January 3, 2012

How often we have seen children in their play create imaginary worlds, whether playing in groups or by themselves. The imaginary worlds they create can be elaborate or simple. But they are always imaginary. We have learned that the lives we live in this world are like dreams, for we are spiritually asleep as we wend our separate way through this life. Those dreams we dream are like a child’s imaginary play world. It has its base in all we experience in our lives, but it is still made up. It is completely dependent on our perception, what we think about everything we have experienced. Our problem is we believe our dream world is real, unlike a child who can shed the made up world when it’s time to come in for dinner.

We have said we are willing to entertain the idea that what we think is real may only be a dream. Thus we can replace one dream with another dream. Or allow Spirit to provide us with a new dream that brings us close to awakening from the dream altogether. In the dreams we have made up, all the figures and ideas are designed to keep us separate, to keep us looking outside of ourselves for what we think we need and want. And so the figures we made up in our dreams work to betray us, keeping us from the awareness of who we really are. But now, in our changed dreams, the figures there have been transformed. They are now perceived as our brothers and sister, not in conflict, judgment and betrayal, but in love and joy. We recognize them as the One Child of God we all are, One with God in perfect Oneness.

This transformed dream, shown to us through Spirit is the forgiving dream. It is the dream that transforms our minds, allowing us to see each other as we really are and recognize the face of Christ in all we see. What a shift in thought this is. It frees us from the dreams we made up that bound us in a world of fear and mistrust. We are free to experience the peace, love, and joy that have always been within us. We can see and feel that the answer we were searching for outside of ourselves has always been right here within us. As we hear and remember that ancient song within us, we realize it has never not been within us, that it has always remained within, waiting for us to awaken to its joyful melody of peace and love.

Allow the forgiving dream to echo in your mind again. Peace, love and joy are waiting there, right within you this moment. Free yourself from the bonds of your made up dreams and rejoice in each one who is One with you and all creation.

December 27, 2011

This week’s text talks about idols. Do we understand what an idol is? An idol is nothing, it is nowhere, and it has no power. No matter what form idols take, they are nothing but substitutes for our reality. In some way we have come to believe that they will complete us, or save us, or give us power. We believe they will restore our peace of mind. We believe they will supply our “lacks” and add “value” to us and who we e. And so we seek beyond ourselves for even the strength to raise our heads and stand apart form the misery of the world.

But this constitutes a false impression, a false belief, and a mistaken idea that actually constitutes the gap between us and the Christ Spirit, between us and God, between us and who we really are. Some form of anti-Christ that is nothing more than a gap, a misperception, a mistaken idea. It is a wish given form, made tangible only by our belief that it is outside our mind. It is nothing more than a spot of darkness in a field of light, made dark only by a veil of thoughts drawn around the illusion of who we think we are.

Yet, how can darkness be in a field of light that has no hidden alcoves, no dark corners, and no hiding places? The veil of thought that appears to make the shadow, that makes it appear the light comes from outside of us fades away and vanishes as we turn to look within ourselves for the peace of mind we think we lack. The love of God and the joy of Heaven are right there within us waiting to be recognized and set us free from the constant searching outside that we are so ready and willing to obsess on. All we need do is simply stop a moment and look within to the peace, love, and joy of God within us and reconnect with the abundance that Spirit has supplied to each and every one of us.

Take a moment today. We stand in the light with our eyes tightly closed, convinced we are hidden in total darkness, searching desperately outside ourselves for light when all we need do is open our eyes and see we are already in the light and that it shines brightly from within us. In this moment stop searching and simply open your eyes. See the light within and around you and know the light is you.

December 20, 2011

“Seek not outside yourself.” We need not look outside ourselves. Is there anything unclear abut that statement? The Course has told us again and again that we have everything we need. It has told us we lack nothing we need. It tells us God has given us all and that we have all God has. We are truly created as God is and we are an extension of God. This Truth is so simple, yet we continue to fail to see and understand it.

Our bodies are symbols of our belief in separateness. We identify ourselves as our body and all the experiences we have had with our bodies. But as we have spent our life experiencing this world of form from our body’s perspective, we have missed a greater perspective. We have missed the experiences of our unity with God and each other. No person can put asunder what God has created, yet we inadvertently attempt to do so as we continuously perceive our experiences from a separated mind rather than the Mind of God.

