Tribes and Oneness

While talking to a friend about the tribes people associate themselves with, I paused to think about the cocoon I feel cozy within here in Eureka Springs.  There are any number of groups of people I feel a deep kinship toward, but there is no limiting identity with any particular one. I remember when my boys and I moved here almost three decades ago. It was to attend the Clear Spring School. One of the mothers told me this school was a way of life, and I soon found out what she meant. We worked together to raise money to keep the school viable, and leaned on each other for child care and support in every avenue of life. This was a total-immersion situation unlike any other I’ve encountered. From that new beginning, I have been involved with and loved our metaphysical group and my Eureka Thyme family; now I feel a deep kinship with the three congregations where I play keyboards and the choirs I accompany, along with the duplicate bridge community, our Course in Miracles group, and my book club. Every day our lives expand to include others we meet. And the practice of non-duality we study opens us to our universal family fluttering just out of sight! Life is Good! 

“Groups of people who have shared spiritual Love are bound together for eternity.” Joel Goldsmith

“Peace is extended from you only to the eternal, and it reaches out from the eternal in you. It flows across all else. The second obstacle is no more solid than the first. For you want neither to get rid of peace nor limit it. What are these obstacles that you would interpose between peace and its going forth but barriers you place between your will and its accomplishment? You want communion, not the feast of fear. You want salvation, not the pain of guilt. And you want your Father, not a little mound of clay, to be your home. In your holy relationship is your Father’s Son. He has not lost communion with Him, nor with himself. When you agreed to join your brother, you acknowledged this is so. This has no cost, but it has release from cost.” A Course in Miracles T-19.IV-B.4:1-12

Dream, Dream, Dream …

 

Dreams - ceramic creation of Ken Starbird

Sleeping dreams are interesting things, don’t you think? As a child, I had a two recurring nightmares, and can still remember the feelings they brought forth. During years of waking up early, without the luxury of hitting a snooze button, I don’t remember many dreams. Now that I can wake up and go back to sleep for a while, I have more lucid dreams where I can think about what’s happening and even have some control of events. Many of my friends interpret their dreams and find meanings which extend to daily life. I don’t consciously do so, but often the nighttime events come back to thought during the day, and sometimes they seem to tell me to be aware. Then again, we should always be awake to events around us and intuition within us, so I rarely feel they are a portent of doom or goodness. I look forward to dreams where I get to visit with loved ones long gone from material sight. What do you dream about? Do you enjoy the experience? I hope so...  

“Dreams are chaotic because they are governed by your conflicting wishes, and therefore they have no concern with what is true. They are the best example you could have of how perception can be utilized to substitute illusions for truth. You do not take them seriously on awaking because the fact that reality is so outrageously violated in them becomes apparent. Yet they are a way of looking at the world, and changing it to suit the ego better. They provide striking examples, both of the ego’s inability to tolerate reality, and of your willingness to change reality on its behalf.” A Course in Miracles T-18.II.2:1-5

"... Is there any more reality in the waking dream of mortal existence than in the sleeping dream? There cannot be, since whatever appears to be a mortal man is a mortal dream. Take away the mortal mind, and matter has no more sense as a man than it has as a tree. But the spiritual, real man is immortal." Mary Baker Eddy -Science & Health Page 250:22-27

Imperfection?

One of my favorite essay writers is named Robert Klose. For the past 20 years or so, I’ve followed his single parenting of two adopted boys, accompanied him on many nature adventures in Maine, and realized we are kindred spirits. Today I read a piece of his called “Perfectly at home with imperfection”. He talks of going to buy a canoe and seeing one priced so low he had to ask, "What’s wrong with it?" The salesman replied, “She don’t float right”. “I’ll take it!”, he said. He found he had to sit to the left side to compensate, but he’s very happy with that. He also bought a window that had a bubble in the glass, and it shone like a jewel in the sunlight. He states that if you get something in perfect condition, you are often disappointed, perhaps even feel betrayed, when it gets a dent or imperfection from regular wear and tear. I’m with him on these things! As he said, “How wonderful is the world of the imperfect!”

"Mortal thought transmits its own images, and forms its offspring after human illusions." Mary Baker Eddy 

Creating Compassion Through Education

A short documentary has been made about a ship, the SS Quanza, and the 83 mostly Belgium Jewish people who were trying to enter the United States in 1940. Many ships had been turned away at that time, with hundreds of their passengers returned to their homeland for extermination. This ship’s youngest passenger, Annette Yachmann, is still living and enjoying a happy life teaching writing at a community college in New York and being a grandmother. She recalls the horror of being trapped on the ship, but is grateful that she was with her mother. She is vocally rebelling against the treatment of children who are separated from their parents as they attempt to enter the United States. The maker of this film, Laura Seltzer-Duny, tells of Eleanor Roosevelt’s extraordinary efforts to bring these people into our country. She also documents the efforts of others who were integral in the humanitarian effort, including a married couple who were lawyers and used maritime law to stalls the ship’s return to Europe. The movie is called “Nobody Wants Us”. It was made with the hope of educating people on the plight of immigrants and the historical fate of those turned away.  Education is essential in creating compassion. This is a perfect example. Today I will look for ways to foster compassion, through education.  

