"Whatever lies you may believe are of no concern to the miracle, which can heal any of them with equal ease. It makes no distinctions among misperceptions. Its sole concern is to distinguish between Truth on the one hand, and error on the other. Some miracles may seem to be of greater magnitude than others. But remember the first principle in this Course: there is no order of difficulty in miracles." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 2, Section I, 5:1-5
"Miracles are thoughts. 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." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 1, Section I, 12:1-3
Grace and miracles are synonymous, like all the attributes of Truth. They each seem to highlight a facet of Being, but are in fact One. Have you ever been in an airplane, looking down on what appears to be an infinite ocean of white, fluffy clouds? The sense of expansiveness and joy that such a sight arouses is not to be taken lightly. That very 'sense' is closer to Reality than any bodily sight or sensation. It points to the miracle that is Grace.
The thoughts that arise from this sense of Grace are wholly spiritual (and holy, too!). The thoughts that arise from apparent physical sensations are completely projected and false... in other words, they generate a false sense of self and project a world to populate that false sense. As the quote from ACIM emphasizes, Miracles/Grace represent your true thoughts, the only thoughts that reflect Reality... the only thoughts that arise from the unified Mind of our True Self, which we also call God.
What happens, then, when we completely forget the misperceptions and misconceptions of the false self? What happens when we allow the ocean of Infinite Grace, the Awareness of One Self, to completely occupy our minds and hearts? What happens is that we allow Infinite Grace to live our lives. We allow the Miracle of Love to reflect here in the earth-dream, as it is in the Heaven of our Awareness.
The Miracle of Grace has no limits and no cost. It simply is, without condition or definition. And yet it gladly flows through this computer keyboard, embracing us all as we read and write this. That's what Infinite means. As ACIM puts it, this is the act of creation, to flow and expand, to radiate without limit or condition. Infinite Grace is our very Being.
"You were created only to create, neither to see nor to do." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 14, Section I, 4:4
Showing posts with label Grace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Grace. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Begin Again
"Routines as such are dangerous, because they easily becom gods in their own right, threatening the very goals for which they were set up. Broadly speaking it can be said that it is well to start the day right [i.e., giving the day to God]. But it is ALWAYS possible to begin again, should the day begin with error." [emphasis mine] -- A Course in Miracles; Manual for Teachers 16, 2:5-7
We're pretty hard on ourselves. We set unrealistic expectations for our bodies and our minds, all of which are based on goals and actions out there, with the world as we imagine it. The problem is, they're unrealistic because they're not true, not because we didn't do it right. Even the goals and actions we seem to acheive or approve of will disappoint sooner or later, because they're based on the false gods referenced in the above quote... earthly rituals to the gods of diet, relationships, pleasure, or finance. But we can begin again. Any instant.
One way we remain in bondage to egoic pursuit is the lie that it's not possible to begin again, so we might as well make the best of what we've got. We'd better make this body work well, because we won't get another one. We'd better subsume ourselves to this dysfunctional relationship or we'll be alone. We'd better be frugal and only spend on necessities for ourselves, because the economy shows no mercy. It's every man (or woman) for themselves.
How might this perspective soften and change if we felt innocent? If we knew that every holy instant we are born anew? If we really stopped for an instant... really allowed the Real to shine from everyone and everything? If we stopped writing the script of unrealistic and false expectations? All we're giving up is the illusion of protecting illusions about ourselves and the world we think we see.
I've come to realize that the only task I have before me every day, no matter what it looks like, is to let go of everything I think I know, to let the Real shine through every appearance. In the words of Mary Baker Eddy: "... depart from the material sense, into the spiritual sense of Being." A Course in Miracles calls this process 'forgiveness', the shedding of the false self. What does that mean? It means letting go of the evidence of the thinking mind, the evidence of the physical senses, and being fully present and aware NOW. In the midst of that awareness is our true knowing, our Spiritual Self. Everything that seems to be happening out there is actually a play of consciousness within the One Mind, the Self, the Allness of what we sometimes call God. Fully present awareness, without condition, is key.
