The “Banner of Heaven”?

Photo credit: Aaron Springston

There are upwards of 4,000 religions in the world. I dare to say they all have factions which have embraced insanity. There’s a mini-series called “Under The Banner of Heaven”. It deals with a militant faction of the Latter Day Saints, but I think the same thing could happen within any religion. Something I noticed about these Patriots (as they called themselves), is that they have allowed their ego to take control over their thought processes. They began to believe they were the only ones who knew the truth. When Mary Baker Eddy wrote Science & Health in the late 19th Century, she had no desire to start a religion. She only did so because she wanted to ensure that the book would continue to be published in the years after her passing. She often stated that its reading would help a Baptist be a better Baptist, and she insisted that we not proselytize. In a similar manner, A Course in Miracles is not a religion and does not require that you follow any ritual or dogma. Anyone can benefit from its teachings, without giving up their lifelong congregations. Seeing beyond the material picture of human hatred and righteous indignation is what we can do to change the world. Let’s remember: Every thought is important! 

"In the Apocalypse it is written: 'And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.' In St. John's vision, heaven and earth stand for spiritual ideas, and the sea, as a symbol of tempest-tossed human concepts advancing and receding, is represented as having passed away. The divine understanding reigns, is all, and there is no other consciousness."
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 536:1-9

"Wrong-mindedness listens to the ego and makes illusions; perceiving sin and justifying anger, and seeing guilt, disease and death as real. Both this world and the real world are illusions because right-mindedness merely overlooks, or forgives, what never happened. Therefore it is not the One-mindedness of the Christ Mind, Whose Will is one with God's."
A Course in Miracles - Clarification of Terms

Frightened By The Light?

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater

Upon hearing that many “morality police” groups were condemning the animated movie, “Frozen”, I wanted to see it. Watching it, knowing what the opponents were saying, I decided to give it my own interpretation. Here it is: We are frozen in a thought system which has been perpetuated by years of dogma and habit. When someone happens to realize their power as the expression of divine Mind, they are labeled as bad, perhaps someone to be feared, maybe even told to hide their light so as not to upset others. And so it is that they hide, until someone tells them how fabulous they are; then they either deny it and continue to hide, or accept themselves in all their glory -- and they shine! This shining, it lights up the world from the inside out. Which leads me to a well-known quotation from Marianne Williamson:

"Our Greatest Fear —Marianne Williamson

“It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,

talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.

There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other

people won't feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of

God that is within us.

It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine,

we unconsciously give other people

permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear,

Our presence automatically liberates others.”

—Marianne Williamson

“The manifestation of God through mortals is as light passing through the window-pane. The light and the glass never mingle, but as matter, the glass is less opaque than the walls. The mortal mind through which Truth appears most vividly is that one which has lost much materiality--much error--in order to become a better transparency for Truth. Then, like a cloud melting into thin vapor, it no longer hides the sun.”
Mary Baker Eddy -Science & Health Page 295:14-24

The Words Got in the Way

Christian Science Edifice

Eureka Springs, AR

Painting by Julie Kahn Valentine 

In our small, tourist town, we have many wonderful things. One of my favorites is called Heart of Many Ways. It’s a non-profit group which provides a place for spiritual groups to meet. These groups are too small to have an edifice of their own, and they have meetings and events in a beautiful, historic building which previously was a Christian Science church. Built in 1914, it is Italian in style on the outside and Arts and Crafts inside. Shortly after the isolation of the pandemic began, this non-profit began asking performers to play for a noontime meditation. I was asked to play organ for them once a month, and happily agreed to do so. After one day’s performance, a man told me why he had enjoyed the hour. He said when he was in a regular church, the words got in the way. He repeatedly placed his hands on his heart and looked up to the beautiful 20-foot ceiling, illustrating his words while he told me how he had been uplifted by the hour of classical music. My heart soared with his as he told me of his traditional religious training and how it had never brought about the feelings he had experienced on that day. His joy was mine. Namaste…

“Only the healed mind can experience revelation with lasting effect, because revelation is an experience of pure joy.”
A Course in Miracles T-5.I.1:3-4

“I love you when you bow in your mosque, kneel in your temple, pray in your church. For you and I are sons of one religion, and it is the spirit.”
Khalil Gibran - The Prophet

Resurrection

Photo courtesy of Aaron Springston

What does the Easter story mean to you? I see it as a tale which illustrates the death of false beliefs and the resurrection of thought to the Truth of being. Jesus was here to teach us that we are all the children of God, that we are all capable of far more than we realize, and that we are all immortal. And he did teach these things, but people have diluted the message throughout the years. You would think such a lesson of power and freedom would grow, rather than dissipate, but it has not. At this point in time, we seem satisfied living a mortal life of fear and guilt. Perhaps it's easier than accepting the majesty of our Being. Truth is that we are not mortal sinners, but rather immortal reflections of divine Love. We crucify ourselves on the cross of belief, and stay there, because we don't know how to get down. Jesus told us to know the Truth and be freed. This Truth is that the kingdom of heaven is within! Today I want to celebrate a rebirth which is happening continually, when I open myself to the Christ Idea within. And if you want to call it by another name, that’s just fine, too!!

