Strength Wrapped in Peace

 

Art: Arseniy Lapin

“Gentleness is not weakness. Just the opposite. Preserving a gentle spirit in a heartless world takes extraordinary courage, determination, and resilience. Do not underestimate the power of gentleness because gentleness is strength wrapped in peace, and therein lies the power to change the world.” 

L.R. Knost

“How can you wake children in a more kindly way than by a gentle Voice that will not frighten them, but will merely remind them that the night is over and the light has come? You do not inform them that the nightmares that frightened them so badly are not real, because children believe in magic. You merely reassure them that they are safe now. Then you train them to recognize the difference between sleeping and waking, so they will understand they need not be afraid of dreams. And so when bad dreams come, they will themselves call on the light to dispel them.” A Course in Miracles T-6.V.2:1-5

"Certain moods of mind find an indefinable pleasure in stillness, soft, silent as the storm's sudden hush; for nature's stillness is voiced with a hum of harmony, the gentle murmur of early morn, the evening's closing vespers, and lyre of bird and brooklet." 

Mary Baker Eddy - Christian Science versus Pantheism Page 3:8-13

[Art: Arseniy Lapin]

What We Share in Common

 

Photo credit: Blake Lasater

My parents considered themselves to be free of prejudice. After all, my dad had married a Chicano girl from South Texas, and in 1931 this was tantamount to marrying outside of "your race", which wasn't often done. I'll always remember a day when I was around 10 years old and we were riding in the car. My mom and dad were talking about Sammy Davis, Jr., a black man, marrying May Britt, a very white woman. I piped up and said, "I wouldn't mind marrying a black man". Dead silence ensued. Not another word was said until we got to our destination and my mom took me aside and told me never to say anything like that again. I didn't understand it then, and I don't understand it now. The difference is that now I have the option of making a decision to stand with Oneness as my only choice. We are all the children of God. There is no decision to be made if we leave aside the strange human interpretations we have placed on everything in this world. So I will continue to strive to recognize what we have created in this illusive world, look through it to the other side, and live that as my reality. Namaste

“We share one life because we have one Source, a Source from which perfection comes to us, remaining always in the holy minds which He created perfect. As we were, so are we now and will forever be. A sleeping mind must waken, as it sees its own perfection mirroring the Lord of life so perfectly it fades into what is reflected there. And now it is no more a mere reflection. It becomes the thing reflected, and the light which makes reflection possible. No vision now is needed. For the wakened mind is one that knows its Source, its Self, its Holiness.” A Course in Miracles - W-167.12:1-7

“The point for each one to decide is, whether it is mortal mind or immortal Mind that is causative. We should forsake the basis of matter for metaphysical Science and its divine Principle.” Mary Baker Eddy- Science & Health 195:11-14

Holding the Space of Peace and Love

Photo credit: Richard Quick

In these writings, the function of holding the peace, or holding the space of love, or something along those lines, is often mentioned. Sometimes readers ask what that means and why I think it's necessary to do anything of the sort. I've been asking myself this question while people dear to me are having some tough decisions to make and are facing uncertainty in the midst of change. I have the deep feeling that it is my purpose to stake out a neutral space and hold it as an oasis of peace. Sometimes that space is invaded by fear or anger, but that doesn't mean it has been spoiled. The recognition that reflecting Love is our native state, and that other emotions are human diversions, is the way I reclaim this neutral, loving attitude, and hold it steady for any who wish to join in the peace. While I agree with those who tell me there is a spiritual solution to every problem, I am learning there never was a problem to begin with, and that this basic understanding is the solution. 

"You have no idea of the tremendous release and deep peace that comes from meeting yourself and your brothers totally without judgment. When you recognize what you are and what your brothers are, you will realize that judging them in any way is without meaning. In fact, their meaning is lost to you precisely because you are judging them. All uncertainty comes from the belief that you are under the coercion of judgment. You do not need judgment to organize your life, and you certainly do not need it to organize yourself. In the presence of knowledge all judgment is automatically suspended, and this is the process that enables recognition to replace perception." A Course in Miracles T.3.VI.3

Growth

"When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don’t blame the lettuce. You look for reasons it is not doing well. It may need fertilizer, or more water, or less sun. You never blame the lettuce. Yet if we have problems with our friends or family, we [often] blame the other person. But if we know how to take care of them, they will grow well, like the lettuce. Blaming has no positive effect at all, nor does trying to persuade, using reason and argument. That is my experience. No blame, no reasoning, no argument, just understanding. If you understand, and you show that you understand, you can love, and the situation will change ~Thich Nhat Hanh