So we begin again, every holy instant, by forgiving, by releasing, by letting go of every routine and conditioned response, every bit of sensory data. What remains is pure Awareness, and the Grace of our true Self.
We're pretty hard on ourselves. We set unrealistic expectations for our bodies and our minds, all of which are based on goals and actions out there, with the world as we imagine it. The problem is, they're unrealistic because they're not true, not because we didn't do it right. Even the goals and actions we seem to acheive or approve of will disappoint sooner or later, because they're based on the false gods referenced in the above quote... earthly rituals to the gods of diet, relationships, pleasure, or finance. But we can begin again. Any instant.
One way we remain in bondage to egoic pursuit is the lie that it's not possible to begin again, so we might as well make the best of what we've got. We'd better make this body work well, because we won't get another one. We'd better subsume ourselves to this dysfunctional relationship or we'll be alone. We'd better be frugal and only spend on necessities for ourselves, because the economy shows no mercy. It's every man (or woman) for themselves.
How might this perspective soften and change if we felt innocent? If we knew that every holy instant we are born anew? If we really stopped for an instant... really allowed the Real to shine from everyone and everything? If we stopped writing the script of unrealistic and false expectations? All we're giving up is the illusion of protecting illusions about ourselves and the world we think we see.
I've come to realize that the only task I have before me every day, no matter what it looks like, is to let go of everything I think I know, to let the Real shine through every appearance. In the words of Mary Baker Eddy: "... depart from the material sense, into the spiritual sense of Being." A Course in Miracles calls this process 'forgiveness', the shedding of the false self. What does that mean? It means letting go of the evidence of the thinking mind, the evidence of the physical senses, and being fully present and aware NOW. In the midst of that awareness is our true knowing, our Spiritual Self. Everything that seems to be happening out there is actually a play of consciousness within the One Mind, the Self, the Allness of what we sometimes call God. Fully present awareness, without condition, is key.
So we begin again, every holy instant, by forgiving, by releasing, by letting go of every routine and conditioned response, every bit of sensory data. What remains is pure Awareness, and the Grace of our true Self.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Waiting for God
"I have no cause for anger or fear, for You surround me. And in every need that I perceive, Your Grace suffices me." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook 348
We're conditioned from an early age to listen to our parents, our teachers, our friends, our church... in other words, we look to the outer world for information, direction, and validation. Learning to listen within and wait for God's appointments and direction seems counter intuitive, and even crazy. Interesting defense, isn't it? The ego (the fictional aggregate of mental constructs we call a self, imagining we're separate from God and each other) is the very definition of insanity... a delusional defense against the whole. So it calls what is true, false, and insists that the unreal has substance and validity. That's how projection works. It's also the justification for fear and anger and all the insanity the ego insists is real.
Only take a moment to consider rationally... God, the very Ground of Being, is everywhere... pure and eternal Life and Love without form or condition. We live and move and have our Being in God. So how could we look anywhere other than God for what is essential and true? How could we look anywhere other than God for Who We Are? There is nowhere else. There's nothing out there but projected ideas based on a mistake... the mistake that somehow walling ourselves off from the whole will give us what we want and keep us safe. And when has that ever been the truth? Safe from what? What else is there but God, the All in All?
Waiting for God doesn't involve the future... it involves a present willingness to be still, to listen each holy instant in unceasing mindfulness. This doesn't involve effort or struggle or even a technique or practice. Once the willingness is given by the mind, the beauty of our true Self takes over. Stillness, one-pointedness, awakened awareness, pure joy and unshakable peace... these are all attributes we find to be our own, as natural as breathing. More so.
Waiting for God means we're willing to release the false and embrace the True. And we at last remember the Grace that enfolds and surrounds us and suffices us in all things.
