Relying on Love

Many of us resort to chants and/or affirmations when seeking a specific outcome in life. Many people see nothing wrong with this approach -- and perhaps even a lot of right in it! I've come to think of this as mental manipulation, or a form of hypnotism, which may create a temporary change, but is not a lasting solution to anything. So then, if I'm not going to try to talk life into doing what I want it to, what am I going to do? I'm going to work to get out of my own way, to quiet my mind, to forget everything I’ve ever thought I knew about spirit. It's not my job to delineate what that is. Releasing what I think I know, surrendering projected outcomes, and totally relying on Love, I trust that everything I need will be added unto me. I needn’t think about what these things are,  because whatever the outcome is, it will be far better than anything I could have planned. Truth is waiting for me to clear the mist which is hiding it. For this, I am most grateful.

"This is what is meant by seeking Truth, Christ, not 'for the loaves and fishes,' nor, like the Pharisee, with the arrogance of rank and display of scholarship, but like Mary Magdalene, from the summit of devout consecration, with the oil of gladness and the perfume of gratitude, with tears of repentance and with those hairs all numbered by the Father.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 367:10-16

A Present Possibility

photo credit: Aaron Springston

It is impossible to see two worlds. This is another lesson topic in A Course in Miracles. There is a world of Love, and there is a world of fear. I cannot see them both at the same time. This seems like an easy choice, but fear is often insidious and I may not realize which viewpoint is driving my actions. I can't know the world of Spirit when I'm thinking from the standpoint of mortal sense. I can't love my neighbors when I'm judging them. I can't hear the guidance of intuition when my thought is full of chaotic chatter. These dualities represent the two worlds we wish to embrace simultaneously. Everything I do, or say, or think, places me firmly in one world or the other. Moment by moment, I choose what to accept as truth. By consistently turning away from mortal concepts and looking to spiritual interpretations, I am choosing the world I want to see. And if I'm not comfortable with what I'm seeing, guess what? I can choose again!

“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 573:29-2

More Than Meets the Eye

One of the Course in Miracles lessons states that the world I see holds nothing that I want.  This could be interpreted as meaning we must give up all enjoyment from this delightful form we’re holding. On the contrary! It's asking us to look past the world which is the creation of mortal mind, to the world of divine Mind. By setting aside the unrealities of belief, we are breaking the same kind of thought barriers which had to be set aside for humanity to realize the world was round. When asked to see everything with new eyes, to dare to stretch past belief and learned behavior, we may be frightened or confused. In this state of mind, our "ego" can tell us that it's all just nonsense and it's better to stay with what is well-known. But is it? If you feel -- really feel, deep inside — that there must be more to this existence than meets the human eye, then you will want to know what that is. We are capable of so much more than we realize. The veil is getting thinner! 

"In the material world, thought has brought to light with great rapidity many useful wonders. With like activity have thought's swift pinions been rising towards the realm of the real, to the spiritual cause of those lower things which give impulse to inquiry. Belief in a material basis, from which may be deduced all rationality, is slowly yielding to the idea of a metaphysical basis, looking away from matter to Mind as the cause of every effect." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 268:1-9

To Forgive or Not?

PC: Heather Peters

“All that I give is given to myself”. This ACIM lesson causes me to look at what I give by way of my everyday actions. I would hope I’m giving happiness, peace, love, compassion — but sometimes I give judgment, condemnation, self-righteous thoughts, and false forgiveness. It’s all too easy to forgive in a way which is nothing more than a way of thinking I’m superior and, in some way, better than the forgiven one. This is akin to the “back-handed compliment”, the way people may say “thank you very much” when they are not thanking someone but, rather, making a point of feeling slighted in some way. Or maybe my so-called forgiveness is akin to a charitable act on my part; an act I may withhold as punishment to the other and self-aggrandizement for myself. I am working toward understanding this thing called forgiveness. I ask myself, How would Love look on this? Today I will strive to see through the veil of belief which dictates how I should interpret others’ actions. 

“We must reverse our feeble flutterings--our efforts to find life and truth in matter--and rise above the testimony of the material senses, above the mortal to the immortal idea of God. These clearer, higher views inspire the God-like man to reach the absolute centre and circumference of his being.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 262:11-16

A Quiet Mind

PC: Aaron Springston

Many of us feel we are exhibiting signs of attention deficit disorder. If you get right down to it, aren't we all? Doesn't it seem our thoughts want to flit about from one topic to another, gathering steam as we really get into all the avenues we are led into as one thought triggers yet another? The thing I find unfortunate, is how people think they have no choice. Like anything else, it takes practice to attain a quiet mind.  I know I've said it before, but watch that first thought of the day. It can set the tone for everything which comes after it. Refusing to start the day with busy thoughts is key to choosing a quiet mind over a busy one. And when we slip into worry and circular thoughts,  just choose again! Before we know it, this choice of a moment extends to a way of life. Ah, peace…

“The ‘still, small voice’ of scientific thought reaches over continent and ocean to the globe's remotest bound.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 559:8-10

Symbolic Beginnings

"Moab" PC: Aaron Springston

Don't we all love new beginnings? Every symbolic new beginning we experience gives hope that it truly will be one this time. We yearn for peace and plenty, purity of heart and environment, joy, satisfaction. Sometimes we catch glimpses of what it could be like. For instance, I witnessed a man and woman in their 70s cavorting like teenagers in giddy expectation of exchanging marriage vows. Their happiness in this new beginning was infectious! A true new beginning is at hand -- your hand and mine, today, right now. Let’s not be distracted by ego-based taunting to play the game being enacted all around us. I will look through the temptation to stay stuck in the muddle of material belief by giving energy to the lower propensities. Raising thought above what cries out so loudly for attention, I'll see the beginning in every situation. If there is no end, can there be a beginning? Ah -- ever-flowing forever. Now!

“The infinite has no beginning. This word beginning is employed to signify the only, — that is, the eternal verity and unity of God and man, including the universe.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 502:24-27

I Want to Know

"Mongolia" PC: Aaron Springston

Spiritualization of thought is said to be a slow process, and many people think they don't have "time", hence it's not worth the effort to try. To remember that I am One with God is a giant step toward this spiritualization. This puts our goal right where we are, here and now, rather than somewhere far off which we may or may not reach at some point in the future. I am One with God right now! To know this intellectually and to understand it from the core of your being are not the same thing. The hunger to think through divine Mind, the longing to know myself as Love, these desires cannot be satisfied with words. Glimpses of truth cause me to crave more. The rising above human belief may seem like the work of a lifetime, but the realization that you want to know God happens in a heartbeat. Listen ~~~

"Let me remember I am one with God." A Course in Miracles

“Before human knowledge dipped to its depths into a false sense of things,--into belief in material origins which discard the one Mind and true source of being,-- it is possible that the impressions from Truth were as distinct as sound, and that they came as sound to the primitive prophets.”  Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 213:30-3