Feeling Superior Over a Belief

photo by Jerry Dupy

There are many situations which bring on knee-jerk reactions which I think of as "holier-than-thou". For instance, if someone is rude or mean, we may feel superior in our kindness to them. When politicians or others in the public eye display ignorance (lack of knowledge), we can easily have a sense of self-righteous judgment. These situations remind me that we are all One and no one is more special or learned or enlightened than another. It's simply a matter of what we're willing to see. I will admit I'm a food snob. There are numerous things I don't eat and it's always interesting to watch how I try to impose my beliefs on others. It is yet another example of feeling superior over a belief. Eckhart Tolle often puts things in perspective for me and he did, once again, when he was asked if we should be vegetarian. He said it was purely a personal preference, and if we had strong opinions about this we should remind ourselves that the Dalai Lama eats meat and Hitler didn't! Namaste'~~~

"One infinite God, good, unifies men and constitutes the brotherhood of man; ends wars; fulfills the Scripture, "Love thy neighbor as thyself;" annihilates pagan and Christian idolatry,--whatever is wrong in social, civil, criminal, political, and religious codes; equalizes the sexes; annuls the curse on man, and leaves nothing that can sin, suffer, be punished or destroyed." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 340:23:30

Footprints of the Past

Someone posted photos on Facebook of our 10th class reunion in 1980. I was reminded of this statement from A Course in Miracles: “The past is over. It can touch me not." In my observations of these get-togethers, everyone seems to be pretty much the same as they always have been. The mean girls are still that way, the flirty girls are still flipping their skirts, and the cool kids are still hiding their feelings. While I've always enjoyed these gatherings, I tend to either wander away with an old friend or, perhaps, drink a bit too much and ask the cowboys to dance. I love this ACIM quote: “Unless the past is over in my mind, the world must escape my sight." I want to live in the present, in a world full of divine Love and Truth. Reliving illusions can be fun, much like watching a movie. But I'd rather wake up in a new world everyday, excited about the adventures it holds!

“As the crude footprints of the past disappear from the dissolving paths of the present, we shall better understand the Science which governs these changes, and shall plant our feet on firmer ground.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 224: 4-7  

Veritable Ideas or Illusions?

photo credit: Gerry Toler

A friend made a passing comment pertaining to the erroneous thought we glom onto in daily life. He said that once you hear something, it's a part of you -- a part of your consciousness, if you will. I certainly know how difficult it can be to release any thought -- whether I have decided to think of it as truth or rumor. He is so right that once it's in you, it's difficult to let out -- but not impossible! The key to this release is realizing what you are. As long as I see myself as a material human, a victim of passing thought and circumstance, then, yes, it is difficult, even impossible, to release. When I start to glimpse that I am not this body, that I am Idea -- an Idea of God! -- then, and only then, am I freed from the bombardment of daily illusions and the lies of material sense. Looked at from this perspective, my goal is not to release anything, it is to understand my Being as an expression of divine Mind, an emanation of divine Love, the experience of divine Life! I will not think of this as an impossible task, but as a reachable Truth.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“How are veritable ideas to be distinguished from illusions? By learning the origin of each. Ideas are emanations from the divine Mind. Thoughts, proceeding from the brain or from matter, are offshoots of mortal mind; they are mortal material beliefs. Ideas are spiritual, harmonious, and eternal. Beliefs proceed from the so-called material senses, which at one time are supposed to be substance-matter and at another are called spirits.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 88:9-16

A Present Possibility

I once thought of writing a book called The Celibate Marriage. My son assured me it would NOT be a bestseller! Many things inspired my thoughts on this subject, and some of them came from reading The Beloved Prophet. The subject of this book is the life-long relationship between Kahlil Gibran and a woman named Mary Haskell. When he passed on, she was peacefully smiling while greeting the grieving people at his funeral. No one understood how this could be. At one point, she quoted words he had written to her during their platonic love affair: "You listen to so much more than I can say. You hear consciousness. You go with me where the words I say cannot carry you." She didn't experience intense grief because she knew the love they shared still existed; it had always been experienced in thought rather than physical expression. She understood what we are learning about the true reality of our Being.

“Take heart, dear sufferer, for this reality of being will surely appear sometime and in some way. There will be no more pain, and all tears will be wiped away. When you read this, remember Jesus' words, ‘The kingdom of God is within you.’ This spiritual consciousness is therefore a present possibility.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 573:28-2

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