The Stories We Tell Ourselves

Photo courtesy of Aaron Springston

Childhood memories: We all have them. But I've begun to question how many of mine actually happened! Perhaps the memories are stories parents or siblings told over and over, or maybe they come from photographs that you've looked at repeatedly. Don't get me wrong here, because I don't think that's a bad thing. Stories teach us and stories lead us to places we need to be. But sometimes those stories can mislead us, too. Recently an aged-aunt called me wanting confirmation about a family rumor. I had never heard about this occurrence and told her so. While she was questioning me, she said she was calling me rather than writing on Messenger (our usual mode of communication) because another relative had told her that I was getting off of Facebook. I have never considered doing such a thing, because I keep up with friends and family through that medium. But this has caused me to think on many things! What we believe to be true may be nothing more than words we want to believe. So let's keep an open mind and heart, whether we are remembering our past or listening to someone else's ideas which they want us to believe are true. We live in an age of rampant propaganda, whether it be from commercials bombarding us or bots inundating our social media feed, we must be aware that many people have an agenda which they are doing their best to propel into being. Our brains are pretty good at picking out illusions, and I'm going to practice ascertaining truth by looking back through those childhood moments which seem so real. 

“And when the memory of God has come to you in the holy place of forgiveness you will remember nothing else, and memory will be as useless as learning, for your only purpose will be creating. Yet this you cannot know until every perception has been cleansed and purified, and finally removed forever. Forgiveness removes only the untrue, lifting the shadows from the world and carrying it, safe and sure within its gentleness, to the bright world of new and clean perception. There is your purpose now. And it is there that peace awaits you.” 

A Course in Miracles T-18.IX.14:1-5

"As vapor melts before the sun, so evil would vanish before the reality of good. One must hide the other. How important, then, to choose good as the reality!" 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 480:31

Invest in What is True

Starting over. Making changes. Reinventing ourselves. Most of us have done this more than once, haven't we? A sea change in our lives may come about because of illness, loss of a job, losing a loved one, or just needing to let go of behaviors which no longer serve us. Whatever the case, many of us resist these changes. Presently, it seems we are all in the midst of major shifts in our perceptions and our daily activities, and it can be frightening. We may wish someone would throw us a life preserver and tow us to safety! Perhaps we know someone grasping at illusions of hope, not seeing through the mist to the pitfalls on the other side. In our desire to show others the danger, we can drive them further away from seeing what's actually going on. And so we must remember that we cannot save anyone, we cannot change anyone; only ourselves. Our values can be expressed through our votes during elections, by the foods we purchase, by the entertainment we choose, and many other daily choices. We’re all in this together. The longer I live, the more I realize what that means. Let's be here for each other. It's the most we can do!

"This scientific sense of being, forsaking matter for Spirit, by no means suggests man's absorption into Deity and the loss of his identity, but confers upon man enlarged individuality, a wider sphere of thought and action, a more expansive love, a higher and more permanent peace." 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 265:10-15

“The way to correct distortions is to withdraw your faith in them and invest it only in what is true. You cannot make untruth true. If you are willing to accept what is true in everything you perceive, you let it be true for you. Truth overcomes all error, and those who live in error and emptiness can never find lasting solace. If you perceive truly you are cancelling out misperceptions in yourself and in others simultaneously. Because you see them as they are, you offer them your acceptance of their truth so they can accept it for themselves. This is the healing that the miracle induces.” 

A Course in Miracles T-3.II.6:1-7

War — Ugh!

War is incomprehensible to most of us. Personally, I can’t think of anything horrific enough to cause me to file a lawsuit against another person, much less to want to kill them. Somewhere I read that countries and groups of people will do things collectively which individuals would find abhorrent. Wars often begin because of religious- and/or power-driven causes. I’m sure everyone involved thinks they have a noble cause and they are standing up for righteous reasons, I’m not sure there is such a thing as a “righteous reason” — unless it is love-based. We learn in A Course in Miracles that everything either comes from love or is a call for love. As we watch wars swell intensely, our hearts go out to the people. May this love we send out to the innocents be for all the people, not just the ones we deem to be in the right. God sees no difference in Hitler or Mother Teresa. And we are the image and likeness of that divine Love. Namaste to All …

“Help Me to wake My children from the dream of retribution and a little life beset with fear, that ends so soon it might as well have never been. Let Me instead remind you of eternity, in which your joy grows greater as your love extends along with Mine beyond infinity, where time and distance have no meaning. While you wait in sorrow Heaven’s melody is incomplete, because your song is part of the eternal harmony of love. Without you is creation unfulfilled. Return to Me Who never left My Son. Listen, My child, your Father calls to you. Do not refuse to hear the Call for Love. Do not deny to Christ what is His Own. Heaven is here and Heaven is your home.” 

A Course in Miracles S-3.IV.8:1-9

“It should be thoroughly understood that all men have one Mind, one God and Father, one Life, Truth, and Love. Mankind will become perfect in proportion as this fact becomes apparent, war will cease and the true brotherhood of man will be established.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 467:9-13

Lest We Compare Ourself With Another

Image of unknown origin

I listen to audio books while cooking, cleaning, exercising, and driving. Today I finished a book written for middle school students called Fish in a Tree, by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. The title caught my attention while browsing through the possibilities for my next read. (I use a library app called Libby, so if I don’t care for the book, I simply return it) The book’s title refers to this: “Everybody is smart in different ways. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its life believing it is stupid.” As I finished this book, I was thinking about my friends who think they can’t understand my metaphysical studies and writing. One man tells me he doesn’t have enough time left in his life to learn about A Course in Miracles or Christian Science. While I feel fortunate that my parents were students of Mary Baker Eddy and I grew up with a basic understanding of these teachings, there is always more to learn. I don’t even think of it as learning any longer, but as an unfolding. Is it ever too late to accept new ideas? We needn’t compare ourselves with anyone else when it comes to any form of learning or understanding. What fun we all have waiting for us!

