Clearing Our Vision

 

Passion Flower in Costa Rica

Photo credit: Aaron Springston

A dear friend posted the following on social media today: “My opinion of someone does not alter the truth of who they are.” I was thinking similar thoughts because I had recently been with a friend who limits herself and others severely by her negative opinions of them. It may be as simple as someone “setting her teeth on edge” or “rubbing her the wrong way”, but it made me sad because she is missing some wonderful interactions with others. It may even deprive a person she doesn’t like of what could be a life-changing experience, simply because she doesn’t want them involved in things she is involved with. No, it doesn’t change the truth of who they are, no matter what she thinks, but those of us who respect her feelings are in a tough spot at times. Thinking back, there are many situations such as this. I was once married to a man whose name I couldn’t say around my dad or else he would go off on a tirade about how much he didn’t like him. I can’t presume to know how others should react when confronted with someone they don’t care to be around, but I’ll be watching my own thoughts in similar situations. 

“Child of God, you were created to create the good, the beautiful and the holy. Do not forget this. The Love of God, for a little while, must still be expressed through one body to another, because vision is still so dim. You can use your body best to help you enlarge your perception so you can achieve real vision, of which the physical eye is incapable. Learning to do this is the body’s only true usefulness.” 

A Course in Miracles T-1.VII.2:1-5

“Take away wealth, fame, and social organizations, which weigh not one jot in the balance of God, and we get clearer views of Principle. Break up cliques, level wealth with honesty, let worth be judged according to wisdom, and we get better views of humanity” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 239:5-10

Let’s Live and Love Together

 

Robert Klose is a novelist and an essay writer for the Christian Science Monitor. In this weekly news magazine he wrote about his house being robbed by a neighborhood teenager. He asked the authorities if he could offer the thief an alternative to court-ordered punishment, and they agreed to it. And so he asked the boy to pay back the money and to meet with him one day a week for an hour. During that hour, they would work on his homework, and then 30 minutes would be spent talking about anything the young man chose. It was a good experience for them both. Although the boy learned many valuable things from these meetings, he has occasionally lapsed into illegal behavior and spent time in jail. But when he’s back in the neighborhood, he is respectful and visits his mentor. Last time they met, Mr. Klose thanked the young man for thinking enough of his neighborhood to let it continue in peace. They two of them agreed they were both “trying to be good”. We’re all looking for ways to help our communities, and mentoring someone in need seems a noble cause to me!

“We must form perfect models in thought and look at them continually, or we shall never carve them out in grand and noble lives. Let unselfishness, goodness, mercy, justice, health, holiness, love — the kingdom of heaven — reign within us, and sin, disease, and death will diminish until they finally disappear.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 248:26-32

“Brother, we heal together as we live together and love together. Be not deceived in God’s Son, for he is one with himself and one with his Father. Love him who is beloved of his Father, and you will learn of the Father’s Love for you.” 

A Course in Miracles T-11.VIII.11:4-6

Let It Be

 

Art by Elisabeth Ladwig - @ElisabethOnEarth

While taking a friend to do some errands, I learned a valuable lesson. I should have known this sweet woman could not be rushed, and it would be foolish to expect that she not look at everything in the WalMart before deciding she needed to go somewhere else. My plan had been to attend a meeting after doing this with her, and I almost became irritated when I saw that wasn't going to happen. Watching us as if from a hidden camera, I began to enjoy each step which felt like walking through quicksand. I watched young people smiling kindly at us as we doddering along. I watched myself park in a loading zone with no worries about legality. I felt happiness in being able to help my old friend figure out ways to deal with problems she felt were insurmountable. When she wanted things she was not supposed to have, I talked to her about it honestly rather than telling her "no". It was a good practice in letting go of my expectations and giving in to what was happening right then. It's nice to look back and smile over the events, rather than chew on the resentment which could have easily overtaken me. Here's to accepting what "is" and making the best of it!

“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. Immortal Mind feeds the body with supernal freshness and fairness, supplying it with beautiful images of thought and destroying the woes of sense which each day brings to a nearer tomb.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 248:3-11

"If he senses even the faintest hint of irritation in himself as he responds to anyone, let him instantly realize that he has made an interpretation that is not true. 3 Then let him turn within to his eternal Guide, and let Him judge what the response should be." 

A Course in Miracles M-18.4.2-3

Oh Happy Day!

Phases and Stages is a favorite Willie Nelson album, and it describes the flow of our lives, too. Some people say we move in 7-year phases, and then we change over to another focus. Someone once wrote that time is something we made up so everything doesn’t happen at once. Nevertheless, a new year begins tomorrow and this time always seems ripe with hope. May we all wake up with an extra-happy thought on this beautiful first day of 2023 — and hold on to that exuberance every day forevermore! 

“Give thanks for mercy and the Love of God. Rejoice in the power of forgiveness to heal your sight completely. Be confident that on this day there is a new beginning. Without the darkness of the past upon your eyes, you cannot fail to see today. And what you see will be so welcome that you will gladly extend today forever.” 

