Beyond Conflict

We are living in a “grim era of demonization”. I’ve mentioned before a group called Beyond Conflict, which found that around 80% of those who call themselves Democrats or Republicans overestimate the level to which the other side dehumanizes them. In other words, I don’t think you’re as bad as you think I think you are! It’s time we all begin to realize these truths and start talking to each other with civility. Almost 70 years ago, Margaret Chase Smith asked her political party to “do some soul-searching” and not to ride to power on character assassination and unsubstantiated accusations of treason. She made this plea from the Senate floor, but she did not point fingers at the culprit. It was Joseph McCarthy who was making accusations unrooted in truth, but by not calling him out she exposed the emptiness of his crusade, which soon collapsed. We are currently hearing outlandish and unfounded accusations, and it is our duty to seek truth and celebrate it. Harmony is seeking our attention! I pray we will find it.

“Discord is the nothingness named error. Harmony is the soothingness named Truth.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 276:26

“There is a tendency, and it is very strong, to hear this song of death only an instant, and then dismiss it uncorrected. These fleeting awarenesses represent the many opportunities given us literally ‘to change our tune.’ The sound of healing can be heard instead. But first the willingness to question the ‘truth’ of the song of condemnation must arise. The strange distortions woven inextricably into the self-concept, itself but a pseudo-creation, make this ugly sound seem truly beautiful. ’The rhythm of the universe,’ ‘the herald angel’s song,’ all these and more are heard instead of loud discordant shrieks.”
A Course in Miracles P-2.VI.2:1-6

The Value of Motherhood

Art by Margarita Sikorskaia

Written by Toni Morrison

“There was something so valuable about what happened when one became a mother. For me, it was the most liberating thing that ever happened to me. Liberating because the demands that children make are not the demands of a normal ‘other.’ 

The children’s demands on me were things that nobody ever asked me to do. 

To be a good manager. 

To have a sense of humor. 

To deliver something that somebody could use. 

And they were not interested in all the things that other people were interested in, like what I was wearing or if I were sensual. Somehow all of the baggage that I had accumulated as a person about what was valuable just fell away. I could not only be me—whatever that was—but somebody actually needed me to be that.

If you listen to your children, somehow you are able to free yourself from baggage and vanity and all sorts of things and deliver a better self, one that you like. The person that was in me that I liked best was the one my children seemed to want."

Written by Toni Morrison

“Mother. God; divine and eternal Principle; Life, Truth, and Love.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 592:16-17

“Pause and be still a little while, and see how far you rise above the world, when you release your mind from chains and let it seek the level where it finds itself at home. It will be grateful to be free a while. It knows where it belongs. But free its wings, and it will fly in sureness and in joy to join its holy purpose. Let it rest in its Creator, there to be restored to sanity, to freedom and to love.” 

A Course in Miracles W-128.6:1-5

Can’t Push the River

A dear friend is trying to make a decision about her future: whether to sell her business, how to sell a house she’s been in 50 years, where to go — if anywhere. Hearing her worries reminded me of 30 years ago when I wanted to move to my present village. My boys were going to Clear Spring School and I decided to move from Berryville to Eureka Springs. There were obstacles which seemed insurmountable and no matter how much I planned and worried, nothing was working out. At some point I read an article purported to be written by Mary Baker Eddy entitled “Place”, and it was her words which allowed me to stop all the mental chatter and surrender to divine Mind. Shortly afterwards, I was recycling newspapers and a house rental ad jumped off the page at me. It’s the same house where I’ve happily raised my children, the home where inspiration was sparked for a business which introduced me to hundreds of great friends, the place I love to be more than anywhere. Through the years, I've watched in wonder as answers come when I no longer worry over possibilities. Unfortunately, trying to explain this concept is not easy. Yielding of personal will is not a popular idea. We are learning we can't push the river...

“The place you seek is seeking you, the place you need is needing you.”
Mary Baker Eddy [There is some controversy as to whether she wrote the article entitled “Place”.]

“Let Him, therefore, be the only Guide that you would follow to salvation. He knows the way, and leads you gladly on it. With Him you will not fail to learn that what God wills for you is your will. Without His guidance you will think you know alone, and will decide against your peace as surely as you decided that salvation lay in you alone. Salvation is of Him to Whom God gave it for you. He has not forgotten it. Forget Him not and He will make every decision for you, for your salvation and the peace of God in you.”
A Course in Miracles T-14.III.14:1-7

Solidly Here

“Lean on us, we are solidly here. Strong. With love in our hearts.” These are the words written from a friend to another friend whose husband has just begun hospice care. I’ve said before how important it is to have a strong network of friends, and this seems to be more important as we age. Perhaps it’s not more important; maybe it’s that we find ourselves in need of the comfort more often. For instance, I have friends with dementia, others with serious illnesses, a couple are having a tough time retiring from their life work, while some of us are enjoying that retirement so much because there is more time to bask in these lifelong connections we have nurtured over the years. I also know some people who feel alone and without deep connections. That’s when it becomes important to realize that we are never alone because of our constant kinship with Mother Earth, and with each other through divine Mind. Allowing ourselves to sink into the arms of all encompassing Love brings a security few other relationships afford us. And I am grateful …

“When we fully understand our relation to the Divine, we can have no other Mind but His, — no other Love, wisdom, or Truth, no other sense of Life, and no consciousness of the existence of matter or error.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 205:32-3

“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

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