To Listen or Not to Hear

 Face-to-face duplicate bridge is happening again. Throughout the game there was a phone ringing in someone’s purse. After the game, my partner looked at me and asked, Doesn’t that phone ringing drive you crazy? I laughed and told her no, because I didn’t pay it any attention. She was surprised and more than a bit disbelieving as she asked me how that could be possible. Many platitudes (or maybe truisms) went through my thoughts. “If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter”. And, “Don’t sweat the small stuff, and it’s all small stuff”. I told her I simply ignored it, to which she looked at me as though I might have sprouted wings! On the other side of this coin -- when I got home, a dear friend from California called and we had a long talk, solving most of the world’s messes in 30 minutes or so. As we hung up, I told him we had identified the problems, now it was time to implement change. While he agreed with me, I’m not sure he thinks it’s possible. Ignoring that phone ringing is the flip side of recognizing something is wrong, then translating my thoughts about it to facilitate change within myself. Then I’ll be prepared to listen, as affirmative action calls to me, and I hope I’ll be ready to Be The Change I Want To See!

“Mortal mind accepts the erroneous, material conception of life and joy, but the true idea is gained from the immortal side. Through toil, struggle, and sorrow, what do mortals attain? They give up their belief in perishable life and happiness; the mortal and material return to dust, and the immortal is reached.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 536:24

When Intuition Calls You

 

Intuition has been my focus today. I’ve pondered this spiritual quality quite a bit, so when my eldest son told me they are currently spending some time in Santa Fe, my thoughts went to a dear friend who followed her heart and studied for two years with a teacher in that area. Susan was visiting friends in Santa Fe and had been to the market to pick up supplies. On her way home, she had the radio on and suddenly a man speaking caught her interest. The station was fading in and out, and the man seemed to be using two or three different languages. She couldn’t understand him, but she told me it sounded like “flowers coming out of the radio”. When she got home, she called the station and found out who it was she had heard. His name was Martin Prechtel and he lived in Ojo Caliente, a small village between Taos and Santa Fe. She found out he was a teacher of accumulated knowledge from his childhood on a Pueblo reservation in New Mexico and adult life in Guatemala. Susan knew, intuitively, that she must study with this man. She left everything she knew well and moved into a tiny room in a house, living her life in the way she was called to do. I admire anyone who follows their dream, but especially those who don’t stop one step before fulfilling it!

“My angels are exalted thoughts, appearing at the door of some sepulchre, in which human belief has buried its fondest earthly hopes. With white fingers they point upward to a new and glorified trust, to higher ideals of life and its joys. Angels are God's representatives. These upward-soaring beings never lead towards self, sin, or materiality, but guide to the divine Principle of all good, whither every real individuality, image, or likeness of God, gathers. By giving earnest heed to these spiritual guides they tarry with us, and we entertain ‘angels unawares.’” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 299: 7-17

A Series of Unfortunate Events

 

photo credit: Aaron Springston

Looking back at the series of unfortunate events of today, I could be tempted to say “I’ve had a bad day”. But I don’t care for that phrase, or even believe that such a thing is possible. Days are, after all, neither good nor bad (only thinking makes them so!). The act of living in the present makes all the difference, don’t you think? I won’t list the mishaps and oddities which have occurred around me today, but I have closely examined my thoughts and actions. I’m not one to chant affirmations, but rather attempt to live by intuition, which can be heard from listening instead of telling. You can’t push the river, you know! Usually, before going out the door, I quiet myself and ask for the wisdom to listen for what I should do and where I should be. I did not do that today. As I sit here pondering, I think of my dear, departed Kevin and a serious accident he was involved in almost 40 years ago. If he had been a few seconds later or sooner in his arrival at an intersection, he wouldn’t have been hit by a motorcycle going more than 100 miles per hour. That one moment affected everything he did from that day forward. What I have experienced today will remind me tomorrow to surrender to the inner guidance which is available to us all. I’ll revel in the sweetness of moments, rather than rushing through things I’d rather not do. I don’t care for the choices I made today, so tomorrow I shall choose again!

