Unity of Spirit

Kahlil Gibran’s writing on God — from “The Madman”

“In the ancient days, when the first quiver of speech came to my lips, I ascended the holy mountain and spoke unto God, saying, ‘Master, I am thy slave. Thy hidden will is my law and I shall obey thee for ever more.’

But God made no answer, and like a mighty tempest passed away.

And after a thousand years I ascended the holy mountain and again spoke unto God, saying, ‘Creator, I am thy creation. Out of clay hast thou fashioned me and to thee I owe mine all.’

And God made no answer, but like a thousand swift wings passed away.

And after a thousand years I climbed the holy mountain and spoke unto God again, saying, ‘Father, I am thy son. In pity and love thou hast given me birth, and through love and worship I shall inherit thy kingdom.’

And God made no answer, and like the mist that veils the distant hills he passed away.

And after a thousand years I climbed the sacred mountain and again spoke unto God, saying, ‘My God, my aim and my fulfilment; I am thy yesterday and thou art my tomorrow. I am thy root in the earth and thou art my flower in the sky, and together we grow before the face of the sun.’

Then God leaned over me, and in my ears whispered words of sweetness, and even as the sea that enfoldeth a brook that runneth down to her, 

he enfolded me.

And when I descended to the valleys and the plains, God was there also.”

Kahlil Gibran

“My holiness shines bright and clear today. Today I wake with joy, expecting but the happy things of God to come to me. I ask but them to come, and realize my invitation will be answered by the thoughts to which it has been sent by me. And I will ask for only joyous things the instant I accept my holiness. For what would be the use of pain to me, what purpose would my suffering fulfill, and how would grief and loss avail me if insanity departs from me today, and I accept my holiness instead?

“Father, my holiness is Yours. Let me rejoice in it, and through forgiveness be restored to sanity. Your Son is still as You created him. My holiness is part of me, and also part of You. And what can alter Holiness Itself?”

A Course in Miracles W-285.1:1–2:5

“The periods of spiritual ascension are the days and seasons of Mind’s creation, in which beauty, sublimity, purity, and holiness — yea, the divine nature — appear in man and the universe never to disappear.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 509:24-28

Wonder and Awe

“Try and let your knowledge be sideswiped by awe” — These words are from a poem I love. The act of “collapsing in wonder” (also taken from the poem) is being reinforced regularly in my daily life. There’s a video about stress relief and the main suggestion is to feel awe everyday. Dacher Kelter, the man being interviewed, mentioned that in London, where he is from, no one ever looks up at the sky. An act as simple as laying down on the ground and looking at clouds and birds, connecting with the earth, is the best way to relieve stress. He used the word “awe” time and time again in his explanations of getting past stressful feelings and embracing happiness and peace. Feeling awe, collapsing into wonder, these sound like simple acts which anyone could do. But apparently the majority of us do not. So when we are talking to someone who is sad, or overwhelmed by life, or anxious, or worried, or tired of it all, let’s take them outside for a look around — really looking and getting lost in the wonder. It’s the best feeling of all!

Here is a link to the interview, if you’re interested!

https://youtu.be/NO_GdfSe9To


“It is Love which paints the petal with myriad hues, glances in the warm sunbeam, arches the cloud with the bow of beauty, blazons the night with starry gems, and covers earth with loveliness.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 247:24-27

“There is a light in you which cannot die; whose presence is so holy that the world is sanctified because of you. All things that live bring gifts to you, and offer them in gratitude and gladness at your feet. The scent of flowers is their gift to you. The waves bow down before you, and the trees extend their arms to shield you from the heat, and lay their leaves before you on the ground that you may walk in softness, while the wind sinks to a whisper round your holy head.”
A Course in Miracles W-156.4:1-4

News For My Friends

 

Dear Friends,

I am currently in our local hospital and they will be sending me to a larger one soon. I have everything I need, and more. 

A friend has been bringing me “real” food and wlll be my advocate for the move to Rogers. 

