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October-December, 2018

The Gateway to a Happy, Peaceful Life

by Rev. Maria Kingsley, O.M.C.

We all want to be happy.

But we have to find out what happiness really means to us.

Some say, “happiness is having this car, is being free of cancer, is being successful in my career, is having a loving companion, or being debt free” — all these or more choices for happiness. But we all know that this in itself does not make us truly happy. There is always more we want. It seems that true and lasting happiness is elusive and can’t really be counted on in this world.

We look towards physical conditions for happiness. It seems to be the road to finally getting what we always wanted. But our desires come from our ego and childish ways of seeing the world. We learned as children that what our parents wanted is what we also want — or what we fight against. Either way, it is a thought that we carry forward. We live the thoughts of our parents, either as followers or as fighters against them. Unfortunately, we don’t recognize it, or when we do see what we are doing, that we are ‘just like our parents’, we don’t know how to change it.

The Course says:

The mind is closed and will not be released. The thought protects projection, tightening its chains, so that distortions are more veiled and more obscure; less easily accessible to doubt, and further kept from reason. (W-pII.1.2:2-3)

We are unwilling to change our mind about what we made true as children, reacting to fear and energies of survival and seeking safety in an uncertain situation.

The fear of survival is a natural, instinctual reaction and is necessary for the survival of the humankind. However, we are here today, as adults, to go beyond survival. We want to remember that we are not bodies, we will not let fear rule us, and remember that we are Spirit guided by the mind we choose: the Mind of God, or the ego-mind. Both are using the power of God, which is Love, to extend or project what we see as important at the time.

For most of my life I have had the strong thought that we need schooling for adults to undo our childlike thoughts, feelings, fears and ways to be ‘re-made.’ In this school, to move from childhood into adulthood, we would unlearn our earthly physically focused ways, our parents’ ways, and we would learn to choose our Heavenly Parent’s Thoughts. Forgiveness helps us with just that. And that is the ‘school’ I have been adopting ever since I found the Course.

However, if we do not change our ways, we will be stuck in a life of sorrow, fear, lack and short-term gratifications. We will experience the attack of others as we will join in the attack towards others, all of which hurts only ourselves.

We learn to like this attack on others and get so addicted to the energy of rage and anger that it is sometimes difficult, even for so-called good people, to not fly into raging behaviors and thoughts. The world around us seems to do much of this, and so it is accepted as ‘only normal’ to be angry about what others are doing or saying.

We want to remember that it is our thoughts that give this all the meaning it has for us. We are unforgiving and feel justified in it.

We are still the little children who are selfish and self-centered in an ego way and cannot (as children) see why that is so, or how to change it.

The Course says this in such a profound way: An unforgiving thought is one which makes a judgment that it will not raise to doubt, although it is not true. (W-pII. 1.2:1)
We all receive Guidance, and we do notice – even faintly sometimes – that gentle small Voice within that helps us see things differently, and respond with kindness.

This gentle voice is there to keep us safe, to see the good, to help us choose with forgiveness. It is our True Self. And when we connect with It, It is a loving, joyful, gentle feeling within us. I love to connect with that sweet, gentle feeling.

When we do connect and tune into that Energy, we want to remember that It is the Power we are really looking for — That which keeps us safe, That which smoothes out the path before us, That which provides all we need and guides our step safely.

So many times I have come to near accidents, and when I thought about it, I realized that I was just guided to turn or move or do something that averted a mishap or perhaps a major accident. I was so gently guided and somehow I responded in such a way that I came out safe and whole, sometimes without even recognizing at the time that I was in danger. But I never was, because I put my mind into His Hands.

The lessons that I have learned are many, and there are more to come. But I realize that the school of life does not have to be ‘of hard knocks.’ It can be just the recognition that when we come from Love, when we live in Love, this awesome Love Energy goes before us and truly straightens out the path before us. I feel very lucky to be living in this time of ACIM, which allows me to let go of the anger of my childhood, to unlearn my childish ways, and to forgive and see it with gentle loving eyes.

I send loving energy to all the parents out there to teach their children how to be kind, gentle, feel safe and learn helpful ways to receive Guidance, even when their parents are not present. Parents cannot be everywhere children are, and so parents are relieved from worries and fears about their children’s safety.

To stay in a forgiving, loving inner state of mind is the path to happiness, to peace of mind and to safety and health. It is the gateway to the next level of being. It is the doorway that opens to us the life we truly want. 
Do nothing then, and let forgiveness show you what to do, through Him Who is your Guide, your Savior and protector, strong in hope, and certain of your ultimate success. (W-pII.1.5:1)

© 2018, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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