Take Me To The Church!

    

St. Emilion in Bordeaux, France

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater

The last writing which was sent out to you ended with the hope that churches would follow the two great precepts which Jesus left us: love each other and love God most of all. Today I had this note from my dear friend and Mentor, Jim Young: “It seems to me, at least in large part, that Eureka Springs itself is a church/religion that fits the two basic principles.” I agree with him totally, and his words caused me to think about ways this is true. When anyone is in trouble — be it physical, financial, emotional, or anything in between — the people of our town come together to support them. No one stops to think about political affiliations, gender orientation, or past run-ins. We just help each other. I’ve seen it happen time and time again. I’ve seen it firsthand when I was in need. Eight years ago, I had no means of supporting myself for almost a year. It was six months before I got a prosthetic device which allowed me to walk and drive, but people picked up books from the library, took me to the grocery stores, ferried me back and forth to doctor’s appointments — everything. My every need was met before I knew I had it! Jim is exactly correct: Eureka Springs, collectively, is a religion. Take me to the church!        
                    

"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 577:4-18

“Prayer is the greatest gift with which God blessed His Son at his creation. It was then what it is to become; the single voice Creator and creation share; the song the Son sings to the Father, Who returns the thanks it offers Him unto the Son. Endless the harmony, and endless, too, the joyous concord of the Love They give forever to Each Other. And in this, creation is extended. God gives thanks to His extension in His Son. His Son gives thanks for his creation, in the song of his creating in his Father’s Name. The Love They share is what all prayer will be throughout eternity, when time is done. For such it was before time seemed to be.”
A Course in Miracles S-1.in.1:1-8

Church, Religion, Loving God

St. Emilion in Bordeaux, France

Photo by Blake Lasater

It seems many friends and acquaintances, from lifelong Christians to adamant atheists, are talking about the Exodus from organized religion. I understand the pain involved in closing down a church, as we were forced to do it eight years ago with our Eureka Springs Christian Science edifice. But according to Mary Baker Eddy, she had not wanted to start a new religion, but felt it was necessary to found a church in order to insure that the book, Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures, would continue on through the years. And so to that end, she has succeeded. I’m not sure the church she founded has been successful in furthering the “cause of Christian Science”. I could speculate on the reasons, but it seems the culprit is a staid insistence on following the letter, without “imbibing in the Spirit”. With regard to other religions, it appears the ones which need to flourish in order to create fellowship and reach out to “the least, the last, the lost”, are struggling; and it is strange (at least in my mind) to see evangelical, holier-than-thou congregations thriving. But perhaps the bottom line is that the kingdom of heaven is within, and we don’t need a building and a preacher to tell us how to love. But we do need more community, in the form of a network of people who can help those in need. So while we’re leaving religion and rebelling against rhetoric, let’s not forget the two commandments Jesus gave us: love each other and love God above all else. I hope churches which practice this precept flourish during these interesting days of change.

“We shall obey and adore in proportion as we apprehend the divine nature and love Him understandingly, warring no more over the corporeality, but rejoicing in the affluence of our God. Religion will then be of the heart and not of the head. Mankind will no longer be tyrannical and proscriptive from lack of love, — straining out gnats and swallowing camels.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 140:10-15

“Communion is impossible alone. No one who stands apart can receive Christ’s vision. It is held out to him, but he cannot hold out his hand to receive it. Let him be still and recognize his brother’s need is his own. And let him then meet his brother’s need as his and see that they are met as one, for such they are. What is religion but an aid in helping him to see that this is so? And what is psychotherapy except a help in just this same direction? It is the goal that makes these processes the same, for they are one in purpose and must thus be one in means.”
A Course in Miracles P-2.II.9:1-8

A Transformative View of the World

 

Photo by Blake Lasater

Reading an editorial in the Christian Science Monitor, I was again struck by the importance of this publication. I am going to quote a paragraph from it here, but the prologue to this quote is that the Boston Globe has discontinued overseas news because it’s too expensive to keep correspondents all over the globe, and they say that no one in America cares or reads news from anywhere else. Hum … I could write a page or two about that, but I won’t. Here is the beautiful sentiment Mark Sappenfield, Editor, wrote:  “What does the Monitor do better than every other news organization on the planet? I would argue that it offers a transformative view of the world itself — that the human story is more interconnected and more hopeful than much media coverage would have us to believe. The Monitor can’t NOT cover the world. To focus only on the United States — or any other country — would be to misapply its mission. Quality ties like compassion, respect, generosity, and honesty know no borders, and to understand how they shape the human experience requires chronicling how the struggle over them is convulsing the world. That’s what news is.” As I contemplate these words, I visualize what a difference it would make if all media understood this and acted accordingly. 

“You may know when first Truth leads by the fewness and faithfulness of its followers. Thus it is that the march of time bears onward freedom’s banner. The powers of this world will fight, and will command their sentinels not to let truth pass the guard until it subscribes to their systems; but Science, heeding not the pointed bayonet, marches on. There is always some tumult, but there is a rallying to truth’s standard.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 225:5-13

“All this beauty will rise to bless your sight as you look upon the world with forgiving eyes. For forgiveness literally transforms vision, and lets you see the real world reaching quietly and gently across chaos, removing all illusions that had twisted your perception and fixed it on the past. ³he smallest leaf becomes a thing of wonder, and a blade of grass a sign of God’s perfection.” 

A Course in Miracles T-17.II.6:1-3

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