Who or What am I?

Painting title: Fly like an Eagle

As we negotiate our lives we do wonder who we are. 

We have many gifts and perhaps foibles and we wonder who we are.

We make mistakes (never call them sins) and we wonder who we are.

Are you  L.G.B.T.Q or?  Are you black, white, brown or? But you still wonder who am I, or what am I.

Do you know what you are?

This is what you are:

You are the Holy Son of God regardless of how you identify your body, male, female, straight, L.G.B.T.Q or your ethnicity!!!   This is the Truth!  Accept it because you are MORE than a body. You are Spirit first!

This is the truth regardless of what your sexual identity, ethnicity, cultural background or white, black, brown, yellow or red!

FACT: You are loved, complete, healed and whole and any uncertainty about that is self-deception. 

Do not deny this reality regardless of how you self-identify, or how you see yourself or think others see you. You are a Holy Son of God regardless of what they think, how they see you or judge you and you are This over and above any other self-identification imposed upon you by yourself or others. Holy Son of God comes first!

And regardless of how others self-identify they too are a Holy Son of God, the same as you. Love them because as you judge them, you judge yourself. As you Love them; you love yourself.

And…..this is important: As you hate them you hate yourself.

You are God’s Son in whom he is well pleased! You are his Son regardless of what your doubting split mind may tell you. The ego part of your mind is what has doubts and it is insidious and not your friend. Do not listen to it. Tell it what you are instead.

See A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson 139. I will accept Atonement for myself.

www.https://acim.org/acim/lesson-139/i-will-accept-atonement-for-myself/en/s/544 (paste in browser)

Click on the “Listen” button and close your eyes, lean back and relax.

Tip:  Atonement is defined in the Course as: The separation from God that never occurred.  This is different from what some religions teach: that you have done something wrong. You have done nothing wrong but you need to remember you are as God created you; ONE with GOD; have always been and will always be and so is everyone else.

Painting Title: Take Jesus off the Cross – prints & cards avail

And Always Remember above all else and say: I AM LOVED

Painting: Fly like an Eagle – available in prints or cards at http://sally-mckirgan.pixels.com

On the journey ask for HELP!!!

It is hard to believe that it us up to us to “save” ourselves.  What??? HELP!!! I want someone else to do it.  To fix me, love me, tell me I’m loveable, accepted, cared for, protected from all harm, and who can make me feel secure in the knowledge that all….IS WELL. 

Yes, ask for HELP from professionals, and they can and will guide, but they still can’t do it for us…….we do it! We are responsible. You are responsible.

We are unaware most of the time that we have a split mind.  But if you are suffering it is probably because of your thinking!  Thoughts of judgment, worry, concerns, stress fear, tell you that you are listening to the wrong mind, i.e. the ego.  It is your holy mind within that you need to access and listen to that says All Is WELL. 

Ask for HELP to think the quite thoughts.  The holy part of your mind is the Holy Spirit. It won’t attack with….”you should know better.”  That is the false, ego mind. The memory of love aka God comes to the quiet mind.  On a scale from 1 to 10%, with 10% being the greatest….how much attention do you give to quieting your mind?  Maybe 2% or 5% or none?

This is why we are our saviors.  We save ourselves when we access our right holy mind, the Holy Spirit and turn our daily tasks and thoughts over.  The book “A Course In Miracles” says “ask the Holy Spirit” for help.  The Holy Spirit is a gift from God or the door to our right mind.  That is where peace and comfort can be accessed.  It is not in the world, going to the movies, shopping, etc.

For example, I recently had to do something I was dreading.  When I noticed the ego thoughts running in my mind, I made the decision to change my mind.  I called upon the “Holy Spirit” and said I want to see this differently.  What came to me was: “take love with you and carry it like a “hostess gift and choose to see everyone and all circumstances through the eyes of non-judgment and peace.”  It was an easy afternoon using the gift. You have it too.

If you are not familiar with the Course the idea of a “Holy Spirit” may seem strange but….watch your mind and if you see the dualistic split between, good/bad, love/hate, friend/foe, misery/peace then you are noticing the split.  Just watch how you are feeling, what’s going on in your mind.  Do you like it?  You are a “Decision Maker” i.e. the boss!   It is up to you to lead the way and not follow the ego’s thoughts that lead to nowhere!

