February 23, 2021
Today I begin with a quote from the Rev. Dr. Howard Thurman from his “Meditations of the Heart.
“There is in every person an inward sea, and in that sea there is an island and on that island there is an altar and standing guard before the altar is the ‘angel with the flaming sword.’ Nothing can get by that angel to be placed upon the altar unless it has the mark of your inner authority. Nothing passes ‘the angel with the flaming sword’ to be placed upon your altar unless it be part of ‘the fluid area of your consent.’ This is your crucial link with the Eternal.”
This passage touched my heart as it was read at this Sunday’s worship at First Unitarian Church of San Jose. What do we consent to allow into our life and mind? This consent determines the world we see and experience in this moment.
Today’s lesson from A Course In Miracles is a review of 5 lessons from the past few weeks.
Lesson 54 –
Review of Lessons 16-20
(16) I have no neutral thoughts.
Neutral thoughts are impossible because all thoughts have power. They will either make a false world or lead me to the real one. But thoughts cannot be without effects. As the world I see arises from my thinking errors, so will the real world rise before my eyes as I let my errors be corrected. My thoughts cannot be neither true nor false. They must be one or the other. What I see shows me which they are. W-pI.54.1:1-8
(17) I see no neutral things.
What I see witnesses to what I think. If I did not think I would not exist, because life is thought. Let me look on the world I see as the representation of my own state of mind. I know that my state of mind can change. And so I also know the world I see can change as well. W-pI.54.2:1-6
(18) I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my seeing.
If I have no private thoughts, I cannot see a private world. Even the mad idea of separation had to be shared before it could form the basis of the world I see. Yet that sharing was a sharing of nothing. I can also call upon my real thoughts, which share everything with everyone. As my thoughts of separation call to the separation thoughts of others, so my real thoughts awaken the real thoughts in them. And the world my real thoughts show me will dawn on their sight as well as mine. W-pI.54.3:1-7
(19) I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my thoughts.
I am alone in nothing. Everything I think or say or do teaches all the universe. A Child of God cannot think or speak or act in vain. They cannot be alone in anything. It is therefore in my power to change every mind along with mine, for mine is the power of God. W-pI.54.4:1-6
(20) I am determined to see.
Recognizing the shared nature of my thoughts, I am determined to see. I would look upon the witnesses that show me the thinking of the world has been changed. I would behold the proof that what has been done through me has enabled love to replace fear, laughter to replace tears, and abundance to replace loss. I would look upon the real world, and let it teach me that my will and the Will of God are one. W-pI.54.5:1-5
What thoughts do we consent to give power to? The thoughts to which we give our power determine the world we see and experience. What thoughts and beliefs do you consent allow on your inner altar? There thoughts and beliefs determine the world you see and experience. Let us be determined to see clearly the real world.
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