The Body Cannot Contain You

Art by Catrin Welz-Stein

Many meanings, both literal and metaphoric, come to mind when thinking of the word "death".  There is the death we experience when we are born into this existence. Suddenly, our spiritual sense is deadened by the deluge of materialistic stimuli which constantly bombard us. In this forgetting of Truth, life becomes very uncertain. We are victims of inharmonious circumstances, until we recognize ourselves as expressions of divine Mind, then we see glimpses of eternity. We may begin to imagine the unreality of time and space, and perhaps we've always suspected this.  These misunderstandings may fuel dissatisfaction which drives us to "feeling out of sight for the ends of being and ideal grace." (Browning)  We know there's something more, and we keep grasping at what it might be. We search for freedom from the belief that we are victims of circumstance. We have the choice of waking up! We will see through the veil we have hung to hide Truth. With this sight will come the understanding of Life as timeless!

“If the belief in death were obliterated, and the understanding obtained that there is no death, this would be a ‘tree of life,’ known by its fruits. Man should renew his energies and endeavors, and see the folly of hypocrisy, while also learning the necessity of working out his own salvation.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 426:12-16 

“When your body and your ego and your dreams are gone, you will know that you will last forever. Perhaps you think this is accomplished through death, but nothing is accomplished through death, because death is nothing. Everything is accomplished through life, and life is of the mind and in the mind. The body neither lives nor dies, because it cannot contain you who are life.” 

A Course in Miracles T-6.V-A.1:1-4

The Love That Inspires Miracles

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater

Do you believe that darkness is as real as light? Perhaps life’s circumstances have reinforced your ideas of evil and good. While one may seem as real as the other, we all know that opening a closet door lets in the light; the dark doesn’t escape and overtake light.  I'm sure you can think of circumstances which you think of as wonderful and someone else feels the opposite. Maybe you loved a musical performance and your spouse slept through it. And we all know people who find fault with everything, no matter what. Then there are those of us who are accused of having a Pollyanna attitude because we insist on seeing the good in situations. Albert Einstein described this well: "There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." The inspiration of Love sets us in the ideal stead to enjoy every moment in its true spiritual perfection. So I say, Pollyannas unite! Let's go forth and scatter Light!

“Miracles occur naturally as expressions of love. The real miracle is the love that inspires them. ³In this sense everything that comes from love is a miracle.”
A Course in Miracles T-1.I.3:1-3

“The great miracle, to human sense, is divine Love, and the grand necessity of existence is to gain the true idea of what constitutes the kingdom of heaven in man.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 560:11-15

We See What We Want

Photo Courtesy of Blake Lasater

I often wonder if we are hesitant to live from the heart because we worry others might think we're foolish. When we insist on seeing as divine Mind sees, rather than through the interpretation of human belief, we are often looked at askance! I remember once when I was in a monthly meeting of gallery owners in our town and the talk turned to theft in their shops. I turned my attention away from the discussion and was looking into a corner, thinking about something else, when suddenly I noticed everyone had stopped talking. I looked up and saw they were all looking at me! Someone asked me what I thought about this situation and I honestly told them that thievery was not a part of my existence and I didn't want to make it a reality by giving it energy. Someone said, Good for you! And the conversation continued in a different vein. With that in mind, I will not hesitate to wander away from discussions centered on fearful beliefs or angry reactions, while reinterpreting them with the Love which defines our being. 

“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

“You are not the victim of the world you see because you invented it. You can give it up as easily as you made it up. You will see it or not see it, as you wish. While you want it you will see it; when you no longer want it, it will not be there for you to see.” 

A Course in Miracles W-32.1:2-5

Let’s Live and Love Togeter

Robert Klose is a novelist and an essay writer for the Christian Science Monitor. In this weekly news magazine he wrote about his house being robbed by a neighborhood teenager. He asked the authorities if he could offer the thief an alternative to court-ordered punishment, and they agreed to it. And so he asked the boy to pay back the money and to meet with him one day a week for an hour. During that hour, they would work on his homework, and then 30 minutes would be spent talking about anything the young man chose. It was a good experience for them both. Although the boy learned many valuable things from these meetings, he has occasionally lapsed into illegal behavior and spent time in jail. But when he’s back in the neighborhood, he is respectful and visits his mentor. Last time they met, Mr. Klose thanked the young man for thinking enough of his neighborhood to let it continue in peace. They two of them agreed they were both “trying to be good”. We’re all looking for ways to help our communities, and mentoring someone in need seems a noble cause to me!

