Living Twice as Loud

 

Art by Amanda Cass

Many of us have experienced the death of a loved one. My dear friend, Cass, recently passed on, and I’ve been missing her. I find comfort in these writings.

YOU’RE THE GHOST- written by Donna Ashworth

There’s a part of the grieving process,

where your soul kind of leaves your body too. 

As though it’s off searching for the one you lost, 

somewhere in the ether. 

You walk around, 

doing all the right things, 

putting one foot in front of the other, 

living,

but it’s really as though you’re the ghost. 

Perhaps you are. 

Perhaps your soul searches,

until you find the one you miss,

and they tell you to go back and live.

So, when that numbness passes brave one, 

maybe it’s time to do what you are told,

go back and live, 

twice as hard. 

You don’t belong there in the ether, 

nor do you need to search for the one you lost, 

they find you.

And when they do, you’ll feel it. 

By Donna Ashworth

From ‘I Wish I knew’

“We honor you today. Yours is the right to perfect holiness you now accept. With this acceptance is salvation brought to everyone, for who could cherish sin when holiness like this has blessed the world? Who could despair when perfect joy is yours, available to all as remedy for grief and misery, all sense of loss, and for complete escape from sin and guilt?” 

A Course in Miracles W-162.5:1-4

“If grief causes suffering, convince the sufferer that affliction is often the source of joy, and that he should rejoice always in ever-present Love.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures Page 377:3-5

Missing Mr. Rogers

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater

Perhaps our moral compass in the United States went haywire when Mr. Rogers' soothing show was no longer on television. He taught us all to be nice, but it was more than that, don’t you think? I read an article about him which said his goal was to promote “self-esteem, self-control, imagination, creativity, curiosity, appreciation of diversity, cooperation, patience and persistence.” He taught us how to perform necessary tasks, such as tying our shoelaces; he informed us about things which enrich our lives, like planting a garden. He never told children they were just as good as anyone else, or that they were infallible, but rather he taught us that we each have value, and that value isn’t tied to particular successes or failures. He encouraged children to go to school and listen to their teachers, humanizing educators by telling the young viewers that the teachers were once children, too. Mr. Rogers taught us to be mindfully aware, to enjoy the process, and to love our neighbors. What more do we need? I think we need another Mr. Rogers...

“A miracle is a service. It is the maximal service you can render to another. It is a way of loving your neighbor as yourself. You recognize your own and your neighbor’s worth simultaneously.”
A Course in Miracles T-1.I.18:1-4

"Incorrect reasoning leads to practical error. The wrong thought should be arrested before it has a chance to manifest itself."
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 452:4

Challenge the Lies

I remember a time long, long ago when I was a child, asking my mother why the people killed Jesus. Oddly enough, she told me she didn’t know; that it made no sense to her either. I can only suppose she said this because she didn’t want me to be crucified by my little fundamentalist friends, because she knew I never could keep my mouth shut. She was an ardent student of the Bible and Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures, so I’m sure she knew exactly why religious leaders were afraid to let him live. He was preaching the doctrine of Love, which had nothing to do with taking an eye for an eye or persecuting others because they didn’t acquiesce to prescribed doctrine. We know it was not the heathens who nailed him to a cross and laughed at him for his new way of thinking. It was the religious leaders. These men who wanted to be in charge of everything and not let people know that the power was within them, they are the ones who tried to bury his teachings about God. In 2000 years we’re still afraid to speak truth to error. I applaud every one of you who question the nature of reality and the veracity of the leaders we follow!

“Led on by the grossest element of mortal mind, Herod decreed the death of every male child in order that the man Jesus, the masculine representative of the spiritual idea, might never hold sway and deprive Herod of his crown. The impersonation of the spiritual idea had a brief history in the earthly life of our Master; but ‘of his kingdom there shall be no end,’ for Christ, God’s idea, will eventually rule all nations and peoples — imperatively, absolutely, finally — with divine Science. This immaculate idea, represented first by man and, according to the Revelator, last by woman, will baptize with fire; and the fiery baptism will burn up the chaff of error with the fervent heat of Truth and Love, melting and purifying even the gold of human character. After the stars sang together and all was primeval harmony, the material lie made war upon the spiritual idea; but this only impelled the idea to rise to the zenith of demonstration, destroying sin, sickness, and death, and to be caught up unto God, — to be found in its divine Principle.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 566:9-27

“I have said that the crucifixion is the symbol of the ego. When it was confronted with the real guiltlessness of God’s Son it did attempt to kill him, and the reason it gave was that guiltlessness is blasphemous to God. To the ego, the ego is God, and guiltlessness must be interpreted as the final guilt that fully justifies murder. You do not yet understand that any fear you may experience in connection with this course stems ultimately from this interpretation, but if you will consider your reactions to it you will become increasingly convinced that this is so.”
A Course in Miracles T-13.II.6:1-4

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A Gateway to Peace

Marianne visiting the Amazon 

Morning meditation and photo from Marianne Williamson:

Negativity poisons my mind and positivity restores it

“I have a choice whether to join in the darkness of the world, its petty judgments, and constant blame. When I do so I inject my psyche with poison, and today I choose a healthy mind.

