You Are My Guide To Peace

Photo credit: Gerry Toler

One of our local artists tells me that she went to Crystal Bridges, the fabulous museum here in Northwest Arkansas. She said that she ran into another local artist while there, who said to her that she felt hopeless because she realized that no matter how good she was, she would never be as good as the artists they were seeing on display. These words from the other artist had thrown her into a funk, putting quite a damper on her enjoyment of the day. Yikes!! I'm not going to dissect the erroneous thoughts I see coming from those events, but let's look at how this relates to today's Course in Miracles workbook lesson. If I see the statement-maker as sinless, whatever she says is also harmless. Her words cannot bring me pain or suffering of any sort. She is the pure Idea of God. Her words can only be translated into my depression if that's what I perceive. When I see her as she really Is, there is no need for pain, depression, or blame. She can't ruin my day. Only my thoughts toward her can do that for me. While this story was being related to me, I found myself thinking they were both foolish. I quickly realized I was perceiving them through my own warped perception. And so I turned that around, choosing peace and seeing them both as the sinless children of Love which they are — even though my first impulse was to jump up on my soapbox and tell her why they were wrong! Namaste, dear Sisters …

“My sinless brother is my guide to peace. My sinful brother is my guide to pain. And which I choose to see I will behold. Who is my brother but Your holy Son? And if I see him sinful I proclaim myself a sinner, not a Son of God; alone and friendless in a fearful world. Yet this perception is a choice I make, and can relinquish. I can also see my brother sinless, as Your holy Son. And with this choice I see my sinlessness, my everlasting Comforter and Friend beside me, and my way secure and clear. Choose, then, for me, my Father, through Your Voice. For He alone gives judgment in Your Name.”

A Course in Miracles W-351.1:1-7

"Final deliverance from error, whereby we rejoice in immortality, boundless freedom, and sinless sense, is not reached through paths of flowers nor by pinning one's faith without works to another's vicarious effort. Whosoever believeth that wrath is righteous or that divinity is appeased by human suffering, does not understand God."

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 22:23-28

Unfolding the Primal Order

Art by Mickey McGrath

I love this quote attributed to Albert Einstein: “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” Through various religious teachings, most of us think of a miracle as divine power setting aside a material law, allowing something otherworldly or supernatural to occur. What if a miracle is simply a correction of our limiting beliefs, opening us to divine Mind and the limitless Life which is our true heritage as a child of Love? By this remembrance, we heal our mind of separation, giving us a clarity of thought and sight before unknown. I am very grateful —

“The miracle introduces no disorder, but unfolds the primal order, establishing the Science of God’s unchangeable law. Spiritual evolution alone is worthy of the exercise of divine power.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 135:6-10

“Miracles mirror God’s eternal Love. To offer them is to remember Him, and through His memory to save the world. What we forgive becomes a part of us, as we perceive ourselves. The Son of God incorporates all things within himself as You created him. Your memory depends on his forgiveness. What he is, is unaffected by his thoughts. But what he looks upon is their direct result. Therefore, my Father, I would turn to You. Only Your memory will set me free. And only my forgiveness teaches me to let Your memory return to me, and give it to the world in thankfulness.

“And as we gather miracles from Him, we will indeed be grateful. For as we remember Him, His Son will be restored to us in the reality of Love.”

A Course in Miracles W-350.1:1–2:2

The Gift I Want to Give

Photo courtesy of Richard Quick 

It may seem impossible to look upon all things without judgment, seeing the miracle of love instead. When I think about doing this, my ego goes into overdrive, telling me that doing so would condone injustice; that I must point out wrongdoing and find ways to right it. To me, looking through the eyes of divine Love means that I’m willing to wear my heart on my sleeve and do whatever I’m called on to further the cause of unity. This doesn’t mean that I’ll just say, “Oh, bless his heart”, and continue on as though nothing is wrong. Seeing with divine vision isn’t a sugar-coated coping device; it’s a way to see through the bullshit to Truth. We hear a lot of discussion about how to recognize what truth is, or how to know what to believe, and what to discredit and ignore. We’re discovering that by releasing what we think of as right and wrong allows divine Mind to be heard loud and clear. And it feels like a reviving cup of cold water when we feel as though we’re wandering through the desert!

“Millions of unprejudiced minds — simple seekers for Truth, weary wanderers, athirst in the desert — are waiting and watching for rest and drink. Give them a cup of cold water in Christ’s name, and never fear the consequences.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 570:14-18 

“Today I let Christ’s vision look upon all things for me and judge them not, but give each one a miracle of love instead. So would I liberate all things I see, and give to them the freedom that I seek. For thus do I obey the law of love, and give what I would find and make my own. It will be given me, because I have chosen it as the gift I want to give. Father, Your gifts are mine. Each one that I accept gives me a miracle to give. And giving as I would receive, I learn Your healing miracles belong to me.

“Our Father knows our needs. ²He gives us grace to meet them all. And so we trust in Him to send us miracles to bless the world, and heal our minds as we return to Him.”

A Course in Miracles W-349.1:1–2:3

Safety For All

 Donna Ashworth writes words of comfort and hope. 

Today I share with you a writing from her.

“I think there are many of us who don’t know what to think, right now…

There is so much wrong and so little to be done. 

And what we are witnessing is beyond the pale, and so we wait, mute, hoping that some sense will be made, that some miracle will occur.

I think there are many of us who don’t know what to say, right now.

And so we are silent instead.

And we silently pray.

Pray for answers, for peace, for a miracle. 

Pray for a superman to sweep in and save the innocent, right the wrongs, clean the chaos and put the buildings back together so everyone can go home again.

I think there are many of us, so many of us, who don’t know what to do,

 right now...

