Tag: Christianity

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2020 Moon reminds us: “I am There”

On By SallyIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

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Spring is here and Easter Sunday always follows the first full moon after the spring equinox. That full moon was shining in my bedroom window last night. Passover is April 9, Easter Sunday the 12th and Ramadan on Friday April 24.   However the only ones feeling “spring like” these days, are the birds and the daffodils. Aren’t they lucky to not have to stay inside or six feet away from each other? Thankfully, we can go outside to visit and thank them for their songs and yellow loveliness. There will be no Religious gatherings indoors this year that I am aware of and I know many will miss this spring ritual. I must admit that Easter always left me feeling sad with  Jesus Christ crucified. Even dressing up or hunting for eggs, bunnies and candy never took away the unhappiness.

I felt relief after I began studying the spiritual, psychological, non- dual, mystical and metaphysical book, ‘A Course In Miracles’ where the concept of resurrection is more prominent than crucifixion because as eternal beings our soul never dies.  There is no death of the Self we are.  The body dies because we are mortal. Being mortal we have a split mind with a treacherous ego that crucifies (like it did Jesus) ourselves and/or others non-stop with doubts, judgment, war and attacks. Jesus in the Course told the scribe, NY Columbia Presbyterian Psychologist Helen Schucman, that he is our equal and elder brother, “The miracle is a sign of love among equals. Equals should not be in awe of one another because awe implies inequality. It is therefore an inappropriate reaction to me. An elder brother is entitled to respect for his greater experience, and obedience for his greater wisdom. There is nothing about me that you cannot attain.   I have nothing that does not come from God. The difference between us now is that I have nothing else. This leaves me in a state which is only potential in you.” Text Chapter 1.II.3.4-12.

He assures us that he and the Holy Spirit are always there for us. “I go before you because I am beyond the ego. Reach, therefore, for my hand because you want to transcend the ego. My strength will never be wanting, and if you choose to share it you will do so.” Text Chapter 8.V.6 7-9.   If we take his hand he is there to share his strength. He is the Christ but so are you and I and everyone, whether we accept it or not being equally loved by God.

At this time we need a strength that is not of this world.  I for one am reaching for his hand to transcend the ego.  Many brave people are in the trenches, the Doctors, Nurses, medical staff, sick patients, relatives, friends and you and I are with them. The hand of strength, grace, and faith is there for us. It is waiting by your side, with arms ready to hold you up and kissing the top of your head when you pray. That love is made exquisitely clear in the poem ‘I am There’ by James Dillet Freeman. He is sometimes known as “the poet laureate of the moon” because two of his poems are on the moon. ‘I Am There’ was taken by Astronaut, James B. Irwin in 1971 and ‘Prayer for Protection’ by Lunar Commander ‘Buzz’ Aldrin in July 1969. His poems of assurance are circling above us on the Easter Moon, blessing you and me and our World this spring.

I am There

Do you need Me?

I am there.

You cannot see Me, yet I am the light you see by.

You cannot hear Me, yet I speak through your voice.

You cannot feel Me, yet I am the power at work in your hands.

I am at work, though you do not understand My ways.

I am at work, though you do not recognize My works.

I am not strange visions. I am not mysteries.

Only in absolute stillness, beyond self, can you know Me as I am, and then but as a feeling and a faith.

Yet I am there. Yet I hear. Yet I answer.

When you need Me, I am there.

Even if you deny Me, I am there.

Even when you feel most alone, I am there.

Even in your fears, I am there.

Even in your pain, I am there.

I am there when you pray and when you do not pray.

I am in you, and you are in Me.

Only in your mind can you feel separate from Me, for only in your mind are the mists of “yours” and “mine.”

Yet only with your mind can you know Me and experience Me.

Empty your heart of empty fears.

When you get yourself out of the way, I am there.

You can of yourself do nothing, but I can do all.

And I am in all.

Though you may not see the good, good is there, for I am there.

