Dead End Path?

 ​                                                photo credit: Aaron Springston

When we think of extremist religious groups, perhaps the Islamic group al Qaeda comes to mind. Because Jesus was a man who spurned violence as much as he turned away from riches and power, we think of Christianity as a medium for peace and love. Unfortunately, this is not always true. The teachings of Jesus were simple: love your neighbor as yourself and God above all else. We are currently discovering many appalling things about our country's people, and the fact that many are waging violence because they think God is telling them to do so is frightening. It is beyond my ability to grasp this idea. Obviously pastors and others in charge are leading their flocks down dead-end paths. And for what reason? Our incoming president is a devout Catholic. The Reverend Raphael Warnock, newly elected senator from Georgia, is a Baptist minister, for goodness sakes! Why would Christians -- or anyone -- be opposed to good people simply because they are Democrats? I can only think of one reason: they have been demonized by religious leaders. I hope we can all remember that Jesus did not mean to start a religion; he came to teach us the way to peace, how to love without judgment, and to be empathetic to the plight of others. I pray for the day we can free ourselves of political parties and religious sects, allowing the purity of living from the heart without the ritual and rule of power-hungry leaders. Namaste...

"The Science Jesus taught and lived must triumph over all material beliefs about life, substance, and intelligence, and the multitudinous errors growing from such beliefs. Love must triumph over hate." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 43:27

I'll Meet You In The Field...

 

photo credit: Nick Franchi

Well, it's been cold for quite some time! A dear friend stopped by for a visit today and it was like a breath of fresh air. Now that it's a bit warmer, I encourage everyone to get outside and breathe, even if you can't visit with friends for whatever the reasons. Carol and I felt comfortable sitting in the living room, as far away from each other as possible, but tomorrow should be warm enough to have a friends' circle out in the street, if we so choose. For everyone who is able to walk, take advantage of it! Oh, how nice it would be to go to Crystal Bridges and walk in the gardens, or sit in the sunshine and hear music and laughter. Writing these words bring to mind a favorite poem, so I shall leave you with it:

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field. I’ll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase 'each other'

doesn’t make any sense.
The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
Don’t go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want.
Don’t go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth across the doorsill
where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Don’t go back to sleep.” Rumi

Introspection

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Introspection is my word of the month. For many reasons, there is a need for self-examination in our world, and that looking within is obviously an individual project. Am I acting in certain ways because I think it’s what is expected of me, or am I being true to my inner Self? Am I jumping up on my proverbial high horse and looking down on others with a sanctimonious, holier-than-thou attitude? Maybe. It’s always been a personal fault. My pettiness could be interpreted in much the same way as I’m interpreting the actions of others, so I’m going to pay attention to that, sincerely. There is such beauty and goodness in this world. My prayer is to add to that glory...

“If a friend informs us of a fault, do we listen patiently to the rebuke and credit what is said? Do we not rather give thanks that we are ‘not as other men’? During many years the author has been most grateful for merited rebuke. The wrong lies in unmerited censure, — in the falsehood which does no one any good.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 8:30

The Steering Mechanism of Human Experience

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photo credit: Aaron Springston

"Human thought is actually the steering mechanism of human experience." This statement I read recently can be interpreted in different ways, but I see how it has been demonstrated in my own life. Decades ago, I felt like a victim of life's circumstances. Of the top five stress-producing situations in life, I constantly was in the midst of two or three of them. It was a never-ending drama, with sadness which I tried to quelch by staying stoned all the time. It took years of concentrated effort to calm my thoughts and erase my addictions, but the reward has been happiness. It's easy to slip back into ways of thinking which bring distress -- such as being upset over political happenings, fear of disease, worry about children and loved ones. While I have not made a New Year's resolution to stop thinking this way, I have vowed to be thankful and to be aware of where my thought is steering me. I have preached to others the importance of our first thoughts upon waking and our last mental images before going to sleep. I've been lax in the good habits which became mine through practice. No matter what my waking thought is tomorrow morning, I want to turn it into this daily prayer which was given to us by Mary Baker Eddy: "'Thy kingdom come:' let the reign of divine Life, Truth, and Love be established in me, and rule out of me all sin [erroneous thoughts of separation]; and may Thy Word enrich the affections of all mankind, and govern them!"

