The Hope Flag Project

Eureka Springs has a wonderful project happening right now! A Hope Flag Project, sponsored by our community center and the Eureka Springs School of the Arts. There are detailed instructions on either of their websites, but basically you can pick up small, hangable blank flags and decorate them with messages of hope and love. I think this is just what we need, don't you? Four years ago, eight years ago, we were filled with hope before our elections. It's been difficult to find any this year, but we each individually are filled with love and are searching for hope in every nook and cranny of our existence. So let's make our own, with flags, with letters, and with our actions. Write letters to the editor, make positive social media posts, call your friends and tell them good news, cook dinner for your neighbor, send a note to an old friend. Today's message from me can fall under the category of "don't let the bastards get you down"! There are lifeboats of goodness waiting for us, but we must recognize them and reach for them. Help your friends if they're caught up in the downward tide. Give them something to hold onto, no matter how small it may seem. Together these messages are powerful. Together we can do it...

"Man walks in the direction towards which he looks, and where his treasure is, there will his heart be also. If our hopes and affections are spiritual, they come from above, not from beneath, and they bear as of old the fruits of the Spirit." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 451:14

All Things Born to Break

 My neighbor sent a video for me to watch, only saying “watch closely”. I did that three times and took away more insights into its beauty every time I watched it. I give you the gift she gave me, a link to this amazing piece of art. Have a beautiful day!

https://youtu.be/n0zqQxz4DHs

ALL THINGS BORN TO BREAK

Hafez

All things born to break
In meek sacrifice
For another’s sake,

All man’s striving vain,
Lavish’d as the price
Of the heart’s hid pain—

Long, O spirit-bird,
Of thy lonely fear
Hast thou sung unheard

In hope’s moon-lit wood,
While no creature near
Knew nor understood.

Don't Waste a Good Crisis

St. Patrick's Day in Eureka Springs - PC: Richard Quick

As we go through the day, words and actions we witness make an impact on us. Today I heard Miten, Deva Premal’s husband, say this is the time for compassion, creativity, devotion to positive change. He advised us to not “waste a good crisis”! I love that, don’t you? Crises seem to be the impetus which force us to a better place than where we were. I could name numerous times in my personal life when I was urged upward and onward through sadness and fearful circumstances. And the second thing which struck me today was reading about a woman in Philadelphia who lived near where the strangely-named proud boys were going to have a rally. The people of the area got together and had a fun fair in the park where the men planned to gather. There was music, games, happy clowns, balloons, children, animals — beautiful, joyous people were everywhere doing what happy people do! The gun-toting men who showed up seemed confused and wandered around briefly before leaving. Let’s do that today and everyday, when we meet any sort of derision. We need not be afraid when bringing Love to the table, no matter what the event!

"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 page 571:18

Most Of Us Are Kind and Helpful

Suzie Bell fixing her neighbor's roof

Growing up, I don't remember being around people who held themselves above everyone else; people who thought the world revolved around them and had no consideration for others. Maybe it's faulty memory, but it seems as though everyone was considerate of other people. Maybe that's only because my parents were kind and helpful. Everyone who lives on my street is kind and helpful. Everyone I know well is, also. These things cause me to truly believe that most of the world's population lives by the "golden rule", to treat others the way you want to be treated. Yet we hear of just the opposite, constantly, from media of various sorts. In our circle of friends, there are those who save dogs and cats, provide free medical treatment for those in need, and work tirelessly for causes which improve the world and its living creatures. We are energy, and that energy can be described in many ways, but my favorite is Love. God is Love, and we are that reflection. Anything other than that truth is an illusion created by lost children. We can help them return to Love by bombarding them with it, no matter what.

"The serpent of God's creating is neither subtle nor poisonous, but is a wise idea, charming in its adroitness, for Love's ideas are subject to the Mind which forms them, -- the power which changeth the serpent into a staff." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 515:6

Heroes, Then and Now

Who are your heroes? After watching the movie Hidden Figures, which tells how three women were integral in getting the United States space program off the ground, my heroes are every woman who has continued to do her best in the presence of ugly racism. This movie helped me to realize the depth of prejudice and the senselessness of racism and sexism. Every time this understanding reaches a deeper level within me, it becomes more difficult to understand its origins. How did we become a society which looks down on someone because of their skin color, gender, or social standing? Social standing, what the heck does that even mean? I look forward to the day we see people for who they are, appreciating qualities such as kindness, intelligence, integrity, morality, creativity, and such. And my heroes today, specifically, are the women who are running for political office, speaking truth to lies, showing us what kindness and integrity mean through their actions, those who walk the talk. Suzie Bell comes to mind first and foremost. Saying these words remind me of other heroes I see every day. I think I'll write them notes telling them so, because they probably don't know how valued they are!

"Ignorance, pride, or prejudice closes the door to whatever is not stereotyped." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 144:25

Birth of a New-Old Idea

Arches National Park - PC: Aaron Springston

Change is everywhere. Some of us do not care for the changes we are making, while others are seeing more efficient ways of doing things they always took for granted. The avenues we've become accustomed to strolling are sometimes closed, causing us to turn disappointedly down new paths. I love seeing disappointment turn into joy when a new talent is discovered. Perhaps someone you know has the freedom now to explore ways of life they had only dreamed about prior to this major shift in our lives. Speaking of dreams, is anyone else having vivid, lucid dreams? I look forward to going to sleep every night to see what new ideas I'll wake up to! My friend, Carol Peacock, posted a great idea to Facebook today. For Halloween, the kids (and adults!) can dress up and hang out in their yards, while we drive by and toss candy to them! I love this new/old way of thinking, don't you? Before we thought we knew everything, we were always dreaming of new and better ways to express ourselves. I'm watching a huge orange harvest moon show itself right now, wondering that something so familiar can seem so exciting and brilliant. You and I are like that, too. Shift our thoughts just a bit, look at a friend in a new light, be willing to watch and wait...

"As a material, theoretical life-basis is found to be a misapprehension of existence, the spiritual and divine Principle of man dawns upon human thought, and leads it to 'where the young child was,' -- even to the birth of a new-old idea, to the spiritual sense of being and of what Life includes. Thus the whole earth will be transformed by Truth on its pinions of light, chasing away the darkness of error." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 191:8

Namaste, Mr. Trump...

Colorado Fall - photo credit: Aaron Springston

Today someone said to me that she felt as though we are living through a Shakespearean play. I replied that I did, too, with added elements of many dystopian science fictions books. Our president is now in the hospital with the virus which is sweeping the world. Throughout the past years, I have come to expect hyperbole and fibs to flow from this man’s mouth, and so my first reaction upon hearing he had tested positive was that he is probably faking symptoms in order to avoid prosecution for the multitude of crimes which are coming to light faster now than ever before. My first reaction was not sympathy, as it would be for anyone else, and for that, I am sorry. It feels like a failure on my part that I have reacted this way. When I stop to think about that, I could name any number of reasons why I am not sorry for my lack of compassion, but it doesn’t really matter. I am judging another human being who has been crying out for love his entire life. It’s not my job to try to change him, but it is my job to give him the love he thinks he does not have. Unbeknownst to him, he’s always had this divine Love which permeates eternity, surpassing the limited love we feel in this third dimension. There is much to be corrected within myself, and this writing is the beginning of my work toward that end. Namaste, Mr. Trump...

"The wrong done another reacts most heavily against one's self. Right adjusts the balance sooner or later." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 449:7