This morning, quiet. Yes.
ACIM took me to Christian Science Bible Lesson (Sacrament), took me to Prose Works, then to a letter from a friend -- then to checking out my purpose and vision, and to (re)writing "Working with Dean" for a new (and amazing) assistant I'll be working with at College Summit. (Mari's first day is tomorrow.)
ACIM took me to Christian Science Bible Lesson (Sacrament), took me to Prose Works, then to a letter from a friend -- then to checking out my purpose and vision, and to (re)writing "Working with Dean" for a new (and amazing) assistant I'll be working with at College Summit. (Mari's first day is tomorrow.)
The path was something like this:
1. ACIM, Chapter 11, VI-VIII.
- "He does not require obedience, for obedience implies submission. He would only have you learn your will and follow it, not in the spirit of sacrifice and submission, but in the gladness of freedom." (VI, 5)
- "You will awaken to your own call, for the Call to awake is within you. If I live in you, you are awake. Yet you must see the works I do through you, or you will not perceive that I have done them unto you. Do not set limits on what you believe I can do through you, or you will not accept what I can do for you. Yet it is done already, and unless you give all that you have received you will not know that your redeemer liveth, and that you have awakened with him. Redemption is recognized only by sharing it." (VI,9) (After typing this, now, I wonder if this is why a blog decision this morning. I wonder if it will live on?)
- "Do not make the mistake of believing that you understand what you perceive, for its meaning is lost to you. ... You do not know the meaning of anything you perceive. ... Instruction in perception is your great need, for you understand nothing. Recognize this but do not accept if, for understanding is your inheritance. Perceptions are learned, and you are not without a Teacher. Yet your willingness to learn of Him depends on your willingness to question everything you learned of yourself, for you who learned amiss should not be your own teacher." (VIII, 2,3)
- "Children perceive frightening ghosts and monsters and dragons, and they are terrified. Yet if they ask someone they trust for the meaning of what they perceive, and are willing to let their own interpretations go in favor of reality, their fear goes with them. ... You, my child, are afraid of your brothers and of your Father and of yourself. But you are merely deceived in them. Ask what they are of the Teacher of reality, and hearing His answer, you too will laugh at your fears and replace them with peace. For fear lies not in reality, but in the minds of children who do not understand reality." (VIII, 13,14)
2. Prose Works
- Q: "Is it correct to say of material objects, that they are nothing and exist only in imagination?" ... To take all earth's beauty in to one gulp of vacuity and label beauty nothing, is ignorantly to caricature God's creation, which is unjust to human sense and to the divine realism. In our immature sense of spiritual things, let us say of the beauties of the sensuous universe: 'I love your promise; and shall know, some time, the spiritual reality and substance of form, light, and color, of what I now through you discern dimly; and knowing this, I shall be satisfied. Matter is a frail conception of mortal mind; and mortal mind is a poorer representative of the beauty, grandeur, and glory of the immortal Mind."
3. Letter from Becca, this Spring
- Becca talks about Eddy's deep work to make her insights hers, really hers. If we accept what she did, that's fine (an Audi A4), but if we work to find our own truth and our own words for it, reinventing it for ourselves (rear-wheel drive Volvo), we'll find ourselves in more danger, but we'll learn faster. (I think I won't quote her, because she didn't expect it when she wrote to me.)
Great quotes on perception, Dean. Along these lines I was thinking this morning how useful it is to take everything we perceive with a grain of salt, and even better to question everything. After all, our perception is directly related to who we think we are so as long as we believe we are bodies, our perception (as convincing as the evidence we get from our senses seems) has to be flawed. I hope you continue with this!!
ReplyDeleteYup. Every time there's an event or a thing that I label with a judgment, it's really an opportunity to question it. Every time. Because, really, it just is what it is, not my naming of it.
ReplyDelete(I sent the invitation to this to you and a couple of others together. Did you see their names? I'd like people's privacy maintained unless they choose otherwise.)
Thank you for sharing that. I loved the collection. I just finished reading the 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing which has a chapter (a law) dedicated to perception. I love the timing of your morning thoughts meeting my travel reading. "All truth is relative. Relative to your mind or the mind of another human being. When you say, "I'm right and the next person is wrong," all you're really saying is that you're a better perceiver than someone else. Most people think they are better perceivers than others. They have a sense of personal infallibility. Their perceptions are always more accurate than those of their neighbors or friends. Truth and perception become fused in the mind, leaving no difference between the two." The chapter goes on to teach us that marketing is not a battle of products but a battle of perception. "It's what people THINK about a Honda, a Toyota, or a Nissan that determines which brand will win."
ReplyDeleteAnyway, there's something there that I really liked. The paragraph turned my perception, as a user/consumer/customer, into something at once powerful and self-weakening.
Getting to know perception, becoming aware of perceiving - your own, others, your users - sounds like a good idea.
Hello again.
ReplyDeleteJust reviewed my notes from another book - the Lovemarks Effect by Kevin Roberts - and found this scrawled message in the margin: "for him, love is listening, and helping them find their truth." I was referring to John Wareham, business leader and author of How to Break Out of Prison. He works with inmates at Riker's Island. He says, "Love and business can and do mix. That is the direction in which we are traveling now, and very quickly too. I think Love is the way to go."
Listening, and helping people find their truth. That's what you're all about Dad!
Wow, Julie. That morning of writing was worth it to read these from you.
ReplyDelete1. Love that the marketing books are singing for you.
2. I'm learning that helping people find their truth has so much to do with being present with them rather than finding the right advice. Strange how hard that is. Shut up, Dean, and BE THERE. Smiling.
Julie,
ReplyDeleteWhy do you not show up as a follower?
Dave Bornstein,
ReplyDeleteThanks for signing up. You asked me, separately, how my writing is coming along. Well, I've stopped demanding text from myself each day (actually it was always night), and I'm wondering if this will become the forum for it -- driven by when the muse hits.
Do people run multiple blogs? I've been thinking about another blog in the Non-Profit Leadership space, which could ultimately grow into something worth spreading more broadly. You think?