Communion?

Baby Communion

I’ve been contemplating the traditional religious act of communion. I play the organ for three congregations, two of which are Catholic, so I needn’t think about it in that church, as you must be one of them to partake in this ritual. But the second church I play for on Sunday morning is Presbyterian. They offer communion once a month, and today was the day. They also have numerous preachers who come on different Sundays, so they usually try to get me to eat and drink the body of Christ. Having been raised in Christian Science, I had never witnessed this process until I began playing for mainline religions six years ago. When I played for the Methodists a few years back, I asked the pastor if it was rude to decline when it was offered. He assured me it was not. I certainly would have done it if their feelings were going to be hurt, as I’m not saying “no” on moral grounds or anything like that. The Mary Baker Eddy quote below explains how I feel. To me, communion is a moment-by-moment, constant spiritualization of thought. And so it is …

“Our baptism is a purification from all error. Our church is built on the divine Principle, Love. We can unite with this church only as we are new-born of Spirit, as we reach the Life which is Truth and the Truth which is Life by bringing forth the fruits of Love, — casting out error and healing the sick. Our Eucharist is spiritual communion with the one God. Our bread, ‘which cometh down from heaven,’ is Truth. Our cup is the cross. Our wine the inspiration of Love, the draught our Master drank and commended to his followers.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 35:19-28

“Communion is impossible alone. No one who stands apart can receive Christ’s vision. It is held out to him, but he cannot hold out his hand to receive it. Let him be still and recognize his brother’s need is his own. And let him then meet his brother’s need as his and see that they are met as one, for such they are. What is religion but an aid in helping him to see that this is so?” A Course in Miracles P-2.II.9:1-8

Change Something …

 

Unknown artist 

“Everyone must leave something behind when he dies, my grandfather said.. 

A child or a book or a painting or a house or a wall built or a pair of shoes made.. 

Or a garden planted.. 

Something your hand touched some way so your soul has somewhere to go when you die, 

and when people look at that tree 

or that flower you planted, you're there..

It doesn't matter what you do, he said, so long as you change something 

from the way it was before you touched it 

into something that's like you 

after you take your hands away.. 

The difference between the man who just cuts lawns and a real gardener is in the touching, he said.. 

The lawn-cutter might just as well not have been there at all..

the gardener will be there a lifetime.”

-Ray Bradbury

“Never accord the ego the power to interfere with the journey. It has none, because the journey is the way to what is true. Leave all illusions behind, and reach beyond all attempts of the ego to hold you back. I go before you because I am beyond the ego. Reach, therefore, for my hand because you want to transcend the ego. My strength will never be wanting, and if you choose to share it you will do so. I give it willingly and gladly, because I need you as much as you need me.” A Course in Miracles T-8.V.6:4-10

“It is of comparatively little importance what a man thinks or believes he knows; the good that a man does is the one thing needful and the sole proof of rightness.” Mary Baker Eddy - Miscellaneous Writings 281: 8

Seeing Through Awakened Eyes

Photo credit: Alden Stallings

We are aghast at the injustice which seems rampant everywhere we look. How have we allowed corruption to reign supreme? Why is our food poison, our water scarce, the things we value meaningless? Why do we allow it to happen? The recognition of our unity is a major turning point in our evolution. With the knowledge that everything is connected, that what affects one affects all, we are prompted to stand up and make the change within ourselves that we would like to see in the world. This interconnectedness of All that Is was first shown to me by my Beagle, Harry. He was so sensitive to feelings around him that the mildest irritation on my part would send him to the deepest corner of the closet, where he would remain until I had "cleared my energy field" -- so to speak. We have within our Being the ability to change the world. True evolution is the evolution of consciousness. What a wonderful thing, to see through awakened eyes! To wake up from the hypnosis we have allowed ourselves to fall under is a very exciting proposition, don’t you think? Reality, as we have accepted it, is falling away to reveal a way of life we have believed to be impossible. Love is the liberator. Embrace the change which is moving away from human intellect, back into the space of the heart. Open yourself to the divine and live as you were created: free. Accept your reality as the reflection of God, with no fear, only Love guiding your every action. Live Love now! Hallelujah and Namaste!

“The mind that serves the Holy Spirit is unlimited forever, in all ways, beyond the laws of time and space, unbound by any preconceptions, and with strength and power to do whatever it is asked. Attack thoughts cannot enter such a mind, because it has been given to the Source of love, and fear can never enter in a mind that has attached itself to love. It rests in God. And who can be afraid who lives in Innocence, and only loves?” A Course in Miracles W-199.2:1-4

“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 49:16-22

What Do You Believe Is Possible?

