Are We Powerless?

 

Most religious doctrine and non-secular belief propound the idea that we, as humans, are weak, sinful, and powerless. Our interpretation of the language of A Course in Miracles and Mary Baker Eddy could keep us in that belief too, if we are holding onto past perceptions. But we are being asked to release everything we ever knew in order to see ourselves as the actual experience of God. It's very difficult to stop thinking of God as somewhere outside of us, perhaps passing judgment from a throne, and that's why I find it helpful to use some synonyms for Deity. Thinking of myself as a creation of divine Mind, a reflection of divine Love, makes it easier to grasp these concepts without separation. Would I rather see God as an old man in the sky, or as divine Love flowing in and through everything, not as a judgmental figure but as a gentle presence? I know which one brings me peace!

"Mortals must look beyond fading, finite forms, if they would gain the true sense of things. Where shall the gaze rest but in the unsearchable realm of Mind? We must look where we would walk, and we must act as possessing all power from Him in whom we have our being."​ ​Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health  Page 264:7-12

What One Gains is Given to All

 

A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson #318 topic is: “I came for the salvation of the world". This could be interpreted to mean we should go forth and proselytize, or perhaps that we need to save souls, or something of that sort. It is not. I know a large number of loving, compassionate people who want to save the world. This lesson tells us, "...what one gains is given unto all", and the salvation spoken of is not to be found at some future date, but right here, now, always. Every iota of Truth we accept is a gift to the world. We are all the expression of divine Mind and it only takes a cleansing of ego-based thought to accept this. By our humble yielding, we begin to understand that our salvation lies in this knowledge.

“Millions of unprejudiced minds--simple seekers for Truth, weary wanderers, athirst in the desert--are waiting and watching for rest and drink.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 570:14-17

Allow

 

photo credit: Aaron Springston

Newton County, AR

Allow - by Danna Faulds

There is no controlling life.

Try corralling a lightning bolt,

containing a tornado. Dam a

stream and it will create a new

channel. Resist, and the tide

will sweep you off your feet.

Allow, and grace will carry

you to higher ground. The only

safety lies in letting it all in –

the wild and the weak; fear,

fantasies, failures and success.

When loss rips off the doors of

the heart, or sadness veils your

vision with despair, practice

becomes simply bearing the truth.

In the choice to let go of your

known way of being, the whole

world is revealed to your new eyes

By: Danna Faulds

A Satisfying Visit With Friends

 

Magnetic Springs Road - Eureka Springs, AR

Today brought a satisfying visit with a couple of nonagenarian friends who have been dealing with various health problems. The sweet woman had broken a hip and recently returned home from five weeks in the hospital and rehabilitation. Her husband has been having memory problems and recently was diagnosed with cancer. The visit was satisfying because my sweet female friend is doing so well — walking and laughing and trying to learn new things. (I took her a portable CD player so she can listen to books and she happily learned how to use it!) She is also a life-long student of Christian Science, although she hasn’t actively studied in many years. But once you know the principles of metaphysics, you look at life in a different way. She is sure in her understanding of her true being as the image and likeness of God — of Life, Truth, and Love. Her husband, on the other hand, is materialistic in his understanding of life. He is distressed and thinks his life is over and he wants to be done with it all. We are good enough friends that I was able to tell him about a time in my own life when I could have felt as he does, but I chose to be grateful for the things I could do, rather than being angry or sad over what I could no longer have. We talked about how great his life has been and still is! If anyone reading this feels helpless or hopeless, start a gratitude journal. Every day I’m thankful for the sunshine, or the butterflies, or my friends, or books — well, you get the idea. Allow yourself to feel joy in the little things. Life is Good…

“All the evidence of physical sense and all the knowledge obtained from physical sense must yield to Science, to the immortal truth of all things.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health 493:6-8

Finding Joy in Another's Good

photo credit: Blake Lasater

 A Course in Miracles workbook lesson #316 states: “All gifts I give my brothers are my own.” I take that to mean all the good that is being given and received by everyone, everywhere, is goodness being given by and to me, right here, right now, all the time. Well, how far out is that??! After expressing this thought to someone, they said, "But what about the bad? Isn’t it given and received by everyone, and doesn’t it cancel out the good?" We could go through lots of conversations about these points, concerning the unreality of bad and the only-ness of good. But I don’t want to think in those ways any longer -- of right and wrong, good and bad -- so I won’t speak or write in those ways either. There is only One God, expressing only Itself. If we are the idea of God, there’s nothing else to consider. God is Love. We are Love and that’s a powerful principle by which to abide! “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right doing, there is a field. I will meet you there.” Rumi

“… that joy which finds one’s own in another’s good.” Mary Baker Eddy - Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, p. 127

Gifts For Everyone

Lothar, Jim, Jenny 

When someone compliments us on something, it feels like a gift, don't you think? I sometimes feel like Snoopy when he levitates from pure joy! We're beginning to understand that any time anyone gives this gift to anyone, anywhere, it buoys us, too. When we open ourselves to the radiance of Love, which flows through all existence, we are carried along effortlessly and joyfully. We no longer expect the so-called Murphy's Law to be in effect, bringing us challenges rather than harmony. Instead, we allow all the goodness and knowledge of the universe to be ours, expecting nothing and welcoming everything. Every good thought we send out into the universe multiplies. The good we do for one is done for all...​

“The sun, giving light and heat to the earth, is a figure of divine Life and Love, enlightening and sustaining the universe.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 538:11-13

Perceiving Change

photo credit: Aaron Springston

Have you ever felt that you're a victim of life's circumstances? Someone I know repeatedly falls into similar types of dramatic victimization. He spends his waking hours worrying about what will happen in the future and blaming others for what has happened in the past. His perception of the world is one of expecting the worst in every case scenario. How can we break free of this debilitating way of thought ""From new perception of the world there comes a future very different from the past."[ACIM workbook lesson #314] Could it possibly be so simple? It hasn't been easy for me to change the way I think and to allow myself to live with no expectations, but the concept is certainly simple enough. As with any new skill we learn, it's a matter of practice. Every day is yet another chance to live this new/old thought as the expression of Love!

“The human mind, imbued with this spiritual understanding, becomes more elastic, is capable of greater endurance, escapes somewhat from itself, and requires less repose. A knowledge of the Science of being develops the latent abilities and possibilities of man. It extends the atmosphere of thought, giving mortals access to broader and higher realms. It raises the thinker into his native air of insight and perspicacity.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 128:11-19