A Seeming Hierarchy of Values

 

Art by Akira Kusaka

For years I resisted admitting that only one thing was required of me in order to experience the peace I craved. It seemed that giving myself to this one thing would cause me to be  a religious zealot. I thought that to live in Spirit would be predictable and boring. At that time, material existence seemed exciting, while spiritual living implied a certain aloneness which couldn't possibly be very much fun. As years have passed and I've become more aware of what living in Spirit means, the understanding of myself as a reflection of God has taken form in many ways. On the surface, it could seem that nothing has changed. I still work, play, sleep, and interact with others. But everything is different. By listening to my inner Self and following that guidance, I don't need to make lists of pros and cons and weigh the value of these in making decisions. This following doesn't mean that I mindlessly go through life as an automaton doing what someone tells me. It means that infinite possibilities are opened to me, that thought is expanded in ways which transcend material beliefs. Contentment and peace are waiting for me to find them, as I remember my only function. 

"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

“Hallucinations disappear when they are recognized for what they are. This is the healing and the remedy. Believe them not and they are gone. And all you need to do is recognize that you did this. Once you accept this simple fact and take unto yourself the power you gave them, you are released from them. One thing is sure; hallucinations serve a purpose, and when that purpose is no longer held they disappear. Therefore, the question never is whether you want them, but always, do you want the purpose that they serve? This world seems to hold out many purposes, each different and with different values. Yet they are all the same. Again there is no order; only a seeming hierarchy of values.” 

A Course in Miracles T-20.VIII.8:1-10

Releasing Each Other and Celebrating Together

Photo credit; Richard Quick

We always have interesting controversies in Eureka Springs. After all, we once elected a dead woman to be our mayor. And I’m pretty sure our quirkiness precedent was set long before that event in the 80s. Today I saw a post on social media from our Great Passion Play, stating that the mayor and city attorney were demanding that their nativity scene in Basin Spring Park be taken down. When I saw this post, it had been up for 24 minutes and already had 1500+ shares and over 800 comments. This was an organized effort to get people all over the nation upset at the idea that our liberal city is having a “war on Christmas”. After making a few calls, I discovered that a private citizen is threatening a lawsuit unless this religious portrayal is removed from city property. In glancing through the numerous comments on this post, I saw much vehemence being thrown toward our beautiful little town. The main question which runs through my mind is why would anyone want to make a complaint? The passion play has put up this exhibit (so to speak) for more than 50 years. It’s a part of the holiday decorations. We are a tourist town which has not only a 60-foot tall Jesus but drag queens roaming the streets. We all get along. In the interest of peace, I shall do my best to send loving vibes to all involved. I’m certain my thoughts shall stand corrected often … Namaste.

“It is in your power, in time, to delay the perfect union of the Father and the Son. For in this world, the attraction of guilt does stand between them. Neither time nor season means anything in eternity. But here it is the Holy Spirit’s function to use them both, though not as the ego uses them. This is the season when you would celebrate my birth into the world. Yet you know not how to do it. Let the Holy Spirit teach you, and let me celebrate your birth through Him. The only gift I can accept of you is the gift I gave to you. Release me as I choose your own release. The time of Christ we celebrate together, for it has no meaning if we are apart.” 

A Course in Miracles T-15.X.1:1-10

“Today the watchful shepherd shouts his welcome over the new cradle of an old truth. This truth has traversed night, through gloom to glory, from cradle to crown. To the awakened consciousness, the Bethlehem babe has left his swaddling-clothes (material environments) for the form and comeliness of the divine ideal, which has passed from a corporeal to the spiritual sense of Christ and is winning the heart of humanity with ineffable tenderness.” Mary Baker Eddy - First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany Page 257:4-11

Being Is Infinity

 

Dancing in Basin Park

Photo credit: Richard Quick

Have you ever had to force yourself to participate in an event only to find, when it was over and done, that you wouldn’t have missed it for the world? I’m thinking now of a community dinner which was held shortly before Christmas a few years ago. A friend asked me to go with her, and I said yes, although I wasn’t enthused. After it was over, I said to someone: Any event with the word “community” in the title, I’m attending! Catherine Reed, set the tone with her guitar and singing. The food was bountiful and delicious. We visited with old friends and laughed and talked and drank wine. I left feeling a communion which was deep and true. The at-one-ment felt at these events and other community-building happenings is a religious experience to me! 

