February 28, 2012

The text we are looking at talks about the purpose of the real world. Do we understand what the real world even is? Do we understand the difference between the real world and the world we think we see? The real world is a way of perceiving and seeing the world a correctly. Our tendency is to see the world through the lens of fear, or incorrect perception. This is the way we tend to perceive or interpret all we see 6throught the lens of all our past ideas and thoughts without the benefit of Spirit’s vision.

In an earlier section of this chapter we looked at how we make decisions. We began to learn to ask Spirit for help when making decisions rather than making them alone or separated from Spirit. Asking for guidance gives us access to the wisdom of God that is already ours. Being in touch with the Divine within through remembering to consult Spirit brings us into the awareness of who we really are. It draws back the veil and pushes away the fog that clouds our vision so long separated from the awareness of the Divine within. Fear begins to fade away from our mind as we allow the Mind of God to come to the front of our awareness.

The real world is a world without fear and filled with love. We understand the thoughts of idols and how they affect our thinking and our awareness. In the real world we still see how idols distract us ad we understand the illusion of power they bring. Yet we also understand the power is illusion and not real. In the real world we can forgive the illusion. We understand the misperception of one another and we see the face of Christ shining from one another. No matter where another may be at with their thoughts and understanding, we recognize the Truth about who they really are and understand they are acting out their misperceived ideas rooted in their belief they are separate.

Take a moment to step aside and let go of any fear. Look into another’s eyes and see the face of Christ within them. Recognize the Divine Oneness within that one and recognize your own true Self there. The real world is Heaven on earth. It is full of joy, love, peace, and an understanding that comes from the Source within us that is our Co-Creator. Recognize your Self there. And live life fully in the awareness of the unity of all Creation, the awareness of who we really are. Here we rest in our being.

February 21, 2012

In reality nothing is required for salvation, to be in safety. We are already safe. We are already in our natural state of Oneness which we have never left. And in the world of form, illusions, or dreams, very little is required for the awareness of salvation and safety. We need only forgiveness. We need only recognize that we are dreaming, that our perceived reality is merely a dream that we can choose to let go of at any moment we recognize it doesn’t serve us. It really is that simple.

God created us whole and perfect and an extension of God, inseparable from God. This is a fact, a truth that cannot be undone. We can choose to think differently of ourselves and believe our made up dream is real, but it never changes the fact, the truth of who we really are. We make up idols that we think will serve us well. Those idols let us down, never living up to our expectations of them. Everything we encounter we hurriedly make up explanations for, based on how we perceive our past experiences. And then we give them a life of their own and are surprised, disappointed, angry, fearful at what they seem to have become. Like the toys we are initially afraid of, we enjoy and are entertained by as we get used to how they function, and then get upset and angry with as they let our expectations down, our dreams we confuse with reality frighten, pleasure, and let us down when we place our trust and our well being in them.

Spirit s there within us to guide and inspire us. Spirit knows and holds the memory for us of our true being, the awareness of who we really are. We carry within us our Divine nature, our Divinity, our Oneness and connection to God. The acceptance of forgiveness is the willingness to let go of our attachment to the dream we made up about ourselves. Our dreams are where the idols and toys lie, fading away at the turning of our awareness from separation to Unity and Oneness. The world of form is here to lead us back to this awareness. Every experience, every encounter, every idea is an opportunity to see with the eyes of Spirit, and let go of our mistaken perception of ourselves and our lives.

Next time you think of it, step back for just a moment and ask yourself “What ad how am I thinking?” Do we think with the mind of Spirit, or the mind of the ego, the mind of separation? We may not realize it right now, but we always have this choice. We always have this opportunity. We just don’t take the moment to bring the awareness of that opportunity forward. We are always in a hurry on our way to salvation, safety, home, when we are unaware that we are already there. Let go of it all, everything for just a moment. Make it a purposeful decision to make thinking with the Mind of God a habit. Let that habit replace the habit of thinking apart from the Mind of God. And practice! My teachers always told me “practice makes perfect.” Make a conscious effort to practice thinking with the Mind of God. What could be more perfect than that?