“Individuals are consistent who, watching and praying, can 'run, and not be weary; . . . walk, and not faint,' who gain good rapidly and hold their position, or attain slowly and yield not to discouragement. …  Imperfect mortals grasp the ultimate of spiritual perfection slowly; but to begin aright and to continue the strife of demonstrating the great problem of being, is doing much.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 254:1-15

“The miracle substitutes for learning that might have taken thousands of years. It does so by the underlying recognition of perfect equality of giver and receiver on which the miracle rests. The miracle shortens time by collapsing it, thus eliminating certain intervals within it. It does this, however, within the larger temporal sequence.”

A Course in Miracles T-1.II.6:7-10

Developing Latent Possibilities

Photo courtesy of Aaron Springston

Often it takes a big shake up to force us to change ways of thought and actions which have become ingrained in us. It seems comfortable, easy, and safe to stay within the bounds of what we know. Looking back on the past decades, I see where I would have been stuck in mundane perhaps even destructive living had it not been for events which shocked me into new ways of thought and action. I am most grateful for the times when life seemed good, when I rested in cozy contentment, but then changes were facilitated by seeming tragedy. The move from by-rote living to Uppercase Living takes courage, but to seek a future different from the past ensures that we shall have one!

“A knowledge of the Science of being develops the latent abilities and possibilities of man. It extends the atmosphere of thought, giving mortals access to broader and higher realms. It raises the thinker into his native air of insight and perspicacity.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 128:13-191

“Learning is change. Salvation does not seek to use a means as yet too alien to your thinking to be helpful, nor to make the kinds of change you could not recognize. Concepts are needed while perception lasts, and changing concepts is salvation’s task. For it must deal in contrasts, not in truth, which has no opposite and cannot change. In this world’s concepts are the guilty ‘bad’; the ‘good’ are innocent. And no one here but holds a concept of himself in which he counts the ‘good’ to pardon him the ‘bad.’ Nor does he trust the ‘good’ in anyone, believing that the ‘bad’ must lurk behind. This concept emphasizes treachery, and trust becomes impossible. Nor could it change while you perceive the ‘bad’ in you.” 

A Course in Miracles T-31.VII.1:1-9

The Enduring, Good, and True

Photo courtesy of Aaron Springston

The substance of the following quote often runs through my mind: “We do ourselves a great disservice when we let the bitter opinions of others mingle and subvert our own thoughts.” (Dodinsky) It’s easy to feel hurt by what others say, or to become angry, or to react in various non-productive ways. One of my favorite gurus is Don Miguel Ruiz, and his Four Agreements are something I try to incorporate in my daily life. So when someone tells me they’re upset with the actions of another, I often relate his advice: “Don’t take anything personally.” Ultimately, the bottom line is given us by Gandhi’s wisdom: “If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change toward him.” Have a great Sunday, everyone!

“Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true, and you will bring these into your experience proportionably to their occupancy of your thoughts." 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 261:4-7

“I am among the ministers of God, and I am grateful that I have the means by which to recognize that I am free. The world recedes as we light up our minds, and realize these holy words are true. They are the message sent to us today from our Creator. Now we demonstrate how they have changed our minds about ourselves, and what our function is. For as we prove that we accept no will we do not share, our many gifts from our Creator will spring to our sight and leap into our hands, and we will recognize what we received.” 

A Course in Miracles W-154.13:2–14:4

Seeing What Is

From Meow Wolf in Denver, CO

Everyone has heard the tale about blind people touching different parts of an elephant, and their interpretations of what they are feeling. It seems to me that's where we are in the current political imbroglio. Some people see Democrats as the devil's spawn; others see Republicans as brainwashed automatons. Where does it end? An election won't stop the disagreements, any more than a civilized debate will resolve our differences. For years I've looked for common ground on which to stand with one another. You would think love, peace, health, and happiness would be desired by everyone, but it seems people interpret these values in different ways. This is one of the reasons I love A Course in Miracles. We are taught to release any preconceived notions concerning what things mean. Look at a table and see it for what it is; not what you think about it and what it brings up in memories. As we practice doing this with things and situations, something shifts within us, allowing truth to be known and belief to be released. We don't automatically become all-knowing beings, but we learn to recognize the fallacy of our interpretations. So next time you think you're touching a snake, remember it just might be an elephant's trunk! 

"Science shows that material, conflicting mortal opinions and beliefs emit the effects of error at all times, but this atmosphere of mortal mind cannot be destructive to morals and health where it is opposed promptly and persistently by Christian Science. Truth and Love antidote this mental miasma, and thus invigorate and sustain existence." 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 273:29

“Let all your brother’s errors be to you nothing except a chance for you to see the workings of the Helper given you to see the world He made instead of yours. What, then, is justified? What do you want? For these two questions are the same. And when you see them as the same, your choice is made. For it is seeing them as one that brings release from the belief there are two ways to see. This world has much to offer to your peace, and many chances to extend your own forgiveness. Such its purpose is, to those who want to see peace and forgiveness descend on them, and offer them the light.” 

A Course in Miracles T-25.III.7:2-9