Multiplying Nothing

"There is no more self-contradictory concept than that of "idle thoughts." What gives rise to the perception of a whole world can hardly be called idle. Every thought you have contributes to Truth or illusion; either it extends the Truth or it multiplies illusions. You can indeed multiply nothing, but you will not extend it by doing so." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 16, 2:1-4

"Light is a symbol of Mind, of Life, Truth, and Love, and not a vitalizing property of matter." -- Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy; Page 510, Lines 27-28

The above quotes are so mind-boggling. Today is my 58th birthday... talk about multiplying nothing! We multiply years and seasons, and call it age and wisdom. But we're really only weaving stories around an illusion of self. All Life is eternal, and knows no age or limitation. All Wisdom is an eternal aspect of Mind, without beginning or end. And this Mind is the Source and Substance of our mind. Of course, we can only know this when we're in our right mind So let's shed Light on this, shall we? Since Light is also an eternal, unchanging aspect of Mind, and has nothing to do with the physical.

A Course in Miracles speaks of this as two ways of thinking. Only one is actually happening, so this is tricky. How do you talk about illusory experiences without making them real? "Thoughts can represent the lower or bodily level of experience, or the higher or spiritual level of experience. One makes the physical, and the other creates the spiritual." (ACIM; Chapter 1, Section I, 12:2-3) Notice that the illusory, lower-level thoughts are made... while the real, spiritual thoughts are created.

We can make up stories, and we all enjoy doing this. But nothing has really happened. We didn't really create anything. It seems there is no harm done unless we start confusing what we've made with what is Real. But there are no idle thoughts. When we make up stories or believe other people's stories, we're lost in the dream, lost in what ACIM calls wrong-mindedness. Right-mindedness doesn't involve making up more stories. It involves allowing what IS to extend through us. What is True is already effortlessly present. What IS radiates and extends naturally and effortlessly, when we forgive and release our wrong-minded stories. This is the experience of the miracle, the shift from false perception to Awareness of the True and Real, even in the midst of the dream we call life.

It takes great courage to want to wake up from our stories. There is absolutely no support for this within the dream we call life, since everyone has a vested interest in the stories they're living. And there is absolutely no support for it within our own story, since our own ego has a vested interest in the survival of its stories. But through Grace, the Truth is true and nothing else is true. Through Grace, stories come and go. Through Grace, we can make lots of stories, but not one of them is created, and so they are not true, and so they will not last. Even if we resist this Awakening as hard as we can, we inevitably come face to face with the Truth of Who We Are. Nothing else even exists. Sooner or later everyone wakes up.

So there are no idle thoughts. We can hasten our own Awakening (as ACIM dryly puts it, since you believe in time, why waste it?) by remembering this, and forgiving and releasing our thoughts and stories of a material world and separate bodies. This allows the True thoughts that continually extend, radiating from the Mind of God, to shine in and through us. And even though that seems like a really hard thing, the really good news is that we can multiply nothing... zero to the zero power... and we can keep doing this over and over, and be fascinated by the results. But nothing has ever happened... and we remain safe in the Mind of God, where we have always been. Thank God.

"The Thought God holds of you is like a star, unchangeable in an eternal sky." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 30, Section III, 8:4