Free Listening

What would you do if you saw a person sitting on the steps of a building with a sign that said, “Free Listening”? I read an article about a man, Kip Clark, who did this on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In his words, "Listening is at the root of anything good that exists between people. It can have a powerful impact when done with sincerity and presence." I’ve been noticing how often people only hear a portion of what is being said — or written. This leads to misunderstandings and hurt feelings. The man featured in this article says he offers no advice, but pays attention without judgment, speaking if it seems appropriate, but mainly listening. Feelings of loneliness and isolation are at an all-time high, and we are searching for ways to help others feel included. Perhaps this is the way. We can all listen with attention and respond when it feels right, allowing true communication to create unity. This could pertain to someone who lives in our home, or a friend far away, or the clerk in the food market. I feel excited at the prospect of being a sounding board during these times of immediate response and rebuttal via social media!

“Be still and listen to the truth today. For each five minutes spent in listening, a thousand minds are opened to the truth and they will hear the holy Word you hear. And when the hour is past, you will again release a thousand more who pause to ask that truth be given them, along with you.” 

A Course in Miracles W-106.9:1-3

“Ears. Not organs of the so-called corporeal senses, but spiritual understanding. Jesus said, referring to spiritual perception, ‘Having ears, hear ye not?’ (Mark viii. 18.) 

Mary Baker Eddy Science & Health Page 585:1-4

Righteous Indignation

Photo credit: Datura Böes

Righteous indignation: There's a lot of it going around, don't you think? Perhaps I notice it because I'm expressing it, too. Maybe I'm too quick to jump on my high horse and adopt a holier-than-thou attitude. Some people think of forgiveness as looking the other way and doing nothing, but we are learning that forgiveness is seeing past the illusion of separation to the reality of our unity. With this view, I can set aside my stories of right and wrong, opening thought to the reality of Love. Some people wonder what good this could possibly do in a world rife with confusion. If everyone lived Love, opening themselves to listen for guidance on how to understand and practice this type of forgiveness — well, just imagine the utopia! There exists a voice audible to anyone willing to listen. Forgiveness, the releasing of illusions, allows this voice to be found. In our unity, one release is everyone's gift. There is no you, me, and God. There is only One. What a joy to be finding our voice!

“The blameless cannot blame, and those who have accepted their innocence see nothing to forgive. Yet forgiveness is the means by which I will recognize my innocence. It is the reflection of God’s Love on earth. It will bring me near enough to Heaven that the Love of God can reach down to me and raise me up to Him.”
A Course in Miracles W-60.1:3-6

"In the Apocalypse it is written: 'And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.' In St. John's vision, heaven and earth stand for spiritual ideas, and the sea, as a symbol of tempest-tossed human concepts advancing and receding, is represented as having passed away. The divine understanding reigns, is all, and there is no other consciousness." 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 536:1-9

The Matter With Things

 

The lifework of Iain McGilchrist has captured my attention. His book, “The Matter With Things”, and the multitude of youTube interviews he has given, are deeply profound. For the first time, I’m beginning to understand some interesting patterns of thought in society. Many of us have become ruled almost entirely by the left brain. This side of our thinking organ is necessary because it is logical and literal. But the right side is ruled by intuition, and both sides are needed for us to be fully-functioning people. When we decide music and art are not necessary, when we shut down our creative side, we become more willing to believe what we are told, without question. Dr. McGilchrist gives the example of two people in a car. The driver is being directed by GPS and the map on the screen is showing that they are at a particular intersection. The passenger says, “Wait a minute! That’s not where we are. Look out the window.” But the driver refuses to even look because he is positive he is being told the truth. This is the difference in being ruled by the right and left brain. In my lifetime I’ve watched many things disappear from our educational system, including free play and civics. It’s easy to believe things have gone to hell and we can’t do anything about it. Some of us “think different”. 

“When you say you are acting on the basis of knowledge, you are really confusing knowledge with perception. Knowledge provides the strength for creative thinking, but not for right doing. Perception, miracles and doing are closely related. Knowledge is the result of revelation and induces only thought. Even in its most spiritualized form perception involves the body. Knowledge comes from the altar within and is timeless because it is certain. To perceive the truth is not the same as to know it. “ 

A Course in Miracles T-3.III.5:7-13

“Beauty is a thing of life, which dwells forever in the eternal Mind and reflects the charms of His goodness in expression, form, outline, and color. It is Love which paints the petal with myriad hues, glances in the warm sunbeam, arches the cloud with the bow of beauty, blazons the night with starry gems, and covers earth with loveliness.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 247:21-27

Uplifting Interactions

 

My son and his wife at Meow Wolf, Denver

Sometimes we meet someone with whom we feel an immediate kinship. We experience a “meeting of minds”, so to speak. We find that it doesn’t matter if there are spaces in which we differ in beliefs or understanding, because we respect them and enjoy hearing their thoughts. There have been times when hearing particular ideas (from people with whom I seemingly share no common ground) have caused me to want to flee or lash out. This is a reaction I’ve worked hard to neutralize, as it helps no one and causes me to fill my thoughts with irrelevant discord. It helps to remind myself that we are all made up of the same “stuff”. Our material bodies are remarkably similar to each other, and our spiritual selves are absolute in Oneness. And so today I will look for the middle of the road when interacting with people. It really doesn’t matter the topic of conversation, it can always be an uplifting and informative conversation. As my daddy always said, “If I can’t learn something from the dumbest man I know, then I’m just not listening.” Ha!

