September 9, 2014

Most of us have grown up with some concept of prayer. We have asked for many somethings in prayer and have undoubtedly experienced what appears to be failure receiving what we asked for. We have experienced this to be true not only in things that might be harmful, but in connection with requests that are strictly in line with the Course. Our first conclusion may be that the Course doesn’t work. But perhaps we are not seeing clearly. Perhaps the answer has come and we haven’t opened our eyes enough to see it. Perhaps we are not ready for it yet. One thing we must remember is that the Course has stated repeatedly, as the Course tends to do, that its purpose is the escape from or the removal of fear. Have we come to understand and accept the deeper meaning of the Course? Are we willing to look beyond the appearance of anything to the deeper meaning Spirit is waiting to reveal to us?

Suppose we ask Spirit for what we really want. Spirit has promised an answer to us. If we ask for what we really want but are still afraid of it, the attainment of it would not be what we really want. When we are afraid of what we want, that can no longer be what we want. Do we ever really want what we are afraid of? Many of us have asked for healing. But if we look deeper, what have we asked for? The Course teaches us healing is of the mind. Healing is a correction in our thought system from an egoic thought system to a right minded thought system. If we ask for healing but are afraid of changing our thought system, we are not asking for real healing. This comes down to the fact that we are often afraid of the transformation the healing of the mind can bring, even if that’s what we really want.

The Course, as does the Bible, emphasizes that all prayer is answered and this is indeed true. Asking Spirit for anything ensures a response and it is also certain that Spirit’s response will never increase fear. It is possible that we may not have heard Spirit’s answer to our prayer. There are many answers we have not yet heard that are waiting for us. They will be revealed in perfect time when we are ready to receive them. We may also be unwilling to recognize the messenger bringing that answer.

If we know our prayers are answered, would we ever doubt a Child of God?   Do we question and doubt each other, the One Child of God we are One with? Our faith in each other is the refection of the faith we have in ourselves. The message we receive from another is up to us. What would we have another say to us? Our decision about who another is determines the message we receive. Each of us is whole and Spirit is within each and every one of us. Spirit’s voice speaks through each One to us. If we are willing to hear the Voice for God in another, how could they speak anything but Truth? Our brother or sister may not be aware of who they are, but there is a light in their mind that does know. This light shines into our minds giving truth to their words and making us able to hear them. Another’s words are Spirit’s answer to our prayer. Is our faith in who our brothers and sisters really are strong enough to let us hear the true answer? Open your mind to the Voice for God and hear it from wherever it comes. When we listen with our higher mind we will hear the Voice of Spirit everywhere. The answer to our prayer is given. Choose to let go of your fear of the answer and hear it now.

September 2, 2014

The Course tells us a lot about Reality; that is, Reality as it is created. It also tells us about a “reality” we made up as a result of our belief in separation; the belief that we can be separate from our Creator and each other. This made up “reality” is the world we think we see. It is a result of our belief in separation. It is perceived through our belief that limitation, lack, attack, defense, imperfection, and incompleteness are possible and do exist. The world we think we see is perceived through the lens of separation and is thus misperceived by the egoic thought system to which we have given control of our thoughts and our minds. We have used judgment to make division appear real. Thus we are constantly trying to maintain our part of “reality” by placing value judgments on all we encounter, experience and think.

The Course asks us to relinquish our judgments about the world we think we see. It asks us to release our attachment to our thoughts and ideas we hold about the world, our experiences and each other. The Course tells us that everything real is of equal value and everything not real has no value for it doesn’t really exist except in our minds. Our Creator has created us whole, One with the Creator and One with all of Creation. Every aspect of creation contains and is all of Creation. Not one iota of Creation is separable from another. Creation is an extension of the Creator and our Creations are extensions of us as we co-create with the Creator. We each contain and share with each other all that the Creator is.