I replace all negativity with a positive attitude, in which I seek to find, and to articulate, the good in others. If I disagree, I will disagree with respect. If I debate a point, I will debate fairly. If I need to draw a boundary for the sake of justice, I will do so with honor for the dignity of all.

I will no longer be careless with the working of my mind. Rather, I will use it as it was created to be used, as a conduit for love and as a gateway to peace. May everyone, including myself, feel the tenderness of my approval and not the harshness of my unkindness.

Negativity poisons my mind and positivity restores it” - Marianne


“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 261:4-9

“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

Waking Up

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater 

Like most of you, I grew up with an understanding of what it meant to awaken. I knew it as awakening from a slumber, a dream, or from a misconception. Then there are the biblical words which speak to awakening when you understand that the Christ Light is alive in everything and everyone. Of the many definitions, none held the negative connotations which have been pushed onto the word in the past decade. My neighbor came to visit this evening and we listened to an astonishing new singer on the folk music scene, Jesse Wells. This young man could be called a political activist because he’s not afraid of telling it like it is. Some of the titles of his songs are: That Can’t Be Right; Tylenol; The Poor; Meet The New Swamp; Venezuela; No Kings. He is such a quietly powerful songwriter, singer, presenter of truth — well, we commented numerous times on the chills we got during particularly powerful statements. I first heard him a few weeks ago at the Farm Aid benefit, and most recently in concert with Joan Baez. It seems to me he is the definitive “sign of the times” today. May he inspire us all to be truth sayers. It’s time to wake up.

“The Holy Spirit never itemizes errors because He does not frighten children, and those who lack wisdom are children. Yet He always answers their call, and His dependability makes them more certain. Children do confuse fantasy and reality, and they are frightened because they do not recognize the difference. The Holy Spirit makes no distinction among dreams. He merely shines them away. His light is always the Call to awaken, whatever you have been dreaming. Nothing lasting lies in dreams, and the Holy Spirit, shining with the light from God Himself, speaks only for what lasts forever.”
A Course in Miracles T-6.V.4:1-7

“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 556:25-30

It’s Your Party, Too!

 

Art by Inge Löök Oy Ab 

 DON’T MISS YOUR OWN PARTY - BY DONNA ASHWORTH

You know that feeling, when you have daily cleaned, cooked and prepared for a big family get-together or party?

You bustle around doing everything and making sure everyone has a wonderful time and when you finally do get the chance to sit down and relax with your guests, it’s home time...

Don’t let that be the metaphor for your life.

Don’t let the moment you finally relax be a moment too far...

I guess what I am trying to say my friend is, don’t miss your own party because you wanted everyone to else to have the best time.

  

Now is the time to sit down, take a beat and chat with a friend or loved one.

Now is the time to eat, break bread and be merry.

Now is the time to be fully here.

Fully present.

Enjoying.

Experiencing.

Living.

Not after, not when ‘everything is perfect’.

The dishes can wait, this is your party, your life.

You’re invited too.”

Donna Ashworth

From my poetry book ‘LIFE’

“Glory be to God, and peace to the struggling hearts! Christ hath rolled away the stone from the door of human hope and faith, and through the revelation and demonstration of life in God, hath elevated them to possible at-one-ment with the spiritual idea of man and his divine Principle, Love.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 45:16-21

“You will not find peace until you have removed the nails from the hands of God’s Son, and taken the last thorn from his forehead. The Love of God surrounds His Son whom the god of crucifixion condemns. Teach not that I died in vain. Teach rather that I did not die by demonstrating that I live in you. For the undoing of the crucifixion of God’s Son is the work of the redemption, in which everyone has a part of equal value. God does not judge His guiltless Son. Having given Himself to him, how could it be otherwise?” 

A Course in Miracles T-11.VI.7:1-7

Become a Guardian of the Earth

A water crystal, treated kindly

Dr. Masaru Emoto was a Japanese scientist who devoted his life to experiments which show that our thoughts and intentions impact the physical realm. He studied the scientific evidence of how the molecular structure in water transforms when it is exposed to human words, thoughts, sounds, and intentions. He also experimented with grains of rice in water. One was spoken to kindly and politely; one was shouted at and abused; one was ignored. The one showered with kindness developed roots and thrived; the one treated rudely did okay; but the one ignored, turned into lifeless sludge. We must become a guardian of our environment. Mostly, we don’t give attention to where our water and food come from. We take it for granted; we ignore it. We can all become guardians, even if it is of a small space. Plant herbs in a flower pot on a windowsill and give them attention. Pick a spot in a local park and send it love. Sit with a few blades of grass and do a meditation. Attentive love is a force of nature. That’s a proven fact!

“There is a light in you the world can not perceive. And with its eyes you will not see this light, for you are blinded by the world. Yet you have eyes to see it. It is there for you to look upon. It was not placed in you to be kept hidden from your sight. This light is a reflection of the thought we practice now. To feel the Love of God within you is to see the world anew, shining in innocence, alive with hope, and blessed with perfect charity and love.” 

A Course in Miracles W-189.1:1-

“As when an acid and alkali meet and bring out a third quality, so mental and moral chemistry changes the material base of thought, giving more spirituality to consciousness and causing it to depend less on material evidence. These changes which go on in mortal mind serve to reconstruct the body. Thus Christian Science, by the alchemy of Spirit, destroys sin and death.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 422:14-21