Exceeding Expected Outcomes

photo credit: Arthur Bruno

Throughout the ages, we've been given hints as to unrealized possibilities. As attested by powerful mythological and fictional characters, we have longed for the ability to change what seems to be the reality of situations in and around our personal existence. The world tells us that we are victims of circumstance, with life experiences being changed by the whim of happenstance. Every time we hear a story telling of something we think is impossible, but which contains an outcome so beautiful we wish and hope it could be true, let's contemplate the fact that there are no limits. Who knows what we're capable of doing? We seem to exceed expected outcomes in every avenue of existence. Wasn't it said that running a mile in less than four minutes was impossible? Today I set free any thought of limitation, any assumptions I may have as to what's what, and by doing so open the door to new sight.

“Truth never destroys God's idea. Truth is spiritual, eternal substance, which cannot destroy the right reflection. Corporeal sense, or error, may seem to hide Truth, health, harmony, and Science, as the mist obscures the sun or the mountain; but Science, the sunshine of Truth, will melt away the shadow and reveal the celestial peaks.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 299:24-30

Freed From Conflicting Wishes

photo credit: Aaron Springston

In the realm of the material world, we often have conflicting wishes concerning events. When someone in our immediate family has a problem, we tend to think of it as our own. We have been conditioned to think we can fix others, and if we don't try, we fear people will think we don't care. Then we're thrown into a quandary of feelings: love for our family, perhaps embarrassment over their actions, worry about what will happen to them, concern over what others will think -- the list can be endless! When we are able to release these feelings and see everyone as the spiritual creation they truly are, we begin to let go our sense of personal responsibility, while affirming their goodness as a reflection of divine Love. Before we know it, we're thinking something wonderful about them when they come to mind, and we're free from the conflicting wishes born of material sense.

“We cannot serve two masters nor perceive divine Science with the material senses.” Mary Baker Eddy quote: Science and Health Page 167:11-12

Heaven Within

"Montana" PC: Heather Peters

Why would we fear to look within? Why would we fear seeing our true self? I think it's because we believe all the little horrible things we've done in our lives are what we'll be looking at. Perhaps we feel that to look within would involve some sort of life review which would require us to answer for every supposed sin we've committed. But what if we're looking within at our pure and perfect Self, as we are created by divine Love? And what if, after we find what we've forgotten, we allow it to come forth and live with us? In the process, we truly forgive ourselves for all of it, allowing thought to stay on the good and the true, releasing guilt and fear, living only in Love. What if ...

“When speaking of God's children, not the children of men, Jesus said, "The kingdom of God is within you;" that is, Truth and Love reign in the real man, showing that man in God's image is unfallen and eternal."Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 476:28-32

Belief versus Knowledge

Photo credit: Heather Peters

Sometimes I find myself pontificating on the fact that the world is selling us diseases. It seems everywhere we look there are certain well-publicized maladies being pushed onto us. I've also been blaming the world for the proliferation of bigotry and closed-mindedness. I've been blaming the world for being willing to spend money on clothing and recreation, but not on art. I could probably find a few other things I've been blathering about, but that's enough for now. It's difficult to get past ego's need to know everything and be special. It seems difficult to let go of beliefs and trust the divine Mind which flows through all. But that's what I want to do, and so I'll continue to catch myself in judgmental thought, and ask what Love is thinking. Spiritual sense awakens with practice!

"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." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 479:5-10

A Stubborn Illusion

photo credit: Richard Quick

“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.” (Kung Fu Panda) I'm also reminded of something Deepak Chopra said: "Time is something we have made up so everything doesn't happen all at once." Albert Einstein showed us that time is relative. Time spent in a dentist chair passes differently from time spent visiting with a dear friend. Later in life, Mr. Einstein came to believe that time was not just relative, but unreal! Here is a quote from him, written in a letter to a friend: "To those of us who believe in physics, this separation between past, present, and future, is only an illusion, if a stubborn one." So why do we limit ourselves with time? We always think we're too young or too old, or this physical malady will pass with time, or that we simply don't have time to do the things we want to do. When I realize that I'm not a mortal living in what seems to be now, but an immortal living in eternity, then some major shifts in perception can take place. Only "time will tell" what happens with that realization!

“Never ask for tomorrow: it is enough that divine Love is an ever-present help; and if you wait, never doubting, you will have all you need every moment.” Mary Baker Eddy - Miscellaneous Writings Page 307

Concepts and Consciousness

photo credit: Aaron Springston

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! 

“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. "Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 531:10-13

Inspiring Exchanges

We're all in this together. It appears as though we all see things through different eyes. We seem to be satellites, rotating around something unseen, sometimes floating in unison, often bumping into each other and throwing our orbit out of sync. But we're all in this together. Let's leave out the "in": We're all this together. This togetherness sometimes manifests itself as groups of people who commingle for the joy of being with each other. We may have book clubs, and study groups, and sewing circles, and various groups of people who come together in communion. This fellowship has been sought-after since the beginning of time. Personally, I have no interest in being a part of any group simply to be with others. There must be a communication which surpasses the ordinary. I want stunning honesty, inspiring exchanges, Love shared. From this demonstrated Oneness with each other as reflections of divine Love, salvation is realized as the means, the end, the Only.

"Knowing the Science of creation, in which all is Mind and its ideas, Jesus rebuked the material thought of his fellow-countrymen: 'Ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?' How much more should we seek to apprehend the spiritual ideas of God, than to dwell on the objects of sense! To discern the rhythm of Spirit and to be holy, thought must be purely spiritual." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 509:28-5