I am there because I have to be, because I am.

Only in Me does the world have meaning; only out of Me does the world take form; only because of Me does the world go forward.

I am the law on which the movement of the stars and the growth of living cells are founded.

I am the love that is the law’s fulfilling. I am assurance. I am peace. I am oneness. I am the law that you can live by. I am the love that you can cling to. I am your assurance. I am your peace. I am one with you. I am.

Though you fail to find Me, I do not fail you.

Though your faith in Me is unsure, My faith in you never wavers, because I know you, because I love you.

Beloved, I am there.

 

The Prayer of Protection

The light of God surrounds us;

The love of God enfolds us;

The power of God protects us;

The presence of God watches over us;

Wherever we are, God is!

Blessings on this Easter of 2020!

Many Lessons from A Course In Miracles remind me of these poems: http://www.acim.org  – Here are the lessons you can open and click on the arrow to have it read to you – close your eyes and feel the Love that is for You.

Lesson 40: I am blessed as a Son of God.

Lesson 40. I am blessed as a Son of God.

Lesson 41. God goes with me wherever I go.

Lesson 42 God is my strength, Vision is His gift.

Lesson 43. God is my Source.   I cannot see apart from Him.

Lesson 44.  God is the light in which I see.

Lesson 45.  God is the Mind with which I think.

Lesson 46. God is the Love in which I forgive.

Lesson 47 God is the strength in which I trust.

Visit http://www.acim.org

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Good Politics: The Service of Peace

On By SallyIn A Course In Miracles, UncategorizedLeave a comment

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As a student of A Course In Miracles, I respect all messages of peace.  I want to share with you a hopeful message!  I recently watched a video called “Pope Francis, A Man of his Word.” If you need some inspiration I highly recommend it.  The 52nd World Day of Peace was January 1, 2019.  Pope Francis’s message was:

“Good politics is at the service of peace.”

He made several points but the first was “Peace be to this house.” What he was saying was “peace for our family, our house, our communities, our country, our continent and importantly our common home our world.”

Here is the link to his message to paste in your browser:

http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/peace/documents/papa-francesco_20181208_messaggio-52giornatamondiale-pace2019.html

Here is a summary of what he said that was so inspiring for all people of Faith regardless of their religion of spiritual beliefs and especially as our politics take the stage for the next year and we watch the debates and delve into the upcoming election we might keep his thoughtful recommendations in mind.

He expanded on several pertinent points by suggesting that “charity and human virtues along with service of human rights and peace be the basis of politics. He suggested those running for office should recall the “Beatitudes of the Politician” which were proposed by Vietnamese Cardinal François-Xavier Nguyễn Vãn Thuận, who died in 2002.

Here they are:
Blessed be the politician with a lofty sense and deep understanding of his role.
Blessed be the politician who personally exemplifies credibility.
Blessed be the politician who works for the common good and not his or her own interest.
Blessed be the politician who remains consistent.
Blessed be the politician who works for unity.
Blessed be the politician who works to accomplish radical change.
Blessed be the politician who is capable of listening.
Blessed be the politician who is without fear.