"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 

“Let us join together in a holy instant, here in this place where the purpose, given in a holy instant, has led you. And let us join in faith that He Who brought us here together will offer you the innocence you need, and that you will accept it for my love and His.” A Course in Miracles T-19.IV-D.9:6-7

Amanda Gorman’s Poem at UN Assembly

 

AN ODE WE OWE - Amanda Gorman

UN Secretary General, distinguished guests, and all of humankind:

How can I ask you to do good,

When we’ve barely withstood

Our greatest threats yet:

The depths of death, despair and disparity, Atrocities across cities, towns & countries, Lives lost, climactic costs.

Exhausted, angered, we are endangered,

Not because of our numbers,

But because of our numbness. We’re strangers To one another’s perils and pain,

Unaware that the welfare of the public

And the planet share a name–

–Equality

Doesn’t mean being the exact same,

 But enacting a vast aim:

The good of the world to its highest capability. The wise believe that our people without power Leaves our planet without possibility. Therefore, though poverty is a poor existence, Complicity is a poorer excuse.

We must go the distance,

Though this battle is hard and huge,

Though this fight we did not choose,

For preserving the earth isn’t a battle too large To win, but a blessing too large to lose.

This is the most pressing truth:

That Our people have only one planet to call home And our planet has only one people to call its own.

We can either divide and be conquered by the few, Or we can decide to conquer the future,

And say that today a new dawn we wrote,

Say that as long as we have humanity,

 We will forever have hope.

Together, we won’t just be the generation That tries but the generation that triumphs; Let us see a legacy

Where tomorrow is not driven

By the human condition,

But by our human conviction.

And while hope alone can’t save us now, With it we can brave the now,

Because our hardest change hinges On our darkest challenges.

Thus may our crisis be our cry, our crossroad, The oldest ode we owe each other.

We chime it, for the climate,

For our communities.

We shall respect and protect

Every part of this planet,

Hand it to every heart on this earth,

 Until no one’s worth is rendered

By the race, gender, class, or identity They were born. This morn let it be sworn That we are one one human kin, Grounded not just by the griefs

We bear, but by the good we begin.

To anyone out there:

I only ask that you care before it’s too late, That you live aware and awake,

That you lead with love in hours of hate.

I challenge you to heed this call,

I dare you to shape our fate.

Above all, I dare you to do good

So that the world might be great.”

Let’s Do This Together

I read an anecdote about an elderly man who was trying to pay for his groceries at the store. He had a bag of change that he was counting out to pay for his purchases. He kept messing up the count and was getting nervous. His hands began to shake. The people waiting in line were sighing and acting impatient. The lady checking him out gently put her hands over his and said, “Let’s do this together.” After he left, one of the customers thanked the cashier for her kindness, to which she replied: “You shouldn’t need to thank me. We all just need to love one another.” What a beautiful little story! In the hustle and rush of daily life, we may forget to help each other. Mindful awareness will bring us back to noticing where we may be of help, and what blesses one blesses all...  

"Love for mankind is the elevator of the human race; it demonstrates Truth and reflects divine Love." Mary Baker Eddy - from Miscellany Page 288:8-9

“A pure mind knows the truth and this is its strength. It does not confuse destruction with innocence because it associates innocence with strength, not with weakness.” 

A Course in Miracles T-3.I.5:5-6

Truth Will Stay Forever

San Francisco - photo by Aaron Springston

I’ve been pondering the difference in belief and understanding. Some people are blindly following leaders, while others have the questioning attitude which insists on answers. Do we practice by-rote actions or make thoughtful decisions based on evidence? These things, and more, are brought to mind when I witness what people do. It seems we see a lot of mean-spirited actions  — for instance, making rude comments about people, and poking fun in various ugly ways. Some folks have the belief that God has ordained how things should or should not be done. And what of habits we’ve fallen into, without questioning if they are necessary or productive — or even fun! Well, there certainly is much to think about, isn’t there? One thing I do know: When I wake up and meditate and do some deep thinking and study, the day goes smoothly and unfolds joyously. When I wake up and listen to reports of people’s crazy behavior before I’m centered, everything seems difficult. With a rocky start to the day, I’m not mindfully aware and may misplace things, or perhaps become irritated over nothing (or something!). Since I know I can’t change that guy over there, I will wake up tomorrow and do my best to not be foolish. Namaste...

“Life, Truth, and Love are the realities of divine Science. They dawn in faith and glow full-orbed in spiritual understanding. As a cloud hides the sun it cannot extinguish, so false belief silences for a while the voice of immutable harmony, but false belief cannot destroy Science armed with faith, hope, and fruition.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 298:2-7

“For faith brings peace, and so it calls on truth to enter and make lovely what has already been prepared for loveliness. Truth follows faith and peace, completing the process of making lovely that they begin. For faith is still a learning goal, no longer needed when the lesson has been learned. Yet truth will stay forever.” 

A Course in Miracle T-19.I.15:2-5