We're conditioned from an early age to listen to our parents, our teachers, our friends, our church... in other words, we look to the outer world for information, direction, and validation. Learning to listen within and wait for God's appointments and direction seems counter intuitive, and even crazy. Interesting defense, isn't it? The ego (the fictional aggregate of mental constructs we call a self, imagining we're separate from God and each other) is the very definition of insanity... a delusional defense against the whole. So it calls what is true, false, and insists that the unreal has substance and validity. That's how projection works. It's also the justification for fear and anger and all the insanity the ego insists is real.
Only take a moment to consider rationally... God, the very Ground of Being, is everywhere... pure and eternal Life and Love without form or condition. We live and move and have our Being in God. So how could we look anywhere other than God for what is essential and true? How could we look anywhere other than God for Who We Are? There is nowhere else. There's nothing out there but projected ideas based on a mistake... the mistake that somehow walling ourselves off from the whole will give us what we want and keep us safe. And when has that ever been the truth? Safe from what? What else is there but God, the All in All?
Waiting for God doesn't involve the future... it involves a present willingness to be still, to listen each holy instant in unceasing mindfulness. This doesn't involve effort or struggle or even a technique or practice. Once the willingness is given by the mind, the beauty of our true Self takes over. Stillness, one-pointedness, awakened awareness, pure joy and unshakable peace... these are all attributes we find to be our own, as natural as breathing. More so.
Waiting for God means we're willing to release the false and embrace the True. And we at last remember the Grace that enfolds and surrounds us and suffices us in all things.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
A New Creation
"Therefore if anyone be in Christ, he is a new creation; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new!" -- The Bible; 2 Corinthians 5:17
"Let me remember that there is no sin. Sin is the only thought that makes the goal of God seem unattainable. What else could blind us to the obvious, and make the strange and distorted seem more clear?" -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook 259, 1:1-2
It's very early morning, after a rainy night. The earth smells fresh and clean, and breathes with peace, the way I feel after an early morning shower. Everything feels new, although most would argue that it is the same world I went to bed looking at last night. That is not my experience.
Every minute of every day we are awakening to a new creation. And only the thoughts of limitation and adjustment that we insist on bringing with us obscure each holy instant of release and freedom. A Course in Miracles calls these limiting thoughts and conditioned beliefs 'sin'. And then reminds us that it's all made up. There is no sin. There is only mind that imagines itself separate from its Source, and therefore separate from everything that is.
What does it mean to be 'in' Christ? ACIM puts it this way: "Christ is God's Son as He created Him. He is the Self we share, uniting us with one another, and with God as well. He is the Thought which still abides within the Mind that is His Source. He has not left His holy home, nor lost the innocence in which He was created. He abides unchanged forever in the Mind of God." -- ACIM; Workbook Part II, 6.
This is our Reality, our true Self. To be a new creation in Christ is simply to remember Who We are as God created us. And how does this make all things new? "The Holy Spirit reaches from the Christ in you to all your dreams [false perceptions], and bids them come to Him, to be translated into Truth." This is the process of forgiveness which ACIM calls the Atonement. "For when forgiveness rests upon the world and peace has come to every Son of God, what could there be to keep things [seeming] separate, for what remains to see except Christ's face?" -- ACIM; Workbook Part II, 6.
So every minute of every day we are awakening to Who We Are. This awakening feels like rebirth, again and again, and we literally are become a new creation.
"Home of the Holy Spirit, and at home in God alone, does Christ remain at peace within the Heaven of your holy mind. This is the only part of you that has Reality in Truth. The rest is dreams. Yet will these dreams be given unto Christ, to fade before His glory and reveal your holy Self, the Christ, to you at last." -- ACIM; Workbook Part II, 6.
"Let me remember that there is no sin. Sin is the only thought that makes the goal of God seem unattainable. What else could blind us to the obvious, and make the strange and distorted seem more clear?" -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook 259, 1:1-2
It's very early morning, after a rainy night. The earth smells fresh and clean, and breathes with peace, the way I feel after an early morning shower. Everything feels new, although most would argue that it is the same world I went to bed looking at last night. That is not my experience.
