Bathed in Beauty and Light

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater

You have probably heard of, or witnessed, people facing dire situations calmly, with an other-worldly peace. I experienced one of these times when visiting with a couple who were learning how to cope with the change we call death. When I walked into their home, the first thing I felt was an all-encompassing peace. My dear friend related how inspired she was by the leaves falling from the trees in their regular autumnal cycle. She told me how they take care of themselves. She never rakes them up into piles, but allows them to go where they need to be, and there they change to whatever form is required of them -- soil, protection for seedlings, shelter for insects and small animals. She sees perfection in this plan and knows that the same perfection is taking place in all existence. I am grateful to have experienced this deep and quiet peace with them. The peace of God is there for all, no matter what the material circumstance. The gift of Love satisfies the hungering senses, it calms fear, it allows us to release the ties which bind us to material existence, giving us more than we knew was possible. This understanding is priceless …

“Life is reflected in existence, Truth in truthfulness, God in goodness, which impart their own peace and permanence. Love, redolent with unselfishness, bathes all in beauty and light.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 516:9-13

“There is a peace that Christ bestows on us. Who uses but Christ’s vision finds a peace so deep and quiet, undisturbable and wholly changeless, that the world contains no counterpart. Comparisons are still before this peace. And all the world departs in silence as this peace envelops it, and gently carries it to truth, no more to be the home of fear. For love has come, and healed the world by giving it Christ’s peace.

“Father, the peace of Christ is given us, because it is Your Will that we be saved. Help us today but to accept Your gift, and judge it not. For it has come to us to save us from our judgment on ourselves.”

A Course in Miracles W-305.1:1–2:3 

Revealing Celestial Peaks

Photo credit: Arthur Bruno

Throughout the ages, we've been given hints about the unrealized possibilities in our world.  We have longed for the ability to change what seems to be the reality of situations in and around our personal existence, and we enjoy stories of powerful mythological and fictional characters who do so. The world tells us that we are victims of circumstance, with our life experiences being changed at the whim of happenstance. Every time we hear a story telling of something we think is impossible, but which contains an outcome so beautiful we wish and hope it could be true, let's contemplate the possibility that there are no limits. Who knows what we're capable of doing? We seem to exceed expected outcomes in every avenue of existence. Wasn't it said that running a mile in less than four minutes was impossible? Today let’s surrender any thoughts of limitation, thereby opening the door to a new understanding.

“Truth never destroys God's idea. Truth is spiritual, eternal substance, which cannot destroy the right reflection. Corporeal sense, or error, may seem to hide Truth, health, harmony, and Science, as the mist obscures the sun or the mountain; but Science, the sunshine of Truth, will melt away the shadow and reveal the celestial peaks.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 299:24-30

“Let not my world obscure the sight of Christ. I can obscure my holy sight, if I intrude my world upon it. Nor can I behold the holy sights Christ looks upon, unless it is His vision that I use. Perception is a mirror, not a fact. And what I look on is my state of mind, reflected outward. I would bless the world by looking on it through the eyes of Christ. And I will look upon the certain signs that all my sins have been forgiven me.

“You lead me from the darkness to the light; from sin to holiness. Let me forgive, and thus receive salvation for the world. It is Your gift, my Father, given me to offer to Your holy Son, that he may find again the memory of You, and of Your Son as You created him.” 

A Course in Miracles W-304.1:1–2:3

Surrounded by Holy Thoughts

Photo credit: Aaron Springston

If someone told you that “the holy Christ is born in you today”, you would probably interpret the statement by way of your past or present belief system. Some will wonder if this means they’re passing from this realm. Some may think this is a blasphemous statement. Others will feel a sense of relief, knowing that they have permission for Love to rule their thoughts and actions, without concern for material circumstances. You may be relieved, knowing the second coming is being born right now, just as soon as you can get out of Its way! A dear friend made a profound statement, which seems appropriate in connection with this lesson: Resurrect Gratitude Daily!! Is this not the second coming? The moment-by-moment rebirth of Love, gratitude, joy, beauty, harmony, and all that The Christ embodies, opens us to the unity of Life. Sharing this gift is as individual as we are, and as timely as our interactions. Freely I have received, freely I give!

