Why Make War?

Joy in Eureka Springs

I read a letter from Sigmund Freud to Albert Einstein, who had written him asking if there was a way to free humankind from the threat of war. Mr. Freud has quite a bit to say about this subject, but one phrase which brought pause is, “...the lust for aggression and destruction”. I had never thought of it that way, and it caused me to take notice. Part of his conclusion is as follows: “The upshot of these observations, as bearing on the subject in hand, is that there is no likelihood of our being able to suppress humanity's aggressive tendencies. In some happy corners of the earth, they say, where nature brings forth abundantly whatever man desires, there flourish races whose lives go gently by, unknowing of aggression or constraint. This I can hardly credit; I would like further details about these happy folk.” In our world, we see famine and harsh conditions in many places. I question whether this is the way creation is supposed to evolve. I’m pretty sure when we follow the laws of nature, life as we know it would evolve into peaceful bliss.

"Heaven: Harmony; the reign of Spirit; government by divine Principle; spirituality, bliss, the atmosphere of Soul." 

Mary Baker Eddy, Science & Health, Page 587

“The world is nothing in itself. Your mind must give it meaning. And what you behold upon it are your wishes, acted out so you can look on them and think them real. Perhaps you think you did not make the world, but came unwillingly to what was made already, hardly waiting for your thoughts to give it meaning. Yet in truth you found exactly what you looked for when you came.”

A Course in Miracles W-132.4:1-5

We Cannot See Two Worlds

Photo courtesy of Mark McGee

The changes we have witnessed in our lifetime have been exciting and — to take a phrase from the ‘70s — mind blowing! Decades ago, when we were told about the Age of Aquarius and, more recently, when 2012 was explained as a shift in consciousness, I'm not sure we recognized there would be any real change in our lives. Those who are looking for material reasons to explain the shifts, in everything from politics to weather, are feeling helpless and overwhelmed. Looked at from a different perspective, we see changes are necessary in order to facilitate the realization of this new earth which we are ready to embrace. As with any shift in thought, some people are afraid and working to keep the old ways, but it is impossible to "see two worlds”. For this reason, I choose Love!

“Perception is consistent. What you see reflects your thinking. And your thinking but reflects your choice of what you want to see. Your values are determiners of this, for what you value you must want to see, believing what you see is really there. No one can see a world his mind has not accorded value. And no one can fail to look upon what he believes he wants.”

A Course in Miracles W-130.1:1-6

“During this final conflict, wicked minds will endeavor to find means by which to accomplish more evil; but those who discern Christian Science will hold crime in check. They will aid in the ejection of error. They will maintain law and order, and cheerfully await the certainty of ultimate perfection.”

 Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 96:31-4

One Intelligent Source

Cooper Chapel in Bella Vista, AR

The Course in Miracles workbook review topics for today includes Lesson #128, which is often debated and sometimes misinterpreted: “The world I see holds nothing that I want”.  It can be mis-perceived to say that I shouldn't enjoy the beautiful life which unfolds every day. For instance, today was the most glorious day, with perfect temperatures and mild breezes energizing me as I played in the flower garden. Everything from cooking and cleaning to playing Scrabble with an old friend was blissfully full of joy and love. How could that not be something that I want? The other part of our review tells us, “There is no love but God's”. Everything I experienced today demonstrated the spiritual reality of my existence. Not everyone would enjoy digging in the dirt, scrubbing the floor, chopping vegetables, and being outscored in a game of Scrabble! But it was my experience unfolding in an individual way which reflected this Love which is God, allowing ”my mind [to] hold(s) only what I think with God". It's an eternal unfolding of Love, God. So I can truthfully say, “The world holds nothing that I want”, because what I want is to know Love, allowing experience to unfold. I can hardly wait to start another day, fresh with the full breath of Life creating my every moment.

“When the divine precepts are understood, they unfold the foundation of fellowship, in which one mind is not at war with another, but all have one Spirit, God, one intelligent source…”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 276:4-8

“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

Quietly Listening to Divine Mind

Two things, which in reality do not exist, want you to think you would no longer be you if you admit that you are unified in Oneness. These things are mortal mind, as termed by Mary Baker Eddy, and ego as it's called in A Course in Miracles. What if free will does not exist unless you DO embrace this unity and give up what you think of as individuality? I'm beginning to see that I have no will of my own if I'm simply regurgitating well-rehearsed lines from the history of my life. I'm starting to glimpse the freedom which comes from throwing off the chains I have bound myself with throughout a lifetime of fears and learned behavior. These false beliefs which dictate our actions was illustrated by a story told me by a dear friend. He thought his stepmother had never liked him, then one day he found out she was almost deaf. With this realization, he saw that the actions he had interpreted as slights to him were actually moments of confusion on her part. He now sees their relationship in a totally different way, viewed from this new understanding. Today I will quietly listen for that still, small voice which frees me from long-held beliefs!