He suggests that every election and re-election, and every stage of public life, is an opportunity to return to the original points of reference that inspire justice and law. One thing is certain, “good politics is at the service of peace. It respects and promotes fundamental human rights, which are at the same time mutual obligations, enabling a bond of trust and gratitude to be forged between present and future generations.”
Watching it was like a breath of fresh “political air.” If we look for and vote for those who from all appearances, seem to hold these values we would have leaders that we, the world and future generations deserve.
He also brought up political vices: dishonesty, self-service, corruption, exploitation and denial of rights and plundering of natural resources for the sake of quick profit to name a few. Good politics inspires and promotes participation of the young and trust in others and fosters confidence that we can all work together for the common good. Politics at the service of peace finds expression in the recognition of the gifts and abilities when everyone contributes his or her gifts to help build trust especially in our times marked by mistrust and rooted in fear of strangers. The world has a need for security rather than nationalism and division.
Regarding past wars and the strategy of fear, he says to threaten others is to lower them to the status of objects and deny their dignity. Escalation and uncontrolled proliferation of arms is contrary to morality and politics that blame evil on migrants and deprive the poor of hope is unacceptable. There is a need to reaffirm that peace is based on respect for each person, whatever his or her background.
Lastly he calls for a great project of peace and reminds us of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted after the Second World War: “Man’s awareness of his rights lead to the recognition of duties; the rights are the expression of personal dignity and their recognition and respect by others.” Peace entails a conversion of the heart and soul; it is both interior and communal; and it has three inseparable aspects:
1. Peace with oneself: Rejecting inflexibility, anger and impatience; by showing “a bit of sweetness towards oneself” in order to offer “a bit of sweetness to others”;
2. Peace with others: Family members, friends, strangers, the poor and the suffering, being unafraid to encounter them and listen to what they have to say;
3. Peace with all creation: Rediscovering the grandeur of God’s gift and our individual and shared responsibility as inhabitants of this world, citizens and builders of the future. When any of our brothers and sisters suffers we are all affected. God sees with his heart. Even the atheist shares the same love. Maybe that’s the only common bond we all have, the bond of God’s love. Other than that we are free, even free not to love Him.

Here is more inspiration:

https://acim.org/workbook/lesson-194/

A Course In Miracles Lesson 194 – I Place the Future in the Hands of God

 

 

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To everyone I offer quietness

On By SallyIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

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Are you running on Ego-matic?
The other day I was tooling along not watching my thoughts (as A Course In Miracles asks us to do) but one finally got my attention. It didn’t feel good, it was: “Why doesn’t she do something with her hair?” What part of my mind would care about something as insignificant as someone’s messy hair and why?

When our thoughts run unnoticed, they can easily jump to egomatic. This is not a word my computer thesaurus recognizes but I know what it means. It means senseless; usually condemning; mostly ugly; and always a thought of judgmental ego separation. The mind has been programmed from birth into two columns: love and fear. Everything not from love is in the fear column and that amounts to hundreds perhaps thousands of distinctions. The ego has an endless list. The choice is simple: Heaven or hell.

When practicing the mindfulness of the Course we are in the “heaven” column. We are looking through the Self, i.e. the eyes of Christ, of love, with kindness and accepting of what is. If we ae on egomatic, we are in the “hell” of darkness, believing our misshapen thoughts are true.

Thinking someone has messy hair is up to me. No one can make me think anything. When I think a thought of love, what am I giving/receiving? If the thought is condemning what am I giving/receiving? What I give OUT, I also receive IN.
When my thinking is judgmental: I’m the one with the problem; I feel separate and alone; and in believing it is true, I’m also receiving guilt. That’s why I didn’t like the feeling.

We don’t realize what we do to ourselves, our soul when we place a judgment on someone. Instead of giving the thought away, projecting and getting rid of it, we are in effect keeping it, and making it our problem plus getting a dose of guilt. I judge her for being “messy” but I must also be “messy” in order to know what it is. Projecting is a trick my ego plays to get rid of my messiness by seeing it in someone else. It doesn’t work, I still messy.

In A Course In Miracles, Lesson 108. To give and receive are one in truth.

P.2. “True light that makes true vision possible is not the light the body’s eyes behold. It is a state of mind that has become so unified that darkness cannot be perceived at all.”

Isn’t that the state of mind you want to live in? When you catch the silly judgments think what this lesson reminds us to do. Simply say:

To give and receive are one in truth. I will receive what I am giving now.”

Do I want to receive the judgment I am dishing out?  The lesson goes on in paragraph 8.

