Kindness Matters

Why are we so afraid of each other? Could it be all the crime television shows, or maybe we have been physically attacked in the past? We all have our reasons for turning away from our fellow humans. We probably say it’s wise to be cautious. I know that’s what everyone feels on a much-viewed county social media page. Someone who delivers for “door dash” related a tale of woe in which she delivered food to a man and he “grabbed her” and said “I’m glad it’s you”. As I looked through the responses telling her to carry a gun, or never go there again, or call the police, I saw where she said she HAD called the police because he had fallen off his porch and she wanted to make sure he was okay. In trying to imagine this scenario, I saw something quite different from the defensive responders interpretations. I visualized an old man who was unable to leave his home and had ordered food, as he had done many times in the past. When he saw it was someone who had delivered to him before, he reached out and said he was glad to see her again. Or maybe he was reaching toward her because he was about to fall over — which he did! I don’t know the details, but I do know our perceptions can be askew. Perhaps we’ve bypassed our intuitions which tell us about others’ true intentions. When you get a bad vibe from someone, listen. If you’re afraid of everything, question yourself as to why that is. Kindness matters. It may be the only way to heal humanity…

“Dream softly of your sinless brother, who unites with you in holy innocence. And from this dream the Lord of Heaven will Himself awaken His beloved Son. Dream of your brother’s kindnesses instead of dwelling in your dreams on his mistakes. Select his thoughtfulness to dream about instead of counting up the hurts he gave. Forgive him his illusions, and give thanks to him for all the helpfulness he gave. And do not brush aside his many gifts because he is not perfect in your dreams. He represents his Father, Whom you see as offering both life and death to you.

A Course in Miracles 

“Love will finally mark the hour of harmony, and spiritualization will follow, for Love is Spirit. Before error is wholly destroyed, there will be interruptions of the general material routine. Earth will become dreary and desolate, but summer and winter, seedtime and harvest (though in changed forms), will continue unto the end, — until the final spiritualization of all things. ‘The darkest hour precedes the dawn.’” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 95:4-11

The Brain’s Illusions

Art piece by John Rankine

“Finding Solace in This @#$%&! Up World”

“The brain creates false memories based on assumptions.” Whoa! This is a conclusion reached in a psychological study which I read about today. I know people can be involved in the same event and have entirely different memories of what happened. As a court reporter for three decades, I saw how wildly varied were memories of car accidents and other things. So it’s not surprising to me that we see things through different lens and interpret causes from all angles. But this study which shocked me was about showing a person a photograph of themselves, in which they were photoshopped into a particular situation. After being asked a few questions, then the person’s brain created a scenario in which they were convinced they were some place they were not! A quick internet search on how to convince people of things was horridly enlightening. Although it’s never been my goal to change people’s minds, apparently there are many who study these tactics and use them quite effectively. In order to counter these nefarious folks, let’s continue to hone our critical thinking skills, teach ourselves to listen deeply, and do our best to stay away from strong opinions. They do, after all, close our minds to others ways of thinking. Namaste, my dear friends …

“Fantasy is a distorted form of vision. Fantasies of any kind are distortions, because they always involve twisting perception into unreality. Actions that stem from distortions are literally the reactions of those who know not what they do. Fantasy is an attempt to control reality according to false needs. Twist reality in any way and you are perceiving destructively. Fantasies are a means of making false associations and attempting to obtain pleasure from them. But although you can perceive false associations, you can never make them real except to yourself. You believe in what you make.”
A Course in Miracles T-1.VII.3:1-8

“How are veritable ideas to be distinguished from illusions? By learning the origin of each. Ideas are emanations from the divine Mind. Thoughts, proceeding from the brain or from matter, are offshoots of mortal mind; they are mortal material beliefs. Ideas are spiritual, harmonious, and eternal. Beliefs proceed from the so-called material senses, which at one time are supposed to be substance-matter and at another are called spirits.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 88:9-17

