Be With Those Who Help Your Being

Today I am grateful for all the people I gather with who help me remember my true being as a reflection of divine Love. It's great to talk with others who recognize the images of divine Mind shining through the myths we have created for ourselves in daily life. More and more we are realizing truth, and recognizing what is simply habitual thinking, perpetuated by repetition. I’m often asked  how we can know if thoughts are coming from the one Mind or from our mortal, limited thinking. I ask myself: Does this make my heart sing and my mind feel at peace? Does it bless all equally, along with me, or do I feel an uneasiness which I can't exactly pinpoint. Maybe there's a feeling of importance and superiority. These last two things are absolute indicators that thoughts are coming from my limiting sense of ego and not inner Truth.  Today I want to "Be with those who help [my] being." Rumi 

“Gratitude is much more than a verbal expression of thanks. Action expresses more gratitude than speech.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 3:24-27

Loved of Love

I’m reminded of a Eudora Welty quote: "We are the breakers of our own heart." Looking back at my own life and how often I broke my own heart, I'm very aware of what that means. One friend has blocked herself away from close relationships all her life. There are many people who care for her, and she’s only now realizing how many there are now that she’s in the hospital. The kindness being shown to her by others who have known her for the last 60 years is unbelievable to her. She had no clue she was so well loved! My prayer for today is that we all open our eyes and see the love which is being expressed all around us. To those who help their neighbors, care for their friends, and steadfastly keep on loving the seeming-unlovable — Cheers!

“The poor suffering heart needs its rightful nutriment, such as peace, patience in tribulation, and a priceless sense of the dear Father’s loving-kindness.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 365:32-3

All-Encompassing Peace

photo credit: Aaron Springston

Forgiveness is all-encompassing. It’s more than saying we don't hold a grudge against someone for something. Forgiveness is born from the practice of realizing our unity with God, hence our Oneness with each other. What more could we want than peace, joy, love, contentment, bliss, appreciation, and satisfaction? This larger, all-encompassing forgiveness reconciles any so-called differences we may have with each other, and also with anything we are holding against ourselves. Allowing divine Love to guide our every action and thought would free us to live differently than when our lives are dictated by material beliefs and habits. It's always amazing to me that some people choose to not speak to one another simply because they disagree about certain things. I like oranges, you like apples. So what? Our commonality rests in the Oneness of our true being. That's a constant reality!

“Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need.”

Mary Baker Eddy — Science & Health Page 494:10-11

Forgiveness is My Wish for Today

"Forgiveness" by Carol Peacock

Today I received word that a sweet friend has an aggressive form of cancer and won’t be with us much longer. As usual, when these things happen to our friends, we remember the good times, recalling all the good times we’ve shared. This dear woman was never happy. She found it impossible to let go of old hurts and resentments, making it impossible for her to go forward and carve out the life for herself she wanted so much. My hope for today is that anyone who is feeling angry or hopeless can see their way past whatever is holding them in pain. Forgiveness is my wish for you today. Namaste…

From A Course in Miracles - Lesson 122

“What could you want forgiveness cannot give? Do you want peace? Forgiveness offers it. Do you want happiness, a quiet mind, a certainty of purpose, and a sense of worth and beauty that transcends the world? Do you want care and safety, and the warmth of sure protection always? Do you want a quietness that cannot be disturbed, a gentleness that never can be hurt, a deep, abiding comfort, and a rest so perfect it can never be upset?

All this forgiveness offers you, and more. It sparkles on your eyes as you awake, and gives you joy with which to meet the day. It soothes your forehead while you sleep, and rests upon your eyelids so you see no dreams of fear and evil, malice and attack. And when you wake again, it offers you another day of happiness and peace. All this forgiveness offers you, and more.” 

What is Spiritual Healing?

PC: Arthur Bruno

When people ask me to pray for them, they most often think I will be asking God to help them. This could not be further from the truth. The prayer which I utilize affirms the reality of our Being, combined with a listening to hear what should be affirmed. It's not an asking for a condition to be changed, but a knowing that there is no condition in divine Mind’s reflection. Our mortal mind often insists that this material existence is the reality of our being and any glimpse we may have of our spiritual perfection is but a mirage. The opposite of this scenario is true and our realization is what brings harmony. This is not a mind-over-matter type of healing. So when you ask me to pray for you, I'll never say or think anything similar to: Please, God, heal Mary's cold. But I will say, What do I need to know about this situation? This is what Jesus was telling us, and why his teachings were revolutionary. We are not material, we are spiritual. What is matter anyway? Physicists have found it is 99-point-something percent empty space! So what keeps us in the shape we’re in, even though our cells are replaced constantly? Thought! And this is why I find the study and practice of divine Science fascinating.

“If we would open their prison doors for the sick, we must first learn to bind up the broken-hearted. If we would heal by the Spirit, we must not hide the talent of spiritual healing under the napkin of its form, nor bury the morale of Christian Science in the grave-clothes of its letter.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 295:5-15

Systems of Ideas

PC: Aaron Springston

Do you want feel-good, improve-your-relationships, make-more-money types of reading material, or would you rather go all the way down the rabbit hole with a new way of thought? I've found that a momentary recognition of the Truth of Being leads me to want more, but I've known many people who don't want to go there. And that's cool, too. The present material beliefs we espouse and demonstrate in daily life are comfortable to us, and it's difficult to let them go. Sometimes we have held on to stubborn memories of the past for so long that we can't seem to let them go. These things may be frightening, especially if we've convinced ourselves we don't like change. So if you start to become afraid while trying on the new thoughts you are now having, realize that Love is all there is. Sing a Beatles song or two! Do anything you can to cultivate joy. Live life fully in the whirlpool of divine Love! Go all the way down the rabbit hole, knowing every step is sure when you walk with Love. 

“Mind, supreme over all its formations and governing them all, is the central sun of its own systems of ideas, the life and light of all its own vast creation; and man is tributary to divine Mind.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 209:5-8

One Grand Brotherhood

Today at the Catholic mass at which I play keyboards, the man who manages fundraisers made an announcement. It seems the young priest’s niece, who lives in his native country of Nigeria, is very ill. Through someone’s negotiations, it was determined that the Arkansas Children’s Hospital was willing to evaluate her and see if anything can be done to help, and they are willing to do this free of charge. Of course, the girl and her mother would need to have airfare from halfway around the world. So there was a letter sent out to the congregation asking for financial help in this matter. The announcement today was that $5,000 had been needed for this endeavor, and more than $17,000 had been donated to the family! Before telling the total cash contributions, the man looked down and shook his head. He said, You crazy people. And his voice cracked as he told of the large amount which had been collected. From my vantage point at the piano, I could see everyone’s faces and my eyes filled with tears as did most of the room. What a testament to the power of people to help people! This, in my mind, is what church is. What a blessing to have witnessed this!

“The rich in spirit help the poor in one grand brotherhood, all having the same Principle, or Father; and blessed is that man who seeth his brother’s need and supplieth it, seeking his own in another’s good.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 518: 15-19