Happiness in Action

creation of Sandy Starbird

The action of happiness is profound. It affects everything and everyone around it. We all have stories of watching situations change when we touch them with peaceful joy. This doesn't mean we laugh in the face of misery, as that is not compassion. But neither is being overly sympathetic while perpetuating the illusion. I hope to never lose the ability to empathize with others, but, also, I hope to always retain the ability to see past the form of sorrow and know the Truth of the situation. To carry a calm, buoyant feeling of happiness wherever we go is to bring healing to everything, everywhere. Whether it's a peaceful internal smiling or an outward giggling eruption, I invite you to join me today in the expression of Love, "giving living waters to the thirsty", and never fearing the consequences.

“Whatever inspires with wisdom, Truth, or Love--be it song, sermon, or Science--blesses the human family with crumbs of comfort from Christ's table, feeding the hungry and giving living waters to the thirsty.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 234:4-8

Recognizing Reality

photo credit: Aaron Springston

My parents considered themselves to be free of prejudice. After all, my dad had married a Chicano girl from South Texas, and in 1931 this was tantamount to marrying outside of "your race", which wasn't often done. I'll always remember a day when we were riding in the car. I was around ten. My mom and dad were talking about Sammy Davis, Jr., a black man, marrying May Britt, a very white woman. I piped up and said, "I wouldn't mind marrying a black man". Dead silence ensued. Not another word was said until we got to our destination and my mom took me aside and told me never to say anything like that again. I didn't understand it then, and I don't understand it now. The difference is that now I have the option of making a decision to stand with Oneness as my reality. There is no decision to be made when we leave aside the strange human interpretations we have placed on everything in this world. So I will continue to strive to recognize what is past the illusion and live that as my reality. Namaste to the World!

“The point for each one to decide is, whether it is mortal mind or immortal Mind that is causative. We should forsake the basis of matter for metaphysical Science and its divine Principle.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 195:11-14

Harmony

Just be yourself! Countless times I heard this admonition from my mom. I don't recall wanting to think like my friends did, as much as wanting to do what they did. And so then I'd hear from her, "If everyone was jumping off a cliff, would you do it, too?" "Well, yes, mom, I certainly would", I would tell her. It's so easy to fall into the habit of being a lemming and thinking as those around us do. The act of realizing our true heritage as the child of divine Mind is the beginning of freedom from this bondage of mortal mind. My home is Love. Anything else is a stranger in that home. And so I relax into the comfort of my true home, turning away from every fearful thought. This acronym for fear will help me do this: False Evidence Appearing Real.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Harmony in man is as beautiful21as in music, and discord is unnatural, unreal.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 304:20-21

The Bondage of Belief

photo credit: Gerry Toler

Joel Goldsmith gives us an analogy of a person sitting in the dark and declaring that electricity gives light. Of course this is true, but we're still sitting in the dark until we flip the switch and make a connection with the source of the light. A while back, I had a conversation with a friend in which it was disclosed that her in-laws and her husband had been abused by their father. The father has passed away and the three children, now in their 60s, suffer in numerous ways from these past actions. The mother knew this, but wouldn’t admit it happened. If only she could have done this for her beloved children, perhaps they would all have been set free. This mother didn’t need to release her children for them to be freed, and hopefully they have seen this in the years hence. How many situations do we feel ensnared by, when in actuality nothing can keep us in bondage! All we need do is realize our source is Love. Nothing else matters.

"The adult, in bondage to his beliefs, no more comprehends his real being than does the child; and the adult must be taken out of his darkness, before he can get rid of the illusive sufferings which throng the gloaming." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page Page 371:14-18

Breaking the Spell

PC: Gerry Toler

In examining my decisions, I see they are often nothing more than self-satisfied dogma on my part. I might think: This is the way it's always been for me, and I like it that way, and I'm going to keep it that way. And so I do. Even if some knee-jerk reaction brings me sadness and conflict, I may have decided that this is "right" and I must stick by my guns (what a horrible saying that is!) and continue on in this way whether it brings peace and happiness or the opposite. Today I vow to remember to see with new eyes, whether it’s a current event I find repugnant or a song someone sings to me. And I will forgive myself for forgetting…

“To break this earthly spell, mortals must get the true idea and divine Principle of all that really exists and governs the universe harmoniously. This thought is apprehended slowly, and the interval before its attainment is attended with doubts and defeats as well as triumphs.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 39:26-30

Beside the Buffalo

"Buffalo River" photo credit: Gerry Toler

I rediscovered the poetry of Rosalie Toler tonight. Here is one for you:

Beside The Buffalo

Alone on a rock with a

   book

I do the friendly thing

I read poetry to the

   river,

and the water molds it

   to a new rhythm.

Williams — Whitman —

   Dickinson,

I hurl their polished   

   syllables

away on the current.

Do people downstream

   hear them coming?

I wonder.

Maybe some fisherman,

casting his own lines,

   will feel the rush,

sense the lure of purling

   words leaping,

matching riff with riffle.

Or maybe some rugged

   kayaker,

etching his watery v’s,

will shoot rapids

   through them,

unaware that part of

   the thrill

is sheer poetry.

Adventures

Today brings news of another friend passing from our sight. A well-loved member of our farming community died last night. I enjoyed Frank for his humor and progressive thought, but I must admit it’s his garlic, cilantro, and arugula I will miss the most. I think he is happy I feel this way. Death has never frightened me, but it has shown me many things. The love which carries on after someone is gone is palpable, and I am grateful for the continuing connection it brings. I always think of Kahlil Gibran’s platonic lover saying she had never felt closer to him than when he dropped his earthly form. We have so much to experience — the pain, the joy, and all the in between. Life is an adventure — and I’m sure what we think of as death is, too!

“In the illusion of death, mortals wake to the knowledge of two facts: (1) that they are not dead; (2) that they have but passed the portals of a new belief.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 251:8-11