The Perfume of Gratitude

 

Cheers with GrandmaMa and Torin

We tend to project our own feelings onto God, don't you think? I guess it's part of our upside-down  training to see Source as anthropomorphic, and hence it's tempting to put conditions and limitations on forgiveness and gratitude. Seeing myself as a reflection of God is a great first step in developing spiritual sense, but it's easy to think that God is a reflection of me! I may feel that I can never forgive certain things because they're just too bad. But God "is of purer eyes" than to see these things, so there is nothing to forgive when I'm living in Oneness. My beliefs may tell me I'm grateful that things aren't as bad as they could be, but God's creation is only good. And so anything unlike God, good, is unreal. Mortal mind, or ego, would tell me many other stories, but I choose to listen to Truth. My gratitude, your gratitude, God's gratitude -- it's all One and the same, as is the Love which conveys it!

“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

“You are being blessed by every beneficent thought of any of your brothers anywhere. You should want to bless them in return, out of gratitude. You need not know them individually, or they you. The light is so strong that it radiates throughout the Sonship and returns thanks to the Father for radiating His joy upon it. Only God’s holy children are worthy channels of His beautiful joy, because only they are beautiful enough to hold it by sharing it. It is impossible for a child of God to love his neighbor except as himself. That is why the healer’s prayer is: Let me know this brother as I know myself.” 

A Course in Miracles T-5.in.3:1-8

New Views of Divine Goodness

           Art by Sam Toft

GOOD

By Donna Ashworth

“Most people are good. Most people kiss their pets goodbye and read just ‘one more’ bedtime story to their children. Most people visit their grandparents even when they have no time and stop by to check on quiet friends, after a long day. Most people give money when money is scarce and most people worry about people they don’t even know, day in and day out. When the world seems bad, remember, most people are good.”

Written by Donna Ashworth from the book “Wild Hope”

“Love propagates anew the higher joys of Spirit, which have no taint of earth. Each successive stage of experience unfolds new views of divine goodness and love.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 66:13-16

“Nothing that is good can be lost because it comes from the Holy Spirit, the Voice for creation. Nothing that is not good was ever created, and therefore cannot be protected. The Atonement is the guarantee of the safety of the Kingdom, and the union of the Sonship is its protection. The ego cannot prevail against the Kingdom because the Sonship is united. In the presence of those who hear the Holy Spirit’s Call to be as one, the ego fades away and is undone.”

A Course in Miracles T-5.IV.1:7-11

Choose Kindness

 

Art by Jeremy Lipking - 1975

Having planned on discussing healing for a few days, I was rather disappointed when two things happened today which ask for my attention. This morning I was preparing to go to the laundromat (which I’ve done for almost three decades). As I was almost out the door, a couple of motorcycles inadvertently came down our dead-end street. I glanced out the window at them as they looked around, obviously lost. As they turned in the middle of the road and headed back toward wherever it was they were going, a neighbor came out and began to shout at them. It was a very ugly scene with much cursing and many foolish statements shared. I wished I could apologize to the two couples on the big, loud bikes, but rather silently wished everyone peace and went on my clothes-washing mission. While I was meditating the laundry, a woman came in with her bedspreads and a few other heavy items. She didn’t know how to operate the machines and she was obviously a greenhorn at this activity. I talked her through it and we had a sweet conversation. I felt an immediate kinship with this woman and, although I probably will never see her again, I feel we are friends. It’s difficult for me to understand why anyone would choose ugly commentary over kindness. I know we receive what we give, so let’s go forth and scatter joy today! Namaste …

“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

“To be wholehearted you must be happy. If fear and love cannot coexist, and if it is impossible to be wholly fearful and remain alive, the only possible whole state is that of love. There is no difference between love and joy. Therefore, the only possible whole state is the wholly joyous. To heal or to make joyous is therefore the same as to integrate and to make one. That is why it makes no difference to what part or by what part of the Sonship the healing is offered. Every part benefits, and benefits equally.” 

A Course in Miracles  T-5.in.2:1-7

Don’t Blame Yourself

Columbine - photo by Aaron Springston

Many of my friends are experiencing emotional and physical upsets. This has caused me to ponder healing and its meaning. Today I went to my blog and searched for healing topics from the past 12 years. It’s interesting how understanding changes as consciousness unfolds. I’m going to post a writing today from a few years back. In the days to come, I shall probably continue my musings in this vein …

A friend recommended that I read, “Dying to be Me: My Journey from Cancer, to Near Death, to True Healing”, by Anita Moorjani. One of the important points made in this book is something which is recognized in our studies: Sickness is not your fault. Often new-age teachings tell us that past thoughts and actions create karma which returns to us in terrible ways. Ms. Moorjani assures us that this is not the case. Although many factors may be involved in physical illness, blaming yourself and seeking absolution has nothing to do with true healing. The recognition that you are Love, the knowledge that you are connected to everything, the joy which comes from acceptance of yourself just as you are -- this understanding of your being is what allows the body to be well. It doesn't matter what caused it, what "stage" the problem has advanced to, what mortal predictions are on the table -- nothing matters but the acceptance of yourself as a product of Love. When feeling the purity of Oneness, all material thought must be silenced. We can stop striving and start Being. When slipping into this space of pure Love, nothing else matters. And all is well.