“Having no other gods, turning to no other but the one perfect Mind to guide him, man is the likeness of God, pure and eternal, having that Mind which was also in Christ.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 467:13-16

“The holy Christ is born in me today. Watch with me, angels, watch with me today. Let all God’s holy Thoughts surround me, and be still with me while Heaven’s Son is born. Let earthly sounds be quiet, and the sights to which I am accustomed disappear. Let Christ be welcomed where He is at home. And let Him hear the sounds He understands, and see but sights that show His Father’s Love. Let Him no longer be a stranger here, for He is born again in me today.

“Your Son is welcome, Father. He has come to save me from the evil self I made. He is the Self that You have given me. He is but what I really am in truth. He is the Son You love above all things. He is my Self as You created me. It is not Christ that can be crucified. Safe in Your Arms let me receive Your Son.”

A Course in Miracles W-303.1:1–2:8

Reinterpretation Shows Me Light

Photo courtesy of Blake Lasater

In the past 13 years, I’ve written many of these “dailies” based on events which transpire with my next door neighbor. He has been vehement in his condemnation of me for many reasons, all of which I have viewed as fiction. Yesterday he came to my house and asked for advice; today it seems we are friends and he called on the phone with many things to tell me. Oh my. Now, I see this Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson: “Where darkness was, I look upon the light.” At one point in our conversation today, he told me of his church ostracizing him, and he was sad that people see him as a troublemaker. He kept insisting he was a good person, and I was honestly able to tell him that was how I saw him. I told him that no matter the circumstances, I saw him as a reflection of divine Love. By a reinterpretation of events, I found in my memory scenarios in which he was kind and caring. I assured him he was loved by God. I take these events of the past two days to mean that anything is possible, and I will go forward with an expectation of the best possible results. Namaste… 

“Where darkness was I look upon the light. Father, our eyes are opening at last. Your holy world awaits us, as our sight is finally restored and we can see. We thought we suffered. But we had forgot the Son whom You created. Now we see that darkness is our own imagining, and light is there for us to look upon. Christ’s vision changes darkness into light, for fear must disappear when love has come. Let me forgive Your holy world today, that I may look upon its holiness and understand it but reflects my own.

“Our Love awaits us as we go to Him, and walks beside us showing us the way. He fails in nothing. He the End we seek, and He the Means by which we go to Him.”

A Course in Miracles W-302.1:1–2:3

“Light is a symbol of Mind, of Life, Truth, and Love, and not a vitalizing property of matter. Science reveals only one Mind, and this one shining by its own light and governing the universe, including man, in perfect harmony.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 520:27-1

United by Empathy

Dan Rather’s book, What Unites Us, is one which I highly recommend. He is old enough to remember what life was like in the aftermath of the great depression, times before we had government programs to help people in need, along with the suffering which was thought of as normal. When someone lost their job, it felt like death, because there was not another job to be found. Neighbors would do what they could for each other, and when little Dan asked his mother why they were helping the people across the street (thinking perhaps it was pity which inspired his folks to give) he was told it wasn’t because they felt sorry for them, but because they understood the feeling of being in need. He writes of empathy building community. In the last three decades, I’ve watched our little town band together to help people in every kind of need that you can imagine. I have been the recipient of that kindness more than once, and it has built empathy within me, too. When we don’t blame people for their misfortune, we don’t judge their circumstances, but simply meet their need, whatever it may be. It seems so simple, and it is a beautiful thing to watch in action. I wish everyone in our country could read or listen to this book by Mr. Rather. Good will multiplies exponentially, don’t you think? Let’s go forth and multiply!

"Do we love our neighbor better because of this asking? Do we pursue the old selfishness, satisfied with having prayed for something better, though we give no evidence of the sincerity of our requests by living consistently with our prayer? If selfishness has given place to kindness, we shall regard our neighbor unselfishly, and bless them that curse us, but we shall never meet this great duty simply by asking that it may be done. There is a cross to be taken up before we can enjoy the fruition of our hope and faith."  