And so we go about our lives, seemingly normal.

But inside we are praying. 

Inside we are hoping.

Inside we are desperate to find a way to help.

Desperate for safety for all.

Desperate for safety for all.”

By Donna Ashworth

“I have no cause for anger or for fear, for You surround me. And in every need that I perceive, Your grace suffices me. Father, let me remember You are here, and I am not alone. Surrounding me is everlasting Love. I have no cause for anything except the perfect peace and joy I share with You. What need have I for anger or for fear? Surrounding me is perfect safety. Can I be afraid, when Your eternal promise goes with me? Surrounding me is perfect sinlessness. What can I fear, when You created me in holiness as perfect as Your Own?

“God’s grace suffices us in everything that He would have us do. And only that we choose to be our will as well as His.”

A Course in Miracles W-348.1:1–2:2

"The great miracle to human sense is divine Love, and the grand necessity of existence is to gain the true idea of what constitutes the kingdom of heaven in man. This goal is never reached while we hate our neighbor." 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 560: 11-13

Straighten My Mind

It’s time for me to make a big confession, right out loud. Every time I see Donald Trump’s face and hear words coming out of his mouth, I want to sock him in the jaw; perhaps even throw up on him. As with any negative thought, I do my best to reinterpret and transpose my feelings. But in this situation, I simply cover it up under some metaphorical kitty litter, leaving it there to become even more disgusting. Whew! It feels good to admit that. In light of today’s Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson #347, I want to “straighten my sick mind”. Where I am seeing a sinful world, I ask to cleanse my mind and see it in the spiritual purity which is reality. The illusions have become extremely solid. But it is not possible for me to condemn someone else and remain unscathed by my judgment. The miracle is mine if I can see the One Creator and One Creation. I can then forgive my judgments, thereby releasing all those I have judged. Namaste …

“Anger must come from judgment. Judgment is the weapon I would use against myself, to keep the miracle away from me. Father, I want what goes against my will, and do not want what is my will to have. Straighten my mind, my Father. It is sick. But You have offered freedom, and I choose to claim Your gift today. And so I give all judgment to the One You gave to me to judge for me. He sees what I behold, and yet He knows the truth. He looks on pain, and yet He understands it is not real, and in His understanding it is healed. He gives the miracles my dreams would hide from my awareness. Let Him judge today. I do not know my will, but He is sure it is Your Own. And He will speak for me, and call Your miracles to come to me.

“Listen today. Be very still, and hear the gentle Voice for God assuring you that He has judged you as the Son He loves.”

A Course in Miracles W-347.1:1–2:2

"Material man is made up of involuntary and voluntary error, of a negative right and a positive wrong, the latter calling itself right. Man's spiritual individuality is never wrong." 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 491:7-10

A Breach in Time

Photo courtesy of Richard Quick

Have you ever felt a moment when it seemed that time stood still? These sentences from today's ACIM lesson brought back a remembrance in me: "What I seek today transcends all laws of time and things perceived in time. I would forget all things except Your Love." A number of years ago, I experienced a breach in time. It happened when I first saw a man who later became my very good friend. I was playing the organ at a Sunday morning service when he walked in and sat down. As I looked over at him, it was as though time didn't exist. Everything was still, and yet it felt like eons rushed through me. My material interpretation of this event was that I knew this man from forever; that he was the one I'd been waiting for. Today I see the event as something different. Our meeting opened a portal, if you will. I became aware of a doorway I could step through where nothing existed other than the Love which is God. What a gift! 

“Today the peace of God envelops me, and I forget all things except His Love. Father, I wake today with miracles correcting my perception of all things. And so begins the day I share with You as I will share eternity, for time has stepped aside today. I do not seek the things of time, and so I will not look upon them. What I seek today transcends all laws of time and things perceived in time. I would forget all things except Your Love. I would abide in You, and know no laws except Your law of love. And I would find the peace which You created for Your Son, forgetting all the foolish toys I made as I behold Your glory and my own.

“And when the evening comes today, we will remember nothing but the peace of God. For we will learn today what peace is ours, when we forget all things except God’s Love.”

A Course in Miracles W-346.1:1–2:2

"Eternity, not time, expresses the thought of Life, and time is no part of eternity. One ceases in proportion as the other is recognized."

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 468:26:30

Universal Laws of Love

We are all looking at the same thing and interpreting it differently. Numerous times in these writings I’ve recommended the practice of The Four Agreements, which is ancient Toltec wisdom as interpreted by Don Miguel Ruiz. The events we are watching unfold in our political scene could have been avoided if people would simply follow these agreements: “Be impeccable with your word. Don’t take anything personally. Don’t make assumptions. Always do your best.” This last admonition can be augmented by something attributed to Maya Angelou: “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” Simple advice, huh? As much as I’d love to feed these words into everyone’s belief system, I know I cannot. I can only change my mind, my beliefs, my way of life. And so I will…

“I offer only miracles today, for I would have them be returned to me. Father, a miracle reflects Your gifts to me, Your Son. And every one I give returns to me, reminding me the law of love is universal. Even here, it takes a form which can be recognized and seen to work. The miracles I give are given back in just the form I need to help me with the problems I perceive. Father, in Heaven it is different, for there, there are no needs. But here on earth, the miracle is closer to Your gifts than any other gift that I can give. Then let me give this gift alone today, which, born of true forgiveness, lights the way that I must travel to remember You.

”Peace to all seeking hearts today. The light has come to offer miracles to bless the tired world. It will find rest today, for we will offer what we have received.”

A Course in Miracles W345.1:1–2:3

“A spiritual idea has not a single element of error, and this truth removes properly whatever is offensive.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 463:23-13