Golden Bridges

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photo credit: Aaron Springston

Mark Twain had a lot to say about human nature. He supposedly said that a lie can travel around the globe while the truth is still putting on its boots. As if to prove the point, he probably never said any such thing! Today we are wondering how lies have ensnared so many people. There is a belief that mainstream media is in cahoots to fool us all, and, sure enough, we all know of instances when the media have manipulated us. If someone believes that The Christian Science Monitor is part of the mainstream media plot to feed us lies, it’s very difficult to point to Reuters and The Associated Press as proof that the Monitor is reporting facts. If someone believes that Epoch Times and One America News are telling the truth, they can back it up by pointing to Fox opinions and thousands of youtube videos by Q-Anon adherents to prove that their version of the news is fact. Opinions and belief have deeply sunk their barbs into our society. In the past, I’ve said that I try not to have strong opinions because they close my mind to everything else. If this is true, closed minds can be opened by releasing damaging beliefs. I love this statement I read today: “The term ‘golden bridge’ comes from Sun Tzu, the great strategist and author of The Art of War, who said, ‘Build your opponent a golden bridge to retreat across.’ In the military setting, golden bridges are a way to encourage a losing adversary to leave peacefully rather than fight to the death.” Perhaps I just love the way this sounds: golden bridge. I’m going to hold that image while joining with my loving, compassionate brothers and sisters in this journey to truth.

"One moment of divine consciousness, or the spiritual understanding of Life and Love, is a foretaste of eternity." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 598:23

Cognitive Dissonance

 

Cognitive dissonance is something most of us have experienced, but usually it occurs over something which doesn't really mess us up mentally -- such as, I know I shouldn't use plastic because it ends up in oceans. But what am I supposed to do? Looking at the image above causes a bit of distress in me because I want to rectify the images with the descriptions, but can't seem to move the words around in ways which make sense and feel right. I'm pretty sure many people are feeling this dissonance right now concerning things they have been convinced are true. The people I know who thoroughly believe the conspiracy theories they perpetuate as truth are feeling cognitive dissonance to the max! They believe they know things which most people don't know, and they have spent countless hours researching their findings, causing them to believe they are onto something which we "sheeple" don't know about or simply won't accept. The folks I know who believe these things are good people, friends even, and so I have examined my own thoughts deeply, on a regular basis, looking at things from other standpoints and trying my best to ascertain what is indeed going on in our world. My curiosity concerning how we have arrived at this place is so great that I vow to study hard and look for answers within myself, to change how I think about ideas I find offensive, and to go forward in a proactive way to help truth be known. I willingly acknowledge that our government needs restructuring, just as our police and healthcare systems do, but that doesn't mean we need to throw everything out, or throw up our hands in frustration declaring nothing can be done to fix them. There are solutions to every problem, and they begin with me and you. Let's all be gentle with each other and figure out what to do!

“Truth will correct all errors in my mind. What can correct illusions but the truth? And what are errors but illusions that remain unrecognized for what they are? Where truth has entered errors disappear. They merely vanish, leaving not a trace by which to be remembered. They are gone because, without belief, they have no life.  And so they disappear to nothingness, returning whence they came.  From dust to dust they come and go, for only truth remains.” A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 107

People Helping People

 

photo credit: Datura Böes

​A private school in California is run by a group which also has a prison outreach program. The inmates were so appreciative that they wanted to give something back, and asked what they could do to help the community. The school had a student whose parents had lost their jobs and had medical problems and, even with scholarship aid, they could not pay for their son's education to continue attending. The inmates pooled their resources and paid for the boy to finish his senior year. The student said he worked extra hard because he didn't want to let down his benefactors. He graduated and got a full scholarship to college. One of the incarcerated men who helped collect donations from others in his unit, says the men who contributed were eager to add value to someone’s life. “The damage to our victims can’t be undone, and we can make the choice to sow new things into the world. Now we have the opportunity to sow goodness, to sow charity, to sow love,” he says. In these times when so many thoughts are attuned to retribution and blame, let's remember these men and the good they wanted to add to the world by their gifts. I love these stories of people helping people, don't you? 

"And we solemnly promise to watch, and pray for that Mind to be in us which was also in Christ Jesus; to do unto others as we would have them do unto us and to be merciful, just, and pure." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 497:24