February 14, 2012

We have no need to fear or defend ourselves against our dreams. They do not threaten us in any way. Our only mistake is that we thought they were real! It seems so simple, yet we still place our trust in those dreams that seem so real. They take so many forms in our minds. And they appear to change before our very eyes. They may first startle us and we fear them. Nest we get used to them and they become friendly and act the way we expect the, to. And then they change again and let us down or fail us in some unexpected way. They fail us because we place our trust in them without fully understanding them.

We make up the rules of what something is. We place our expectations on it and think that it is as we perceive and will act as we perceive. Then, all of a sudden, it does something completely unexpected that startles us that we don’t like. Then we get used to that new characteristic and enjoy that. And then pretty soon it fails us again and doesn’t act the way we thought it should. The Course uses the example of a Jack-in-the-box. It is a box that plays music. We like turning the crank and making it play the little ditty. Then the lid unexpectedly flies open and a clown pops up at us. Once we understand this is the way the Jack-in-the-box works, we enjoy the surprise as we never quite know when it will pop open, but we know what to expect and enjoy the surprise. Then the mechanism breaks and we are disappointed in the toy, get frustrated with it, or get hurt on it. It’s still no more than a toy.

Our dreams and our idols are just like a toy. We make up the rules for them. They play out on the screen of our mind as we wish them to. As we get used to those dreams and idols, we place our trust in them and trust them to always act the same. Then we throw something else in the mix and the dream changes for us in some unexpected way. We thought our dream was reality and truth, but it let us down. But that dream is nothing ore than an illusion playing out on the screen of our mind.

What would happen if we changed our focus? Truth and reality are always present no matter how mistaken our thoughts may be at the moment. Our dreams may be in the forefront of our mind, but Truth is always there behind it. Let the focus our perception shift to look past the dream to the Truth behind it. All of a sudden understanding of our experiences clears and we begin to perceive with the eyes of Spirit. Spirit’s understanding is there for the asking. We only need be willing to ask to see the Truth behind the illusion, the dream, and the idol. Take that moment, step back, observe your illusion on the screen of your mind, and see beyond to the reality of God and Spirit. Forgiveness is the recognition of the dream, the illusion. Let it be recognized for what it is. The light of reality will shine through.

February 7, 2012

It is Our Will to be complete. It is Our Will to be whole. And, it is God’s Will to be complete and whole. Our Will and God’s Will are one and the same. To be aware of our completeness, our wholeness is to be who we really are. It is our function, our purpose, to be who we really are, complete and whole. We have no need of anything outside ourselves to be who we really are, complete and whole, One with God and all creation. Completeness and wholeness are formless. They are limitless, and cannot be contained or made separate. And yet we continually try to find our function and purpose in form.

The moment we look outside ourselves for our purpose and our function, we have begun to limit ourselves. We begin to look to some form of an idea we think is outside ourselves that we think will make us complete. We have unwittingly made ourselves seem separate, unconnected, 8ncomplete, or not whole. This form takes on a form we give it and thus becomes limited. It becomes an idol, some idea or thing we think will make us whole. But something not whole cannot contain everything. God has everything there is and ever was. And God has shared it wholly with us as we are created One with God. Look away from the limited idea or form, the idol we think will make us whole. Look within to the vast abundance of God and Spirit. We are there smack in the middle of that wealth of love, peace, and joy. We are right there in the midst of everything we have ever really wanted, ad yet don’t recognize it.

As we accept the completeness of who we already are we begin to let that wholeness permeate all of our life in this world we call our existence. We call on Spirit to guide our decisions, realizing that we have no conflict with the Will of Spirit which is our true Will. The Grace of Spirit shines its light on all the world and, for awhile, we live in the realm of Heaven on earth. The peace, love, and joy of Spirit wells up from deep within us and spill forth to every corner of our being. Let go of those limited thoughts ad ideas. Recognize them for the limited idols they are. Sink luxuriously into the awareness of who we really are and be the Light of the world. Let your light shine with the peace, love, and joy that is our true being.