Life-Affirming Books

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater

“She realized that you could be as honest as possible in life, but people only see the truth if it is close enough to their reality. As Thoreau wrote, ‘It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.’” This is a quote from the novel, The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig. This book explores the possibilities of what might be, had we chosen different paths in our lives. Not just major decisions, but small ones. There are billions of possibilities in these lateral lives which could be occurring right now, along with the reality we think we are experiencing. Fascinating stuff!! I know most of us have wondered what our lives would have been if we’d accepted that job in New York, or taken a plunge into whatever it was that scared us, or any number of decisions which could have taken us in another direction. The revelations of quantum physics have opened our minds to possibilities which we may not be willing to accept. And that’s okay! We humans have spent our entire existence dumbing down the world because we can’t accept what we don’t understand. Our minds do not see what they cannot handle. And that’s okay, too, because we don’t have to understand in order to participate. I love life-affirming books such as this one! Let me know what you’ve read that rocked your world!

“Metaphysics is above physics, and matter does not enter into metaphysical premises or conclusions. The categories of metaphysics rest on one basis, the divine Mind. Metaphysics resolves things into thoughts, and exchanges the objects of sense for the ideas of Soul.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 269:11

“You are free to establish your kingdom where you see fit, but the right choice is inevitable if you remember this:
Spirit is in a state of grace forever.
Your reality is only spirit.
Therefore you are in a state of grace forever.”
A Course in Miracles T-1.III.5:3-6

The Call of Truth

Photo credit: Aaron Springston

Today I had a life-long learning experience reinforced. I realize, intellectually, that a minor irritation is no different than full-blown rage. I’ll go along for months without being “triggered” by the actions of another, then wham! The woman who I expressed irritation towards is the only person I’ve ever yelled at in the street, and that was almost three decades ago. In examining my reactions to her, I see that I have never been honest with myself. Of course, the things which bother me about her are the things which bother me most about me. After our interaction at my house today, I was tempted to ignore the whole situation. But I became physically ill shortly after she left. While reading the text message she sent me regarding our confrontation, I was tempted to defend myself; to tell her all the reasons I was right. So looked up references to “irritation” and “holy relationship” in the ACIM text and I’ve been reminding myself of the purpose of these interactions. “Every special relationship you have made has, as its fundamental purpose, the aim of occupying your mind so completely that you will not hear the call of truth.” (ACIM, T-17.IV.3:3) I’ve always walked away from every relationship which has tried to make me face myself. I believe it’s time to stop that, and so I’m facing myself and asking Holy Spirit to help me see the way through “the undoing of errors”. It’s also the perfect time to review the lessons currently being examined under the heading of “God is but Love, and therefore so am I.” I look forward to shedding yet another layer of erroneous thinking!

“Perhaps it will be helpful to remember that no one can be angry at a fact. It is always an interpretation that gives rise to negative emotions, regardless of their seeming justification by what appears as facts. Regardless, too, of the intensity of the anger that is aroused. It may be merely slight irritation, perhaps too mild to be even clearly recognized. Or it may also take the form of intense rage, accompanied by thoughts of violence, fantasied or apparently acted out. It does not matter. All of these reactions are the same. They obscure the truth, and this can never be a matter of degree. Either truth is apparent, or it is not. It cannot be partially recognized. Who is unaware of truth must look upon illusions.”
A Course in Miracles M-17.4:1-11

“A patient under the influence of mortal mind is healed only by removing the influence on him of this mind, by emptying his thought of the false stimulus and reaction of will-power and filling it with the divine energies of Truth.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 184:32-5

Setting Intentions

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater

I like to start my days with the Take Me To Truth girls, Coreen and Nouk. In their unpacking of the daily ACIM workbook lesson, I find inspiration and understanding. This morning (Lesson 176) there was mention of “setting your intention”. Immediately I was taken back a couple of decades, to when we, as computer users, had to do many difficult things. One of these was updating your firmware. I had been on the phone with various helpers, but I wasn’t having the desired result. But this particular woman, in India, was clear and concise and I was getting it! When we were close to being “updated”, she told me there was one more step and that we should “set our intention for a good result”. I was ecstatic! A like-minded person! Today, as I listened to the discussion of the daily lesson, I realized we are all “like-minded people”. There are many reasons we can say this is not true, but ultimately, we are all as God created us — created from Love, as Love. I can set myself up as different, better, wiser, but that’s simply the ego feeling superior. Today I shall “set my intention for a good result”, and not be surprised when that happens!