“Let this day be a day of stillness and of quiet listening. Your Father wills you hear His Word today. He calls to you from deep within your mind where He abides. Hear Him today. No peace is possible until His Word is heard around the world; until your mind, in quiet listening, accepts the message that the world must hear to usher in the quiet time of peace.”

A Course in Miracles W-125.1:1-5

“There is but one I, or Us, but one divine Principle, or Mind, governing all existence; man and woman unchanged forever in their individual characters, even as numbers which never blend with each other, though they are governed by one Principle. All the objects of God's creation reflect one Mind, and whatever reflects not this one Mind, is false and erroneous, even the belief that life, substance, and intelligence are both mental and material.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 511:11-19

The Gospel of Love

Photo Courtesy of Richard Quick

Spiritualization of thought is said to be a slow process, and many people think they don't have "time", hence it's not worth the effort to try. To remember that I am One with God is a giant step toward this spiritualization. This puts our goal right where we are, here and now, rather than somewhere far off, which we may or may not reach at some point in the future. I am One with God right now! To know this intellectually and to understand it from the core of your being are not the same thing. The hunger to think God's thoughts, the longing to know what my relationship is to the divine Mind, these desires cannot be satisfied with words. Glimpses of Truth cause me to crave more. The rising above human belief may seem like the work of a lifetime, but the realization that you want to know God happens in a heartbeat. Listen ~~~

[The] human sense of Deity yields to the divine sense, even as the material sense of personality yields to the incorporeal sense of God and man as the infinite Principle and infinite idea, — as one Father with His universal family, held in the gospel of Love.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 576:31-5

“My mind holds only what I think with God. That is a fact, and represents the truth of What you are and What your Father is. It is this thought by which the Father gave creation to the Son, establishing the Son as co-creator with Himself. It is this thought that fully guarantees salvation to the Son. For in his mind no thoughts can dwell but those his Father shares. Lack of forgiveness blocks this thought from his awareness. Yet it is forever true.” 

A Course in Miracles W-rIV.in.2:2-8

The Heights of Holiness

Photo courtesy of Aaron Springston

There is a delightful little book called, The Holy Man, by Susan Trott. It is comprised of numerous scenarios recounted through a group of people who climb a mountain and are waiting in line to see The Holy Man. They feel all their questions will be answered, all their problems solved, if only they can meet and speak with him. The irony is that when they are finally admitted to his home, he simply leads them through the house and out the back door. The beauty of the book is that everyone sees what they need to see from their interactions with others while waiting in the long line. We, too, have these ah-hah moments while going about our day-to-day activities. By releasing our by-rote reactions, we are free to practice forgiveness with every blameless thought we have. With this clean slate, who knows what insights will be ours? Like those people waiting to speak to The Holy Man, whom they believed had all the answers, we will be finding insight in every moment, simply by listening. As One with all that Is, all answers are ours, even without asking questions!

“Mind, joyous in strength, dwells in the realm of Mind. Mind's infinite ideas run and disport themselves. In humility they climb the heights of holiness.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 513:26-9

“Why would you seek an answer other than the answer that will answer everything? Here is the perfect answer, given to imperfect questions, meaningless requests, halfhearted willingness to hear, and less than halfway diligence and partial trust. Here is the answer! Seek for it no more. You will not find another one instead.”

A Course in Miracles W-122.4:1-5

Healing is Supremely Natural

 

Photo credit: Mark McGee

No matter what "ills" appear to be in our lives, there is no law which says we are condemned to suffer. It's a mistaken belief that we are victims of heredity, or subject to communicable disease, or any of the myriad problems which seem so real in our collective and individual thought. It can be very difficult to take ourselves out of the perpetual loop of dis-ease. It often seems impossible to realize Truth in our life, while living amongst the constant flow of erroneous thoughts. Every instance of turning away from material illusion, and seeing with the spiritual sense we're developing, is a cause for celebration! Each revelation is a step toward salvation from the trap of victimhood. The knowledge of what is Truth and what is illusion lifts us past the thoughts which hold us trapped in sickness and inharmony. It's not by trying to rid ourselves of illusions that we are freed; it's by knowing what Truth is. With Truth as the only reality in our thought, error has no room to take hold, and it disappears into the nothingness which is its only reality. Now that's something to celebrate!

“The physical healing of Christian Science results now, as in Jesus' time, from the operation of divine Principle, before which sin and disease lose their reality in human consciousness and disappear as naturally and as necessarily as darkness gives place to light and sin to reformation. Now, as then, these mighty works are not supernatural, but supremely natural."

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page xi:9-15

“There is no place where holiness is not, and nowhere sin and sickness can abide.

This is the thought that cures. It does not make distinctions among unrealities. Nor does it seek to heal what is not sick, unmindful where the need for healing is. This is no magic. It is merely an appeal to truth, which cannot fail to heal and heal forever. It is not a thought that judges an illusion by its size, its seeming gravity, or anything that is related to the form it takes. It merely focuses on what it is, and knows that no illusion can be real.” 

A Course in Miracles W-140.5:7–6:7