Lay Down Your Arms

Mt. Timpanogos Goat - photo Aaron Springston

Although I am not actively "doing" the Course in Miracles workbook lessons this year, I love it when someone points one out to me. Lesson 170 was brought to my attention by a dear friend who mentioned how pertinent it is to the happenings we're witnessing. It's topic, or focus is: "There is no cruelty in God and none in me." The first sentences my eyes landed on were: "It seems to be the enemy without that you attack. Yet your defense sets up an enemy within; an alien thought at war with you, depriving you of peace, splitting your mind into two camps which seem wholly irreconcilable." Wow! Isn't this what we're all doing right now? We can look at the world and say to ourselves that someone is trying to start a civil war, splitting us into camps and baiting us to attack. But can anyone really do that to us? We have a choice! To quote once more: "You make what you defend against, and by your own defense against it is it real and inescapable.  Lay down your arms, and only then do you perceive it false." Here is the lesson in its entirety:

Lesson 170 from A Course in Miracles

There is no cruelty in God and none in me.

W-170.1. No one attacks without intent to hurt. 2 This can have no exception. 3 When you think that you attack in self-defense, you mean that to be cruel is protection; you are safe because of cruelty. 4 You mean that you believe to hurt another brings you freedom. 5 And you mean that to attack is to exchange the state in which you are for something better, safer, more secure from dangerous invasion and from fear.

W-170.2. How thoroughly insane is the idea that to defend from fear is to attack! 2 For here is fear begot and fed with blood, to make it grow and swell and rage. 3 And thus is fear protected, not escaped. 4 Today we learn a lesson which can save you more delay and needless misery than you can possibly imagine. 5 It is this: 6 You make what you defend against, and by your own defense against it is it real and inescapable. 7 Lay down your arms, and only then do you perceive it false.

W-170.3. It seems to be the enemy without that you attack. 2 Yet your defense sets up an enemy within; an alien thought at war with you, depriving you of peace, splitting your mind into two camps which seem wholly irreconcilable. 3 For love now has an "enemy," an opposite; and fear, the alien, now needs your defense against the threat of what you really are.

W-170.4. If you consider carefully the means by which your fancied self-defense proceeds on its imagined way, you will perceive the premises on which the idea stands. 2 First, it is obvious ideas must leave their source, for it is you who make attack, and must have first conceived of it. 3 Yet you attack outside yourself, and separate your mind from him who is to be attacked, with perfect faith the split you made is real.

W-170.5. Next, are the attributes of love bestowed upon its "enemy." 2 For fear becomes your safety and protector of your peace, to which you turn for solace and escape from doubts about your strength, and hope of rest in dreamless quiet. 3 And as love is shorn of what belongs to it and it alone, love is endowed with attributes of fear. 4 For love would ask you lay down all defense as merely foolish. 5 And your arms indeed would crumble into dust. 6 For such they are.

W-170.6. With love as enemy, must cruelty become a god. 2 And gods demand that those who worship them obey their dictates, and refuse to question them. 3 Harsh punishment is meted out relentlessly to those who ask if the demands are sensible or even sane. 4 It is their enemies who are unreasonable and insane, while they are always merciful and just.

W-170.7. Today we look upon this cruel god dispassionately. 2 And we note that though his lips are smeared with blood, and fire seems to flame from him, he is but made of stone. 3 He can do nothing. 4 We need not defy his power. 5 He has none. 6 And those who see in him their safety have no guardian, no strength to call upon in danger, and no mighty warrior to fight for them.

W-170.8. This moment can be terrible. 2 But it can also be the time of your release from abject slavery. 3 You make a choice, standing before this idol, seeing him exactly as he is. 4 Will you restore to love what you have sought to wrest from it and lay before this mindless piece of stone? 5 Or will you make another idol to replace it? 6 For the god of cruelty takes many forms. 7 Another can be found.

