The Guilty Identity

"Temptation has one lesson it would teach, in all its forms, wherever it occurs.  It would persuade the holy Son of God he is a body, born in what must die, unable to escape its frailty, and bound by what it orders him to feel."-- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 31, Section VIII, 1:1-2

Do you regularly find things about yourself or your surroundings that are lacking, or should be different?  Are you ashamed of things you have done or even are doing?  Are you judgmental of what others are doing, mentally shaming them?  All of these mental attitudes and actions are part and parcel of the guilty identity we learn as part of a separate self, living in a separate body in this world.  Do you know anyone who is free of this?

Even very happy people react and become apologetic if someone else is upset.  This is the conditioned guilty response.  "I am so sorry," we say, as if we could do something about it.  Or as if we should. 

A Course in Miracles helps us understand that guilt is how a sense of body awareness and a separate self is maintained.  Without the judgment and guilt, there is only the unified Mind, where all things exist in the Light of Awareness and Love, pure transparencies for God.  Without judgment and guilt, there is an Awareness of Oneness, which is All Good and only Good.  Perfect Oneness is our natural state, which is always and only God, reflecting and radiating the Light of Goodness and Love.

It's interesting, don't you think, that a small upset or affront to our egoic identity can send us into a seeming tail spin, can make us so agitated and fearful that it seems as if a huge thing has really occurred.  When in such a state, it's impossible to conceive of a unified Mind that radiates peace and joy.  And yet we are always and only reacting to our own judgments and guilty verdicts, the story of a separate body-self and the fearful 'others'.  And even in the midst of this story of separation and loss, all we have to do is forgive our judgments and let them go.  Right where all seems hopeless or angry or sad or lost or any other version of guilt, there is pure joy and perfect love.  Right where the problem seems to be, there is only Love, which is the only Law of God.  

"There are no laws but God's... there is no loss under the laws of God.  Payment is neither given nor received.  Exchange cannot be made; there are no substitutes; and nothing is replaced by something else.  God's laws forever give and never take." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook 76, 9:1, 3-6

The story of the crucifixion and resurrection of God's Son is the story of everyone's life.  The guilty identity that we have carefully protected for so long is not real.  It can only seem fearful and shameful and wrong when we hang on to our 'laws' of judgment and refuse to forgive. A Course in Miracles gives us many ways to approach forgiveness, and all of them involve letting go of human laws of judgment and thus realizing what has always been true. The guilty identify was all made up, and has never been at all.  This realization is the resurrection of the Son of God.

"Learn then the happy habit of response to all temptation to perceive yourself as weak and miserable with these words:  I am as God created me.  His Son can suffer nothing.  And I am His Son.  You are as God created you, and so is every living thing you look upon, regardless of the images you see.  What you behold as sickness and as pain, as weakness and as suffering and loss is but temptation to perceive yourself defenseless and in hell.  Yield not to this, and you will see all pain, in every form, wherever it occurs, but disappear as mists before the sun."-- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 31, VIII, 5:1-4, and 6:1-3

The Forgiveness of Sins

"Which is easier to say: "Your sins are forgiven you," or to say, "Arise and walk"?  But that you may know that the son of man has power on earth to forgive sins (then he said to the paralytic), "Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house." -- The Bible; Matthew 9:5-6

"I believe in the Holy Spirit [the Voice for Our True Self, One with God], the holy [whole, or One] catholic [universal] church, the communion [Oneness] of saints [those Who Remember our Oneness], the forgiveness of sins [the release of all that appears separate from God], the resurrection of the body [the redefinition of its purpose, the return to God], and the life everlasting [the only Life there is].  Amen." -- The Apostles Creed, with my translation (-:

One of my soul-friends recently asked me to help her to move beyond a literal interpretation of church liturgy.  But when I was inspired to write this during morning prayer, I had no idea how to approach it or even what to say.  I've learned, though, to trust the movement of inspiration, which simply means "filled with spirit."  The Holy Spirit, the only real part of our mind, the Voice for Self that has never lost its Awareness of Self as One with God, always inspires and guides us as we listen... and will always translate the words and symbols of our lives to help us return our whole mind to Self, and to God.

This morning I was contemplating a Workbook Lesson from A Course in Miracles: "Let me not forget my function."  In this lesson, we are told to examine each and every thought that arises, and to realize that each one represents a goal, an activity, a function that we have decided is necessary for life and salvation.  This can be as mundane as thinking we have to eat, that we need to clean our house, or as complicated as looking for employment or relief from suffering through a medical procedure.  We are then gently reminded that these are false goals, and have no real meaning of themselves.  Our only function is the One God gave us.  This lofty function is simply that we are forever Being a transparency for God, Being One with God in every aspect and every way.  That is our eternal reality, and cannot change.  It is incorruptible. 