Every minute of every day we are awakening to a new creation. And only the thoughts of limitation and adjustment that we insist on bringing with us obscure each holy instant of release and freedom. A Course in Miracles calls these limiting thoughts and conditioned beliefs 'sin'. And then reminds us that it's all made up. There is no sin. There is only mind that imagines itself separate from its Source, and therefore separate from everything that is.
What does it mean to be 'in' Christ? ACIM puts it this way: "Christ is God's Son as He created Him. He is the Self we share, uniting us with one another, and with God as well. He is the Thought which still abides within the Mind that is His Source. He has not left His holy home, nor lost the innocence in which He was created. He abides unchanged forever in the Mind of God." -- ACIM; Workbook Part II, 6.
This is our Reality, our true Self. To be a new creation in Christ is simply to remember Who We are as God created us. And how does this make all things new? "The Holy Spirit reaches from the Christ in you to all your dreams [false perceptions], and bids them come to Him, to be translated into Truth." This is the process of forgiveness which ACIM calls the Atonement. "For when forgiveness rests upon the world and peace has come to every Son of God, what could there be to keep things [seeming] separate, for what remains to see except Christ's face?" -- ACIM; Workbook Part II, 6.
So every minute of every day we are awakening to Who We Are. This awakening feels like rebirth, again and again, and we literally are become a new creation.
"Home of the Holy Spirit, and at home in God alone, does Christ remain at peace within the Heaven of your holy mind. This is the only part of you that has Reality in Truth. The rest is dreams. Yet will these dreams be given unto Christ, to fade before His glory and reveal your holy Self, the Christ, to you at last." -- ACIM; Workbook Part II, 6.
Friday, September 3, 2010
A Long Time Coming...
First, all links are working on the CD website, and I have also posted a new YouTube video. Enjoy! And don't forget to purchase mp3s or order the whole CD, and support the animals at The Claire Foundation Animal Sanctuary.
All quotes today are from the Manual for Teachers in A Course in Miracles. Where no reference is given, quotes are from section 10, "How is Judgment Relinquished?"
"And now must [you] attain a state that may remain impossible to reach for a long, long time. [You] must learn to lay all judgment aside, and ask only what [you] really want in every circumstance." -- A Course in Miracles; Manual for Teachers 4, I, A, 7:7-8
Of course, time is an illusion. What seems like a long time coming is just how it seems to us, as we cling to the remnants of personal judgment, guilt, and fear. We cling to our personal judgments and conditioned self-image (which is nothing but a collection of judgments) because we think it is who we are... and it seems that giving up judgment would be the death of our identity and individuality. In fact, the false identity keeps us blind to our true Self and individuality in God.
Every snowflake, every grain of sand is unique and individual... no two are ever the same. And yet their only identity is in the collective. A snowflake is nothing without the snowfall or the snowbank. A single grain of sand is useless, but the sand dunes create shelter and habitat. Each of us is unique, too, but not in the ways we imagine. We each reflect God and only God in this world, each in a unique way that only has meaning within the Whole. When we judge what we or anyone else should be, or what we should be doing or saying based on human perspectives (which are simply the memories we carry around as if they were true), we are projecting a false image over the face of Self... which is the face of Christ.
So how in the heck do we give up judgment? How in the heck do we let go of who we think we are, or should be, or will be? A Course in Miracles gives us clear direction: "It is necessary... to realize not that he should not judge, but that he cannot. In giving up judgment, he is merely giving up what he did not have. He gives up the illusion; or better, he has an illusion of giving up. He has actually become more honest. Recognizing that judgment was always impossible [which of us could ever know or be aware of the full spectrum of possibilities or circumstances, past, present or future?], he no longer attempts it. This is no sacrifice. On the contrary, he puts himself in a position where judgment through him rather than by him can occur. And this judgment [of the Holy Spirit] is neither 'good' nor 'bad'. It is the only judgment there is, and it is only One: "God's Son is guiltless, and sin does not exist."
