"What's your name? Who's your Daddy?....." Time of The Season, the Zombies
Either God is insane or ego is. Which would I bet on? "Ego" is the part of me who believes it is separate from God and has seemingly created a world to prove it. But it is impossible to create anything Real that is not Whole, Eternal, Loving and Joyful, so this world exists only in my dreams. I can experience only one world at a time: God's or ego's. Ego is nothing more than a delusional system. Ego creates by projection (projecting a world without God) and God Creates by extension (extending His Love to all His Creation). The more I approach the center of God's Thought system, the clearer His Light becomes. The closer I come to ego's thought system, the way becomes darker and more obscure.
God is like the sun and I am a Spark of His Light. Though I have forgotten Him, I can never lose the Spark of Light that is my Self. When I hold this Spark up to the foundation of ego's thought system, and am willing to judge it with perfect honesty, I will see ego's foundation was made of sand ~~ "Everyone who hears these messages of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand" Matthew 7:26 ~~ I will see that everything I feared was based on nothing.
God's Foundation is the one I seek, “Therefore he who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, the winds blew and beat against the house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock," Matthew 7:24-25. The woman who received the inspiration for ACIM, believed Jesus inspired the message. He tells me in this chapter, "My brother, you are part of God and part of me. I come to you from our Father to offer you everything again. I give you the lamp and I will go with you. You do not take this journey alone. I will lead you to the Father." He does not tell me to take up his cross, he does not speak of atoning for "sin," he does not ask me to evangelize. He asks me to lay aside this world with love and forgiveness.
One does not have to believe in Jesus to appreciate the message. In fact if there is nothing and no one "outside" me, "Jesus" does not exist. Yet God will use everything I seemingly created for His Own Purposes.
The Gifts of Fatherhood. I know I need healing of some sort, there is no question.
ACIM is laying the foundation for my return to God. Mind and Thought are the only Reality. When my thought system becomes more like God's, I "will realize God is my only Father, and His Name will be above all names, and everyday will be a Holy day" (1st-4th Commandments), "I will honor all other beings," and "nothing the world seems to offer will have any value to me" (5th-10th Commandments). Are these "commandments" or are they a template on which to base my progress?
I am not separate from God and I am not a limited by a body. Eternity has no end, and I am Unlimited as God's Son. God's Kingdom is Eternal and Everywhere, without limitation. There are no beginnings or endings in God. God's Universe is Himself, and there is no way I can exclude myself from His Being. He Created me and I am One with Him.
God's Universe extends. His extension cannot be blocked; It has no voids and It continues forever ~ however much I deny It. My denial of It's Reality may arrest It in "time," but not in Eternity. So much is waiting for my return to God. Yet even "waiting" is possible only in time. Time has no meaning in Reality. I believe I am absent from God, living apart from Him in this world with a possible return to Him after "death." The Universe of Love does not stop because I have closed my eyes to It. I am like a child who thinks he is invisible just because he closes his eyes. God has given me a place in His Mind (or Kingdom) that is mine Forever. I keep it only by giving it (extension is the Law of Creation), as it was given to me. Everything God creates is endowed with all of His Characteristics.
To "deny" is to "not know." By denying God's Will for me, I am denying my own will. While I believe I exist "apart from" Him, to find my way back, I must ask what His Will is in everything. God's Holy Spirit remembers it for me.
Ego tells me God's Will is not a part of me. It tells me God demands of me what I do not want to give and He deprives me of what I do want and desire. This is so far from Truth. I cannot be Truly Happy unless I am doing God's Will. I search this world in vain, but nothing ever makes me Completely Whole and Happy.
I am asked to trust God. He does not force His Will on me, He shares it with me when I ask for It. I am truly Blessed when I learn that the Will of my Father is also my own. I will begin to recognize that my will is His and healing will begin.
