Stay the Course

Have you heard of Net of Light? How about Grandmothers Speak? From their website: "The Net of Light," the Grandmothers say, "supports everything in the Universe and will hold the earth steady during the times of change that are upon you now. Work with the radiant Net," they urge, "to support life." I include a writing from Sharon McErlane, sent out in a newsletter today, and forwarded to me by my fine friend, Sandy Starbird. 

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"The lever is moving," the Grandmothers said, and I watched as a metal handle or lever turned slowly.  The movement it made was so subtle it was barely perceptible.  But as I watched it continue to turn, I could see it honing in, getting nearer to pointing straight up.  The lever was righting itself, and as it crept closer to center, chills ran down my back.  "Something is shifting now," I said to myself, "and though what I'm seeing isn't the final shift for this lever, not the last or the ultimate turn it's going to make, still," I said, "things are starting to right themselves."

I looked up at the Grandmothers then but their heads were turned away from me; they were looking elsewhere.  And when I followed their eyes, I saw crowds of masked protesters, the people who'd been demanding justice for the man who'd been killed in Minnesota.  "This shift to the center point that you are seeing now has to do with them," the Grandmothers said, "with the protestors' commitment to truth, to what is fair.  It has to do with their desire for justice and a better life for all of humanity, for all the George Floyds of this world.  They are on target.

"At this time George Floyd has become the centering point for humanity.  His life, his suffering has awakened the world," they said.  "Now and then comes a moment when one life is put into a position of such power and purpose that it affects the entire world.  George Floyd's life is such a one," they said, "and his terrible sacrifice will not be wasted.  Because of what he went through at this particular moment in time, the course of life on earth will change, and humanity will return to being human.

"Stay the course," the Grandmothers said, "and at this difficult time, help one another however you can.  March, sing, pray, serve and speak out.  Speak the truth and love one another," they said. "Help in whatever way is given to you to help. Now your every act, smile, thought, and prayer will make a difference. The collective good pouring forth from humanity at this moment will turn the tide. Mankind is no longer on a collision course with destiny. You have begun to turn toward the light. So, breathe deep, stay calm, love each other and keep on going."

"But Grandmothers,"I said," what about...?"  But, reading my thoughts, they interrupted me.  "Let those who are lost, rage on as they will," they said. "Let them bluster all they want, and while they rant, rave and blame, keep your every thought, word and deed in alignment with the love of the Divine.  Go forward now in love, light bearers," they said, and raised their hands in the air.  "We stand at your back."

Message from
the Great Council of the Grandmothers
6-6-2020

Weeding Out Prejudice

photo of unknown origin

We record the Presbyterian Sunday service on Saturday. Their fine pastor, John Gibson, is an expert at many things and is able to edit and post a church service which is a reasonable facsimile of being there. Today he brought a special guest with him: an effigy of a black man with a noose around his neck. This man with no name has lived with John for a number of years now. He was found by the toll road between Siloam Springs and Tulsa, and rescued by John, living in his home as a reminder of how far we have to go in this quest for civil rights. At the time John saw this image hanging high from a tree, he was teaching school. Coincidently, they were studying the civil rights movement, so he took the faceless black man to school. I hope the students in that class forever remember what so many seem to have forgotten: We are all the same. We all hurt the same, we all love the same, we all want security, we all want happiness. The reason we don't all have these things is because some of us feel others of us haven't earned it. Where did we get this idea, that some are more deserving than others? I admit to finding prejudices within myself all the time. I want to recognize them, face them, release them by replacing them with Love. Just like tending a garden, it's a never-ending process. Those weeds keep coming back unless we get to their roots, expose them, and let them wither away in the light. We can do this. 

"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 down in blood, nor did the breath of freedom come from the cannon's mouth. Love is the liberator." Mary Baker Eddy -- circa 1865

Through the Portal, or Into the Hole...

From White Eagle, Hopi Indigenous

"Bird at Heart"
creation of Sandy Starbird

“This moment humanity is going through can now be seen as a portal and as a hole. The decision to fall into the hole or go through the portal is up to you.
If you repent of the problem and consume the news 24 hours a day, with little energy, nervous all the time, with pessimism, you will fall into the hole. But if you take this opportunity to look at yourself, rethink life and death, take care of yourself and others, you will cross the portal. Take care of your homes, take care of your body. Connect with your spiritual House.

When you are taking care of yourselves, you are taking care of everything else. Do not lose the spiritual dimension of this crisis; have the eagle aspect from above and see the whole; see more broadly.

There is a social demand in this crisis, but there is also a spiritual demand -- the two go hand in hand. Without the social dimension, we fall into fanaticism. But without the spiritual dimension, we fall into pessimism and lack of meaning. You were prepared to go through this crisis. Take your toolbox and use all the tools available to you.

Learn about resistance of the indigenous and African peoples; we have always been, and continue to be, exterminated. But we still haven't stopped singing, dancing, lighting a fire, and having fun. Don't feel guilty about being happy during this difficult time.

You do not help at all being sad and without energy. You help if good things emanate from the Universe now. It is through joy that one resists. Also, when the storm passes, each of you will be very important in the reconstruction of this new world.

You need to be well and strong. And for that, there is no other way than to maintain a beautiful, happy, and bright vibration. This has nothing to do with alienation.

This is a resistance strategy. In shamanism, there is a rite of passage called the quest for vision. You spend a few days alone in the forest, without water, without food, without protection. When you cross this portal, you get a new vision of the world, because you have faced your fears, your difficulties.

