Full Disclosure

Would you be frightened to see a living creature which is not like us, one which has come to our planet from somewhere in the universe? No one I know well would be freaked out by such a happening, and most would welcome an extraterrestrial visitation. The general opinion of our so-called leaders is that humanity could not handle the knowledge, and the world would fall apart because everything we have ever held true would not be. The same supposition seems to be held by our religious leaders: if people knew the truth of what Jesus taught, the world would be in turmoil, because people’s belief basis would have to shift. It is my personal opinion that neither of these things are true. I feel that people would welcome the understanding that there is a reason things are not working out well. Wouldn’t it be a relief to see the light which is being hidden by beliefs? Perhaps our world is in turmoil because nothing is built on a solid foundation; we have based our civilization on a shaky basis. Every time our churches and political establishments tell us we have to believe them “just because”, our minds either open a bit more in search of truth, or they close more with a layer of false protection. I think that not knowing, not understanding, is far more frightening than the alternative. Let’s listen, love, and learn!

“Eternal Truth is changing the universe. As mortals drop off their mental swaddling-clothes, thought expands into expression. ‘Let there be light,’ is the perpetual demand of Truth and Love, changing chaos into order and discord into the music of the spheres. The mythical human theories of creation, anciently classified as the higher criticism, sprang from cultured scholars in Rome and in Greece, but they afforded no foundation for accurate views of creation by the divine Mind.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 255:1-10

“It can indeed be said the ego made its world on sin. Only in such a world could everything be upside down. This is the strange illusion that makes the clouds of guilt seem heavy and impenetrable. The solidness that this world’s foundation seems to have is found in this. For sin has changed creation from an idea of God to an ideal the ego wants; a world it rules, made up of bodies, mindless and capable of complete corruption and decay. If this is a mistake, it can be undone easily by truth. Any mistake can be corrected, if truth be left to judge it. But if the mistake is given the status of truth, to what can it be brought?”
—A Course in Miracles T-19.II.6:1-8

Peace To Struggling Hearts

Photo courtesy of Chris Flanagin

Recognizing anger in my heart, irritation in my mind, often brings shame. In striving to work through these feelings, I have been listening to many of my favorite seers. Thich Nhat Hanh tells me to embrace that anger. He relates a story of a woman in the kitchen, busily cooking dinner, when she hears her baby crying. She rushes to the infant, embraces it, and discovers why it is crying, transforming its anguish by finding out what is wrong, changing its diapers, calming its fears, meeting its needs. So, he tells us, by embracing our anger, we are able to look deeply at it, get insights into its cause, by which we are able to liberate our feelings and transform them into freedom. Once I am free, I no longer see myself as a victim and I am in a position to be a catalyst for positive change. I feel immense gratitude towards this gentle man, as he leads me on the path of peace. Namaste...

"The material world is even now becoming the arena for conflicting forces. On one side there will be discord and dismay; on the other side there will be Science and peace. The breaking up of material beliefs may seem to be famine and pestilence, want and woe, sin, sickness, and death, which assume new phases until their nothingness appears. These disturbances will continue until the end of error, when all discord will be swallowed up in spiritual Truth."
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 96:12

“The holiest of all the spots on earth is where an ancient hatred has become a present love. And They come quickly to the living temple, where a home for Them has been set up. There is no place in Heaven holier. And They have come to dwell within the temple offered Them, to be Their resting place as well as yours. What hatred has released to love becomes the brightest light in Heaven’s radiance. And all the lights in Heaven brighter grow, in gratitude for what has been restored.”