“Glory be to God, and peace to the struggling hearts! Christ hath rolled away the stone from the door of human hope and faith, and through the revelation and demonstration of life in God, hath elevated them to possible at-one-ment with the spiritual idea of man and his divine Principle, Love.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 45:16-21

“By accepting the Atonement for yourself, you are deciding against the belief that you can be alone, thus dispelling the idea of separation and affirming your true identification with the whole Kingdom as literally part of you. This identification is as beyond doubt as it is beyond belief. Your wholeness has no limits because being is infinity.” 

A Course in Miracles T-7.VIII.7:3-5

A Dream of Judgment

Photo credit: Blake Lasater 

I’m noticing a few traits which are shared by many of my favorite humans. They don’t talk about others negatively. Not sharing in this destructive chatter makes life simpler, because we needn’t try to figure out what people’s motivations are: they do what they do. Actually, our happiness doesn’t rely on what others are doing — or not doing. When we put a label on someone, such as thief, then we’ve fixed that person in our mind with a conceptual identity. The mind does this, often focusing on a person’s shortcomings, and then we are trapped. At some point, we realize the more we trap others, the more we trap ourselves. As Jesus said years ago, “Judge not, lest ye be judged”. The world cannot change without a change in thought — our own thought — and it requires vigilance for us to check the words in our head! When we notice our judgments and labeling practices, let’s not think of it as a failure on our part. It’s a great success to catch the thought and realize what you’re doing. When you see it, it loses its power over you — and you can choose again!

"A dream of judgment came into the mind that God created perfect as Himself. And in that dream was Heaven changed to hell, and God made enemy unto His Son. How can God's Son awaken from the dream? It is a dream of judgment. So must he judge not, and he will waken. For the dream will seem to last while he is part of it. Judge not, for he who judges will have need of idols, which will hold the judgment off from resting on himself. Nor can he know the Self he has condemned. Judge not, because you make yourself a part of evil dreams, where idols are your ‘true identity’, and your salvation from the judgment laid in terror and in guilt upon yourself.” 

A Course in Miracles T-29.IX

“The power of the human will should be exercised only in subordination to Truth; else it will misguide the judgment and free the lower propensities. It is the province of spiritual sense to govern man. Material, erring, human thought acts injuriously both upon the body and through it.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health with Key to the Scripture 246:4-9

Enveloped in Peace

Scala Dei Turchi White Wall  - Italy

Photo credit: Blake Lasater

While things are not always the way we think they should be, we can still be happy and at peace. What happens within you is entirely yours; what happens around you is never yours alone.  How often do you hear someone say: He/She pushes my buttons! This means, of course, that someone “makes you angry or upset”. Is this really happening? How we react to someone else is either peaceful or tumultuous, and we have that choice to make in every moment. When I was a child, I didn’t like to have conversations when I first awakened in the morning. My mother thought this was a flaw in my character and tried to change me. Looking at this now, I see that silence in the morning works best for many of us. If I start out the day with inane conversation, or news stories hand-picked to feed my fears, the timbre of the day has been set and it’s difficult to center myself in the peace which is always a present possibility. Similarly, when I don’t sleep well at night, it’s because I haven’t been able to shut down my thoughts. Although I am not a fan of ritual, morning and evening quiet meditations work for me. We are all individuals, and through an examination of your feelings, habits, and demeanor, you can discover what works for you, too! 

“Glory be to God, and peace to the struggling hearts! Christ hath rolled away the stone from the door of human hope and faith, and through the revelation and demonstration of life in God, hath elevated them to possible at-one-ment with the spiritual idea of man and his divine Principle, Love.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 45:16-21

“O my brothers, if you only knew the peace that will envelop you and hold you safe and pure and lovely in the Mind of God, you could but rush to meet Him where His altar is. Hallowed your Name and His, for they are joined here in this holy place. Here He leans down to lift you up to Him, out of illusions into holiness; out of the world and to eternity; out of all fear and given back to love.” 

