Seeds for The Garden of Your Mind

July 17

Karen Casey, Daily Meditations for Practicing the Course:

“We can look at problems differently.”

“How do you look at the loss of a job differently? Or a stalled car or an angry spouse? Problems are problems!

When first told that we can see even the most horrendous of circumstances differently, we may suspect it means being in denial. Therapists and friends have warned us against denial. We’d stay stuck in our problems, they claim. Thus it’s easy to be leery of the Course’s teachings at first. Being assertive means  taking care of ourselves, we’ve been told. Surely we aren’t supposed to quit doing that!

In this regard, the main lesson of the Course seems radical. It asks us to willingly seek another view of whatever situation is distressing us, even if we are being hurt. That’s a bold request, and it’s natural to resist it at first. Those among us who have tried seem so happy though. Could it be …?”

“It can’t hurt me to try to see my circumstances differently.
I owe myself this opportunity today.”

Marianne Williamson, A Year of Daily Wisdom:     “Any career, when given to the Holy Spirit, can be used as part of the plan of the restoration of the world. No job is too big or too small for God to use.”

Hugh Prater, Morning Notes:          “To forgive another I must first be honest with myself. Very often trying to forgive feels like trying to change reality. But forgiveness is simply returning to peace. If I am stirred up about someone, my purpose is not to squelch my troubled mind. It is to return my attention to my peaceful mind, where nothing needs to be done or undone. To do this, I have the option of going to the source of the disturbance and surrounding in light the troubled image that I hold of the other person. This doesn’t dishonestly condone what the individual did; it honestly addressed the part I am playing in my own mental distress.”

Wayne Dyer:          “Healing occurs when we approach our own healing power through faith in our spiritual perfection and abiding sense of unconditional love.”

Paul Ferrini:          “Your unconditional love and acceptance of your partner is your best and easiest pathway to God-communion. With your partner, you learn to be both lover and beloved.”
  
Unity’s Daily Word:

“I go within the garden of my soul
and know my oneness with God.”

“A favorite hymn reminds me of my oneness with God: I know that as I come to the garden alone, God walks with me and talks with me.”

“In this garden within my soul, there is a wellspring of life and healing. I listen to the rippling of the ‘brook’ that flows forth from this source. I feel the perfect peace of this sacred place.”

“I feel God’s love enfolding me, healing me. This healing power flows through my body and my soul. My life has meaning and purpose. I know that God is my guide and my protector. My life has beauty and grace. As I am blessed, so am I a blessing.”

“I stay in the garden of my soul for a while – until it’s time to return to this day. Appreciation wells up from within as I say, ‘Thank You, God, for the joy I’ve found.”

A Course in Miracles:           Lesson  198

“Only my condemnation injures me.”

Namaste - Ron