“Shepherd, show me how to go, o’re the hillside steep.
How to gather, how to sow, how to feed thy sheep.
I will listen for thy voice, lest my footsteps stray.
I will follow and rejoice, all the rugged way.”
Poem from Mary Baker Eddy

A Quiet Mind

 

photo credit: Aaron Springston

Many of us feel we are exhibiting signs of attention deficit disorder. If you get right down to it, aren't we all? Doesn't it seem our thoughts want to flit about from one topic to another, gathering steam as we ​travel ​through all the avenues we are led into​,​ as one thought triggers yet another? The thing I find unfortunate is​ ​people think​ing​ they have no choice​ in these frantic ​thought processes. Like anything else, it takes practice to attain a quiet mind. I know I've said it before, but watch that first thought of the day. It can set the tone for everything which comes after it. Refusing to start the day with busy thoughts is key to choosing a quiet mind over a ​scattered one. And when we slip into worry and circular thoughts, just choose again! Before we know it, th​e​ choice of a moment extends to a way of life. Ah, peace…

“The ‘still, small voice’ of scientific thought reaches over continent and ocean to the globe's remotest bound.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 559:8-10

Unspeakable Revelation

 

An online writing seminar called out to me today. It was basically an advertisement for ​a company called ​The Author Incubator, but my time was well-spent as Marianne Williamson talked to us about bringing light to the world through ACIM-oriented life coaching and writing. Also, I went to a restaurant which I’d never before been to, which hasn’t happened in a long, long time! While at this restaurant, I saw a number of people I knew, plus one who invited me to a widow’s meeting which she attends. I know many of the people involved with this group and think it’s a wonderful thing, but I declined her invitation. These two happenings brought revelations in thought for me, and I am most grateful. When Diana mentioned the widow’s group, I quickly questioned why I was averse to attending, realizing it was because I felt no need to work through my sadness. And the reason is simple: I have lived on my own most of my life, so it was not an adjustment when Kevin passed on. Yes, it was a surprise and there was an overwhelming grief, but I now openly admit that there is more joy than sorrow. I even told my friend today that the big adjustment had been having him living with me, and now I only have gratitude for all he brought to my life. And the little seminar caused me to realize I have more than 3,000 blog entries from which to cull a book. Indeed, much food for thought was brought to me ​on ​this beautiful day!

“Revelation is intensely personal and cannot be meaningfully translated. That is why any attempt to describe it in words is impossible. Revelation induces only experience. Miracles, on the other hand, induce action. They are more useful now because of their interpersonal nature. In this phase of learning, working miracles is important because freedom from fear cannot be thrust upon you. Revelation is literally unspeakable because it is an experience of unspeakable love.” A Course in Miracles, T:1:II

Cooperative Living

 

Cooperation at Aaron's Wedding Reception

Cooperation: This word has come to my attention in numerous ways today. While reading an article about the efforts in Oakland, California to protect inhabitants of their city’s Chinatown, I wept tears of joy, reading of the unity which is bringing them together for a common cause. A grassroots movement led by Carl Chan has provided security cameras, formed voluntary street patrols, and organized rallies to create this united effort. He states he became aware of the problem when he was a child in Hong Kong and a group of British boys beat him up. When he came to the United States with his parents, he first heard a black man speak out for justice. That was Martin Luther King who said, “I have a dream”, causing young Carl to realize he, too, dreamt of peaceful living. His work to foster cooperation has been a beautiful expression of what he has always felt in his heart. Another great cooperative story is about Chicago’s humane society working with store owners to naturally alleviate the rat problem in that city. There have been more than 1,000 neutered cats released on the streets, with foster businesses providing food and shelter in exchange for their hunting skills. This reminded me of Texas ranchers’ fight against wolves. The end result of all the wolf killing was that prairie dogs multiplied to the point that livestock died in larger numbers from stepping in prairie dogs' holes than ever lost their lives from wolves. These instances of cooperation cause me to think of the natural order of living, how we can get back to The Garden, and live realizing our oneness with all that is. Namaste...

“In this divinely united spiritual consciousness, there is no impediment to eternal bliss, — to the perfectibility of God’s creation.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 577:9

The Midnight Library

 

“She realized that you could be as honest as possible in life, but people only see the truth if it is close enough to their reality. As Thoreau wrote, ‘It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.’” This is a quote from the novel,​ ​The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig. This book explores the possibilities of what might be, had we chosen a different path in our lives. Not just major decisions, but small ones. There are billions of possibilities in these lateral lives which could be occurring right now, along with the reality we think we are experiencing. Fascinating stuff!! I know most of us have wondered what our lives would have been if we’d accepted that job in New York, or taken a plunge into whatever it was that scared us, or any number of decisions which could have taken us in another direction. The revelations of quantum physics have opened our minds to possibilities we may not be willing to accept. And that’s okay! ​We h​umans have spent our entire existence dumbing down the world because we can’t accept what we don’t understand. Our minds can’t see what they can’t handle. And that’s okay, too, because we don’t have to understand this life, we only must live it. I love life-affirming books such as this one! Let me know what you’re reading which has rocked your world!

“Metaphysics is above physics, ​and matter does not enter into metaphysical premises or conclusions. The categories of metaphysics rest on one basis, the divine Mind. Metaphysics resolves things into thoughts, and exchanges the objects of sense for the ideas of Soul.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 269:11