As a cherished Sufi friend wrote me: “Would you like to be on the international list for healing prayers (Sufi service)?  I really don't need any details - they can interfere with seeing a person in their perfection.” This is absolutely how I feel about material situations, so I am hesitant to put too much in this note of explanation. I know inquiring minds want to know more. So I’m going to write a separate note, with more details than I’m comfortable giving, for the analytical minds in our circle of loving Beings. 

I have known I had a problem for a couple of months. There is only one explanation I can think of for why I haven’t attended to it: I was hoping I’d wake up dead one morning. Please, don’t get me wrong. I don’t have a death wish. I love every facet of my life, and look forward to each day. But rather than face the apocalyptic events happening around us, rather than facing the extensive medical treatment i knew would be needed, I hoped for nature to take its course. And I suppose it has, because it looks as though I have to “stay calm and carry on”. 

And so I shall…

Thank you for the Love you are continually radiating towards me. Please know I’m sending it back!

Eternally, 

Marsha

For Years My Heart Inquired

                              

Hafiz Translated by Dick Davis

“For years my heart inquired of me

                   Where Jamshid's sacred cup might be,

And what was in its own possession

                   It asked from strangers, constantly;

Begging the pearl that's slipped its shell

                   From lost souls wandering by the sea.

Last night I took my troubles to

                   The Magian sage whose keen eyes see

A hundred answers in the wine

                   Whose cup he, laughing, showed to me.

I questioned him, "When was this cup

                   That shows the world's reality

Handed to you?" He said, "The day

                   Heaven's vault of lapis lazuli

Was raised, and marvelous things took place

                   By Intellect's divine decree,

And Moses' miracles were made

                   And Sameri's apostasy."

He added then, "That friend they hanged   

                   High on the looming gallows tree—

His sin was that he spoke of things

                   Which should be pondered secretly,

The page of truth his heart enclosed

                   Was annotated publicly.

But if the Holy Ghost once more

                   Should lend his aid to us we'd see

Others perform what Jesus did—

                   Since in his heartsick anguish he

Was unaware that God was there

                   And called His name out ceaselessly."

I asked him next, "And beauties' curls

                   That tumble down so sinuously,

What is their meaning? Whence do they come?"

                   "Hafez," the sage replied to me,

"It's your distracted, lovelorn heart

                   That asks these questions constantly."

“When apparently near the confines of mortal existence, standing already within the shadow of the death-valley, I learned these truths in divine Science: that all real being is in God, the divine Mind, and that Life, Truth, and Love are all-powerful and ever-present; that the opposite of Truth, — called error, sin, sickness, disease, death, — is the false testimony of false material sense, of mind in matter; that this false sense evolves, in belief, a subjective state of mortal mind which this same so-called mind names matter, thereby shutting out the true sense of Spirit.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 108:19-29

“All your difficulties stem from the fact that you do not recognize yourself, your brother or God. To recognize means to ‘know again,’ implying that you knew before. You can see in many ways because perception involves interpretation, and this means that it is not whole or consistent. The miracle, being a way of perceiving, is not knowledge. It is the right answer to a question, but you do not question when you know. Questioning illusions is the first step in undoing them. The miracle, or the right answer, corrects them. Since perceptions change, their dependence on time is obvious. How you perceive at any given time determines what you do, and actions must occur in time. Knowledge is timeless, because certainty is not questionable. You know when you have ceased to ask questions.” 

A Course in Miracles T-3.III.2:1-11

I’m a Dreamer …

"Imagine" by John Lennon

Imagine there's no heaven

It's easy if you try

No hell below us

Above us only sky

Imagine all the people

Living for today... 

Imagine there's no countries

It isn't hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion too

Imagine all the people

Living life in peace... 

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 

Imagine no possessions

I wonder if you can

No need for greed or hunger

A brotherhood of man

Imagine all the people

Sharing all the world... 

