Summer Day

Photo credit: Judy Kavan

The Summer Day by Mary Oliver

Who made the world?

Who made the swan, and the black bear?

Who made the grasshopper?

This grasshopper, I mean--

the one who has flung herself out of the grass,

the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,

who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down--

who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.

Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.

Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.

I don't know exactly what a prayer is.

I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down

into the grass, how to kneel in the grass,

how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,

which is what I have been doing all day.

Tell me, what else should I have done?

Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?

Tell me, what is it you plan to do

With your one wild and precious life?”

By Mary Oliver

“The senses of Spirit abide in Love, and they demonstrate Truth and Life” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 274:1-15

“All miracles mean life, and God is the Giver of life. His Voice will direct you very specifically. You will be told all you need to know.” 

A Course in Miracles 

Of Trans Fear and Cult Worship

 

Having just finished the book Mad Honey, written by one of my favorite authors, Jodi Picoult, in tandem with Jennifer Finley Boulanger, my head is swimming with new ideas concerning gender and the limits and boundaries which have been set for us. I’m contemplating questions which have many answers, but ultimately we come back to those two responses: fear or love. I’m also in the middle of a four-part series called Shiny, Happy People, the horror story about the Duggar Family and the  other families who have followed the lead of their guru, Bill Gothard who founded The Institute of Basic Life Principles. From the Picoult book, I have reinforced the loving compassion I want to feel toward all things living. From the Duggar documentary, I have faced the feelings of disgust which accompany learning about teachings which profess to be Christian. The revelations in this documentary have definitely triggered a fear response from me.  I am finding a loving response by being grateful to the film makers and family members who are brave enough to tell the truth. That’s all we need from everyone, everywhere, all the time: truth. Namaste…

“Gender means simply kind or sort, and does not necessarily refer either to masculinity or femininity. The word is not confined to sexuality, and grammars always recognize a neuter gender, neither male nor female.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 508:17-21

“The first corrective step in undoing the error is to know first that the conflict is an expression of fear. Say to yourself that you must somehow have chosen not to love, or the fear could not have arisen. Then the whole process of correction becomes nothing more than a series of pragmatic steps in the larger process of accepting the Atonement as the remedy. These steps may be summarized in this way:

Know first that this is fear.

Fear arises from lack of love.

The only remedy for lack of love is perfect love.

Perfect love is the Atonement.”

A Course in Miracles T-2.VI.7:1-8

Friendship

Photo credit: Susan Luddy

The longer I live, the more I appreciate the importance of women friends. Don’t get me wrong, I can think of a handful of men who are every bit as important to me, but right now I want to think about the women friends I love so dearly. They come from all walks of life, and every story of how we met and why we’re important in each other’s lives is different. But it’s all important. We are the stuff of which life is lived! When we’re in need, when we want to share joy, when we want advice, when we want to relax on the porch and chat about nothing, when we need to talk through political horrors, when we need comfort during times of loss, when we need a hand to hold, when we need to let off steam, when we are thirsty for small talk or hungry for deep conversation — whatever the scenario, I am incredibly grateful for my women friends. If I had one bit of advice for a young person, it would be to cultivate friendships all through your life. If you got busy and forgot to plant these perennials in your garden, it’s not too late!


“PSALM XXIII

[Divine love] is my shepherd; I shall not want.

[Love] maketh me to lie down in green pastures: [love] leadeth me beside the still waters.

[Love] restoreth my soul [spiritual sense]: [love] leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for [love] is with me; [love’s] rod and [love’s] staff they comfort me.

[Love] prepareth a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: [love] anointeth my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house [the consciousness] of [love] for ever.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 578:4-17


“Love is freedom. To look for it by placing yourself in bondage is to separate yourself from it. For the Love of God, no longer seek for union in separation, nor for freedom in bondage! As you release, so will you be released. Forget this not, or Love will be unable to find you and comfort you.”
A Course in Miracles T-16.VI.2:1-5

Finding Beauty

 

Art by  Bettina Baldassari

Words from Donna Ashworth’s “I Wish I Knew”

“You search for your beauty in the mirror, in photographs, in the label of clothes… when you really should be searching through the messages sent to you by loving friends, the cards written to you on special days, and the memories of smiles you created from tears. Your beauty lies in all the ways you touch and care for those around you. The jokes you made to reroute a gloomy day and the music you shared to inspire. The times you showed up when no one else did and the invisible network of love, laughter and light you have sprinkled across this planet without glory or vanity. That’s where you find your beauty.”

