Facing Tragedy

 Art by Laura Makabresku

Despite having always been a proponent of facing tragedy and finding ways to move through it, I’m tempted to put some platitudes on paper tonight, find a few good quotes, and leave it at that. But I must say that when Hillary Clinton lost the election in 2016, it was a much tougher event for me to face than when I had lost a leg two years before. Last night, when Kamala Harris lost the presidential election, it was much more difficult than any event many of have faced in our lifetimes. And yet we must. Moments ago, I read the following quote by Victor Frankl: "Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom." I pray for that freedom tonight …

“I judge all things as I would have them be. Judgment was made to be a weapon used against the truth. It separates what it is being used against, and sets it off as if it were a thing apart. And then it makes of it what you would have it be. It judges what it cannot understand, because it cannot see totality and therefore judges falsely. Let us not use it today, but make a gift of it to Him Who has a different use for it. He will relieve us of the agony of all the judgments we have made against ourselves, and re-establish peace of mind by giving us God’s Judgment of His Son.

“Father, we wait with open mind today, to hear Your Judgment of the Son You love. We do not know him, and we cannot judge. And so we let Your Love decide what he whom You created as Your Son must be.”

A Course in Miracles W-311.1:1–2:3

“One infinite God, good, unifies men and nations; constitutes the brotherhood of man; ends wars; fulfils the Scripture, 'Love thy neighbor as thyself;' annihilates pagan and Christian idolatry,--whatever is wrong in social, civil, criminal, political, and religious codes; equalizes the sexes; annuls the curse on man, and leaves nothing that can sin, suffer, be punished or destroyed.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 340: 23-29

In The Interest of Humanity

Photo credit: Gabriel Carlson

While watching a documentary on India, I found myself weeping. It wasn’t the beauty of the country or the people, although those could bring a tear, but it was their election. Every five years this democracy comes together to elect their leaders. The thing of beauty which caused emotion to well up was the diligence with which their election officials set up voting facilities. There is a place to vote every two square miles, even where the population is so scarce that only one person is going to vote. There is a man living in a temple in the middle of nowhere — literally. The only time he leaves his space is to vote, and there is a place set up just for him. The beauty of their elections overwhelmed me. This country is on its way up, developing solar farms for energy production, and building a democracy worthy of emulation. I pray we in the United States can understand the sacredness of daily life and the obligation we have to each other. Namaste...

“In fearlessness and love I spend today. This day, my Father, would I spend with You, as You have chosen all my days should be. And what I will experience is not of time at all. The joy that comes to me is not of days nor hours, for it comes from Heaven to Your Son. This day will be Your sweet reminder to remember You, Your gracious calling to Your holy Son, the sign Your grace has come to me, and that it is Your Will I be set free today.

“We spend this day together, you and I. And all the world joins with us in our song of thankfulness and joy to Him Who gave salvation to us, and Who set us free. We are restored to peace and holiness. There is no room in us for fear today, for we have welcomed love into our hearts.”

A Course in Miracles W-310.1:1–2:4

"Truth should emanate from the pulpit, but never be strangled there. A special privilege is vested in the ministry. How shall it be used? Sacredly, in the interests of humanity, not of sect." 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 236:2

Heaven Within

Why would we fear to look within our own hearts? Why would we fear seeing our true self? Perhaps we feel that to look within would involve some sort of life review which would require us to answer for every supposed sin we've committed. But what if we're looking within at our pure and perfect Self, as we are created by divine Love? And what if, after we find what we've forgotten, we allow it to come forth and live with us? In the process, we truly forgive ourselves for all of it, allowing thought to stay on the good and the true, releasing guilt and fear, living only in Love. What if ...

“When speaking of God's children, not the children of men, Jesus said, ‘The kingdom of God is within you;’ that is, Truth and Love reign in the real man, showing that man in God's image is unfallen and eternal." 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 476:28-32

“I will not fear to look within today. Within me is eternal innocence, because it is God’s Will that it be there forever and forever. I, His Son, whose will is limitless as is His Own, can will no change in this. For to deny my Father’s Will is to deny my own. To look within is but to find my will as God created it, and as it is. I fear to look within because I think I made another will that is not true, and made it real. Yet it has no effects. Within me is the Holiness of God. Within me is the memory of Him.

“The step I take today, my Father, is my sure release from idle dreams of sin. Your altar stands serene and undefiled. It is the holy altar to my Self, and there I find my true Identity.”

A Course in Miracles W-309.1:1–2:3

Time Will Tell …

Photo credit: Christine Panas

Numerous sayings about time come to mind when reading today’s ACIM workbook topic:  “This instant is the only time there is.” Here is a sampling of what came to me: “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.” (Kung Fu Panda) I'm also reminded of something Deepak Chopra said: "Time is something we have made up so everything doesn't happen all at once." Albert Einstein showed us that time is relative. Time spent in a dentist chair passes differently from time spent visiting with a dear friend. Later in life, Mr. Einstein came to believe that time was not just relative, but unreal! Here is a quote from him, written in a letter to a friend: "To those of us who believe in physics, this separation between past, present, and future, is only an illusion, if a stubborn one." So why do we limit ourselves with time? We always think we're too young or too old, or this physical malady will pass with time, or that we simply don't have time to do the things we want to do. When I realize that I'm not a mortal living in what seems to be now, but an immortal living in eternity, then some major shifts in perception can take place. Only "time will tell" what happens with that realization!

“This instant is the only time there is. I have conceived of time in such a way that I defeat my aim. If I elect to reach past time to timelessness, I must change my perception of what time is for. Time’s purpose cannot be to keep the past and future one. The only interval in which I can be saved from time is now. For in this instant has forgiveness come to set me free. The birth of Christ is now, without a past or future. He has come to give His present blessing to the world, restoring it to timelessness and love. And love is ever-present, here and now.