Then close your eyes and for five minutes think of what you would hold out to everyone, to have it yours. Say:
               To everyone I offer quietness;
               To everyone I offer peace of mind;
               To everyone I offer gentleness

Wait.  How do you feel? What you offered will come back to you in the amount that you offered it. That is giving and receiving. Instead of offering judgment or “messiness” to my friend I now offer acceptance and that is what returns to me.
Was I in heaven or hell judging my friend’s hair? I realized I didn’t “feel good” and that feeling of being in “hell” helped me see the egomatic thought process.

We have been trained well throughout our formative years and adult lives. But now I can awaken to the fact that my thoughts have consequences on me. We are told that stress causes illnesses. Where does stress come from but our thoughts? This lesson gave me the chance to change my mind and offer quietness to everyone. And when I did, I received quietness.

Go to http://www.acim.org – Workbook Lesson 108 – click to have it read aloud to you!

Remember: You are the Light of the World and God IS the LOVE within!

If you would like to order a greeting card with the above photo you can do so at:

http://www.fineartamerica.com  and put in my name:  Sally McKirgan

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God is Your Hard Drive

On By SallyIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

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Workbook Lesson 44. God is the light in which I see

The Course in Miracles Workbook has 365 lessons.  These lessons are our pathway to peace.  Knowledge is not the goal of the Course.  Peace Is.

In Lesson 44. Jesus tells us that we cannot see in darkness but we also cannot make light.  God is the light in which I see because God is in my Mind.

We can and do make darkness with our thoughts and misperceptions.  The world is a place of darkness and it distracts us constantly with the chaos of war, weather, sickness, death and disaster.  Jesus tells us we think we see in the darkness of the world.

But light reflects life and is therefore an aspect of creation.  Creation and darkness cannot coexist.   It is like trying to mix water and oil.

Light and Life do go together being aspects of creation.
“In order to see, you must recognize that light is within, not without.”

Workbook Lesson 43: God is my Source.  I cannot see apart from Him

Perception is not an attribute of God.  His is the realm of knowledge.   When we link to our Hard Drive, our computer chip aka God and Light, our perceptions will become so changed and purified that it will lead to knowledge.

The light INSIDE of you is TRUE.  Light is understanding, it is vision – not the perceptions our stray thoughts and judgments that wander in and out of our awareness.

The equipment for seeing (God and Light) is INSIDE of your MIND.

“An essential part of this equipment is the light that makes seeing possible.  It is with you always, making  vision possible in every circumstance.”

You cannot be withOUT God.  You cannot be separate from God. He is your equipment.  He is the computer chip the Processor, Ram, Memory and Hard Drive in your MIND.  You share HIS MIND.  The Mystery that is God, is within your mind, Eternal, can never die, you can never die, death is impossible because your Spirit and Mind is part of and shared with God.

With God as the Hard Drive, the Light within, your Spirit is one with Him.

Paragraph 7. Let go of every kind of interference and intrusion by quietly sinking past them.  Your mind cannot be stopped in this unless you choose to stop it.  It is merely taking its natural course.  Try to observe your passing thoughts without involvement and slip quietly by them.  

You are letting the LIGHT guide you, God is your Source, You cannot see apart from him.

Go to http://www.acim.org   Listen to these lessons and you will realize that God is your Hard Drive, the eternal computer chip.

 

 

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Rest in Love, Rest in Truth

On By SallyIn A Course In MiraclesLeave a comment

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You are loved!  Most of us do not allow ourselves to feel it.  Why?  Don’t we believe we are lovable?  You ARE loved, warts, gifts and all!  Give yourself the gift of feeling it.  Really feel it.   Go to a silent place within, close your eyes and feel yourself being held, as if you were a small child again.  Feel yourself being rocked gently and a soft hand stroking your cheek and telling you that you are loved.  Feel the care and sweetness in your heart.  That is how God loves you.  Your spirit is love and as bright, as soft and innocent like this blossom.

I invite you to go to the A Course In Miracles website and listen to Lesson 109, I rest in God, being read to you as you close your eyes.