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 9:6

“And God Himself shall wipe away all tears. Father, unless I judge I cannot weep. Nor can I suffer pain, or feel I am abandoned or unneeded in the world. This is my home because I judge it not, and therefore is it only what You will. Let me today behold it uncondemned, through happy eyes forgiveness has released from all distortion. Let me see Your world instead of mine. And all the tears I shed will be forgotten, for their source is gone. ⁷Father, I will not judge Your world today.

“God’s world is happy. Those who look on it can only add their joy to it, and bless it as a cause of further joy in them. We wept because we did not understand. But we have learned the world we saw was false, and we will look upon God’s world today.”

A Course in Miracles W-301.1:1–2:4

False Perceptions Cannot Hold Us

Photo courtesy of Gerry Toler

Is reality what we are told by the daily news? We know there are conflicting reports of current events, and it can be difficult to discern reality within human perspectives. Is it what we learn in school? I remember how surprising (and  embarrassing) it was to learn that most of the American history I had learned in school was no more than a myth, perpetuated by men who wanted it to be that way. We are beginning to understand that spiritual truth is not to be found within the religious institutions of our world. Everywhere we turn, there is a story which we have been told that has affected the way we view life. It is such a relief to know we can happily leave behind our stories of duality and erroneous thought, which frees us to listen for the “still, small voice” of truth. 

“Love is priestess at the altar of Truth. Wait patiently for divine Love to move upon the waters of mortal mind, and form the perfect concept.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 454:21-23

“Only an instant does this world endure. This is a thought which can be used to say that death and sorrow are the certain lot of all who come here, for their joys are gone before they are possessed, or even grasped. Yet this is also the idea that lets no false perception keep us in its hold, nor represent more than a passing cloud upon a sky eternally serene. And it is this serenity we seek, unclouded, obvious and sure, today.

“We seek Your holy world today. For we, Your loving Sons, have lost our way a while. But we have listened to Your Voice, and learned exactly what to do to be restored to Heaven and our true Identity. And we give thanks today the world endures but for an instant. We would go beyond that tiny instant to eternity.

A Course in Miracles W-300.1:1–2:5

Ideas or Thoughts?

Photo credit: Aaron Springston

A friend said to me that once you hear something, it’s a part of you. When we hear something, even when we know it’s not true, it can be difficult to get it out of our mind. While I admit that it can be difficult to forget something, I do not think it’s impossible. The key to this letting-go is realizing what you are. As long as I see myself as a material human, a victim of life’s circumstances, then, yes, it is difficult, even impossible, to release erroneous thought. When I start to glimpse that I am not this body, that I am an idea of divine Mind, then — and only then —am I freed from the bombardment of daily illusions and the lies of material sense. Looked at from this perspective, my goal is not to release anything; it is to understand my Being as an expression of divine Mind, an emanation of divine Love, the experience of divine Life! I will not think of this as an impossible task, but as a reachable Truth.

“How are veritable ideas to be distinguished from illusions? By learning the origin of each. Ideas are emanations from the divine Mind. Thoughts, proceeding from the brain or from matter, are offshoots of mortal mind; they are mortal material beliefs. Ideas are spiritual, harmonious, and eternal.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 88:9-14

“Eternal holiness abides in me. My holiness is far beyond my own ability to understand or know. Yet God, my Father, Who created it, acknowledges my holiness as His. Our Will, together, understands it. And Our Will, together, knows that it is so.

“Father, my holiness is not of me. It is not mine to be destroyed by sin. It is not mine to suffer from attack. Illusions can obscure it, but can not put out its radiance, nor dim its light. It stands forever perfect and untouched. In it are all things healed, for they remain as You created them. And I can know my holiness. For Holiness Itself created me, and I can know my Source because it is Your Will that You be known.”

A Course in Miracles W-299.1:1–2:8