Gratitude

“Can you imagine how beautiful those you forgive will look to you? In no fantasy have you ever seen anything so lovely. Nothing you see here, sleeping or waking, comes near to such loveliness. And nothing will you value like unto this, nor hold so dear. Nothing that you remember that made your heart sing with joy has ever brought you even a little part of the happiness this sight will bring you. For you will see the Son of God. You will behold the beauty the Holy Spirit loves to look upon, and which He thanks the Father for. He was created to see this for you, until you learned to see it for yourself. And all His teaching leads to seeing it and giving thanks with Him.” 

A Course in Miracles T-17.II.1:1-9

“This is what is meant by seeking Truth, Christ, not ‘for the loaves and fishes,’ nor, like the Pharisee, with the arrogance of rank and display of scholarship, but like Mary Magdalene, from the summit of devout consecration, with the oil of gladness and the perfume of gratitude, with tears of repentance and with those hairs all numbered by the Father.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 367:10-16

Truth, Lies, and Love

 

It’s been said that lies spread faster than truth. In this age of instant communications, it’s often difficult to separate the two. Media often spread deception and distrust, dividing people in ways which seem irreparable. Many of us remember the early days of television, a time when advertising revved up and consumerism became flagrant. Today almost everything we hear and see is designed to sell us something. We must continue to be vigilant in what we allow into our thought, not only for our own good, but for the collective. Repeating stories which create divisions through feelings of superiority or inferiority, that’s playing the game which has been created for us. It’s important to use our education, our intuition, our spiritual knowledge, every bit of common sense we still have, in order to discern truth. In this season of thanksgiving, I am grateful for all who spend countless hours researching the origins of information, connecting the dots of current events, so we all don’t need to do so! Happy Thanksgiving to you! 

"The human mind, imbued with this spiritual understanding, becomes more elastic, is capable of greater endurance, escapes somewhat from itself, and requires less repose. ... It raises the thinker into his native air of insight and perspicacity." 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 128:14-19

“You will identify with what you think will make you safe. Whatever it may be, you will believe that it is one with you. Your safety lies in truth, and not in lies. Love is your safety. Fear does not exist. Identify with love, and you are safe. Identify with love, and you are home. Identify with love, and find your Self.” 

A Course in Miracles W-pII.5.5:1-8

The Panoply of Love

 

Photo credit: Blake Lasater

I heard a program on National Public Radio  in which people who had been involved with hate groups were interviewed. There were white nationalists, neo-nazis, and Islamic terrorists. Some of the men wanted out because they realized they were wrong, and others had wives who gave them ultimatums when they saw their children behaving in this way. Whatever their reasons, they all had something in common: they couldn’t leave without support from groups. It was very similar to Alcoholics Anonymous. They said they were addicted to the feelings, the strong emotions, which were aroused when they screamed messages of derision toward others. Listening to these dear people talk about their experiences — how and why they were drawn to such a destructive group, the way it made them feel, why they had to get away from them — I was struck by how much we truly are all the same. Sometimes we lose our way and think that pain is pleasure, hate is love, and ugliness is beauty. I’m going to double down on my efforts to scatter joy and love my neighbor. It is, indeed, important!

"...fear demands the sacrifice of love, for in love's presence fear cannot abide. For hate to be maintained, love must be feared; and only sometimes present, sometimes gone. Thus is love seen as treacherous, because it seems to come and go uncertainly, and offer no stability to you. You do not see how limited and weak is your allegiance, and how frequently you have demanded that love go away, and leave you quietly alone in 'peace.'" A Course in Miracles T-29.2.7.

“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

Who Is In Your Sense of Us?

 

Rainy Morning in Italy

Photo credit: Blake Lasater

I read an editorial in the Christian Science Monitor which discussed this question: Who is in your sense of "us"? While politics has many lines drawn around ideology, gender, race, and such things, democracy itself is really about finding where the "us" is in all these beliefs. Most of us realize the harmfulness of groups who think they, and only they, are right. The rift brought about from a belief that certain things, such as abortion, should not be allowed is something which bears examination and compromise. To quote an article by Ryan Strickler, "A key -- the key -- to the deliberative democratic ideal is mutual respect. Not any political discussion will do; discussion and debate must be marked by open-mindedness, recognition of the legitimacy of moral differences, and a goal of achieving consensus." In conclusion, the editorial by Mark Sappenfield states: "In short, effective democratic politics must be perpetually reforging a new 'us'." Strong opinions close my mind to anything else, and so I pray to see with God’s eyes rather than my prejudiced mortal beliefs. Namaste …

“Many theories relative to God and man neither make man harmonious nor God lovable. The beliefs we commonly entertain about happiness and life afford no scatheless and permanent evidence of either. Security for the claims of harmonious and eternal being is found only in divine Science.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 232:3-8

“Forgiveness-to-destroy has many forms, being a weapon of the world of form. Not all of them are obvious, and some are carefully concealed beneath what seems like charity. Yet all the forms that it may seem to take have but this single goal; their purpose is to separate and make what God created equal, different. The difference is clear in several forms where the designed comparison cannot be missed, nor is it really meant to be.