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 live as one

“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 

“The Holy Spirit teaches thus: There is no hell. Hell is only what the ego has made of the present. The belief in hell is what prevents you from understanding the present, because you are afraid of it. The Holy Spirit leads as steadily to Heaven as the ego drives to hell. For the Holy Spirit, Who knows only the present, uses it to undo the fear by which the ego would make the present useless. There is no escape from fear in the ego’s use of time. For time, according to its teaching, is nothing but a teaching device for compounding guilt until it becomes all-encompassing, demanding vengeance forever.” 

A Course in Miracles T-15.I.7:1-7

Life is a Meditation

Photo credit: Blake Lasater Family

How do you integrate your spiritual practice into daily life? When asked this question, I had to pause and think about it. Since I don’t have any rituals which would be defined as “spiritual practice”, I suppose they are asking about the moments I stop to commune with the Universe — times when waiting in line at the grocery, or staying calm while choir direction is happening, or clearing my mind to listen for inspiration in the daily Wordle! Hum, I guess life IS a spiritual practice, don’t you think? When I find myself turning a situation around and ‘round in thought, or when I replay possible scenarios of how things may transpire, that’s the time for a mental reminder to just stop it! Spiritual practice, for me, can be defined as getting out of my own way and listening for the inner voice which could be called intuition, or God. While some may think going to church once a week constitutes a spiritual practice, most folks I know have a moment-to-moment awareness which is guided by Love. How do you know if you’re life is directed by Spirit or ego? If you’re at peace, it’s God; if you’re upset and unhappy, it’s ego!

“Thoughts unspoken are not unknown to the divine Mind. Desire is prayer; and no loss can occur from trusting God with our desires, that they may be moulded and exalted before they take form in words and in deeds.”

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 1:10-14

“It is impossible to accept the holy instant without reservation unless, just for an instant, you are willing to see no past or future. You cannot prepare for it without placing it in the future. Release is given you the instant you desire it. Many have spent a lifetime in preparation, and have indeed achieved their instants of success. This course does not attempt to teach more than they learned in time, but it does aim at saving time. You may be attempting to follow a very long road to the goal you have accepted. It is extremely difficult to reach Atonement by fighting against sin. Enormous effort is expended in the attempt to make holy what is hated and despised. Nor is a lifetime of contemplation and long periods of meditation aimed at detachment from the body necessary. All such attempts will ultimately succeed because of their purpose. Yet the means are tedious and very time consuming, for all of them look to the future for release from a state of present unworthiness and inadequacy.”
A Course in Miracles - T-18.VII.4:1-11

Peace to the Struggling Heart

Scala Dei Turchi White Wall - Italy

Photo credit: Blake Lasater

Often things are not the way we think they should be, but we can still be happy and at peace. What happens within you is entirely yours; what happens around you is never yours alone. How often do you hear someone say: He/She pushes my buttons! This means, of course, that someone “makes you angry or upset”. Is this really possible? How we react to someone else is either peaceful or tumultuous, and we have that choice to make in every moment. When I was a child, I didn’t like to have conversations when I first woke up in the morning. My mother thought this was a flaw in my character and tried to change me. Looking at this now, I see that silence in the morning works best for many of us. If I start out the day with inane conversation, or news stories hand-picked to feed my fears, the timbre of the day has been set, making it difficult to center myself in the peace which is always a present possibility. Similarly, when I don’t sleep well at night, it’s because I haven’t been able to shut down my thoughts. Although I am not a fan of ritual, morning and evening quiet meditations work for me. We are all individuals, and through an examination of your feelings, habits, and demeanor, you can discover what works for you, too!


“Glory be to God, and peace to the struggling hearts! Christ hath rolled away the stone from the door of human hope and faith, and through the revelation and demonstration of life in God, hath elevated them to possible at-one-ment with the spiritual idea of man and his divine Principle, Love.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 45:16-21

“O my brothers, if you only knew the peace that will envelop you and hold you safe and pure and lovely in the Mind of God, you could but rush to meet Him where His altar is. Hallowed your Name and His, for they are joined here in this holy place. Here He leans down to lift you up to Him, out of illusions into holiness; out of the world and to eternity; out of all fear and given back to love.”
A Course in Miracles C-4.8:1-3