The Light of Joy

Most of us know someone who lives with debilitating depression. Something I did not realize is that many family members feel guilty when they are happy around their depressed loved one. So oftentimes, the whole family ends up depressed on some level. Hum. I learned of this while listening to BK Shivani talk about the phenomenon. She likens it to a family walking in the woods and one member falls into a pit. Right away, one by one, the others jump in to be with the trapped member. They’re family after all, and they must stick together. But wait! At least one must stay out of the pit if they are to survive. And so it is with depression and grief: one person must be willing to keep their vibrations high and joyous in order to bring the others up to that level, raising them out of the depths. Let us be proud that we have the courage to stay out of the pit and be happy, bringing others along with our joy! An example comes to mind of a dark closet. When you open the door, the dark doesn’t escape into the light room; the light chases away the darkness. Keep on shining everyone!

“The light that belongs to you is the light of joy. Radiance is not associated with sorrow. Joy calls forth an integrated willingness to share it, and promotes the mind’s natural impulse to respond as one. Those who attempt to heal without being wholly joyous themselves call forth different kinds of responses at the same time, and thus deprive others of the joy of responding wholeheartedly.”

A Course in Miracles T-5.in.1:4-7

"Harmony is produced by its Principle, is controlled by it and abides with it. Divine Principle is the Life of man. Man's happiness is not, therefore, at the disposal of physical sense. Truth is not contaminated by error. Harmony in man is as beautiful as in  music, and discord is unnatural, unreal." 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 304:17-21

What Do I Want to Come Of This?

 

Art from Jesse Stone

“We are travelers on a cosmic journey, stardust, swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. Life is eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share. This is a precious moment. It is a little parenthesis in eternity.” ~ Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

I read this quote on a social media site called Cosmic Dancer, and a flood of memories rushed at me. When I first read this book, my art gallery was on the verge of closing down due to lack of business. This book caused me to open myself to the field of infinite possibilities, and we ended up staying open five more years, in a different and exciting location. The gist of the quote which changed my life is this: “Most people don’t realize they have a dream. Of those who know they have a dream, most fear to follow it. Of those who follow it, most stop one step short of realizing it.” Wow. I knew I had a dream and I was following it. After reading this book, I knew I couldn’t stop short! Authors such as Paulo Coelho have helped me to see the advantages of concentrating our intentions on what we DO want, rather than passionately worrying about the down side. And I am grateful…

“In any situation in which you are uncertain, the first thing to consider, very simply, is ‘What do I want to come of this? What is it for?’ The clarification of the goal belongs at the beginning, for it is this which will determine the outcome. In the ego’s procedure this is reversed. The situation becomes the determiner of the outcome, which can be anything. The reason for this disorganized approach is evident. The ego does not know what it wants to come of the situation. It is aware of what it does not want, but only that. It has no positive goal at all.”

A Course in Miracles T-17.VI.2:1-9

“The discoverer of Christian Science finds the path less difficult when she has the high goal always before her thoughts, than when she counts her footsteps in endeavoring to reach it. When the destination is desirable, expectation speeds our progress. The struggle for Truth makes one strong instead of weak, resting instead of wearying one.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 426:5-11

Flipping Fearful Thoughts

“No Looking Back”

Creation From Sandy Wythawai Starbird

In the two disciplines which I study, we often talk about changing the way we think about things. But how do we change these thoughts? I had a good example of this last night. I repeatedly woke up having frightening dreams. As soon as I awakened feeling fear, I would think of something beautiful – for instance, light coming through trees in a forest, with birds chirping, and butterflies flying around. This happened, perhaps, four or five times during the night. When eventually waking up this morning, I had been enjoying a happy dream, and my eyes opened with a smile on my face. This healing was so thorough that I remembered neither the bad nor the good dream’s context after getting out of bed. This lesson is something I’ve been needing. My daytime dreams have been anxious and fearful. When these feelings arise today, I shall practice what I learned during my sleep: Imagine beauty, feel beauty, spread peace…

“I am alone in nothing. Everything I think or say or do teaches all the universe. A Son of God cannot think or speak or act in vain. He cannot be alone in anything. It is therefore in my power to change every mind along with mine, for mine is the power of God.”

A Course in Miracles W-54.4:2-6

“Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true, and you will bring these into your experience proportionably to their occupancy of your thoughts.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 261:4-7

Sovereign Rights

I truly try to not divide people into tribes, liking or disliking them because of their affiliations. It doesn’t matter to me if you’re a fan of the LSU Tigers or a member of the Rotterdam Symphonic Orchestra, my only goal is to listen to your words and hear the motives of your heart. I will bask in your company or stay away from you according to your kindness to others as shown by the goodness you live. And so when people begin berating actions because someone is labeled as liberal, it brings up questions in my mind as to why they are throwing these barbed verbal attacks. Since the accusations usually sound uniformly similar to each other, I can only surmise they are being spoon-fed by a larger source. Our information transportation is so fast today that almost anyone can set themselves up to spread the word — no matter its veracity. This statement from John Smallman’s writings rings true: “The only way forward is for humanity to engage lovingly with itself, instead of divisively and judgmentally, by fully honoring and respecting the sovereign rights of every individual on Planet Earth”. 

“The relationship of anger to attack is obvious, but the relationship of anger to fear is not always so apparent. Anger always involves projection of separation, which must ultimately be accepted as one’s own responsibility, rather than being blamed on others. Anger cannot occur unless you believe that you have been attacked, that your attack is justified in return, and that you are in no way responsible for it. Given these three wholly irrational premises, the equally irrational conclusion that a brother is worthy of attack rather than of love must follow. What can be expected from insane premises except an insane conclusion? The way to undo an insane conclusion is to consider the sanity of the premises on which it rests. You cannot be attacked, attack has no justification, and you are responsible for what you believe.” 

