Growth in Grace

 

photo credit: Aaron Springston

I remember a young woman who came into my gallery one evening and told me that she loved art, but that she didn't have any talent because she had been sexually abused as a child. I smiled at her and she said, No, really, every day for years and years! I told her I wasn't smiling about what she had said or what had been done, but I was smiling at the part of her which had never been touched by any of this. I told her everyone has tons of talent and for her to continue trying things until she found something she really loved -- and then keep on doing it! Her eyes lit up as she listed things she loved and wanted to do. By practicing kindness when faced with hardness of heart, meekness when those around us are aggressive, loving those who seem unlovable, and paying it forward at every opportunity, we acknowledge the grace which is our true heritage. By this, we learn what it feels like, not just what it means.

“What we most need is the prayer of fervent desire for growth in grace, expressed in patience, meekness, love, and good deeds." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 4:3-5

Looking Through the Mirage

 

photo credit: Aaron Springston

"Let me remember that there is no sin.” This is the heading of A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson #259.​ ​It certainly seems as though sin is tangible in our world. We look at the news and see things which seem too horrible to be anything other than evil and sinful. But, once again, this is the material illusion. The reality is God and Its reflective creation. This creation is spiritual, everlasting substance, unchanging goodness. That is why there is no sin, because it is unreal! This same revealing of reality exposes other material discord as nothing more than mist to be seen through and dispelled. There is no magic potion which allows us to look past the mirage of sin, and many reports of our senses seem real until we look through them to the other side -- and then what a treat we have in store for us! There, waiting to be recognized, is the reality of our Being, just waiting for us to discover!

“Question: Is there no sin?
Answer: All reality is in God and His [Its]creation, harmonious and eternal. That which He creates is good, and He makes all that is made. Therefore the only reality of sin, sickness, or death is the awful fact that unrealities seem real to human, erring belief, until God strips off their disguise. They are not true, because they are not of God.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 472:23-30

A Higher Peace

 

photo credit: Aaron Springston

I had a friend who died from cancer. She was very active; always busy doing things. I once asked her if she ever had any quiet time and she told me that she didn't want any, because then she would have to think. Many traumatic events had happened in her life, including the violent deaths of her parents and tragic passing of her children. Our thoughts can be occupied by many temporal things, such as collecting material possessions, or perhaps we simply need the busyness of daily life to keep us from thinking about painful memories. Whatever the case, we rarely allow ourselves the quiet we need in order to hear the still, small voice​ within​. We may fear the unknown, perhaps thinking the activities with which we keep ourselves busy can keep us from examining the cause of our pain, translating it, and releasing it. We may use alcohol and drugs to cover up the turmoil for a little while, but lasting peace only comes through knowledge of Love. Sometimes love is used as a soporific, placating our desire for an all-encompassing Love with no beginning nor end. Today I will remind myself to remember what I have forgotten, which is only found within.

“This 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 265:10-15

Remembering My Purpose

 

photo credit: Aaron Springston

"If I forget my goal, I can be but confused ..." This is a phrase from A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson #257, which is titled, “Let me remember what my purpose is.” Looking back over my last half-century, I see many times of major confusion, and lots of minor confusions. I now feel these times are nothing more than intervals when I've forgotten to listen for omnipresent guidance. My purpose is unfolding every moment, and all I need to do is show up and be willing -- willing to be open-hearted, open-minded -- just open! -- with no expectations and no plans of how things should be. It's tempting to think of this as undisciplined, and others may be critical of this attitude, but I can attest to the fact that wandering around in college for five years perfectly prepared me for freelance court reporting. And thirty years of taking down and transcribing depositions was an incredible education which paved the way for running an art gallery for ten years. All those things brought me to where I am today, and none of it could have been planned. Today, I think of this as listening and following. Back then, I didn't think of it at all…

“Spirit, God, gathers unformed thoughts into their proper channels, and unfolds these thoughts, even as He opens the petals of a holy purpose in order that the purpose may appear.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 506:18-21

What To Remember...

 

photo credit: Aaron Springston

This is the 20th anniversary of a horrific event which happened in New York City. We refer to it as 9/11 and everyone knows what it means. A phrase became popular at the time and still persists today: never forget. The spirit in which this was stated didn’t feel right to me at the time, and I wasn’t sure why. Now, it seems like the remembering is based in retaliation and fear, and the seeds sown have not yielded a pleasant bounty. Today’s mass at the parish center of our local Catholic Church is the same one ​people will hear on Sunday morning at St. Elizabeth’s in downtown Eureka Springs. I wish everyone could hear it. Father Joseph simply asked that we sing “Let There Be Peace on Earth” (and let it begin with me). After the congregation finished, he made a short statement about what we needed to remember: to help those in need, to love one another, to give to the poor, to be kind. It was beautiful. This is what feels right in my heart: to remember to love. To never forget what is important and what facilitates change: love. To reach out to those in need of kindness and understanding. To comfort those who are sorrowing. Love. Never forget to 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 Have No Words

 

Mary Baker Eddy quote: “This material world is even now becoming the arena for conflicting forces. On one side there will be discord and dismay; on the other side there will be Science and peace. The breaking up of material beliefs may seem to be famine and pestilence, want and woe, sin, sickness, and death, which assume new phases until their nothingness appears. These disturbances will continue until the end of error, when all discord will be swallowed up in spiritual Truth.” Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 92:12-20

Happy in the Moment

 

Cedar Waxwings photo by Richard Quick

As I was glancing through the magazine, Real Simple, an article title grabbed my attention. It said: “It’s Better to be Happy for a Little While Than Unhappy Forever” — wow! The short narrative told of a couple who found a stray kitten, loved it dearly, never took trips because they would miss their cat, then when the sweet kitty, Gem, passed on, they decided to travel. They enjoyed it very much, but were happy to come back to their home. But something was missing. They needed a cat. A friend saw one that needed a home and reminded her of Gem, but the couple was reluctant because the cat was older and seemed to have some health problems. They decided against getting it. When the woman was lamenting their decision at her hairdresser, the stylist’s response was “It’s better to be happy for a little while than unhappy forever.” A lightbulb went on over the woman’s head​.​ ​They ​adopted the cat, its health problems cleared up with tender, loving care, and they have ​loved it for five years, to the betterment of all involved! The idea of being happy right now without worrying about the possible perils of tomorrow makes me smile. I hope it does you, too!

“Each successive stage of experience unfolds new views of divine goodness and love.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 66:14