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2020 Moon reminds us: “I am There”

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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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Guilt: The “gift” that keeps on giving until…..

 

Spring 2014 2014-03-12 022Guilt: The “gift” that keeps on giving until…..

The bad news: guilt never gives up.

The good news: you have the power to stop it.

Have you noticed that guilt just doesn’t go away? You observe it but it creeps back again and again and you continue to deny it and let it go but there it is, back again. “I thought I forgave that.” Guilt is the leaky faucet. You think you’ve turned it off but it drips, drips in the background of your thoughts. Where is it coming from? It seeps under the surface like an oil slick on a beautiful beach. Guilt is the energizer bunny with an eternal battery that never runs down and in fact continues to be energized until you look at it with the love, your inheritance, in your mind.

ACIM Workbook Lesson 4. These thoughts do no mean anything.

We believe the thoughts that run through our mind and 99.999% come from the ego (the false self) and that is why they don’t mean anything. But we believe these thoughts. The ego’s job is to keep you from Love and in a state of constant guilt. It feeds guilty thoughts at every opportunity and never wants you to turn against it. We have a split mind. You choose which split, which side to listen to and believe. We can choose between the ego’s ranting and judgments or choose to listen to the voice of peace within (the right mind) the quiet voice of the Holy Spirit that is always available.

Judgment is the origin of all guilt. Our first judgment was a selfish one according to A Course In Miracles; we separated from God at the moment of the “Big Bang” in choosing the ego. It turns out that was a “mistake” (really never happened) because when we chose the ego, we threw God away. But…..it never happened because it is not possible to separate from the God; the God written about in A Course In Miracles that is.

We believe the ego and think we have separated and that is at the crux of our pain and anger. We blame God for the separation instead of ourselves.  We made up a false “god”, a punishing, warring, petty vindictive god who angrily threw Adam and Eve out of the garden. Ask yourself: Would a loving God do that?   The ego set itself on the ‘god’ throne and we listen to it and obey it. Guilt was born. We are bereft, thinking we threw away our innocence and will never get it back. We either accuse and blame ourselves or project blame onto others, i.e. those guilty and sinful ones. The ego keeps rubbing the guilt wound with self-doubt, blame, selfishness and shame.

Guilt is insatiable. You are its hostage until you decide to be Host to God instead. We need loving help in looking at it.   The Course tells us to hold the hand of love that comes from your right mind i.e. Jesus or the Holy Spirit and say “Please look at this guilty thought with me because I want to see it differently.” Visualize a tight grip on a warm hand. When we hold love’s hand and listen, a thought of understanding will come. Maybe tears will come but those tears will dissolve the “blocks to the awareness of love’s presence” that the introduction to the Course describes. Believe and trust that forgiveness will come. We need to forgive ourselves for the separation from God……which never happened because it is IMPOSSIBLE! The thought of Truth will be gentle and embracing.

When a guilty through crosses your mind, say: “This thought does not mean anything. The past is over; I have no need of this. I am One with God.”   This is a critical conscious decision; a statement of choice that you will no longer listen or believe the ego. You are a “Decider”, a Holy Son of God and you have the power to no longer let the ego abuse you. You are Host to God and not hostage to the ego.

If you haven’t started them, I recommend the Course In Miracles Workbook lessons. The first lessons deal with letting the past go; focusing on the thoughts that bring pain and realizing they are not of God. There is a lesson for each day and the introduction to the workbook will help you begin.

It is a wonderful adventure. Just do a lesson each day and if you don’t understand it – keep going – don’t let the ego sabotage you. If you don’t understand a lesson, just keep going because the “light” will dawn eventually.

The Love within you will defeat guilt. It is a power within that is your natural inheritance.   Accept God’s peace and joy as yours. Your salvation is up to you.

www.acim.org  (history and what it says)

www.miraclecenter.org   (to find a study group near you)

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Love cannot condemn

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Is it possible to really love someone and at the same time judge them?  “He or she’s really great but……” Maybe they are not doing what you would do or want them to do i.e. teens getting home late; partner over spending or not spending on the right things; children, friends acting out and annoying you. There are irritations in our lives but WHO is annoyed and why? Identify the part of your mind that is upset. It is the part that is impatient, judgmental and is angry demanding punishment. Yes parents need to discipline children but it can be done with love, calmly verses anger or blame. The ego mind judges and demands discipline or  punishment but it is not your identity. You are much more than that.

The goal of a peaceful life unfolds when we decide to change our thoughts.  We become  uncomfortable with our current modus operation.  We have a split mind – love and hate.  We finally realize the part of the mind where the ego’s schemes are hatched and how it can disrupt our lives.  The ego is NOT who we are and we no longer heed its urgings.  We gradually awaken to our true identity and accept that we are the love, the Spirit within. The ego tries to cover it up and creates havoc but you take charge and recognize the LOVE within that you are.  That love has been there all along.

If we listen to the ego’s voice we will never love un-conditionally. The ego’s way of loving amount’s to manipulation to get its way or giving in order to get. What’s in it for me? Challenge yourself to watch its gyrations and observe it but don’t follow it or feel guilty.  We all have ego thoughts. Just look and laugh! Even something as innocent as going to lunch or dinner and seeing someone the ego judges as “different,” maybe it’s their annoying clothes, their voice or the way they chew food. It is a judgment and it is from 100% separation. That person could be someone you have longed to meet (a favorite author or a professor of quantum physics) if you only knew! The ego does not know anything. Judgment separates us into lonely boxes. Even a “good” judgment, for example “what beautiful hair she has,” which really means I do not have hair like that and so we are different.  The ego likes to compare.  Love never condemns.  You have a powerful mind that DECIDES; you can choose to listen or dismiss the judgmental thoughts of separation. And if you judge yourself it is the ego trapping you.  Don’t listen!

Imagine what it feels like to be deeply accepted, loved and totally guilt free. Feel that within; give it to yourself and you will give it to others. If you condemn others you are condemning yourself.  Jesus said “Judge not so ye be not judged.”  Condemn and you are a prisoner of guilt; but love and you are guilt free.  Realize how guilty or sorry you feel after you have attacked someone and eventually we know it is not worth it!  Love sweeps all ego beliefs away with a gentle hand of compassion.

Love is within and not found out there in the world. Go within and think of someone who has loved you unconditionally.  Maybe a grand parent, aunt or uncle?  If you cannot identify anyone, then entertain the thought of an all loving Creator; Yahweh; Allah, Jesus; Mohammed; Krishna or God (or your dog) beaming love at you like a laser beam. Feel it – and it is yours.   It is your inheritance. You are no longer lost. Love found you. Hear the inner voice of Spirit telling you that you are LOVE; a loving mind choosing love. Everyone is included in the same identity of Oneness.

Wear that identity of LOVE into the world. There is a blessed relief that washes over us when we realize our Oneness with everyone and all things. All bitter struggles, the distractions and loneliness end when we refuse thoughts of separation. Be a love finder, not a fault finder and pure joy will fill your mind and Peace Prevails.   “When you want only love, you will see nothing else.” A Course In Miracles T. 12. VII. 8. (pg. 231)

https://acim.org/workbook/lesson-92/

Miracles are seen in light, and light and strength are one. Workbook lesson 92. “If we see others as different from ourselves …  we judge and condemn but do not love.”

Click on “arrow” to hear the lesson read to you.

http://www.facim.org

http://www.miraclecenter.org