The Wonder of Every Little Thing

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater

You know that feeling when your electricity or water has been out for a few hours — or longer! — and it comes back on? You’re ecstatic, elated, grateful! That is how I felt today as the physical therapists gave me a date and time of release from this lovely facility of rehabilitation. I’ve been happily making plans all day and imagining the feeling of my cats’ fur and the sound of their purrs. The bliss of watching fireflies rise out of my mess of a cottage garden is a heavenly thought. The memory of watching a sunset from my back deck brings a kind of peace to my mind like nothing else. I’m looking forward to every little thing, and I am feeling great happiness — elation, even!

“As you can hear two voices, so you can see in two ways. One way shows you an image, or an idol that you may worship out of fear, but will never love. The other shows you only truth, which you will love because you will understand it. Understanding is appreciation, because what you understand you can identify with, and by making it part of you, you have accepted it with love. That is how God Himself created you; in understanding, in appreciation and in love.”
A Course in Miracles T-7.V.9:1-6

“Nature voices natural, spiritual law and divine Love, but human belief misinterprets nature. 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 240:1-9

Undoing Error — or When Pigs Fly!

"When Pigs Fly" by Michael Sowa

Review #6 in A Course in Miracles Workbook is very exciting to many of us! “I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.” My little mortal mind, or ego, wants me to believe this is foolishness. How can I be lying here in this hospital bed if I am not a body? Because we were not created as bodies, but as Spirit. That is what Jesus was here to teach us: We are spiritual, not material. We are all capable of much more than we have been led to believe. I never understood why people didn’t shout hallelujah and do what that delightful man instructed: The things I do, you can do also — and more! But for some reason, that did not happen. Nor did it happen when various seers tried to take us to Truth. But it is happening as more and more of us realize the kingdom of heaven resides within our own selves. It’s not some place in the sky, but right here and now. The more of us realize this, the more of us will realize this! We are free!

"Question: What is the scientific statement of being?
Answer: There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all. Spirit is immortal Truth; matter is mortal error. Spirit is the real and eternal; matter is the unreal and temporal. Spirit is God, and man is His image and likeness. Therefore man is not material; he is spiritual."
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 468:8-16

“A miracle is a correction. It does not create, nor really change at all. It merely looks on devastation, and reminds the mind that what it sees is false. It undoes error, but does not attempt to go beyond perception, nor exceed the function of forgiveness. Thus it stays within time’s limits. Yet it paves the way for the return of timelessness and love’s awakening, for fear must slip away under the gentle remedy it brings.”
A Course in Miracles W-pII.13.1:1-6

Let Us Not Fight Our Function

A friend recently shared with me a book: Women Who Love Books Too Much by Brenda Knight. A quote from the end of the introduction: “A great book or poem is, at its zenith , an expression of the divine. For you, for me, for the women portrayed here, to read, and to write is to live!“ This book is a tribute to women throughout recorded time who have dared to write, to be creative, to be political. May we never be silent, nor afraid we’re not good enough, or frightened of our own power.
Namaste …

“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

“Let us not fight our function. We did not establish it. It is not our idea. The means are given us by which it will be perfectly accomplished. All that we are asked to do is to accept our part in genuine humility, and not deny with self-deceiving arrogance that we are worthy. What is given us to do, we have the strength to do. Our minds are suited perfectly to take the part assigned to us by One Who knows us well.”
A Course in Miracles W-186.2:1-7

Watch Out For Those Lower Propensities!

Graphic of Unknown Origin

Being too tired to write this evening, I give you one from the past which jumped out at me!

I’ve noticed myself (and others) mindlessly repeating things we have heard, whether it be truth or rumor, good news or a horrid happening, or simply inanities. In the volatile atmosphere of our emotionally-charged country, it is particularly important to scatter joy and express kindness. Kindness goes hand-in-hand with compassion, but that doesn’t mean we must exacerbate others' pain by adding our own to it. I’ve heard it said that worry is much like praying for something bad to happen. With this in mind, I will try to only see, hear, and repeat good. This does not mean I will ignore injustice in all its many faces, nor does it mean that I'll turn my back on someone in need. It does mean when I hear of yet another travesty against mankind and the environment, I will see it through different eyes, translating it into what can occur to move us into our true selves as images of the divine. Planning to refrain from rehashing horror stories, or engaging in inane conversations, or telling my own stories which top the bad things others have experienced, these are things I can and will do at every opportunity. Every thought matters, and ours may be the one which turns it all around!