“Resurrection: Spiritualization of thought; a new and higher idea of immortality, or spiritual existence; material belief yielding to spiritual understanding.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 593:9-11

“Resurrection must compel your allegiance gladly, because it is the symbol of joy. Its whole compelling power lies in the fact that it represents what you want to be. The freedom to leave behind everything that hurts you and humbles you and frightens you cannot be thrust upon you, but it can be offered you through the grace of God. And you can accept it by His grace, for God is gracious to His Son, accepting him without question as His Own. Who, then, is your own? The Father has given you all that is His, and He Himself is yours with them. Guard them in their resurrection, for otherwise you will not awake in God, safely surrounded by what is yours forever.”
A Course in Miracles T-11.VI.6:1-7

Shifting Thought, From Fear to Love

 

I'm listening to Eckhart Tolle's classic book, A New Earth. It seems very appropriate at this time of changing values. Living from Love should be as easy as pie, but apparently mortal mind can misinterpret anything in any number of ways. Eckhart has reminded me that every one of us who accepts this shift from fear to Love helps to pave the way for others to move into this space. While every thought we have is important, let's not beat ourselves up when we feel we have failed -- because thoughts of failure and guilt are once again the ego jerking our chain. Let's learn to laugh at ourselves as we choose again and go forward with joy!

“Trials are but lessons that you failed to learn presented once again, so where you made a faulty choice before you now can make a better one, and thus escape all pain that what you chose before has brought to you. In every difficulty, all distress, and each perplexity Christ calls to you and gently says, ‘My brother, choose again.’”
A Course in Miracles - T-31.VIII.3:1-2

“Erroneous belief is destroyed by truth. Change the evidence, and that disappears which before seemed real to this false belief, and the human consciousness rises higher.”
Mary Baker Eddy Science & Health Page 297:12-15

Love is a Powerful Force

Image by J. Clement Wall

JudyClementWall.com

Watching the movie, “Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”, caused me to think about alternative universes — ones which are similar yet entirely different from each other. This movie also brought into focus the powerful forces which are unseen in our world. In all these Marvel movies, forces are harnessed for evil and for good, with good eventually winning — but oftentimes not before extreme havoc is wreaked. Today we watch in amazement as seemingly evil forces attempt to take control of our world. I have always believed Love is a force more powerful than any form of hatred. And I still see this as truth. After watching a short video by Eckhart Tolle with the subject, “Beware of Mental Viruses”, I suddenly saw exactly how susceptible we humans are. If we replay something over and over in our thoughts, it becomes part of who we are. It becomes our reality. With this in mind, each one of you who knows in your heart that Love is an actual force, I’m asking you to be active in becoming a transparency for that all-powerful energy. Any time thought is pulled into a hopeless state, replace it with a translation of the situation, affirming a spiritual Truth. We’ve been practicing all our lives, and we are ready for this. Namaste …

“Love is not something put upon a shelf, to be taken down on rare occasions with sugar-tongs and laid on a rose-leaf. I make strong demands on love, call for active witnesses to prove it, and noble sacrifices and grand achievements as its result.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Miscellaneous Writings Page 250:16-18

“The Oneness of the Creator and the creation is your wholeness, your sanity and your limitless power. This limitless power is God’s gift to you, because it is what you are. If you dissociate your mind from it you are perceiving the most powerful force in the universe as if it were weak, because you do not believe you are part of it.” A Course in Miracles T-7.VI.10:4-6

Conscientious Protests of Truth

When asked about her politics, Mary Baker Eddy stated that she really had none -- other than to "pray for a righteous government, love her neighbor as herself, and God above all else." I often look to her words to guide my thoughts during these surreal times. Another of her statements which brings clarity is this one: “Neither material finesse, standpoint, nor perspective guides the infinite Mind and spiritual vision that should, does, guide His children.” (“Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896,” p. 373). If left to the thoughts created by my ego-driven mind, I am tempted to jump up on my high horse and declare some governmental actions to be insane, at best. Perhaps I'll feel overwhelmed by too much misinformation and fall back on past ways of thinking about situations, not realizing each moment is different from the last. At those times, it helps me to know that infinite Mind (a synonym for what we usually call God) contains all the knowledge there is, and Truth (another synonym) can never be hidden, and Love (also, God) controls everything with Its all-encompassing comfort and guidance. And I am grateful...

Mary Baker Eddy describes Jesus' prayers as “deep and conscientious protests of Truth, – of man’s likeness to God and of man’s unity with Truth and Love.” 

Science & Health, Page 12:2

“The miracle is a sign that the mind has chosen to be led by me in Christ’s service. The abundance of Christ is the natural result of choosing to follow Him. All shallow roots must be uprooted, because they are not deep enough to sustain you. The illusion that shallow roots can be deepened, and thus made to hold, is one of the distortions on which the reverse of the Golden Rule rests. As these false underpinnings are given up, the equilibrium is temporarily experienced as unstable. However, nothing is less stable than an upside-down orientation. Nor can anything that holds it upside down be conducive to increased stability.” 

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