“Think of this, dear reader, for it will lift the sackcloth from your eyes, and you will behold the soft-winged dove descending upon you. The very circumstance, which your suffering sense deems wrathful and afflictive, Love can make an angel entertained unawares.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 574:25-30

“Today we will accept our union with each other and our Source. We have no will apart from His, and all of us are one because His Will is shared by all of us. Through it we recognize that we are one. Through it we find our way at last to God.” 

A Course in Miracles W-329.2:1-4

Might There Be Another Way?

 

I love Marianne Williamson’s morning meditation from August 23, and so I’m sending it to you. 

“Today I consider that there might be another way

We were all indoctrinated into a disenchanted world, and we’ve sacrificed a lot in order to live here. The world isn’t better off for having forfeited its tenderness. The meanness and cynicism of our age, the reflexive sarcasm that passes for intelligent reflection, the suspicion and judgment of everyone and everything – such are toxic by-products of a disenchanted worldview.

Many of us went off that wheel of suffering. We don’t want to accept that what is is what has to be. We want to pierce the veil of illusion that separates us from a world of infinite possibility. We want another kind of life for ourselves and for the world. We are considering that there might be another way – a door to miraculous realms simply waiting to be opened.

Today I consider that there might be another way” Marianne Williamson

“You cannot stop with the idea the world is worthless, for unless you see that there is something else to hope for, you will only be depressed. Our emphasis is not on giving up the world, but on exchanging it for what is far more satisfying, filled with joy, and capable of offering you peace. Think you this world can offer that to you?” 

A Course in Miracles W-129.1:2-4

“How are veritable ideas to be distinguished from illusions? By learning the origin of each. Ideas are emanations from the divine Mind. Thoughts, proceeding from the brain or from matter, are offshoots of mortal mind; they are mortal material beliefs. Ideas are spiritual, harmonious, and eternal.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 88:9-13

The Blossom Shines Through the Bud

Photo courtesy of Aaron Springston

When David Hoffmeister was "called" to go on the road and talk to people about the teachings of A Course in Miracles, he didn't know how he would have the funds to do this. He was told by Spirit that all his needs would be supplied, but he didn't believe that. David is a man with excessive formal education, including knowledge of economics, and so he felt certain that Jesus simply didn't understand how the world worked. We tend to think of people like Buddha and St. Francis and Jesus as being beggars of sorts. They didn't make a lot of money, but trusted in the Universe to provide. David was being asked to rely on Spirit to articulate this new/old curriculum. He was being led to teach using everything available -- music, dance, lectures, gatherings -- to help others express deep Love and peace.  The reign of peace has begun, and many people are fighting against it. Let's not be concerned with that. Let's put our energy where it will grow -- on this peaceful transition. Christ consciousness is coming out of hiding and we're being called to help everyone see (by way of our own sight) that this is not some esoteric thing which must be kept secret. It's to be shouted from the rooftops! Fear not, shine your light, call forth witnesses to this light -- and above all, don't tone down your joy!

“Love giveth to the least spiritual idea might, immortality, and goodness, which shine through all as the blossom shines through the bud.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 518:19-21

“You have been called, together with your brother, to the most holy function this world contains. It is the only one that has no limits, and reaches out to every broken fragment of the Sonship with healing and uniting comfort. This is offered you, in your holy relationship. Accept it here, and you will give as you have accepted. The peace of God is given you with the glowing purpose in which you join with your brother. The holy light that brought you and him together must extend, as you accepted it.” 

A Course in Miracles T-18.I.13:1-6

Reinterpreting Illusions

 

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater

Taken in a vineyard in France

We live in a world with many laws to protect us, such as wearing motorcycle helmets and seat belts in cars. Yet the items we find in our grocery stores are filled with chemicals and other things which can barely be classified as food. We are told to use pesticides on ourselves, our gardens, our pets, even though the rates of autoimmune disease and cancer climb steadily. Yet I truly think there IS a spiritual solution to all the things which seem impossibly horrible. I'm not suggesting we hide under the covers and pretend everything is all right, but rather that we recognize the difference in spiritual truth and material illusion. This reinterpretation is similar to what we do when looking down train tracks when they seem to come together, appearing to end, even though we know perfectly well they continue. The proof before our eyes is terribly convincing and it takes a bit of thought, perhaps study, to understand why it is an illusion. Remember how long it took for “us” to realize we wouldn’t fall off the edge of the world if we got in a ship and sailed towards the horizon? There seems to be much to fear when we look out at the world, but when we look inward, we hear truth in the silence. We are nearing a tipping point and every thought is important. Keep up the good work everyone!

“Citizens of the world, accept the ‘glorious liberty of the children of God,’ and be free! This is your divine right. The illusion of material sense, not divine law, has bound you, entangled your free limbs, crippled your capacities, enfeebled your body, and defaced the tablet of your being.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 227:24-28

“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. The 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