But you have to watch your thoughts.  You must be vigilant for those little thoughts of unease and if you follow them, they will become bigger.  Important: don’t judge them or make it a big deal but just tell yourself you are choosing another way.   

In A Course In Miracles, Chapter 27.  Section VIII, The Hero of the Dream, paragraph 10. (Text page 587) “The secret of salvation is but this: That you are doing this unto yourself.” 

All judgment makes us miserable.  Watch the parade of thoughts, wave, and let them go and ask for another way to see everything!  Ask for HELP!

You are Loved, Loveable and Loving!

Watercolor painting “Help” is available: posters, cards & prints at http://www.sally-mckirgan.pixels.com

A Course In Miracles websites:

http://www.acim.org

http://www.fip.org

http://www.miraclecenter.org

Storage Locker: Love and Appreciation

Every time something happens to us, something traumatic or hurtful, it is stored away in a locker called resentments and grievances.  Those memories keep coming up because that’s the ego’s job, i.e. to continue looping the grievances, hurts and upsets thus keeping love far, far away.

When am I not ruling my mind, the thoughts, feelings, upsets and forgiving, which is most of the time, I am listening to the ego.  When something nice occurs, the ego easily dismisses it because “you’re not worthy of love so don’t pay attention to that kindness for Heaven’s sake.”  

The solution:  Have a storage locker for love and appreciation.  Be vigilant for them and replay and then give it away.  When you receive, and give you have!  Appreciate and love yourself, allow it and let it in.  The ego will dismiss but don’t accept that thought.

When we judge, (that thought comes from the ego) it is an attack.  It is an attack on your mind, your identity.  See that and say “No!” I have no need to judge this! “Holy Spirit: What? Help me here.”

The ego doesn’t notice or give any credence to love.  It dismisses kindnesses and hangs on to the grievances or the upsets. 

But you are responsible for all thoughts.  The ego is not your boss!  The mind is healed by love, by embracing Love, noticing Love; letting Love In.

Love heals. Your mind is perfect, complete and whole.  You are the Decision Maker and you have the power to give love to everything your five senses perceive:  see, touch, hear, smell, tastes or thinks of.   

For example the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol, if you stand above the battleground and send love to all those who were attacked and those who attacking, you are healing your mind.  We don’t know what things are for.  Everyone in that situation needs love, the whole country needs love.  When you send love you are free and out of the judgment zone.  I can’t say I appreciate the situation but I can appreciate the love I now feel. Whether you agree with the attackers or not, you are free because in are remembering love.   

When we are in fear, angry, depressed, upset, remembering a grievance, we are listening to the ego, the fear and judgment producer.  RECOGNIZE that you don’t want that anymore and ask the Holy Spirit to help you move into the Love column.  That is your power! 

Forgiveness is for healing our Mind!

We remember resentments because we haven’t forgiven the past, the incidents or traumas.  They have a way of sticking because fear and adrenaline is activated and we identify with the body.  We fear for our lives or others.  Maybe it was a “close call” that could have changed lives forever or maybe it did.  Something BIG and important is so disturbing that it is imbedded in our psyche.

There are no accidents as it turns out.  So whatever happened we now have the challenge of accepting, dealing with it and forgiving everyone and everything involved.  We need to see how everything is for our best interests. We don’t always accept this but ask the Holy Spirit to help you. Where is the Love?  Look for the love!  It is there somewhere.

Allow Love and Gratitude to be at the top of your storage locker, the things to remember list.  Love is never a little thing!  Things may seem little but when we appreciate them, the love flows in.

If we develop an “attitude of gratitude” the big traumas won’t seem so big and awful.  They will be superseded by the nice, the quiet; the sweet and touching moments. 

You may not believe in God or Jesus and you don’t need to in order to feel or give love! So you may want to disregard the next section but ask yourself: Where does love come from?

In A Course In Miracles Manual #23. Does Jesus have a special place in healing? Pg. 58. p.4. s. 6. “And gratitude to God becomes the way in which He is remembered, for love cannot be far behind a grateful heart and thankful Mind.” 