Invitation to Healing. Sickness is separation from God, no matter what form it takes. Any sickness that manifests in the body is directly related to the sickness of my mind caused by my self-imposed separation from God. Every attack (physical or mental) on myself or "others" reinforces the separation. Yet, every healing thought brings me closer to Awakening. The more I practice forgiveness and healing thoughts, the better teacher and learner I become. Every healing thought teaches me that I am God's Son. Every hurtful thought keeps God from my Awareness. Denial is as total as Love.
Beside my small willingness to practice healing thoughts, God will lay His Own Complete Will and make mine Whole. Who will be the guest I invite to reside in my mind, God or ego? God's Voice will not be heard if I do not welcome Him. When I think with Him ever so slightly, the little Spark in me becomes a Blazing Light filling my mind so that God becomes my only Guest. When I allow ego to enter, I lessen the God's welcome. He will always remain with me, but I have blocked myself from Him by being consumed with things of ego. Whatever journey I choose to take (God or ego), Heaven goes with me, awaiting my invitation. I can trust God's patience. He will not leave me forsaken.
I will never find rest in this world until I know my function (forgiveness) and fulfill it. I will invite God's Knowledge back into my mind. My willingness does not need to be perfect, because God's Is. Just offer Him a small place in my mind.
Will I be hostage to ego, or host to God? My mind will accept only whom I consciously invite. I am free to choose my guest and free to decide how long he will stay. God cannot help me without my consent and invitation. Of my guests, only He is Real. I refuse to be satisfied with imaginary comforters, for the Comforter of God is in me. He awaits my invitation.
Darkness to Light. When I feel weary, anxious, afraid or isolated, remember....I have hurt myself. When I make a judgment about someone else, it affects ME and how I see myself. I cannot find rest, I do not know how. If I did know how, I would not have grown weary, anxious, afraid or isolated. All the anguish and judgment I throw out into the world, stays with me. All I have to do to feel better, is make a different choice. I can choose to judge and point fingers........or I can choose to forgive and love. Whatever I give, I keep for myself.
Pain is not of God. He gives only Peace. God is very Quiet, for there is no conflict in Him. Evil does not exist in Reality, but if it did, I could say that conflict is the root of all evil. Conflict is blind and being blind it does not see or care who it attacks. It thinks it attacks people "out there" in the world, but it attacks ONLY itself. It attacks the Son of God, and the Son of God is ME.
God's Son is in need of comfort, for he does not know what he does......“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34. I would add one thing; God does not need to forgive me, for He knows me as His Son, Whole and Complete; but I need to forgive the world, my thoughts and all "others," to create a space in my mind unclouded by illusions, allowing Truth to enter.
God gives me His Kingdom, yet I choose to wander homeless. I am at Home in God, yet I choose to be lonely. Amidst all my "brothers," I choose to be friendless.
Would God let this be Real, when He did not Will even Himself to be alone? If I knew what God Wills for me, my Joy would be Complete. What He Wills has happened, for It was always True. When Light comes and I have said "God's Will is mine," I will see such Beauty! Out of my Joy I will also create Beauty in His Name; for my Joy could no more be contained than His. My bleak little world of illusions will vanish into nothingness, and my heart will be so filled with Joy that it will leap into Heaven, into the Presence of God. What God Wills for Himself He Wills for me, and what He Wills is mine now.
The way is not hard, ".....my yoke is easy and my burden is light," Matthew 11:30, but it is very different. Mine is the way of pain. God knows nothing of pain. My way is hard and lonely. Fear and grief are my guests and they follow me on my lonely road. This dark journey does not belong to the Son of God. Walk in Light and do not see the dark companions (illusions) for they are not fit companions for the Son of God. The Great Light always surrounds me, why do I choose to see dark companions over such a Light as this? If I see darkness, it is only because I deny Light. The only good use of denial is to deny illusions.