“Thanks for this instant, Father. It is now I am redeemed. This instant is the time You have appointed for Your Son’s release, and for salvation of the world in him.”

A Course in Miracles - W-308.1:1–2:3

“Never ask for tomorrow: it is enough that divine Love is an ever-present help; and if you wait, never doubting, you will have all you need every moment.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Miscellaneous Writings Page 307

Quiet in the Storm

Art by Dee Nickerson

Find Your Quiet in the Storm - from Etheric Echoes 

“Some days, the world feels too sharp,

Too loud, too raw to touch.

Headlines scream, phones ring,

And chaos dances at our doorstep.

But I've learned to find sanctuary

In small moments of grace—

The way sunlight paints shadows on walls,

How wind whispers through leaves,

The steady rhythm of my own breath

When I remember to just... breathe.

I've learned to turn off the noise,

To silence the endless chatter,

To find strength in gentle things—

A cup of coffee at dawn,

A moment of kindness between strangers,

The quiet courage of growing things.

They say the world's gone mad,

But perhaps the secret is knowing

When to step away from the storm,

When to guard your peace like gold,

When to let your heart be still

In a world that never stops spinning.

For in this rush of endless moments,

We must remember to be gentle

With ourselves, with each other,

To find beauty in broken places,

To create spaces of quiet wonder

In corners of our own making.

This is how we stay whole—

Not by hardening our hearts,

But by knowing when to soften,

When to rest, when to breathe,

When to let the world's noise fade

Into the background of our being.“

“Find Your Quiet in the Storm” by Etheric Echoes

“We cannot serve two masters nor perceive divine Science with the material senses.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science and Health Page 167:11-12

“Conflicting wishes cannot be my will. Father, Your Will is mine, and only that. There is no other will for me to have. Let me not try to make another will, for it is senseless and will cause me pain. Your Will alone can bring me happiness, and only Yours exists. If I would have what only You can give, I must accept Your Will for me, and enter into peace where conflict is impossible, Your Son is one with You in being and in will, and nothing contradicts the holy truth that I remain as You created me.

“And with this prayer we enter silently into a state where conflict cannot come, because we join our holy will with God’s, in recognition that they are the same.”

A Course in Miracles W-307.1:1–2:1

A Natural State of Grace

The study of divine metaphysics requires a willingness to question every value that we hold, to let light into our minds, to allow grace to be our natural state. To study A Course in Miracles takes a willingness for your mind to be healed from fear and limitation; it requires you to question every value you hold. We tend to think it’s a good thing to hold strong opinions about any number of things, such as politics. It may seem as though I’m saying we shouldn’t work for social reform, that we shouldn’t stand up to wrong-doers, that we should become the proverbial doormat. Not so! I think that giving up the things which make us angry, the things for which we become fighting mad, enables us to open ourselves to this gift of divine Love.  Then we are guided to do meaningful work in ways we hadn’t considered, because strong mindsets were hiding them from our vision. I think it will be an interesting exercise to take note of the thoughts I have which keep me from the gift of divine Love. I hope you’ll join me!

“Christ is the true idea voicing good, the divine message from God to men speaking to the human consciousness.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 332:9-11

“The gift of Christ is all I seek today. What but Christ’s vision would I use today, when it can offer me a day in which I see a world so like to Heaven that an ancient memory returns to me? Today I can forget the world I made. Today I can go past all fear, and be restored to love and holiness and peace. Today I am redeemed, and born anew into a world of mercy and of care; of loving kindness and the peace of God.

“And so, our Father, we return to You, remembering we never went away; remembering Your holy gifts to us. In gratitude and thankfulness we come, with empty hands and open hearts and minds, asking but what You give. We cannot make an offering sufficient for Your Son. But in Your Love the gift of Christ is his.”

A Course in Miracles W-306.1:1–2:4

Bathed in Beauty and Light

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater

You have probably heard of, or witnessed, people facing dire situations calmly, with an other-worldly peace. I experienced one of these times when visiting with a couple who were learning how to cope with the change we call death. When I walked into their home, the first thing I felt was an all-encompassing peace. My dear friend related how inspired she was by the leaves falling from the trees in their regular autumnal cycle. She told me how they take care of themselves. She never rakes them up into piles, but allows them to go where they need to be, and there they change to whatever form is required of them -- soil, protection for seedlings, shelter for insects and small animals. She sees perfection in this plan and knows that the same perfection is taking place in all existence. I am grateful to have experienced this deep and quiet peace with them. The peace of God is there for all, no matter what the material circumstance. The gift of Love satisfies the hungering senses, it calms fear, it allows us to release the ties which bind us to material existence, giving us more than we knew was possible. This understanding is priceless …

“Life is reflected in existence, Truth in truthfulness, God in goodness, which impart their own peace and permanence. Love, redolent with unselfishness, bathes all in beauty and light.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 516:9-13

“There is a peace that Christ bestows on us. Who uses but Christ’s vision finds a peace so deep and quiet, undisturbable and wholly changeless, that the world contains no counterpart. Comparisons are still before this peace. And all the world departs in silence as this peace envelops it, and gently carries it to truth, no more to be the home of fear. For love has come, and healed the world by giving it Christ’s peace.

“Father, the peace of Christ is given us, because it is Your Will that we be saved. Help us today but to accept Your gift, and judge it not. For it has come to us to save us from our judgment on ourselves.”

A Course in Miracles W-305.1:1–2:3