Don’t Wish It Away …

Photo by Osama Fathi

The fragile feeling which envelopes us following the loss of a loved one, it isn't often thought of as something to cherish. In times past, I may have wished this feeling away. Now, I choose to honor it as one of the exquisite experiences we are granted in this beautiful plane of existence we call human life. As with love, we are told that life is fleeting. We are advised to grab hold of it and not let go, because there is a finite amount of it. Our human experience of life and love does seem to be as elusive as a breeze, and it can feel just as difficult to hold on to. From the perspective of mortal mind, this is so. When looked at from our humanness, there is no predicting when we may lose life or love. Accepting ourselves as spiritual Beings allows an expanded viewpoint of our experiences. Yes, they are to be savored, but an enlarged perception brings us peace during the so-called ups and downs of our days. And that never-ending Love replaces fleeting fears, leaving behind peace and joy. And I am grateful …

“Upon this stage of existence goes on the dance of mortal mind. Mortal thoughts chase one another like snowflakes, and drift to the ground. Science reveals Life as not being at the mercy of death, nor will Science admit that happiness is ever the sport of circumstance.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 250:28-32

“God’s healing Voice protects all things today. Let us today attend the Voice for God, which speaks an ancient lesson, no more true today than any other day. Yet has this day been chosen as the time when we will seek and hear and learn and understand. Join me in hearing. For the Voice for God tells us of things we cannot understand alone, nor learn apart. It is in this that all things are protected. And in this the healing of the Voice for God is found.

“Your healing Voice protects all things today, and so I leave all things to You. I need be anxious over nothing. For Your Voice will tell me what to do and where to go; to whom to speak and what to say to him, what thoughts to think, what words to give the world. The safety that I bring is given me. Father, Your Voice protects all things through me.”

A Course in Miracles W-275.1:1–2:5

Give Today To Love

Unknown Artist

There’s a movie in which a character is hit in the head, develops a blood clot, and becomes happy all the time. Since happiness cannot be contained and overflows with no expectations, wonderful things began to happen. He ran a very large, money-making-oriented company, which had always catered to the prospering of the business, but not to the contentment of the employees. After he became happy, he built a daycare center, gave everyone raises in salary, and began to see money as a tool rather than a goal. Then his children became angry because the company wasn't making as much money and they were afraid. While he recognized what was important in life, his children wanted him to go back to his money-based way of living, fearing they wouldn't have enough. He was living Love; they were living fear. We see it every day, don't we? I vow today to support every act of Love-based living I see. While we can't set out to eradicate fear, we can scatter joy and happiness, and watch love blossom.

“Today belongs to love. Let me not fear. Father, today I would let all things be as You created them, and give Your Son the honor due his sinlessness; the love of brother to his brother and his Friend. Through this I am redeemed. Through this as well the truth will enter where illusions were, light will replace all darkness, and Your Son will know he is as You created him.

“A special blessing comes to us today, from Him Who is our Father. Give this day to Him, and there will be no fear today, because the day is given unto love.”

A Course in Miracles W-274.1:1–2:2

"As human thought changes from one stage to another of conscious pain and painlessness, sorrow and joy, — from fear to hope and from faith to understanding, — the visible manifestation will at last be man governed by Soul, not by material sense."

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 125:12-16

The Stillness of Peace

Photo credit: Aaron Springston

We have many experiences which bring us a taste of “the stillness of the peace of God” [ACIM Lesson #273] I love the quiet moments when watching a sunset, or sitting in the woods listening to its sounds, or that sublime moment when slipping quietly to sleep. Long ago, a friend asked me to listen to and give an opinion on a video having to do with alien beings controlling our actions on the planet Earth. Although much of what was said could be considered rhetoric of the conspiracy-theory crowd, the main theme it contained is in the principles we are studying. The truth I found involved turning away from illusion and seeing reality. While the woman on this recording was telling us that lizard people are controlling our actions, she also advised us to not be frightened or give it too much importance; but rather to focus on Love and see through any supposed power these creatures may have. What a wonderful metaphor! It certainly is no more outlandish than the Adam and Eve story or any other legend meant to show us the differences between illusion and the truth. As I go through this day hearing all the insanity promulgated from various sources, I know it can only disturb my tranquility if I give it more power in thought than I give the stillness of peace. Namaste…

“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

“The stillness of the peace of God is mine. Perhaps we are now ready for a day of undisturbed tranquility. If this is not yet feasible, we are content and even more than satisfied to learn how such a day can be achieved. If we give way to a disturbance, let us learn how to dismiss it and return to peace. We need but tell our minds, with certainty, ‘The stillness of the peace of God is mine,’ and nothing can intrude upon the peace that God Himself has given to His Son.

“Father, Your peace is mine. What need have I to fear that anything can rob me of what You would have me keep? I cannot lose Your gifts to me. And so the peace You gave Your Son is with me still, in quietness and in my own eternal love for You.

