Miracle = Primal Order

 

unknown photographer

I love this quote attributed to Albert Einstein: “There are only two ways to live your life: as though nothing is a miracle, or as if everything is a miracle.” Because of various religious teachings, most of us think of a miracle as divine power setting aside a material law, allowing something otherworldly or supernatural to occur. What if a miracle is simply a correction of our limiting beliefs, opening us to the divine Mind and the limitless Life which is our true heritage as a child of Love? By this remembrance, we heal our mind of separation, giving us a clarity of thought and sight which was before unknown. I am very grateful —

“The miracle introduces no disorder, but unfolds the primal order, establishing the Science of God’s unchangeable law. Spiritual evolution alone is worthy of the exercise of divine power.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 135:6-10

Trust Issues?

 

Grand Canyon

photo credit: The Lasater Family

Trust ​issues. These words used to be used only during a romantic break-up, but now it ​seems to be a national ​topic. ​Things we have learned to trust suddenly feel frightening — i.e., policemen, politicians, preachers. Sometimes we have a tough time trusting our friends and loved ones. I know people who speak in derogatory terms about their children and their spouses. What is this thing we think of as trust? Does it truly originate in someone else, or does it come from within ourselves? Perhaps we don’t trust others because we don’t trust ourselves, or do we not trust ourselves because we don’t trust others? It all seems terribly complicated​, so I’m questioning​ my beliefs and understanding surrounding trust: what it means, where it starts, where it ends. Perhaps it’s like love, and there is no beginning nor end, although​ there often appears to be a finite amount to ​be allocated. I suppose I’m looking at this from a material view and I should practice what I preach, looking beyond human feelings and fears into the infinite realm of Love. ​​Be gentle with yourselves when you become caught up in the drama of daily life. Turning to "higher ideals of life and its joys" (as quoted below) is where I want to live today. 

“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.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 299:7-12

Expanding Consciousness Through Music

 

photo taken in Mexico

by Richard Quick

Music ​opens our ​mind to things we may have forgotten​,​ or​ ​perhaps​ have​ never  known. I love to sit with ​a ​symphony orchestra, opening my mind to only the music, until at some point I feel there is nothing else in the world. I recall Wayne Dyer talking about muscle testing using different items. ​Holding an organic banana ​near his heart ​allowed full strength in his son, whereas holding a CD of raucous music left him much weakened. ​We all enjoy music in many forms, and ​on multiple​ levels. Something we would ​like with friends at a party may not compare to the quiet strains of Bach, which take us deeper within ourselves prior to meditation or writing. Find the music which opens you to hearing the messages Life, Truth, and Love are offering you. Surround yourself with this river of salvation and see where it takes you!

“Mozart experienced more than he expressed. The rapture of his grandest symphonies was never heard. He was a musician beyond what the world knew.​ ​This was even more strikingly true of Beethoven, who was so long hopelessly deaf. Mental melodies and strains of sweetest music supersede conscious sound. Music is the rhythm of head and heart. Mortal mind is the harp of many strings, discoursing either discord or harmony according as the hand, which sweeps over it, is human or divine.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 213:19-29

We Are the Essence of Love

 

What is love? As a personal value, love changes and shifts. Friendships end over disagreements, marriages fall apart, societies struggle with how to remain cohesive while accepting those who think differently. In reality, Love is unchanging. This Love changes our material expectations and perceived shortcomings, when we allow it. There was a time when two people I care for did not get along with each other. Seeing them both as expressions of Love helped them to see themselves this way, too. Seeing myself as complete allows a shift to occur in the way I treat others — and myself. All problems, large and small, are symptoms of a basic misconception that we are fallen humans separated from Love. The understanding that we are Love, wholly and purely, starts a domino-effect process which inevitably includes everyone in this shift of thought, away from the unreal belief in what we think we are to the pure comprehension of our essence as Love.

“From Love and from the light and harmony which are the abode of Spirit, only reflections of good can come.”​ Mary Baker Eddy - ​Science & Health Page 280:4-7

I Want To Be Happy

photo credit: Aaron Springston

 I​ want to feel good. I want to be happy. Don't we all want these things? While feeling good and being happy may sometimes seem illusive, they are the product of the recognition of our true being as Love and the expression of it. When I'm feeling unhappy, I’ve found the way out is to do something for someone else. As the world is waking up to this, there are more writings concerning how we can continue to accept our enlightened state by realizing true consciousness. To share with others in this awakening is exciting! We are all doing it to some extent, aren't we? Look at the groups we are involved with in conversation: book clubs, spiritual meetings of various sorts, salons, chat rooms, virtual discussions, blogs -- the possibilities are endless! Every encounter I have with another, every thought I have, each and every one is shared with the universe. I vow to choose wisely, even when I think I’m talking to myself!

"It is essential to understand, instead of believe, what relates most nearly to the happiness of being. To seek Truth through belief in a human doctrine is not to understand the infinite." ​Mary Baker Eddy - ​Science & Health Page 285:32-4

Irreconcilable Differences?

 

photo credit: Arthur Bruno

It may seem as though we are all different. Our race, nationality, and teachings are said to combine to make us who we are. We supposedly have differences which are sometimes irreconcilable with others of our species. I am reminded of something Isaac Asimov said in one of his novels. I don't have the exact quote, but it was to the effect that we, as humans, would not realize our unity until life was discovered on another planet; then it could be us against them. This is the way it seems to be with human beings. Many of us are eager to let go of the beliefs which keep us shackled to this stagnant thought. Seeing everyone as reflections of God precludes thinking of others as different. Although it seems impossible that we could all live in this way, doing no harm to anyone or anything, always expressing Love in our actions and thoughts, it is not. This possibility is an actuality which we're seeing more clearly every day. Love and happiness are our realities, and this is seen clearly when the veil of material belief is lifted.

“Jesus aided in reconciling man to God by giving man a truer sense of Love, the divine Principle of Jesus’ teachings, and this truer sense of Love redeems man from the law of matter, sin, and death by the law of Spirit, — the law of divine Love.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 312:16-19

The Exquisite Harmony of Life

 

There’s an awesome BBC series entitled "Life", with David Attenborough as narrator. When viewing the perfection of all life blending together in exquisite harmony, I am inspired to be more in tune with this tapestry. Once again, we need only let loose the things we do by rote, leaving habitual behaviors where we found them, in order to open ourselves to new-old ideas and experience where that takes us. Today I shall ponder sustainable farms, organic and pure food, happy animals, pesticide-free vegetables! How wonderful to go to farmer's markets and actually talk to people who grow our food. In the last fifty years, the production of food has changed so drastically that most of our young people have no idea what they’re eating. And, in too many cases, we don't want to know. Every decision I make at the supermarket casts a vote for the process involved in its production. Every dollar I spend at a Farmer's Market also casts a vote. I don't really want to give my dollars to a corporation which manufactures food without Soul. I vote for food created with Love. I want everything I consume to be nurtured with Love. Releasing all guilt, I see that forgiveness is there for the realization of it, and a new world becomes visible. The New Earth has always been here, and now we're remembering and demonstrating that knowledge in a myriad of ways.

“Ask yourself: Am I living the life that approaches the supreme good?” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 496: 9-10