But in this dream we call life, the way we remember this Self Who is One, the way we return our whole mind to God, is through forgiveness.  The forgiveness of sins is the letting go of every goal, every judgment, every function that we have decided is necessary or good or worthy... the letting go of every fear and every effort and every personal love or hate... the forgiveness of our desire to be separate and live in a world of appearances, where we are at the mercy of the gods of this world... and most of all, forgiveness for our worship of the personal: self-control, self-love, self-aggrandizement, power over others, money, food, medicine, human love and approval, or of any form that seems to say that there is any power or cause that is real or necessary other than God.

Jesus told us that we have power on earth to forgive sins.  Jesus asked us which is easier, to say 'your sins are forgiven,' or to say 'get up and walk?'  He showed that when you really know Who You Are, you can just say 'get up.' But if you don't fully remember Who You Are and you just say 'get up and walk,' the person who's getting up probably will still be ascribing the ability to do it or not to a body, to medicine, or to some physical circumstance.  But if you say 'your sins are forgiven you' and are aware of the Oneness of God and the Oneness of our minds, then you are released immediately from ascribing power or ability or cause to anything other than God...  God, in whom we live and move and have our Being... God, in whom there is no darkness, no sickness, no lack, and no suffering.

In the final words of The Apostles Creed, as quoted above, we affirm "I believe in... the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting."  We've already talked about the forgiveness of our allegiance to false gods and illusory powers.  But what about the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting?  We are told in 1 Peter: 1:23: "...having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the Word of God which lives and abides forever."  When we forgive, we are resurrected from the illusory Adamic dream of separation from God and the death and suffering it demands. Through forgiveness we Awaken to One Self, safe in God, forever One with All, forever One with infinite Life and Love.  This is the reality that our forgiveness reveals... and the resurrection of the body means the body has been given a new purpose that is incorruptible, as we Awaken through the Word of God, the Voice of the Holy Spirit in us.  As we are a transparency for the eternal and perfect, the world (including our body), reflects only God.

This does not mean, of course, that our bodies will reflect egoic notions of perfection.  It means they will reflect true perfection, which is spiritual and inclusive and whole.  The body's new meaning is as a communication device, a transparency for Truth through forgiveness.  And like all devices, it can be laid down when it is no longer useful.  Our true Self, our incorruptible Being, lives on, uninterrupted.

We have the power to release the whole world, through the forgiveness of sins.  And as we forgive, we Awaken. 

"Forgiveness offers everything I want." - A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 122 

Happy Easter!

"I am your resurrection and your life. Believe in resurrection because it has been accomplished, and it has been accomplished in you. This is as true NOW as it will ever be, for the resurrection is the Will of God, which knows no time and no exceptions. You have nailed yourself to a cross, and placed a crown of thorns on your own head. Yet you cannot crucify God's Son, for the Will of God cannot die. The dream of crucifixion still lies heavy on your eyes, but what you see in dreams is not reality. You will awaken to your own call, for the Call to awake is within you." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 11, Section VI, 4:1 & 6-7, 8:1-2 & 4, 9:1

"The Christ is not subject to material conditions... and is able, through Truth, Life, and Love, to triumph over sin, sickness, death, and the grave." -- Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy; Page 49, Line 21-25

Happy Easter to all! I've missed writing this blog... it's been a very busy few weeks, but I did manage to write one blog while on the road, and I'm now home again after my travels, and have even resumed the conference calls every Saturday morning at 9 a.m. central time. If you are interested in joining us, we just completed Chapter 11 of the text of A Course in Miracles, and will be on Chapter 12 next week. The call-in number is 605-475-4333... and the access code is 101546#.

It's Easter morning. The grass is vibrant after all the rain, and my pansies are waving their happy faces gratefully at the sun. It feels like a rebirth and renewal, reflected in my dream. ACIM tells us that God's Will for us is perfect happiness... and as we awaken to Reality, everything in the dream reflects this. Even my 90-year-old mother with dementia reflects this joy, within the apparent limitations of her own dream. Our seemingly personal dreams are reflections of our own consciousness, but dreams of suffering are transformed when we awaken and realize the resurrection is within our very own mind. Forgiveness of all our limited and false perceptions, letting them go, allows us to remember this Truth. In a forgiven world, a clean and open mind reveals the miracle, the happy dream, for each and every person, place, thing, and experience.

Dreams within dreams is the life we seem to see around us, always dreams of lack, limitation, suffering and death. This is not the Truth! Life shines all around us, in our holy minds. Love radiates from deep within, shedding Its blessings on the world. Truth illumines our minds and our paths within the dream. And Spiritual Substance in all Its Abundance is the Source of All Being, and reflects in our dream as an infinity of blessings and supply. We are so blessed, if we would only awaken. We dream of crucifixion, but in Truth we are the Resurrection and the Life.