Here is the link to past in your browser:   https://acim.org/workbook/lesson-109/

The Course offers 365 lessons, one for each day of the year.  We being at lesson number 1 and  read a lesson per day and on the 109th day of the year we learn we can and DO rest in Love, in God and can be at Peace.   We just need to accept it.  At the end of the 365 lessons you will never be lonely again or feel unloved…….when you remember your true identity – God’s Holy Precious Son.

Happy New Year!

 

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Christmas: Giving and Receiving

On By SallyIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

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Years ago our youngest son looked inquiringly at his Dad and said “Why Christmas?” It was a perceptive and honest question from his little three year mind. How would you answer that question? It is a good question to pose to our grown up selves. We rush about planning and making lists and drive ourselves crazy or get on the internet and figure out the best deals. We fret over what to give to whom and will they like it, that’s the big question. And then we imagine them opening it up and watching carefully for the expression that comes in that twinkling moment.

Maybe that “instant” is our gift! That shining twinkling moment when we made someone happy, made them smile and gasp with surprise. Then we hear their laughter, hopefully not a groan, and words of thanks or maybe a smooch!

My husband’s father loved Chocolate Covered Cherries. Every year we gave him a box. Finally one year he opened the gift and said, “Oh No, not Cherries again.” That was the last year we gave him cherries! How many of us have opened presents we definitely did NOT like and managed to feign appreciation showing we “love it” and have “always wanted one?”

Back to Why Christmas? Well it is all about Jesus and his Birth right? Look at how we avoid Jesus and his teachings these days. A few years ago I was reading a book about Jesus. The author had put his beautiful face smack on the cover. A gentleman stopped to inquire what I was reading.   I closed the book and showed him the cover. You would have thought I was pointing a machine gun in his face! He was absolutely horrified, shocked! His eyes were big, brows shot up and he looked like someone had hit him with a stun gun. His adverse reaction was palpable. He said “Oh” and hurried away as quickly as he could.

Where does that reaction come from? For over 2,000 years the world has had Jesus to deal with. All faiths have their concepts but where does that “aversion” comes from.

One reason (and I am not a scholar) could be because the Bible claims he is God’s ONLY begotten son. So where does that leave the rest of us and the horrified man? We know of families that have a favorite child whose attributes out shine everyone else; that special child. Could it be collective unconscious jealousy runs through a society feeling resentment and somehow unloved. It can fester over a lifetime and throughout the ages. How many of us, deep down, feel as adored as that baby? The sweet song, ‘Away in the Manager’ always brings tears to my eyes.

If we don’t resent him we may try to out-do him! Climb the highest mountains; make the most money; give the biggest gift; have the biggest house or most expensive car or? We are all looking for love and appreciation. Maybe God (and others) will love us if we do such and such.

And yet we celebrate baby Jesus at Christmas and sing carols to him not knowing that baby is also us, you and me. If we had been students of the spiritual book, A Course In Miracles, at the time our young son asked, we could have told him that baby Jesus was (and still is) loved very much by God and YOU my child, are too! We are all God’s sons, the Christ. God being Eternal Unchanging Love never condemns or rejects anyone. In the First Chapter of the Course Jesus tells us:

“You are a perfect creation, and should experience awe only in the Presence of the Creator of perfection. Equals should not be in awe of one another because awe implies inequality. It is therefore an inappropriate reaction to me. An elder brother is entitled to respect for his greater experience, and obedience for his greater wisdom. He is also entitled to love because he is a brother, and to devotion if he is devoted. It is only my devotion that entitles me to yours. There is nothing about me that you cannot attain. I have nothing that does not come from God. The difference between us now is that I have nothing else. This leaves me in a state which is only potential in you.” ACIM I.II.3.

So….Jesus our elder brother is devoted to us, YOU and ME, everyone! He demonstrates to us our potential. No one is excluded from Love not even a politician. He tells us we are all the same in the ego world because we feel separated from God and our only need is to choose love instead of fear and hatred.  And like Jesus we can offer tolerance, love and yes forgiveness too as we free our spirit from the tight grip of judgment and hatred. For 2,000 years his wisdom has endeavored to open our hearts and minds to the clarity of healing light. We come here to learn lessons, to see through the ego and world programming and to exclude no one from our love. All hate is from the ego; all love is God. When we give Love, we receive love.