God hides nothing from me, even though I hide from Him. I cannot hide my Glory, for God Wills me to be Glorious. I will never lose my way, for God Himself leads me. When I wander, I take a journey that is not real. Turn toward the Light. The little Spark in me is part of a Light so Great that it will sweep me out of all darkness forever. My Father is my Creator and I am like Him. There is no place for illusions in God's Temple. "There will be no gods before Him" because there ARE no other gods.
God awaits my invitation to give the Peace that is mine. Then I will give His Peace, so I will have It. Extension is the rule in God's Kingdom. To have Truth, I must give It. I cannot enter God's Presence when I am lost in illusions. Not because He will not let me, but because I will not allow myself. I never enter alone, because all my "brothers" must enter with me. I must forgive and accept them as Sons of God, or I will block the way from myself. Even though there is no one "out there," I think there is and I believe it, so I perceive it. And while I perceive it, it is "true" for me. When I forgive everyone everything, I will learn there was never anyone or anything to forgive and I will experience my Oneness.
It is not my will to be alone and limited in a body, but this is the experience my mind has chosen. I can choose differently now. Even "time" cannot separate me from God if I use time on behalf of Eternity. Use time to forgive (time's only useful purpose).
My Inheritance. The Sonship is my Inheritance, the Sonship is Who I am, the Sonship is my Self.
My Self does not need salvation, but my mind needs to lay aside illusions and remember Reality. I am not saved from anything, but I am saved for God's Glory.
If I "hate" or judge any part of my Self (another body or situation that seems to be in the world), I will not understand my Inheritance. Practice looking on the world with Love and forgiveness, because in Reality, what I am looking at is my Self.
God's Laws are only for my protection. Any limitation on me, anything other than complete Love and Happiness, are not God's Will for me. My Peace lies in my Limitlessness. If I withhold Peace and Happiness from "others," through judgment or hate, it will be lost to me. Would I cut off a brother from the Light that Unites us? I would not do it if I realized that I darken only my own mind. Offer forgiveness and Love to my brothers to return to the Kingdom together.
Only I can deprive myself of anything. God deprives me of NOTHING.
The beginning phases of the thought reversal taught by ACIM can be quite painful. For as I withdraw blame from "outside" myself, there is a strong tendency to harbor it within. But whether the blame is outside or inside me, there is no difference. My brothers are part of me and if I blame them for my own deprivation, I am still blaming MYSELF. Blame must be undone completely ~ self-blame or other-blame (self-blame is as much an ego defense as blaming others). I cannot enter God's Presence if I attack the Sonship (myself or others), not because God will not allow it, but because I am choosing ego over Spirit. Learn to undo blame in any form by sharing forgiveness and Love with myself and others. I return Home hand in hand with my brother. Christ is at God's Altar waiting to welcome me, but I must come completely without condemnation, for otherwise I will perceive the door barred. God does not close the door to me, I am holding it shut by judgment and condemnation.
Love myself with the Love of Christ, for this is how my Father loves me. The Son of God waits for my acceptance of Him as my Self. I am the Son of God. The Son of God is the extension of the Love, Glory and Peace of the Father. God does not condemn me and I must stop condemning myself and others. Learn to offer only forgiveness and Love to myself and others. Christ is the Sonship healed and Whole.
The "Dynamics" of Ego. There is no need to analyze or understand illusion, but I must look at it for what it is (the way that I separate myself from God), in order to escape from it. I will not be afraid, illusions are not dangerous, they are nothing and do not exist. I have God's Light in me and even if it is only a Spark, it has more Power than any illusion. I must face illusions head on to look beyond them.
What is healing but the removal of all that stands in the way of Truth? How else can I dispel illusions except by looking directly at them, without protecting them? Illusions are the source of all my fear. I learn that the effects of illusions will disappear simply by denying their reality. Reality is recognized by Its extension, what extends to nothing is not real.
All Power is of God. What is not of God, has no power to do anything.