Whenever we're confronted with decisions or problems, it may seem excruciatingly hard not to judge it 'practically'... but there is nothing practical about the world of suffering that arises from these false projections we call judgments. Each of us will "lay it down happily the instant he recognizes the cost. All of the ugliness he sees about him is its outcome. All of the pain he looks upon is its result. All of the loneliness and sense of loss; of passing time and growing hopelessness; of sickening despair and fear of death; all these have come of it [judgment]. And now he knows that these things need not be. Not one is true. For he has given up their cause, and they, which never were but the effects of his mistaken choice, have fallen from him. Therefore lay judgment down, not with regret but with a sigh of gratitude. Now are you free of a burden so great that you could merely stagger and fall down beneath it. And it was all illusion. Nothing more."
I am writing this blog today because giving up judgment has seemed to be a long time coming for me. I thought I was a very judgmental person, even very recently. I thought I had to struggle to somehow 'overcome' judgment. But Grace has a way of correcting our false perceptions of ourselves in the unlikeliest of circumstances. I am so grateful for every false judgment I ever thought I made... because I now know that it was all made up, including all self-judgment. Every circumstance has become a happy dream, another way to remember God, and my Self.
"His sense of care is gone, for he has none. He has given it away, along with judgment. Now he makes no mistakes. His Guide is sure. And where before he came to judge, he comes to bless. Where now he laughs, he used to come to weep." -- A Course in Miracles; Manual for Teachers 10, 5:7-13
All quotes today are from the Manual for Teachers in A Course in Miracles. Where no reference is given, quotes are from section 10, "How is Judgment Relinquished?"
"And now must [you] attain a state that may remain impossible to reach for a long, long time. [You] must learn to lay all judgment aside, and ask only what [you] really want in every circumstance." -- A Course in Miracles; Manual for Teachers 4, I, A, 7:7-8
Of course, time is an illusion. What seems like a long time coming is just how it seems to us, as we cling to the remnants of personal judgment, guilt, and fear. We cling to our personal judgments and conditioned self-image (which is nothing but a collection of judgments) because we think it is who we are... and it seems that giving up judgment would be the death of our identity and individuality. In fact, the false identity keeps us blind to our true Self and individuality in God.
Every snowflake, every grain of sand is unique and individual... no two are ever the same. And yet their only identity is in the collective. A snowflake is nothing without the snowfall or the snowbank. A single grain of sand is useless, but the sand dunes create shelter and habitat. Each of us is unique, too, but not in the ways we imagine. We each reflect God and only God in this world, each in a unique way that only has meaning within the Whole. When we judge what we or anyone else should be, or what we should be doing or saying based on human perspectives (which are simply the memories we carry around as if they were true), we are projecting a false image over the face of Self... which is the face of Christ.
So how in the heck do we give up judgment? How in the heck do we let go of who we think we are, or should be, or will be? A Course in Miracles gives us clear direction: "It is necessary... to realize not that he should not judge, but that he cannot. In giving up judgment, he is merely giving up what he did not have. He gives up the illusion; or better, he has an illusion of giving up. He has actually become more honest. Recognizing that judgment was always impossible [which of us could ever know or be aware of the full spectrum of possibilities or circumstances, past, present or future?], he no longer attempts it. This is no sacrifice. On the contrary, he puts himself in a position where judgment through him rather than by him can occur. And this judgment [of the Holy Spirit] is neither 'good' nor 'bad'. It is the only judgment there is, and it is only One: "God's Son is guiltless, and sin does not exist."