What has occurred recently that you forgot to add to your list?  Today I received an appreciation note; it came out of the blue.  The other day a gentleman looked at me and smiled.  I don’t know why I just now remembered it but I do remember noticing his smile and smiling back and now I send appreciation and love back because I have them and I can give. 

A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 236 – I rule my mind, which I alone must rule.

1. I have a kingdom I must rule. ²At times, it does not seem I am its king at all. ³It seems to triumph over me, and tell me what to think, and what to do and feel. ⁴And yet it has been given me to serve whatever purpose I perceive in it. ⁵My mind can only serve. ⁶Today I give its service to the Holy Spirit to employ as He sees fit. ⁷I thus direct my mind, which I alone can rule. ⁸And thus I set it free to do the Will of God.

2. Father, my mind is open to Your Thoughts, and closed today to every thought but Yours. ²I rule my mind, and offer it to You. ³Accept my gift, for it is Yours to me.

(https://acim.org/acim/en/s/649#1:1-2:3 | W-236.1:1–2:3)

God Is!

Spring Forward into Peace

This month we all set our clocks ahead one hour for daylight savings time. I love it. More Light!!! We need more light in our lives. One way to have more light in our lives is to let go of the darkness, daily. Actually moment by moment.

If you cannot access peace you may be on “rewind” and replaying hurtful events from the past.  Examine and see if something is bothering you from an hour ago, yesterday or last week?

Are you happy being stuck on automatic thinking about an event, old or new?  Are you replaying blame, pain and guilt?  Was it their fault or yours?  If it was your fault you feel guilty.  If it was theirs, you feel victimized.  Neither are very happy making!

Why is your mind doing the replaying?   Ask Yourself: Do I want peace and joy rather than guilt or victimhood?  If the answer is Peace and Joy, then STOP acknowledging or listening to the replay.

The master of replay is…..the ego. The ego is the part of the mind that always brings up fear, negativity, self doubt, envy, grievances, etc. It’s purpose is to keep you from realizing your true innocent Self and to keep you from peace.

You have a Beautiful Holy Mind, a Decider! START to “overlook” the disturbing limiting negative thoughts and instead say:  “I choose to look at this another way for the sake of my own peace.” You do not have to believe your thoughts. They are coming from the insane ego part of your mind. Listen to Holy Spirit, the guide that was given all of us at the point when we separated from God. He was placed there as the alternative to the ego. You can ask for help and choose which part of your mind you will listen to; the voice for peace or the voice for love.

If you are holding a grievance against someone….it is held in your MIND!  You are trapped in the grievance with them.  Are you happy?  Tell them in your mind and include yourself:

“My brother/sister/:  peace and joy I offer you, That I may have God’s peace and joy as mine.” 

See A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson 105.

We don’t realize that if we hold a grudge or a judgment against someone, that we are in effect, denying peace to our Self.  If you hold it in your mind, you are victimizing yourself, causing your own suffering! Amazing isn’t it??

Do you think your brother is suffering?  We don’t know but we know you are. Would you say to that brother?

“My brother/sister/myself: misery and suffering I offer you, That  I may have misery and suffering as well.

You have a powerful and Holy Mind at your disposal. The Holy Sprit will take your hand and guide you as you look at any and all thoughts. This looking is also called forgiveness.

This is from A Course In Miracles, 1. What Is Forgiveness: p.4.  Forgiveness, on the other hand, is still, and quietly does noth­ing. It offends no aspect of reality, nor seeks to twist it to appear­ances it likes. It merely looks, and waits, and judges not. He who would not forgive must judge, for he must justify his failure to forgive. But he who would forgive himself must learn to welcome truth exactly as it is.

Accept that peace and joy is your inheritance and that you are worth it. Spring FORWARD into PEACE; into LIGHT!!

http://www.acim.org

http://www.facim.org

http://www.miraclecenter.org

God Bless! YOU ARE LOVED

A Valentine’s Gift For You

Learn to Love Yourself – A Valentine’s Day Gift

Do you feel loved?  Do you feel un-loved? 

