March 27, 2012

Appearances deceive us, for appearances change. As we move through life, the world around us appears to change. But what really changes? It’s really our thoughts, ideas, and beliefs about the world that change. Our thoughts, ideas, and beliefs are the appearances we seem to see. If what we see changes, or can change, or we want to change, it is unreality. Reality is changeless. No thought or desire of change can make reality subject to change. So the wavering appearances of what we think is real is not reality. It is merely our perception based on our perceptions based on conclusions and judgments made in isolation.

The place we work this perception out is in our relationships. Do we see the reality of another we have encountered? Do we see them as God and Spirit see them? Do we see them whole and changeless? Or do we drift to how they appear to us at that moment? Does that appearance change from time? Do we see a lack in them? Are we recognizing ourselves in that one we are with right now? As we open ourselves to Spirit’s guidance we begin to see beyond the appearances we made up. We look beyond the judgments we have made about them. And we begin to see the Christ within them. We recognize the Divinity within them that is so familiar because it is the same Divinity within ourselves.

That Divinity speaks the truth of who we really are. It calls to all creation for the joining in our One Divine Presence. It is unchanging, for it is not of form, but is of Truth. It seems illogical that form cannot be changeless, but form is defined by our thoughts about form! Thus form is appearance and can change subject to our own thoughts.

Divine light shines within us from the One Source. We recognize that light in each other as we allow ourselves to see with Spirit’s eyes. We all have Spirit’s eyes. This vision allows the miracle of healing to come in us. The miracle is the seeing beyond appearances. The miracle transcends all appearances so we see reality. Withhold no appearance from the miracle offered. Let no attachment to any appearance keep you from seeing the whole of reality. Peace, joy, and love are there in that reality, offered so we may recognize the truth of who we really are. Let us take each other by the hand and let go of all the appearances we had held so dear and walk joyfully into the presence of the Christ, the light and bliss of reality. It is our reality.

March 20, 2012

As we go about our lives in this world, our interpretation of this world is in continual flux. We give the meaning anything has to everything we see and experience. And as we have new experiences we sometimes see new things and give them their meaning, or we change the meaning of things we have already given a meaning to. In our mind, our thoughts and ideas are always changing and adding to what we have already experienced and interpreted. In this way we write a script for each little bit of our lives, writing new scenes and acts for each new episode in our lives.

However, in the real world – the world seen through the eyes of Spirit – there is only one meaning for everything. That one meaning must apply to everything in order to be consistent and true. When anything is seen or understood clearly there can be no change in its meaning no matter what happens in the world of form. This idea certainly seems insane to us. Certainly everything can’t have the same meaning. What we must be willing to accept and understand is that the meaning we have given anything is based on incomplete information, an incomplete picture, and an incomplete or separated mind. We have tried to judge, understand, and perceive on our own – in isolation – without benefit of counsel.

Most of us would never dare try to navigate our court system without the benefit and guidance of a qualified attorney. Yet we are very willing to navigate the myriad paths of life without the aid of a qualified guide. We dive into the fray of life, many times without a clue of what we are in for, and try to make our way out of the messes in which we find ourselves in any way we can. And every moment we write a new script for the dream we are dreaming at that moment. We do our best. We do our very best. But we are missing a whole lot of crucial information to guide ourselves smoothly on the way. Sometimes we even find ourselves unnecessarily moving backwards rather than forward.

We need not be so confused, afraid, and unsure. Source – God – has provided us with counsel to guide us on the path. Spirit guides us in our perception to the correct perception for us in any given situation. The correct meaning will be evident in that new perception, that new interpretation that flows from Sprit within us. And that new meaning will be a shared meaning that we share with another, our brother or sister. Spirit always has the correct meaning for us at any given moment. It is our choice whether we perceive in isolation on our own or allow our mind to share in the most appropriate shared meaning Spirit guides us to. And as we share this higher meaning with those we are in relationship with, those relationships are healed. We experience the miracle of healing of our minds as we let our thoughts be guided by Spirit and the Mind of God. Then, as the song goes, “the world will be a better place, for you, and me…” Let it be so.