W-170.9. Yet do not think that fear is the escape from fear. 2 Let us remember what the text has stressed about the obstacles to peace. 3 The final one, the hardest to believe is nothing, and a seeming obstacle with the appearance of a solid block, impenetrable, fearful and beyond surmounting, is the fear of God Himself. 4 Here is the basic premise which enthrones the thought of fear as god. 5 For fear is loved by those who worship it, and love appears to be invested now with cruelty.

W-170.10. Where does the totally insane belief in gods of vengeance come from? 2 Love has not confused its attributes with those of fear. 3 Yet must the worshippers of fear perceive their own confusion in fear's "enemy"; its cruelty as now a part of love. 4 And what becomes more fearful than the Heart of Love Itself? 5 The blood appears to be upon His Lips; the fire comes from Him. 6 And He is terrible above all else, cruel beyond conception, striking down all who acknowledge Him to be their God.

W-170.11. The choice you make today is certain. 2 For you look for the last time upon this bit of carven stone you made, and call it god no longer. 3 You have reached this place before, but you have chosen that this cruel god remain with you in still another form. 4 And so the fear of God returned with you. 5 This time you leave it there. 6 And you return to a new world, unburdened by its weight; beheld not in its sightless eyes, but in the vision that your choice restored to you.

W-170.12. Now do your eyes belong to Christ, and He looks through them. 2 Now your voice belongs to God and echoes His. 3 And now your heart remains at peace forever. 4 You have chosen Him in place of idols, and your attributes, given by your Creator, are restored to you at last. 5 The Call for God is heard and answered. 6 Now has fear made way for love, as God Himself replaces cruelty.

W-170.13. Father, we are like You. 2 No cruelty abides in us, for there is none in You. 3 Your peace is ours. 4 And we bless the world with what we have received from You alone. 5 We choose again, and make our choice for all our brothers, knowing they are one with us. 6 We bring them Your salvation as we have received it now. 7 And we give thanks for them who render us complete. 8 In them we see Your glory, and in them we find our peace. 9 Holy are we because Your Holiness has set us free. 10 And we give thanks. 11 Amen.

...When You Know Better, Do Better

Everything seems electric with excitement in this time of shifting thought. Big changes are happening which are unexpected for many, but many more of us have been waiting for this all our lives. I remember in the 1960s when we all sang "this is the dawning of the age of Aquarius", and just knew it was happening right then! We were excited to "get ourselves back to the garden" and bring in a time of peace and love. Then the years passed and it seemed nothing changed. We became lackadaisical in our expectations and quietly (for the most part) accepted Citizens United, and the so-called Moral Majority, and other groups which declared themselves to be the good which would expose and bring down the evil. Through the decades, many things did become better on the surface, but very little could bear the scrutiny of total transparency. The excitement I feel today is brought on by many things. Big corporations, such as PG&E in California, are accepting responsibility for their wrong-doing, coming right out and admitting liability and trying to do better. Our highest court in the land is making decisions based on morality and law, not pressure from big money and powerful politicians. What excites me the most is the individual declarations of "I was wrong", and watching what happens as they raise up their heads proudly and try to change their ways. I am told of a house on the way to Bentonville which had confederate flags and other ugly things in its yard. They are all gone. Once we begin to question our actions, our thoughts, healing begins to happen. I can hardly wait for tomorrow! Thank You greatly ...

"Eternal Truth is changing the universe. As mortals drop off their mental swaddling clothes, thought expands into expression." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 255:1

The Cement of a Higher Humanity

photo credit: Aaron Springston
Timpanogos

Humans seem to be pack animals. We love to break ourselves into groups and hang around with people who think as we do. We create churches, sororities, sewing circles, and numerous other clubs in which to gather and share our commonality. Perhaps the time has come for us to recognize that many of these tribal separations are keeping us from seeing the greater good in all humanity. Maybe if we can open ourselves in a more selfless manner, embracing each other because of our sameness, rather than in spite of our differences, perhaps we can stop worrying about what others may think of us and pull out all the stops for some honest to goodness truth. I don’t want to wait another moment for something which feels so right!

