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Manual for Teachers: X. Open-Mindedness, P 2. 1-3-18

X. Open-Mindedness, P 2
2 How do the open-minded forgive? They have let go all things that would prevent forgiveness. They have in truth abandoned the world, and let it be restored to them in newness and in joy so glorious they could never have conceived of such a change. Nothing is now as it was formerly. Nothing but sparkles now which seemed so dull and lifeless before. And above all are all things welcoming, for threat is gone. No clouds remain to hide the face of Christ. Now is the goal achieved. Forgiveness is the final goal of the curriculum. It paves the way for what goes far beyond all learning. The curriculum makes no effort to exceed its legitimate goal. Forgiveness is its single aim, at which all learning ultimately converges. It is indeed enough.

Journal

Jesus says that the open-minded have forgiven as they let go of all things that would prevent forgiveness. So I ask myself, “What is in the way of total forgiveness in my mind?” I can find a few images in my life that indicate to me that I have not forgiven. For instance, there is a guy who drops by my page once in a while to make a snide remark about my post, and I often feel an emotional reaction toward this. So I see something in my life that is preventing forgiveness.

And no, it is not the offending guy, but the belief that I can be offended, that is preventing forgiveness. The guy is just offering me another chance to move closer to forgiveness and thus to open-mindedness. There are not many of these images for me to look at, but there are some. Often they are directed at myself, things I wish I had not done.

But, I have come to realize that the images, while helpful to let me see that there is still unforgiveness in my heart, are not the problem. If I ask myself why it is I am upset by this image, I come closer to knowing what it is that is preventing forgiveness. For instance, if I ask myself why it is that I am upset with this guy who keeps poking at me, I find that I don’t know. Haha. Well, I can ask the Holy Spirit to help me see what is going on here.

When I asked for His help, I received the word, insecure. I feel insecure when this happens. That’s a surprise! I never think of myself as insecure, especially when it comes to my spiritual understanding. I know that I am not always right, but I also know that my understanding will grow as I keep opening to my Teacher’s help.

Webster says that insecure means not confident, not certain, not safe. Ah! I see now. There is a place in my mind that is not certain of anything and this makes me feel unsafe. Following the process of asking why I am upset, this insecurity, this uncertainty, opens the possibility that the truth is not true. This is why I feel unsafe.

What if my ego mind is right and the other mind, the part I think of as my holy mind and my true self is just a delusion. This is what ego would have me believe. This belief is what must be forgiven and thus healed. It is maybe the ultimate forgiveness. As I forgive this in my mind, I am open to accepting the truth wholeheartedly.

I know that forgiveness is my desire and the path to peace and happiness. I give the Holy Spirit everything in my mind that opposes the desire for forgiveness. I have no need for any of it and I find no value in retaining it. This is why I practice A Course in Miracles. Jesus says this about the Course. “Forgiveness is the final goal of the curriculum. It paves the way for what goes far beyond all learning.” It also says that this is enough to accomplish the rest.

© 2018, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Posted by Rev. Myron Jones.

Study of Text, C 15: IV. Practicing the Holy Instant, P 8, 1-2-18

IV. Practicing the Holy Instant, P 8
8 Every thought you would keep hidden shuts communication off, because you would have it so. It is impossible to recognize perfect communication while breaking communication holds value to you. Ask yourself honestly, “Would I want to have perfect communication, and am I wholly willing to let everything that interferes with it go forever?” If the answer is no, then the Holy Spirit’s readiness to give it to you is not enough to make it yours, for you are not ready to share it with Him. And it cannot come into a mind that has decided to oppose it. For the holy instant is given and received with equal willingness, being the acceptance of the single Will that governs all thought.

Journal

Recently, I became part of an Al Anon group and I have been doing the steps. I am on step 4 right now. This one says to make a fearless and searching moral inventory of myself. This has been an interesting experience for me. I am using a book called Paths to Recovery. It asks questions to help me do the steps, and I am doing my best to answer them as honestly as I can.

This morning as I read this paragraph, I find myself wondering if I am being honest. Am I hiding any embarrassing or shameful thoughts? I notice that I am getting frustrated with the process and that increases my suspicions that I am not being in full communication even with myself. Later today I am going back to this project and this time I am beginning the process again, but with the Holy Spirit as my guide.