A Course in Miracles T-6.in.1:1-7

“Jesus was the son of a virgin. He was appointed to speak God’s word and to appear to mortals in such a form of humanity as they could understand as well as perceive. Mary’s conception of him was spiritual, for only purity could reflect Truth and Love, which were plainly incarnate in the good and pure Christ Jesus. He expressed the highest type of divinity, which a fleshly form could express in that age. Into the real and ideal man the fleshly element cannot enter. Thus it is that Christ illustrates the coincidence, or spiritual agreement, between God and man in His image.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 332:23-2

Life’s Illusions …

Graphic credit: Robert Gonsalve

I’ve been thinking today about the illusions we create for ourselves and others. Perhaps we don’t want our children to know things about our past, or maybe there is a deep, dark secret we think would bring shame on our family, or perhaps it’s something as simple as not examining ourselves in the mirror because we can’t accept the physical changes we see. I remember years ago when I was helping a neighbor who was in denial about many things. I would take her with me to an empty church and play the organ for her, while other neighbors sneaked into her house to clean. She probably hadn’t cleaned her house or herself for years. She had two huge dogs which she fed chicken and rice, but she, herself, would only eat green beans and ice cream. Part of the illusion she had created involved taking down the mirrors in her house. Once someone took a photo of us in the front yard with her dogs. When I showed her the photo, she asked if one of the women was her. She had decided how things were in her life, and nothing was going to change her illusions. Sometimes we weave such a web that everything would fall apart without their false security. There is much to be considered here …

“We must look deep into realism instead of accepting only the outward sense of things. Can we gather peaches from a pine-tree, or learn from discord the concord of being? Yet quite as rational are some of the leading illusions along the path which Science must tread in its reformatory mission among mortals. The very name, illusion, points to nothingness.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 129:22-29

“Miracles honor you because you are lovable. They dispel illusions about yourself and perceive the light in you. They thus atone for your errors by freeing you from your nightmares. By releasing your mind from the imprisonment of your illusions, they restore your sanity.”
A Course in Miracles T-1.I.33:1-4

Moral Chemicalization

A.I. image from social media

Something which is emphasized, in both A Course in Miracles and Christian Science, is the difference in believing and understanding. Perceptions influence what we see and feel, so we do our best to see with purer eyes — divine Mind’s eyes, God’s eyes. I know that we are each the center of our own universe, and I regularly make an effort to see past my belief bubble. For instance, today I decided to listen to a presidential press conference with ears of innocence, as though I knew nothing of current events. If what I heard was all I knew, it could sound very nice. And I allowed that to happen. But then I pondered the points the pretty lady had made, and allowed a different story to play out in my thoughts. As I sit in my living room, watching my cat sleep, knowing my children are happy, listening to calm music accompanying beautiful tropical birds, I send Love to anyone who needs to feel it, to everyone willing to receive it. No exceptions. And I see a world of safety and comfort …

“Mortal error will vanish in a moral chemicalization. This mental fermentation has begun, and will continue until all errors of belief yield to understanding. Belief is changeable, but spiritual understanding is changeless.

“As this consummation draws nearer, he who has shaped his course in accordance with divine Science will endure to the end. As material knowledge diminishes and spiritual understanding increases, real objects will be apprehended mentally instead of materially.

“During this final conflict, wicked minds will endeavor to find means by which to accomplish more evil; but those who discern Christian Science will hold crime in check. They will aid in the ejection of error. They will maintain law and order, and cheerfully await the certainty of ultimate perfection.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 96:21-4

“The ego analyzes; the Holy Spirit accepts. The appreciation of wholeness comes only through acceptance, for to analyze means to break down or to separate out. The attempt to understand totality by breaking it down is clearly the characteristically contradictory approach of the ego to everything. The ego believes that power, understanding and truth lie in separation, and to establish this belief it must attack. Unaware that the belief cannot be established, and obsessed with the conviction that separation is salvation, the ego attacks everything it perceives by breaking it into small, disconnected parts, without meaningful relationships and therefore without meaning. The ego will always substitute chaos for meaning, for if separation is salvation, harmony is threat.”
A Course in Miracles T-11.V.13:1-6

A Great Need

A Great Need

Out

Of a great need

We are all holding hands

And climbing.

Not loving is a letting go.

Listen,

The terrain around here

Is

Far too

Dangerous

For

That.

Poem by Hafiz (c.1325 – c.1389) - translated by Daniel Ladinsky

“You who hold your brother’s hand also hold mine, for when you joined each other you were not alone. Do you believe that I would leave you in the darkness that you agreed to leave with me? In your relationship is this world’s light. And fear must disappear before you now. Be tempted not to snatch away the gift of faith you offered to your brother. You will succeed only in frightening yourself. The gift is given forever, for God Himself received it. You cannot take it back. You have accepted God. The holiness of your relationship is established in Heaven. You do not understand what you accepted, but remember that your understanding is not necessary. All that was necessary was merely the wish to understand. That wish was the desire to be holy. The Will of God is granted you.  

For you desire the only thing you ever had, or ever were.”

A Course in Miracles T-18.III.4:1-15

“After the stars sang together and all was primeval harmony, the material lie made war upon the spiritual idea; but this only impelled the idea to rise to the zenith of demonstration, destroying sin, sickness, and death, and to be caught up unto God, — to be found in its divine Principle.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 565:23-28