A Peaceful Mind

Ozark Sunset

Although I know that peace is a choice within my own self, I want to share it with everyone, everywhere. It has taken a lifetime to grasp this concept: The only thought I can change is my own! After years of trying to change loved ones, it was my children who finally taught me the meaning of Oneness. It was shown to me as I watched the household mood change its tone, as my moods changed from calm to frantic. Holding to peace within myself is all I can do — and it’s the most I can do! Jumping on the bandwagon of resentment, or the other negative emotions of the collective, may seem impossible to avoid. But we are discovering it is possible to simply witness these things, without becoming a part of them. While I can't change what anyone else is thinking or feeling or experiencing, I can adjust my vision of reality. Every thought is important! We’re all in this together, in every way, at every moment. And so today I will make an effort to see through the eyes of Love, excluding nothing, no matter how inflammatory things may seem!

“Your peace is with me, Father. I am safe. Your peace surrounds me, Father. Where I go, Your peace goes there with me. It sheds its light on everyone I meet. I bring it to the desolate and lonely and afraid. I give Your peace to those who suffer pain, or grieve for loss, or think they are bereft of hope and happiness. Send them to me, my Father. Let me bring Your peace with me. For I would save Your Son, as is Your Will, that I may come to recognize my Self.

“And so we go in peace. To all the world we give the message that we have received. And thus we come to hear the Voice for God, Who speaks to us as we relate His Word; Whose Love we recognize because we share the Word that He has given unto us.”

A Course in Miracles W-245.1:1–2:3

“Spiritual living and blessedness are the only evidences by which we can recognize true existence and feel the unspeakable peace which comes from an all-absorbing spiritual love.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 264:24-27

The Cement of a Higher Humanity

“I am in danger nowhere in the world." This statement [ACIM Lesson #244] is particularly comforting to me in the face of the fear which is associated with the presidential elections this year. In a recent conversation with friends, I learned that people are afraid to put out signs in support of Kamala Harris. For the last eight years, we have heard about instances where certain factions of people have retaliated toward people who dare to speak out against the tyranny of Donald Trump. I had not realized how timid we had become, and now that I see the extent of our fear, I’m feeling empowered to be fierce in taking a stand for honesty, morality, and decency.  When I am relying on my own knowledge and beliefs, I may be afraid of many things, seeing possible dangers around every corner.  Returning to Love releases illusions of fear, enabling us to see Truth, to live Love, in safety. I know many of you are thinking of horrible things you personally have witnessed; things which make this seem like a frivolous statement. In the material world we witness, this certainly is true. In the realization that true substance is that which does not change, we see that reality is spiritual, not material. And that is freedom!

“Clad in the panoply of Love, human hatred cannot reach you. The cement of a higher humanity will unite all interests in the one divinity.” 

Mary Baker Eddy Science & Health Page 571:18-21

“I am in danger nowhere in the world. Your Son is safe wherever he may be, for You are there with him. He need but call upon Your Name, and he will recollect his safety and Your Love, for they are one. How can he fear or doubt or fail to know he cannot suffer, be endangered, or experience unhappiness, when he belongs to You, beloved and loving, in the safety of Your Fatherly embrace?

“And there we are in truth. No storms can come into the hallowed haven of our home. In God we are secure. For what can come to threaten God Himself, or make afraid what will forever be a part of Him?”

A Course in Miracles W-244.1:1–2:4

I Will Be Honest With Myself

“Today I will judge nothing that occurs." This ACIM workbook lesson comes at a perfect time for me. A man I shared my life with sent me a message, and I'm extremely tempted to judge what he said. While I have moved past what we had 30 years ago, he continues to bring up things in detail that I would rather not contemplate. I tell myself that I have better things to think about. This implies that he does not. That is a judgment. Every thought I have had about this communication feels unnecessary. As I sit and contemplate his words and my reactions, I realize that it simply is what it is. There is no reason for me to think about it as good or bad; it just is. Once again, I turn to the ancient Toltec wisdom as interpreted by Don Miguel Ruiz in "The Four Agreements": I will not make assumptions, and I will not take anything personally. I'm so grateful to be learning to rely on divine Mind and release the circular thoughts of mortal mind! It is only my thoughts I can change, my opinions I can interpret, and my forgiveness which will release me from the past. Namaste …

“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 and Health Page 467:9-13

“I will be honest with myself today. I will not think that I already know what must remain beyond my present grasp. I will not think I understand the whole from bits of my perception, which are all that I can see. Today I recognize that this is so. And so I am relieved of judgments that I cannot make. Thus do I free myself and what I look upon, to be in peace as God created us.

“Father, today I leave creation free to be itself. I honor all its parts, in which I am included. We are one because each part contains Your memory, and truth must shine in all of us as one.”

A Course in Miracles W-243.1:1–2:3

Preserving a Gentle Spirit

Art: Arseniy Lapin

“Gentleness is not weakness. Just the opposite. Preserving a gentle spirit in a heartless world takes extraordinary courage, determination, and resilience. Do not underestimate the power of gentleness because gentleness is strength wrapped in peace, and therein lies the power to change the world.” L.R. Knost

"Certain moods of mind find an indefinable pleasure in stillness, soft, silent as the storm's sudden hush; for nature's stillness is voiced with a hum of harmony, the gentle murmur of early morn, the evening's closing vespers, and lyre of bird and brooklet." 

