What Rings True

 

from Anupam Nath/AP - Gauhati, India, 11/5/2020

A man named Bill Sweet, who has videos and books about spirituality and its relationship to our daily lives, contacted me. He has some views I like very much concerning how we are being fed ideas, and what causes us to think they’re our own. Personally, I think the key to safe social media consumption is reading many differing views and developing critical thinking skills. But for now I will give you some of his thoughts: “The spiritual threat to mankind is that our individual subjective thinking is being bombarded, manipulated and reprogrammed. The result is that we live in virtual realities where narratives are suggested to us to act out. These superimposed sidetracking narratives on our thinking separate us from knowing what is true about the divine realities of Life, Truth, and Love.” I find this explanation helpful in relation to conversations I have had with people who believe something to be true which I know to be false. I’ve found it’s best not to argue, but to try to understand. And it helps me examine my own idea of truth, to look at things from all angles, not just the ones where I’m comfortable. May we all do some soul-searching and brain cleansing in these days to come!

“There is nothing to work at.

There is nothing to purge.

There are no new bridges to build.

There is only a bonding

with what rings True to us,

coming out of inward awareness.”

Jim Young

For the Remembering...

photo credit: Aaron Springston

For millennia we have been moving to this point in consciousness! Today I am going to be remembering every seer whose words have awakened this knowledge of salvation within me. These will be people who have become a part of us all to such an extent that they are ever-present in our conversations and thought. I want to remember the words of John Lennon, Emerson, Shakespeare, Rumi -- all those who have given me hope in knowing I'm not the only one feeling this way. And while visiting these words I love, I will know that this salvation is not only desired, but is here, now, for the remembering.

"Acquaintance with the Science of being enables us to commune more largely with the divine Mind, to foresee and foretell events which concern the universal welfare, to be divinely inspired,--yea, to reach the range of fetter-less Mind.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 84:14 

Warriors of Love

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Numerous times during history -- as we know it -- there have been great disruptions in the norm, usually brought on by drought or disease or other outside influences. Our world is experiencing one of those times -- perhaps the most urgent ever known. Each and every one of us have been practicing for this parenthesis in time and we are ready to do whatever we are called upon to do. I see, within our small communities, a gathering in our neighborhoods, a desire to know if our neighbors have a problem we can help solve, or a physical need we can meet, perhaps a helping hand with a chore, or simply a kind word. As our dear friend, Jim Young tells us: We lend ourselves to each other. It has begun to seem as though we're afraid to do this and think everyone has nefarious ambitions, causing us to withhold ourselves. And I won't deny the existence of some scallywags out there, and we must use our intuition and back off if we get a bad "vibe", but let's learn to trust ourselves and, thereby, trust others, too. I can hardly wait to hear your thoughts!

"Abraham: Fidelity, faith in the divine Life and in the eternal Principle of being. This patriarch illustrated the purpose of Love to create trust in good, and showed the life-preserving power of spiritual understanding." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 579: 10

Choose Peace

photo credit: Aaron Springston

Although I know peace is a choice within my own self, I want 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 years of trying to change loved ones, I think it was my children who finally taught me the meaning of Oneness. They showed me this as I watched the household mood change its tone along with my emotions. Holding to peace within myself is all I can do — and that’s a lot! Jumping on the bandwagon of resentment or other negative emotions can seem difficult to avoid, but it’s possible 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’re all in this together, in every way, at every moment. And so today I will make an effort to see through the eyes of Love, excluding nothing, no matter what!

“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

Joy Dissipates Anger

 I heard a most disheartening tale today. A young man who works with Kevin told him that he and his girlfriend had voted for the first time ever. And now they are afraid for their lives. Because of stories in the news and from individuals, they are stockpiling food and thinking about buying a gun and ammunition! To be afraid because of who you vote for in the United States of American is distressing, to say the least. It has caused me to think about things I'm seeing, and noting how potentially violent situations are handled and dissipated.

It seems that music and dancing are the best weapon to use in the face of angry shouting and violent threats. Also, simply observing madness and then going back to your job seems to be effective -- i.e., the person giving an update in front of the Las Vegas poll where votes were being counted. Someone came out and began shouting weird, angry words -- and everyone just watched him until he left. Then the speaker turned around and said, "Where were we?", and continued with the question/answer session. While I am concerned about first-time voters being frightened away from voting again, I'm concerned for all of us who wake up with nightmares of what could happen. Is it a collective consciousness bringing us these bad dreams, or perhaps the media feeding us horror shows 24/7, or maybe it's Aunt Mable babbling about what she heard from her caretaker. Whatever the case, I choose joy! Let's keep our vibrations going high and strong, shielding ourselves and everyone with the best armour possible: divine Love!

"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

Soaring Aspirations

photo credit: John Rankine

Creation's gentleness is all around us, but often it's not noticed because of the universal belief in harshness. More and more we're seeing animals showing us our kinship with all life through their sweet interactions. With our realizations of Oneness, we're starting to see that if violence is done to or by one, it's done to or by all. We're allowing our thoughts to change from fear and anger to Love and gentleness. Many people are holding with the old paradigm, and some say it's necessary for heinous acts to be committed, and also retaliation in kind. On the other hand, more people are realizing the error of this way, and know that it is possible for the lion to lay down with the lamb. Namaste...

“The fowls, which fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven, correspond to aspirations soaring beyond and above corporeality to the understanding of the incorporeal and divine Principle, Love.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 511:28

Looking At The System

While reading today, I came across this:

"One of the systems we’re part of, of course, is the political system. We may wish we weren’t part of it often, but we are. And all of those people playing with the power of the medium of politics, and its effect on the media and its effect on collective human consciousness, and those people that are addicted to power are there because of us. It boils down to that. That we create a field in which they can play with power, and that power is more or less compassionate. And the political system is a system in which as long as you have a passport, you are a member of it whether you like it or not. You’re part of a government, and your not voting is voting. So there’s no way out. You can’t say, 'I’m not going to have anything to do with politics.' You can say it, but you’ve got to watch where you’re saying it from. You may say, 'I’m not going to get involved with politics because I am so busy with something else that I think is my dominant theme, and I’ll vote, but I’m not going to put my time into campaigning for candidates and things like that, or issues, because my energies are best used here.' That’s fine. If you’ve thought it through and felt that way and can look somebody in the eye and say, 'This is the way it is.' If you’re saying, 'I’m not having anything to do with politics because it’s too dirty and because I don’t approve of it,'. Forget it – you are abdicating your responsibility to society. It’s as simple as that.

We’re at an interesting moment within the shift of collective consciousness, specifically around the way in which we’re integrating the changes in power structures. Now business holds sway over government, over religion, in terms of social power. And business is like pirates on the high seas – the question is, do you control it from the outside, or does it control itself? Does the whole process have a meta-game that’s controlling itself, and can you stand back far enough to see how it’s playing out? How is the shift in collective consciousness going to evolve and what part do you play?

Part of the curriculum is looking at the systems that you are a part of and being able to say 'That system needs work.' It’s important to be able to shift your game so that you’re not simply pushing the system away and saying 'I don’t think about that stuff, because it’s too complicated. Let somebody else worry about it.' Because as long as you get really frustrated with Americanism, you may be standing in the way of everybody’s survival." Ram Dass -1995