Mistaken Belief

photo credit: Richard Quick

When I was at a bridge tournament a few weeks ago, there was a fire at one of our local veterinary clinics. I was getting ready to play in the morning session and a friend came up and told me that it had burned to the ground and all the animals were dead! That night, I found out that wasn't entirely true. There had been a fire, and four animals had succumbed to the smoke. But the picture in my mind all through that day was something totally horrific, and at times my thought went to them and I felt great sadness. This is an example of how our thoughts and beliefs dictate our reality. It also shows me why it is so important to give up all our our beliefs and ideas about what things mean. The first 50 workbook lessons in A Course in Miracles help us to understand the importance of this. We cannot live in the moment and see things as they truly are as long as we're seeing them through the lens of our limited thinking. I'm pleased to occasionally notice the error posing as Truth!

"A blundering despatch, mistakenly announcing the death of a friend, occasions the same grief that the friend's real death would bring. You think that your anguish is occasioned by your loss. Another despatch, correcting the mistake, heals your grief, and you learn that your suffering was merely the result of your belief." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 386

A Reaction Against Oneness

photo credit: Aaron Springston

One of the people who receives these daily messages commented to yesterday's writing by referring to a "reaction against Oneness". I love that statement! I'd much rather think of my desire to argue with people about their beliefs as a "reaction against Oneness", wouldn't you? That makes it much easier to hold a conversation which is not adversarial, even if I'm tempted to tell someone they're wrong. I thank you, dear Friend, for helping me to see every situation as either one of unity or one of separation. Upon going to bridge today, I immediately found a reason to put this into practice. One of my frequent partners is an octogenarian who is quite conservative. He's a great bridge player and has taught me a lot, and I enjoy playing with him. But I had never seen the back of his Lincoln Continental. There, right in the middle of his trunk, was a bumper sticker which said, "I Ride the Trump Train". When we sat down at the table as partners, every time I looked at him I saw these words etched into his forehead. But I recognized this as a reaction against oneness and quickly affirmed that we are both the reflection of God, even if we have different beliefs. We both love our family and friends, we are happy being in a comfortable home, and we would rather be playing bridge than most anything else. So I am grateful to Anne for reminding me of Truth this morning. Thank you greatly!

"Oneness is simply the idea God is. And in His Being, He encompasses all things. No mind holds anything but Him. We say 'God is', and then we cease to speak, for in that knowledge words are meaningless. There are no lips to speak them, and no part of mind sufficiently distinct to feel that it is now aware of something not itself. It has united with its Source. And like its Source itself, it merely is." A Course in Miracles W-pl.169.5

Putting It Into Practice

photo credit: Aaron Springston

Today I had an opportunity to practice what I preach! At choir rehearsal, a woman I don't know well began to complain that she hadn't been able to watch her "programs" because of those "horrid people lying about the president". Rather than chastise her or ignore her, I listened to her. She rambled on about tuning in to TCM and watching an old movie called The Red Shoes. She is an Englishwoman and she mentioned it was the first movie her mother took her to see when she was 8 years old. I began asking her questions and it turns out she wanted to become a ballerina and had been told she couldn't marry because she must devote all her time to dance. Well, when she was 18, she met and married a man from Oklahoma, who was in the military stationed in England. He didn't know what ballet was and didn't want to, but she loved him and he loved her, and so she gave up her studies, married, and moved to the United States. That was more than 60 years ago. In talking to her, I found she was a lovely woman, if not an educated one. And I liked her. 

"Society is a foolish juror, listening only to one side of the case. Justice often comes too late to secure a verdict. People with mental work before them have no time for gossip about false law or testimony. To reconstruct timid justice and place the fact above the falsehood, is the work of time. " Mary Baker Eddy, Science & Health Page 238

Food, etc.

"Cooking in Thailand" - PC: Aaron Springston

When I was a very young child, my parents had a slaughterhouse. It was a small operation in a small town and people would bring in the steer they raised, or the chickens they kept in the yard, to have them killed and put in their freezer. I wasn’t particularly traumatized by any of this, but I did hold the false notion that this humane treatment was the standard practice in our country. Then I started paying attention. After that, I began to restrict my animal intake and now call myself a wanna-be vegetarian (because I do on occasion eat meat). Apparently those occasions are rare enough that an indulgence in a big burger and fried side dishes has made me feel groggy and sluggish for more than a day! I’m not writing this to promote any particular way of eating, but I am hoping that everyone in the world will pay attention to what exactly it is we’re putting in our mouths. Our vegetables are poisoned on a regular basis, the corn syrup situation is frightening, and animals are living a nightmare to supply the outlandish amount of meat which is eaten. I know I eat too much and often am uncaring of what that intake is. While I’m not going to beat myself up over that burger and fries, I am going to try to eat a diet suitable for a small planet! 

