Let Them …

Art by Pauline Bailly

LET THEM - by Donna Ashworth

“Let them argue

let them fight 

let them think 

they are right 

let them gossip

let them rage 

let them build 

themselves a cage 

let them judge

let them talk

let them walk

the way they walk 

let them laugh 

behind your back 

they cannot push you

from your track 

let them steal 

each other’s joy

let them silence 

virtue’s voice 

let them wrestle 

for the throne 

let them pick flesh 

from their bones

but of all 

you let them do 

do not let them

alter you 

keep your focus 

on the sky 

and all the beauty 

you pass by 

stay within 

your well-built walls 

and answer only 

worthy calls

let them lie

if they must 

it’s yourself 

you need to trust.”

Poem by Donna Ashworth

“Because Truth is infinite, error should be known as nothing. Because Truth is omnipotent in goodness, error, Truth’s opposite, has no might. Evil is but the counterpoise of nothingness. The greatest wrong is but a supposititious opposite of the highest right. The confidence inspired by Science lies in the fact that Truth is real and error is unreal. Error is a coward before Truth. Divine Science insists that time will prove all this. Both truth and error have come nearer than ever before to the apprehension of mortals, and truth will become still clearer as error is self-destroyed.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 367:30-9

“Idols are but substitutes for your reality. In some way, you believe they will complete your little self, for safety in a world perceived as dangerous, with forces massed against your confidence and peace of mind. They have the power to supply your lacks, and add the value that you do not have. No one believes in idols who has not enslaved himself to littleness and loss. And thus must seek beyond his little self for strength to raise his head, and stand apart from all the misery the world reflects. This is the penalty for looking not within for certainty and quiet calm that liberates you from the world, and lets you stand apart, in quiet and in peace.” 

A Course in Miracles T-29.VIII.2:2-7

True Reflections

Reflections

I was thinking today about a dear little old lady who lived up the street. Margaret had been alone for more than a decade and she had taken all the mirrors out of her house. When some other neighbors and I began to help her with housekeeping chores and other things, someone put a mirror on the wall in her bathroom. When she first saw it, she got very upset and began trying to pull it off the wall and, when that didn’t work, she tried to break it. She had not seen herself in so many years that she couldn’t face what she saw. Many of us feel the same way about viewing ourselves in the light of Spirit. We have become so accustomed to thinking of ourselves as less than, as separate from, the beauty of Love, that it may not be easy to accept our spiritual truth. We may have a tough time releasing our beliefs and allowing ourselves to be the image and likeness of God. Please, let’s be gentle with ourselves and savor the glimpses we see upon the release of what we think we are!

“The true idea of man, as the reflection of the invisible God, is as incomprehensible to the limited senses as is man’s infinite Principle. The visible universe and material man are the poor counterfeits of the invisible universe and spiritual man. Eternal things (verities) are God’s thoughts as they exist in the spiritual realm of the real. Temporal things are the thoughts of mortals and are the unreal, being the opposite of the real or the spiritual and eternal.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 337:20-28

“It matters not when revelation comes, for that is not of time. Yet time has still one gift to give, in which true knowledge is reflected in a way so accurate its image shares its unseen holiness; its likeness shines with its immortal love. We practice seeing with the eyes of Christ today. And by the holy gifts we give, Christ’s vision looks upon ourselves as well.”
A Course in Miracles W-158.11:1-4

The Pit of Negativity

Is your mind hijacked for negativity, or have you reprogrammed it for good? It’s difficult to keep from falling into the pit of horrible things. We hear about them at every turn: on the news and social media platforms, from our friends and family, in the reading material we choose. Of course, there are many events we cannot condone by our silence, but every thought can be translated in our own mind into its spiritual truth. But that’s a subject for another day. The negativity we are being taught to accept as reality could be shown by a banana peel. We see this fruit waste and think it’s ugly, wishing it could be out of sight in a landfill so we don’t have to think about it. Or we can think about it as a remembrance of the good fruit we ate, smiling while imagining it composting back into good soil which will create more beauty and food. This way of thought may seem simplistic, but if we contemplate how we perceive objects, we might find there are productive ways which bring us peace and joy — and then there are those ways which do not. Happy reprogramming everyone!