I am asking Him to help me see what needs to be seen. I am going to trust Him completely. I am willing to let go of anything that interferes with our communication. I do want full and open communication because anything less is not really communication at all. To be in true communication is to be in the holy instant and this will be given to me if I do not oppose it.

© 2018, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Manual for Teachers: X. Open-Mindedness, P 1. 1-1-18

X. Open-Mindedness

1 The centrality of open-mindedness, perhaps the last of the attributes the teacher of God acquires, is easily understood when its relation to forgiveness is recognized. Open-mindedness comes with lack of judgment. As judgment shuts the mind against God’s Teacher, so open-mindedness invites Him to come in. As condemnation judges the Son of God as evil, so open-mindedness permits him to be judged by the Voice for God on His behalf. As the projection of guilt upon him would send him to hell, so open-mindedness lets Christ’s image be extended to him. Only the open-minded can be at peace, for they alone see reason for it.

Journal
What I understand from this paragraph is that I am open-minded when I open my mind to the Holy Spirit. Instead of judging the circumstance, I ask the Holy Spirit what it means. Instead of judging my brother, I ask the Holy Spirit who he is. This is the same thing as forgiving.

Let’s say that someone offended me. That would be the ego version of me as that is the only part of myself that could be offended. I recognize that I am not at peace and so I open my mind and heart to the Holy Spirit and ask for another way to see. The resentment falls away and my mind is at peace. I am happy.

You could say that I have forgiven this one who seemed to have offended me and that I have forgiven my projections onto him. And you could say that I have forgiven myself for believing such insane things about myself and my brothers. This is how open-mindedness relates to forgiveness. I could not achieve forgiveness without this openness to the Holy Spirit. As a result of a consistent practice of being open the Holy Spirit and willing to receive His correction, it is very hard to offend me. And if I feel offended, I know what to do.

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Study of Text, C 15: IV. Practicing the Holy Instant, P 7, 12-29-17

IV. Practicing the Holy Instant, P 7
7 How can you do this when you would prefer to have private thoughts and keep them? The only way you could do that would be to deny the perfect communication that makes the holy instant what it is. You believe you can harbor thoughts you would not share, and that salvation lies in keeping thoughts to yourself alone. For in private thoughts, known only to yourself, you think you find a way to keep what you would have alone, and share what you would share. And then you wonder why it is that you are not in full communication with those around you, and with God Who surrounds all of you together.

Journal
Jesus is helping us to understand that we must open our minds to the Holy Spirit so that our thoughts can be purified. We must hold nothing back, nothing we would keep private. What thought would I want to hold back, anyway? What thought would I want to keep safe from the Holy Spirit? At first, I cannot think of anything that I would not share with Him. I want a completely healed mind.

But when I think about it further, I realize that there are times when I don’t accept healing for my thoughts and so it must be that I am withholding them. I am keeping them private and refusing open communication. I can think of an example of this that happened a few years ago.

I was planning to move in with my daughter and help her fix up the mother-in-law house behind her house where I would eventually stay. I knew she needed financial help to keep her house and I decided I needed to do this for her. I would pay her rent while I lived there and this would be the help she needed. I had enough money to fix up the little house and when I moved in there, I would pay rent for that.

I also remember hearing the Holy Spirit in my mind speaking to me, but I cut that communication off in case He was cautioning me against this. I just couldn’t chance that the Holy Spirit would tell me not to help my daughter. I didn’t think of it that way at the time, but that is what happened. I made the decision quickly and then as quickly denied it.

It wasn’t until after the whole project became an uphill battle that I let myself remember that I chose to keep my thoughts about this decision to myself. I deliberately chose not to share them with the Holy Spirit, and thus not to ask for purification. I am sure that the reason is that my motives were unclear, and my need to be helpful could not stand up to scrutiny.

I don’t regret what happened and though it cost me a lot of money, money has never been that important to me. I enjoyed being so close to my daughter and my grandkids. All the problems with getting the little house in order were good lessons. And, I will never forget what it means to keep thoughts away from the Holy Spirit. Not that I never did it again, but I did learn an important lesson and it helped me to see what I was doing and to ask for help to stop.