When I look at ego truly I see only delusions. My ego and the many egos I seem to perceive do not exist and have no effects at all. Ego's purpose is to be separate, self-sufficient and independent of any power except its own. This is what I seemed to create when I perceived myself to be separate from God. Ego is the symbol of this separation; but only a symbol not a Reality.
Any will contrary to God's is wishful thinking and not Reality. The real conflict I experience is between ego's dreams and the Will of God Can this be a real conflict?
My whole function lies in my complete dependence on God. God does not lord His Power over me, He shares It with me. My dependence on God is my Freedom. Ego sees dependence as threatening. Ego always works on behalf of separation, because that is what it was created by me to do. Ego allows me to regard myself as emotionally shallow, callous, uninvolved, ugly, desperate and lonely. I have to examine ego as a separate being. It seems to be almost a devil-like character. It is only the part of me who is asleep, dreaming of separation and of a world apart from God. But I learn to look at it as distinct and separate only to be able to look beyond it.
What seems to separate me from God is fear, whatever form it seems to take. Very simply, I have become afraid of my Self. Only by looking directly at ego and at fear, can I finally learn to distinguish the Possible from the impossible and the false from the True.
God's Will is mine and I can never find Happiness apart from Him. Only God's Will can be accomplished and It is accomplished already. When my eyes are open, I will Know this. It is as if I am lost in a dream; insane really, for only the insane would choose fear in the place of Love. Only the insane could believe that Love can be gained by attack and control.
Ego analyzes; Truth accepts. To analyze means to break down or separate out. The attempt to understand something by breaking it down is the approach of ego to everything. Ego attacks everything it perceives by breaking it into small, disconnected parts with no meaningful relationships. Ego will always substitute chaos for Meaning, for if its foundation is "separation," Harmony is a threat. Ego focuses on error and overlooks Truth. It makes "real" every mistake it perceives. Ego looks straight at the Father and does not see Him. The case for insanity is strong to the insane.
Accept myself as God's Son and I will remember Him. Where the Son is, the Father must be.
Every brother I meet becomes a witness for Christ or for ego, depending on how I choose to perceive him. Everyone will give me evidence of my choice. If I want to see hatred and condemnation, my brother will give me that. If I want to see the Son of God, my brother will witness to that as well. Only one is True. I choose my teacher: ego or God. Everything I perceive is a witness to the thought system I choose. Every brother has the power to release me, if I choose for Truth. If he does not speak of Truth to me, it is because I did not speak of Truth to him. I hear only my own voice. If I let Truth speak through me, I will hear Heaven reflected in my brother.
Waking to Redemption. The world of dreams is all about perception, not Truth or Knowledge. Perceptions are built on the basis of dream-world experiences, and experience leads to beliefs. It is not until beliefs are fixed that perceptions stabilize. What I believe, I will see. Not the other way around. "Blessed are those who have not seen and still believe," for those who believe in Truth will see It.
ACIM is simple and perfectly clear, but ego will attempt to make it difficult.
ACIM is leading me to a new kind of experience that I will be less and less willing to deny. The distortions and illusions of the dream-world will begin to tire me.
If I perceive unworthiness in a brother, I will perceive it in myself. If I perceive it in myself, I will perceive it in God, Who then becomes "vengeful" and "jealous" ~~ the god of wrath ~~ to ego.
Do not underestimate the power the gods I worship have over me. I place myself at the altar of my gods, whether it be the god I made or the God Who Created me. Slavery is as complete as Freedom. My ego-god demands that I crucify. It demands sacrifice and pain. The God of Truth demands nothing. He does not require obedience, for obedience implies submission. God would only have me learn my will (which is His) and follow it, not in the spirit of sacrifice and submission, but in the Spirit of Joy.
I have nailed myself to a cross and placed a crown of thorns upon my own head. Yet, God offers to remove the nails and thorns from my flesh and offer me only my Freedom. All Things are possible with God.
