July 8, 2012 - Love leads the way

A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson #189

“I feel the Love of God within me now.”

"Aaron and Heather in Red Butte"
photo by Sandy Magnan

Seeing the world as Love is an awakening. Often events seem too sad or troublesome to see through Love, so we block them off from thought and try to pretend they never happened. Or, perhaps, we dwell on them constantly and allow them to shape our lives. To "feel the Love of God within me now" is to see everything as God, Love, sees. With these eyes of Love, we see a world of beauty and innocence, brimming with goodness, hope, charity, compassion. Every day we are called upon to support each other. When people recount their difficulties, we can listen with the spiritual sense of Soul, and through this listening we will hear how to respond -- or not! Typically, people tell me their problems. It's always been this way, and I used to find it distressing. For instance, recently my morning  started with a very vocal resident of our town telling me that their dog had been attacked by a deer, and wanting me to join in a movement to rid our town of wildlife. The next person I met was a local carpenter who had been involved in an accident and was very fearful about his future. And then I was visited by a new gallery owner who was afraid that no one wants the fabulous items she has for sale. Each of these situations presented the opportunity to "see the world anew, shining in innocence, alive with hope, and blessed with perfect charity and love", to quote this day's ACIM workbook lesson.  When we feel the Love of God within us, now, we know what to say to those who need words, we know when to say nothing, and we have the freedom to do either. I look forward to hearing and seeing everything which presents itself today, not with my material, judgmental ears and eyes, but with the spiritual sense which is mine as a reflection of God. 

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Love inspires, illumines, designates, and leads the way. Right motives give pinions to thought, and strength and freedom to speech and action. 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. Patience must "have her perfect work."

Science & Health Page 454:17-24

July 7, 2012 - Peace is mine Now

A Course in Miracles Lesson #188

“The peace of God is shining in me now.”

"Ever Presence"
photo by Aaron Springston

What a wonderful realization it is to see that the peace we may have been seeking has always been right here within ourselves, waiting for us to discover it. This peace of God is ours now and always. To recognize this fact is the meaning of enlightenment. We needn't seek for ways to change ourselves in order to experience this light! Where we stand right here and now is sufficient. We're not being asked to change anything, to do anything differently, but only to see Truth. If things need changing in our material existence, then so it shall be. I have a dear friend who recently moved to a remote area in an idyllic setting. There she sat herself down and read through the Course in Miracles book, in its entirety, three times! As I spoke with her on the phone recently, I felt a softness about her which has been growing for years. Its appearance isn't indicative of enlightenment to something new, but of knowing the Truth of her own Self. Some days I feel this same knowing about myself. Others it seems impossible to climb out of the busy-ness which can hide this reality. One thing is for sure, laughter and joy are the keys to opening the door. The more joy which is shared, the more laughter we give to ourselves and others, the easier it becomes to express the qualities of God, which come flowing through us with our recognition of what we truly are -- Love!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Truth and Love enlighten the understanding, in whose "light shall we see light;" and this illumination is reflected spiritually by all who walk in the light and turn away from a false material sense.”

Science & Health Page 510:9-12

July 6, 2012 - What Blesses One Blesses All

"Aaron in South Africa"
photo by Heather Magnan

A Course in Miracles Lesson #187

“I bless the world because I bless myself.”

If we have something and give it away, our material belief is that we don't have it any longer. The truth as we are learning through these studies tells us that giving will increase what we possess. We are also learning that things represent thoughts. And we also are learning that when we give ideas away they become stronger in our own mind. The form is often changed in what we have given and what we receive, but it never leaves us lacking. While reading today's lesson, I’m remembering something from a few years back. I had loaned a friend quite a bit of money. After asking her to start paying me back, she wrote me a letter saying that this money would come back to me in some form since the laws of the universe demand it. It was a beautifully eloquent letter, detailing many metaphysical principles. But this response didn't seem to be of assistance in meeting the obligations knocking on my door. After a while I quit thinking of this situation as a loaning of money, un-repaid, but as a gift to a friend. This came to mind a year so or later when my gallery was on the verge of closing. Within a week's time, friends and people I barely knew had given me more than $17,000. What a perfect demonstration of what we're pondering today! Whether giving ideas and watching them multiply, or giving material things and seeing them as representations of Love, we can be assured of returns when we freely give.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“In the scientific relation of God to man, we find that whatever blesses one blesses all, as Jesus showed with the loaves and the fishes,--Spirit, not matter, being the source of supply.”

Science & Health, Page 206:15-18

July 5, 2012 - Accepting function is not arrogance

A Course in Miracles Lesson #186

“Salvation of the world depends on me.”

"Couple in Mongolia"
photo by Aaron Springston

"Salvation of the world depends on me." We have been deceived into thinking that accepting this statement as truth would be the epitome of arrogance on our part. Me?? How could that be possible? I'm so ... fill in the blank with how you believe yourself to be unworthy. Yet the first sentence in this lesson tells us that these words will take away all arrogance from every mind. Mortal mind, or ego, tells us these falsehoods about ourselves, which cause us to be, alternatively, puffed up with our goodness or deflated by our badness. The humble acceptance of our part in this whole shows the pointlessness of such feelings. When listening to divine Mind, God, many avenues of expression are shown to us. We may be prompted to speak to people we've never interacted with before, in ways we never dreamed we'd speak. Let us not fear our function, whatever that revealed function may be! Let's listen carefully and constantly, in order to hear the full prompting. So often I think divine inspiration is coming through loud and clear, and then find I only listened part-way and proceeded to fill in the blanks with what I wanted to happen. And so I vow today to listen 100%, putting vain imaginings away! I know my function is forgiveness. Listening will show me what that means today, every moment, every day.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“Millions of unprejudiced minds--simple seekers for Truth, weary wanderers, athirst in the desert--are waiting and watching for rest and drink. Give them a cup of cold water in Christ's name, and never fear the consequences.”