That is giving and receiving.

Be like God – Love Every ONE!

Visit http://www.acim.org or http://www.facim.org

To find out more about A Course In Miracles

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Peace is Release – Release is Peace

On By SallyIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

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The Course says that each decision that you make is one between a grievance and a Miracle.  Every decision is actually a judgment!  Every thought can be one of inclusion or exclusion.  The inclusive thought brings inner peace.  The exclusive thought brings separation and guilt.  It is hard to believe that a judgment can bring guilt but it does.  We heap guilt upon our souls with every seemingly insignificant harmless judgmental thought.

But guilt is not harmless.  It ego eats at your soul.  The ego is addicted to  “sugar” – and its sugar is judgmental thoughts, grievances, grudges, jealousy, resentment, worry and the distraction of controversy.   The ego seeks to keep you in guilt rather than in the arms of the Holy Spirit and peace.  You will never be happy until you look at the ego and examine its hold on your life and how it colors your perceptions.

When you feel the gnawing sense of un-ease in your gut, just retrace your previous thoughts.  What has you by the throat?  What is it about?  Is it a worry a gripe or a grudge against someone, a relative, friend or possibly yourself?

Just LOOK at the unease.  Bring all the details into awareness and imagine holding the hand of the Holy Spirit.  Say:  “Look at this with me.  Help me see it differently.”  When we share all the details with the Holy Spirit we are taking it out of the ego’s clutches.

Now Wait!  You have brought it to awareness.  It is no longer festering below in the unconscious ready to percolate to the surface at a moments notice.

This Looking help with the RELEASE.  The release is the process of letting go.  You have given it to God.  Breathe into the letting go to speed it on its way.

The RELEASE comes with looking and by passing the ego.  The ego is no longer in charge of the gripe or the grudge or the upset.

Release is Peace!  Peace will arrive!  The grudge, grievance will lessen and at some point you will laugh at the silliness you put yourself through.  We do it to ourselves!

See: A Course in Miracles lesson 78.  Let miracles replace all grievances. 

” Perhaps it is not quite clear to you that each decision (judgment) that you make is between a grievance and a miracle.” 

You are LOVED!!

Visit:  http://www.acim.org  – click on workbook lessons

 

 

 

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Peace and Joy I Offer You

On By SallyIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

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We cannot find peace if we continue to remember and replay hurtful events from the past.  Are you happy being stuck on automatic thinking about an old event?  Are you replaying blame, pain and guilt?  Was it their fault or yours?  If it was your fault  you  feel guilty.  If it was theirs, you feel victimized.  Neither are happy making!

What part of your mind is doing the replaying?   Ask Yourself: Do I want peace and joy rather than guilt or victimhood?

If the answer is YES, then decided to STOP replaying the past!

HOW?  It is up to you……yes YOU!  You are doing the replaying yourself!

You could choose to look at it another way.

Say:  “OK – I’ll look at this another way for the sake of my own peace.”

Begin to think of the people involved (or the situation) and realize that you are denying them peace and joy  (that is their right under the equal laws of God) AND you are ALSO denying peace and joy to yourself.

WOW:  If you hold a grievance against someone….it is held in your MIND!  You are trapped in the grievance with them.  Are you happy? You are trapping your light and joy!

Think of the people involved a little while and tell them in your mind:

* “My brother/sister/:  peace and joy I offer you,

That I may have God’s peace and joy as mine.”  

We don’t think that just because we have denied peace and joy to someone that we are in effect really denying peace to our Self.  If you hold hate or a grudge in your mind, you are the one doing the HOLDING, so you are the effect of your own suffering!   Do you like how you feel?

