Peace on Earth

 Peace on Earth - by Renie Britenbucher

I read a letter from Sigmund Freud to Albert Einstein, wherein he wrote to him asking if there was a way to free humankind from the threat of war. Mr. Freud has quite a bit to say about this subject, but one phrase which brought pause is, “...the lust for aggression and destruction”. I had never thought of it that way, and it caused me to take notice. Part of his conclusion is as follows: “The upshot of these observations, as bearing on the subject in hand, is that there is no likelihood of our being able to suppress humanity's aggressive tendencies. In some happy corners of the earth, they say, where nature brings forth abundantly whatever man desires, there flourish races whose lives go gently by, unknowing of aggression or constraint. This I can hardly credit; I would like further details about these happy folk.” In our world, we see famine and harsh conditions in many places. I question whether this is the way creation is supposed to evolve. I’m pretty sure when we follow the laws of nature, life as we know it would become Life as we wish it were! Namaste ...

"Heaven: Harmony; the reign of Spirit; government by divine Principle; spirituality, bliss, the atmosphere of Soul." Mary Baker Eddy, Science & Health, Page 587

Rainy Nights

Eureka Springs, AR - photo credit: Richard Quick 

 RAINY NIGHTS -- BY IRENE THOMPSON

I like the town on rainy nights

When everything is wet –

When all the town has magic lights

And streets of shining jet!

When all the rain about the town

Is like a looking-glass,

And all the lights are upside-down

Below me as I pass.

Everything Is Waiting For You

 

Photo credit: Blake Lasater

Everything is Waiting for You by David Whyte

"Your great mistake is to act the drama

as if you were alone. As if life

were a progressive and cunning crime

with no witness to the tiny hidden

transgressions. To feel abandoned is to deny

the intimacy of your surroundings. Surely,

even you, at times, have felt the grand array;

the swelling presence, and the chorus, crowding

out your solo voice You must note

the way the soap dish enables you,

or the window latch grants you freedom.

Alertness is the hidden discipline of familiarity.

The stairs are your mentor of things

to come, the doors have always been there

to frighten you and invite you,

and the tiny speaker in the phone

is your dream-ladder to divinity.

Put down the weight of your aloneness and ease into

the conversation. The kettle is singing

even as it pours you a drink, the cooking pots

have left their arrogant aloofness and

seen the good in you at last. All the birds

and creatures of the world are unutterably

themselves. Everything is waiting for you."

“I am come as a light into a world that does deny itself everything. ²It does this simply by dissociating itself from everything. ³It is therefore an illusion of isolation, maintained by fear of the same loneliness that _is_ its illusion. ⁴I said that I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. ⁵That is why I am the light of the world. ⁶If I am with you in the loneliness of the world, the loneliness is gone.” A Course in Miracles T-8.IV.2:1-7

Love Your Enemies?

All of us, individually and collectively, can find things to be upset about. Humanity is roiling with the pain of events. I wrote yesterday about the emotionally unsettled feelings of the male of our species. For centuries, women have felt put upon because of injustice perpetrated by men. Native Americans, black people, Asians — well, I’m not sure there are any groups of people who have not been tyrannized by their fellow beings. What I am sure of is that it does not need to affect our behavior today, right here and now. Forgiveness means releasing anything and everything from past experience or psychic memory. How do we not hold it against a person who has brought misery to us? What of the genocide, the destruction of art and beauty, the raping of the land? Loving someone who perpetrates such travesties seems impossible, as well it should be. Their actions come from a deranged mind. But following the instruction to love your neighbor as yourself does not mean to love the material, ego-based human. It means to love the true man, the spiritual being which is the creation of the divine Mind. And since we change the world through our own thoughts, every time I see someone committing heinous acts, I will translate the situation in my mind. We are not material; we are spiritual. What if everyone realized this? What a wonderful world …

“The metaphysician, making Mind his basis of operation irrespective of matter and regarding the truth and harmony of being as superior to error and discord, has rendered himself strong…” Science & Health Page 423:18-21