“The destruction of the claims of mortal mind through Science, by which man can escape from sin and mortality, blesses the whole human family. As in the beginning, however, this liberation does not scientifically show itself in a knowledge of both good and evil, for the latter is unreal.

On the other hand, Mind-science is wholly separate from any half-way impertinent knowledge, because Mind-science is of God and demonstrates the divine Principle, working out the purposes of good only. The maximum of good is the infinite God and His idea, the All-in-all. Evil is a suppositional lie.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 103:6-17


“This is a very simple course. Perhaps you do not feel you need a course which, in the end, teaches that only reality is true. But do you believe it? When you perceive the real world, you will recognize that you did not believe it. Yet the swiftness with which your new and only real perception will be translated into knowledge will leave you but an instant to realize that this alone is true. And then everything you made will be forgotten; the good and the bad, the false and the true. For as Heaven and earth become one, even the real world will vanish from your sight. The end of the world is not its destruction, but its translation into Heaven. The reinterpretation of the world is the transfer of all perception to knowledge.”
A Course in Miracles T-11.VIII.1:1-9

All the Women

 

ART BY Annie Armstrong Art

From Donna Ashworth’s book, Love. (Her writing can be found through Amazon)

“To all the women.

Because all women have mothered someone at some point in their life, it’s just what we do.

We care, we nurture, we mother.

For the mothers who are knee deep in family life, this is your day to feel like a queen, please do. It’s entirely deserved and no one needs a day of pampering more. The chores can wait, be rested.

For the mothers who have lost children, this day is another on your ‘harder’ calendar and for that I send you love, you are so very brave.

To the women who no longer have their mother, this day is a heart-breaking reminder of an overwhelming grief.  Your mother would want this day to be a time to say her sayings, cook her favourite meal and play her favourite songs. So, please don’t avoid that today. I know it hurts but it will help the heal.

To the women who have not made it into motherhood, who so desperately want to.  This day is tough, there is nothing you want more than a 3am wake up and a hand drawn card full of love.

Please take today to acknowledge all the hard work and energy you have put into your endeavours. I see the hole in your heart. I see you and I want you to know you're a warrior of love and you deserve so much joy in life. Please let it in.

To the women who mother another child, you are a glorious example of humanity and love, my heart fills to bursting just to witness the gift you give. Thank you.

To the women who feel they have not had that maternal love they so crave, please forgive. You need your heart whole to make so much love that the future outweighs the past. It starts with you.  You deserve it, make it so.

To the women,

ALL the women.

We mother like no other.”

Donna Ashworth

From ‘love’

“Physical birth is not a beginning; it is a continuing. Everything that continues has already been born. It will increase as you are willing to return the unhealed part of your mind to the higher part, returning it undivided to creation.” 

A Course in Miracles T-5.IV.2:4-6

“Both sexes should be loving, pure, tender, and strong. The attraction between native qualities will be perpetual only as it is pure and true, bringing sweet seasons of renewal like the returning spring.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 57: 8-14

Happy Mother’s Day Today and Every Day

 

When my children were tiny, my best friend, Sandy, came over every morning so I could take a shower and get ready for the day. This was necessary during the infant/toddler stage and I don’t know what I would have done without her. We took the boys to the river and other cool places to play, we cooked food together, we had birthday and other celebrations. Even though this fine woman never had her own children, she was a mother. She showed this every day through her nurturing and loving actions and I couldn’t have been a good mother without her. I hear about how lonely many people are in this day and age of computer friendships. I would urge anyone who seeks companionship to be on the lookout for a young mother with no close family to help her get through the day. Look around your neighborhood and see if any young family seems to be in need. We all are nurturers, no matter what our gender or age. Happy Mother’s Day to all!

“Kindred tastes, motives, and aspirations are necessary to the formation of a happy and permanent companion ship. The beautiful in character is also the good, welding indissolubly the links of affection. A mother’s affection cannot be weaned from her child, because the mother-love includes purity and constancy, both of which are immortal. Therefore maternal affection lives on under whatever difficulties.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 60:3-11

“Our function is to work together, because apart from each other we cannot function at all. The whole power of God’s Son lies in all of us, but not in any of us alone. God would not have us be alone because He does not will to be alone.” 

A Course in Miracles T-8.VI.8:4-6

Your Heart’s Knowledge

Art by Catrin Welz Stein

 Self-Knowledge - by Khalil Gibran

“Your hearts know in silence the secrets of the days and the nights. 