"When error confronts you, withhold not the rebuke or the explanation which destroys error. Never breathe an immoral atmosphere, unless in the attempt to purify it. Better is the frugal intellectual repast with contentment and virtue, than the luxury of learning with egotism and vice." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 452

Facing Prejudice and Breaking Free

Thailand Trees - PC: Aaron Springston

Hillbillies. What comes to mind when you hear this word? Perhaps the Beverly Hillbillies, or depictions in cartoons of this group of people, maybe a mixture of the redneck genre and hillfolk. Whatever the case, more than likely it is a caricature of the reality. I’ve read Hillbilly Elegy and I live in the Ozark hills, so my study is more than intellectual. I truly want to know the motivation behind those who voted for our current president, so I listen and learn. A documentary called “Hillbilly” is perhaps the most poignant portrayal I’ve seen or read. A young woman who escaped her Kentucky home and makes films in California put together this movie. She has made me think deeply about my prejudices. It reinforces my feeling that we all want the same things in life: love, a warm home, a feeling of security in our jobs and environment. How we become confused in those desires is what fascinates me.

"The history of our country, like all history, illustrates the might of Mind, and shows human power to be proportionate to its embodiment of right thinking. A few immortal sentences, breathing the omnipotence of divine justice, have been potent to break despotic fetters and abolish the whipping post and slave market; but oppression neither went dow2n in blood, nor did the breath of freedom come from the cannon's mouth. Love is the liberator." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 225

Adulting

At Crystal Bridges - PC: Aaron Springston

I recently heard a term which sent me directly to a search engine: Adulting. Its definition is: “the practice of behaving in a way characteristic of a responsible adult, especially the accomplishment of mundane but necessary tasks”. I have found it difficult to “adult” at times when I let myself become overwhelmed by too many tasks. If my mind is racing in circles with a multitude of duties whirling around, it’s easy to let it flit from one to another with no focus anywhere. At those times, it’s easy to think there is too much on my plate and I’d rather retreat into a good book. Through the years, I’ve learned that then is the time to sit quietly, listening for the rhythms of divine order to lead the way, and then to be present in the Now. Some people like to make lists and prioritize, others want someone to tell them what to do first, but few of us believe there is an omnipresence which can help us navigate life’s activities. It can be difficult to release our ego’s dictates, admitting that we may not know what is best, to release control and flow with the good which is unfolding right here and now. But I’m going to keep trying, because I’ve seen how much easier it is than thinking I know it all!

“The objects of time and sense disappear in the illumination of spiritual understanding, and Mind measures time according to the good that is unfolding.” Mary Baker Eddy, Science & Health Page 584

What's Love Got To Do With It?

Marianne Williamson is often asked what spirituality has to do with politics. She answers: "Spirituality is simply the path of the heart. And the problem with American politics today is how often our policies are heartless." Blake Lasater's sermon with the Methodists today had to do with the same thing. He spoke of how we are here to help each other, yet so often it's "me first" with individuals, churches, and other groups of people. He stated that his measure of whether a church is successful isn't how big their building is or how good their music programs are, but what they are doing for their community. When our government policies are heartless, it seems okay for individuals to be the same, for churches to say they must take care of themselves, for communities to build fences and declare themselves safe. It's way past time for us to look at what really matters. A wise man once said the measure of a country is in how it treats its animals. It's also in how it treats the hopeless, the homeless, the hungry, the children, its citizens. I will vote for candidates who care, not just about economic growth, but about human growth, about our planet, our rivers, our food supplies. Corporations are not people. They don't cry or care. Look your neighbor in the eye, listen to a friend in need, say a kind word to the serviceperson helping you, vote for a person who does the same. We can make a difference!

"My campaign is a clarion call to the American people. It is time for us to use our power, as other generations before us have used theirs, to put America back on track when we have socially, politically and morally gone astray.

Help me override the control of the political industrial complex, penetrate the field of resistance to fundamental change, and provide the American people with a genuine alternative to the corporate aristocracy.

Our hands are strong, our hearts are ready, and the time is now…

Let’s have love for our country, and the courage to serve her in this critical hour." Marianne Williamson