Redeem the Past, Change the Future

Paulo Coelho is one of my favorite authors. In his book, "Aleph”, and others, he takes us on a spiritual journey which shows that we are indeed not alone, in either our fears or our realizations of Truth. Mr. Coelho said this novel was his most personal, and the main character seems to have many common characteristics with his creator. When he writes of spiritual progress feeling stagnant, I ache for him. These  sentences stayed in my thoughts: "It isn't what you did in the past that will affect the present. It's what you do in the present that will redeem the past and thereby change the future." What a vibrant, hopeful statement! What you do right now is the pivotal point in your life. Let go of any and all grievances of any kind. Notice your thoughts as they peek out at you during the day. Are they reinforcing old, often-painful beliefs, or are they leading you out of them?  Let’s redeem the past and change the future!

“It requires courage to utter truth; for the higher Truth lifts her voice, the louder will error scream, until its in‐articulate sound is forever silenced in oblivion.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 278:1-11

“The Holy Spirit looks through me today. Christ asks that He may use my eyes today, and thus redeem the world. He asks this gift that He may offer peace of mind to me, and take away all terror and all pain. And as they are removed from me, the dreams that seemed to settle on the world are gone. Redemption must be one. As I am saved, the world is saved with me. For all of us must be redeemed together. ⁷Fear appears in many different forms, but love is one.”

A Course in Miracles W-295.1:1-7

Multifarious Forms of Love

Bird at Heart

Creation from Sandy Wythawai Starbird

A Course in Miracles tells us that the body is a communication device; that it is a tool to be used and then laid aside when its use is over. In this world, we have mistaken the body for our true identity. If we no longer see our body as either good or bad, but rather as a totally neutral thing, it can be realized as what it is in truth: an extension of Love. A dear friend reminded me of something a mutual friend said about Love: there is no unconditional love, only Love. If there are conditions, it’s not really Love! Today I shall think of my body in this way, too, without conditions and limitation, but only as the Idea it is!

“My body is a wholly neutral thing. I am a Son of God. And can I be another thing as well? Did God create the mortal and corruptible? What use has God’s beloved Son for what must die? And yet a neutral thing does not see death, for thoughts of fear are not invested there, nor is a mockery of love bestowed upon it. Its neutrality protects it while it has a use. And afterwards, without a purpose, it is laid aside. It is not sick nor old nor hurt. It is but functionless, unneeded and cast off. Let me not see it more than this today; of service for a while and fit to serve, to keep its usefulness while it can serve, and then to be replaced for greater good.”

A Course in Miracles W-294.1:1-10

“Identity is the reflection of Spirit, the reflection in multifarious forms of the living Principle, Love.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 477:20-2

Fear Is Past, Only Love is Here

While visiting with an old friend, I found out things I never knew about her. This kind, gentle woman feels the need to have a gun in her house, a sign on her front door stating that fact, and a sophisticated security system which gives her the ability to shout warnings at people walking onto “her property”. I put this in quotations because she used the phrase numerous times. Of course, the logic cannot be refuted when analyzed from a material standpoint. Statistics show senseless shootings, robberies, and other heinous crimes are happening all the time. Other than a few questions asked of her for my own clarification, I remained silent during her recounting of strangers coming to her door and her subsequent actions. Perhaps the years I’ve spent in a peaceful neighborhood have narrowed my field of vision, keeping me from understanding this fear. I was raised by parents who had lived through two world wars and a devastating economic depression. They had many reasons to live in fear, and were extremely cautious and conservative in their thinking. Because of this, I understand people’s concerns about violence and lack. This is something I’m going to seriously ponder, because I don’t even know where my house key is. Am I sticking my head in the sand,  or does my safety lie in my defenselessness? Hum….

“The Apostle John says: 'There is no fear in Love, but perfect Love casteth out fear. . . . He that feareth is not made perfect in Love.' Here is a definite and inspired proclamation of Christian Science." 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 410:17-21

“All fear is past and only love is here. All fear is past, because its source is gone, and all its thoughts gone with it. Love remains the only present state, whose Source is here forever and forever. Can the world seem bright and clear and safe and welcoming, with all my past mistakes oppressing it, and showing me distorted forms of fear? Yet in the present love is obvious, and its effects apparent. All the world shines in reflection of its holy light, and I perceive a world forgiven at last.

“Father, let not Your holy world escape my sight today. Nor let my ears be deaf to all the hymns of gratitude the world is singing underneath the sounds of fear. There is a real world which the present holds safe from all past mistakes. And I would see only this world before my eyes today.”

A Course in Miracles W-293.1:1–2:4

Happy Outcomes

At the Celestial Seasonings Factory

In 1999, I took my young boys on a 3,000-mile road trip. We made no reservations at hotels and had no definite plans -- other than to attend women's World Cup soccer games and look for miniature golf courses. In preparation for this trip, I spent a great deal of time studying the science of Mind and bringing my thoughts into alignment with the metaphysical Principle. On this trip, we witnessed many happy outcomes, but the most dramatic was on the first day. I had worn glasses to see at a distance for more than 30 years and suddenly found I could see without them. I enjoyed this freedom until a number of years later. When renewing my driver's license, I found that glasses were needed again. Although I complied with the law and obtained glasses, I steadfastly refused to accept this prognosis as reality. The next time I applied for renewal, there were no restrictions as to sight. Instances such as this affirm my conviction to live single-mindedly, with God as my only goal, expecting happy outcomes!