"Sin, sickness, disease, and death are comprised in human material belief, and belong not to the Divine Mind. They are without a real origin or existence." -- Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy; Page 286, Line 31

"The whole power of God is in every part of Him, and nothing contradictory to His Will is either great or small. What does not exist has no size and no measure. To God all things are possible." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 11, Section VI, 10:6-8

Believing a Lie

"If mortals are instructed in spiritual things, it will be seen that material belief [the testimony of the corporeal senses], in all its manifestations, reversed, will be found the type and representative of verities priceless, eternal, and just at hand, because every material belief [illusion] hints the existence of spiritual reality" -- from Miscellaneous Writings, by Mary Baker Eddy; 60:29; 60:28

A lie is always a lie about some truth, just as 2 x 2 = 5 is a lie about 2 x 2 = 4. There can be no lie or illusion about "nothing." -- Helen M. Wright

"As God created You, you must remain unchangeable, with transitory states by definition false. And that includes all shifts in feeling, alterations in conditions of the body and the mind; in all awareness and in all response. This is the All-Inclusiveness which sets the Truth apart from falsehood, and the false kept separate from the Truth, as what it is... To recognize God's Son implies as well that all self-concepts have been laid aside, and recognized as false." -- A Course in Miracles, Workbook 152, 5:1-3; 10:3

Today's blog is a tricky subject. If you believe something and it's not true, but you believe it is, how do you know you're believing a lie? With mathematics and other physical sciences, we have systems and proofs to determine truth or error. Interestingly though, those systems and proofs are based upon principles and axioms that are unchangeable. They are often called 'givens' in math, and so my question was always, "Given by whom?" This got a lot of laughs, but I still ask this question. Principles are unchangeable truths that are simply accepted as given. But given by whom? And how do we know that, say on Mars, 2+2 doesn't equal 5? If the laws of gravity change once you leave earth, how about all the other so-called immutable laws?

As I said, this topic is tricky. If you deal with individual laws and individual problems, it is a safe bet that you are believing a lie. From the tunnel vision of the separated self, perspective is limited to lies. This applies to the culture of our world which is based on separation and comparison. Immutable Laws, Principles that are Unchanging and All-Encompassing, cannot be seen or understood from the contracted vision of the imaginary and illusory separated self. This is why A Course in Miracles says uncompromisingly that, "Not one thing in this world is true." (ACIM Workbook 240, 1:3) You can't get much plainer than that. Unless it is the following statement: "Nothing the world believes is true." (ACIM Workbook 139, 7:1) And then there is my personal favorite: "There is no world! This is the central thought the Course attempts to teach." (ACIM Workbook 132, 6:2)

Hard sayings, all of them. We don't want our dreams shattered. The world's view of dreams in general is that life isn't worth living without them. Hmmmm.... A dream saying that life isn't life without dreams. Now that is a smokescreen if ever there was one. And shattered dreams are viewed as more painful than death. People kill themselves all the time because their dreams about themselves and about life have been shattered, their illusions destroyed. Now that is believing the ultimate lie, isn't it? But the hard truth is, we give our true life up for illusions each and every day we continue to live as if it is all true.

You cannot see the Truth and Know Your Self while believing even one illusion. You cannot possibly ever work the math problem '2+2=' correctly while believing that 2+2 must equal 5. It takes an open mind to ask a true question, and to look to the bigger picture for the answer. Not the inaccurate tunnel vision of the five senses, which are proven false over and over again. Not the biased and vested opinions of the so-called thinking mind, which is actually the lackey of the conditioned self. And certainly not the biased and vested opinions of others. It takes an open mind to notice that all lies point to Truth. A lie is always a lie about something True.

As we let go of thinking that we know, or that anyone else knows, there is an expansion that effortlessly takes place. We are enlivened with Being, simply Aware. We are Being Aware of Self. This is the Ground of Being, the Awareness of Self that is always, eternally Present, Unchanging in Love and Joy and Goodness. This is not the numbing dullness of contraction, not a false sense of peace and withdrawal into dreams. This is the ecstatic Joy of Being, One and Whole and Entirely Inclusive of All that Is. It is Life and Wholeness and Divine Completeness in God.

Don't take my word or anyone else's for anything. You have tried everything else, anyway. So try letting it all go, even for a millisecond. Did it ever occur to you that whatever you can let go of, whatever can be lost, is not true anyway? Only illusions can be lost! What is True, Eternal, Unchanging Principle cannot be lost!

Try asking a True Question: Who Am I, Really? All it takes is a Holy Instant. Recognition of Self is instantaneous, and this expanded Awareness is the only True Answer, the only Unchanging Principle that is Truth ItSelf. And the cost of clinging to illusions, the cost of believing even one lie, is the seemingly endless dreaming, the seemingly endless forgetting we call the world. Lost and alone for a seeming eternity. The crucified Son of God.

But it is not true! We are not lost! We have only been dreaming! Wake up! Believing a lie, dreaming a dream is way too high a cost. Return with me to the True Love and Peace and Joy of the Kingdom. It's Who We Are. This IS the Resurrection of the Son of God. This IS Easter.

"He Who is Changeless shares His attributes with His creation. All the images His Son appears to make have no effect on what He IS. They blow across His mind like wind-swept leaves that form a patterning an instant, break apart to group again, and scamper off. Or like mirages seen above a desert, rising from the dust. These unsubstantial images will go, and leave your mind unclouded and serene." -- A Course in Miracles, Workbook 186, 9:3-6; 10:1