Tesla and Eddy

Salt Flats - PC: Aaron Springston

The late 1800s and early 1900s were a hotbed of innovation and enlightened thought. In thinking about Nikola Tesla and Mary Baker Eddy, I am led to wonder about our choices during that time, and how different our lives would be today had we chosen the path which benefited humanity rather than individual monetary gain. Tesla was finding ways to supply the world with electricity and all the benefits which would ensue from it. If we had chosen his way of powering vehicles rather than Ford’s oil-based motor, we would not have the environmental problems we are facing today. Mary Baker Eddy had discovered the key to rising above debilitating physical ailments. Her science of The Christ was not religion, but a way of thinking which had been hinted at through the centuries, but always quashed by old men who wanted to lord over the masses, ruling them through servitude in its various forms. Then medical science began to progress and everyone thought it would be far simpler to let doctors cure them than to take personal responsibility for themselves, in the way a man called Jesus tried to show them. And to think each and every one of these choices have been made because someone wanted to make money.

""Ontology receives less attention than physiology. Why? Because mortal mind must waken to spiritual life before it cares to solve the problem of being, hence the author's experience; but when that awakening comes, existence will be on a new standpoint." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 556

Giving Up Attack Thoughts

This 14th of February, I want to write about lovely things, but seem stuck in some of the uglier segments of world events. So I looked around on my blog and found something from 2016 to hold onto. I share it with you. Much Love...

ACIM Workbook lesson #23:
"I can escape from the world I see by giving up attack thoughts."

It can be difficult to free ourselves from the prison of attack thoughts. It seems normal and natural to think and talk about things we don't agree with or like. It can occupy the majority of our thought and we often think it might facilitate a change if we talk about it enough. This fertilization of attack thoughts can be found everywhere from coffee shops to churches, and it doesn't do a single thing to change the world. We are told today that the only way out of fear is giving up attack thoughts. If the world we see is an effect, the only way to change this hallucination is to alter the cause: our thought. Some may ridicule this idea, and for those who do I only ask this: Have any material manipulations ever, in all of history, affected a change? Did our civil war free the slaves? It was a beginning, of course, but many people stayed in bondage long past when laws were enacted. It takes a change of thought to bring freedom. Let's free ourselves today -- and forever!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:
"Legally to abolish unpaid servitude in the United States was hard; but the abolition of mental slavery is a more difficult task. The despotic tendencies, inherent in mortal mind and always germinating in new forms of tyranny, must be rooted out through the action of the divine Mind." Science & Health Page 225:22-28

Home

What does home mean to you? To some, it's people who define home. What of the dear folks who have no people who love them, no one who enjoys them, no one who wishes they were near? Do they have this thing called home, even without external input? I think so, because our essence is the same as everyone's, and this realization allows us to be alone but never lonely. It seems most of us are too restless to understand the expansive oneness from which we can never be separated. I'm observing an old friend trying to reclaim the only place she's ever known as home. Perhaps her memories are not all that wonderful from her childhood, and maybe it's wishful thinking on her part to feel this is her home, but it's as close as she can come with her present awareness. Maybe this will be the day she sees that home truly is where the heart is, and her heart doesn't need someone else to make it complete, because One truly is a whole number! 

"We should examine ourselves and learn what is the affection and purpose of the heart, for in this way only can we learn what we honestly are." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 8

#GoWuhan

As a subscriber to the Christian Science Monitor, I receive daily news articles via email, plus the weekly magazine. This part of the daily editorial caught my attention and uplifted my thought. I share it with you today.

"The coronavirus story, to date, has mostly been a narrative of fear and rising, faceless numbers. But for Hong Kong-based journalist Yuli Yang, this is personal. She grew up in Wuhan, China. Her parents are OK, but struggling with three weeks of quarantine and the death of a friend.

"Last week, Ms. Yang was “looking for a way to send beams of light into that darkness.” First, she published a “love letter” highlighting her hometown’s lakes, spicy noodles, and local hero, Li Na, a tennis star. The Wuhan vignettes were her effort to “open up a small space ... a space for compassion ... to support ... my fellow Wuhaners.”

