Belief versus Knowledge

Photo credit: Heather Peters

Sometimes I find myself pontificating on the fact that the world is selling us diseases. It seems everywhere we look there are certain well-publicized maladies being pushed onto us. I've also been blaming the world for the proliferation of bigotry and closed-mindedness. I've been blaming the world for being willing to spend money on clothing and recreation, but not on art. I could probably find a few other things I've been blathering about, but that's enough for now. It's difficult to get past ego's need to know everything and be special. It seems difficult to let go of beliefs and trust the divine Mind which flows through all. But that's what I want to do, and so I'll continue to catch myself in judgmental thought, and ask what Love is thinking. Spiritual sense awakens with practice!

"The supposed existence of more than one mind was the basic error of idolatry. This error assumed the loss of spiritual power, the loss of the spiritual presence of Life as infinite Truth without an unlikeness, and the loss of Love as ever present and universal." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 479:5-10

A Stubborn Illusion

photo credit: Richard Quick

“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.” (Kung Fu Panda) I'm also reminded of something Deepak Chopra said: "Time is something we have made up so everything doesn't happen all at once." Albert Einstein showed us that time is relative. Time spent in a dentist chair passes differently from time spent visiting with a dear friend. Later in life, Mr. Einstein came to believe that time was not just relative, but unreal! Here is a quote from him, written in a letter to a friend: "To those of us who believe in physics, this separation between past, present, and future, is only an illusion, if a stubborn one." So why do we limit ourselves with time? We always think we're too young or too old, or this physical malady will pass with time, or that we simply don't have time to do the things we want to do. When I realize that I'm not a mortal living in what seems to be now, but an immortal living in eternity, then some major shifts in perception can take place. Only "time will tell" what happens with that realization!

“Never ask for tomorrow: it is enough that divine Love is an ever-present help; and if you wait, never doubting, you will have all you need every moment.” Mary Baker Eddy - Miscellaneous Writings Page 307

Concepts and Consciousness

photo credit: Aaron Springston

A dear friend told a group of us about being terribly afraid of the dark. She said she had always been this way, to the point she had asked her husband to never leave her alone if it wasn't light. She told us that three days after he died, the fear she had always lived with left her. It was just gone! This story has stayed with me and come to mind often. What a beautiful demonstration of letting go! Just like that, in the blink of an eye, we can be past anything, no matter how long we have claimed it as a part of us. What gratitude I feel to this woman for sharing her story of shifting perception making a huge difference in experience! 

“The human mind will sometime rise above all material and physical sense, exchanging it for spiritual perception, and exchanging human concepts for the divine consciousness. "Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 531:10-13

Inspiring Exchanges

We're all in this together. It appears as though we all see things through different eyes. We seem to be satellites, rotating around something unseen, sometimes floating in unison, often bumping into each other and throwing our orbit out of sync. But we're all in this together. Let's leave out the "in": We're all this together. This togetherness sometimes manifests itself as groups of people who commingle for the joy of being with each other. We may have book clubs, and study groups, and sewing circles, and various groups of people who come together in communion. This fellowship has been sought-after since the beginning of time. Personally, I have no interest in being a part of any group simply to be with others. There must be a communication which surpasses the ordinary. I want stunning honesty, inspiring exchanges, Love shared. From this demonstrated Oneness with each other as reflections of divine Love, salvation is realized as the means, the end, the Only.

"Knowing the Science of creation, in which all is Mind and its ideas, Jesus rebuked the material thought of his fellow-countrymen: 'Ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?' How much more should we seek to apprehend the spiritual ideas of God, than to dwell on the objects of sense! To discern the rhythm of Spirit and to be holy, thought must be purely spiritual." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 509:28-5

Outgrowing the Old

photo credit: Heather Peters

Does fear bind you to anything? I know there have been many fears which have dictated my actions. Perhaps fear of being alone binds us in relationships which have served their purpose and need to be released. This might be thought of as a "failure" -- which brings up another fear, huh? What if we don't think of the ending of a marriage or friendship as a failure, but as a natural progression? The same may be said of a career or hobby. These things can be steps on a journey to somewhere you never dreamed you would go. If you've planned your life in every detail, it may seem like giving up to move on to something else. That's why I love this way of thought! There are no rules, other than listening for divine Mind to guide and lead us to wherever we need to be. This guidance doesn't always mean leaving something -- it could be staying with a job or relationship, regardless of what logic dictates. Listening and following is always an adventure!!

“When outgrowing the old, you should not fear to put on the new." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 452:10-11

One Thing

PC: Aaron Springston

My thought drifts to a meeting in which a woman confided a situation of abuse from her childhood. Some of the people at the metaphysical gathering we were attending insisted that she had chosen this scenario, whether to rectify something from a "past life" or for some other reason. This woman became very upset to think that a little girl would be tortured and want such a thing. Without going into the possibility of past lives, or reincarnation and retribution, I remind myself that all I want is One Thing. My only desire is to know God, and everything else will be attained without my delineation of what that is. I also remind myself not to judge others in any way, as we are all on an individual path. That's what it's all about, after all. We are the experience of God, and there are no outlines as to what that means.

"Faith is higher and more spiritual than belief. It is a chrysalis state of human thought, in which spiritual evidence, contradicting the testimony of material sense, begins to appear, and Truth, the ever-present, is becoming understood." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 297:20-24

Ever-Appearing Creation

photo credit: Aaron Springston

Someone asked me if I thought there was anyone on this planet who had attained the ideal of no suffering. One of the reasons she was thinking deeply about this topic was that a friend of hers had awakened in the morning to find that her partner has passed on during the night. How, we wonder, is it possible to not feel pain in such a situation? I believe the key is in knowing that they haven't gone anywhere. Passing on to where? Mary Baker Eddy tells us that the dead will be surprised to find they are not dead. It seems we, in our desire for things to continue as they are, have turned this scenario into a different sort of material life, with the addition of wings and such. Everything we imagine is from our personal standpoint, don't you think? Even within this material existence, some people are able to feel even closer to loved ones after they are gone, as they commune on a different, more pure, level of consciousness than they had previously known. Perhaps we hold onto these feelings of grief because we're afraid that love, too, will be lost in the letting go. I have a hunch that the Love which is left can be sweeter than we ever could have dreamed!

“Creation is ever appearing, and must ever continue to appear from the nature of its inexhaustible source.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 507: 28-29