In this group, first, there are the forms in which a ‘better’ person deigns to stoop to save a ‘baser’ one from what he truly is. Forgiveness here rests on an attitude of gracious lordliness so far from love that arrogance could never be dislodged. Who can forgive and yet despise? And who can tell another he is steeped in sin, and yet perceive him as the Son of God? Who makes a slave to teach what freedom is? There is no union here, but only grief. This is not really mercy. This is death.” A Course in Miracles - S-2.II.1:1–2:8)

Picking Up The Light

Photo credit: Blake Lasater

“ Living Awake - by Julie Fehrenbacher

It begins with an ache, a deep-belly

breath, a cup of hot tea on the sun-soaked deck.

It begins with a prayer said aloud

to the empty kitchen, space enough to hear

the want beneath the want beneath the want.

It begins with a thank you

for what is, a remembering that all

of it is temporary, none of it guaranteed, every

last bit of it precious.

It begins with slowing to the pace of silence,

then getting closer, closer

than you have ever gotten before. Then even a little bit closer. To breath, river, heartache, 

sunlight. Because, as Yeats said:

‘The world is full of magic things

waiting for our senses to grow sharper.’

It begins, always, with a moment fully allowed.

It begins over and over and over again, new, every day—

with the courage to persist, to do it differently, to walk

the way only you can walk. The courage

to stand all the way up for what holds and heals, to fiercely declare that enough is enough—no more excuses, no more holding in or back, no more pretending

to be small, damn it. Because you are not small. You have never, ever been small.

And God, how this sleeping world needs your bigness.

It begins with picking up the light

and dancing with it all night long, vowing 

to never put it down. And then scattering it 

like seed to every hurting heart.

It begins with a thank you for what is, a remembering 

that all of it is temporary, none of it guaranteed—

every last bit of it precious.”

~ ©Julia Fehrenbacher : Painted Path 

www.juliafehrenbacher.com

Equality

Gender equality has always been difficult to achieve. We have reasons, excuses, for why it's impossible. When Legislators refused women the same rights which men have, they insisted it was to protect women. The inalienable rights spoken of in the Constitution of the United States have been interpreted time and again, and usually they are deemed as applying to the male sex; for a long while, only to white males, then gradually evolving to include all races. I watched a movie based on Ruth Bader Ginsberg's work to achieve women's equality in a man's world. It's called "On the Basis of Sex". Remembering how life was when I graduated from high school in 1970 is like remembering a dream. The cages we were crammed into were meant to keep the male animal in control, and it worked pretty well -- at least on the surface. But seeds had been planted; seeds of freedom which we are still nurturing. One of Jesus' main men informed us there are no bond nor free, no gentile nor jew, no male or female -- yet to this day we can't seem to figure that out! I take that back: many of us know these things, and that's why it's up to us to continue affirming the truth of our being, and to do everything possible to help others understand, too. Thank you, RBG!! 

"...oppression neither went down in blood, nor did the breath of freedom come from the cannon's mouth. Love is the liberator." 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 225

“The miracle itself is but the witness that you have the power of God in you.  That is the reason why the miracle gives equal blessing to all who share in it, and that is also why everyone shares in it. The power of God is limitless. And being always maximal, it offers everything to every call from anyone. There is no order of difficulty here. A call for help is given help.” 

A Course in Miracles T-14.X.6:10-15

Disappearing Differences

Photo credit: Blake Lasater

Acknowledging that everything and everyone we look upon is the face of divine Love takes our perception to another level. With this sight, we do not need to see race or nationalities nor gender, there are no political parties for which to wave flags, and no enemies to fight against, nor allies to side with. I see beautiful things happening in our world. Long-held beliefs are being released in favor of an open-hearted acceptance of everyone as they are, not as we want them to be. Change can seem difficult, but our new perceptions of Life are a conscious choice by which we break free of habits and old thought patterns which have held us in bondage for far too long. Let’s celebrate our new-found sight today!

“Right motives give pinions to thought, and strength and freedom to speech and action. Love is priestess at the altar of Truth. Wait patiently for divine Love to move upon the waters of mortal mind, and form the perfect concept.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 454: 20-23

“Now there are no distinctions. Differences have disappeared and Love looks on Itself. What further sight is needed? What remains that vision could accomplish? We have seen the face of Christ, His sinlessness, His Love behind all forms, beyond all purposes. Holy are we because His Holiness has set us free indeed! And we accept His Holiness as ours; as it is. As God created us so will we be forever and forever, and we wish for nothing but His Will to be our own. Illusions of another will are lost, for unity of purpose has been found.” 

A Course in Miracles M-28.5:1-9