Our mistake is that we think God is outside of us. We think the real world is outside of us. We think all is happening to us. And we fail to understand that all that is happening is within us. What we see is more about what we perceive about what we see than what actually occurred. Any experience is more about what we think about it and how we perceive it based on comparing it to everything we think about our past that the actual thing that happened. The world we see is the world we think we see and nothing more.

Instead of looking outside ourselves to what we have projected form our mistaken thoughts, we can stop, become still, and look within to that place within us that is Divine. That place where we find inspiration that comes from Spirit within that has never left us. The understanding of Truth and what is real is deep within us, ignored, as we continually search outside ourselves for what we find already within us. Take a moment. Sop. Be still. Listen for the Voice of Spirit within. That Voice calls to us every moment of every day and reminds us of who we really are. Let yourself hear that voice and recognize yourself in that voice. Peace, love, and joy radiated from that place within. Let that radiance shine from you, radiating that peace, love, and joy to all you encounter. This is what Christmas is about. Have a wonderful, blessed Christmas as you let the Christ Spirit shine from you.

December 13, 2011

Thee is a place deep within us where only what is real remains. It is a place where all illusion is forgotten. The world we see is simply not remembered and is not missed. That place within is a place where peace, love, and joy abide in abundance, and all else is vanished in the light of awareness and awakeness. The echoes of our Heavenly song touch our ears. We see the light shining from the innermost of all sources. And we rest in that place. For we know it is our home. And we know this dwelling so completely we know we are home.

Only the dreams we dream in our unawakened mind block our awareness of this wholeness within us. Let these dreams fall away and let Spirit bring the new dreams to our sleeping minds for the healing of our minds. We now dream of each other and the Oneness we share with each other. Spirit shows us the new picture of the one who is our savior and who we are savior of. We see each other in a new light, recognizing ourselves in each other and realizing that we cannot be anything but One. The realization of this place within is the healing of our mind. It is the awakening of our mind to the awareness of who we really are.

God created us changeless. And so we can never really be anything else. All the nightmares we dreamed were just nightmares. And each one was met by Spirit with a new dream to take its place. We began to see ourselves as whole, and see another as whole, forgiving them and ourselves for ever seeing otherwise. In this new site, in this new vision are we raised up and lifted into the light of truth and wholeness.

The changeless dwelling place within wells up with the awareness of who we really are, never having left at all. We rejoice in the reunion of that awareness, not because it is new, but because it has always been. The light, love, peace, and joy of Heaven have always been our home, just waiting for us to let the fog clear away and recognize ourselves. Lay down the misconceptions of our dreams. Let the fog of illusion float away on the breath of Truth. We are home in that changeless dwelling place that we have never really left but fell asleep in. Now is our time come to awaken to our true home.

December 6, 2011

We are the proof that God is and of God’s reality and perfection. Could God have created us less than God is? Would God have created less than perfection? No parent would create their child inferior. Every parent wants their child to be perfect and they know their child is perfection. It is only after years of convincing ourselves otherwise that we think less of our children. But God never left us. Our creation is certainly an extension of God, not a separation. And therefore we remain connected to God, to the Divine, to Source.

The light and love of God remains with us no matter how diligently we separate ourselves from our wholeness. Our belief that we are not whole can dominate our mind, but it cannot take away the light and love that are so lovingly extended from God as an element of our creation. No matter how diligently we may deny it, there remains a spark within us that reminds us of the divine essence within. That spark is a witness to the fact that we are One with God, that we are One with all of creation, and we can never be anything other than who we really are as God created us.

We recognize the spark in ourselves and we recognize it in another. Forgiveness is the recognition of the light of Spirit in each one and the recognition that we are one with that spirit. We recognize our savior in another and thus recognize our own salvation. Just as another recognizes their savior in us and thus recognizes their own salvation. No matter what the dream, no matter what the illusion, the light of Spirit will always shine through it and show us the truth of who we really are. Even our made up dreams lead us to our awakening if we will just let them. The gift of Divine light and love is just behind every dream and illusion shining around the edges and through the little gaps and cracks.