Whenever we're confronted with decisions or problems, it may seem excruciatingly hard not to judge it 'practically'... but there is nothing practical about the world of suffering that arises from these false projections we call judgments. Each of us will "lay it down happily the instant he recognizes the cost. All of the ugliness he sees about him is its outcome. All of the pain he looks upon is its result. All of the loneliness and sense of loss; of passing time and growing hopelessness; of sickening despair and fear of death; all these have come of it [judgment]. And now he knows that these things need not be. Not one is true. For he has given up their cause, and they, which never were but the effects of his mistaken choice, have fallen from him. Therefore lay judgment down, not with regret but with a sigh of gratitude. Now are you free of a burden so great that you could merely stagger and fall down beneath it. And it was all illusion. Nothing more."
I am writing this blog today because giving up judgment has seemed to be a long time coming for me. I thought I was a very judgmental person, even very recently. I thought I had to struggle to somehow 'overcome' judgment. But Grace has a way of correcting our false perceptions of ourselves in the unlikeliest of circumstances. I am so grateful for every false judgment I ever thought I made... because I now know that it was all made up, including all self-judgment. Every circumstance has become a happy dream, another way to remember God, and my Self.
"His sense of care is gone, for he has none. He has given it away, along with judgment. Now he makes no mistakes. His Guide is sure. And where before he came to judge, he comes to bless. Where now he laughs, he used to come to weep." -- A Course in Miracles; Manual for Teachers 10, 5:7-13
Monday, August 30, 2010
God's Will
First I want to let my readers know that I have a CD for sale, with proceeds going to The Claire Foundation Animal Sanctuary. All the hymns on it are Acappella, and recorded live at St. Vincent's-in-the-Vineyard. You can hear cuts from it on my YouTube channel. Thanks for supporting the animals! And FYI, you can download individual mp3s for only $1.99 each.
Now for the quote that inspired today's blog:
"God's Will is One, not many. It has no opposition, for there is none beside it." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 19, IV, 3:5-6
It's hard to find a phrase that instills such varied reactions as 'God's Will.' For many of us, it conjures pious, judgmental comments made after natural disasters or sudden deaths. For almost everyone it raises a sense of unease and fear... because hey, who the heck knows what God's Will for us is? It could be bad, it could be something punitive so we can 'learn our lessons.' Isn't that how most human parents operate? Don't we unconsciously model our ideas of God after our human notions of authority?
So this quote can be hard to take in. We may hear it, but gloss over it. God's Will is ONE, not many. IT HAS NO OPPOSITION, because there isn't anything else. Only God. We live and move and have our being IN THIS ONENESS. So logically there isn't my will and then God's Will imposed on me from without. There is only God, only God's Will, appearing AS me, and AS you. That we have convinced ourselves and each other that we are separate bodies and lives is irrelevant, because it's not true.
This reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from the movie "The Matrix." A little psychic boy is bending spoons with his mind, and offers Keanu Reeves' character the chance to try it. He isn't having much luck, and the little boy simply says, "Don't try and bend the spoon. Know that there is no spoon." And then of course, the spoon bends.
Joel Goldsmith told a similar story. He was traveling and arrived at his destination only to hear that his luggage had been lost. He spent the next couple of days practicing scientific prayer, knowing that what belonged to him could never be lost, etc. But his luggage did not show up. Finally in meditation the answer came to him... there was no lost luggage! There are no opposites or oppositions in all God's Kingdom, there is only God! Of course, his luggage then 'showed up' unexpectedly.
Jesus taught us this Truth when he said, "Seek ye first the Kingdom (the Oneness of God) and all else will be added unto you." We just have it upside down and backwards, thinking that cause and effect lie within the world, in our actions and reactions, or even in our thoughts. If there is no Will but God's, it also holds that there are no real Thoughts but God's. Everything else is the dreaming of the mind that imagines itself to be separate. And no matter what we imagine in our dreaming, we remain safe in God, eternally.
