Can Peace Be Absent Here?

I saw a picture today of a man in a tee-shirt which said, "Give peace a chance". Then it had a photo of a big gun and it said, "I'll cover you if it doesn't work out." Where did we ever get the notion that we could be protected by violence? Later in the day, I saw an article from a few years back in which President Jimmy Carter is telling us the time for peace is now. He brought up such concepts as killing people for killing people, and governments waging wars to enforce peace. There are a multitude of ways we seem to think violence will end violence. I look back over the last few decades and it is astounding how often teachers and parents and authority figures think they can control others with threats and corporal punishment. Violent little boys grow up to be violent little men. Let's just stop it -- stop it now!

"Peace is impossible to those who look on war. Peace is inevitable to those who offer peace. How easily, then, is your judgment of the world escaped! It is not the world that makes peace seem impossible. It is the world you see that is impossible. Yet has God's Judgment on this distorted world redeemed it and made it fit to welcome peace. And peace descends on it in joyous answer. Peace now belongs here, because a Thought of God has entered. What else but a Thought of God turns hell to Heaven merely by being what it is? The earth bows down before its gracious Presence, and it leans down in answer, to raise it up again. Now is the question different. It is no longer, 'Can peace be possible in this world?' but instead, 'Is it not impossible that peace be absent here?'"

Love is Enthroned

"What the world needs now is love, sweet love." "Come on people now, Smile on your brother, Everybody get together, Try to love one another right now." "I see skies of blue, And clouds of white, The bright blessed day, The dark sacred night, And I think to myself, What a wonderful world." "All you need is love, All you need is love, All you need is love, love, Love is all you need." "You may say I'm a dreamer, But I'm not the only one, I hope someday you'll join us, And the world will be as one."

“Human hate has no legitimate mandate and no kingdom. Love is enthroned.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health 454:9-10

Right Now

photo credit: Aaron Springston

I had a lesson in living in the moment today. Following duplicate bridge, I was taking a friend to do some errands. I should have known this sweet woman could not be rushed and it would be foolish to expect her to not look at everything in the WalMart before deciding she needed to go somewhere else. My plan had been to rush to a meeting after doing this with her, and I almost became irritated when I saw that wasn't going to happen. Watching us as if from a hidden camera, I began to enjoy each step which felt like walking through quicksand. I watched the young people smiling kindly at two doddering women, I watched myself park in a loading zone with no worries about legality, then felt happiness in being able to help my old friend figure out ways to deal with problems she felt were insurmountable. When she wanted things she was not supposed to have, I talked to her about it honestly rather than telling her "no". It was a good practice in letting go of my expectations and giving in to what was happening right then. It's nice to look back and smile over the events, rather than chew on the resentment which could have easily overtaken me. Here's to accepting what "is" and making the best of it!

"If he senses even the faintest hint of irritation in himself as he responds to anyone, let him instantly realize that he has made an interpretation that is not true. 3 Then let him turn within to his eternal Guide, and let Him judge what the response should be. 4 So is he healed, and in his healing is his pupil healed with him." A Course in Miracles M-18.4. 

Cheating

photo credit: Aaron Springston

A major league baseball team was fined 5 million dollars for cheating in the 2017 World Series. Some people think: So what? Everybody does it. Well, I'm here to affirm that they are wrong: Everybody does NOT do it. This desire to win no matter what is a flawed mission. What's the point in winning a game, or an election, or any type of competition, if you do it by blatantly exploiting the principles of the event or interaction? Humankind seems to have fallen under a spell as wicked as any Disney witch could conjure. Greed for power and/or riches has become more important than integrity and a higher moral code. I have an old friend who apparently was never held accountable for her actions as a child -- nor, perhaps, as an adult. It has made her an odd little person, shriveled by her pettiness and self-righteousness. What we do matters. Let's teach our children (and remind latent grown-ups) that making a difference every day is a life well-lived. 

"Only the trusting can afford honesty, for only they can see its value. Honesty does not apply only to what you say. The term actually means consistency. There is nothing you say that contradicts what you think or do; no thought opposes any other thought; no act belies your word; and no word lacks agreement with another. Such are the truly honest. At no level are they in conflict with themselves. Therefore it is impossible for them to be in conflict with anyone or anything." A Course in Miracles - M-4.II.3-9

Dark = New Ideas & Rebirth

unfinished creation of Sandy Wythawai Starbird

I have a wise and dear friend who creates primal images from fabric. They are all exquisitely full of the wisdom of the ages and reflect their maker, as each of us does. Sandy Starbird sent me this image the other day when I was feeling overwhelmed. It is a photo of an unfinished work of art. I love her process almost as much as the product! Here are her words about the above photo: "In the Celtic spiritual tradition the raven symbolizes recovery and healing. The Tlingit and Haida cultural traditions say that Raven brought Light to the world.  It signifies cleansing, which means that if you have something unhealthy happening, you need to let go of it to return to balance and come into the Light. This is my gesture toward remembering to follow Raven's path. It is so easy today to linger in darkness with so much crazy swirling around. But Dark itself is not the problem. Dark is the place of new ideas and rebirth. It is making the gesture of bringing new Light, new Hope into this place that will make the path open and the way clear." Thank you, Sandy!

Remembering Truth

photo credit: Arthur Bruno

What is truth? Everywhere we look, it seems we have been and are being told lies. Religion, science, politics, the news media, advertisements, history — the list goes on. If we know something is a lie, why do we cling to it so adamantly? It seems we prefer to live in a world of lies rather than to take a step into the great unknown world of Truth. And then we ask, How do we know what is Truth in a world of lies? That, dear ones, is why we must listen within. The reality of our existence is covered up so thoroughly we have forgotten how to experience it. But we are remembering, aren’t we? Infinite Mind never hides Its voice!

“As the reflection of yourself appears in the mirror, so you, being spiritual, are the reflection of God. The substance, Life, intelligence, Truth, and Love, which constitute Deity, are reflected by creation; and when we subordinate the false testimony of the corporeal senses to the facts of Science, we shall see this true likeness and reflection everywhere.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 516:2-8

Everything You Do is Sacred

NOW IS THE TIME TO KNOW

"Now is the time to know
That all that you do is sacred.

Now, why not consider
A lasting truce with yourself and God.

Now is the time to understand
That all your ideas of right and wrong

Were just a child’s training wheels
To be laid aside

When you can finally live
With veracity
And love.

Hafiz is a divine envoy
Whom the Beloved
Has written a holy message upon.

My dear, please tell me,
Why do you still
Throw sticks at your heart
And God?

What is it in that sweet voice inside
That incites you to fear?

Now is the time for the world to know
That every thought and action is sacred

This is the time
For you to deeply compute the impossibility
That there is anything
But Grace.

Now is the season to know
That everything you do
Is sacred."

– Hafiz