The Face of Love

Photo credit: Aaron Springston

I love A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson #269: “My sight goes forth to look upon Christ's face.” This acknowledgement, that everything and everyone we look upon is the face of divine Love, takes our perception to another level! With this sight, we do not need to see race, or nationalities, nor gender; there are no political parties for which to wave flags, and no enemies to fight against, nor allies to side with. I see beautiful things happening in our world. Long-held beliefs are being released in favor of an open-hearted acceptance of everyone as they are, not as we want them to be. Change can seem difficult, but our new perceptions of Life are a conscious choice by which we break free of habits and old thought patterns, which have held us in bondage for far too long. Let’s celebrate our new-found sight today!

“The eternal Truth destroys what mortals seem to have learned from error, and man's real existence as a child of God comes to light.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science and Health Page 288:31-1

“My sight goes forth to look upon Christ’s face. I ask Your blessing on my sight today. It is the means which You have chosen to become the way to show me my mistakes, and look beyond them. ³t is given me to find a new perception through the Guide You gave to me, and through His lessons to surpass perception and return to truth. I ask for the illusion which transcends all those I made. Today I choose to see a world forgiven, in which everyone shows me the face of Christ, and teaches me that what I look upon belongs to me; that nothing is, except Your holy Son.

“Today our sight is blessed indeed. We share one vision, as we look upon the face of Him Whose Self is ours. We are one because of Him Who is the Son of God; of Him Who is our own Identity.”

A Course in Miracles W-269.1:1–2:3

Let It Be

Photo courtesy of Aaron Springston

One of my friends has a particularly hard time letting “all things be exactly as they are”, which is the topic of A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson #268. She plays events over and over in her mind, making suppositions about why things were said or done, and trying to find solutions to fix everyone involved. Recently, she received a phone call from a lifelong friend whom she hadn’t heard from in the past few years. She didn’t answer the call and was full of worries as to what she may have done wrong which caused her friend to break off contact with her. While I try not to laugh in the face of others’ distress, I couldn’t help myself this time! I quickly reminded her of The Four Agreements, in particular “don’t make assumptions” and “don’t take anything personally”. After a brief conversation, she returned to her home and called her old friend. And sure enough, she had done nothing wrong; her friend was going through a rough time and needed a friendly shoulder to lean on. How much easier life is without speculations and suppositions! 

“Let all things be exactly as they are. Let me not be Your critic, Lord, today, and judge against You. Let me not attempt to interfere with Your creation, and distort it into sickly forms. Let me be willing to withdraw my wishes from its unity, and thus to let it be as You created it. For thus will I be able, too, to recognize my Self as You created me. In love was I created, and in love will I remain forever. What can frighten me, when I let all things be exactly as they are?

“Let not our sight be blasphemous today, nor let our ears attend to lying tongues. Only reality is free of pain. Only reality is free of loss. Only reality is wholly safe. And it is only this we seek today.”

A Course in Miracles W-268.1:1–2:5

"Human sense may well marvel at discord, while, to a diviner sense, harmony is the real and discord the unreal.” 

Mary Baker Eddy — Science & Health Page: 563: 1-3 

Each Heartbeat Brings Peace

 

Photo credit: Aaron Springston

Living the peace of God may seem like a fantasy to those who abide by the laws of materiality. It's a common belief that in order to live in peace a person must be delusional, sticking their head in the sand, or at least denying reality in favor of wishful thinking. But many of us see this state of mind in another way. As we learn about the Truth of our being, we are able to glimpse this peace, and the joy it brings. This joy spreads exponentially through our daily activities, as it is expressed through our actions and words. This state of mind does more for the world than all the preaching we may be tempted to do!

“My heart is beating in the peace of God. Surrounding me is all the life that God created in His Love. It calls to me in every heartbeat and in every breath; in every action and in every thought. Peace fills my heart, and floods my body with the purpose of forgiveness. Now my mind is healed, and all I need to save the world is given me. Each heartbeat brings me peace; each breath infuses me with strength. I am a messenger of God, directed by His Voice, sustained by Him in love, and held forever quiet and at peace within His loving Arms. Each heartbeat calls His Name, and every one is answered by His Voice, assuring me I am at home in Him.

“Let me attend Your Answer, not my own. Father, my heart is beating in the peace the Heart of Love created. It is there and only there that I can be at home.”

A Course in Miracles W-267.1:1–2:3

“Teach them that their being is sustained by Spirit, not by matter, and that they find health, peace, and harmony in God, divine Love.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 416:32-2

A World Full of Saviors

Photo credit: Aaron Springston

Today’s Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson #266 ends by saying — and I paraphrase — that we have been given a world full of saviors, and we have been given the sight to understand what that means. When someone misinterprets our motives or actions, it seems natural to try to set them straight. A dear friend on the west coast called with accusations, and I foolishly tried to defend myself. I wasn’t trying to change his mind, only attempting to correct what I saw as his misinterpretation. This was a perfect example of what I do not want to do. Rather than hearing the words as a cry for love, I saw them as an attack and attempted to turn the situation into what I wanted it to be. The result was not harmonious! But after reading today’s lesson, along with the following Mary Baker Eddy words, I see him as one of the many saviors given me, and I am at peace. “Thus the dawn of ideas goes on, forming each successive stage of progress.” Namaste, my friend …

“The calm and exalted thought or spiritual apprehension is at peace. Thus the dawn of ideas goes on, forming each successive stage of progress.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 506: 11-14

 “My holy Self abides in you, God’s Son. Father, You gave me all Your Sons, to be my saviors and my counselors in sight; the bearers of Your holy Voice to me. In them are You reflected, and in them does Christ look back upon me from my Self. Let not Your Son forget Your holy Name. Let not Your Son forget his holy Source. Let not Your Son forget his Name is Yours.

