The Origins of Separation. A fundamental aspect of God's Creation is extension. God extended Himself creating me and all His Creation is Perfect like Himself. Because God created me like Himself, I am a creative being. However, I can seemingly create fantasy, as I did in projecting a world without God. A world without God (a world of emptiness and lack) cannot truly exist, but because I believe in it, it exists for me.
The separation can also be called the "detour into fear." The biblical references to the Garden of Eden indicate that after Adam ate the apple, there was a "deep sleep," with no reference to waking up. This is part of the mythology of how the world started and there is some truth to every tale. "Deep sleep" would be a good term to describe the state I find myself in. There will be no Awakening while I project my anxieties and guilt outward creating this world. In my miscreation it seems that I am more powerful than God, with the power to create and end "life," to change love to hate, to make war, to have enough atomic power to end the world as I know it, (the world I say God created). In essence, I have created a world in which I seem to be a god and I greatly fear what I can do. I am caught up in my own nightmare.
All this can disappear in the twinkling of an eye.
I do not have to believe in what is not true unless I choose to. What I see in my dreams only seems to be real. I created what I "see" and my creative powers were bestowed on me by God. So what I create, even if it is a fantasy, is Mighty indeed. But unless it shares the characteristics of God (Eternal, Perfect, All-Love, etc) it does not Truly exist.
So why does God not just Awaken me from this madness? Does He not see the distress I am in?
He will never destroy what I create. If I will a fantasy to be what I wish to experience, He knows I am Safe in Heaven with Him. There are no monsters, no dragons, no demons chasing me waiting to steal my life. I am Safe in Heaven, dreaming of exile.
My only hope of escape is forgiveness (Atonement). I learn to forgive. I forgive my thoughts, and everyone and everything. By doing this, I eventually learn there is nothing and no one to forgive. God makes the final step and I Awaken to Perfection and Love. Any errors or sins I believe I committed, never occurred. I am perfectly unaffected by dreams. No error or sin can shake the Peace of God. Health is inner Peace. Illness is no peace. Illness is restless searching for answers "out there." Inner Peace enables me to remain unshaken by the world around me.
The Atonement as Defense. Miracles are changes in my perception of what I believe is "reality." They are natural, corrective, healing, and universal. They are given by God as a result of my forgiveness.
Denial is a protective device. I deny my spouse has a drinking problem, so I do not have to pack my things, move out and uproot my children. The way I currently use denial, it is a defense for inaction.
True denial does not hide anything from my Awareness. Denial of error and sin Frees my mind. I am Free when I recognize only Truth. Sin, error and fear are not True and do not exist. Only the things of God exist: Love, Perfection, Eternity, Joy, Happiness, Contentment. There are no opposites. Nothing else exists. When I use denial properly to deny illusions and dreams, I Free my mind.
The Atonement (the process of forgiveness) is a defense against dreams. It cannot be mis-used by me because it is not something I created. It is the only defense that is not a two-edged sword; it can only heal. Normally a defense is two-way: someone attacks me, then I put up my shield and ready my own sword. A two-way defense has two edges and can be turned against me very unexpectedly. Not so with the Atonement. It only heals and corrects, and is the only True defense. The world I created had to be learned. There is no learning in God's World, there is only Knowing. The Atonement is the final lesson I have to learn in the world of dreams. It allows me to Free myself from the "past" which I come to learn never existed. There is no need to retrace my steps to into the "past" to make corrections. The Atonement adjusts "time" and "space." As I become more and more secure in my Identity as God's Son, I assume my Natural State of Being.
The Altar of God. The body is not the Temple of God. The body does not exist and the Temple of God is not a structure at all. The emphasis on beautiful structures "outside" me is a sign I am preoccupied with dreams. Before the "separation," fear did not exist. "Separation" and "fear" are dreams requiring only correction. I will return to my Father. This does not contradict my Free Will. I can procrastinate, but can never entirely separate from my Creator, because it is my Will to be with Him. But I have lost sight of my True Will while my mind is imprisoned by dreams. An imprisoned Will creates a situation which, in the extreme, becomes intolerable. MY tolerance for pain may be high, but it is not without limit. I eventually will begin to realize that there must be a better way. As this recognition becomes more firmly established, it becomes a turning point, ultimately reAwakening Spiritual Vision and at the same time, weakening the investment in the dream. While this is happening, I will alternate between "realities" or perception of realities (God's World/dream world) and this can cause confusion and lack of equilibrium. But I have no need to fear, the outcome is Certain.