—A Course in Miracles T-26.IX.6:1-6

A Future Very Different From The Past

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater

“A new species is arising on the planet. It is arising now, and you are it!”
—Eckhart Tolle

“In the Apocalypse it is written: 'And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.' In St. John's vision, heaven and earth stand for spiritual ideas, and the sea, as a symbol of tempest-tossed human concepts advancing and receding, is represented as having passed away. The divine understanding reigns, is all, and there is no other consciousness."
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 536:1-9

“From new perception of the world there comes a future very different from the past. The future now is recognized as but extension of the present. Past mistakes can cast no shadows on it, so that fear has lost its idols and its images, and being formless, it has no effects. Death will not claim the future now, for life is now its goal, and all the needed means are happily provided. Who can grieve or suffer when the present has been freed, extending its security and peace into a quiet future filled with joy?”
—A Course in Miracles - W-314.1:1

No Order of Difficulty in Miracles

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater

When I first encountered A Course in Miracles, I was bothered by the use of the word "miracle". In Christian Science, I had learned that what we tend to think of as a miracle is actually the demonstration of divine law. In most cases, when someone says, "It's a miracle", there's the implication that material laws have been set aside for something unbelievable to happen. I have come to see that A Course in Miracles is using the word miracle in much the same way as Mary Baker Eddy refers to it. It is the demonstration of divine Principle, which is realized by replacing material illusions with spiritual sense. This experience is referred to in Science and Health as "not supernatural, but supremely natural". I love that we are seeing ourselves as complete beings, utilizing our so-called sixth sense in everyday life, and not being surprised when "miraculous" things happen! ACIM also tells us that there are no degrees in miracles, so we needn’t think of little miracles and unbelievable miracles. When we wash away the dust of material belief, the light of Love can shine through, giving us strength where we before thought we were weak. We need not worry about which road to take when we trust our inner knowing, our intuition, our true Self.

"The miracle introduces no disorder, but unfolds the primal order, establishing the Science of God's unchangeable law."
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 135:6-8

“There is no order of difficulty in miracles. One is not ‘harder’ or ‘bigger’ than another. They are all the same. All expressions of love are maximal.”
—A Course in Miracles T-1.I.1:1-4

Learning Means Change

From the Christian Science Foundation in Cambridge UK

Photo courtesy of Arno Bons

In the United States, in the late part of the 1800s, the robber barons were busy trying to take everyone’s money, while yellow journalism was helping to spread lies and propaganda, thereby convincing people of things which were not true. At the same time, people were excited about a new way of thinking about health, and many were happy to be able to participate in their wellness, rather than being victims to the multitude of maladies which ran rampant through the populous . There were many modalities which people were following, hoping that new thought systems would heal them. As we moved into the 1900s, great advances were made in the medical field of study, and people were relieved of much unnecessary suffering. As time advanced into the 1900s, people became convinced that a pill or treatment would cure them. And they were happy to have an easy “fix” for their ills. As we came into the 2000s, we saw reasons to, once again, take responsibility for our health and wholeness. Our medical system, while advanced in many ways, is not the be-all/end-all we had supposed. At this point, many of us are not able to find out if we can be helped by the medical system, because we cannot wade through the complex system — whether because of monetary reasons or the inability to get an appointment with a specialist. This is a complex problem, and it’s not my purpose to help you navigate the labyrinth. This series of daily writings, examining the healing of our mind through opening ourselves to Mind, may show you some alternatives to your by-rote way of thinking. One thing we do know for sure, change is needed …

“Many stand guard over their ideas because they want to protect their thought systems as they are, and learning means change. Change is always fearful to the separated, because they cannot conceive of it as a move towards healing the separation. They always perceive it as a move toward further separation, because the separation was their first experience of change. You believe that if you allow no change to enter into your ego you will find peace. This profound confusion is possible only if you maintain that the same thought system can stand on two foundations. Nothing can reach spirit from the ego, and nothing can reach the ego from spirit.”
—A Course in Miracles T-4.I.2:1-6

“Divine Science does not put new wine into old bottles, Soul into matter, nor the infinite into the finite. Our false views of matter perish as we grasp the facts of Spirit. The old belief must be cast out or the new idea will be spilled, and the inspiration, which is to change our standpoint, will be lost. Now, as of old, Truth casts out evils and heals the sick.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 281:27-1