Then, Ms. Yang organized a digital “get well soon” card on Twitter. “The people of Wuhan are fighting this virus and they need us ... so that we can all heal, collectively,” she told CNN Friday. The global response was swift and mostly inspiring.

“For those of you who have the virus, for those of you who are waiting and waiting ... you are not alone. We do care about you! We are praying for you. For strength, for healing, for peace ... Sending lots of love! #GoWuhan,” posted Celia Evenson, a French woman in Russia.

Ms. Yang translated and posted the notes on Weibo, a Chinese website. In one small corner of the internet, she is shattering the walls of isolation and indifference, sending light and love to the people of Wuhan."

Seeng Thoughts

photo credit: Aaron Springston

I’ve been looking at people, both in the news and in day-to-day life, and they all look exactly like their thoughts. The self-serving politicians look dull and bloated. The fake religious leaders seem plastic and polished. The sad people who feel victimized have a terrible vulnerability showing, frayed around the edges and a bit shaky in demeanor. I could go on and on. But the main point is that you can’t hide your thoughts. What we see is what is there. Now, I don’t mean tall, short, big, small, or any designation concerning what we think of as beauty. I mean what is either glowing or festering within the individuals. While I’m certain there are some exceptions to this rule, I haven’t noticed any since I began to pay attention. While it’s a bit frightening, it is also a wonderful tool when choosing who to represent you in public office!

“Seeing is no less a quality of physical sense than feeling. Then why is it more difficult to see a thought than to feel one? Education alone determines the difference. In reality there is none.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 86

What Are Your Politics?

graphic by Aaron Springston

Mary Baker Eddy stated, when asked about her politics, that she really had none -- other than to "pray for a righteous government, love her neighbor as herself, and God above all else." I often look to her words on government to guide my thoughts during these surreal times. One of the sentences which helps me in times of confusion is this one: “Neither material finesse, standpoint, nor perspective guides the infinite Mind and spiritual vision that should, does, guide His children” (“Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896,” p. 373). If left to the thoughts created by my ego-driven mind, I am tempted to jump up on my high horse and declare some governmental actions to be insane, at best. Perhaps I'll feel overwhelmed by too much misinformation and fall back on past ways of thinking about situations, not realizing each moment is different from the last. At these times, it helps me to know that infinite Mind (a synonym for what we usually call God) contains all the knowledge there is, and Truth (another synonym) can never be hidden, and Love (also, God) controls everything with Its all encompassing comfort and guidance. Rather than repeating in thought the things which are so upsetting, I hold to the Truth of our creation. We are the image and likeness of Truth, Love, Mind; reflecting those divine attributes leads me in purer pathways of thought and action than listening to error's hypnotizing repetitions. And I am grateful...

Mary Baker Eddy describes Jesus' prayers as “deep and conscientious protests of Truth, – of man’s likeness to God and of man’s unity with Truth and Love.” Science & Health, Page 12

Holding the Space

photo credit: Aaron Springston

I often mention the function of holding the peace, or holding the space of love, or something along those lines. I've been asked what that means and why I think it's necessary to do anything of the sort. I've been asking myself this question while people dear to me are having some tough decisions to make and are facing uncertainty in the midst of change. I have the deep feeling that it is my "job" to stake out a neutral space and hold it as an oasis of peace. Sometimes that space is invaded by fear or anger, but that doesn't mean it has been spoiled. The recognition that reflecting Love is our native state, and that other emotions are human diversions, is the way I reclaim this neutral, loving attitude, and hold it steady for any who wish to join in the peace. While I agree with those who tell me there is a spiritual solution to every problem, I am learning there never was a problem to begin with, and that this basic understanding is the solution. 

"You have no idea of the tremendous release and deep peace that comes from meeting yourself and your brothers totally without judgment. When you recognize what you are and what your brothers are, you will realize that judging them in any way is without meaning. In fact, their meaning is lost to you precisely because you are judging them. All uncertainty comes from the belief that you are under the coercion of judgment. You do not need judgment to organize your life, and you certainly do not need it to organize yourself. In the presence of knowledge all judgment is automatically suspended, and this is the process that enables recognition to replace perception." A Course in Miracles T.3.VI.3