Living In an Upside Down World

Peaceful Ozark Morning - photo by Arthur Bruno

What if everything is upside down from what it seems to be?  We have all these ideas about what is true and what is false, what is good and what is bad, but what if we don't know, what if we are wrong? We have fact checking sites to help us decide if something is true, we have preachers and politicians to tell us what is right and wrong -- I think we're all tired of the constant push and pull of facts versus rumors and outright lies. My favorite thing about A Course in Miracles might be the workbook lessons, and how they help us give up our beliefs about everything. I know some people think this is a "bad" thing, because if we've been taught you HAVE to believe in something or else you're gullible and will fall for anything you are told. What if that's upside down thinking, too? When we allow ourselves to release what we think we know, we can step back and see what is, without putting labels on everything and backing away from something without even knowing why. In my interactions with various forms of thought, it's often difficult to put my feelings and beliefs to the side and simply hear what is being said. But I'm working on it! Non-reaction, simply being with the words, is a peaceful, joyous way to live. I think we all want peace, but some of us have forgotten. Let's keep on remembering to look at things as they are, not as we've decided they are. Namaste....

"Human thought never projected the least portion of true being. Human belief has sought and interpreted in its own way, the echo of Spirit, and so seems to have reversed it and repeated it materially, but the human mind never produced a real tone nor sent forth a positive sound. " Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 126:8

Misunderstanding Turned Around

Mongolia, with friends

Think about a close friend; one you really, truly like a lot. Perhaps you have so much in common that people sometimes mistake you for each other! This is the situation I have with a woman I met 10 years or so ago. We immediately liked each other and discovered our birthdate, month and year, were the same. Then something happened a few months ago which caused her to unfriend me on Facebook. I had not thought the incident was anything to be upset about; nothing more than a simple disagreement between friends, but we had not spoken in a few months. Then today, in my texting campaign for Suzie Bell, candidate for State House representative, I sent this old friend a text, because she was on my campaign-generated list of people. A two-word comment came back which was very rude. I was telling Kevin about it and he suggested that I call her. And so I did. Turns out the text comment was from a phone number she no longer has, although it was listed as her in both my texting list and on my phone. We had a good, long catch-up chat and I feel happier knowing a good friend is still just that! Isn't life interesting? Thank You greatly ... 

"Love never loses sight of loveliness. its halo rests upon its object. One marvels that a friend can ever seem less than beautiful." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 248:3

Feed the Famished Affections

I feel the need for grace today -- to feel it, give it, receive it -- just grace. So I searched my blog to see what I might turn up, and here is an entry from 2012.

Accepting the grace which is ours involves giving it at every opportunity. Recently someone asked why it doesn't bother me to work closely with someone who seems hard to get along with -- for many reasons! I answered that I realize how miserable she must be to act in such a way. So I don't take her actions personally, nor do I claim them as a part of my existence. And what she thinks of me is absolutely none of my business!  Mary Baker Eddy’s spiritual interpretation of the Lord’s Prayer includes this correlation to "Give us this day our daily bread": "Give us Grace for today, feed the famished affections." Starving affections are a symptom of not accepting the Truth about ourselves and others as a creation of divine Mind. When someone seems agitated and angry, or defensive and irritable, the Grace which is ours is the antidote. By practicing kindness when faced with hardness of heart, meekness when all around us are aggressive, loving those who seem unlovable, and paying it forward in every action, we prepare ourselves to acknowledge the God-given Grace which is our true heritage. I simply say an inward Namaste, recognizing  that their divine essence and mine are absolutely the same. I've found that loving my neighbor as myself is cause for loving myself more -- which is a nice bonus!

“What we most need is the prayer of fervent desire for growth in grace, expressed in patience, meekness, love, and good deeds." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 4:3-10

Why Can't We Just Be Nice?

Photo Credit: Richard Quick

I have been helping in the campaign of our District 97 state representative candidate, Suzie Bell. While I am quite aware of the cavernous divide in political thought, I had not truly seen the blatant rudeness and lack of manners which people have been exposing by their words. Some of them are very imaginative with their condemnations and suggestions concerning what my candidate should do — along with the Democratic Party. Then some of these folks speak (type?) right up and tell me they won’t vote for anyone who kills babies or any number of other fantasies they believe as truth concerning the world. I enjoy those who respond to my plea for their vote, and am doing my best to plant a seed of kindness during our interactions. The pain from most of these people is palpable. I feel compassion for their confusion and misunderstanding of what is happening around them. I enjoy texting rather than speaking on the phone, because I can take time to breathe, have a moment to go within for guidance, and try to respond in a kind, hopeful, mind-expanding manner. Their second response is most always calmer, sadder, more willing to talk with me. We end our interaction with a suggestion that they visit Suzie’s website and contact her if they have any questions. I like this assignment very much!

"Clad in the panoply of Love, human hatred cannot reach you. The cement of a higher humanity will unite all interest in the one divinity." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 571:18

The Earth Needs Mothering

"Mother and Child - Self and self"
creation of Sandy Starbird

You may have guides to which you listen, who raise your thought to a higher level than your own mind. Perhaps you take your prayers to Jesus or another spiritual guru. Almost everyone relies on a power they think is larger than themselves, and many are relaxing into the divinity they are finding within themselves and everywhere else, too. So when I ran across the women who carry on the work of Net of Light, I was very accepting of their telling me they receive guidance from the council of the Grandmothers. I shared their latest newsletter with you in the last "daily" I sent you, and since then I've listened to a couple of their videos. As with the other Guides I mentioned earlier, these loving Spirits are all encompassing in their compassion and wisdom. I think this idea reminds me of The Akashic Records: a place you can go to access everything which ever has been or ever will be. I love the idea of Grandmothers supporting me, sharing their wisdom, bringing loving comfort. We all need someone to lean on, don't you think? I'm going to rest with them for a while. Join me...

"Angels are God's representatives. These upward-soaring beings never lead towards self, sin, or materiality, but guide to the divine Principle of all good, whither every real individuality, image, or likeness of God, gathers. By giving earnest heed to these spiritual guides they tarry with us, and we entertain 'angels unawares.'" Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 299:11

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