“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

“Do not allow your intent to waver in the face of distracting thoughts. Realize that, whatever form such thoughts may take, they have no meaning and no power. Replace them with your determination to succeed. Do not forget that your will has power over all fantasies and dreams. Trust it to see you through, and carry you beyond them all.
A Course in Miracles W-rII.in.4:1-5

Changing The Rhythm Of The World

To Laugh Often and Much - a poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson

“To laugh often and much;

to win the respect of the intelligent people

and the affection of children;

to earn the appreciation of honest critics

and endure the betrayal of false friends;

to appreciate beauty

to find the best in others; 

to leave the world a bit better

whether by a healthy child,

a garden patch,

or a redeemed social condition;

to know that one life has breathed easier 

because you lived here.

This is to have succeeded.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Prepare you now for the undoing of what never was. If you already understood the difference between truth and illusion, the Atonement would have no meaning. The holy instant, the holy relationship, the Holy Spirit’s teaching, and all the means by which salvation is accomplished, would have no purpose. For they are all but aspects of the plan to change your dreams of fear to happy dreams, from which you waken easily to knowledge. Put yourself not in charge of this, for you cannot distinguish between advance and retreat. Some of your greatest advances you have judged as failures, and some of your deepest retreats you have evaluated as success.” 

A Course in Miracles T-18.V.1:1-6

“To ascertain our progress, we must learn where our affections are placed and whom we acknowledge and obey as God. If divine Love is becoming nearer, dearer, and more real to us, matter is then submitting to Spirit. The objects we pursue and the spirit we manifest reveal our standpoint,

 and show what we are winning.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page239:16-22

A Problem Set In Conflict Has No Answer

An Actual Photo Taken by Aaron Springston

In a world where we are being fed lies, it’s extremely difficult to figure out what is truth. Media spreads deception and distrust, dividing people in ways which seem irreparable. Bias doesn’t frighten me, but intentional lies do. Many of us remember the early days of television, a time when advertising really revved up and consumerism became flagrant. It has reached an apex now at which almost everything we hear and see is designed to sell us something. We must continue to be vigilant in what we allow into our thought, not only for our own good, but for the collective. Repeating stories which create divisions through feelings of superiority or inferiority, that’s playing the game which has been created for us. It’s important to use our education, our intuition, our spiritual knowledge, every bit of common sense we still have, to discern truth. A Christian Science treatment is often referred to as “knowing the Truth”. It is in reference to knowing the Truth of our being, not the beliefs we’ve come to think of as facts. We don’t need to be the victim of propaganda or other forms of hypnosis. “Clad in the panoply of Love, human hatred cannot reach me”. This statement from Mary Baker Eddy is all we need to keep in mind. When we are filled with Love, there is no room for anything else. 

"The human mind, imbued with this spiritual understanding, becomes more elastic, is capable of greater endurance, escapes somewhat from itself, and requires less repose. ... It raises the thinker into his native air of insight and perspicacity." 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 128

“In quietness are all things answered, and is every problem quietly resolved. In conflict there can be no answer and no resolution, for its purpose is to make no resolution possible, and to ensure no answer will be plain. A problem set in conflict has no answer, for it is seen in different ways. And what would be an answer from one point of view is not an answer in another light. You are in conflict. Thus it must be clear you cannot answer anything at all, for conflict has no limited effects. Yet if God gave an answer there must be a way in which your problems are resolved, for what He wills already has been done.” 

A Course in Miracles T-27.IV.1:1-7