"The Holy Spirit is the Mediator between the interpretations of the ego and the knowledge of the spirit. His ability to deal with symbols enables Him to work with the ego’s beliefs in its own language. His ability to look beyond symbols into eternity enables Him to understand the laws of God, for which He speaks. He can therefore perform the function of reinterpreting what the ego makes, not by destruction but by understanding. Understanding is light, and light leads to knowledge. ⁶The Holy Spirit is in light because He is in you who are light, but you yourself do not know this. It is therefore the task of the Holy Spirit to reinterpret you on behalf of God. A Course in Miracles, T-5.III.7:1-7

Masculinity

Throughout the last seven decades, I’ve watched women and so-called people of color take their rightful place as functioning members of society. It hasn’t been much longer than that when women were not allowed to vote in elections, and only since1962 if you happened to be a black woman in the United States. Nowadays, most women can hold any job and live any way they choose. It amazes me that men feel threatened by this, but now I’m seeing that many are — and it’s become quite a problem for society. The latest Christian Science Monitor features the plight of the white man. Throughout the years, I’ve laughed when I was told they had a plight, but observance and thoughtful articles are opening my eyes to what has happened. The most startling statistic is that 70% of the suicides in 2019 were white men. Add to that the fact that only 40% of college students are male. Between 2019 and 2020, men who died from drug- and alcohol-related causes spiked 35%! There are numerous reasons for this, of course. Some have simplistic explanations, such as women have stolen their jobs and they have no purpose. I think it’s true that men feel lost in the current climate of changing gender roles, but I also believe it’s mental conditioning which has caused them to feel this way. This topic will be revisited soon, but for now, I’ll end with a quote from Andrew Yang: “We need to be needed. We imagine ourselves as builders, soldiers, workers, brothers — part of something bigger than ourselves.” 

“…man is a generic term. Masculine, feminine, and neuter genders are human concepts.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 516:29

Freedom From Fear - Aung San Suu Kyi

Art by Vladislav Yerko

"Withina system which denies the existence of basic human rights, fear tends to be the order of the day. Fear of imprisonment, fear of torture, fear of death, fear of losing friends, family, property or means of livelihood, fear of poverty, fear of isolation, fear of failure. A most insidious form of fear is that which masquerades as common sense or even wisdom, condemning as foolish, reckless, insignificant or futile the small, daily acts of courage which help to preserve man's self-respect and inherent human dignity. It is not easy for a people conditioned by fear under the iron rule of the principle that might is right to free themselves from the enervating miasma of fear. Yet even under the most crushing state machinery courage rises up again and again, for fear is not the natural state of civilized man.” -- Aung San Suu Kyi, Freedom From Fear 

"The rights of man were vindicated in a single section and on the lowest plane of human life, when African slavery was abolished in our land. That was only prophetic of further steps towards the banishment of a world-wide slavery, found on higher planes of existence and under more subtle and depraving forms." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 225:31

Friends, Inexplicably Bonded

 Today my book club discovered that one of our group was missing in action. None of us realized we had not heard from her in quite a while, and it seemed to hit us all at once that something was wrong. After frantically checking with her family, it turns out she has had a physical problem and is in a facility which is helping her recover. This happening brought home to me the importance of connections and being there for each other. Our group of friends have been close for more than 15 years, brought together by the small independent school where our children attended, and kept together by our love of books and each other. Years ago I read a quote by Joel Goldberg which has stayed with me: “Groups of people who share spiritual Love are bound together for eternity.” My friends are my family, and I love you …

"I think some people are just inexplicably bonded. Drawn by forces beyond their own comprehension, they have no choice but to gravitate toward one another. Destined by fate to keep crossing paths until they finally get it right.” L.B. Simmons

"Love never loses sight of loveliness. its halo rests upon its object. One marvels that a friend can ever seem less than beautiful." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 248:3