“A correct view of Christian Science and of its adaptation to healing includes vastly more than is at first seen. Works on metaphysics leave the grand point untouched. They never crown the power of Mind as the Messiah, nor do they carry the day against physical enemies, — even to the extinction of all belief in matter, evil, disease, and death, — nor insist upon the fact that God is all, therefore that matter is nothing beyond an image in mortal mind.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 116:11-18

“To heal is to make happy. I have told you to think how many opportunities you have had to gladden yourself, and how many you have refused. This is the same as telling you that you have refused to heal yourself. The light that belongs to you is the light of joy. Radiance is not associated with sorrow. Joy calls forth an integrated willingness to share it, and promotes the mind’s natural impulse to respond as one. Those who attempt to heal without being wholly joyous themselves call forth different kinds of responses at the same time, and thus deprive others of the joy of responding wholeheartedly.” 

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

Peace to the Struggling Hearts

“Blessed are those who do not fear solitude,

who are not afraid of their own company,

who are not always desperately looking for something to do,

something to amuse themselves with,

something to judge.”

Author ~ Paolo Coelho

“Blessed are you who learn that to hear the Will of your Father is to know your own. For it is your will to be like Him, Whose Will it is that it be so. God’s Will is that His Son be one, and united with Him in His Oneness. That is why healing is the beginning of the recognition that your will is His.” 

A Course in Miracles T-11.I.11:6-9

“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 26:14-21

Divided We Fall

 

David French has written a book entitled, "Divided We Fall", which addresses our need to reduce friction in politics. He recommends embracing three ideals: justice, mercy, and humility. Mr. French has close-up experience in racial issues as he and his wife adopted a child from Ethiopia ten years ago. They live in Tennessee. They found out how ugly people can be. To quote him: "Between slavery and Jim Crow -- 345 yars of legally enforced racial discrimination defended by violence -- it's going to take a long time to unwind the effects of that." He warns against claiming to know exactly how to do that, and warns against arrogantly spurning those who disagree with your approach.  He states: "The quest for justice, untempered by civility and untempered by mercy, can tear us apart." This seems to be the wall many of us are discovering with our friends and neighbors: How to be civil and merciful, while also helping to neutralize the bigotry and racism which seem to be so deeply ingrained in our society. He further explains, "Walking into a public policy debate with humility, knowing that you don't have all the answers, is going to foster a degree of mercy and kindness. And that doesn't mean that you back away from the quest for justice. It just means you're approaching it from the proper mindset." I hope to learn more about the mindset of peaceful communication and the calm assertion of truth. Namaste...

"This period is not essentially one of conscience; few feel and live now as when this nation began, and our forefathers' prayers blended with the murmuring winds of their forest home. This is a period of doubt, inquiry, good, and mysterious evil. But sin can only work out its own destruction; and reform does and must push on the growth of mankind." 

Mary Baker Eddy - Miscellaneous Writings Page 237:16 

“It is this one intent we seek today, uniting our desires with the need of every heart, the call of every mind, the hope that lies beyond despair, the love attack would hide, the brotherhood that hate has sought to sever, but which still remains as God created it. With Help like this beside us, can we fail today as we request the peace of God be given us?” 

A Course in Miracles W-185.14:1-2

Unsatisfied Human Craving

 

Art by Andrea Kowch - “Without Measure” - 2022

Thinking of ourselves as unlimited contradicts everything we've been taught. Many of our first memories are of being told to be careful or else something dire might happen. Quantum physics is helping us to understand that form isn't as solid as we've been told. With that understanding, it becomes clear that many limitations we've placed upon ourselves are nothing more than beliefs in material laws. Limitations are discarded when an athlete breaks a record in the Olympics, or if someone performs a seemingly-impossible feat, such as lifting a car off a trapped loved one. We've all heard people tell tales we think of as supernatural, such as falling great distances and feeling as though they landed on a cushion, or so-called incurable diseases disappearing.  Now, I'm not suggesting we exchange one human belief for yet another, but that we look to divine Mind to tell us the truth of our being and that we allow ourselves to be led in paths we wouldn't have considered otherwise. Thought is shifting so rapidly at this time! Let's not be afraid …

“A mortal, corporeal, or finite conception of God cannot embrace the glories of limitless, incorporeal Life and Love. Hence the unsatisfied human craving for something better, higher, holier, than is afforded by a material belief in a physical God and man. ” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 258: 1-6

“You on earth have no conception of limitlessness, for the world you seem to live in is a world of limits. In this world, it is not true that anything without order of difficulty can occur. The miracle, therefore, has a unique function, and is motivated by a unique Teacher Who brings the laws of another world to this one. The miracle is the one thing you can do that transcends order, being based not on differences but on equality.” 

A Course in Miracles - T-14.X.2:4-7