The Substance of Spirit

Many new-age thought systems try to find reasons for disease, then work to get rid of the "problem" which is causing you to be unwell. This is something which has no place in quantum thought. When Mary Baker Eddy realized the nothingness of matter and the substance of Spirit, not many were willing to imagine the possibility — until they saw physical proof. The healing which comes about through this understanding is not a manipulation of matter, but a yielding of erroneous belief to the Truth shown us through divine Mind. The Catch-22 is that if you are trying to heal something, you can't. But if you're knowing the Truth of existence, and that knowledge becomes more than just wishful thinking, the changeability of matter is shown in ways which we think of as healing. Knowing that there is nothing to be healed, that all is perfectly reflected as a creation of divine Mind, therein lies the healing. Going to the core of yourSelf and recognizing that your consciousness is One with Spirit, that is what brings an all-encompassing joy and peace which makes us happy to release false belief. Once that is gone, Truth shines forth in all Its magnificence!

“That mortal mind claims to govern every organ of the mortal body, we have overwhelming proof. But this so-called mind is a myth, and must by its own consent yield to Truth. It would wield the scepter of a monarch, but it is powerless. The immortal divine Mind takes away all its supposed sovereignty, and saves mortal mind from itself. The author has endeavored to make this book the Aesculapius of mind as well as of body, that it may give hope to the sick and heal them, although they know not how the work is done. Truth has a healing effect, even when not fully understood.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 151:31-8

“Truth has a power far beyond defense, for no illusions can remain where truth has been allowed to enter. And it comes to any mind that would lay down its arms, and cease to play with folly. It is found at any time; today, if you will choose to practice giving welcome to the truth.”
—A Course in Miracles W-136.14:1-3

Mighty Thoughts and Strong Illusions

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater

Having embarked on this journey of examining the causes and cures of disease in our world, I’ve been asked how someone like me, who was raised in Christian Science, and has spent the last three decades in sincere spiritual study, could possibly have lower-leg amputations! I’ve already stated that we should not blame ourselves for disease, and I’m not attempting to do that here. But at an early age, my mom’s brother lost limbs due to disease. There was such fear expressed by the whole family over this occurrence, that I distinctly remember thinking it was the worst thing that could happen to a person. While I never dwelt on these thoughts as an adult, they were always with me — as is anything which makes an impact on us, particularly as a child. I’m not attempting to find a cause, but I do know that the growth I have experienced in the past decade far exceeds that which would have occurred if I was tiptoeing through the tulips, happily in a relationship, with plenty of cash in the bank. The joy I’ve experienced recently has been total, with no regrets or wishes for something different. The only reason I tell you this is so there is no question about why my life isn’t “perfect”, if I’m so absolutely certain about the Truth of our Being. Please continue loving every little minute of this existence, knowing that whatever is happening is a doorway to something — and, oh, what an adventure it is, following that path!

“What keeps the world in chains but your beliefs? And what can save the world except your Self? Belief is powerful indeed. The thoughts you hold are mighty, and illusions are as strong in their effects as is the truth. A madman thinks the world he sees is real, and does not doubt it. Nor can he be swayed by questioning his thoughts’ effects. It is but when their source is raised to question that the hope of freedom comes to him at last.”
—A Course in Miracles W-132.1:1-7

“It is enough to heal the past and make the future free. It is enough to let the present be accepted as it is. It is enough to let time be the means for all the world to learn escape from time, and every change that time appears to bring in passing by.”
—A Course in Miracles W-110.2:2-4

“A correct view of Christian Science and of its adaptation to healing includes vastly more than is at first seen. Works on metaphysics leave the grand point untouched. They never crown the power of Mind as the Messiah, nor do they carry the day against physical enemies, — even to the extinction of all belief in matter, evil, disease, and death, — nor insist upon the fact that God is all, therefore that matter is nothing beyond an image in mortal mind.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 116:11-18

“That mortal mind claims to govern every organ of the mortal body, we have overwhelming proof. But this so-called mind is a myth, and must by its own consent yield to Truth. It would wield the scepter of a monarch, but it is powerless. The immortal divine Mind takes away all its supposed sovereignty, and saves mortal mind from itself. The author has endeavored to make this book the Aesculapius of mind as well as of body, that it may give hope to the sick and heal them, although they know not how the work is done. Truth has a healing effect, even when not fully understood.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 151:31-8