“We must form perfect models in thought and look at them continually, or we shall never carve them out in grand and noble lives. Let unselfishness, goodness, mercy, justice, health, holiness, love — the kingdom of heaven — reign within us, and sin, disease, and death will diminish until they finally disappear.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 248:26-32

“Brother, we heal together as we live together and love together. Be not deceived in God’s Son, for he is one with himself and one with his Father. Love him who is beloved of his Father, and you will learn of the Father’s Love for you.”
A Course in Miracles T-11.VIII.11:4-6

I’ll Meet You There!

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater

On this New Year’s Eve, I sit and reflect on celebrations of days past. In my early life as an adult, I looked forward to raucous celebrations of drinking and dancing with friends and strangers. We thought that was the secret: communion through partying. Gradually, I grew into motherhood and felt that the contentment of little ones’ warm bodies was what I had been born to experience. Life seemed complete. In recent years, I feel the need to experience the community I love from the privacy of my own home. It seems to be all I need. The circle of loved Ones is ever-present. The close-knit relationships which have been fostered through the years fill me with contentment. The Love I’ve learned to recognize as ever-present brings me joy. I feel this new year is waiting for us to fill it with something we’ve never known before. Our world seems to be breaking down so it can be rebuilt. The Disappearance of the Universe?  Whatever is happening, I’m thrilled to be an integral part of it! “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there.” Rumi

“So will the year begin in joy and freedom. There is much to do, and we have been long delayed. Accept the holy instant as this year is born, and take your place, so long left unfulfilled, in the Great Awakening. Make this year different by making it all the same. And let all your relationships be made holy for you. This is our will. Amen.” 

A Course in Miracles T-15.XI.10:8-14

“Willingness to become as a little child and to leave the old for the new, renders thought receptive of the advanced idea. Gladness to leave the false landmarks and joy to see them disappear, — this disposition helps to precipitate the ultimate harmony. The purification of sense and self is a proof of progress. ‘Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.’”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science and Health Page 323:32-7

Make Room For The New

Photo Courtesy of Blake Lasater

“You have no obligation to be

the same person you were minutes ago.”

–Alan Watts

“You wish to have proof of

A world beyond this one?

See how the old leaves fall and

Makes room for the new.

A new day, a new night, a new garden,

Even a new trap to fall into. 

A new thought in each breath.

Newness is a wonder.

It surely is a treasure.

Did you ever wonder

Where the new comes from? 

Where the old disappear to?

The world is a flowing stream,

It looks enclosed and unchanging,

But the old flows away and

The new arrives.”

—Rumi 

“To be free of all authority, 

of your own and that of another, 

is to die to everything of yesterday, 

so that your mind is always fresh, 

always young, innocent, full of vigour

and passion. 

It is only in that state that 

one learns and observes.”

–Jiddu Krishnamurti 

“This course is a beginning, not an end. Your Friend goes with you. You are not alone. No one who calls on Him can call in vain. Whatever troubles you, be certain that He has the answer, and will gladly give it to you, if you simply turn to Him and ask it of Him. He will not withhold all answers that you need for anything that seems to trouble you. He knows the way to solve all problems, and resolve all doubts. His certainty is yours. 

You need but ask it of Him, and it will be given you.”

A Course in Miracles W-ep.1:1-9

“Truth has no beginning. The divine Mind is the Soul of man, and gives man dominion over all things. Man was not created from a material basis, nor bidden to obey material laws which Spirit never made; 

his province is in spiritual statutes, in the higher law of Mind.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 307:25-30

An Ancient Journey

Don't we all love new beginnings? Every symbolic new beginning which we experience gives us hope that there truly will be one — this time. We yearn for peace and plenty, purity of heart and environment, and joy Sometimes we catch glimpses of what it could be like. I felt a big shift on New Year's Eve in the year 2000. There was a palpable expectation of change, and now, two-and-a-half decades later, I feel it is upon us. A true new beginning is at hand -- your hand and mine, today, right now. Let’s not be distracted by ego-based taunting, urging us join in the game which is being enacted all around us. By giving energy to the lower propensities, we remain stuck in this muddle of material belief. Raising thought above what cries out so loudly for attention, we allow ourselves a new beginning in every situation. Ah, ever-flowing forever — now!

“The infinite has no beginning. This word beginning is employed to signify the only, — that is, the eternal verity and unity of God and man, including the universe.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 502:24-27

"Be not afraid. We only start again an ancient journey long ago begun that but seems new. We have begun again upon a road we travelled on before and lost our way a little while. And now we try again. Our new beginning has the certainty the journey lacked till now. Look up and see His Word among the stars, where He has set your Name along with His. Look up and find your certain destiny the world would hide but God would have you see."
A Course in Miracles C-ep.3.