Is The Past Over In My Mind?

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Toni, Brud, Marsha - circa 1985

Someone posted photos on Facebook of our 10th class reunion in 1980. I was reminded of this statement from A Course in Miracles: “The past is over. It can touch me not." In my observations of these get-togethers, everyone seems to be pretty much the same as they always have been. The mean girls are still that way, the flirty girls are still flipping their skirts, and the cool kids are still hiding their feelings. While I've always enjoyed these gatherings, I tend to either wander away with an old friend or, perhaps, drink a bit too much and ask the cowboys to dance. I love this ACIM quote: “Unless the past is over in my mind, the world must escape my sight." I want to live in the present, in a world full of divine Love and Truth. Reliving illusions can be fun, much like watching a movie. But I'd rather wake up in a new world everyday, excited about the adventures it holds!

“As the crude footprints of the past disappear from the dissolving paths of the present, we shall better understand the Science which governs these changes, and shall plant our feet on firmer ground.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 224: 4-7  

Quantum Entanglement

 

photo credit: Arthur Bruno

​Physicists tell us of a perspective called quantum entanglement, in which particles separate yet remain connected, reacting to stimuli in the same way even though they no longer occupy the same space. In a book by Dan Cowan, Mind Underlies Spacetime, he explains, "...this direct connectedness occurs because each real entity is already everywhere." How perfectly this explains Oneness! What we think and do affects everyone and everything. Remember the butterfly effect? Our thoughts and actions act in this way, also: radiating into the universe, changing things without our knowledge. Every thought is important, adding to the cosmic soup which we only recognize through our rare glimpses of this omnipotent, invisible substance. So when we feel overwhelmed and think there is nothing we can do to change the world, remember, we are doing it now!

“As vapor melts before the sun, so evil would vanish before the reality of good. One must hide the other. How important, then, to choose good as the reality!” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 480:31

The Joys of Solitude

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Salt Flats - Utah - PC: Aaron Springston

Silence. First thing in the morning, I’ve always tried to have a happy thought, followed by a bit of concentrated study. Perhaps it’s the workbook lesson from A Course in Miracles, maybe it’s reading a page or two from another writing which will center me to begin the day, but it’s definitely not the news of world horrors. Last thing at night, I shut my brain down with a crossword puzzle or Words With Friends. But an important part of my day has always been silence. Listening. During the whirlwind romance I embarked on for the last four years, my silent time was diminished and at times non-existent. Now that Kevin has passed on, I am grateful for the moments I gave him, but I’m realizing how much I lost in not allowing myself more communion with All that Is. I Am. Falling back into the quiet rhythms which I love is a joy. I feel an urgency not before known, and it’s difficult to impart this to friends. The contentment brought from simple household chores, the happiness which rises when I wake up and realize I have nowhere to be, the pleasure derived from watching the flowers grow, doing chair exercises with a calm couple on youTube, playing the piano — I’m happier every day. So if I turn down an invitation to do something fun, please forgive me. I’ll be ready soon...

“The scientific sense of being, forsaking matter for Spirit, by no means suggests man’s absorption into Deity and the loss of his identity, but confers upon man enlarged individuality, a wider sphere of thought and action, a more expansive love, a higher and more permanent peace.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 265:10

Peace, a State of Mind

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photo credit: Arthur Bruno

I've heard it said that the older we get, the less things bother us. In earlier years, when I was bothered by everything, it was impossible to imagine that this was so. While it seems to be true now, I see plenty of people riper in years who are much-bothered all the time! My conclusion is that peace is a state of mind. As we cultivate an awareness of the presence of Love within ourselves, it becomes natural to turn to that gentleness in times of seeming turmoil. This peace is always there, whether we choose to acknowledge it or not. Today I look forward to relishing its gentle presence every moment.

“Mind demonstrates omnipresence and omnipotence, but Mind revolves on a spiritual axis, and its power is displayed and its presence felt in eternal stillness and immovable Love.” Mary Baker Eddy - From Retrospection and Introspection Page 88-89

Disappearance of the Universe

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Utah Salt Flats - photo credit: Aaron springston

Do you have an incident from childhood which has stayed with you, perhaps affecting the way you live today? I know someone who, as a young child, caught her mother in a compromising position with a man other than her father. She refuses to marry. I know a man who found his father dead from a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. His whole life is a series of dramatic events which he blames on that incident. I'm sure you know many stories, too. The Disappearance of the Universe, a book by Gary Renard, speaks to these types of events and much, much more. When we release our beliefs, we can turn loose our history, also. I love hearing stories of people who live through horrendous-seeming events and remain not only happy but proactive. This thing we call forgiveness isn't some sort of divine pardon, but a yielding within ourselves to purity of thought, without the impediments of holding on to memories of wrongdoing, resentment, and pain of all sorts. This yielding includes the release of things which we think have been done to us and things we think we have done to others. So let's choose again, rest in Love, and go forward, with joy!

“The more material a belief, the more obstinately tenacious its error; the stronger are the manifestations of the corporeal senses, the weaker the indications of Soul.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 144:10-13

The Holiest Spot

 

my front yard

"Clad in the panoply of Love, human hatred cannot reach you." This Mary Baker Eddy quote is one of my favorites, which I've always thought of as meaning that the human hatred others feel cannot reach me when I'm wearing the armor of divine Love. I now see that it includes the hatred I may feel toward others, also. It's very easy for me to think that I don't hate anyone or anything. Actually, it's a word I have pruned from my vocabulary and simply do not use. BUT if I am irritated by another's actions or words, or if I replay a situation in my mind which caused anger in the past, or if I allow criticism to gnaw at me and I think of retaliatory statements which could have been said -- isn't that human hatred? Wearing this cloak of Love calms these nagging feelings and thoughts. I know that if I'm wearing the protection of Love, hatred cannot enter from inside or out!

“The holiest of all the spots on earth is where an ancient hatred has become a present love.” A Course in Miracles

How Solid Is Matter?

 

photo credit: Christopher Fischer

​Quantum physics is helping us to understand that form isn't as solid as we've been told. With that understanding, it becomes clear that many limitations we've placed upon ourselves are nothing more than beliefs in material laws. Limitations are discarded when an athlete breaks a record in the Olympics, or if someone performs a seemingly-impossible feat like lifting a car off of trapped loved ones. We've all heard people tell tales we think of as supernatural, such as falling great distances and feeling as though they have landed on a cushion, or so-called incurable diseases disappearing. The first Wayne Dyer book I read was "When You Believe It, You'll See It!" I was so excited to see that mainstream thought was shifting! Now, I'm not suggesting we exchange one human belief for yet another, but rather let's look to​ward​ divine Mind to show us the truth of our being, allowing ourselves to be led in paths we wouldn't have considered otherwise. Thought is rapidly shifting at this time. Let's not be afraid!

“A mortal, corporeal, or finite conception of God cannot embrace the glories of limitless, incorporeal Life and Love. Hence the unsatisfied human craving for something better, higher, holier, than is afforded by a material belief in a physical God and man. ” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 258: 2-6