Be Kind Whenever Possible

I know a young woman who is trying to move forward with her life, but her parents and sister seem to want her to stay in place. They tell her she is not capable of holding a job, that she is mentally ill and should be on disability, and imply that she is not worthy of love. She is working toward moving away from behavior which no longer serves her, and perhaps never did. I am proud of her and tell her so every chance I get. Today she texted asking for my advice on how to get along with her parents, who are very conservative and have different life values than hers. She has mentioned numerous times that she feels mentally ill, because her family keeps telling her she is. It's sort of a "which came first, the chicken or the egg" kind of situation, it seems to me. She has been told something all her life, which she has come to believe -- at least enough of a belief that when something doesn't go right in her life, she feels something is wrong with her. Schools and workplaces are not generally set up for anyone who doesn't fit into whatever sized box they want to put them in. In this time of change, I see people relaxing their beliefs on what is correct behavior. This is more than a live-and-let-live attitude; it is an embracing compassion for all things living. I could no more fault my dog for being black rather than white than I would ask my sweet cat to be more like my smart cat. Let's be kind to one another, and gentle with ourselves. Namaste... 

"The great difference between voluntary and involuntary mesmerism is that voluntary mesmerism is induced consciously and should and does cause the perpetrator to suffer, while self-mesmerism is induced unconsciously and by his mistake a man is often instructed. In the first instance it is understood that the difficulty is a mental illusion, while in the second it is believed that the misfortune is a material effect. The human mind is employed to remove the illusion in one case, but matter is appealed to in the other. In reality, both have their origin in the human mind, and can be healed only by the divine Mind." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 403:2

Neowise and the International Space Station

"Overexposed Milky Way"
photo credit: Richard Quick

We were outside looking for the comet, Neowise, this evening. There were conflicting accounts of where to see it, with Accuweather saying close to the archer and milky way in the east-ish sky, and astronomy.com telling us we could see it below the big dipper in the other direction. I have the app, Sky View Lite on my phone, and so we had a fun time discovering various night lights which were not the comet! My favorite one was the International Space Station! At one point, I thought I was seeing an airplane, so I pointed my phone toward it to see how the app would identify a plane. What a surprise to find it was the space station! All this conflicting data reminded me of the stories we hear through various media. We may hear one thing from one place, and a conflicting version from another. Some folks are upset that the "big" news organizations -- Associated Press and Reuters -- are not reporting the things they are hearing in the sensational news. They take this to mean it's a conspiracy for the mainstream news sources to hide stories from the masses. The instance which was brought to my attention was a police-blotter-type story which has no reason to be reported on by the AP, but some sources are treating it as a #BLM killing. This type of sensationalized headline leaves out vital details; details which turn it into just another horrid happening at 3 a.m. in somewhere USA. But I digress. The point is: Go look at the sky, watch bugs crawl through the grass, breathe the cool night air. Generate joy, and let your intuition lead you in paths of righteousness. 

"So we have goodness and beauty to gladden the heart, but man, left to the hypotheses of material sense unexplained by Science, is as the wandering comet or the desolate star -- 'a weary searcher for a viewless home.'" Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 121:12

Peace Within

Mongolia - photo credit: Aaron Springston

Although I know peace is a choice within my own self, I would love to share it with everyone, everywhere. It has taken quite a while to grasp the concept that the only thought I can change is my own. After spending years trying to change thoughts and actions of husbands and friends, I think it was my children who finally taught me the meaning of Oneness. I could watch the mood of the household change with my emotions. Holding to peace within myself is all I can do. Jumping on the bandwagon of resentment and other negative emotions used to seem impossible to avoid, but I don’t find it as difficult now to simply witness these things without becoming a part of them. While I can't change what anyone else is thinking or feeling or experiencing, I can adjust my vision of reality. Every thought is important! We are all in this together, in every way, at every moment. Today I will make an effort to see everything through the eyes of Love.