Science & Health Page 570:14-18

July 4, 2012 - Freedom through peace

"London, England, 2006"
photo by Aaron Springston

A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson #185

“I want the peace of God.”

The first two sentences in today's lesson say it all: "To say these words is nothing. But to mean these words is everything." How easy it is to say we want the peace of God. But do we live as though we mean that? That is the question! I am often asked how I expect to pray for the world if I don't know what horrors are happening out there. Even though I don't watch or hear mainstream media news, I do have a few sources of information. My favorite is documentary films. Recently I've watched "Taking Root", telling us about the Green Belt Movement in Kenya. I've received an understanding of how lack of water and forests affect the people, and how things have gotten to the point they're at today. It leads my thought to the personal responsibility we each must take for the environment around us, and ourselves individually. The Christian Science Monitor is a wonderful resource which can be found online or in a weekly print publication. This is a stellar newspaper which Mary Baker Eddy started in the early 1900s, whose mission was and is to "injure no man, but to bless all mankind". Often people tell me that opposites are necessary. For instance, I've been told we wouldn't appreciate peace without unrest, and what would happiness be if we didn't know its opposite, and that we can't know light if we haven't experienced darkness. When these views are voiced, I'm always tempted to say, "Hogwash", or something similar in meaning!! And this seeming need for dualism is what keeps us from wholeheartedly wanting and accepting the peace of God which is ours. If we have peace, how would we recognize it without some sort of struggle to bounce it off of? Let's not think of these things when recognizing the peace of God, which has neither beginning nor end, and is ours now, in this eternity – simply for the acknowledging of it.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“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.

Science & Health Page 45:16-21

July 3, 2012 - Animal Communications

"Heather in St. Louis'
photo by Aaron Springston

ACIM Workbook Lesson #184

“The Name of God is my inheritance.”

Animal communication has always been fascinating to me. We can do away with the words we have designated as meaningful, all symbols we have created to separate us one from the other. Dogs, for instance, don't care if we're speaking Chinese or German, and when we realize this we're on our way to true communication. Animals respond to the images they pick up from thought. If you call your dog to you, but see him running away, then he's most likely going to run away. At some point, your sweet dog will become accustomed to the name you have given a particular action, and begin to respond to it, becoming a part of the scenario we have created for it and ourselves. But in their natural state, and ours, we all respond to the thoughts around us. I often tell my employees that every thought they think is going into the atmosphere of the gallery. If you are smiling and friendly on the outside, but teaming with turmoil on the inside, there is an uncomfortable feeling surrounding you. True communication is clearly shown by a flock of birds, turning together in the sky as an expression of the One. Try practicing with your dog while walking, thinking which way you want to turn before you tug on the leash. Expand that practice with the wildlife eating your flowerbeds! Or tell those ants to leave your house, in the way that J. Allen Boone does in "Kinship With All Life". Experiment with different ways of communication. What an adventure!!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“In the Scriptural allegory of the material creation, Adam or error, which represents the erroneous theory of life and intelligence in matter, had the naming of all that was material. These names indicated matter's properties, qualities, and forms. But a lie, the opposite of Truth, cannot name the qualities and effects of what is termed matter, and create the so-called laws of the flesh, nor can a lie hold the preponderance of power in any direction against God, Spirit and Truth.”

Science & Health Page 177:15-24

July 2, 2012 - Just Call

"South African Sunset"
photo by Aaron Springston

A Course in Miracles Lesson #183

“I call upon God's Name and on my own.”

The crux of what I'm gleaning from today's lesson is that it doesn't matter what you call it, as long as you call it! It also seems to be about beginning to "get" our true relation to God as Its image and likeness. It has also caused me to think about people's reactions to the word "God". Often you will see shades pulled closed in the eyes of those who hear you say this word. And so, over time, we may stop saying it and go with such words as Source, All that Is, et cetera. For myself, what I will stress in thought today are the synonyms given for God by Mary Baker Eddy. These seven words build upon each other and totally define Deity. Each word alone does not do the job, but when you start learning the magnitude of these synonyms, there is an overwhelming Allness which starts to be understood. Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, Love. These seven words combine to give us a gift. This gift grows more each moment as it is accepted and practiced within your mind. Through this material insight, we are able to see a bit of our spiritual reality. Translate the word God in any way it feels correct within yourself. If you'd like more to chew on concerning these synonyms for God, there is a wonderful book I've recently been introduced to: "Your Divinity Revealed: The Seven-fold Revelation of Your Being", by Helen M. Wright. I highly recommend it!

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"Question: What is God?

Answer: God is incorporeal, divine, supreme, infinite Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, Love.

Question: Are these terms synonymous?

Answer: They are. They refer to one absolute God. They are also intended to express the nature, essence, and wholeness of Deity. The attributes of God are justice, mercy, wisdom, goodness, and so on.

Question: Is there more than one God or Principle?

Answer: There is not."

Science & Health Page 465: 8-17