November 1, 2014 - Pure Peace

photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #305

“There is a peace that Christ bestows on us.”

What is the second coming? This is the question we've been exploring in these past few days. We are learning that it is an internal awakening. It involves seeing and feeling the never-beginning, never-ending Truth of our being. This burgeoning understanding has brought me the peace which intellectual reasoning never did. I see the world as a loving place, filled with people who care about each other and their environment. In the past, almost every day numerous people would tell me why they felt the world was a hate-filled place. Now it's a rarity. Have they changed or have I? Is there a difference if we're all One? Love = Peace = Harmony. Feel the Love!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:[This is from the Glossary, where she gives us the spiritual significance of terms.]

"Japhet (Noah’s son): A type of spiritual peace, flowing from the understanding that God is the divine Principle of all existence, and that man is His idea, the child of His care." 

Science & Health Page 589:8-11

October 31, 2014 - Clear Sight

Park City, Utah
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM  Workbook Lesson #304

“Let not my world obscure the sight of Christ.”

Throughout the ages, we've been given hints as to unrealized possibilities. As attested by powerful mythological and fictional characters, we have longed for the ability to change what seems to be the reality of situations in and around our personal existence. The world tells us that we are victims of circumstance, with life experiences being changed by the whim of happenstance. Every time we hear a story telling of something we think is impossible, but which contains an outcome so beautiful we wish and hope it could be true, let's contemplate the fact that there are no limits. Who knows what we're capable of doing? We seem to exceed expected outcomes in every avenue of existence. Wasn't it said that running a mile in less than four minutes was impossible? Today I set free any thought of limitation, any assumptions I may have as to what's what, and by doing so open the inner door to new sight.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Truth never destroys God's idea. Truth is spiritual, eternal substance, which cannot destroy the right reflection. Corporeal sense, or error, may seem to hide Truth, health, harmony, and Science, as the mist obscures the sun or the mountain; but Science, the sunshine of Truth, will melt away the shadow and reveal the celestial peaks.”

Science & Health Page 299:24-30

October 30, 2014 - Leaving Dogma Behind

Utah Fall
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #303

“The holy Christ is born in me today.”

These writings often contain words which elicit negative reactions in many of us. Within myself, I have watched negative  reactions dissipate by letting go of preconceived meanings and learned dogma. There is only One God and we have no need to think in terms of your god or my god. Only our interpretation of what that means allows for a belief in many ruling principles. Let's release these thoughts and see where that takes us! "The Christ is born in me today" is the acknowledgement that the presence of God is within. Please, please, change these words into whatever feels right to you. And please, please don't allow these words' connotations to turn you away from the Love which you are. If you feel disoriented and sort of happily confused, don't fear that either! This giddiness is part of the shift to the beautiful realization of God within! Embrace it and be free!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“CHRIST: The divine manifestation of God, which comes to the flesh to destroy incarnate error.”

Science & Health Page 583:10-11

October 29, 2014 - I Look Upon the Light!

"Bryce Canyon"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #302

“Where darkness was I look upon the light.”

It is said that when we are ready, the teacher we need will show up. I've always felt this to be true, haven't you? Of course, there were many times I turned away from that teaching. Even now, it's difficult to accept wholeheartedly the Truth which is set before me. I love these lessons which are telling us to look upon light, that our sight is finally restored and we can look upon a holy world. In recent weeks, I've had difficulty seeing. The world has become dim enough that I have partaken of the magic of an ophthalmologist. They say I have cataracts on my eyeballs and that it's an easy procedure to correct this. This is a wonderful analogy -- or would it be a metaphor? -- for the dimming of the light which happens when we trust in the illusion we have created rather than the Truth of Creation. I am grateful for this reminder of dimming sight. It brings a new resolve to look through the eyes of Love, to realize that is the only true vision, and anything else is the illusion of fear. Where darkness was, I look upon Light!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“EYES: Spiritual discernment,--not material but mental.”

Science & Health Page 586:3

October 28, 2014 - Hearing Deeply

photo by Aaron

ACIM Workbook Lesson #301

“And God Himself shall wipe away all tears.”

I once thought of writing a book called The Celibate Marriage. My son assured me it would NOT be a best seller! Many things inspired my thoughts on this subject, and some of them came from reading The Beloved Prophet. The subject of this book is the life-long relationship between Kahlil Gibran and a woman named Mary Haskell. When he passed on, she was peacefully smiling while greeting the grieving people at his funeral. No one understood how this could be. At one point, she quoted words he had written to her during their platonic love affair: "You listen to so much more than I can say. You hear consciousness. You go with me where the words I say cannot carry you." She didn't experience intense grief because she knew the love they shared still existed; it had always been experienced in thought rather than physical expression. She understood what we are learning about the true reality of our Being.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Take heart, dear sufferer, for this reality of being will surely appear sometime and in some way. There will be no more pain, and all tears will be wiped away. When you read this, remember Jesus' words, ‘The kingdom of God is within you.’ This spiritual consciousness is therefore a present possibility.”

Science & Health Page 573:28-2

October 27, 20 14- What is the Real World?

photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #300

“Only an instant does this world endure.”

This is the last of ten lessons which ask the question, "What is the real world?" Is reality what we are told it is by the daily news? Is it what we learn in school? I remember how surprising and  embarrassing it was to learn that most of the American history we learned in school was no more than a myth perpetuated by men who wanted it to be that way. We are beginning to understand that spiritual Truth is not to be found within the religious institutions of our world. Everywhere we turn, there is a story that we have been told which has affected the way we view life. It is such a relief to know that we can leave behind all of these stories! It's freeing to understand we need do nothing but silently listen within ourselves to hear and know the Truth which is waiting for our awareness.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Life is divine Principle, Mind, Soul, Spirit. Life is without beginning and without end. Eternity, not time, expresses the thought of Life, and time is no part of eternity. One ceases in proportion as the other is recognized. Time is finite; eternity is forever infinite. Life is neither in nor of matter. What is termed matter is unknown to Spirit, which includes in itself all substance and is Life eternal. Matter is a human concept. Life is divine Mind. Life is not limited. Death and finiteness are unknown to Life. If Life ever had a beginning, it would also have an ending.”

Science & Health Page 468:26-6

October 26, 2014 - Veritable Ideas

photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #299

“Eternal holiness abides in me.”

A friend made a passing comment pertaining to the erroneous thought we glom onto in daily life. He said that once you hear something, it's a part of you -- a part of your conscoiusness, if you will. I certainly know how difficult it can be to release any thought -- whether I have decided to think of it as truth or rumor. He is so right that once it's in you, it's difficult to let out -- but not impossible! The key to this release is realizing what you are. As long as I see myself as a material human, a victim of passing thought and circumstance, then, yes, it is difficult, even impossible, to release. When I start to glimpse that I am not this body, that I am Idea -- an Idea of God! -- then, and only then, am I freed from the bombardment of daily illusions and the lies of material sense. Looked at from this perspective, my goal is not to release anything, it is to understand my Being as an expression of divine Mind, an emanation of divine Love, the experience of divine Life! I will not think of this as an impossible task, but as a reachable Truth.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“How are veritable ideas to be distinguished from illusions? By learning the origin of each. Ideas are emanations from the divine Mind. Thoughts, proceeding from the brain or from matter, are offshoots of mortal mind; they are mortal material beliefs. Ideas are spiritual, harmonious, and eternal. Beliefs proceed from the so-called material senses, which at one time are supposed to be substance-matter and at another are called spirits.”

Science & Health Page 88:9-16