Spiritual Vision does not see error. All solutions the body's eyes seek are useless. Spiritual Vision looks within and aims to repair and protect; it will look past error to Truth. The Strength of Spiritual Vision reestablishes the Power of the mind, making it increasingly unable to tolerate delay, realizing that delay only adds unnecessary pain. As a result, the mind becomes increasingly sensitive to minor intrusions of discomfort.
The Son of God is entitled to Perfect Comfort. Until I achieve this, I waste time on useless attempts to make myself more comfortable in the world of dreams. The Real means of finding Comfort has already been provided and involves no effort.
God and His Son are completely Dependent on each other. The Son of God must learn to look upon the dream-world only as a means of healing the "separation." The Atonement guarantees that I will ultimately succeed. The best gift I can offer God in my current state, is forgiveness.
Healing as Release from Fear. The emphasis now is on healing. Atonement is the principle (theory), the miracle is the means (the how), and healing is the result. Healing releases me from fear.
Healing is not a miracle. It is the natural order of things. It should concern me when physical health is absent. Physical illness reinforces the dream and seems to be something the mind has no control over. Medication, diagnostic tests, or surgeries performed on the body are a form of "magic" that seems to "heal" the body. The body was created by the mind as a learning device to learn to live in a world without God. The body is merely a part of my experience in the physical world. It has no abilities of its own. However, it is almost impossible to deny its existence in this world, and it is fruitless to do so. There is no need to protect the mind by denying the unmindful (the body). While I believe I am a body, it is wise to use what is available (e.g. medicine) for "healing" as the dream-world continues its hold on me. There is no need to increase fear in the already fearful. If I am prematurely exposed to a miracle, I may be thrown into a panic, because miracles at this point may be frightening.
The Atonement can be expressed in many ways. If used Truly, it will be expressed in ways most helpful to me, in a way I can clearly understand without fear.
The body can be used only as a learning device for the mind. Only the mind creates, and in the mind is where correction occurs. Teaching the mind to give up dreams is the only positive use of my Creative ability (in the dream-world) that is Truly meaningful.
Corrective learning always begins with the Awakening of Spirit and turning away from belief in dreams. As long as I believe what my physical sight tells me, my attempts at correction will be misdirected. Correcting my mind may produce discomfort. However, discomfort is aroused only to bring the need for correction into my Awareness.
The body does not exist, so it is impossible that it can act wrongly. Only the mind can err, and in the mind is where correction takes place. As long as "time" persists, healing is needed.
Fear and Conflict. I believe I am responsible for what I do, but not for what I think. The Truth is: I am responsible for my thoughts. What I do comes from what I think. If I change my mind, right behavior will follow. Correction happens in my mind.
Fear is always a sign of strain. For instance, first I do conflicting things like marry and try to become a husband and father, but I also drink to excess. What I want and what I am actually doing are obviously in conflict, creating a strained and intolerable situation. On the one hand, I behave as I think I should (being a husband and father), but without entirely wanting to do so (by drinking to excess). Whenever this happens, it is because I have not made up my mind about my goal. When my mind is split, my behavior inevitably becomes erratic. Correcting the error at the behavior level (trying to control behavior) is fruitless. There is only ONE error: the apparent separation from God. This can be corrected only at the place it was created: in the mind.
Conflict is an expression of fear. There are simple step to correcting this: 1. Recognize fear (anything not Love); 2. Know that fear arises from a lack of Love; 3. Realize that the only remedy for lack of Love, is Perfect Love. 4. Understand that Perfect Love is the Atonement (starting with forgiveness of everyone and everything).
