be sorry and beg forgiveness. To accept the gift of forgiveness, we need only clear our minds of blame and accept Love with an open heart!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“…the spiritual recompense of the persecuted is assured in the elevation of existence above mortal discord and in the gift of divine Love.”

Science & Health Page 97:1-3

Understanding Divine Love

photo credit: Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook  Lesson #333 “Forgiveness ends the dream of conflict here.”

This topic reminds me of the feeling of conflict I felt surrounding the myth of Santa Claus. When my son was two and I was expecting my second child, I announced to a friend that I wasn't going to do the Santa charade. She told me that was a terrible thing to do to children and gave me many reasons why I shouldn't do away with their belief in this massive illusion. And so I gave in and perpetuated this suppositional conflict within myself. I think this is an apt example of all the illusion we willingly put on ourselves, don’t you? The spirit of Christmas is defined in many superficial ways, and it seems the most blatant of these is Santa Claus. It is used in the same way religion tends to present God. If you are good, if you don't cry, if you don't pout, then Santa/God will give you certain things. If you break these rules, you'd better watch out! In our inseparable Oneness with divine Love there can be no conflict. Now, there’s something to celebrate! 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The suppositional warfare between truth and error is only the mental conflict between the evidence of the spiritual senses and the testimony of the material senses, and this warfare between the Spirit and flesh will settle all questions through faith in and the understanding of divine Love.” Science & Health Page 288:3-7

Resolving Things Into Thoughts

photo credit: Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #332 “Fear binds the world. Forgiveness sets it free.”

Many mind-over-matter systems are a part of our society. In the 1800's, mesmerism and hypnotism were thought to be the route to changing our physical experience and getting us what we want. Today we have "The Secret" and other systems telling us how to get the mate of our dreams, hot cars, and other material desires. Some may think the way of thought we're studying here falls into the same category, because we are "resolving things into thoughts". Here is an example of how it differs: Let's say we need a place to live. How do we think about this in order to manifest it in our existence? By understanding the substance of an idea! What are the spiritual qualities of this place to live, this house, this home? What does it represent? Some of the qualities of home could be warmth, comfort, peace, safety, beauty, love, hospitality. So the thought of "home" is really a spiritual idea, and these qualities of home already exist in our individual consciousness. We don't have to go out and find them, because they're already a permanent part of our being. We can express all these qualities included in the concept of home no matter where we are. And when we express these qualities, we are cherishing our spiritual home, and this blessing is extended to others as well. As we consistently express these and other spiritual qualities, we won't be surprised when every need we have is supplied.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Divine Science, rising above physical theories, excludes matter, resolves things into thoughts, and replaces the objects of material sense with spiritual ideas.”

Science and Health Page 123:12-15