Reality. God created only the Eternal, yet everything in the dream-world is perishable, therefore, there must be another world that I do not see. The Bible speaks of a new Heaven and new earth, but this cannot literally be True for the Eternal is not re-created, the Eternal simply Is.
Every Loving Thought the Son of God ever had is Eternal. The Loving Thoughts in my mind are this world's only Reality.
The Real world can actually be perceived. All that is necessary is a willingness to perceive nothing else. If I perceive both good and evil, I am accepting both. Ego may see some good, but never only good. Ego does not reject Goodness entirely, for that my mind would not accept. But ego always adds something that is not real to the Real, confusing illusion and Reality. When I choose to see only Truth, it will lead to my Awakening.
Opposites do not exist. There is only Love, Peace, Joy, Wholeness and Happiness. If I experience anything other than these, I am dreaming. I have made many ideas that I have placed between me and my Creator. These ideas are the dream-world as I perceive it. Truth is not absent here, but It is obscure.
The Problem and the Answer. In the end, ACIM teaches that only Reality is True. When I finally perceive this, perception will be swiftly be translated into Knowledge and all the dreams will be forgotten. The end of the world is not its destruction, but its translation into Heaven.
The Bible tells me to become as a little child. Little children do not understand, and realizing they do not understand, they ask. While I think I "know," I will see no need to ask. Do not make the mistake of believing that I do not need God's Help. I do not know the meaning of anything I perceive. Not one thought I hold is wholly True. The recognition of this is my firm beginning. The workbook starts out with the thought that "nothing I see is what I think I see ~~ this (chair) is not what I think it is, this (tree) is not what I think it is," etc. This workbook lesson asks me to question everything I think is real. My willingness to learn depends on my willingness to question everything I think I know. I should not be my own teacher. Ask God to be my Guide. He will not refuse.
ACIM is a curriculum not just of ideas, but about practical application of these ideas. What could be more specific that to be told to ask and receive. Problems seems to manifest in many forms: troubled relationships, lack of money, unhappy children, etc. However, there is really only one problem: that I think I am separated from God. There is one answer: Awaken to God.
God demands nothing of me, He only gives (the law of extension). He does not take. God willingly and Joyfully shares ALL He has with me. God gives me only what is mine and takes nothing in return. What is mine is Everything and I share It with God. THAT is Reality. Nothing of God will EVER hurt me. The Kingdom of Heaven is within me.
There is no sickness, no separation and no division. I will practice seeing this in my world. Recognize only Loving Thoughts. The Help of God goes with me everywhere. Ask for His Help and accept It. I will keep It by giving It away. All problems disappear in the presence of God's Answer.
If I perceive "sin" in my brother, I need to pluck the "sin" from my own mind. "How can I say to my brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the speck in your own eye? First take the speck out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye......Luke 6:42". ACIM is trying to tell me the thought of "sin" is only in my own mind, projected "out" onto my brother. Perceive nothing and no one without God's Guidance.
Children perceive frightening ghosts, monsters and dragons, and they are terrified. But if they confide their fear in someone they trust, and are willing to let their own interpretations go in favor of reality, their fear goes as well. When a child is helped to translate his "ghost" into a curtain, his "monster" into a shadow, and his "dragon" into a dream, he is no longer afraid and laughs happily at his own fear. I will too laugh at my own fears and replace them with Joy, Happiness and Peace. Fear does not exist in Reality. When I learn to perceive Truly, I am not afraid. Learn to ask for Truth when I am frightened. I can learn the Truth about myself but I must ask. God will not force Himself upon me.
Accept a world of forgiveness and Love for myself and my brother. See the world of dreams only in the Light of Truth. Allow a world of Love and forgiveness to replace the one I made. My Father will then lean down to me and raise me unto Himself.
God is in me and I am in God. The Father and the Son are One. If the Father is without guilt and sin, then so is His Son. I am the Son of God, made in Love, Joy and Perfect Happiness.....now is the time to Awaken to Reality.
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