The Faces of Loneliness

I listen to audiobooks while I do chores and cook, and I’ve heard numerous thought-provoking books. For instance, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. The concepts presented are fascinating. A young 19th-century girl laments her life, wishing she had more freedom, and that she wasn’t being forced into a marriage. She makes a pact with the “old gods”, but she wishes for the wrong thing and ends up living forever, but no one can remember her once she’s out of their sight. The life of isolation she is thrown into is haunting, frightening, and sad. Her plight brings to mind the many present-day people who are lonesome. I listen, trying to understand what brings on their feelings of wistful longing. Or is it even longing? I’m not sure, but I’d like to empathize. Another audiobook, What Alice Forgot, is about a woman who has a head injury and forgets the last ten years of her life. The lack of connection she feels with family and friends is sort of the flip side of Addie’s isolation. It takes my thoughts to different aspects of loneliness and the perceptions associated with this feeling of lack. I heard an interview today with a young man talking about loneliness and the effect it has had on many of his friends. They have become members of violent white nationalist groups because they feel a kinship in banding together against people. Let’s reach out to others, giving a kind word to sad, perhaps frightening, people. We never know when a kind word will change a life …

“The ego thought system must hide our awareness of our oneness in God in order to make the image of having a separate life for ourselves alone appear real to us. In order to experience this false thought system, we must be willing to set up barriers against remembering God’s oneness through denying our natural awareness of Love’s eternal presence. To experience this thought system of separation, we dream up a world where separate bodies rule the universe. In this dream, we, as separate individuals, are the judge of what is real and what is denied. We build up images of a kingdom that we rule alone and God’s oneness is sacrificed.” 

A Course in Miracles, Chapter 26, Section I

“Abiding in Love, not one of you can be separated from me; and the sweet sense of journeying on together, doing unto others as ye would they should do unto you, conquers all opposition, surmounts all obstacles, and secures success.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Miscellaneous Writings Page 137:7-11

Gratitude in Times of Crises

There was an interesting editorial in the Christian Science Monitor which spoke to gratitude in times of crisis. The essay mentioned that gratitude helps put a focus on the good in a situation, dampening fear. It helps people form stronger bonds across borders and through their differences. It encourages generosity. I found it particularly interesting that they referred to expressing appreciation as a kind of reset for thoughts, saying that it allows calm reflective thinking, which is just what we need in order to bring us a healing perspective during these times. These wise words can certainly be applied to many situations in our current atmosphere, don't you think? I'm going to practice this as a way of turning around fearful or defensive thinking when it occurs. If someone is expressing a thought which I find abrasive, I will find something to be grateful for — if not about them in particular, about the situation in general. Whatever the case, I love thinking about gratitude as a "reset"!!

“Through your gratitude you come to know your brother, and one moment of real recognition makes everyone your brother because each of them is of your Father. Love does not conquer all things, but it does set all things right.”

A Course in Miracles T-4.VI.7:5-6

“This is what is meant by seeking Truth, Christ, not ‘for the loaves and fishes,’ nor, like the Pharisee, with the arrogance of rank and display of scholarship, but like Mary Magdalene, from the summit of devout consecration, with the oil of gladness and the perfume of gratitude, with tears of repentance and with those hairs all numbered by the Father.”

MaryBaker Eddy - Science & Health Page 367:10-16

How Can There Be Less Than All?

 

When a Dog Runs Up (by Hafiz)

 

"Start seeing everything as God, but keep

it a secret.

 

Become like the man and woman who are

awestruck and nourished

listening to a golden nightingale sing

in a beautiful foreign language while God,

invisible to most, nests upon its tongue.

Hafiz, who can tell in this world that

when a dog runs up to you wagging its

ecstatic tail, you lean over and whisper in

its ear,

 

Beloved, I am so glad you are happy to  

see me! Beloved, I am so glad, so very glad

you have come!’

Hafiz

 

“But see the Love of God in you, and you will see it everywhere because it is everywhere. See His abundance in everyone, and you will know that you are in Him with them. They are part of you, as you are part of God. You are as lonely without understanding this as God Himself is lonely when His Sons do not know Him. The peace of God is understanding this. There is only one way out of the world’s thinking, just as there was only one way into it. Understand totally by understanding totality.”

A Course in Miracles T-7.VII.10:4-10

“God being everywhere and all-inclusive, how can He be absent or suggest the absence of omnipresence and omnipotence?