There is great peace in this awareness. "Peace has replaced the strange idea that you are torn by conflicting goals. As an expression of the Will of God, you have no goal but His." (ACIM; Workbook 74, 1:5-6) We don't have to struggle humanly to figure it all out. God's Will is always Love, Goodness, Happiness, Peace, Abundance, Joy, and endless Life. And as we trust God with each holy instant of our lives, we are led by Grace.
"He leadeth me in paths of righteousness, for His Name's sake." -- Psalm 23
"Today I will recognize that all this has not occurred. I am safe because there is no will but God's." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook 87, 3:5-6
Now for the quote that inspired today's blog:
"God's Will is One, not many. It has no opposition, for there is none beside it." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 19, IV, 3:5-6
It's hard to find a phrase that instills such varied reactions as 'God's Will.' For many of us, it conjures pious, judgmental comments made after natural disasters or sudden deaths. For almost everyone it raises a sense of unease and fear... because hey, who the heck knows what God's Will for us is? It could be bad, it could be something punitive so we can 'learn our lessons.' Isn't that how most human parents operate? Don't we unconsciously model our ideas of God after our human notions of authority?
So this quote can be hard to take in. We may hear it, but gloss over it. God's Will is ONE, not many. IT HAS NO OPPOSITION, because there isn't anything else. Only God. We live and move and have our being IN THIS ONENESS. So logically there isn't my will and then God's Will imposed on me from without. There is only God, only God's Will, appearing AS me, and AS you. That we have convinced ourselves and each other that we are separate bodies and lives is irrelevant, because it's not true.
This reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from the movie "The Matrix." A little psychic boy is bending spoons with his mind, and offers Keanu Reeves' character the chance to try it. He isn't having much luck, and the little boy simply says, "Don't try and bend the spoon. Know that there is no spoon." And then of course, the spoon bends.
Joel Goldsmith told a similar story. He was traveling and arrived at his destination only to hear that his luggage had been lost. He spent the next couple of days practicing scientific prayer, knowing that what belonged to him could never be lost, etc. But his luggage did not show up. Finally in meditation the answer came to him... there was no lost luggage! There are no opposites or oppositions in all God's Kingdom, there is only God! Of course, his luggage then 'showed up' unexpectedly.
Jesus taught us this Truth when he said, "Seek ye first the Kingdom (the Oneness of God) and all else will be added unto you." We just have it upside down and backwards, thinking that cause and effect lie within the world, in our actions and reactions, or even in our thoughts. If there is no Will but God's, it also holds that there are no real Thoughts but God's. Everything else is the dreaming of the mind that imagines itself to be separate. And no matter what we imagine in our dreaming, we remain safe in God, eternally.
There is great peace in this awareness. "Peace has replaced the strange idea that you are torn by conflicting goals. As an expression of the Will of God, you have no goal but His." (ACIM; Workbook 74, 1:5-6) We don't have to struggle humanly to figure it all out. God's Will is always Love, Goodness, Happiness, Peace, Abundance, Joy, and endless Life. And as we trust God with each holy instant of our lives, we are led by Grace.
"He leadeth me in paths of righteousness, for His Name's sake." -- Psalm 23
"Today I will recognize that all this has not occurred. I am safe because there is no will but God's." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook 87, 3:5-6
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Grace without Cost
"His Grace the answer is to all despair, for in it lies remembrance of His Love. His gift of Grace is more than just an answer. It restores all memories the sleeping mind forgot; all certainty of what Love's meaning IS." - A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 168, 2:3, 3:5-6
I have seemingly had little work and few new clients for nearly 6 months now. Work is a topic I have been praying about regularly... not just to have it (and I've applied for countless 'jobs'), but to see what errors in my own mind and heart I am seeing reflected in the world. I pray to understand and forgive and heal this seeming lack for all of us, since I know we are One Mind and One Heart. And I know from my direct experience of God that this is not being done TO me (or anyone else). God has given us everything... but I can only receive what I accept. What do I accept as true about work? What do I accept as true about myself? What do I accept as true about God? Do I think these are different subjects, unrelated? Since God is All, they must be One.
