What is The Affection and Purpose of the Heart

Have you ever needed to fire an employee, or end a relationship with a significant other, or stop spending so much time with a friend for your own mental health? If so, I hope you had the courage and kindness to be honest about it. In looking back at such situations when they have occurred within my orbit, people often turn the tables on the one they want out of the way. On the other hand, I can think of a few situations where someone has simply told the truth, even in part, in order to end an unwanted relationship. I've recently watched a situation where there were valid reasons to end the employment of a part-time musician, yet no one would do it. Rather, they made things so uncomfortable for the person that he resigned. It was torturous for many of us, with rumors and half-truths floating about. I've watched men and women want out of their marriage, but rather than hurting their spouse's feelings, they make them so miserable that they leave, rather than the one who originally wanted out fessing up to it. I've written many dailies centered around truth-telling. It seems like an easy thing to do. Apparently it is not!

"We should examine ourselves and learn what is the affection and purpose of the heart, for in this way only can we learn what we honestly are." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 8:28-30

“Forgiveness, truth’s reflection, tells me how to offer miracles, and thus escape the prison house in which I think I live. Your holy Son is pointed out to me, first in my brother; then in me. Your Voice instructs me patiently to hear Your Word, and give as I receive. And as I look upon Your Son today, I hear Your Voice instructing me to find the way to You, as You appointed that the way shall be: Behold his sinlessness, and be you healed.” 

A Course in Miracles W-357.1:1-5

Footsteps of Truth

Photo credit Richard Quick

Almost two decades ago, Jim Young and I brought together a group of people which became known as Metafizzies. During the years we were affiliated with this metaphysical group, I got quite an education! I sat in a metal pyramid, holding a crystal skull, chanting Sanskrit. We had people who gave psychic readings, taught us about Akashic Records, performed Sufi dances — to name a few. Every other week, we welcomed people to present their views. No matter how farfetched they may have seemed on the surface, they were all based in love. I tell you this to give you an idea of my background in spiritual matters. My parents were Christian Scientists. When I left home at 16, I thought there must be something better, but after years of wandering through the in-vogue thought systems of the 1970s, I had found nothing more comprehensive than the book Science and Health, With Key to the Scriptures. Sometime in the 90s, I was at a yard sale and picked up Wayne Dyer’s book When You Believe It, You’ll See It. Immediately I wanted to know who he was because his ideas were exactly what I had learned from Mary Baker Eddy’s writings. And so I discovered A Course in Miracles, including it in the study which had always felt so natural to me. Truth is truth no matter where it is found, and there are many beautiful pathways in this world. Namaste, dear Friends …

“All roads will lead to this one in the end. For sacrifice and deprivation are paths that lead nowhere, choices for defeat, and aims that will remain impossible. All this steps back as truth comes forth in you, to lead your brothers from the ways of death, and set them on the way to happiness. Their suffering is but illusion. Yet they need a guide to lead them out of it, for they mistake illusion for the truth.” 

A Course in Miracles W-155.7:1-5

“Whatever furnishes the semblance of an idea governed by its Principle, furnishes food for thought. Through astronomy, natural history, chemistry, music, mathematics, thought passes naturally from effect back to cause. Academics of the right sort are requisite. Observation, invention, study, and original thought are expansive and should promote the growth of mortal mind out of itself, out of all that is mortal.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 195:15-22

Rocking Chair Moments

 

The Crescent Hotel Balcony

Photo credit: Steve Shogren

One of my favorite authors, Robert Klose, wrote an essay about traveling by plane and dreading a two-hour layover somewhere in North Carolina. When he got to the waiting area, he was surprised to see a row of rocking chairs along the wall. As he happily rocked and people-watched, he noticed that everyone was rushing and distracted. There was a grand piano on the other side of the waiting area and to his delight someone sat down and began to play. His enjoyment was great, as was everyone else’s. He noticed people slowed their pace and even stopped to listen, some swaying along and others even singing to the popular old tunes. As I read this, it occurred to me that we can mentally have our own rocking chairs and pianos within us and enjoy the peace and joy wherever we are! So the next time I’m waiting somewhere I’d rather not be, I shall do my best to have a “rocking-chair/piano moment”. 

“Exclude the outer world, and let your thoughts fly to the peace within. They know the way. For honest thoughts, untainted by the dream of worldly things outside yourself, become the holy messengers of God Himself.” 

A Course in Miracles W-188.6:4-6

“The calm and exalted thought or spiritual apprehension is at peace. Thus the dawn of ideas goes on, forming each successive stage of progress.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 506:11-14

Who We Are

Art by: Catrin Walz-Stein

Catching Up To Who We Are - by Clarissa Pinkola Estes

“We do not become healers.

We came as healers. 

We are.

Some of us are still catching up to what we are.

We do not become storytellers.

We came as carriers of the stories that we and our ancestors actually lived. 

We are.

Some of us are still catching up to what we are.

We do not become artists. We came as artists. 

We are.

Some of us are still catching up to what we are.

We do not become writers.. dancers.. musicians.. helpers.. peacemakers. 

We came as such. 

We are.

Some of us are still catching up to what we are.