A Course in Miracles W-273.1:1–2:4

Higher Enjoyments

Photo courtesy of Ramona McNeal

In the 1970s, I spent a good deal of time in a bar called The Swingin' Door. I fell in love with Texas music and more than one musician. It was an interesting time in popular music history, with the Beatles still stirring our souls and disco bringing a canned cadence to music, which most of the people in my circles shunned. We were all sure we knew the secret to happiness, and holiness had absolutely nothing to do with it. As years passed in a blur, we found the alcohol and drugs no longer brought satisfaction. It took years for me to realize that holiness was found within and reflected outwardly in everything. What a long and interesting road it's been to this point. The gratitude I feel for Life is overwhelming!

“Higher enjoyments alone can satisfy the cravings of immortal man.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health

“How can illusions satisfy God’s Son? Father, the truth belongs to me. My home is set in Heaven by Your Will and mine. Can dreams content me? Can illusions bring me happiness? What but Your memory can satisfy Your Son? I will accept no less than You have given me. I am surrounded by Your Love, forever still, forever gentle and forever safe. God’s Son must be as You created him.

“Today we pass illusions by. And if we hear temptation call to us to stay and linger in a dream, we turn aside and ask ourselves if we, the Sons of God, could be content with dreams, when Heaven can be chosen just as easily as hell, and love will happily replace all fear.”

A Course in Miracles W-272.1:1–2:2

Truth Knocks at the Portal of Humanity

Are we finally ready for the truth? I've heard it said that we, as a human race, can’t stand to hear the truth if it contradicts long-held beliefs. This is said about everything from extraterrestrial life to religious doctrine, but I think we are ready to hear it! People say that if the truth were known about everything, society would break down. It seems to me this might be a good thing, because our current belief systems don't appear to be functioning too well! Perhaps everyone's dissatisfaction stems from feeling we’re being lied to on many levels. A few centuries ago, a total eclipse of the full moon would cause many fear-based reactions when the orb turned red, disappeared, then reappeared. As the truth has set us free from that irrational fear, so it will in other ways, allowing us to joyfully look up and say “Wow, that’s beautiful!” I think we're ready, don't you?!

“Truth, independent of doctrines and time-honored systems, knocks at the portal of humanity.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page vii:13-15 

“Christ’s is the vision I will use today. Each day, each hour, every instant, I am choosing what I want to look upon, the sounds I want to hear, the witnesses to what I want to be the truth for me. Today I choose to look upon what Christ would have me see, to listen to God’s Voice, and seek the witnesses to what is true in God’s creation. In Christ’s sight, the world and God’s creation meet, and as they come together all perception disappears. His kindly sight redeems the world from death, for nothing that He looks on but must live, remembering the Father and the Son; Creator and creation unified.

“Father, Christ’s vision is the way to You. What He beholds invites Your memory to be restored to me. And this I choose, to be what I would look upon today.”

A Course in Miracles W-271.1:1–2:3

What’s Your Spiritual Practice?

How do you integrate your spiritual practice into daily life? This is a question someone asked me, which brought a smile. Since I don’t have any rituals which would be defined as “spiritual practice”, I suppose they are asking about the moments I pause to commune with the Universe — perhaps waiting in line at the grocery, or sitting at the bridge table after having decided what to bid on a hand and waiting to do so, or clearing my mind to see a word appear in the Words With Friends board. Hum — I think life IS a spiritual practice, don’t you? When I find myself turning a situation around and ‘round in thought, or when I replay possible scenarios of how things may transpire, that’s the time for a mental reminder to just stop it! Spiritual practice, for me, can be defined as getting out of my own way and listening for the inner voice which could be called intuition. While some may think going to church once a week constitutes a spiritual practice, most folks I know have a moment-to-moment awareness which is guided by Love. How do you know if your life is directed by Spirit or ego? If you’re at peace, it’s God; if you’re uneasy or unhappy, it’s ego!

“Lips must be mute and materialism silent, that man may have audience with Spirit, the divine Principle, Love, which destroys all error.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 15:11-13

“I will not use the body’s eyes today. Father, Christ’s vision is Your gift to me, and it has power to translate all that the body’s eyes behold into the sight of a forgiven world. How glorious and gracious is this world! Yet how much more will I perceive in it than sight can give. The world forgiven signifies Your Son acknowledges his Father, lets his dreams be brought to truth, and waits expectantly the one remaining instant more of time which ends forever, as Your memory returns to him. And now his will is one with Yours. His function now is but Your Own, and every thought except Your Own is gone.

“The quiet of today will bless our hearts, and through them peace will come to everyone. Christ is our eyes today. And through His sight we offer healing to the world through Him, the holy Son whom God created whole; the holy Son whom God created one.”

A Course in Miracles W-270.1:1–2:3

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