Separate From No Living Thing

My grandchildren live 800 miles away. No matter what distance lies between us, I am extremely grateful for the technology which allows me to get a glimpse into their daily lives. I go with them, virtually, to the park, on bike rides, and to their backyard to work in their sweet garden. It would be easy to feel sorry for myself, lamenting the fact that I can’t hold them in my arms, smell their sweet little heads, and play cribbage games with my son. But I’d rather be grateful that we are happy and whole, loving each other as much as if we were living together. My daughter-in-law’s family lives close to them, and I have never witnessed a closer-knit family. There is nothing I would wish for my son more than the beautiful family he has found, and the children which have joined them. As today’s Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson says: “Love is the way I walk in gratitude.” Nothing could more closely express the way I feel today!

“We thank our Father for one thing alone; that we are separate from no living thing, and therefore one with Him. And we rejoice that no exceptions ever can be made which would reduce our wholeness, nor impair or change our function to complete the One Who is Himself completion. We give thanks for every living thing, for otherwise we offer thanks for nothing, and we fail to recognize the gifts of God to us.”

A Course in Miracles W-195.6:1-3

“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 247:24-27

What, Me Worry?

Photo credit: Aaron Springston

Worry is like praying for something horrible to happen. I heard well-known author and speaker, Marianne Williamson, say this in a video chat. Holding thought to the best possible outcome, without outlining what that outcome is, feels right to me. Whatever I put my attention on grows! Years of trying to plan my life (and the actions of those around me!) has taught me the futility of this exercise. I now vow to listen for divine Mind’s ideas to lead me in the paths of Love. I don’t always hear this guidance above the cacophony of material existence, but I’m learning how to tune in to that still, small voice. And for this, I am grateful.

“What worry can beset the one who gives his future to the loving Hands of God? What can he suffer? What can cause him pain, or bring experience of loss to him? What can he fear? And what can he regard except with love? For he who has escaped all fear of future pain has found his way to present peace, and certainty of care the world can never threaten.He is sure that his perception may be faulty, but will never lack correction. He is free to choose again when he has been deceived; to change his mind when he has made mistakes.”

A Course in Miracles W-194.7:1-8

“Adhere to the divine Principle of Christian Science and follow the behests of God, abiding steadfastly in wisdom, Truth, and Love.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page  495:28-31

Evolving Humaninty

"A new species is arising on the planet. It is arising now, and you are it!" These lines end the Eckhart Tolle book, A New Earth. I wish it could be required reading for every person on this old earth! The beautifully clear way he explains how we cling to old beliefs, allowing ourselves to be influenced by fear, by the past, by illusion, is both inspiring and illuminating. Mr. Tolle's book gives numerous examples of seeing differently. I wish to dedicate every moment to seeing this new world, allowing the disappearance of old beliefs and hypnotic thoughts to provide a transparency for the arising of our new way of Living. We have a huge opportunity at this parenthesis in eternity. Let’s recognize what is not functional and change it! Politics, for instance. Every time anyone suggests a better way, everyone immediately begins to shout about why it won’t work. It seems to me we are being forced to face the error of our ways. What an exciting time for humanity!

“Agassiz, the celebrated naturalist and author, has wisely said: ‘Every great scientific truth goes through three stages. First, people say it conflicts with the Bible. Next, they say it has been discovered before. Lastly, they say they have always believed it.’”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 104-8-12

“This is the lesson God would have you learn: There is a way to look on everything that lets it be to you another step to Him, and to salvation of the world. To all that speaks of terror, answer thus:

“I will forgive, and this will disappear.

“To every apprehension, every care and every form of suffering, repeat these selfsame words. And then you hold the key that opens Heaven’s gate, and brings the Love of God the Father down to earth at last, to raise it up to Heaven. God will take this final step Himself. Do not deny the little steps He asks you take to Him.”

A Course in Miracles W-193.13:1-7

In Rappport

Photo credit: Blake Lasater

Today, two things happened which reinforced my understanding of universal consciousness. First of all, once a month a dear friend drops off his wife at my house. She is experiencing advanced dementia and only goes places where she feels comfortable. Today when they arrived, I had been rushing about, hurrying to get chores done before they got here. I was a bit anxious and Mary immediately picked up on this feeling. She tried to leave with her husband, saying she didn’t want to stay here. I quickly realized she was experiencing fear from my mental tension. So  released it and gave her a hug, reassuring her we would have a lovely day. Which we did. Then after she left, I got a call from a friend telling me of a book she read, which she thought that I would enjoy: The Boy, the Mole, The Fox and the Horse — written by Charlie Mackesy. As she excitedly told me about the book, I realized that she did not know my daily writing (which was waiting in her email) had used an illustration and quote from the very same story! These two events showed me, once again, how our thoughts are joined through the one Source. As we go through our day, let’s remember: every thought is important; every action exponential. Be the future you wish to see!

