The Camera of Divine Mind

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #32: “I have invented the world I see.”

A few years ago, a woman made two rather large purchases from my gallery, writing me checks on an account which was frozen due to a pending divorce from her husband. Apparently, she had been having a last fling in our town and I was not the only one who received "bad" checks. I sent her numerous loving notes, trying to help her to feel better about herself. I called her on the phone once and that didn't go well, so I went back to sending her a note every few weeks. At one point, she wrote me a letter and signed it, "your friend". About four months after her original purchases, I received money orders for the entire amount she owed. Most people thought there would be no way to collect this debt without resorting to legal means, but every time I thought of her, it was with kindness, seeing her true nature as a child of Love. I refused to think of her the way others described similar situations and the people who were involved. When doubt would creep in, I would replace it with an assurance of good. This is the world I wish to see, and so I do. Having a Pollyanna attitude doesn’t mean you do nothing, rather it’s expecting the best and being led in ways to facilitate that end!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“The crude creations of mortal thought must finally give place to the glorious forms which we sometimes behold in the camera of divine Mind, when the mental picture is spiritual and eternal.” Science & Health Page 264:3-7

A Brave New World

"Glacier National Park"
photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #31: "I am not the victim of the world I see"   

It's very easy to feel victimized by current events. It seems as though "they" are going to do whatever they want and come up with reasons why it's necessary. I don't know and don't want to wonder why things are as they are, but I am excited and expectant of good as I watch individuals doing things to improve communications and provide knowledge. One of my heroes is a man named Michael Moore who has dared question powers that be on topics most of us are afraid to broach. One of his documentaries is "Capitalism: A Love Story". While he shows us transgressions of government and corporations, he also tells of individuals and businesses that dare to challenge the accepted standards and bring about much-needed change. He gives us hope by showing how we, too, can carry a light and spread it to others. While we can never know what material truth is, as it is ever-changing and fickle, we can know spiritual Truth and allow it to lead our way toward a brave new world!

Mary Baker Eddy quote: "Man is tributary to God, Spirit, and to nothing else. God's being is infinity, freedom, harmony, and boundless bliss."

Science & Health Page 481:2-4

In My Mind

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook lesson #30: "God is in everything I see because God is in my mind."

Seeing everything as a part of us by looking within rather than without is the point of today's exercise. This looking is not limited to what we can see with our eyes. We are asked to close our eyes and see what pops into our thought, too. We are working toward changing sight to vision. I look at my sweet dog and see my experience of him. I close my eyes and envision all the Love expressed by all the dogs I have known. I feel the Love expressed by my parents and children and friends. I can feel the warmth of a spring day, smell the earth and flowers, see past my limiting thoughts to the ideas of Soul. As explained by a sentence in today’s lesson: “Real vision is not only unlimited by space and distance, but it does not depend on the body's eyes at all.” I look forward to seeing everything as a reflection of unlimited Love!

Mary Baker Eddy quote: "It is the illumination of the spiritual understanding which demonstrates the capacity of Soul, not of material sense. This Soul-sense comes to the human mind when the latter yields to the divine Mind." Science & Health Page 85:2-6

Everything I See

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #29: "God is in everything I see.”

A few readers of my “dailies” have asked why I don’t address the political situation in our country. Upon reflection, I feel that I do. Everything is connected by way of Mind, and the multitude of forms we experience are projections of illusion. So with our goal of purifying thoughts of unnecessary dogma, belief, and fear, we are left with Love and Its infinite manifestations. So, yes, I do address the current situations, but not from the point of being a problem identifier. Some of us need to look through the other end of the telescope, with the lens of Love. No matter how we perceive things with these material eyes and thoughts, the true idea of Spirit, God, Love, is there waiting for us to glimpse it.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Love, redolent with unselfishness, bathes all in beauty and light.” Science & Health Page 516:12-13

I Want to See Differently

photo credit: Richard Quick

ACIM Workbook Lesson #28: "Above all else, I want to see things differently."

Today's lesson asks us to give up any notions we have concerning the meaning of anything and everything. By doing this, we are able to stop looking at a thing and begin seeing the consciousness which sustains it. When we start asking what things are rather than telling them what they are, interesting answers may be coming our way. For instance, in one of my favorite novels, "The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared”, the main character doesn't make plans, but follows his intuition and ends up in some very interesting situations. Whether he's spending a few years in jail or crossing the Himalayas on foot, he doesn't interpret new circumstance from past experience, but views them as they are and does what needs to be done. The desire to see things differently is the beginning of doing so — and we begin the adventure!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"The objects cognized by the physical senses have not the reality of substance. They are only what mortal belief calls them." Science & Health Page 311:26-28

I Want To See

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #27: "Above all else, I want to see."

Today someone said to me, "There are only two powers, and she’s chosen the wrong one." Wow. Once we have split power into a loving God and Its evil twin, some seriously hard-to-let-go images have taken hold in our mind. So when I'm thinking of today's lesson throughout the day, I won't concentrate on the myriad of ways we've constructed to cloud our vision, but I'll ask to see with true sight, as God sees. If I wonder how that view can be mine, I'll go to the definition of God given us by Mary Baker Eddy, which is quoted below after a passage from a T. S. Eliot poem, “Little Gidding”. “We shall not cease from exploration, / And the end of all our exploring / Will be to arrive where we started / And know the place for the first time.”

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Question.--What is God?

Answer.--God is incorporeal, divine, supreme, infinite Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, Love." Science & Health Page 465:6-8

Unfounded Decrees

photo credit: Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #26

"My attack thoughts are attacking my invulnerability."

Today many of us may feel attacked and quite vulnerable. The realization that all attack comes from within is an eye-opener! I often feel I’m defending myself when I attack others, but I’m not. This is not a defense against anything, only my acceptance of  perceived attack and the resultant retaliation. When I realize I cannot be attacked from anywhere other than within myself, I can release these defenses I have built in protection of what I believe. Through a conscious choice to reject the unreality of material existence and claim our heritage as powerful spiritual beings, unafraid to stand up and declare our Oneness with divine Love and all of Its creation, we are able to transcend the fears we think is inevitable. I love the new world which is being revealed through this understanding!

Mary Baker Eddy quote: "Every law of matter or the body, supposed to govern man, is rendered null and void by the law of Life, God. Ignorant of our God-given rights, we submit to unjust decrees, and the bias of education enforces this slavery." Science & Health Page 380:32-4