But your ears thirst for the sound of your heart's knowledge. 

You would know in words that which you have always know in thought. 

You would touch with your fingers the naked body of your dreams. 

And it is well you should. 

The hidden well-spring of your soul must needs rise and run murmuring to the sea; 

And the treasure of your infinite depths would be revealed to your eyes. 

But let there be no scales to weigh your unknown treasure; 

And seek not the depths of your knowledge with staff or sounding line. 

For self is a sea boundless and measureless. 

Say not, ‘I have found the truth,’ but rather, ‘I have found a truth.’

Say not, ‘I have found the path of the soul.’ Say rather, ‘I have met the soul walking upon my path.’

For the soul walks upon all paths. 

The soul walks not upon a line, neither does it grow like a reed. 

The soul unfolds itself, like a lotus of countless petals.” 

Kahlil Gibran - The Prophet

“If materialistic knowledge is power, it is not wisdom. It is but a blind force. Man has ‘sought out many inventions,’ but he has not yet found it true that knowledge can save him from the dire effects of knowledge.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 196:1-4

“God does not guide, because He can share only perfect knowledge. Guidance is evaluative, because it implies there is a right way and also a wrong way, one to be chosen and the other to be avoided. By choosing one you give up the other. The choice for the Holy Spirit is the choice for God. God is not in you in a literal sense; you are part of Him. When you chose to leave Him He gave you a Voice to speak for Him because He could no longer share His knowledge with you without hindrance. Direct communication was broken because you had made another voice.” 

A Course in Miracles T-5.II.5:1-7

Iain McGilchrist

 

I find it hard to believe I’ve lived my life and never even heard this man’s name. I am in love with his ideas … 

 Written by Iain McGilchrist:

“I believe that we are engaged in committing suicide: intellectual suicide, moral suicide and physical suicide. If there is anything as important as stopping us poisoning our seas and destroying our forests, it is stopping us poisoning our minds and destroying our souls.

Our dominant value – sometimes I fear our only value – has, very clearly, become that of power. This aligns us with a brain system, that of the left hemisphere, the raison d’être of which is to control and manipulate the world. But not to understand it: that, for evolutionary reasons that I explain, has come to be more the raison d’être of our – more intelligent, in every sense – right hemisphere. Unfortunately the left hemisphere, knowing less, thinks it knows more. It is a good servant, but a ruinous – a peremptory – master. And the predictable outcome of assuming the role of master is the devastation of all that is important to us – or should be important, if we really know what we are about.

Even if we could, by some miracle, reverse the course on which we are set, unless we change our way of thinking, of being in the world – the way that is destroying us as we speak – it would all be in vain. This is why I have written the last long book I will ever write: The Matter with Things: Our Brains, Our Delusions and the Unmaking of the World.

In it I search out what it is we have lost sight of, all that is there for us to see, if only we were not blinded to it: an inexhaustibly, truly wondrous, creative, living universe, not a meaningless, moribund mechanism. By bringing to bear up-to-the-minute neuropsychology, physics and philosophy, I show not only that these are in no way in conflict with one another, but that they all lead us, time and again, to the same insights. And that this is not in opposition to, but rather corroborates, the wisdom of the great spiritual traditions across the world.

All this converges on a vision that is necessary if we are to survive; and, even more importantly, if we are to deserve to survive. What I hope for my readers is that, if they are willing to accompany me on this adventure, they will never see the world in quite the same way again.”

 Iain McGilchrist

“This material world is even now becoming the arena for conflicting forces. On one side there will be discord and dismay; on the other side there will be Science and peace. The breaking up of material beliefs may seem to be famine and pestilence, want and woe, sin, sickness, and death, which assume new phases until their nothingness appears. These disturbances will continue until the end of error, when all discord will be swallowed up in spiritual Truth.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 96:12-20

“Let us today be truly humble, and accept what we have made as what it is. The power of decision is our own. Decide but to accept your rightful place as co-creator of the universe, and all you think you made will disappear. What rises to awareness then will be all that there ever was, eternally as it is now.⁵And it will take the place of self-deceptions made but to usurp the altar to the Father and the Son.” 

A Course in Miracles W-152.8:1-5