Donna Ashworth

From, I WISH I KNEW

“Beauty, wealth, or fame is incompetent to meet the demands of the affections, and should never weigh against the better claims of intellect, goodness, and virtue. Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love. It is unselfish; therefore it cannot exist alone, but requires all mankind to share it.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 57:15-21

“Communication ends separation. Attack promotes it. The body is beautiful or ugly, peaceful or savage, helpful or harmful, according to the use to which it is put. And in the body of another you will see the use to which you have put yours. If the body becomes a means you give to the Holy Spirit to use on behalf of union of the Sonship, you will not see anything physical except as what it is. Use it for truth and you will see it truly.” 

A Course in Miracles T-8.VII.4:1-6

Flowers

Art by Mia Tarney

 “The earth laughs in flowers.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson - (from) Hametreya, 1803-1882.

“Mortals have a modus of their own, undirected and unsustained by God. They produce a rose through seed and soil, and bring the rose into contact with the olfactory nerves that they may smell it. In legerdemain and credulous frenzy, mortals believe that unseen spirits produce the flowers. God alone makes and clothes the lilies of the field, and this He does by means of Mind, not matter.” 

Mary Baker Eddy Science & Health Page 212:17-24

“There is a light in you which cannot die; whose presence is so holy that the world is sanctified because of you. All things that live bring gifts to you, and offer them in gratitude and gladness at your feet. The scent of flowers is their gift to you. The waves bow down before you, and the trees extend their arms to shield you from the heat, and lay their leaves before you on the ground that you may walk in softness, while the wind sinks to a whisper round your holy head.” 

A Course in Miracles  W-156.4:1-

Take a Break. Take Heart!

Take heart. When I read those words in the statement from Mary Baker Eddy quoted below, I did just that. Take Heart. Take Heart! Sometimes it seems the world is trying to wear us down, making us pull the covers over our heads and declare that we've had enough; we surrender. When I feel that way, I know it's time to take a break. Getting into fresh air, communing with animals and trees, is probably the best break possible for me. Any connection with anything not electronic seems to do the trick, don't you think? Although listening to joyous music, preferable something which brings up memories of dancing and laughing, is also a good cleansing for me. Whatever it is you do -- yoga, exercise, gardening, dog walking -- be sure you do it. I can't remember who said, Don't let the bastards get you down! But it was good advice. We can't always be strong, and that's okay. Take a break, but then come back and continue the good fight, spreading truth and love everywhere you go and in everything you do! Never surrender!! 

“Take heart, dear sufferer, for this reality of being will surely appear sometime and in some way. There will be no more pain, and all tears will be wiped away. When you read this, remember Jesus' words, 'The kingdom of God is within you.' This spiritual consciousness is therefore a present possibility.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 573:29-2

“Stand still an instant, now, and think what you have done. Do not forget that it is you who did it, and who can therefore let it go. Hold out your hand. This enemy has come to bless you. Take his blessing, and feel how your heart is lifted and your fear released. Do not hold on to it, nor onto him. He is a Son of God, along with you. He is no jailer, but a messenger of Christ. Be this to him, that you may see him thus.”
A Course in Miracles S-1.III.5:1-9

Divine Mind’s Transmissions

 

I was listening to BK Shivani today and once again she said something I had never thought about. We have compassion for physical and mental illness. We need to cultivate compassion for emotional illness. What is emotional illness? Anger, fear, irritation, jealousy, doubt, worry — these are all illnesses which don’t allow a person to be “normal”. But when someone is going through this, we shouldn’t question it, because we get sucked into their emotional pain. To have true compassion, we must be in a state of mind which is pure, positive energy. It’s easy for us to fall into their lower frequency, but if we stay with higher vibrational energy, they will match it. I remember talking to a woman one day who told me she had a twin sister who was having a surgical procedure that day. She told me she was feeling her sister’s pain. I asked her if she thought she could send her sister calm, assertive energy, rather than receiving agitated fear. She liked that idea. Next time you’re with someone who is upset, experiment and see if you can spread joyous peace in place of whatever is being projected. Namaste…

“Mortal thought transmits its own images, and forms its offspring after human illusions. God, Spirit, works spiritually, not materially. Brain or matter never formed a human concept. Vibration is not intelligence; hence it is not a creator. Immortal ideas, pure, perfect, and enduring, are transmitted by the divine Mind through divine Science, which corrects error with truth and demands spiritual thoughts, divine concepts, to the end that they may produce harmonious results.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page   259:22-31

“It is hard to recognize that thought and belief combine into a power surge that can literally move mountains. It appears at first glance that to believe such power about yourself is arrogant, but that is not the real reason you do not believe it. You prefer to believe that your thoughts cannot exert real influence because you are actually afraid of them. This may allay awareness of the guilt, but at the cost of perceiving the mind as impotent. If you believe that what you think is ineffectual you may cease to be afraid of it, but you are hardly likely to respect it. There are no idle thoughts. All thinking produces form at some level.” 

A Course in Miracles T-2.VI.9:8-14