Life Is Not Limited

Art by Kaoru Yamada

“There is one life, and that I share with God.” ACIM Lesson #167. This topic reminds me of being in the check-out line at the market when the young man sacking groceries was trying on the checker's glasses. He said he didn’t know how anyone could see through them, and she told him they're reading glasses and he'll find out someday.  He said, "I hope God comes before that happens." The checkout lady replied, "That's horrible! No, that's wonderful. No ..." At this point, I also was somewhat speechless! She had interpreted his comment to mean he hoped he died before he lost his 20/20 vision. But upon reflection, he could have meant other things -- perhaps "the rapture"?? The whole conversation reflected our society’s muddled, confused thought. He was assuming that getting older requires a loss of sight, she was assuming he wanted to die before he was old, he was believing God was somewhere separate from him. Erroneous assumptions were rife. Rather than wonder what others were thinking, I asked myself what I thought of my life, realizing that to relish every moment is enough for me.  Using the word Life as a synonym for deity helps me see that there is no separation, and I can relax into the ever-constant wonder of loving existence!

“There are not different kinds of life, for life is like the truth. It does not have degrees. It is the one condition in which all that God created share. Like all His Thoughts, it has no opposite. There is no death because what God created shares His life. There is no death because an opposite to God does not exist. There is no death because the Father and the Son are one.”

A Course in Miracles W-167.1:1-7

“Question: What is Life?

Answer: Life is divine Principle, Mind, Soul, Spirit. Life is without beginning and without end. Eternity, not time, expresses the thought of Life, and time is no part of eternity. One ceases in proportion as the other is recognized. Time is finite; eternity is forever infinite. Life is neither in nor of matter. What is termed matter is unknown to Spirit, which includes in itself all substance and is Life eternal. Matter is a human concept. Life is divine Mind. Life is not limited. Death and finiteness are unknown to Life. If Life ever had a beginning, it would also have an ending.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Pages 468:26-6

Shared Joy

Laughter is contagious, don’t you think? Most of us have “gotten the giggles” and been unable to stop laughing. There are numerous videos on the internet where people are sharing laughter in the most joyous of ways. I particularly like one which shows people’s reactions when someone tells them they are beautiful. The sheepish grins which emerge, the eyes which light up, are sure to bring a smile to my face and an expansion of my heart. Joy, laughter, happiness — these are given freely to us as a part of our divine heritage. Today I will make the most of every opportunity I have to give these gifts, freely, joyously, with no reservations or restrictions!

"Happiness is spiritual, born of truth and love. It is unselfish; therefore it cannot exist alone, but requires all mankind to share it." 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 57:18-21

“Become the living proof of what Christ’s touch can offer everyone. God has entrusted all His gifts to you. Be witness in your happiness to how transformed the mind becomes which chooses to accept His gifts, and feel the touch of Christ.Such is your mission now. For God entrusts the giving of His gifts to all who have received them. He has shared His joy with you. And now you go to share it with the world.” 

A Course in Miracles  W-166.15:2-8

Be With Those Who Help Your Being

Good Friends at a Jim Young Book Signing

Gathering with others is a lovely way to be reminded of the Truth inherent in us. “Let not my mind deny the Thought of God.” [A Course in Miracles Workbook #165] The Thought of God isn't our thinking about God, but our listening to the Thought which is God. I love to talk with others and hear how these images of divine Mind shine through the myths we have created for ourselves in daily life. More and more, we are realizing what is true and what is simply habitual thinking, perpetuated by repetition. And how do we know if it's coming from the one Source or our mortal, limited thinking? Does it make my heart sing and my mind feel at peace? Does it bless all equally, along with me? Or do I feel an uneasiness which I can't exactly pinpoint? Maybe there's a feeling of importance and superiority. These last two things are sure indicators that the thoughts are coming from my limiting sense of ego and not the One Mind, God. Today I want to "Be with those who help [my] being." Rumi

“How empty are our conceptions of Deity! We admit theoretically that God is good, omnipotent, omnipresent, infinite, and then we try to give information to this infinite Mind. We plead for unmerited pardon and for a liberal outpouring of benefactions. Are we really grateful for the good already received? Then we shall avail ourselves of the blessings we have, and thus be fitted to receive more. Gratitude is much more than a verbal expression of thanks. Action expresses more gratitude than speech.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 3:17-27

“The Thought of God created you. It left you not, nor have you ever been apart from it an instant. ³It belongs to you. By it you live. It is your Source of life, holding you one with it, and everything is one with you because it left you not. The Thought of God protects you, cares for you, makes soft your resting place and smooth your way, lighting your mind with happiness and love. Eternity and everlasting life shine in your mind, because the Thought of God has left you not, and still abides with you.” 