“Let neither fear nor doubt overshadow your clear sense and calm trust, that the recognition of life harmonious — as Life eternally is — can destroy any painful sense of, or belief in, that which Life is not. Let Christian Science, instead of corporeal sense, support your understanding of being, and this understanding will supplant error with Truth, replace mortality with immortality, and silence discord with harmony.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 495:15-2

“A happy outcome to all things is sure. God’s promises make no exceptions. And He guarantees that only joy can be the final outcome found for everything. Yet it is up to us when this is reached; how long we let an alien will appear to be opposing His. And while we think this will is real, we will not find the end He has appointed as the outcome of all problems we perceive, all trials we see, and every situation that we meet. Yet is the ending certain. For God’s Will is done in earth and Heaven. We will seek and we will find according to His Will, which guarantees that our will is done.

“We thank You, Father, for Your guarantee of only happy outcomes in the end. Help us not interfere, and so delay the happy endings You have promised us for every problem that we can perceive; for every trial we think we still must meet.”

A Course in Miracles W-292.1:1–2:2

A Day of Stillness and Peace

Félix Vallotton 

The Bridge Over Béal (Le Pont sur le Béal), 1922.

It's a beautiful day in the Ozarks. Peace is easily felt in the splendor of a fall day. I am grateful for the words in A Course in Miracles. I am grateful for the writings of Mary Baker Eddy, and her determination to demonstrate the Science of The Christ. The words contained in these lessons point toward the Truth of our Being. We are assured Truth is eternally discoverable by anyone willing to see. We are shown how to move away from the learned behaviors of a lifetime. The stillness and peace of nature aids in leading me to the door of Truth, and I am grateful.

“This is a day of stillness and of peace. Christ’s vision looks through me today. His sight shows me all things forgiven and at peace, and offers this same vision to the world.³And I accept this vision in its name, both for myself and for the world as well. What loveliness we look upon today! What holiness we see surrounding us! And it is given us to recognize it is a holiness in which we share; it is the Holiness of God Himself.

“This day my mind is quiet, to receive the Thoughts You offer me. And I accept what comes from You, instead of from myself. I do not know the way to You. But You are wholly certain. Father, guide Your Son along the quiet path that leads to You. Let my forgiveness be complete, and let the memory of You return to me.

A Course in Miracles W-291.1:1–2:6

"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

Seeing Happiness Today

Scout’s First Day With Me

As I was glancing through the magazine, Real Simple, my attention was caught by an article titled, “It’s Better to be Happy for a Little While Than Unhappy Forever” — wow! The short narrative told of a couple who found a stray kitten, loved it dearly, never took trips because they would miss their cat, then when the sweet kitty, Gem, passed on, they decided to travel. They enjoyed it very much, but were happy to come back to their home. But something was missing. They needed a cat. A friend saw one that needed a home and reminded her of Gem, but the couple was reluctant because the cat was older and seemed to have some health problems. They decided against getting it. When the woman was lamenting their decision to her hairdresser, the stylist’s response was: “It’s better to be happy for a little while than unhappy forever.” A lightbulb went on over the woman’s head.  And so adopted the cat, its health problems cleared up with tender, loving care, and they have  loved it for five years, to the betterment of all involved! The idea of being happy right now without worrying about the possible perils of tomorrow makes me smile. I hope it does you, too!

“My present happiness is all I see. Unless I look upon what is not there, my present happiness is all I see. Eyes that begin to open see at last. And I would have Christ’s vision come to me this very day. What I perceive without God’s Own Correction for the sight I made is frightening and painful to behold. Yet I would not allow my mind to be deceived by the belief the dream I made is real an instant longer. This the day I seek my present happiness, and look on nothing else except the thing I seek.

“With this resolve I come to You, and ask Your strength to hold me up today, while I but seek to do Your Will. You cannot fail to hear me, Father. What I ask have You already given me. And I am sure that I will see my happiness today.”

A Course in Miracles W-290.1:1–2:4

“Earth has little light or joy for mortals before Life is spiritually learned. Every agony of mortal error helps error to destroy error, and so aids the apprehension of immortal Truth. This is the new birth going on hourly, by which men may entertain angels, the true ideas of God, the spiritual sense of being.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 548:9-16

Re-living Illusions — or not!

Leaving the Past Behind

Sandy Starbird Creation

I've always been fascinated by high school class reunions. The reasons people enjoy them are as varied as the people, but it seems many are wondering who is the most successful, or who has been married the longest, or if anyone still looks pretty. It's a perfect opportunity to think of today's ACIM workbook lesson topic: "The past is over. It can touch me not." In my observations of these get-togethers, we tend to revert into whatever we were umpteen years ago. The mean girls are still that way, the flirty girls are still flipping their skirts, and the cool kids are still hiding their feelings. While I've always enjoyed these get-togethers, I tend to either wander away with an old friend to talk in a corner or, perhaps, drink a bit too much and ask the cowboys to dance. I love this line from today's lesson: "Unless the past is over in my mind, the world must escape my sight." I want to live in the present, in a world full of divine Love and Truth. Reliving illusions can be fun, much like watching a movie. But I'd rather wake up in a new world every day, excited about the adventures it holds!

“As the crude footprints of the past disappear from the dissolving paths of the present, we shall better understand the Science which governs these changes, and shall plant our feet on firmer ground. 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 224: 4-7  

“The past is over. It can touch me not. Unless the past is over in my mind, the real world must escape my sight. For I am really looking nowhere; seeing but what is not there. How can I then perceive the world forgiveness offers?  Tis the past was made to hide, for this the world that can be looked on only now. It has no past. For what can be forgiven but the past, and if it is forgiven it is gone.

“Father, let me not look upon a past that is not there. For You have offered me Your Own replacement, in a present world the past has left untouched and free of sin. Here is the end of guilt. And here am I made ready for Your final step. Shall I demand that You wait longer for Your Son to find the loveliness You planned to be the end of all his dreams and all his pain?”

A Course in Miracles W-289.1:1–2:5