“Accept with gladness what you do not understand, and let it be explained to you as you perceive its purpose work in it to make it holy. You will find many opportunities to blame your brother for the ‘failure’ of your relationship, for it will seem at times to have no purpose. A sense of aimlessness will come to haunt you, and to remind you of all the ways you once sought for satisfaction and thought you found it. Forget not now the misery you really found, and do not breathe life into your failing ego. For your relationship has not been disrupted. It has been saved.” A Course in Miracles - T-17.V.8

“Teach them that their being is sustained by Spirit, not by matter, and that they find health, peace, and harmony in God, divine Love.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 416:32-2

Simple Joys

 

Today I visited with a sweet nonagenarian who is living in a full-care facility. She has taken a few falls and is very confused, along with having some hearing problems. She and I first met when I was organist for the Methodist congregation here in Eureka Springs. When the pandemic was upon us, she and her daughter (whom she lived with at the time) stayed in strict isolation, and they lived out in the woods. I began writing notes to her on a regular basis, sent by snail mail, and she responded with delight. On my visit with her today, she told me fantastical tales of her youth, and her life when living in California. I don’t know what was true and what was fantasy, and the great thing is it doesn’t matter! She enjoyed telling me and I enjoyed hearing her do it! She asked me numerous questions, such as: What was the best day of your life? Do you have enough money? How is your nutrition? (Direct quotes here) I took her a cookie from one of our local cookie makers. I have never seen anyone so happy over a cookie!! It takes very little to bring joy into another’s life, and it brought me joy to watch her. She caused me to think of things I had not considered. And I am grateful …

“Love never loses sight of loveliness. Its halo rests upon its object. One marvels that a friend can ever seem less than beautiful. Men and women of riper years and larger lessons ought to ripen into health and immortality, instead of lapsing into darkness or gloom.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 249:3-7

⁶Even at the level of the most casual encounter, it is possible for two people to lose sight of separate interests, if only for a moment. ⁷That moment will be enough. ⁸Salvation has come.” A Course in Miracles - M-3.2:6-8

Making Sense of Things

“Discovery and Revelation: Religion, Science, and Making Sense of Things” is a new exhibit at the Smithsonian Museum of American History. In this relatively small space, they examine the intersections of religion and science in American culture. Three prompting questions frame the exhibit: “What does it mean to be human? What do we owe each other? What is our place in the universe?” You will find the Apollo 8 flight manual and Charles Darwin’s 1860 book, “On the Origin of Species”. It is meant to spur on some thinking! Reading about it certainly got me to thinking. I did not know there was something called Thomas Jefferson’s Bible, one in which he had excised all references to Jesus’ healings and metaphysical teachings. There is a portrait of Henrietta Lacks, the woman whose cells were used after her death, without her or her family’s permission. Corporations have made billions of dollars from these cells, with nothing benefiting her family. In the portrait she is holding a Bible and the question is asked: What do we owe each other? The purpose of this exhibit and its fascinating items and facts is not to answer any questions, but to cause us to ask some of ourselves and our beliefs. In the center of the exhibit there are eight figures with the question,” Can religion be scientific?” Of course, the discoverer of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, is one of those eight. I look forward to finding more information on this!

“Jesus established what he said by demonstration, thus making his acts of higher importance than his words. He proved what he taught. This is the Science of Christianity. Jesus proved the Principle, which heals the sick and casts our error, to be divine.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 473:26-31

Lions and Lambs and Humans — oh my!

 

Unknown photo source

In this lifetime, I’ve learned quite a bit from and about animals. When I was young, the general attitude was that only humans had “souls”. Perhaps this was started to justify our treatment of them. I’m not sure. Maybe it was simply an innocent mistake. It was also taught in subtle and obvious ways that cats and dogs didn’t get along; that they were natural enemies, if you will. I think we’ve all seen animal friendships which transcend these antiquated ideas! One of the most powerful moments I’ve witnessed was my house cat touching noses with a deer. They communed for a few minutes, while I watched in wonder. The things we believed about animals have changed, and it’s comforting to know we humans can see each other in a new light also. We need only accept each other for what we truly are, reflections of divine Love, to bypass the immaterial illusion of angry, divisive people who cannot get along because of opposing thought systems. Loving one another as God loves us shouldn’t be difficult. Let’s get out of our own way and allow that Love to shine from each of us, without setting parameters of who or what will receive it. Namaste …

“Seek not within the world to find your Self. Love is not found in darkness and in death. Yet it is perfectly apparent to the eyes that see and ears that hear love’s Voice. Today we practice making free your mind of all the laws you think you must obey; of all the limits under which you live, and all the changes that you think are part of human destiny. Today we take the largest single step this course requests in your advance towards its established goal.”  A Course in Miracles — W-127.6:1-5

“Clad in the panoply of Love, human hatred cannot reach you. The cement of a higher humanity will unite all interests in the one divinity.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 571:18-21