Mary Baker Eddy - Christian Science versus Pantheism Page 3:8-13

“I will not lead my life alone today. I do not understand the world, and so to try to lead my life alone must be but foolishness. But there is One Who knows all that is best for me. And He is glad to make no choices for me but the ones that lead to God. I give this day to Him, for I would not delay my coming home, and it is He Who knows the way to God.

“And so we give today to You. We come with wholly open minds. We do not ask for anything that we may think we want. Give us what You would have received by us. You know all our desires and our wants. And You will give us everything we need in helping us to find the way to You.”

A Course in Miracles W-242.1:1–2:6

We’ll Get By With a Little Help From Our Friends

I joined two friends today to accomplish a chore which we all dreaded — for various reasons. Through our loving support of each other, we not only accomplished what we set out to do, but we had a good time and felt joyfully at peace when the day was done. When I opened A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson #241, I knew it perfectly expressed everything I feel at this moment about our shared experience!

“What joy there is today! It is a time of special celebration. For today holds out the instant to the darkened world where its release is set. The day has come when sorrows pass away and pain is gone. The glory of salvation dawns today upon a world set free. This is the time of hope for countless millions. They will be united now, as you forgive them all. For I will be forgiven by you today.

“We have forgiven one another now, and so we come at last to You again. Father, Your Son, who never left, returns to Heaven and his home. How glad are we to have our sanity restored to us, and to remember that we all are one.”

A Course in Miracles W-241.1:1–2:3

“Soul has infinite resources with which to bless mankind, and happiness would be more readily attained and would be more secure in our keeping, if sought in Soul. Higher enjoyments alone can satisfy the cravings of immortal man. We cannot circumscribe happiness within the limits of personal sense. The senses confer no real enjoyment.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 60:29-31

Our Illusory Selves

Aaron Springston in Zion National Park 

Our lives tend to fall into familiar patterns as we move through our days. We may find ourselves going to the same places, saying the same things, thinking the same thoughts -- and all these habits become comfortable. Even if we're experiencing disharmony, we often fear change. We may say, "Something told me I should do so-and-so". We may hear this calling, this inner voice leading us toward a different path than we're on, but we feel it takes courage to walk a road less or never traveled — and so we settle. To settle for anything which brings us less than a joyful existence is to dishonor ourselves, which is to dishonor God. The next time I think I'm feeling this thing we call fear, I'll choose to interpret the emotion as excitement about what will come next!

“Walking in the light, we are accustomed to the light and require it; we cannot see in darkness. But eyes accustomed to darkness are pained by the light. When outgrowing the old, you should not fear to put on the new. Your advancing course may provoke envy, but it will also attract respect.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 452:7-12

“Fear is deception. It attests that you have seen yourself as you could never be, and therefore look upon a world which is impossible. Not one thing in this world is true. It does not matter what the form in which it may appear. It witnesses but to your own illusions of yourself. Let us not be deceived today. We are the Sons of God. There is no fear in us, for we are each a part of Love Itself.” 

A Course in Miracles W-240.1:1-8

I Celebrate and Sing Myself

Photo courtesy of Richard Quick

The truth about ourselves is often hidden by a false humility. This "false humility" we use to hide the truth about ourselves can take many forms. It's usually easy to catch ourselves in self-deprecating actions, which we deem to be humility, but actually are expressions of our inability to accept the glory of our true identify as an expression of God. But there are other insidious ways we reject Truth. Many of us take things personally and we feel attacked by friends’ words, or co-workers' rivalry, or thousands of other things which can be perceived as diminishing to us. Accepting our glory allows us to see the unity we share with all of creation. Holding to a calm, positive attitude often neutralizes ugly situations, whereas commiserating can brings escalation in negativity. An example: A woman expressed her anger concerning the motorcycles in our town. She stated it was no longer peaceful here, as it was when she had been here twenty years earlier. I happily told her that peace was everywhere in Eureka and not to become discouraged, ending the conversation by asking her if she felt peace standing right where we were. This caused her to pause and realize she did. And so every time I hear or see something today which seems to come from a space of unhappiness, I will smile with the assurance that no one and nothing can change the harmonious Truth of our Being. 

“I celebrate myself, and sing myself,

And what I assume you shall assume,

For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.”

Walt Whitman

“Let not the truth about ourselves today be hidden by a false humility. Let us instead be thankful for the gifts our Father gave us. Can we see in those with whom He shares His glory any trace of sin and guilt? And can it be that we are not among them, when He loves His Son forever and with perfect constancy, knowing he is as He created him? 

“We thank You, Father, for the light that shines forever in us. And we honor it, because You share it with us. We are one, united in this light and one with You, at peace with all creation and ourselves.”

A Course in Miracles W-239.1:1–2:3

“The Divine Being must be reflected by man,--else man is not the image and likeness of the patient, tender, and true, the One 'altogether lovely;' but to understand God is the work of eternity, and demands absolute consecration of thought, energy, and desire.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 3:12-15