Safety Assured - September 1, 2015

photo by Arthur Lau-Sed

ACIM Workbook Lesson #244

“I am in danger nowhere in the world."

Reading the above affirmation of our safety in any situation reminds me of many personal examples of this Truth. Often when we hear of material so-called laws being usurped, we think of this as divine intervention.  Let's not think of this as God setting aside material law in favor of spiritual principle, but as the demonstration of how Principle operates. By surrendering my separate identify, I feel the Oneness that is perfect peace. Holding on to my own knowledge and beliefs, I am afraid of many things, seeing possible dangers around every corner.  Returning to Love releases illusions which we have made, enabling us to see Truth, to live Love, in safety. I know many of you are thinking of the horrible things you know about which make this seem like a frivolous statement. In the mortal world we witness, this certainly is true. But is it the Truth? That is the question!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Clad in the panoply of Love, human hatred cannot reach you. The cement of a higher humanity will unite all interests in the one divinity.” Science & Health Page 571:18-21

Namastè, Wayne Dyer

ACIM Workbook Lesson #243

“Today I will judge nothing that occurs."

I just heard about Wayne Dyer’s death. With someone as loving and pure of motive as this man, it’s easy to feel he’s your friend. The first book of his I ever read was, “When You Believe It, You’ll See It”. I even remember the yard sale I was at on Vaughn Street. I recall the feeling that went through me when I looked down at a box of books and saw it there, shining at me and asking to be taken home. I became a large fan of his, thrilled by how accessible he made this way of thought. He appealed to a wide variety of people with his non-judgmental way of speaking and his willingness to show us his weaknesses and to make fun of his ego. He was a delightful man who reached many otherwise uninterested people through his PBS talks, which were often run during their fundraising campaigns. Thank you, Wayne, for advising us not to “die with our music still inside us”. You certainly played your own loud and clear for all of us! Namastè, dear Friend.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“It should be thoroughly understood that all men have one Mind, one God and Father, one Life, Truth, and Love. Mankind will become perfect in proportion as this fact becomes apparent, war will cease and the true brotherhood of man will be established.”

Science and Health Page 467:9-13

What a Gift!

"Thorncrown Chapel"
photo by Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #242

“This day is God's. It is my gift to Him."

Last year, after sending out this daily workbook topic, someone wrote me asking if giving a gift to God meant going to church. After I stated my thoughts about “This day is God’s. It is my gift to Him.”, she told me she had little enough time to herself and didn’t want to give up a day to anyone. I guess we can have the idea that if we live our life for divine Love, we’re not living it for ourself. Recently I spoke with her and she tells me she now sees that giving is receiving. She also mentioned that she understood how giving up all the beliefs she had and listening for divine Mind was living in a dimension she hadn’t thought was possible. Her new way of living and listening was such a source of happiness for her! She’s happier than she remembers ever being before, and that’s a gift!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Emerge gently from matter into Spirit. Think not to thwart the spiritual ultimate of all things, but come naturally into Spirit through better health and morals and as the result of spiritual growth.”

Science & Health Page 485:13-16

The Holy Instant, Celebrated!

"Mongolian Shaman"
creation by Sandy Wythawai Starbird

ACIM Workbook Lesson #241

“This holy instant is salvation come."Today let's celebrate words which have awakened us to the knowledge of salvation within! We all have our favorites -- people whose words are so familiar they have become a natural part of our conversations and thoughts. Today I commemorate the wisdom passed to us by John Lennon, William Blake, Shakespeare, Rumi, and others. I will remember those whose words have encouraged me to live Truth, by way of their living of It. While visiting these well-loved words, I know that salvation is not only something to be desired, but that it is here, right now, for the remembering.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Acquaintance with the Science of being enables us to commune more largely with the divine Mind, to foresee and foretell events which concern the universal welfare, to be divinely inspired,--yea, to reach the range of fetter-less Mind.”

Science & Health Page 84:14-18

No Fear, Omni-Action!

"Mongolia"
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #240

“Fear is not justified in any form."

Our lives tend to fall into familiar patterns as we move through our days. We may find ourselves going to the same places, saying the same things, thinking the same thoughts -- and all of  these habits become comfortable. Even if we're experiencing disharmony, we often fear change. We may say, "Something told me I should do so-and-so". We often hear this calling, this inner voice leading us toward a different path than we're on, but we feel it takes courage to walk a road less or never traveled, and so we settle. To settle for anything which brings us less than joyful existence is to dishonor ourselves, which is to dishonor God. The next time I think I'm feeling this thing we call fear, I'll choose to interpret the emotion as excitement about what will come next!

Mary Baker Eddy quotes:

“Had Blondin believed it impossible to walk the rope over Niagara's abyss of waters, he could never have done it. His belief that he could do it gave his thought-forces, called muscles, their flexibility and power which the unscientific might attribute to a lubricating oil. His fear must have disappeared before his power of putting resolve into action could appear.”

Science & Health Page 199:25-31

I Celebrate MySelf!

photo by Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #239

“The glory of my Father is my own"

“Let not the truth about ourselves today be hidden by a false humility.” (ACIM) This "false humility" we use to hide the Truth about ourselves can take many forms. It's usually easy to catch ourselves in self-deprecating actions, which we deem to be humility, but which actually are expressing our inability to accept the glory of our true selves, but there are lots of insidious forms that are not as easily noticed. Do we take things personally and feel attacked when we hear news of governmental actions, friends’ words, co-workers' rivalry, or the thousands of other things that go on around us? These are all forms of accepting something other than the glory of ourselves. Every time I hear or see something today which seems to cause me chagrin, I will smile with the assurance that no one, including my own self, can change the Truth of Being.

“I celebrate myself, and sing myself,

And what I assume you shall assume,

For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.”

Walt Whitman

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Unfathomable Mind is expressed. The depth, breadth, height, might, majesty, and glory of infinite Love fill all space.” 

Science & Health Page 520:3-5

Too Many Decisions!

photo courtesy of Alden Stallings

ACIM Workbook Lesson #238

“On my decision all salvation rests."

It seems we have too many decisions in daily life. Even the tea section in the grocery store has so many choices it can be daunting! And so when we are told that "On my decision all salvation rests", it's tempting to say "No thanks!" But this salvation spoken of here is received by one decision: to wake up and accept our own divinity. There are no considerations to mull over in this decision, there are no choices which are better than others, nor is there any reason for fear of failure. All duality, all choice, vanishes when we realize there is only one thing to desire: to know that God is Life: not my life, or your life, but Life! From this understanding, everything is manifested in our experience, all from the freedom of knowing that the Love which is God is the only Principle of our existence.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“By interpreting God as a corporeal Savior but not as the saving Principle, or divine Love, we shall continue to seek salvation through pardon and not through reform…" Science & Health Page 285:23-26