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October-December, 2015

Nothing Is Happening but Love in the Present Moment

by Rev. Linda Wisniewski, O.M.C.

I had an experience recently that showed me in a very concrete way that when I am in the present moment, in the Now and what the Course refers to as the Holy Instant, nothing is happening but Love and I am in a state of beingness, the essence of who I Am. It is very peaceful and joyful.

So, if I’m not peaceful, what is the problem? Is something or someone out there disturbing my peace of mind? Is it the hot, humid weather we get in the Midwest taking away my peace and my ability to have a good day? Does an argument with a loved one ruin my day? God’s Will for us is happiness. Is anyone out there responsible for me being happy, peaceful and content? Can anything in my life ruin my decision to be happy and have a good day?

What I’m discovering is that nothing can ruin my decision to be happy and have a good day, except my thoughts.

Here is an example: My husband has been sober for more than 25 years. Recently he spent 10 days in Italy and enjoyed drinking their wine. No big deal, right? When he came home and we went out with family to a Greek restaurant, he ordered a beer with dinner.

Internally, I started to panic although I didn’t say anything to him. But, the ego thoughts in my mind were saying a lot and putting me into a state of fear. These thoughts were trying to convince me that my husband was becoming an alcoholic again and memories came up of the past when he wasn’t sober and how I believed I suffered as a result of this.

Thank God, I now have the Course and know that Holy Spirit is with me 24/7. So while I was at the table, eating my food, I went to Holy Spirit and immediately asked for help to see what was happening differently.

Even in the midst of the conversations going on around me, I was able to step back and be in stillness in the moment. I had the willingness to see the Truth, rather than listen to the fearful thoughts swirling around me. Holy Spirit lovingly showed me that nothing really was happening in the present moment. My husband was drinking a beer. I wasn’t upset about any of the other people drinking their beers, so why was I upset about my husband doing the same?

Holy Spirit was showing me that the disturbance was caused by my thoughts about what I thought it meant. I was being shown how I was bringing a past experience into the present moment and projecting it into the future by thinking that my husband was going to become an alcoholic again. The fact is that in the present moment, nothing was happening. The anxiety I was feeling was a result of my thoughts and fantasizing about a future. My peace was disturbed not by what my husband was doing, but, by what my thoughts were trying to do.

Another example that came up about how my peace is disturbed and takes me away from the present moment also happened when my husband was in Italy. I hadn’t heard from him in two days and there was no way to contact him. All of a sudden, I went into a state of anxiety as the thoughts came up that maybe he was dead or in an accident and no one was telling me. The same anxiety comes up when my husband comes home late from work. What is going on?

In the section in the Course in Chapter 19, Section IV. The Obstacles to Peace; section 3, it states that the Third Obstacle to Peace is: The Attraction of Death. It seems as I look at my thoughts, that most of my anxiety has to do with the fear of death which the Course says is really the fear of God. This fear is a real obstacle to my peace and to living in the present moment where God is, Love is, Peace is.

Again, my anxiety didn’t come from my husband not calling. He didn’t call because our phone couldn’t make calls overseas and he had to borrow a phone. My anxiety came from my fears about death and God.

There are many others examples I could share which show me that no person or circumstance can rob me of my peace. Nothing outside my mind can really hurt me or upset me in any way. It’s only my thoughts about something from the past or imagining a future based on the past that can disturb my peace.

Now, when I find myself getting riled up, or feeling fearful, anxious or angry, I’m learning to ask myself; Linda, right now in the present moment what is happening? Then I start to laugh because I realize that nothing is happening except my “stinkin” ego thinking which are all fantasies. In the Now, I can be at peace in every moment. It’s a decision I can make with the help of the Holy Spirit. In the present moment, the holy instant; peace is; love is; joy is; God is; I Am.

As I was reading the section in the Course on the Obstacles to Peace, my eyes went to a beautiful prayer to help us remove the obstacles to peace so we can remain in the present moment and experience our beingness as Love; as God, Which is Love.

It starts with the instructions: “Remember the holy Presence of the One given to you to be the Source of judgment. Give it to Him to judge for you, and say:

“Take this from me and look upon it, judging it for me.”

Teach me how not to make of it an obstacle to peace, but let You use it for me, to facilitate its coming.” (T-19.IV.I.11: 6-10)

Using this prayer never fails and brings me back to the present moment where nothing is happening except the holy instant of peace, joy, and love.

© 2015, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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