Now I seldom do this and when I do, I catch it pretty quick. I recognize that I have turned to the ego to make my decisions and I turn that around, usually sooner rather than later. I don’t want any private thoughts, none that I would keep from the Holy Spirit. I want open and full communication at all times. This is the only way I can have a completely healed mind.

© 2017, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Posted by Rev. Myron Jones.

Manual for Teachers: IX. Faithfulness, P 2. 12-28-17

IX. Faithfulness, P 2
2 True faithfulness, however, does not deviate. Being consistent, it is wholly honest. Being unswerving, it is full of trust. Being based on fearlessness, it is gentle. Being certain, it is joyous. And being confident, it is tolerant. Faithfulness, then, combines in itself the other attributes of God’s teachers. It implies acceptance of the Word of God and His definition of His Son. It is to Them that faithfulness in the true sense is always directed. Toward Them it looks, seeking until it finds. Defenselessness attends it naturally, and joy is its condition. And having found, it rests in quiet certainty on that alone to which all faithfulness is due.

Journal
Because I have the opportunity as a minister to work with people on a more formal basis, I have seen both sides of faith. I have been both faithless and faithful. Because I have been a Course student for many years and because I am faithful to that study and practice, I have always grown in the direction of faithfulness.

Here is an example. I used to have a student who seemed determined to hold onto his way of thinking even though it was clearly hurting him. He could see the result and see the sense of letting it go, but he could not bring himself to allow the healing he clearly wanted. I had the thought that this was never going to happen and could not understand why he kept coming back.

But, while I did not have faith in him or even in myself, I had faith in the Holy Spirit. If he was in my life, he was there for a reason and I had to trust that. I had to watch my mind for the thoughts that displayed a lack of trust and intolerance and give those thoughts to the Holy Spirit for purification. I had to be careful I did not become defensive toward him. I had to ask for patience and I had to learn to be gentle with him as he struggled with his ego.

He was a perfect student for me in those early days. He and I grew together. I watched the attributes of a teacher of God become stronger in me and I watched as his healing unfolded. It was a humbling experience and one I would not forget. I stumble from time to time, but I understand now something else Jesus explains in the Course. It is not for me to doubt my brother, nor to decide the progression of his path, where it will take him or how quickly. I’ve learned to recognize the perfection of each person’s awakening and all I had to do was learn to keep the faith.

© 2017, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of Text, C 15: IV. Practicing the Holy Instant, P 6, 12-26-17

IV. Practicing the Holy Instant, P 6
6 The reason this course is simple is that truth is simple. Complexity is of the ego, and is nothing more than the ego’s attempt to obscure the obvious. You could live forever in the holy instant, beginning now and reaching to eternity, but for a very simple reason. Do not obscure the simplicity of this reason, for if you do, it will be only because you prefer not to recognize it and not to let it go. The simple reason, simply stated, is this: The holy instant is a time in which you receive and give perfect communication. This means, however, that it is a time in which your mind is open, both to receive and give. It is the recognition that all minds are in communication. It therefore seeks to change nothing, but merely to accept everything.

Journal
Well, I guess that I am not as open to the holy instant as I thought. Jesus says that the truth is simple and if it seems complex to me, I must be obscuring it for my own reasons, and that is what I seem to be doing because it doesn’t seem simple to me. He said that I could live forever in the holy instant beginning now but for some simple reason. He said that the holy instant is a time in which you give and receive perfect communication.
That is when I started getting confused and I thought that this is not simple. What is perfect communication? Instead of telling me, he tells me why I don’t have it and probably don’t want it. I would have to keep my mind open to both receive and give. I’m not sure what this looks like. I mean, how do I do this? When am I not doing it?

Well, I guess I have closed my mind to receiving when I ask for healing but it does not seem to occur. I noticed this morning that I feel the tug of the pendulum as it swings back from the excitement and fun of Christmas. I am not depressed, but neither am I happy. I talked to Holy Spirit about this. I want to be at peace again.