Feel love by connecting to the unconditional, non-judgmental love that is within.  Choose to go there! You DO have love within, no matter if you THINK someone loves you or not. You are loved no matter what you think!

The truth is; you are loved, loving and lovable.  It may feel hard to accept that reality but why not try?  Close your eyes and repeat to yourself:

 “I am Loved, I am lovable and I am love.”  Repeat this statement to yourself.  Place your hands on your upper arms and hug yourself.  Keep telling yourself that you ARE loved, Lovable and Loving.  Continue to hug and stroke and affirm the love within.   

If there is anyone in your mind that you hold a grievance about, extend love to them.  Why not?  You do yourself a favor because when you extend love, you also have love by holding it in your mind . 

Accept your reality as a loving radiant light and extend it out to ALL. That includes your family, friends, colleagues, the U.S. Congress and Senate and the world.

If you are depressed or suicidal it is crucial to cherish the beautiful SOUL that you are!

Write the following down and place it where you can see it several times a day:

I am the light of the world.

I am spirit, loved and loving.

Being love I extend it to all.

Our nation is going through turmoil right now.  The truth is, there is always turmoil but when we give someone a smile; a wave of the hand or offer to hold a door open, we are giving love. And as we give, we receive the same inner appreciation in our mind and heart.

When we remember to be kind and loving, our journey is peaceful and joyful.  Love is eternal, formless and never ending so it cannot run out. You cannot run out of love.  You can give away all you want and it is never gone. It is like the bottle of sherry in a Christmas movie I saw once:  it fills up as soon as it is emptied and it never inebriates.

A daily reminder of the love within, will set the belief in your mind. The ego part of your mind will not believe it, but that does not mean that it’s not true. In fact, your ego mind will tell you the opposite and deny the reality of what you are.

You have the power to change your beliefs and thoughts. We all have made mistakes, and have regrets from the past but has remembering or beating yourself up made you happier? When you are in a hole, stop digging.

Forgiveness is remembering you are spirit living in a human body in a classroom called the world.

The Course In Miracles tells us God is love. You do not have to believe in God, just believe in love. Whenever you have a loving thought, you are an extension of love and you are the creator of your life and your world.

You are the light of the world and you are LOVED – allow yourself to feel it. Give this gift of understanding, acceptance and mercy to yourself.  When you give love you are holding it in your mind, so it is yours. Exclude no one from your love — and importantly include yourself.

See a Course In Miracles Workbook Lessons – http://www.acim.org

 #46. God is the Love in which I forgive.

And Lessons #171 through 180: God is but Love and therefore so am I.

United or Divided: I Accept, understand and love you!

As of this writing, November 24, the new President Elect Joe Biden is now allowed to transition his new administration with the White House. But it is evident from watching the voting and election disputes that our beautiful country, lovely America is at odds with one another, Republican’s and Democrat’s.  “United We Stand – Divided We Fall” sorrowfully comes to mind.  Is that OK with you?  No matter who wins, the condemnation and division will make us miserable until we decide or at least try to understand each other and heal the division.   Understanding brings acceptance or visa versa perhaps.  We need to interview each other, meet up online and reach out to learn what we have in common.  We are the same! We live; eat and breathe and we die.  We are in the same boat on the same planet.  That should be enough to get us to the table of toleration.  What do we love?  That is the question.   

Besides those basics there is another profound sameness.  Mystics and Saints tell us of the spark that is at the center of everyone who is here, has come or is yet to come.   This innocent spark at your center is truth that cannot be extinguished.  It carries you throughout your life, a north star, the guide to constant peace within.  It cannot die and you take it with you when your leave this earthly plane.  Cherish and engage this spark, it is your touchstone, your Spirit identity, the driving force that guides you to Truth and the knowledge of what and whom you are.  It is the life force living within and without in everyone.  It is a guide for any circumstance that comes, if consulted, you will know what to do, where to go and what to say and to whom.  There will be no doubts in your holy mind because peace has entered the rock on which you stand as you go forth with the guidance given. Guilt is nowhere to be found in your holy mind.  You have nothing that you lack and nothing can endanger or put out this life spark, no circumstance is too difficult to understand and no amount of hate can extinguish its holy light. 