Do you think your brother is suffering?  We don’t know but we know you are.

Would you rather say to that brother?

My brother/sister/myself: misery and suffering I offer you

That  I may have the ego’s misery and suffering as mine.

Which version do you choose?  If the word God bothers you, take it out.  God won’t care.  That mystery which is love, never condemns.  It doesn’t know how to.  Make a copy of the pledge and paste it around the house.  Take yourself on as a student and train yourself to accept that peace and joy is your inheritance and that you are worth it.

* The quote is from A Course In Miracles, Workbook lesson 105 God’s Peace and Joy are Mine.  Visit  www.acim.org  go The Workbook lessons and then click the lesson selector. You can also click “hear” and listen to the entire lesson and close your eyes.   Choose peace!

Hint: When you give you also receive!

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In the fox holes of life!

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In the fox holes of life: ‘I Am There.’

Easter and Passover join hands this year!  Passover and Good Friday on March 30 and Easter April 1. Jesus always takes center stage for Easter. For years I had problems with the concept of Jesus until I started studying the spiritual psychological non- dual metaphysical book, ‘A Course In Miracles.’  Maybe since he was proclaimed the CHOOSEN one i.e. the favorite son of God, it made me wonder about the rest of us. Did he (God) care about me or anyone else for that matter? I decided probably not. But Jesus in the Course tells the scribe, Helen Schucman, that yes, he is a Son of God but so are you and I. He is not special. We are equals and all equally loved!

“The miracle is a sign of love among equals. Equals should not be in awe of one another because awe implies inequality. It is therefore an inappropriate reaction to me. An elder brother is entitled to respect for his greater experience, and obedience for his greater wisdom. There is nothing about me that you cannot attain.   I have nothing that does not come from God. The difference between us now is that I have nothing else. This leaves me in a state which is only potential in you.” T.1.II.3.4-12.

He also says that we do need help and He and the Holy Spirit are here for us.

“I go before you because I am beyond the ego. Reach, therefore, for my hand because you want to transcend the ego. My strength will never be wanting, and if you choose to share it you will do so.” T. 8.V.6 7-9.

Hold out your hand i.e. your mind and he is there. Yes, He is the Christ but so are you and I and everyone, whether we accept it or not.

Another wonderful thing about the Course is that since Jesus’s Mind joined with Helen’s we know he is not dead!  He tells us throughout the Course that there is no death.  He did not die on the cross!  His body did but HE did NOT!

I have come to believe that Jesus is really REAL!  Not in the bodily sense but within the fox holes of life where faith holds our hand and trust, the light. God does not need us but we need to know, that HIS love and grace are always here with us – Within.

Recently I learned about the mystical poem ‘I am There’ by James Dillet Freeman. He is sometimes known as “the poet laureate of the moon” because two of his poems are on the moon. ‘I Am There’ was taken by Astronaut, James B. Irwin in 1971 and ‘Prayer for Protection’ by Lunar Commander ‘Buzz’ Aldrin in July 1969. Here are the poems of assurance and a blessed Passover and Easter to all.

I am There

Do you need Me?

I am there.

You cannot see Me, yet I am the light you see by.

You cannot hear Me, yet I speak through your voice.

You cannot feel Me, yet I am the power at work in your hands.

I am at work, though you do not understand My ways.

I am at work, though you do not recognize My works.

I am not strange visions. I am not mysteries.

Only in absolute stillness, beyond self, can you know Me as I am, and then but as a feeling and a faith.

Yet I am there. Yet I hear. Yet I answer.

When you need Me, I am there.

Even if you deny Me, I am there.

Even when you feel most alone, I am there.

Even in your fears, I am there.

Even in your pain, I am there.

I am there when you pray and when you do not pray.

I am in you, and you are in Me.

Only in your mind can you feel separate from Me, for only in your mind are the mists of “yours” and “mine.”

Yet only with your mind can you know Me and experience Me.

Empty your heart of empty fears.