A Course in Miracles - W-165.1.1-7

Many of One

Primal Images from

Sandy Wythawai Starbird 

“Conscious human individuality is not individual as one of many but infinite as many of One.” [Margaret Laird] The enormity of Oneness may seem more than we can fathom, but knowing we are an individual reflection of goodness, and united therein, seems much more manageable! Realizing our spiritual nature as the experience of divine Love opens a new world in which I am not a victim of mortal mind and its manifestations. I am unafraid to take a stand for harmony and peace, knowing that it is our birthright as reflections of Mind.

"As mortals gain more correct views of God and man, multitudinous objects of creation, which before were invisible, will become visible.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 264:13-16

“There is a silence into which the world can not intrude. There is an ancient peace you carry in your heart and have not lost. There is a sense of holiness in you the thought of sin has never touched. All this today you will remember. Faithfulness in practicing today will bring rewards so great and so completely different from all things you sought before, that you will know that here your treasure is, and here your rest.” 

A Course in Miracles W-164.4:1-5

Letting in the Light

Colorado Sunset

“There is no death. The Son of God is free." Some people may think ideas such as these are simple platitudes designed to placate us with Pollyanna thoughts and wishful thinking. Personally, I see these teachings as much more. Actually, I see them as everything. A well-known author and seer wrote a book declaring there is a spiritual solution to every problem. He was much decried by many serious metaphysical students because he seemed to be admitting there are problems and then trying to solve them. I saw it as using the title to get people to read the book, and then showing them a purer way to think about all of this. Everything we see or read is interpreted by our brain based on past experience. This is what I so badly want to leave behind. This is the freedom I seek. 

“This spiritualization of thought lets in the light, and brings the divine Mind, Life not death, into your consciousness.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 407:26-29

“Death is a thought that takes on many forms, often unrecognized. It may appear as sadness, fear, anxiety or doubt; as anger, faithlessness and lack of trust; concern for bodies, envy, and all forms in which the wish to be as you are not may come to tempt you. All such thoughts are but reflections of the worshipping of death as savior and as giver of release.”

A Course in Miracles W-163.1:1-3

Created in Love

Photo courtesy of Aaron Springston

As I think back to being a small child and pondering what it meant to be created by God, I have vague recollections of the Garden of Eden with naked Adam and Eve frolicking in the perfect environment. As years went by, I would often wonder how the world we live in could have been created so imperfectly by perfect Love. Today I’m catching glimpses of Truth, beginning to understand that God did not create an imperfect world; but rather, we have. These ideas have been the basis for many pages in many books, so I won’t attempt to go deeper with this thought today. But I will leave you with an all-encompassing passage by Mary Baker Eddy …

“There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all. Spirit is immortal Truth; matter is mortal error. Spirit is the real and eternal; matter is the unreal and temporal. Spirit is God, and man is [Its] image and likeness. Therefore man is not material; he is spiritual." 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 468:10-16

“And who would not be brother to you now; you, his redeemer and his savior. Who could fail to welcome you into his heart with loving invitation, eager to unite with one like him in holiness? You are as God created you. These words dispel the night, and darkness is no more. The light is come today to bless the world. For you have recognized the Son of God, and in that recognition is the world’s.”

A Course in Miracles W-162.6:1-6

Taking a Stand Against Anger

Broomfield, Colorado

Taken during my current visit

Have you ever heard these statements? "It's my cross to bear." "He/a thorn in my side." These are ways of saying that some things and/or people seem to be a problem in our life, and we're carrying them around as though they're a part of us and we have no choice but to bear it. There's a particular topic of contention in our town which never fails to get me riled. I like to think nothing bothers me, but this seems to be my "cross to bear." Motorcycles. Big, loud, revving motorcycles. Obviously I can change the way I think about them. It should be easy to see the drivers as reflections of Love, unified by our humanity, not separated by our mode of transportation. Today I shall choose to look at this differently. Another saying comes to mind: “God, give me strength!”

"’Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.’ 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 467:16-20

“Today we practice differently, and take a stand against our anger, that our fears may disappear and offer room to love. Here is salvation in the simple words in which we practice with today’s idea. Here is the answer to temptation which can never fail to welcome in the Christ where fear and anger had prevailed before. Here is Atonement made complete, the world passed safely by and Heaven now restored. Here is the answer of the Voice for God.”

A Course in Miracles W-161.1:1-5