This is what is asked of you:
Allow yourself to take advantage of this time to perform your vision-seeking rituals. What world do you want to build for you? For now, this is what you can do -- serenity in the storm. Calm down, pray every day. Establish a routine to meet the sacred every day.

Good things emanate; what you emanate now is the most important thing. And sing, dance, resist through art, joy, faith, and love."

The Healing Power of Silence

photo credit: Arthur Bruno

I heard an interesting analogy concerning the body's immune system and the world's ability to heal itself. Each and every one of us are a cell in the immune system of the universe. Every thought we think is either contributing to the unified health of our planet or the propagation of fear and terror. Every prayer, every meditation, ever reaching out through inward listening is magnified exponentially. We have the power to change the world through ourselves. Every interaction brings us closer to a world of love or a world of fear. The Love which heals us personally spreads through the web of Oneness. In the same way that we take personal responsibility for ourselves, our health, our well-being, we can take responsibility for a return to Love. It does matter what we do and what we think. We never know when an interaction with someone will make the difference in that person's life which turns them away from reactive fear to healing Love. The Truth which corrects all errors in our mind is our ascension into heaven within. Never doubt that you matter, that you make a difference.  Allow silence and listening to guide you to being the change you want to see! 

"Immortal ideas, pure, perfect, and enduring, are transmitted by the divine Mind through divine Science, which corrects error with truth and demands spiritual thoughts, divine concepts, to the end that they may produce harmonious results." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 259: 27-31

Protests of Truth

2,000 form peace sign for
John Lennon's 75th birthday

Mary Baker Eddy refers to prayer in many ways, but the one which keeps coming to my thought tonight is a reference to prayer as "deep and conscientious protests of Truth". The protests which we are seeing in every nook and cranny of the world today are, at their highest, this protest of Truth, don't you think? The people who are showing anger, those who are taking advantage and stealing anything they can, people who are there to bring turmoil and violence -- Well, I am reminded of the old African way of dealing with someone who has committed a crime. They surround the person and tell them everything good they know about them, even if it takes days -- especially if it takes days! While a crowded street in a city is not the place you can surround someone and tell them all the good they've done in the world, it certainly is the spot where you can mentally surround them with Love, and keep hitting them with it until they feel it! Most of us have had the experience of seeing Love change things -- whether it be a situation with another person, an interaction with an animal, or nursing a plant back to health, Love is the healer. So when we hear and see heartbreaking incidents, or horrifying images, let's not slip into the ditch, but rather rise up in thought, remembering everyone's true Being as a child of divine Love. Love is the liberator!

"It is neither Science nor Truth which acts through blind belief, nor is it the human understanding of the divine healing Principle as manifested in Jesus, whose humble prayers were deep and conscientious protests of Truth, -- of man's likenss to God and of man's unity with Truth and Love." Mary Baker Eddy - Science and Health - Prayer - Page 12:10

Education Reform -- and other things

Clear Spring School

Almost every day I think of something wonderful we're learning from this isolation. Today's thought was how the closing of schools can be a very good thing. Most of us have known for years that our education system is faulty. Our teachers aren't paid enough, we think the arts are not important, everyone must learn to standardized tests so the districts can receive their money to keep running -- the list goes on. Now that parents are trying to help their children continue an education at home, not only are they seeing how some of the problems they thought were with the school are actually with them, the parents themselves, hopefully they are also seeing the holes in the education we're forcing upon our youth. When we look back on our own primary and secondary schooling, do we see things which were simply not true being peddled as gospel? Why did we stop teaching civics? Perhaps if more people knew what a republic was, we would have one! When someone tells our kids that government is bad or good, do they have any idea what government was meant to be in this country? Do they know what we the people did to our native Americans? Do we know -- really know -- about slavery and its aftermath? I am looking forward to education reform being one of the many changes we shall see in the near future. Don't give up! Take heart, because there are more people with an actual education than with a 24-hour-a-day news channel education.

"The law of the divine Mind must end human bondage, or mortals will continue unaware of man's inalienable rights and in subjection to hopeless slavery, because some public teachers permit an ignorance of divine power -- an ignorance that is the foundation for continued bondage and of human suffering." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 227:7

Herein Lies the Peace of God

Moon Over Utah
photo credit: Aaron Springston

A friend sent me an article entitled, "The 10 Protests That Changed the Course of History Forever", by Geraldine Cremin. After Kevin read them he said to me: They're all the same. From Gandhi's salt march in 1930 to to Selma in 1964, he is absolutely correct. They are all about the same thing. Their common denominator is treating your fellow human being as you would want to be treated: fairly, kindly, unselfishly. Why is it so dad-gummed difficult to do this?? Is it learned behavior from decades of our ancestors putting on airs and pretending to be better than someone else? If it's as simple as that, let's just stop it! One of the many reasons I love A Course in Miracles is the workbook lessons in which we learn how to release long-held beliefs and look at things as they are, without our preconceived ideas coloring everything and everyone around us. I leave you with the introduction to this marvelous book. Namaste, Friends...

     "This is a course in miracles. It is a required course. Only the time you take it is voluntary. Free will does not mean that you can establish the curriculum. It means only that you can elect what you want to take at a given time. The course does not aim at teaching the meaning of love, for that is beyond what can be taught. It does aim, however, at removing the blocks to the awareness of love's presence, which is your natural inheritance. The opposite of love is fear, but what is all-encompassing can have no opposite.

     This course can therefore be summed up very simply in this way:

Nothing real can be threatened.

Nothing unreal exists. 

Herein lies the peace of God." 

Taken from A Course in Miracles Textbook Introduction