“Spiritual living and blessedness are the only evidence​ ​by which we can recognize true existence and feel the unspeakable peace which comes from an all-absorbing spiritual love.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 264:24-27

Thank you, Marianne Williamson

Today Marianne Williamson says everything I want to say. And she does it so well... Happy Sunday!

photo credit: Aaron Springston

“The mindset that dominates this world is simply an inadequate container for the energies that need to come through now if humanity is to survive. Putting our separate needs before the well-being of the earth and its inhabitants, we’ve created political and economic systems that subconsciously plan the obsolescence of the human race. American politics, which one would have hoped would be an incubator for understanding and solutions, is dominated by a perspective that at its worst perpetuates the problem and at it’s best simply enables the ever-quickening race towards planetary destruction. The good news - and there is good news - is that more and more people are awakening to the intersectionality of the problem and to the personal as well as political dimensions of the needed transformation. We’re like at the stage where you’ve woken up, made your first cup of coffee and are just starting to feel the brain fog of sleep receding. Clarity and spirituality first, then illumination and guidance. A new state of being calls forth a new kind of doing. It’s a stretch, but who’s not being forced to stretch right now. There’s no way we’ll pull off the salvation of the world unless we’re willing to change, to become different, to drop our preoccupations with smaller, ultimately meaningless things. No littleness allowed. Only magnitude, and love. The world won’t be what we want it to be until we’re no longer who we used to be. It’s hard to be alive at times; we’re all learning lessons, shedding old skin and growing into who we need to be. But the effort is worth it. The world is on fire. And those of us who have walked through the fire are the ones who will put it out.” Marianne Williamson

"The broadcast powers of evil so conspicuous today show themselves in the materialism and sensualism of the age, struggling against the advancing spiritual era." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 65:13

Reflections

An interesting question was posed to me today: If you met yourself, would you like you? I love this question! Let's all think about that -- and ask our social media "friends" to do the same...

Happy Weekend, Lovely Ones!

"Love it reflected in Love." Mary Baker Eddy 

Happiness is the Secret

Photo Credit: Tina Cone - Belize

Recently someone asked me: What next? Locusts? I couldn't keep from laughing as I told her, yes, this was the year the locusts cycled out of hibernation in our area. And therein is the secret we all need to remember: Laughter. I've been noticing who is happy and adjusting to the changes we are experiencing on a day-to-day basis. I'm pretty sure it's the people who were happy all along, don't you think? It seems this is what will bring us through to the other side, whatever that will be. Nobody can predict what's going to happen tomorrow, but we can predict how we will react to it. Laughing in the face of tragedy is NOT what I mean by this; please, don't think it is. There are many dire circumstances which need our attention, and we shall give it wherever we are led to participate. But let's tap into that innate joy which is programmed into us from before we were conceived, the Love which is our true being, and the peace that cannot be touched by outside influence. Kevin saved a cat and two kittens today. That is cause for celebration! There was a gentle rain which nurtured the plants and animals in our woods. Therein is joy. Pollyanna is on the Disney Channel! That makes me very happy...

"The loss of earthly hopes and pleasures brightens the ascending path of many a heart. The pains of sense quickly inform us that the pleasures of sense are mortal and that joy is spiritual." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 265: 26

Change is the Bottom Line Here

"No Looking Back"
Creation of Sandy Starbird

I hear a lot of news. My Kevin is a news guy and has read and/or listened to every bit of news put out since the mid-70s, so I get lots of information by osmosis. I purposely follow some people on Facebook in order to find out what Fox is baiting folks with nowadays. I follow Steve Grant's (KY3) page so I can gauge the way everyone is leaning on multiple issues. I read the Christian Science Monitor for moments of clarity and sanity. It's exhausting and it would be easy to shut down, but we shouldn't pretend all is well, or that we needn't act as it will work itself out. When people send me their particular views on matters via a video on youTube, or a particularly biased meme, or anything other than their own words expressing how they feel/think about something, I have begun to tell them exactly how I feel. The bottom line here is that things need to change. Our actions which have been destructive to the Earth, which harm people, which put money ahead of everything else -- well, we need to examine that and do things differently. We have a great opportunity at this time of forced change, so let's embrace it and find better ways to do things! I'm weary of political parties and strong opinions which keep us stuck in our ways, believing "I'm right and you're wrong". Let's give up these beliefs and look at what is actually happening here. It might be simpler than we think!

"Right motives give pinions to thought, and strength and freedom to speech and action. Love is priestess at the altar of Truth." Mary Baker Eddy - Science and Health Page 454:19