Allow the light and love to come to your eyes. God will never hide it from us no matter how hard we strive to hide it. The light and love of God is always extending and connecting us to divine Source. Be that Light. Be that Love. We are the witnesses to the reality of our Oneness. Release, let go, and be who you really are.

November 29, 2011

Who is this Guest? How is it that this Guest comes/? How do we recognize this Guest? What does this Guest bring? And yet the Course tells us that this Guest has already come, that this Guest had brought us gifts and laid them at our feet. The Course tells us that we cannot see this Guest, but we will recognize its Presence by the presence of the Gifts it brings. How is this so? The Guest may be thought of as Spirit, the Holy Spirit, if you will. It is that Presence and awareness that connects us with the divine, the Presence of the Source, or God. It is that Presence that is within us to help us reawaken to the awareness of who we really are, One with the Source, God, and all of Creation.

We invited the Guest, just by seeking, just by the desire to understand who we are and what purpose we have in this world. In Truth, Spirit has always been within us, for it would be impossible to separate from the One Source. But our mistaken idea that we are separate form our Source has brought us down a path of mistaken ideas and perceptions that we believed and thus thought of ourselves as contained within a physical body. This mistaken idea essentially shut the awareness of God from our minds even though the remembrance of that connection, that communion has always stayed with us. And that remembrance of what is Holy within us is what causes us to seek for it in our separation.

Through identification with our physical bodies have we mistaken death for life. We have made the body’s life life, and Spiritual life coming only at the death of the body. This idea makes life temporary, limited and fleeting. But the body’s life is not our real life. Real life is eternal and unchangeable, without limits, and un-attackable. Though the physical body is temporary, and therefore not real in terms of spiritual life, it does have purpose in this world we live in for a time. It is the means by which we work on our journey to the awareness of who we really are and what is real.

Whatever we think and do, what consciousness we live in, what state of being we are practicing and living exhibit or manifest in the lives we are living on this earth. Our consciousness is reflected in our everyday lives. As we go about our daily business, whatever that may be, we are exhibiting the characteristics of the state of mind we are in at that moment. If we are conscious of the peace, joy, and love of Spirit within us, that consciousness shines through whatever we do in our relationships with each other. In this way our physical bodies function for a holy purpose; to extend the love of God to each other. And so the gifts of the Guest are extended through each and every one of us to each and every one of us. And we reawake to the awareness of who we really are and Oneness of which we all are a part. Live the blessing of the awareness of who we really are.

November 22, 2011

The Love of God, the love of Spirit is all encompassing. It is in all of creation and extends to all of creation, connecting what is already One in Oneness. Fear is not and cannot ever be in the presence of Love. Fear, an illusion, can only distract us from Love, which is real. In this way we create a small gap between us and another, usually a gap we think of as a “safety” through which we think we can escape from something not real, not of Love. Spirit asks us to recognize we made the gap and to let it disappear, since we realize we made it up in the first place.

We think because we have manifested as a body in this world that our minds are not joined. Nothing is further from the truth. The Mind of God cannot be divided. For if the Mind of God be divided, God’s promise would be broken, and healing would be impossible. The body is neither one nor separate. It is the playground of our learning. It is the vehicle through which we learn who we really are and learn we really are One with each other. Our daily encounters with each other are each a lesson to learn we are joined with that one, with each other. Each of us is the essence of Love and of the Divine. We are created thus. And that Love is all powerful. When we allow ourselves to believe this Truth, we realize the truth about the world and about all of creation. We experience the blessing and peace and joy of our true nature, our true state of being, our Divine Self as One.

In this season of Thanksgiving we often set aside much of our misperception about each other and reach out to help others in a loving way. Allow yourself to go a bit deeper this year. Allow yourself to join with each one in the Mind of the Divine in each other. Set each other free of the limits we have burdened them with in our thoughts. Allow the extension of Love to close the little gap we have left between us. There is no need for escape, for there is no danger. We have nothing to fear from one another except the Love of Spirit. And there is no fear in the Love of Spirit, for the love of Spirit eclipses all that cannot be. Let Spirit and Oneness rise today. Let gratitude flood each of us with the love, joy, and peace of the Divine Presence we are today. I thank you for being One with me and all of Creation in this season. And I invite you to join with me in carrying that joining into each and every day to come. Happy Thanksgiving!