In listening to my own thoughts and words on this topic, I realize that even when I talk about changing my perceptions, I say, "I'm working on... (fill in the blank)." Hmmm... Why is it that we associate the word 'work' with words like 'hard' or 'effort' or 'struggle' or 'a work in progress?' Where has all this efforting gotten us? What about the word Grace? What about the Joy of living and moving and having our being in God? What about Grace without cost?
We are created in the image of God. In God we live and move and have our being. This is beyond question, since it is a direct experience NOW. If it's not your direct experience, I urge you to spend time in silence and allow yourself to remember Who You Are, as a reflection of God, as a transparency for God. Never take anyone else's word for this. That's like reading the menu but never actually eating the feast. And Grace, the expression of remembering Who We Are, is the effortless flow of Awareness that pours from this fountain of Joy at the core of our Being. As the quote above reminds us, it's the catalyst for remembering the Love that We Are. Grace has no price and no cost. It's always pouring from within our Being, and requires no effort, no 'work' on ourselves. It is the effortless remembrance of what has always been. We have only to accept it.
As I remember minute-by-minute and day-by-day that Grace has no cost, I soften and open and allow Love to move in my life. I continue to receive unexpected donations for the Sanctuary and for my Spiritual Direction and ACIM Classes. New clients call out of the blue. My books sell more copies and my CD project takes wing as more and more people pre-order. I am loved and nurtured and supported in my work, without efforting. Grace has no cost... we don't have to earn it or be good enough or do it right. We just have to return to our right Mind.
However and wherever we find ourselves, we are in the midst of God. Right where we are is holy ground. That's Grace for you. Grace without cost.
I have seemingly had little work and few new clients for nearly 6 months now. Work is a topic I have been praying about regularly... not just to have it (and I've applied for countless 'jobs'), but to see what errors in my own mind and heart I am seeing reflected in the world. I pray to understand and forgive and heal this seeming lack for all of us, since I know we are One Mind and One Heart. And I know from my direct experience of God that this is not being done TO me (or anyone else). God has given us everything... but I can only receive what I accept. What do I accept as true about work? What do I accept as true about myself? What do I accept as true about God? Do I think these are different subjects, unrelated? Since God is All, they must be One.
In listening to my own thoughts and words on this topic, I realize that even when I talk about changing my perceptions, I say, "I'm working on... (fill in the blank)." Hmmm... Why is it that we associate the word 'work' with words like 'hard' or 'effort' or 'struggle' or 'a work in progress?' Where has all this efforting gotten us? What about the word Grace? What about the Joy of living and moving and having our being in God? What about Grace without cost?
We are created in the image of God. In God we live and move and have our being. This is beyond question, since it is a direct experience NOW. If it's not your direct experience, I urge you to spend time in silence and allow yourself to remember Who You Are, as a reflection of God, as a transparency for God. Never take anyone else's word for this. That's like reading the menu but never actually eating the feast. And Grace, the expression of remembering Who We Are, is the effortless flow of Awareness that pours from this fountain of Joy at the core of our Being. As the quote above reminds us, it's the catalyst for remembering the Love that We Are. Grace has no price and no cost. It's always pouring from within our Being, and requires no effort, no 'work' on ourselves. It is the effortless remembrance of what has always been. We have only to accept it.
As I remember minute-by-minute and day-by-day that Grace has no cost, I soften and open and allow Love to move in my life. I continue to receive unexpected donations for the Sanctuary and for my Spiritual Direction and ACIM Classes. New clients call out of the blue. My books sell more copies and my CD project takes wing as more and more people pre-order. I am loved and nurtured and supported in my work, without efforting. Grace has no cost... we don't have to earn it or be good enough or do it right. We just have to return to our right Mind.
However and wherever we find ourselves, we are in the midst of God. Right where we are is holy ground. That's Grace for you. Grace without cost.
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