I do not appreciate the Real Power of my mind and I do not remain fully Aware of it all the time. The mind is very Powerful. It NEVER loses its Creative Force. It NEVER sleeps. Every instant it is Creating. Thought and belief combine into a Power Surge that can literally move mountains. To believe such Power about myself is not arrogant. God Created me just like Himself. If He can do it, I can do it. The only thing I cannot do is create myself. But I seemingly created this dream-world with all of its rules, learning, and complex behaviors and beliefs. So moving a mountains is really the least of what I can do. In the dream-world I believe that my thoughts cannot exert Real influence. But Thought is the only thing that matters.
There are NO idle thoughts. All thinking produces FORM at some level in the dream-world.
Only the mind can produce fear and it does so whenever it is conflicted about what it wants. But I can make it easier on myself when I realize there are only two choices: Reality or dreams; God's Will or living in a world without God. God's Will offers Everything. A world without God offers nothing and does not exist. How is this even a choice?
Correcting fear is my responsibility. When I ask for release from fear, I am implying that it is not my responsibility. I will ask, instead, for help with the conditions (the idea of separation) that have brought about the fear. Willingness to be "separate from" God is under my control. I am much too tolerant of my wandering mind, passively condoning my mind's fantasies. The fantasies themselves do not matter, but the fundamental choice to be "separate from" God does. Before I choose to do anything, I will ask myself if my choice is in accord with the characteristics of God (Loving, Peaceful, Serene, Joyful, Happy, Content, Whole, Inclusive).
Changing my behavior is only possible when I change my mind.
There is no strain in doing God's Will when I recognize that it is also my own. Do I want to be sad, conflicted, angry or confused? Of course not. I want to be Happy, Joyous, Whole and Content. This is what God wants for me as well. In fact it IS God's Will for me.
Cause and Effect. I complain about fear but persist in making myself fearful. God cannot release me from fear, because fear does not exist. If God stepped in to intervene between my thoughts and their results, He would be tampering with the basic law of cause and effect, going against my will.
It is helpful to remind myself that I do not guard my thoughts carefully enough. I will ask for God's Guidance in my thoughts. Both miracles and fear come from thoughts, but if I am not Free to chose one, I would not be Free to choose the other. By choosing miracles, I reject fear.
I have been fearful of everyone and everything, including God and even myself. I have misperceived and miscreated in my own mind. I have assigned God and myself false roles and false characteristics and I believe in what I made. Yet, miscreation causes pain. The fundamental conflict in this world is between Creation (all Love) and miscreation (all fear).
I think I cannot control my fear because it seems to be completely out of my control. Yet to try and master it, would be useless. To resist, will only make it persist. The true resolution of fear is to replace it with Love. Until then, conflict is inevitable.
"Nothing" and "Everything" cannot coexist. To believe in one is to deny the other. Fear is nothing. Love is everything. Whenever Light enters darkness, the darkness is abolished. Believing in my own creations, the "separation" becomes true for me. To deny it or concentrate on the error of it will do no good. First I need to recognize that there is a problem that needs immediate correction. This prepares the way for Atonement which starts with forgiveness. Fear cannot be mastered. It can only be gently laid aside and replaced with Love. The only Real Mastery is through Love.
Ultimately, no compromise is possible between Everything and nothing. Time is essentially a device in which all dreams can eventually be given up. It only seems to "take time" or happen in increments.
The Meaning of the Last Judgment. Creative ability rests in the mind. What I dream is "real" in my own mind, though not in the Mind of God.
The Last Judgment is one of the most threatening ideas in my thinking, but only because I do not understand it. God does not judge.
The Last Judgment is not a meting out of punishment, but a final healing and restoration of Right-Mindedness. It is a time of separating the wheat (Love) from the chafe (fear), the worthy (Reality) from the unworthy (illusions).
I will ultimately look upon my dreams and choose to preserve only what is good. The first step toward Reality, is separating the false from the True. The Last Judgment is the doorway to Life, not death. When I fear, I live in death.
The Atonement is the correction of the error of separation through forgiveness.
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