How can there be less than all? 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 287: 13-16

No Worries Over Errant Thoughts

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater

When we study divine metaphysics, quantum physics, and other related disciplines, we begin to examine our thoughts. We notice if we automatically go to the negative side of a what-if situation, and then do our best to “correct” it. In practices such as The Secret, we are taught that we can manifest things in our lives simply by thinking hard enough and long enough about them. Many of these disciplines cause students of divine Science to cringe, because we’re not trying to manipulate matter, but would rather see past these illusions to the truth of our Being. This morning, while listening to a Buddhist documentary, I heard the speaker tell us that “every thought we have doesn’t need to be true”. I love the way he explained that while many thoughts going through our mind are not ones we agree with, we needn’t be worried by them. When we realize we can acknowledge negative ideas and not claim them as our own, we are freed to laugh at ourselves and continue on, joyfully. Have a beautiful day, my friends …

“We said before that the Holy Spirit is evaluative, and must be. He sorts out the true from the false in your mind, and teaches you to judge every thought you allow to enter it in the light of what God put there. Whatever is in accord with this light He retains, to strengthen the Kingdom in you. What is partly in accord with it He accepts and purifies. But what is out of accord entirely He rejects by judging against. This is how He keeps the Kingdom perfectly consistent and perfectly unified.”A Course in Miracles T-6.V-C.1:1-6

“Human thought never projected the least portion of true being. Human belief has sought and interpreted in its own way the echo of Spirit, and so seems to have reversed it and repeated it materially; but the human mind never produced a real tone nor sent forth a positive sound.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page: 126:8-14

Who’s Responsible For Assessing Truth?

This question, asked in a news magazine, caught my attention: “Who’s responsible, ultimately, for assessing truth?” This was asked in reference to popular podcast host, Joe Rogan, and the fact that he spreads misinformation. This, he freely admits. He said on a talk show, “I talk shit for a living – that’s why this is so baffling to me. If you’re taking vaccine advice from me, is that really my fault?” Mr. Rogan has a larger audience than many news networks, and his followers are mainly young, white men. His highly publicized words concerning vaccines have brought demands that streaming platforms monitor their content; hence the question, who’s responsible for assessing truth? Personally, I think it’s the individual. But it seems that we the people don’t have the inclination, or perhaps the education, to assess truth. Our critical thinking and reading comprehension seem to have taken a nosedive and people are relying on false headlines and opinionated podcasts to inform them on world events. So what do we do? Is censorship the answer? It’s difficult to say that books shouldn’t be banned, yet podcasts and such should be censored. But it sure is tempting to do so!

"The time for thinkers has come. Truth, independent of doctrines and time-honored systems, knocks at the portal of humanity." 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page VII:13

“Let truth be what it is. Do not intrude upon it, do not attack it, do not interrupt its coming. Let it encompass every situation and bring you peace. Not even faith is asked of you, for truth asks nothing. Let it enter, and it will call forth and secure for you the faith you need for peace. But rise you not against it, for against your opposition it cannot come.”

A Course in Miracles T-17.VIII.2:1-7

The Simple Truth

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater

Should books be banned from public schools? Some people are upset that their children might learn about sex and gender issues which they would rather not think about. Others seem to be afraid their children will learn their ancestors were not the kind-hearted humans they choose to see them as being. Perhaps some are afraid their children will learn about religious and spiritual ideas which are not copasetic with their own. All of these things, and more, are impossible to “shield” our children from, especially in the age of technology when all sorts of information, correct and not so much, is at their fingertips. Perhaps it would be wiser to teach critical thinking and reading comprehension, enabling our children to think for themselves and discern information for what it is. We, as adults, have an obligation to be brave and face tough questions, and answers. What is more important for the advancement of humanity, to hide the fact that great-grandpa fathered a child with his slave, or to allow our children to know the truth of how we came to this country and created what we see today? There seem to be no easy answers, but I’m pretty sure we’re making this more difficult than it should be. 

“Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

John viii. 32

“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”

Shakespeare

“If a light is suddenly turned on while someone is dreaming a fearful dream, he may initially interpret the light itself as part of his dream and be afraid of it. However, when he awakens, the light is correctly perceived as the release from the dream, which is then no longer accorded reality. This release does not depend on illusions. The knowledge that illuminates not only sets you free, but also shows you clearly that you are free.”

A Course in Miracles T-2.I.4:6-9

"A few immortal sentences, breathing the omnipotence of divine justice, have been potent to break despotic fetters and abolish the whipping-post and slave market; but oppression neither went down in blood, nor did the breath of freedom come from the cannon’s mouth. Love is the liberator." 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 225:16-22

The Beauty of Individual Differences

Yesterday,I sent out a two-year-old post about the book, House on the Cerulean Sea. This was done because today I finished its sequel, Somewhere Beyond the Sea. This is, indeed, a book for our troubled times. On the fictional island, Marsylas, Arthur Parnassus has set up an environment to shelter magical children. Their talents range from being able to grow trees and gardens in the blink of an eye, to other less delightful but nevertheless charming characteristics. They are being targeted by a controlling government, as being a threat to society. We are shown the power of a loving community to heal the wounds of exclusion and various forms of childhood abuse. There is much to be considered while reading this book, and its story gives me hope for the healing of our society through the power of Love. As Arthur Parnassus tells the children: “I believe the greatest weapon we have at our disposal is our voices. And I am going to use my voice for you, and for me. Hate is loud. We are louder.”

“The truth of what we are is not for words to speak of nor describe. Yet we can realize our function here, and words can speak of this and teach it, too, if we exemplify the words in us.”

A Course in Miracles W-pII.14.2:4-5

“Include moral as well as physical belief in your efforts to destroy error.  Cast out all manner of evil. ‘Preach the gospel to every creature.’ Speak the truth to every form of error.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 418:26-29