The Reality of Creation is the Will of the Creator, or the Will of all Creation. This will is a shared Will. It is ours whether we think we want it or not. And we really do want it for it brings the awareness of our completeness to our Mind. To accept our completeness, to accept our Divine wholeness and Love is to accept Reality and the reality of who we really are. We have never actually been anything other than that reality. We have simply blocked our awareness of our Divine wholeness. We are the essence of Love that our Source is. We come from that Source and carry that Source in the depths of our being. Letting that Source essence shine from within us as we go about our lives in this perceived form is our happiness. It is our natural state of being. It is Heaven on earth.

This may sound totally impossible and perhaps insane if we try to understand this from our egoic thought system. And it is virtually impossible to make this shift in thought and belief while we hold on to a belief in separation. But as we accept the idea of Reality into our minds, Spirit moves in us to assist us in perceiving this world differently. Spirit guides our perception to correct the misperceived ideas we are so attached to. Spirit asks us simply to be willing to allow Spirit to show us another way to perceive whatever is blocking our awareness of who we really are. The only real thing in Creation is Love. We are meant to be the communicators of Divine Love to the world. Love guides us in this communication as we allow it. Are we willing to begin to manifest Love in this world? Are we willing to let it shine within us and let it shine in others so they may see it shining for themselves? Accept the reality of Reality into your mind and allow Spirit’s guidance to transform your perception and all perception as we open to our collective One Mind. We are the Reality of Oneness and Love. Let its full effect into your awareness of who we really are and be that Love.

August 26, 2014

One might ask, “What do you mean, the Acceptance of Reality?” We think that what we see and experience is reality. However, that can be deceiving. We have grown up and lived in a world of perception, a world of separation. The world we think we see is more about our perception of it and what we think about it than its actual form. That is evidenced in the fact that two people can see and experience the same event yet have completely different descriptions of what happened. We judge everything we see and experience through the bias of our past experiences and all that we have been taught and exposed to in our life to this point. We have accepted the “reality” of our perception without question rather than looking beyond our perception to the truth beyond it. We have come to accept that we are OK with what is familiar, even if it’s not great, and look no further.

Reality is the world Source created. Reality is the world we were created in and in which we co-create with Source. There is no separation in reality. There is no lack or limitation in reality. There is no attack, defense, blame or guilt in reality. There is no fear in reality, for there is nothing real to fear in reality. All fear is a result of our acceptance of and belief in the idea of separation; that we are separate from our Source and each other. We have distorted the fact that we are created in the Creator’s image and that we are an extension of our Creator into a belief that we are something different than we are created. We believe that we have messed up and damaged our Creator’s creation. In reality this is absolutely impossible.

Therefore, we have come to fear ourselves. We have come to fear who we are. We have come to fear our perceived will because we believe it is different from our Creator’s will. The truth is our will is One with our Creator’s Will and each other’s, sharing all there is with the Creator. We lack nothing and there is nothing real about us that can be hurt or damaged. We are One with Source. The only thing that keeps us from the awareness of this is our belief in and fear that we are different. We have become so entrenched in our belief that we are not One with our Creator that we find it impossible to change our mind on our own. So we have been given Spirit as a guide to show us the way back to the awareness of who we really are. Spirit asks us to begin by being just a little willing to look at ourselves differently. Can we begin to accept that we are One with our Creator? Are we willing to drop the resistance to the truth about us that we have been so tightly clinging to all these years? God’s will for us is to be One with all Creation, to be in our natural state of being filled with peace, love and joy.

The world we think we see is not really reality. It can’t be because there is so much division perceived in it. Reality is perceived beyond the appearance of this world we see. Every One we encounter and every experience we experience is an opportunity to allow Spirit to guide our perception and raise our awareness to true reality. Begin by accepting real reality into your awareness. Allow the idea that we are as we are created, whole and perfect, to take root in our minds and accept the reality of who we really are, the One Creation of the Creator. Peace, love and joy are only a thought away. Accept the real reality of the Creator and step into the awareness of who you really are. This is reality.