“The ancient prophets gained their foresight from a spiritual, incorporeal standpoint, not by foreshadowing evil and mistaking fact for fiction, — predicting the future from a groundwork of corporeality and human belief. When sufficiently advanced in Science to be in harmony with the truth of being, men become seers and prophets involuntarily, controlled not by demons, spirits, or demigods, but by the one Spirit. It is the prerogative of the ever-present, divine Mind, and of thought which is in rapport with this Mind, to know the past, the present, and the future.”

Mary are Eddy - Science & Health Page 84:3-14

“Forgiveness gently looks upon all things unknown in Heaven, sees them disappear, and leaves the world a clean and unmarked slate on which the Word of God can now replace the senseless symbols written there before.”

A Course in Miracles W-192.4:1

The Compass of the Heart

What barriers am I putting up which keep me from seeing my reality as the expression of divine Love? It could be anything, so I will notice my thoughts and actions today with this in mind. A number of years ago, I read a novel with an intriguing title: The Art of Hearing Heartbeats. The main character loses his eyesight when he’s a young boy. One of his mentors tells him that the true essence of everything is invisible to the eye. He tells the boy that the eyes distract us, as they love to be dazzled, and that we rely too heavily on them and neglect our other senses — and he means more than hearing or taste or smell. “I’m talking about the organ within us for which we have no name. Let us call it the compass of the heart.” So today I will let barriers fall and intuition rise, knowing that we are the holy reflection of Love.

“God creates neither erring thought, mortal life, mutable truth, nor variable love.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 503:24-25

“You who perceive yourself as weak and frail, with futile hopes and devastated dreams, born but to die, to weep and suffer pain, hear this: All power is given unto you in earth and Heaven. There is nothing that you cannot do. You play the game of death, of being helpless, pitifully tied to dissolution in a world which shows no mercy to you. Yet when you accord it mercy, will its mercy shine on you.”

A Course in Miracles W-191.9:1-4

A Little Shift in Perception

Photo courtesy of Aaron Springston 

I went for a car ride with a friend. As I got in she asked how I was and I said, "To quote my dear friend, Richard, it's the best day of my life!" She said, "Oh, I've only said that once, and I've regretted it for 20 years." She explained that she had been working in a restaurant and had said it was the best day of her life, when a young couple asked how she was. Later on, she found out that they had just lost a baby, and she felt so guilty about feeling good that she not only never said that again, but has remembered it, with guilt, all these years. When she finished telling her tale, I laughed! I told her that if they were out eating and drinking that soon after their loss, they must have wanted a happy diversion or else they would have stayed home. My sweet friend was thrilled! She said that after all that time of feeling guilty, it was suddenly gone! So there was a perfect, simple example of how a little shift in perception can turn pain to joy. Let’s forgive ourselves for any  guilty memories we may be cherishing, as we choose joy rather than pain.

“Lay down your arms, and come without defense into the quiet place where Heaven’s peace holds all things still at last. Lay down all thoughts of danger and of fear. Let no attack enter with you. Lay down the cruel sword of judgment that you hold against your throat, and put aside the withering assaults with which you seek to hide your holiness.

A Course in Miracles W-190.9:1-4

"Willingness to become as a little child and to leave the old for the new, renders thought receptive of the advanced idea. Gladness to leave the false landmarks and joy to see them disappear, — this disposition helps to precipitate the ultimate harmony." 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 323:32-4

Beyond Righteous Indignation

Photo Courtesy of Blake Lasater

There are upwards of 4,000 religions in the world. I dare to say that they all have factions which are showing symptoms of insanity. I became ensnared in a mini-series called “Under The Banner of Heaven”. It deals with a militant faction of the Latter Day Saints, but I think the same thing could happen in any religion. Something I noticed about these Patriots (as they called themselves), is that they have allowed their egos to take precedence over their thought processes. They began to believe they were the only ones who knew the truth. When Mary Baker Eddy wrote Science & Health in the mid-nineteenth century, she had no desire to start a religion, and only did so because she wanted to ensure that the book would continue to be published in the years after her passing. She often stated that its reading would help a Baptist be a better Baptist, and she insisted that we not proselytize. In a similar manner, A Course in Miracles is not a religion and does not require that you follow any ritual or dogma. Anyone can benefit from its teachings, without giving up their lifelong congregational affiliations.  Seeing beyond the material picture of human hatred and righteous indignation is what we can do to change the world. Let’s remember: Every thought is important! 

“There is a light in you the world cannot perceive. And with its eyes you will not see this light, for you are blinded by the world. Yet you have eyes to see it. It is there for you to look upon. It was not placed in you to be kept hidden from your sight. This light is a reflection of the thought we practice now. To feel the Love of God within you is to see the world anew, shining in innocence, alive with hope, and blessed with perfect charity and love.”

A Course in Miracles W-189.1:1-7

"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