The spark is in Trump; Biden; Republican’s; Democrat’s; Independent’s….in everyone.  It is in those who protest Black Lives Matter and those who don’t.  It is in the shooter who kills and he who is shot.  The only difference: refusing to acknowledge the spark in us, is also in the other.  We judge “them “as immoral, criticize, and demonize others with aversion, ignoring, denying the spark could possibly be in them.  We close our minds but the spark still burns within all of us.  Each of us is responsible for recognizing, enriching and honoring the spark in ourselves and in those we condemn.  It will emerge, blossoming as we cultivate endeavor to “see” and claim its reality.  After all, it is Love.

Love and the evidence it brings dissolves the barriers that cover the spark.  Look into a little child’s eyes or sweet smile.  Hear her call of “Hi” in response to your smile or wave; look into the eyes of your pet; grandchild; look at the love that comes at you.  It is a gift from the spark, the spark we share.  Love calls to love and cannot be stopped, destroyed, hurt or buried. 

I don’t know what will happen with politics but you and I have a life to live.  With Covid we don’t know how long or well but we can still live with the fullest amount of love we can give.  If you need to go to a protest in the coming weeks, make a sign “I love you no matter what.” Recognize the spark of love dwells in the person or persons in the next car; to the kid walking down the street; the talking head on TV no matter if you agree with them or not; it is in the woman in the grocery store line; the homeless guy with the sign; and the person standing or sitting next to you.  Send love; send acceptance, toleration and compassion.  Open your mind to surround everyone you see and include yourself.  Exclude no one from your love or acceptance and we will unite and never be divided by politics, religion or any circumstances life or the world brings.  I send Love to you….right now.

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson 30: God is in everything I see because God is in my mind. (Click on the lesson, click on the arrow, close your eyes and the lesson will be read to you.)

You are Loved!

Lesson 30: God is in everything I see because God is in my mind. • Foundation for Inner Peace: Publisher of A Course in Miracles (ACIM)

The Open Door beneath your Mind

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During this Covid 19 pandemic it seems everyone is pretty miserable. How are you feeling?   I go in and out of worry and depression but I am always grateful for those who are on the front lines dealing with it.  The only way to side step misery is to be aware of  how you perceive the situation.  Perhaps a change of mind is in order.   What you think and the judgments you make will either make you happy or sad.  The mind is a beautiful thing to change.  It is up to you to change it.  Do you dwell in fear or love.

You are 100% responsible for how you think (judge) understand and perceive.  We have a choice in “how” we judge things and situations.  If we see something as an attack then the ego is in charge.  Are you happy when the ego is in charge?  If we can view what goes on around us with an iota of lenience – just a little- we begin to open the mind to the idea of tolerance.  Tolerance and mercy hold open the door, to your peace.

I’m thinking of wearing masks as I write this but it could be anything that disturbs your peace.  I think everyone should wear a mask.  I don’t like them because they restrict air and I need air but I wear one anyway.  I can understand why someone would choose not to, but I want peace.  So I have to change my mind, on the spot, adding a dash of tolerance and mercy to my thoughts.  Just because I disagree I do not have to allow hatred or anger.  I can see either love or the call for love.  And the call for love is to me, my mind and its need for peace as well as theirs.   The ego does not have to run and ruin my life.  I choose to sideline the dominant ego’s thought system and choose charity and mercy.

When we give mercy and respect to others, we have mercy and respect for ourselves.  We don’t realize how much needless unconscious guilt we pile on our psyche with righteous judgments and opinions feeling certain we are right.  Do I want to be right or happy?  Letting go of my conviction that I know what’s right when in fact I don’t always know, opens the door to beneath my mind.

We like to think that we know it all.  But we don’t know what our soul needs to experience or lessons we have come to learn, until they arrive at our doorstep.  We have all experienced being misunderstood or accused of something we did not intend or been unfairly treated.  When knowing how it feels to be unfairly treated, we refuse to mistreat anyone.  One thing we can always do is offer love and acceptance with our thoughts.  In doing so, we open the door in our mind, leading to understanding, and turn from the ego’s decree of punishment, fire and brimstone.

