Filling A Hole in the Soul

Watching the movie A Star is Born, with Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, has left me an emotional wreck. I’m remembering all the alcoholic drug addicts I’ve known, along with all the incredibly talented Texas musicians I’ve loved. Whew! And this has led me to think about this thing we call will power. I’m not sure there is such a thing in our material sense of things. We say addiction is a disease, and that’s probably true, as it’s an acute sense of dis-ease which is felt in the throes of addictive behavior. An ex-heroine addict once told me he was trying to fill the “God hole” in his life. The religions he has tried to love did not fill his need, and he repeatedly turned to drugs. At one point I was addicted to many substances, and it was the illness of a child which caused me to want to change enough to struggle to do so.  The study of the Science of Christ satisfied the longing in my life. My discovery of A Course in Miracles closed the deal in my search for a happy existence.  For this, I am thankful with all my heart. 

“The power of the human will should be exercised only in subordination to Truth; else it will misguide the judgment and free the lower propensities. It is the province of spiritual sense to govern man. Material, erring, human thought acts injuriously both upon the body and through it."

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 206:4-9

“Your picture of the world can only mirror what is within. The source of neither light nor darkness can be found without. Grievances darken your mind, and you look out on a darkened world. Forgiveness lifts the darkness, reasserts your will, and lets you look upon a world of light. We have repeatedly emphasized that the barrier of grievances is easily passed, and cannot stand between you and your salvation. The reason is very simple. Do you really want to be in hell? Do you really want to weep and suffer and die?” 

A Course in Miracles W-73.5:1-8

Follow Your Heart

St. Patricks Day Parade

Photo credit: Richard Quick

Pierre Dulaine wanted to be a ballroom dancer. After years of performing, he became a teacher. He was determined to bring ballroom dancing to the classrooms of New York City. No one wanted him to do this. Administrators, teachers, and especially students thought it was a horrid idea. He persisted and now his way of teaching is integral in more than 500 schools around the world. His idea is that if you can dance together, you can get along. He paired up kids by height, with no regard to nationality or gang affiliation or anything else. When these kids are dancing, they are happy and everything else falls away. It doesn't matter if their families have feuded for years or if someone hurt the other's feelings the day before. These students are being taught respect for themselves and others through dance. They must hold each other and cooperate in movement. They are taught to look into each others' eyes and learn the confidence to do so in daily life. Pierre Dulaine was led to do something everyone thought to be foolish and a waste of time. He has followed his heart and brought a gift of Love and peace and grace to thousands by doing so. 

"Spirit, God, gathers unformed thoughts into their proper channels, and unfolds these thoughts, even as He opens the petals of a holy purpose in order that the purpose may appear."

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 506:18-21

“The light of truth is in us, where it was placed by God. It is the body that is outside us, and is not our concern. To be without a body is to be in our natural state. To recognize the light of truth in us is to recognize ourselves as we are. To see our Self as separate from the body is to end the attack on God’s plan for salvation, and to accept it instead. And wherever His plan is accepted, it is accomplished already.”

A Course in Miracles- W-72.9:1-6

Seeking Salvation Where It Is

Emma Stone & Colin Firth in

Magic In The Moonlight

The topic for today’s Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson, “Only God’s plan for salvation will work”, could be misinterpreted as meaning that there is some sort of predestined plan which we must follow in order to achieve happiness and fulfillment. What we are learning has nothing to do with blindly following something we don't understand. We are learning to understand we are the expression of God, and until we realize what that means, we have no hope of trusting what we hear within our being. But mortal mind (the thoughts which come to us from material teachings and long-held beliefs) tells us that to listen to anything other than "logic" is foolishness. And so we plant our feet on the shifting sands of materialism and think we're doing the best we can under impossible circumstances. I watched a Woody Allen movie, Magic in the Moonlight, in which Colin Firth plays a magician who is out to expose a beautiful, young spiritualist/medium as a fraud. His character is an interesting one, absolutely certain there is no such thing beyond what we physically experience. After watching this delightful romantic comedy, I'm seeing their characters through Woody's eyes, as he is positive humans are doomed to a life of misery, perhaps with moments of joy. This is one of the traps we have set for ourselves, thinking that something else is going to bring salvation to us, never guessing that it's already ours! But Mr. Allen is dancing closer to Truth with every autobiographical movie he gives us. What fun to watch his journey! 

“God’s plan for salvation works simply because, by following His direction, you seek for salvation where it is. But if you are to succeed, as God promises you will, you must be willing to seek there only. Otherwise, your purpose is divided and you will attempt to follow two plans for salvation that are diametrically opposed in all ways. The result can only bring confusion, misery and a deep sense of failure and despair.” 

A Course in Miracles W-71.5:1-4

"Salvation is as eternal as God. To mortal thought Jesus appeared as a child, and grew to manhood, to suffer before Pilate and on Calvary, because he could rench and teach mankind only through this conformity to mortal conditions; but Soul never  saw the Saviour come and go, because the divine idea is always present." Mary Baker Eddy - Unity of Good: 59:13-18

Saved by Truth

Photo credit: Aaron Springston

A dear friend tells me that it has taken her seven decades to stop believing the things her parents told her about herself. They said she was ugly, stupid, worthless, and other hurtful damnations. She believed these things and they stayed with her, until being in a group with spiritually-aware people allowed her to see the truth about herself. She no longer feels unworthy of love and goodness. Hallelujah! Her salvation has come! How often do we believe lies about the reality of our being? We don’t realize we have chosen guilt for ourselves, but thankfully we are recognizing this and understanding that we have a choice. Nothing outside of our own self can save us; nothing from outside can bring us peace. The source of salvation and peace lies within. This acceptance is, indeed, a cause for celebration!

