Of Book Clubs and Whip-Poor-Wills

Braided Sweetgrass

I write often about my beautiful book club. Our latest read was Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants" by Robin Wall Kimmerer. As we discussed the reasons we loved this book, I felt especially appreciative of the friendship we share. We were meeting at Tina’s farm and the beauty of the deep woods, the song of the whip-poor-will, and the dogs frolicking through the yard as we sat on the back deck enjoying the twilight — all these things accentuated the wisdom and beauty of this book. Here is a favorite quote of mine: “Until we can grieve for our planet we cannot love it—grieving is a sign of spiritual health. But it is not enough to weep for our lost landscapes; we have to put our hands in the earth to make ourselves whole again. Even a wounded world is feeding us. Even a wounded world holds us, giving us moments of wonder and joy. I choose joy over despair. Not because I have my head in the sand, but because joy is what the earth gives me daily and I must return the gift.” Thinking about the times we have shared in our two decades of meeting, this final quote seems to sum up our relationship: “There are some aches witchhazel can’t assuage. For those, we need each other.” The gratitude I feel for these friends is all-encompassing. Namaste …

“Arctic regions, sunny tropics, giant hills, winged winds, mighty billows, verdant vales, festive flowers, and glorious heavens, — all point to Mind, the spiritual intelligence they reflect. The floral apostles are hieroglyphs of Deity. Suns and planets teach grand lessons. The stars make night beautiful, and the leaflet turns naturally towards the light.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 240:2-9

“Forgiveness turns the world of sin into a world of glory, wonderful to see. Each flower shines in light, and every bird sings of the joy of Heaven.”

A Course in Miracles T-26.IV.2:1-2

Have We Forgotten Our True Home?

Central Park - New York City

Photo credit: Aaron Springston

Many people feel that they don’t belong here, on Earth, at this time. Perhaps we all have felt this way, at some point in our lives. What if, rather than us not belonging here, this "here" we speak of isn't what we think it is? What if we don't belong in this crazy world, but the world we see isn't reality? Perhaps our true home is something we've sensed is there, sort of like seeing a movement out of the corner of your eye, but when you look directly at it, it's not there. For years I grasped at straws while ignoring the vast Truth of eternity. We're not strangers in a strange land when we realize the truth of Life. We may think everything we touch and see is real, but it's shifting and changing, as opposed to the omnipresent stability of our true home. So let's be still for a moment and ask to know what that home is. We want it so badly, but we've forgotten what it is. Perhaps now we're not afraid to remember!

“So we have goodness and beauty to gladden the heart; but man, left to the hypotheses of material sense unexplained by Science, is as the wandering comet or the desolate star — ‘a weary searcher for a viewless home.’”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 121:12-16

“The part of your mind in which truth abides is in constant communication with God, whether you are aware of it or not. It is the other part of your mind that functions in the world and obeys the world’s laws. It is this part that is constantly distracted, disorganized and highly uncertain.”
A Course in Miracles W-49.1:2-4

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