“Then let them (your judgmental thoughts) go and sink below them to the holy place where they can enter not.  There is a door beneath them in your mind, which you could not completely lock to hide what lies beyond.  Seek for that door and find it.  You cannot fail today.  There walks with you the Spirit Heaven sent you, that you might approach this door some day and through his aid slip effortlessly past it, to the light.”    A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson 131.   No one can fail who seeks to reach the truth.

In A Course In Miracles, Chapter 21. Section II. The Responsibility for Sight, pg. 448

I am responsible for what I see.

I choose the feelings I experience, and I decide

Upon the goal I would achieve.

And everything that seems to happen to me

I ask for, and receive as I have asked.

We are responsible for “how we see things.”  What interpretation do we lay on the world.  It is the mercy within that will allow a new perception to come when asking the Holy Spirit to help us.  Look through His eyes and you will have peace.  Me too!

God Is – You are LOVED and you are INNOCENT.

www.miraclecenter.org

www.acim.org

www.facim.org

Ego Mode: The Virus Blame Game

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After listening to a wonderful youtube presentation by Tim Wise and Lyn Corona, (see the link below)  I realize how addicting the ego voice is.  We are in “ego mode” when we search for and MUST find something or someone to blame.  We want to blame the pain and fear on something!  The source of inner pain and even bodily pain is from listening to the ego…believing this faulty thinking is right and then choosing to be in ego mode.  All depression, anxiety, worries and guilt are caused by believing the ego.

We are all addicted to something, alcohol, sex, TV, News, gambling, food, air, gossip, but everyone is addicted to one thing: the inner voice we hear in our minds:  the ego.  The false voice.  We also ALL have an alternative however.

Right now we have the coronavirus circling the world.  Who are we going to blame? Some foreign people, the military, all the Politian’s?  It is the ego part of our mind doing the blaming and we believe it because we want to!  We need to blame and project onto someone so we can feel better.

The ego is attracted to pain because it means the body is REAL, the world is REAL and we are important.  It keeps us trapped in the dream of being a body in the illusion.  We are a puppet of the ego when that happens.

When we decide we are tired of this blame game because of the pain it causes, we look within and see, according to the Course that our only problem is the separation we feel from God.  That is impossible.  We cannot be separate from God because we are In God at this very moment, but we don’t think we are.

If we choose blame, we are continuing the separation from God because that is what we did to Him when we chose the ego.  Yes, the “tiny mad idea” in the Course tells us we chose the ego to be separate from God.  If we blame ourselves or feel guilty from separating from God we are still listening to the ego mode and we are in the blame game.

The solution: We take a deep breath, step aside from the ego in your mind, take the hand of Jesus – the Holy Spirit that connects us to God and say:  “I am as God Created Me, help me see this differently.”   See A Course In Miracles, Workbook Lesson 110.

We insist on finding a “bad guy” to blame because we don’t want to take responsibility for the decision to separate from God.  We do it every time we blame someone and make them the guilty one.  We do unto them, what we did unto God.  But we also do it to ourselves.

You are NOT separate from God because that is impossible.  But in this dream we “believe” we are.  To get out of the dream of pain ask Jesus:

“I am stuck, take my hand, help me see the way you do.  Help me let go of this judgment and blame I place on ______ as I let go of my projections, believing the ego’s lies that hurt me.”

The tiny mad idea that we can be separate from God is just that…..a mad idea!  An idea is not real.  You are not a puppet.  You are a Mind, an innocent Son of God with the power in you to follow the loving kindness in your heart, holding the hand of Love and going home to Heaven where you really are and have always been.

Here is the YouTube video with Tim Wise, Lyn Corona and others from the School for A Course in Miracles, discussing the Corona Virus:

 

http://www.acim.org  Weekly Lessons – Lesson 110 – I am As God Created Me

Lesson 110: I am as God created me.

Other websites:  http://www.miraclecenter.org

http://www.facim.org

Remember your Reality:  You are LOVED and you are LOVE!