When you get yourself out of the way, I am there.

You can of yourself do nothing, but I can do all.

And I am in all.

Though you may not see the good, good is there, for I am there.

I am there because I have to be, because I am.

Only in Me does the world have meaning; only out of Me does the world take form; only because of Me does the world go forward.

I am the law on which the movement of the stars and the growth of living cells are founded.

I am the love that is the law’s fulfilling. I am assurance. I am peace. I am oneness. I am the law that you can live by. I am the love that you can cling to. I am your assurance. I am your peace. I am one with you. I am.

Though you fail to find Me, I do not fail you.

Though your faith in Me is unsure, My faith in you never wavers, because I know you, because I love you.

Beloved, I am there.

 

The Prayer of Protection

The light of God surrounds us;

The love of God enfolds us;

The power of God protects us;

The presence of God watches over us;

Wherever we are, God is!

Learn more about the history and mystery of ‘I am There’ by James Dillet Freeman at http://www.unity.com.

 

 

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Love Makes No Comparisons

On By SallyIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

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I have been listening to a CD series of  Dr. Ken Wapnick called: The Experience of A Course In Miracles, A Commentary on the section: “Development of Trust.”  This 10 CD series covers the development of trust and the six stages a student goes through while on the path set forth by the Course.

All of the ten characteristics of God’s teachers rest on Trust which is the first.  The other nine are: Honesty; Tolerance; Gentleness; Joy; Defenselessness; Generosity; Patience; Faithfulness and Open Mindedness.  I am sharing the below notes because it is a powerful look at the dynamic  of why we “LOVE to hate!  (You can purchase the CD series at http://www.facim.org)

Notes from Ken Wapnick, Ph.D. – Development of Trust CD 2.4

“Love makes no comparisons. Love is perfect Oneness.  In Heaven there is no duality – no comparing – no judgment.   In Heaven there is only ONE – not even God and Christ are separate and that One knows nothing else.  God does not know we are here. God  does not know of illusions – if He did it would make it true. No Duality – only One. (For those who are put off by the term “God” just think Love because no one knows what the mystery of God could be.)

In this world however, we have the ego’s distortion of love which in the Course is called “Special Love.”  Here, in the world of duality, everything is based upon comparisons. You have something that I lack and therefore what I lack is what I want – so I set out to get it from you.  We make special relationships very interesting in all the ingenious ways we go about getting or stealing from others what we think we need for our own salvation.

This works both in the forms of special love and special hate.  Special hate is when what you have, that I lack, which is innocence, I then feel sinful because I believe I’m a sinner (and I compare you to me) therefore what I do is I project my sin onto you thereby making you the sinner, and thereby making you worthy of my hate!

That’s why we all love to hate in our world. I hate you because if I make you are the repository of sin, then I am innocent because in the ego thought system it is always one or the other. (So when I hate someone that makes him the sinner and therefore  I am innocent….. per the ego.  This is why we “love” to hate.  We get rid of our guilt nice and neatly.  I’ve always wondered why it is we “love” to hate – especially those of another political party, or someone who is richer, prettier, more talented, etc.  Find an example in your own life to understand the projection/psychology behind it but don’t feel guilty about it just look at what your ego does to keep love away!)

Everything in this world is based upon comparisons. It is impossible to avoid this. Perception is all about comparisons and judgments. You couldn’t see otherwise. When we perceive something we’ve already make the judgment that it is important and everything else is unimportant.

The Right minded use of comparisons is to evaluate the difference between the ego’s thought system and the Holy Spirits. What is the ego’s thought system is all about is judgment and separation.  When we catch the ego’s tricks we understand what it is up to. We see it is false and it is all made up. Our resistance in looking is what makes this so difficult.”

I recommend going to the book: A Course In Miracles; see the Manual for Teachers towards the back of the book; and see # 4. What are the Characteristics of God’s Teachers, I. Trust. and A. Development of Trust.

http://www.facim.org