“Clad in the panoply of Love, human hatred cannot reach you. The cement of a higher humanity will unite all interests in the one divinity.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health 

Everyone Needs a Lift Sometime

From “Lift” written by Minh Lê and illustrated
 by Dan Santat,
Little, Brown and Company

One of my favorite things about having small children was searching for and reading fun and beautiful books. There is nothing liking having little bodies leaning against you, quietly enthralled by a story, eagering rushing to turn the page and see the next lucious picture, excited to know the rest of the story -- or to tell it before you read it because it's the umpteenth time you've done so! Today, parents have a whole new set of challenges with the changes which have taken place this year. What a great opportunity to find books which excite the imagination, releasing creativity which may have been stunted by the spoon-fed world of video movies and games. I read a review of a book called Lift, having to do with a little girl discovering a button in the elevator which takes her to a lush world beyond anything she had imagined. The reviewers favorite line in the book: "After all, everyone can use a lift sometimes!" I'm sure our librarians would be happy to choose a few uplifting picture books for us if we ask!!

Here's a link to the review I mentioned: https://www.csmonitor.com/Daily/2020/20200518/Spring-picture-books-that-delight-inspire-and-transport?src=shared&cmpid=shared-email

You can try the Monitor Daily free for a month:
https://www.csmonitor.com/dailyfreetrial

Small Great Things

In the past, I’ve told you about the novelist, Jodi Picoult. I may have even mentioned her book, Small Great Things. Although she writes fiction, she is an extremely thorough researcher when she decides to write about a subject. She has taken us into the mind of a teenager with Asperger’s, abused wives, white supremacists, and more. I am revisiting the book I mentioned because of its take on racism. A black nurse in the birthing wing of a hospital is banned from administering to the baby of a proud racist. The baby dies while she is on watch and trying to follow hospital orders to not touch the infant. The story which unfolds is eye-opening, both from the side of the underground network of racist groups in this country, but also in its uncovering of the prejudices we have, which we usually don’t know are there. At this juncture in our world, every insight we gain is valuable. I want to understand why some people react violently to the mention of certain topics. In my campaigning for a democratic candidate in our area, I am seeing some interesting reactions. These return texts are what send me back to this book again. I want to know where the hate begins and what causes it to spew out. Whatever the cause, I face it and know it is a cry for love. Namaste...

"Human hate has no legitimate mandate and no kingdom. Love is enthroned." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 454:9

I Need Do Nothing?

Photo Credit: Dale Johnson

A dear friend, who is also my Course in Miracles mentor, sent me an article centered around the statement “I need do nothing”. This spiritual teaching is almost guaranteed to get the ego (or mortal mind, for you of a Christian Science ilk) working overtime to assert its dominance over us. I can hear it saying, "But if I don’t do anything who will? I have to plan, or else nothing will get done. What do you mean I need do nothing? I have to do everything!” This statement actually is saying that we don’t have to prove ourselves in order to gain salvation, or forgiveness, or Love. These things, and more, are already ours, requiring no special work to free us from the past and future, nor to lift us out of fear and guilt. This realization can “anchor in us a permanent quiet center, a place of peace in us." From this quietude, we are able to follow our inner direction and do the busy work necessary on this plane of existence. So in summary, doing nothing is actually doing everything! When we release our feelings of inadequacy, guilt, sorrow, and such, miracles happen. We are shown what our purpose is and are able to recognize the path leading the way to utilizing our abilities and talents. What fun to wake up each day to discover what this is!

"'I need do nothing' is a statement of allegiance, a truly undivided loyalty. Believe it for just one instant, and you will accomplish more than is given to a century of contemplation, or of struggle against temptation." A Course in Miracles T-18.VII.6.

Sending You Light

I have a good feeling about our world. People are hungry for change and more are speaking out every day. A good friend and neighbor sent me a beautiful performance called Sending You Light. I send this song to you today, and light to you every day. Have a beautiful Sunday everyone... 

https://youtu.be/cIsZuoNFtXg