"And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed... and all went to be taxed, every one to his own city." -- The Bible; Luke 2: 1-3
As I was listening to a reading of the Christmas story on Christmas Eve, it was as if a translation was going on in my awareness. The world of Caesar, in this story, is the illusory material world with all its laws and limitations that seem to bind us and burden us. The tax is the need to bow down to these laws, to sacrifice to them and obey them and suffer because of them. Whether these are laws about bodies or laws about finances (and taxes!) or laws about relationships, the result is the same. We are on a treadmill trying to keep up and we feel guilt if we don't measure up. So we stay on that treadmill trying to fix it, to change it, or to succeed in it. Sometimes we just feel the need to punish ourselves or someone else for not measuring up to those insane laws. It's all the same thing, and the end result is a dizzying sense of burden and unease and guilt, even in the best of times.
Then, in the midst of this story of all the world bowing down to Caesar and paying taxes in tribute, Mary goes into labor. There is of course no room for this innocence in the insanity of guilt and need that is the world of Caesar. No room in the inn, which is where that world says we must stay. But in this amazing story of joy and deliverance, Mary gives birth to baby Jesus (Emmanuel, God with us!) right where she finds herself, which in the world's view is the lowliest of circumstances. This birth is taking place right where we are, wherever we are! No special circumstances needed! The birth pains come from our clinging to stories of wrongness, guilt, blame, lack, and limitation. The actual birth is the act of forgiving, of letting go of the burden of believing we are subject to laws of guilt, lack, and limitation. And the baby (God with us!) is the dawning Awareness of our Eternal Innocence and abiding as expressions of the One Love and Light that is God. We are that new born Awareness, expressing Love and Joy and Peace. We are the Christmas Story. This new day, and every new day.
As 2018 approaches, we don't need health or relationship or financial or political or ecological miracles to experience security and fulfillment. "Perfect security and complete fulfillment are my inheritance." (A Course in Miracles; Workbook 56:1:5). True miracles are born of our perfect innocence (ALL of us!) and Infinite Love (ALL of us!) as pure Awareness. This Awareness is God expressing in the world of Caesar, and is the only miracle we ever need. This pure and innocent Awareness reveals the true hope and joy we all bring to the new year as Emmanuel, God with us! We are the Christmas Story. This new day, and every new day!
"There is one thought in particular that should be remembered throughout the day. It is a thought of pure joy; a thought of peace, a thought of limitless release, limitless because all things are freed within it." (A Course in Miracles; Manual for Teachers 16:6:1-2)
"When they saw the star [when the Awareness of Emmanuel, God with us! dawned], they rejoiced with exceeding great Joy!" -- The Bible; Matthew 2:10
Showing posts with label Emmanuel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Emmanuel. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 26, 2017
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
The Great I Am
"Death is a thought that takes on many forms, often unrecognized. It may appear as sadness, fear, anxiety or doubt; as anger, faithlessness, and lack of trust; concern for bodies, envy, and all forms in which the wish to be as you are not may come to tempt you. All such thoughts are but reflections of the worshipping of death as savior and as giver of release." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook 163, 1:1-3
When I read this passage before my morning meditation it was like a cartoon light bulb lit up over my head! When Jesus said the last thing we'll overcome is death, he wasn't talking about bodies! He was talking about the wish to be something else... the desire for change. How often have we heard that change is the only constant? How often have we thought, "I just need a change." Maybe it's a change of mates, a change of jobs, a change of scenery. Maybe it's a diet or exercise plan, yoga, meditation, or a commitment to read the Course every day. "But wait!" I can hear you all saying... "those are all good things! It's good to focus on health, on awakening, on self-improvement!" But the one thing all of these good intentions have in common is the wish to be as you are not.
Think carefully about this... the only reason to improve something is if it is somehow lacking. It is this that is impossible. God created only God, everywhere and always. There can be no other substance or existence. What would it be made of? Where would it be? And the continual search for improvement is the same as saying, "I am not" instead of "I Am."
While we dream of a world that seems imperfect and in constant flux, we have great need of forgiving the desire to be as we are not. As we let go of wanting things to be different, as we let go of wanting ourselves or them or it to change, we discover the unchanging I Am as the very Ground of Being. When Buddha said that desire is the source of all suffering, he was pointing out that it is the desire or wish for change that spins the wheel of samsara, the dream of life as change and suffering and death. Awakening from the dream is simply recovering our Awareness of Self, of I Am without a fluctuating object.
Ironically, there can never be a change in Reality. As Jesus pointed out, "Before Abraham was, I Am." Before and after are dream-concepts, meaningless to the radiating Bliss that I Am. What we call the Christ, the birth of the Awareness of Changeless Oneness we celebrate as Christmas, is "the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow." We are perfect ideas, extensions in pure Spirit, forever in the Mind of God. Emmanuel, God with Us, is the Great I Am.
"God Wills you learn what always has been true: that He created you as part of Him, and this must still be true because ideas leave not their Source. Such is Creation's Law; that each idea the mind conceives but adds to its abundance, never takes away." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 26, Section VII, 13:2-3
When I read this passage before my morning meditation it was like a cartoon light bulb lit up over my head! When Jesus said the last thing we'll overcome is death, he wasn't talking about bodies! He was talking about the wish to be something else... the desire for change. How often have we heard that change is the only constant? How often have we thought, "I just need a change." Maybe it's a change of mates, a change of jobs, a change of scenery. Maybe it's a diet or exercise plan, yoga, meditation, or a commitment to read the Course every day. "But wait!" I can hear you all saying... "those are all good things! It's good to focus on health, on awakening, on self-improvement!" But the one thing all of these good intentions have in common is the wish to be as you are not.
Think carefully about this... the only reason to improve something is if it is somehow lacking. It is this that is impossible. God created only God, everywhere and always. There can be no other substance or existence. What would it be made of? Where would it be? And the continual search for improvement is the same as saying, "I am not" instead of "I Am."
While we dream of a world that seems imperfect and in constant flux, we have great need of forgiving the desire to be as we are not. As we let go of wanting things to be different, as we let go of wanting ourselves or them or it to change, we discover the unchanging I Am as the very Ground of Being. When Buddha said that desire is the source of all suffering, he was pointing out that it is the desire or wish for change that spins the wheel of samsara, the dream of life as change and suffering and death. Awakening from the dream is simply recovering our Awareness of Self, of I Am without a fluctuating object.
Ironically, there can never be a change in Reality. As Jesus pointed out, "Before Abraham was, I Am." Before and after are dream-concepts, meaningless to the radiating Bliss that I Am. What we call the Christ, the birth of the Awareness of Changeless Oneness we celebrate as Christmas, is "the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow." We are perfect ideas, extensions in pure Spirit, forever in the Mind of God. Emmanuel, God with Us, is the Great I Am.
"God Wills you learn what always has been true: that He created you as part of Him, and this must still be true because ideas leave not their Source. Such is Creation's Law; that each idea the mind conceives but adds to its abundance, never takes away." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 26, Section VII, 13:2-3
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