 

 

 

Easter Moon reminds us “I am there”

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Spring is here and Easter Sunday always follows the first full moon after the spring equinox. That full moon was shining in my bedroom window last night. Passover is April 9, Easter Sunday the 12th and Ramadan on Friday April 24.   However the only ones feeling “spring like” these days, are the birds and the daffodils. Aren’t they lucky to not have to stay inside or six feet away from each other? Thankfully, we can go outside to visit and thank them for their songs and yellow loveliness. There will be no Religious gatherings indoors this year and I know many will miss this spring ritual. I must admit that Easter has always left me feeling sad with the crucifixion of Jesus. Even dressing up or hunting for eggs, bunnies and candy never took away the unhappiness.

I felt relief after I began studying the spiritual, psychological, non- dual, mystical and metaphysical book, ‘A Course In Miracles’ where the concept of resurrection is more prominent than crucifixion because as eternal beings our soul never dies.  There is no death of the Self we share with God.  The body dies because we are mortal. Being mortal we have a split mind with a treacherous ego that crucifies ourselves (like Jesus was crucified) and/or others non-stop with doubts, judgment, war and attacks. Jesus in the Course told the scribe, NY Columbia Presbyterian Psychologist Helen Schucman, that he is our equal and elder brother, “The miracle is a sign of love among equals. Equals should not be in awe of one another because awe implies inequality. It is therefore an inappropriate reaction to me. An elder brother is entitled to respect for his greater experience, and obedience for his greater wisdom. There is nothing about me that you cannot attain.   I have nothing that does not come from God. The difference between us now is that I have nothing else. This leaves me in a state which is only potential in you.” Text Chapter 1.II.3.4-12.

He assures us that he and the Holy Spirit are always there for us. “I go before you because I am beyond the ego. Reach, therefore, for my hand because you want to transcend the ego. My strength will never be wanting, and if you choose to share it you will do so.” Text Chapter 8.V.6 7-9.   If we take his hand he is there to share his strength. He is the Christ but so are you and I and everyone, whether we accept it or not and equally loved by God.

At this time we need a strength that is not of this world.  Many brave people are in the trenches, the Doctors, Nurses, medical staff, sick patients, relatives, friends and you and I are with them. The hand of strength, grace, and faith is there for us, for you whenever you are despondent or fearful.  It is waiting by your side, with arms ready to hold you up and kissing the top of your head when you pray. That love is made exquisitely clear in the poem ‘I am There’ by James Dillet Freeman. He is sometimes known as “the poet laureate of the moon” because two of his poems are on the moon. ‘I Am There’ was taken by Astronaut, James B. Irwin in 1971 and ‘Prayer for Protection’ by Lunar Commander ‘Buzz’ Aldrin in July 1969. His poems of assurance are circling above us on the Easter Moon, blessing you and me and our World this spring.

I am There

Do you need Me?

I am there.

You cannot see Me, yet I am the light you see by.

You cannot hear Me, yet I speak through your voice.

You cannot feel Me, yet I am the power at work in your hands.

I am at work, though you do not understand My ways.

I am at work, though you do not recognize My works.

I am not strange visions. I am not mysteries.

Only in absolute stillness, beyond self, can you know Me as I am, and then but as a feeling and a faith.

Yet I am there. Yet I hear. Yet I answer.

When you need Me, I am there.

Even if you deny Me, I am there.

Even when you feel most alone, I am there.

Even in your fears, I am there.

Even in your pain, I am there.

I am there when you pray and when you do not pray.

I am in you, and you are in Me.

Only in your mind can you feel separate from Me, for only in your mind are the mists of “yours” and “mine.”

Yet only with your mind can you know Me and experience Me.

Empty your heart of empty fears.

When you get yourself out of the way, I am there.

You can of yourself do nothing, but I can do all.

And I am in all.

Though you may not see the good, good is there, for I am there.

I am there because I have to be, because I am.

Only in Me does the world have meaning; only out of Me does the world take form; only because of Me does the world go forward.

I am the law on which the movement of the stars and the growth of living cells are founded.

I am the love that is the law’s fulfilling. I am assurance. I am peace. I am oneness. I am the law that you can live by. I am the love that you can cling to. I am your assurance. I am your peace. I am one with you. I am.

Though you fail to find Me, I do not fail you.

Though your faith in Me is unsure, My faith in you never wavers, because I know you, because I love you.

Beloved, I am there.