We do not learn to love in this sense. We came as Love.

We are Love.

Some of us are still catching up 

to who we truly are.”

~ Clarissa Pinkola Estes

“My angels are exalted thoughts, appearing at the door of some sepulchre, in which human belief has buried its fondest earthly hopes. With white fingers they point upward to a new and glorified trust, to higher ideals of life and its joys. Angels are God’s representatives. These upward-soaring beings never lead towards self, sin, or materiality, but guide to the divine Principle of all good, whither every real individuality, image, or likeness of God, gathers. By giving earnest heed to these spiritual guides they tarry with us, and we entertain 

‘angels unawares.’”

 Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 299:7-17

“Today in gratitude we lift our hearts above despair, and raise our thankful eyes, no longer looking downward to the dust. We sing the song of thankfulness today, in honor of the Self that God has willed to be our true Identity in Him. Today we smile on everyone we see, and walk with lightened footsteps as we go to do what is appointed us to do.” 

A Course in Miracles W-123.4:1-3

Tesla and Eddy

Salt Flats - photo by Aaron Springston

The late 1800s and early 1900s were a hotbed of innovation and enlightened thought. In thinking about Nikola Tesla and Mary Baker Eddy, I am led to wonder about our choices during that time, and how different our lives would be today had we chosen the path which benefited humanity rather than individual monetary gain. Tesla was finding ways to supply the world with electricity and all the benefits which would ensue from it. If we had chosen his way of powering vehicles rather than Ford’s oil-based motor, we would not have the environmental problems we are facing today. Mary Baker Eddy had discovered the key to rising above debilitating physical ailments. Her science of The Christ was not religion, but a way of thinking which had been hinted at through the centuries, but always quashed by old men who wanted to lord over the masses, ruling them through servitude in its various forms. Then medical science began to progress and everyone thought it would be far simpler to let doctors cure them than to take personal responsibility for themselves, in the way a man called Jesus tried to show them. And to think each and every one of these choices have been made because someone wanted to make money.

"Ontology receives less attention than physiology. Why? Because mortal mind must waken to spiritual life before it cares to solve the problem of being, hence the author's experience; but when that awakening comes, existence will be on a new standpoint."
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 556

“The aim of prayer is to release the present from its chains of past illusions; to let it be a freely chosen remedy from every choice that stood for a mistake. What prayer can offer now so far exceeds all that you asked before that it is pitiful to be content with less.”
A Course in Miracles S-1.IV.3:5-6

Seeing Thoughts

Photo from Jane Goodall Institute

I’ve been looking at people, both in the news and in day-to-day life, and they all look exactly like their thoughts. The self-serving politicians look dull and bloated. The fake religious leaders seem plastic and polished. The sad people who feel victimized have a terrible vulnerability showing, frayed around the edges and a bit shaky in demeanor. I could go on and on. But the main point is that you can’t hide your thoughts. What we see is what is there. Now, I don’t mean tall, short, big, small, or any designation concerning what we think of as beauty. I mean what is either glowing or festering within the individuals. While I’m certain there are some exceptions to this rule, I haven’t noticed any since I began to pay attention. While it’s a bit frightening, it is also a wonderful tool when choosing who to represent you in public office!

“Seeing is no less a quality of physical sense than feeling. Then why is it more difficult to see a thought than to feel one? Education alone determines the difference. In reality there is none.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 86

“Today our purpose is to free the world from all the idle thoughts we ever held about it, and about all living things we see upon it. They cannot be there. No more can we. For we are in the home our Father set for us, along with them. And we who are as He created us would loose the world this day from every one of our illusions, that we may be free.”
A Course in Miracles W-132.14:1-5

Living Life Here and Now

Checking Out the Hen House

A man named Adam Becker has written a book, More Everything Forever. He examines what tech billionaires are telling us about the future of the world, and us. He questions why we listen to them, and why they are saying the things they are — without a shred of proof as to why they think we can’t solve our problems. One overly rich venture capitalist says that we aren’t going to meet our climate goals, hence we should put more energy into artificial intelligence in order to make it super intelligent, then let it solve our problems. Good grief. And for whatever reason, people follow along and think this is a good idea! He posits that we acquiesce because we desire to transcend all limits. Since we can’t imagine how to do that on our own, we place our hopes in the unknown, hoping for salvation. He feels that we have done this because we don’t have good conversations between ourselves about what the future could look like, so we opt for a science fiction view, forgetting science fiction is fiction. His solution? Enjoy the earth which is right in front of us: get into nature, turn off your phone, talk to your neighbors. Live the life we have. To those of us practicing the presence, this sounds supremely natural!

“Do not underestimate the appeal of the ego’s demonstrations to those who would listen. Selective perception chooses its witnesses carefully, and its witnesses are consistent. The case for insanity is strong to the insane. For reasoning ends at its beginning, and no thought system transcends its source. Yet reasoning without meaning cannot demonstrate anything, and those who are convinced by it must be deluded.”
A Course in Miracles T-11.V.16:1-5

“Immortal men and women are models of spiritual sense, drawn by perfect Mind and reflecting those higher conceptions of loveliness which transcend all material sense.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 247:15-18