To Arrive Where We Started

A friend once said to me, "There are only two powers, and she's chosen the wrong one." I had to step back and wonder how it felt to believe in such a duality as this. Once we've split power into a loving God and Its evil twin, some seriously hard-to-let-go images have taken hold in our mind. I don’t want to focus on the myriad of ways we've constructed to cloud our vision, but I'll ask to see with my true sight as a reflection of Love. This T. S. Eliot’s quote from Little Gidding reminds me what "seeing" is. “We shall not cease from exploration, / And the end of all our exploring / Will be to arrive where we started / And know the place for the first time.”

"To teach is to demonstrate. There are only two thought systems, and you demonstrate that you believe one or the other is true all the time. From your demonstration others learn, and so do you. The question is not whether you will teach, for in that there is no choice. The purpose of the course might be said to provide you with a means of choosing what you want to teach on the basis of what you want to learn. You cannot give to someone else, but only to yourself, and this you learn through teaching. Teaching is but a call to witnesses to attest to what you believe. It is a method of conversion. This is not done by words alone. Any situation must be to you a chance to teach others what you are, and what they are to you. No more than that, but also never less." A Course in Miracles -  Manual for Teachers

A Happy Trip

photo credit: Aaron Springston

Someone I admire said, “I don’t want my imagination to die before I do”. That’s the open secret to a happy life, don’t you think? When each day brings new adventure, we are joyous! And this adventure doesn’t consist of doing something you’ve never done before, or something which others think of as exciting; it’s simply enjoying every moment of what you do and not being afraid of a break in routine. That’s an ah-ha moment, huh? How often do we become disgruntled because our plans for the day are interrupted by an unexpected occurrence? No matter that it may be a surprise visit from an old friend, or a flat tire on the car, or some other unexpected disruption. When we are able to face whatever may come our way, with an inexhaustible joy, life is fun! Imagination and creativity are directly linked to this ability to enjoy the ups and downs, without even thinking of them as such. Rolling with the flow makes for a happy trip!

“You can make an empty shell, but you cannot express nothing at all. You can wait, delay, paralyze yourself, or reduce your creativity almost to nothing. But you cannot abolish it. You can destroy your medium of communication, but not your potential.” A Course in Miracles - Chapter 1 V:1

Drastic Changes

photo credit: Aaron Springston

Looking through my blog, I see I wrote this in 2011. So much has come true! I look forward to it all being so…

“What I would give to live alone on a mountaintop, with no neighbors or roommates, with no job to go to or money to think about. What a nice life it would be to meditate, take long walks at any time of day, only cook when I want to, and not have social obligations. What a relief to not hear news or commercials from the media in any form. How nice to not go to church or board meetings or think about marketing of this town and its artists. How lovely to not deal with flat tires and fallen trees. And wouldn't it be sweet for non-profits to have all they need, for no one to be hungry, for everyone to know the true source of their well-being and not be afraid to shout it from the rooftops. Human thought has changed drastically through the centuries. It's changing now, too. I embrace it.” Marsha 2011

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"To corporeal sense, the sun appears to rise and set, and the earth to stand still; but astronomical science contradicts this, and explains the solar system as working on a different plan. All the evidence of physical sense and all the knowledge obtained from physical sense must yield to Science [the knowledge of Christ-consciousness], to the immortal truth of all things."

Science & Health Page 493:2-8

To Teach Is To Learn

PC: Aaron Springston

The act of communicating knowledge can be interpreted as implying that others are ignorant and need to be enlightened on a number of subjects. So we may keep our mouth closed rather than giving much-needed advice in a variety of ways. Perhaps this is a reason our world is suffering so severely when solutions seems simple: people are not willing to step outside their belief systems and listen to logic and scientific fact. Maybe it’s a lack of trust and we feel others want to indoctrinate us into their way of thought. I’d love to see us all step back from labels such as liberal and conservative and simply seek truth. Who cares if someone is a man or a woman, or a member of a certain political party or religion? Let’s not be afraid to speak out, to question, to listen, to learn, to love each other without caveat!

“The role of teaching and learning is actually reversed in the thinking of the world. The reversal is characteristic. It seems as if the teacher and the learner are separated, the teacher giving something to the learner rather than to himself. Further, the act of teaching is regarded as a special activity, in which one engages only a relatively small proportion of one's time. The course, on the other hand, emphasizes that to teach is to learn, so that teacher and learner are the same. It also emphasizes that teaching is a constant process; it goes on every moment of the day, and continues into sleeping thoughts as well.” A Course in Miracles, Manual for Teachers

And So It Goes...

photo credit: Aaron Springston

One of our learned behaviors is to place blame on others for things they have said or done which we perceive as detrimental to us or others. When we see what truly is, we are able to simply witness these events, without apportioning blame or cause to them. By this lack of reasoning, we then see things as they really are, without placing our own, personal meaning on them. More and more often, I can simply say, "And so it goes ...".

“The question, ‘What is Truth,’ convulses the world. Many are ready to meet this inquiry with the assurance which comes of understanding; but more are blinded by their old illusions, and try to ‘give it pause’. The efforts of error to answer this question by some ology are vain. Spiritual rationality and free thought accompany approaching Science, and cannot be put down. They will emancipate humanity, and supplant unscientific means and so-called laws.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 223:14-24

Mass Consciousness or Inner Knowing?

photo credit: Richard Quick

I highly recommend a book by J. Allen Boone, "Kinship with All Life". During the 50s, Mr. Boone realized that his dog knew when he was thinking about going for a walk, even before he made a move to get up from his typewriter. This caused him to explore many ideas concerning our interconnectedness. My ah-ha moment for this came when I was in our local office supply to make copies. There were a number of other people there for the same reason. When I commented on how busy they were, the owner told me it had been slow all day until a few minutes before. I began to notice various occurrences such as these and decided to take myself out of the lemming effect in order to save time. When I am getting ready to go to the library, grocery store, or other places people flock to in mass, I simply ask within if this is the right time to go. As often as not, my order of chores is rearranged when I listen for this guidance. It may seem that the impulse we receive from mass consciousness and the guidance we receive from inner listening would be hard to distinguish, one from the other. But paying attention to these callings teaches us to differentiate and follow where we need to be and when!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"...Truth is the light which dispels error. As mortals begin to understand Spirit, they give up the belief that there is any true existence apart from God."

Science & Health Page 282:32-3

The Sustaining Infinite

When my oldest son graduated from college, he moved to a large city which had the type of snow he most loves for skiing. After applying for and being turned down for numerous jobs, including bread delivery in the wee hours of the morning, he finally found a job doing graphic design grunt work at minimum wage. While with that company, he advanced to the position of multimedia producer, and had appreciable raises in salary and work satisfaction. The training he received at that job was the main reason he caught the eye of a television station in a nearby resort town. While in that job, he was doing freelance work for the U.S. Ski Team, and they offered him a job when a spot in video production became available. By allowing himself to be open to the field of all potentiality, he is now working at his dream job. This has come about because he had no plans or goals he was abiding by, but he knew that following his heart never would leave him where he started. Join with me today in thinking of times you have listened within, when you were "leaning on the sustaining Infinite", and found yourself someplace you could never have planned!

"To those leaning on the sustaining infinite, today is big with blessings." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page vii:1-2