But then I feel drawn to the sad story of how everyone is gone and how I feel kind of empty now. The ego also offers me a little drama around how each person reacted during our family gathering. I know that this is just the ego interpretation of each person’s behavior and that I have never been made glad and peaceful by listening to the ego mind.

How interesting, though, the attraction that bit of drama holds for me. I think that is what Jesus may be talking about when he says that I must be open to receive. I want to be at peace but I seem to also be attracted to feelings other than peace, and therefore my mind is not open only to peace and that is the only way I can have it.

He then says that it is the recognition that all minds are in communication. This does not seem uncomplicated to me, so I asked the Holy Spirit to help me understand. I began to understand that on this level, the level of the illusion in which we dream of separation, we each seem to have our own separate mind that is in no way open to other minds. And to be honest, a part of me is grateful for that. That part is clearly the ego mind.

On another level, a level not generally accessed here, our minds are in constant communication. I don’t have a conscious awareness of this and that is part of the reason it doesn’t make sense to me. And, still being somewhat identified with the ego, I am not completely open to this level of communication. Ok, I am beginning to see how I am resisting the holy instant.

Then Jesus says this. It therefore seeks to change nothing, but merely to accept everything. I think I understand this. If I were consciously aware of the communication that occurs between our minds, I would understand why everyone does everything they do. I would know the underlying purpose of life. I would be aware of the absolute love that we all share.

Why then, would I want to change anything? What if everything happening to me is perfect for my true purpose and that everyone else is profoundly in love with me and wants only my highest good, and that I want this for them as well? Would the situations and the words and actions of others be something I would reject and defend against? Or would I simply accept everything in complete peace and joy because I would know all that we experience is in our best interest? I want to know again what it feels like to be so deeply connected to everyone.

© 2017, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of Text, C 15: IV. Practicing the Holy Instant, P 5, 12-22-17

IV. Practicing the Holy Instant, P 5
5 I stand within the holy instant, as clear as you would have me. And the extent to which you learn to accept me is the measure of the time in which the holy instant will be yours. I call to you to make the holy instant yours at once, for the release from littleness in the mind of the host of God depends on willingness, and not on time.

Journal

Oooh! I love this: …for the release of littleness in the mind of the host of God depends on willingness, and not on time. I want the holy instant, instantly! Except when I when I want something else instead. I have learned to be very vigilant for those beliefs I have made seem real when they are not actually true at all. Those are the thoughts that must be undone.

It has required some effort on my part to do this, actually, quite a bit of effort over a period of time. So it is the awareness of and the willingness to release those untrue beliefs that takes time… until it doesn’t. My motivation has grown and my dedication is much stronger now and this is because success has proven to me that this effort is worthwhile. I am devoted to the peace of God as my only goal, and undoing the ego is the only way to have the peace of God consistently.

Littleness can come into the mind in all sorts of ways. I did a lot of unaccustomed physical labor yesterday and today I am reminded of the muscles that I don’t use a lot. I turn a certain way or bend a certain way and I feel the discomfort. My first thought is from the ego that insists this means something, and as I dismiss that thought of littleness, I smile in welcome to peace of mind.

I am invited to a Christmas party and I feel reluctant to go. I don’t know most of the people who will be there and I think how uncomfortable that will be. I don’t know what to say or how to interact with these strangers. I let that thought of littleness go as I realize that I don’t have to use my ego mind at this party, and there are no true strangers there, only brothers and sisters in Christ. I can be the quiet listener and I can extend love instead of feeling separate. I notice how peaceful that idea feels. It must be from my Magnitude.

Even as I wonder if my daughter is going to like the gift I gave her, I notice littleness insisting that it won’t be satisfactory and if my gift is not accepted then that means I am not accepted. What a strange thought to hold about my daughter and myself. Clearly, littleness has become far too prevalent in my thoughts, but with this awareness, I can choose to see differently and allow magnitude to replace littleness in my mind.

I cannot be little because I was created by a magnificent God to be an extension of His magnificence. I must, then, be magnificent as well. What a thought! If I am to extend God’s Kingdom forever and beyond limit, I must stop giving attention and belief to these little thoughts. I am willing to do that. My willingness assures my success, sooner rather than later.

© 2017, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
You may freely share copies of this with your friends, provided this notice is included.