Thank you

Happy Sunday!

Gleefully Applaud Yourself!

Photo Credit: Aaron Springston

As we all know, there are many lessons to be learned from children. For instance, imagine a child making a sand castle and a wave comes in and takes it back to its original state. Does the child cry? I'm told that they laugh in delight! Children innately know the impermanence of things and happily accept that -- until they learn differently from adults. Also, think about a child achieving a new benchmark in their young lives. They jump up and down with glee, applauding their little hands in celebration! When was the last time you applauded yourself? I hope it was recently, although I know it's been quite some time for me. I've had any number of things happen in the last couple of years which are worthy of applause, but I would never dream of doing so. Part of our "learning" experience tells us that to celebrate ourselves would be a form of arrogance or self-righteous behavior. I don't think an honest appreciation for ourselves is anything of the sort, do you? Life isn't always easy, and when we come through a tough time, or when we perform a task we were afraid of attempting, or when we wake up happy when we have been sad -- well, there are countless things which deserve gleeful hand-clapping. The next time you applaud a friend or loved ones' achievements, think about doing the same for yourself, dear friends. You deserve it!

"Willingness to become as a little child and to leave the old for the new, renders thought receptive of the advanced idea. Gladness to leave the false landmarks and joy to see them disappear, -- this disposition helps to precipitate the ultimate harmony." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 323:32

Self-Importance Backfires

PC: Aaron Springston

[a recycled writing from 2014] I love silly situation comedies, such as Modern Family.  A favorite episode is one where Claire has lunch with an old college friend. Her friend has a very successful career and an exciting life as a single woman. Claire is jealous and wants to show off her three kids and husband of seventeen years, so she takes her friend home to meet them. Her handsome husband is inexplicably wearing a huge fake mustache and is trapped in a port-a-potty placed there by the water department while they work on the lines. Her oldest daughter is having a loud altercation with her boyfriend. Her other daughter and her son have been recycling in the neighborhood and have the kitchen filled with semi-empty bottles of alcohol. The son is in his underwear because he spilled booze all over himself, while the daughter is trying to catch a rat which came in with the boxes. So much for self-importance, huh? Most of us probably have a silly story about a situation which backfired when we've wanted to show off in some way. If we stop and think about these feelings and what's behind them, it's easy to see how this desire to be "special", to be better than someone else, is at the core of every disagreement and conflict in the world.  With the understanding that we are all the reflection of Love, God, each demonstrating our individuality within this realm of unity, it becomes possible to release false images of self-importance and relax into the perfection of this experience we know as life. By doing so, we are the light of the world! Seeing ourselves in others and others in ourselves, we fulfill our function of forgiveness. We do this by giving up ideas and beliefs which foster the misconception that we are all different, and instead embrace Love as our common denominator.

"Self-forgetfulness, purity, and affection are constant prayers." Mary Baker Eddy Science & Health Page 15:26-27

Does Turmoil Amuse?

photo credit: Aaron Springston

Every moment of our lives have been spent getting us to the point at which we are now. I know some folks who want to hold onto their past, and others who wish they could change their past, then there are those who have grown through experiences and continue this expansion of thought. I am wondering why some people seem to feed on turmoil and drama, creating it to keep themselves upset -- or perhaps amused. Hum, it would never occur to me to be entertained by anger and other base elements of human behavior, but it seems some want to be in the middle of heated battle or else they are -- they are what? Bored, I think. Maybe it's something else. I'm watching a young woman trying to create difficulty for herself and another family member. Yesterday I wrote about young people knowing themselves and gaining self-confidence through that knowledge. Perhaps what I'm witnessing today is the same thing: low self esteem, which she hopes to boost through righteous indignation. Or maybe I'm misinterpreting the whole situation. So in the desire to not create a competing drama, I'll just watch and see what transpires, knowing only good can come of this. Namasté ...

"Wrong-mindedness listens to the ego and makes illusions; perceiving sin and justifying anger, and seeing guilt, disease and death as real. Both this world and the real world are illusions because right-mindedness merely overlooks, or forgives, what never happened. Therefore it is not the One-mindedness of the Christ Mind, Whose Will is one with God's." A Course in Miracles - Clarification of Terms 

Why Stand Aghast at Nothingness?

photo credit: Arthur Bruno

Someone who is familiar with A Course in Miracles tells me she doesn't think these teachings should be presented to children. She thinks they wouldn't have a reason to live if they thought this way. I see it as just the opposite! It seems to me many young people (and older!) have no sense of self. I have noticed, with my own boys, that knowing about their Self precludes them from worrying about the labels which may be put on them by others. Self knowledge fosters self confidence. There is much talk about bullying and labels which are used to taunt young people by their peers. Being a witness to what others do, but not becoming a part of it, is demonstrating the freedom which is our heritage as a child of Love. Not taking things personally is part of this freedom, but there's more than that. You must know what IS, not just what is not. It isn't easy, facing rudeness with kindness. But it is possible! 

"Human sense may well marvel at discord, while, to a diviner sense, harmony is the real and discord the unreal. We may well be astonished at sin, sickness, death. We may well be perplexed at human fear; and still more astounded at hatred, which lifts its hydra head, showing its horns in the many inventions of evil. But why should we stand aghast at nothingness?” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 563:1-7

Truth or...?

photo credit: Arthur Bruno

Have you ever needed to fire an employee, or end a relationship with a significant other, or stop spending so much time with a friend for your own mental health? If so, I hope you had the courage and kindness to be honest about it. In looking back at such situations when they have occurred within my orbit, I see the way people tend to turn the tables on the one they want out of the way. I can think of few situations where someone has simply told the truth, even in part, in order to end an unwanted relationship. I've recently watched a situation where there were valid reasons to end the employment of a part-time musician, yet no one would do it. Rather, they made things so uncomfortable for the person that he resigned. It was torturous for many of us, with rumors and half-truths floating about. I've watched men and women want out of their marriage, but rather than hurting their spouse's feelings, they make them so miserable that they leave, rather than the one who originally wanted out fessing up to it. I've written many dailies centered around truth-telling. It seems like an easy thing to do. Apparently it is not!

"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

Of Treatment and Other Things

When something like a head cold or other dis-ease threatens, it's tempting to wonder if we've slipped into something from which we need to be rescued. But let's not fall into that trap! With physical maladies, as with emotional or other seeming discord or inharmony, it's not our job to figure out where we went wrong; it's our job to understand how we are right! We sometimes hear it said that metaphysical treatment is "denying error and declaring Truth". There is no set way to go about this process. When we glean a bit of spiritual Truth, we often think we can repeat this over and over, as a sort of mantra, and this will heal us. And sometimes we can talk ourselves out of symptoms -- but usually this is a temporary fix. We can tell ourselves that disease is an illusion and that it's no part of us, but until we know the reason why, it's nothing more than further illusion. When we find ourselves beginning to understand that disease cannot be in matter because there is no matter for disease to manifest in, then -- and only then -- are we coming close to understanding this Truth of which we speak. It may seem impossible to make this shift in thought, but I love the baby steps leading to it!

"This scientific sense of being, forsaking matter for Spirit, by no means suggests man's absorption into Deity and the loss of his identity, but confers upon man enlarged individuality, a wider sphere of thought and action, a more expansive love, a higher and more permanent peace." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 265:10-15