And

The Prayer of Protection

The light of God surrounds us;

The love of God enfolds us;

The power of God protects us;

The presence of God watches over us;

Wherever we are, God is!

Please visit the A Course In Miracles website – http://www.acim.org and especially lessons 40 through 48.  Lesson 47. God is the strength in which I trust.   Hold that in your heart and know that you are LOVED.

Lesson 40: I am blessed as a Son of God.

 

Guilt: The “gift” that keeps on giving until…..

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Guilt: The “gift” that keeps on giving until…..

The bad news: guilt never gives up.

The good news: you have the power to stop it.

Have you noticed that guilt just doesn’t go away? You observe it but it creeps back again and again and you continue to deny it and let it go but there it is, back again. “I thought I forgave that.” Guilt is the leaky faucet. You think you’ve turned it off but it drips, drips in the background of your thoughts. Where is it coming from? It seeps under the surface like an oil slick on a beautiful beach. Guilt is the energizer bunny with an eternal battery that never runs down and in fact continues to be energized until you look at it with the love, your inheritance, in your mind.

ACIM Workbook Lesson 4. These thoughts do no mean anything.

We believe the thoughts that run through our mind and 99.999% come from the ego (the false self) and that is why they don’t mean anything. But we believe these thoughts. The ego’s job is to keep you from Love and in a state of constant guilt. It feeds guilty thoughts at every opportunity and never wants you to turn against it. We have a split mind. You choose which split, which side to listen to and believe. We can choose between the ego’s ranting and judgments or choose to listen to the voice of peace within (the right mind) the quiet voice of the Holy Spirit that is always available.

Judgment is the origin of all guilt. Our first judgment was a selfish one according to A Course In Miracles; we separated from God at the moment of the “Big Bang” in choosing the ego. It turns out that was a “mistake” (really never happened) because when we chose the ego, we threw God away. But…..it never happened because it is not possible to separate from the God; the God written about in A Course In Miracles that is.

We believe the ego and think we have separated and that is at the crux of our pain and anger. We blame God for the separation instead of ourselves.  We made up a false “god”, a punishing, warring, petty vindictive god who angrily threw Adam and Eve out of the garden. Ask yourself: Would a loving God do that?   The ego set itself on the ‘god’ throne and we listen to it and obey it. Guilt was born. We are bereft, thinking we threw away our innocence and will never get it back. We either accuse and blame ourselves or project blame onto others, i.e. those guilty and sinful ones. The ego keeps rubbing the guilt wound with self-doubt, blame, selfishness and shame.

Guilt is insatiable. You are its hostage until you decide to be Host to God instead. We need loving help in looking at it.   The Course tells us to hold the hand of love that comes from your right mind i.e. Jesus or the Holy Spirit and say “Please look at this guilty thought with me because I want to see it differently.” Visualize a tight grip on a warm hand. When we hold love’s hand and listen, a thought of understanding will come. Maybe tears will come but those tears will dissolve the “blocks to the awareness of love’s presence” that the introduction to the Course describes. Believe and trust that forgiveness will come. We need to forgive ourselves for the separation from God……which never happened because it is IMPOSSIBLE! The thought of Truth will be gentle and embracing.

When a guilty through crosses your mind, say: “This thought does not mean anything. The past is over; I have no need of this. I am One with God.”   This is a critical conscious decision; a statement of choice that you will no longer listen or believe the ego. You are a “Decider”, a Holy Son of God and you have the power to no longer let the ego abuse you. You are Host to God and not hostage to the ego.

If you haven’t started them, I recommend the Course In Miracles Workbook lessons. The first lessons deal with letting the past go; focusing on the thoughts that bring pain and realizing they are not of God. There is a lesson for each day and the introduction to the workbook will help you begin.

It is a wonderful adventure. Just do a lesson each day and if you don’t understand it – keep going – don’t let the ego sabotage you. If you don’t understand a lesson, just keep going because the “light” will dawn eventually.

The Love within you will defeat guilt. It is a power within that is your natural inheritance.   Accept God’s peace and joy as yours. Your salvation is up to you.

www.acim.org  (history and what it says)

www.miraclecenter.org   (to find a study group near you)