The World Inside

Gazebo at Long Creek Herbs

Blue Eye, Missouri

Have you noticed that art — as in books, movies, plays and other narratives — always predicts new/old ways of thinking? Whether it be science fiction or historical stories, we seem to be living in a loop of events. I recently watched the movie, The Life of Chuck. It is delightful! Before you watch it and disagree, let me say that the first part of it is not quite so charming, but Part 2 gets into Chuck’s life and it was fabulous! Here is an intriguing quote:

“The human brain is so finite - no more than a sponge of tissue inside a cage of bone - but the mind within the brain is infinite. Its storage capacity is colossal, its imaginative reach beyond our ability to comprehend. I think when a man or woman dies, a whole world falls to ruin - the world that person knew and believed in. Think of that, kiddo - billions of people on earth, and each one of those billions with a world inside. The earth their minds have conceived”
― Stephen King, The Life of Chuck

“You also believe the body’s brain can think. If you but understood the nature of thought, you could but laugh at this insane idea. It is as if you thought you held the match that lights the sun and gives it all its warmth; or that you held the world within your hand, securely bound until you let it go. Yet this is no more foolish than to believe the body’s eyes can see; the brain can think.”
— A Course in Miracles W-92.2:1-4

“The theoretical mind is matter, named brain, or material consciousness, the exact opposite of real Mind, or Spirit. Brainology teaches that mortals are created to suffer and die. It further teaches that when man is dead, his immortal soul is resurrected from death and mortality. Thus error theorizes that spirit is born of matter and returns to matter, and that man has a resurrection from dust; whereas Science unfolds the eternal verity, that man is the spiritual, eternal reflection of God.”
— Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 295:25-3

A Peaceful Purpose

 

Walk For Peace - Buddhist Monks and dog, Aloka,

On Their 2300-mile trek in the United States

We all have a purpose to fulfill on this plane of existence. Years ago, I realized I am here as a portal for people to experience the light, the divine Love, which is central to our being. Whether your place is to open the door to spiritual truth, or to inform people as to the happenings in our material sphere, we all are a part of the whole picture. There are charlatans operating in every avenue of this material existence. And so if your spiritual guru — whether they are called preacher or adviser — leads you down dead-end roads and answers questions with a non-answer, such as, “you just have to believe”, know that you have choices. If you find out your favorite tea is proved to have pesticides and plastic particle residue, which you imbibe three times a day under the guise of a healthy drink — know that you have choices. While many of us turn away from tough situations in this corporeal world, we are doing ourselves an injustice by not speaking truth to error. You may worry about “level confusion” and so you refrain from weeding out inaccuracies which your friends are swallowing as truth. Perhaps it’s just the opposite and it’s your worldly purpose to stand up and just say no!

“By denying your mind any destructive potential and reinstating its purely constructive powers, you place yourself in a position to undo the level confusion of others. The message you then give to them is the truth that their minds are similarly constructive, and their miscreations cannot hurt them. By affirming this you release the mind from overevaluating its own learning device, and restore the mind to its true position as the learner.”
A Course in Miracles T-2.V.5:4-6

“Spirit, God, gathers unformed thoughts into their proper channels, and unfolds these thoughts, even as He opens the petals of a holy purpose in order that the purpose may appear.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 506:18-21

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