Does an open heart, open the mind or does an open mind, open the heart?

Maybe it doesn’t matter which one happens first, but for me, when I’m waiting in line at the market feeling anxious because the line is slow, my mind is locked, closed and my heart constricted. That is why having a practice in watching the mind helps because when aware of the “agitation” I can say “I want to see this differently” and with that I am open to the Souls who share the line with me and let go and relax. I can see the silliness in spending energy on something trivial like agitation. I want and choose peace, inner peace. The Course In Miracles tells us the goal of the Course is inner peace and the workbook lessons certainly help us look at the blocks we have put up to keep peace away, and as it turns out LOVE too. The ego is the culprit but it is ONLY a thought, we happen to believe.

Monitoring your thoughts and mind is the key: How do YOU feel? Are emotions in charge of you or are “YOU” in charge of your Mind and consequently the emotions. But we have to look at the emotions rather than indulge or believe them and when we look, which is part of the forgiveness instructions, in the What is Forgiveness link below, they dissipate like smoke on a windy day. We no longer live from our emotions or let them run our lives unless it serves us somehow.   There are those who like an emotional state of anxiety and fear because they think it keeps them motivated but it is not good for the health of the body, which we need in order to go through the lessons we came here to learn and it is also not good if inner peace is our goal.

We don’t have to believe our thoughts just because we think them. An example is my boss told me he’d like to see me in his office for a meeting the next day at 2 pm. I hadn’t a clue what it could be about but I can tell you thoughts ran rampant through my mind, and they were not all good thoughts. What could it be? Maybe I’d be fired or asked to resign! Well, it turned out I received a compliment and a promotion! All that energy spent in worry, fear of the future, fear of the past! Everything but: “Right Now, all is well.” Ahhhh…..right NOW….all is Well. This instant is the only time there IS! Everything else is my projecting into the future and the ego fear running amok.

As students of the Course we are told we are the Christ, a Holy Son of God and Jesus our elder brother will guide us, if we take his hand and invite him in. Share all your emotions and thoughts with your elder brother. He awaits your invitational prayer – this is one I use:

“Jesus Christ, Holy Son of God, Dear elder brother, please guide my heart and mind and help me look at and remove the blocks to the awareness of love’s presence, which is my natural inheritance, as I journey to the Home and Father, I never left.”

I try to repeat this whenever I am upset about something and especially when I can’t sleep at night because I’m ruminating about a worry; a meeting I dread; a bill to be paid; someone I need to forgive but don’t want to. Unlock your mind and look at all those thoughts with your elder brother; let him give you a thought to replace the ones you think are true…..and your Heart will Open.

Click on these links and click on the arrow, “play” and have it read to you – close your eyes.

ACIM: Introduction https://acim.org/acim/what-it-says/

Workbook Lesson 185. W. pg. 348. I want the peace of God. https://acim.org/workbook/lesson-185/

What is Forgiveness –W. pg. 401 https://acim.org/workbook/what-is-1/

You are worth it because you are LOVED!