 

Muir Trail

Photo credit: Aaron Springston

“If you want to change your dog's behavior, you first have to change your belief of what you think is possible." This statement was made by Cesar Milan, a/k/a The Dog Whisperer. I've quoted this mindful man many times in the past, and his words have brought me guidance and comfort. We, as people, tend to hold on to our learned behaviors, keeping ourselves and our animals stuck in place even when we recognize the need to move upward in thought. Our expectations are powerful hindrances or goals for forward movement. My dog teaches me many things, but the most important is how I sabotage myself with my fixed way of seeing myself and others. Calm, assertive behavior brings an instant karma which shows Truth mirrored forth in both myself and those I see as others!

"This mortal is put off, and the new man or real man is put on, in proportion as mortals realize the Science of man and seek the true model." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 408:22-26

“Freedom must be impossible as long as you perceive a body as yourself. The body is a limit. Who would seek for freedom in a body looks for it where it can not be found. The mind can be made free when it no longer sees itself as in a body, firmly tied to it and sheltered by its presence. If this were the truth, the mind were vulnerable indeed!” A Course in Miracles W-199.1:1-5

Love, Truth, and You

Photo credit: Alden Stallings

The Little Paris Bookshop is an exquisitely-written novel. It's a love story on many levels. If you love food, or people, or romance, and especially if you love books, this story will pick you up and take you to  places you may have been afraid to visit before reading it. The main character has a bookstore which is floating on a barge in the Seine. He calls his business The Book Apothecary and he prescribes specific books for the needs of his customers. This story explores the limitations we put on love and leads us to see that Love is truly all there is. There may seem to be other things -- lots of them! -- but ultimately it comes down to choosing between what you've decided is truth and what Truth actually is. There were many parts of this book which illustrated that it really doesn't matter what we think; truth is truth no matter what we may believe. The One we are may not be the one we seem to be!

"One infinite God, good, unifies men and nations; constitutes the brotherhood of man; ends wars; fulfils the Scripture, ‘Love thy neighbor as thyself;’ annihilates pagan and Christian idolatry, — whatever is wrong in social, civil, criminal, political, and religious codes; equalizes the sexes; annuls the curse on man, and leaves nothing that can sin, suffer, be punished or destroyed." 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 340:21-29

“Love does not limit, and what it creates is not limited. To give without limit is God’s Will for you, because only this can bring you the joy that is His and that He wills to share with you. Your love is as boundless as His because it is His.” 

A Course in Miracles T-11.I.6:6-8

How Far Do We Go?

 

What do you do if you have an acquaintance or neighbor who is asking for monetary assistance on a regular basis, but doesn’t seem to be doing anything to help himself out of the hole he’s in? I recently visited with seldom-seen friends who had this situation with one of their neighbors. They had offered to teach him a trade so he could support himself, but it seems he’s so deeply involved with drugs that he has no desire to work at lifting himself up. What to do? I don’t see any set responses to these situations. I’ve known single mothers who are indeed victims of life’s circumstances and need a foot up to keep on going. And I’ve seen people who appear to be users, hoping to get by all their lives on what others will give them. I know that if someone is in need sitting on the sidewalk, I’ll give him what I can, and if the person chooses to buy alcohol, so be it. That’s where he is and that’s what he needs. I think we must trust our gut feelings in these situations. I wish there was a set answer to life’s tough problems, but it doesn’t seem that’s possible. Let’s keep on loving each other and looking for answers. Namaste…

“Charity is a way of looking at another as if he had already gone far beyond his actual accomplishments in time. Since his own thinking is faulty he cannot see the Atonement for himself, or he would have no need of charity. The charity that is accorded him is both an acknowledgment that he needs help, and a recognition that he will accept it. Both of these perceptions clearly imply their dependence on time, making it apparent that charity still lies within the limitations of this world. I said before that only revelation transcends time. The miracle, as an expression of charity, can only shorten it. It must be understood, however, that whenever you offer a miracle to another, you are shortening the suffering of both of you. This corrects retroactively as well as progressively.” A Course in Miracles T-2.V.10:1-8

“The rich in spirit help the poor in one grand brotherhood, all having the same Principle, or Father; and blessed is that man who seeth his brother’s need and supplieth it, seeking his own in another’s good.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 518:15-19 

Releasing the Future

What does it mean to release the future? We've learned that we must release the past in order to live in the present. "Those who live in the past are condemned to live there alone." (Einstein's Dreams, by Alan Lightman) But what of releasing the future? Does that mean we can't make plans and have dreams of what we'd like to do? No, of course not. It simply means that we mustn't allow those "what-if" situations to control us. If we take the future to the level of constant worry, affecting our every moment in the present, then it's time to release it! I feel there is nothing wrong with thinking about the past or the future, unless it begins to be our focus. With no fear of the future, nor regret in the past, I am free to live in the eternal now — Woo-hoo!

“I place the future in the Hands of God. The past is gone; the future is not yet. Now am I freed from both. For what God gives can only be for good. And I accept but what He gives as what belongs to me. I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.” A Course in Miracles W-214.1:1-8

“As the crude footprints of the past disappear from the dissolving paths of the present, we shall better understand the Science which governs these changes, and shall plant our feet on firmer ground.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 224:4-7