A Course in Miracles C-4.8:1-3

Life is a Meditation

 

Photo credit: Blake Lasater’s family

How do you integrate your spiritual practice into daily life? When asked this question, I had to pause and think about it. Since I don’t have any rituals which would be defined as “spiritual practice”, I suppose they are asking about the moments I stop to commune with the Universe — times when waiting in line at the grocery, or staying calm while choir direction is happening, or clearing my mind to listen for inspiration in the daily Wordle! Hum, I guess life IS a spiritual practice, don’t you think? When I find myself turning a situation around and ‘round in thought, or when I replay possible scenarios of how things may transpire, that’s the time for a mental reminder to just stop it! Spiritual practice, for me, can be defined as getting out of my own way and listening for the inner voice which could be called intuition, or God. While some may think going to church once a week constitutes a spiritual practice, most folks I know have a moment-to-moment awareness which is guided by Love. How do you know if you’re life is directed by Spirit or ego? If you’re at peace, it’s God; if you’re upset and unhappy, it’s ego!

“Thoughts unspoken are not unknown to the divine Mind. Desire is prayer; and no loss can occur from trusting God with our desires, that they may be moulded and exalted before they take form in words and in deeds.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 1:10-14

“It is impossible to accept the holy instant without reservation unless, just for an instant, you are willing to see no past or future. You cannot prepare for it without placing it in the future. Release is given you the instant you desire it. Many have spent a lifetime in preparation, and have indeed achieved their instants of success. This course does not attempt to teach more than they learned in time, but it does aim at saving time. You may be attempting to follow a very long road to the goal you have accepted. It is extremely difficult to reach Atonement by fighting against sin. Enormous effort is expended in the attempt to make holy what is hated and despised. Nor is a lifetime of contemplation and long periods of meditation aimed at detachment from the body necessary. All such attempts will ultimately succeed because of their purpose. Yet the means are tedious and very time consuming, for all of them look to the future for release from a state of present unworthiness and inadequacy.” 

A Course in Miracles - T-18.VII.4:1-11 

Fearful Illusions

 

Italy - photo credit: Blake Lasater

One of my favorite acronyms is “False Evidence Appearing Real”. Fear stems from the idea that we can be separated from joy and love, from peace and security. It would be unkind to tell someone there is nothing to fear when they are in the middle of a war zone or have, perhaps, been brutally attacked. At this stage of our evolution, it's probably best to think this truth silently, affirming within ourselves that illusions are not facts and there is, in reality, nothing to fear. For instance, I have a friend who has been in a car accident and is now afraid to drive outside of our small hometown. While I did not make light of her fear, I also steadfastly refused to reinforce her trepidation by agreeing with her. I don’t think true compassion is shown by agreeing with erroneous thought; rather, thought can be changed by seeing the error in thinking and asserting the truth of our being as an expression of divine Mind (God). I pray for the grace which will guide me to silence or action!

“The epoch approaches when the understanding of the truth of being will be the basis of true religion. At present mortals progress slowly for fear of being thought ridiculous. They are slaves to fashion, pride, and sense. Some time we shall learn how Spirit, the great architect, has created men and women in Science. We ought to weary of the fleeting and false and to cherish nothing which hinders our highest selfhood.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 57:32-8

“You who have been unmerciful to yourself do not remember your Father’s Love. And looking without mercy upon your brothers, you do not remember how much you love Him. Yet it is forever true. In shining peace within you is the perfect purity in which you were created. Fear not to look upon the lovely truth in you. Look through the cloud of guilt that dims your vision, and look past darkness to the holy place where you will see the light. The altar to your Father is as pure as He Who raised it to Himself. Nothing can keep from you what Christ would have you see. His Will is like His Father’s, and He offers mercy to every child of God, as He would have you do.” A Course in Miracles T-13.X.9:1-9