“Innocence and Truth overcome guilt and error.”  

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 568:1

“Salvation seems to come from anywhere except from you. So, too, does the source of guilt. You see neither guilt nor salvation as in your own mind and nowhere else. When you realize that all guilt is solely an invention of your mind, you also realize that guilt and salvation must be in the same place. In understanding this you are saved.” 

A Course in Miracles W-70.1:2-6

The Grievances I Cherish

Photo credit: Aaron Springston

Cleaning cobwebs from dark corners feels similar to finding hidden grievances within myself. It's possible I'm holding onto some of these simply because it's comfortable. The story I've created for myself might just fall apart if I let go any part of it. I may have convinced myself that I like my history and wouldn't want to give up any of it, much less all of it. I'm like a little child holding on to a stuffed animal, feeling like it's my security. Or maybe I'm a little older, holding onto cigarettes because they feel like friends, and I'm not sure what I'd do without them. These are stories I've been building for years and years. It seems if I let them go, I may disappear. But what brilliance is hiding behind the cover of these grievance clouds? What light have I hidden behind the illusions I've created for myself and the world? I know something wonderful is there, just out of reach. So when an old story comes to mind, I will turn thought instead to contemplation of the wondrous Truth which flows in, out, and through me when I lift the veil created by my grievances. Now that's spring cleaning!

“The manifestation of God through mortals is as light passing through the window-pane. The light and the glass never mingle, but as matter, the glass is less opaque than the walls. The mortal mind through which Truth appears most vividly is that one which has lost much materiality--much error--in order to become a better transparency for Truth. Then, like a cloud melting into thin vapor, it no longer hides the sun.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 295:14-24

“From where you stand, you can see no reason to believe there is a brilliant light hidden by the clouds. The clouds seem to be the only reality. They seem to be all there is to see. Therefore, you do not attempt to go through them and past them, which is the only way in which you would be really convinced of their lack of substance.” 

A Course in Miracles W-69.5:1-4

No Grievance in Love

Art by Diana Harvey

Some painful memories seem to stay with us. Throughout the years, certain events have re-played regularly in my mind. Although these re-runs are mostly gone now, there are current events which seem to beg me to take offense. They jump up and down asking to be retold, wanting to hold me to them with emotions. To hold a grievance, you must live in the past. I remember a line from a little book by Alan Lightman called "Einstein's Dreams". He tells us that those who live in the past are condemned to live there alone. Habitually recounting what used to be, or wishing for what never was, or wanting what could have been, are thought processes which are symptoms of holding grievances. Today's Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson commentary tells us that forgetting that I am Love, forgetting that everyone is Love, forgetting that everything is Love, is holding a grievance. So today I will hold thought to a return to Love -- a figurative return, as I remember that I never left, and neither has anyone else. This Love replaces all grievances in my thought, and by this process I am safely and peacefully at one with all.

“The circumstance, which your suffering sense deems wrathful and afflictive, Love can make an angel entertained unawares.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 574:27-30

“It is as sure that those who hold grievances will redefine God in their own image, as it is certain that God created them like Himself, and defined them as part of Him. It is as sure that those who hold grievances will suffer guilt, as it is certain that those who forgive will find peace. It is as sure that those who hold grievances will forget who they are, as it is certain that those who forgive will remember.” 

A Course in Miracles W-68.3:1-3

From Love and Light …

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater

What is love? As a personal value, love changes and shifts. Friendships end over disagreements, marriages fall apart, societies struggle to remain cohesive while accepting those who think differently. The Love we are learning about changes our material expectations, along with our perceived shortcomings. There was a time when two people I care about did not get along with each other. I tried hard to see them both in their true identity as spiritual expressions of Love. They both shared in the wisdom of the ages, because they reflected divine Mind. When we see others as the expression of Love, they can see themselves this way, too. Seeing ourselves as complete allows a shift to occur in the way we treat others and ourselves. All problems, large and small, are symptoms of a basic misconception that we are fallen humans separated from God's Love. The acceptance that we are Love, wholly and purely, starts a domino-effect which inevitably includes everyone in this shift of thought. Through this acceptance, our views shift from unreal beliefs of what we are, to the pure understanding of ourselves as Love.

“From Love and from the light and harmony which are the abode of Spirit, only reflections of good can come. All things beautiful and harmless are ideas of Mind. Mind [Love] creates and multiplies them, and the product must be mental.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 280:4-8

“Meditation is the art of divine appreciation of the outer forms, because meditation gives us an understanding of the divine Love which produced the form. Meditation develops the insight which carries us from the outer form to its creative principle and then, with this new insight, the world is revealed as it really is.” 

Joel Goldsmith

“Love created me like itself. Today’s idea is a complete and accurate statement of what you are. This is why you are the light of the world. This is why God appointed you as the world’s savior. This is why the Son of God looks to you for his salvation. He is saved by what you are. We will make every effort today to reach this truth about you, and to realize fully, if only for a moment, that it is the truth.” 

A Course in Miracles W-67.1:1-6