A Course in Miracles W-75.9:3-7

“A spiritual idea has not a single element of error, and this truth removes properly whatever is offensive. The new idea, conceived and born of Truth and Love, is clad in white garments. Its beginning will be meek, its growth sturdy, and its maturity undecaying.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 463:12-15

Joy and Freedom in the New Year

Crescent Hotel, Eureka Springs, AR

Photo credit: Richard Quick

The last day of the year! It’s always an exciting time, when people make decisions on how they will change their lives, full of hope and expectations. We love to dream of how we will become “better”, and often are disappointed in ourselves when this doesn’t happen the way we have dictated. Perhaps one of the problems with these resolutions is that we want to take away things from ourselves, but have nothing to fill the space left behind. So I’ve decided not to attempt to delete anything from my existence, but rather to add heaping helpings of loving actions toward the world and its creatures. I vow to be aware of every thought I allow into my mind, knowing we are what we think. While striving to stay away from judgmental thoughts and actions, the freed space in my mind will be listening for ways to productively cleanse our environment, fill the needs I witness around me, and to scatter joy freely! May we all bring in the new year with a fresh, clear perspective on Life! Namaste…

“Willingness to become as a little child and to leave the old for the new, renders thought receptive of the advanced idea. Gladness to leave the false landmarks and joy to see them disappear, — this disposition helps to precipitate the ultimate harmony. The purification of sense and self is a proof of progress. ‘Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.’”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science and Health Page 323:32-7

“So will the year begin in joy and freedom. There is much to do, and we have been long delayed. Accept the holy instant as this year is born, and take your place, so long left unfulfilled, in the Great Awakening. Make this year different by making it all the same. And let all your relationships be made holy for you. This is our will. Amen.” 

A Course in Miracles T-15.XI.10:8-14

Joyful Change

Photo Credit: Richard Quick

In this time of great change, it’s easy to long for the comfort of ritualistic actions and old habits. It feels nice to simply float along, happily enjoying yesterday’s fruits. But life doesn’t often allow us that ease. We wake up every morning to a world quickly changing. These changing circumstances necessitate a shift in our collective values. I hope we can all hold onto each other and know that this is a good thing. Personally, I have no idea what tomorrow will bring, but I relish the possibilities!

“We have repeated how little is asked of you to learn this course. It is the same small willingness you need to have your whole relationship transformed to joy; the little gift you offer to the Holy Spirit for which He gives you everything; the very little on which salvation rests; the tiny change of mind by which the crucifixion is changed to resurrection. And being true, it is so simple that it cannot fail to be completely understood. Rejected yes, but not ambiguous. And if you choose against it now it will not be because it is obscure, but rather that this little cost seemed, in your judgment, to be too much to pay for peace.” A Course in Miracles T-21.II.1:1-5

“The time is not distant when the ordinary theological views of atonement will undergo a great change, — a change as radical as that which has come over popular opinions in regard to predestination and future punishment.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health 24:15-19             

Footsteps of Truth

 

Photo credit: Richard Quick

Almost two decades ago, Jim Young and I brought together a group of people which became known as Metafizzies. During the years we were affiliated with this metaphysical group, I got quite an education! I have sat in a metal pyramid, holding a crystal skull, chanting Sanskrit. Psychic readings, Akashic Records, Sufi dances — We welcomed people to present their views to us every other week, and they were all based in love, no matter how farfetched they may have seemed on the surface. I tell you this to give you an idea of my background in spiritual matters. My parents were Christian Scientists. When I left home at 16, I thought there must be something better, but after years of wandering through the in-vogue thought systems of the 1970s, I had found nothing more comprehensive than the book Science and Health, With Key to the Scriptures. Sometime in the 90s, I was at a yard sale and picked up Wayne Dyer’s book When You Believe It, You’ll See It. Immediately I wanted to know who he was because his ideas were exactly what I had learned from Mary Baker Eddy’s writings. And so I discovered A Course in Miracles, including it in the study which had always felt so natural to me. Truth is truth no matter where it is found, and there are many beautiful pathways in this world. Namaste, dear Friends …

“All roads will lead to this one in the end. For sacrifice and deprivation are paths that lead nowhere, choices for defeat, and aims that will remain impossible. All this steps back as truth comes forth in you, to lead your brothers from the ways of death, and set them on the way to happiness. Their suffering is but illusion. Yet they need a guide to lead them out of it, for they mistake illusion for the truth.” 

A Course in Miracles W-155.7:1-5

“Whatever furnishes the semblance of an idea governed by its Principle, furnishes food for thought. Through astronomy, natural history, chemistry, music, mathematics, thought passes naturally from effect back to cause. Academics of the right sort are requisite. Observation, invention, study, and original thought are expansive and should promote the growth of mortal mind out of itself, out of all that is mortal.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 195:15-22