“This day we enter into Paradise, calling upon God’s Name and on our own, acknowledging our Self in each of us; united in the holy Love of God. How many saviors God has given us! How can we lose the way to Him, when He has filled the world with those who point to Him, and given us the sight to look on them?”

A Course in Miracles W-266.1:1–2:3)

The Way of Gentleness

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A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson #265 states: “Creation's gentleness is all I see.”  Although this gentleness is everywhere, we’re often distracted by the universal belief in harshness, seeing it as the way of the world.  More and more, we're noticing animals showing us the way of gentleness, by way of their interactions with each other. As we begin to understand Oneness, we're seeing that when violence is done to or by one, it's done to or by all. It is a noble and possible goal, to allow our thoughts to change from fear and anger to Love and gentleness. Many people are holding with the old paradigm, and some say it's necessary for heinous acts to be committed, and also retaliation in kind. On the other hand, multitudes of us are reaching out in kindness, realizing the error of harshness in its many forms, innately knowing that it is possible for the lion to lay down with the lamb. Every thought is important as we rush toward a new way of living. Filling our lives with beauty and joy helps us find the pathway, and show others the way!

“The fowls, which fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven, correspond to aspirations soaring beyond and above corporeality to the understanding of the incorporeal and divine Principle, Love.” 

Mary Baker Eddy-Science & Health Page 511:2

“Creation’s gentleness is all I see. I have indeed misunderstood the world, because I laid my sins on it and saw them looking back at me. How fierce they seemed! And how deceived was I to think that what I feared was in the world, instead of in my mind alone. Today I see the world in the celestial gentleness with which creation shines. There is no fear in it. Let no appearance of my sins obscure the light of Heaven shining on the world. What is reflected there is in God’s Mind. The images I see reflect my thoughts. Yet is my mind at one with God’s. And so I can perceive creation’s gentleness.

“In quiet would I look upon the world, which but reflects Your Thoughts, and mine as well. Let me remember that they are the same, and I will see creation’s gentleness.”

A Course in Miracles W-265.1:1–2:2

Surrounded By Love

Photo credit: Aaron Springston

Do you recall a time when you felt swaddled in Love? Perhaps it was immediately following the birth of a child or grandchild, or maybe it was watching a sunset, or seeing whales in the ocean — well, there are many times when we feel totally encompassed in the Love which is more than the everyday I-love-this-dessert type of love. The images our ego projects and calls love are a shadow of the divine Love of which we speak today. We all have believed the false image of love which this life has taught us. The songs we sing, the movies we watch, the things we expect from love, these do not begin to tell us what it means to be surrounded by Love. As we begin to see ourselves as a creation of Love, it becomes possible to see everyone and everything as the same beautiful substance. This sight is tested every moment in this crazy, old world. I look forward to the challenge!

“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, in accordance with the Scriptural command: 'Let this Mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.' Man and his Maker are correlated in divine Science, and real consciousness is cognizant only of the things of God.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 276:4-11

“I am surrounded by the Love of God. Father, You stand before me and behind, beside me, in the place I see myself, and everywhere I go. You are in all the things I look upon, the sounds I hear, and every hand that reaches for my own. In You time disappears, and place becomes a meaningless belief. For what surrounds Your Son and keeps him safe is Love itself. There is no source but this, and nothing is that does not share its holiness; that stands beyond Your one creation, or without the Love which holds all things within itself. Father, Your Son is like Yourself. We come to You in Your Own Name today, to be at peace within Your everlasting Love.

“My brothers, join with me in this today. This is salvation’s prayer. Must we not join in what will save the world, along with us.”

A Course in Miracles T-264.1:1–2:3

A Purer Vision

Moonset in the Ozarks

Photo courtesy of Susan Luddy

The commentary in today's Course in Miracles lesson asks us to "Let all appearances seem pure .. that we may pass them by in innocence ..." Wow! I want to do that, don't you?  This is a perfect time for me to practice seeing with a pure vision, rather than my faulty material vision. Thousands of motorcycles are in town for a gathering in our area. In the past, I've seen them as a nuisance, disrupting peace and quiet in our serene village. I vow today to see with holy vision, pure and true.  Om ~~~~~~~~~~

“My holy vision sees all things as pure. Father, Your Mind created all that is, Your Spirit entered into it, Your Love gave life to it. And would I look upon what You created as if it could be made sinful? I would not perceive such dark and fearful images. A madman’s dream is hardly fit to be my choice, instead of all the loveliness with which You blessed creation; all its purity, its joy, and its eternal, quiet home in You.

“And while we still remain outside the gate of Heaven, let us look on all we see through holy vision and the eyes of Christ. Let all appearances seem pure to us, that we may pass them by in innocence, and walk together to our Father’s house as brothers and the holy Sons of God.”

A Course in Miracles W-263.1:1–2:2

“When we learn that error is not real, we shall be ready for progress, ‘forgetting those things which are behind.’”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 353:22-24