“Dismiss all foolish magical beliefs today, and hold your mind in silent readiness to hear the Voice that speaks the truth to you. You will be listening to One Who says there is no loss under the laws of God. Payment is neither given nor received. Exchange cannot be made; there are no substitutes; and nothing is replaced by something else. God’s laws forever give and never take.”
A Course in Miracles W-76.9:2-6

“The power of the human will should be exercised only in subordination to Truth; else it will misguide the judgment and free the lower propensities. It is the province of spiritual sense to govern man.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures, Page 206:2-7

Compass of the Heart

Photo courtesy of Aaron Springston

As I read stories of Lakota wisdom, I am reminded of a book I read years ago, called “The Art of Hearing Heartbeats”, by Jon-Phillip Sendker. The main character loses his eyesight when he’s a young boy. One of his mentors tells him that the true essence of things is invisible to the eyes. He says the eyes distract us, as they love to be dazzled, and that we rely too heavily on them and neglect our other senses. The other senses to which he refers are more than hearing or taste or smell. “I’m talking about the organ within us, for which we have no name. Let us call it the compass of the heart.” I love that don’t you?

“As mortals gain more correct views of God and man, multitudinous objects of creation, which before were invisible, will become visible. When we realize that Life is Spirit, never in nor of matter, this understanding will expand into self-completeness, finding all in God, good, and needing no other consciousness.”Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 264:13-19

“You who perceive yourself as weak and frail, with futile hopes and devastated dreams, born but to die, to weep and suffer pain, hear this: All power is given unto you in earth and Heaven. There is nothing that you cannot do. You play the game of death, of being helpless, pitifully tied to dissolution in a world which shows no mercy to you. Yet when you accord it mercy, will its mercy shine on you.”
A Course in Miracles W-191.9:1-4

Namaste

Alaska - photo credit: Aaron Springston

Heart connections run deep. Sometimes we notice they’ve developed over decades; often they happen in an instant. Here in the rehab hospital, where I am strengthening myself to go home and begin life with below-the-knee amputations, I love each and every person I’ve met. But occasionally there is something deeper which occurs when our eyes meet. We seem to know each other and are getting reacquainted. A few moments ago when the night nurse came on for her shift, we gleefully clasped hands upon seeing each other again. There are a few others, including physical therapists and the rest of the staff. There’s one nurse who is obviously an evangelical Christian. When I was having a problem yesterday, I announced to the team that I wasn’t afraid to die and it was okay. This particular woman grabbed my hand and said something like, “when you know Jesus Christ, you’re not afraid of the hereafter.” I smiled at her, put one hand on my heart and held the other up in true Paula White fashion. We are now sisters. What a whirlwind this life is!

“In the temple, Holiness waits quietly for the return of them that love it. The Presence knows they will return to purity and to grace. The graciousness of God will take them gently in, and cover all their sense of pain and loss with the immortal assurance of their Father’s Love. There, fear of death will be replaced with joy of life. For God is life, and they abide in life. Life is as holy as the Holiness by which it was created. The Presence of Holiness lives in everything that lives, for Holiness created life, and leaves not what It created holy as Itself.” 

A Course in Miracles T-14.IX.4:1-7

“And we solemnly promise to watch, and pray for that Mind to be in us which was also in Christ Jesus; to do unto others as we would have them do unto us; and to be merciful, just, and pure.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 497:24-27

Artificial Intelligence?

Artificial intelligence is fascinating, for many reasons. Reality is something which metaphysical students examine frequently. What seems real to our human senses, quantum physics explains is mostly thin air. I’ve heard it said that reality is that which does not change. Looked at from that angle, reality must be spiritual, because matter always changes. The phenomenon we have called A.I. has changed our perceptions of reality quite quickly in the past few years. Social media has manipulated our opinions in a way which would be amusing, if it were not so frightening. At first we saw our friends and loved ones believing outlandish claims. From baby owls riding on their mother’s backs, to believing beloved political and movie stars are working for the downfall of society, many of us have “drunk the KoolAid”. Social media bots are affirming our fears and stoking our anger. Now it’s creating interesting stories about people we follow, and making us believe our heroes are doing things like saving babies from floods. All of this may seem unimportant, but it’s shaping our thoughts and beliefs. So we get back to the metaphysical principles of recognizing reality versus illusions. It is more important than ever!

“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. If you offer miracles, you will be equally strong in your belief in them. The strength of your conviction will then sustain the belief of the miracle receiver. Fantasies become totally unnecessary as the wholly satisfying nature of reality becomes apparent to both giver and receiver. Reality is ‘lost’ through usurpation, which produces tyranny. As long as a single ‘slave’ remains to walk the earth, your release is not complete. Complete restoration of the Sonship is the only goal of the miracle-minded.”

A Course in Miracles T-1.VII.3:1-14

“As vapor melts before the sun, so evil would vanish before the reality of good. One must hide the other. How important, then, to choose good as the reality! Man is tributary to God, Spirit, and to nothing else. God’s being is infinity, freedom, harmony, and boundless bliss. ’Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.’”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 480:31-5