March 13, 2012

The Course asks us to let ourselves see beyond all appearances. That’s all appearances. If we are not willing to allow ourselves to see beyond all appearances, we are reserving the idea that some or a few appearances are real and thus not illusion. Looking beyond appearances is impossible to do when we approach doing so from our ego or separated mind. We have become attached to the appearances we think we see and the way we have always seen the world we live in. But as we are willing to let Spirit guide us, we begin to see beyond our first impressions based on our thoughts and ideas about how we see the world and others to a new appearance that reveals the truth about ourselves and each other. We see beyond the appearance of a separate body, limited and wrong, to the true essence of who we really are. We begin to see each other as God created and sees us. We recognize the Divine that is within all of creation that can never be denied.

Forgiveness is the process of letting ourselves see beyond appearances. It starts as all transformation starts with being willing, nothing more. We cannot be transformed unless we are willing to let ourselves be transformed. The willingness is the most difficult part. Once we entertain the idea of being willing to forgive, to see differently, to change our mind, we have opened the door to the infinite wisdom and power within us that is Divine. Spirit which is already within us directs our seeing, our forgiving, and the changing of our mind. Sprit reminds us of our own Oneness with God and each other and allows us to change our perception and see with Spirit eyes and love with Spirit hearts, and think with Sprit minds, the Mind of God that we all share.

As the Course has told us before, forgiveness is total. There can be no holding back of any forgiveness. It must be complete. For if we hold back any forgiveness, we have made some illusion seem real. We have reserved the thought that some thought or idea has power over the Divine and thus given power to that reserved thought to keep us from the full awareness of who we really are. The awareness of our true nature and being is unimaginably freeing. But if we reserve some bit of limitation or some bit of captivity, we are not free. We are either free or not. What would being almost free look like? Almost free is certainly not free in anyone’s definition. Forgiveness must also be complete and total.

Forgiveness, looking beyond all appearances, then brings healing. Healing is also total or complete. Who in their right mind would deny anyone any part of healing? Allow forgiveness to be complete and total. Hold no idea or thought back from the freedom of forgiveness. Complete freedom is our birthright. It is our gift from the Source given to us a t our creation. Be whole in the miracle of healing. Wholeness never left us, we simply forgot who we really are and believed it was true.

March 6, 2012

Do we really understand forgiveness? Do we use it for its intended purpose? Is our use of forgiveness justified? We may have a misperception of forgiveness. It’s a word that may carry a lot of baggage for us. We have been asked to forgive all our lives and yet may not have understood what we were doing. Understanding what the Course means by forgiveness is a very important perception to correct in order to begin to perceive the world correctly and understand who we really are.

Forgiveness is not pardon for an attack we perceive as having really occurred. For if we perceive attack we are perceiving incorrectly in the first place. As a result we cannot forgive correctly. If I forgive another for attacking me, I believe that I can be attacked and I reinforce that idea as I “forgive” while I carry around the idea that another has wronged me, is guilty and has hurt me. I have misperceived who I and another are. I have made both of us something we are not in my mind and through my thoughts.

But we can change this. We can change our thoughts. We can allow Spirit to show us a better way to perceive ourselves and each other. The forgiveness the Course asks us to extend is the changing of our mind to see correctly what has happened. We can see who we really are. We can see who another really is. We can understand that what we thought was an attack is not real and cannot hurt us. We can see that it is nothing more than a call for love. We can see and understand that at that moment another is crying out for the love they have separated themselves form recognizing within them and all they come in contact with. Forgiveness is the recognition we are in a separated state of consciousness, not our natural state of being. And as we recognize we are dreaming, we can allow ourselves to awaken to the real world and the awareness of our natural state of being.

Forgiveness is joyful, for it brings our awareness back to our natural state as we recognize ourselves as who we really are and always have been. It frees another and ourselves of all the mistaken perceptions we have loaded each other down with. In forgiving we set each other free to soar to the heights of peace, love, and joy that are already within us. Forgiving is letting go. Set the world free. You will also set yourself free. And you will recognize the Divinity that has always been in and around you. Let it be.