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Study of Text, C 13: VII. Attainment of the Real World, P 15. 10-21-16

VII. Attainment of the Real World, P 15

15 Then follow Him in joy, with faith that He will lead you safely through all dangers to your peace of mind this world may set before you. Kneel not before the altars to sacrifice, and seek not what you will surely lose. Content yourself with what you will as surely keep, and be not restless, for you undertake a quiet journey to the peace of God, where He would have you be in quietness.

Journal
I appreciate that Jesus says to follow the Holy Spirit in joy. It is only recently that this has been my experience, and it is not always entirely true for me even now. I went about awakening as if it is the hardest thing I could ever do, and as if it needed my very serious concentration at all times. I often talk about vigilance being key, and I am not wrong about that. But here is how it is changing for me.

I am vigilant for the ego in my mind, and very willing for it to be undone. What I have discovered is that vigilance and willingness does not require serious concentration. I don’t have to exhaust myself doing this. I don’t have to grit my teeth and go about it as if failure were chasing me every step of the way. More and more, I understand and accept that failure is not possible, and God does not want or need my grim determination.

In fact, often lately, I have noticed ridiculous ego thoughts in my mind and laughed at the absurdity. I see that beliefs I thought had been released are still showing up and I just smile at the tenacity of ego mind. I think this means I am no longer afraid of myself. I will return my mind to God, because I already have. I am just awakening to that indisputable fact. I no longer feel a need to struggle. I am no longer frightened of failure.

While I do feel anxious sometimes, and while I do get frustrated with my own stubbornness, it doesn’t last and mostly I don’t have that old sense of urgency I had before. I am earnest in my desire for God, and I am determined to return Home, but the determination is not so somber, nor so severe. The work is more peaceful now, and when I try to let go of an ego belief and it feels obstinate, I still know that I am the Son of God and I cannot be denied. This helps me return to peace, as I remember that there is nothing to fear. I am only becoming aware of what has always been my reality. How could that not be possible?

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Posted by Rev. Myron Jones.

Study of Text, Chapter 13: VII. Attainment of the Real World, P 14. 10-18-16

VII. Attainment of the Real World, P 14

14 Whenever you are tempted to undertake a useless journey that would lead away from light, remember what you really want, and say:
The Holy Spirit leads me unto Christ, and where else would I go? What need have I but to awake in Him?

Journal
It is still easy for me to wander away from the light, but I find that I don’t like the darkness any longer. As soon as I notice what I have done, I change my mind. I don’t want to take any more useless journeys. I was doing some work that required me to explain something to a new employee. She had done it wrong and I was showing her how to correct it. She began to argue with me and tried to show me that I was the one who was wrong. I told her no. I told her this is the way it must be done, and then I walked away.

She does this kind of thing all the time, and I thought I was over letting it bother me, but I kept thinking how foolish it was for her to argue with me. I thought about telling my boss that this is the reason I don’t work with her. After a few minutes of this, I stopped and thought about it. I just don’t want to feel like this. I don’t want to judge anyone, because I have to give up peace in order to do so. I don’t want to teach myself or anyone else that there is more value in being right than there is in being in union.

I recognized I had taken a wrong turn and was on another useless journey that was not leading me unto Christ. At first, I kept being pulled back into my righteous indignation. I reminded myself that I chose to be in union with the Holy Spirit, and that I want an unbroken union with Him. I asked the Holy Spirit to purify my mind of any thoughts that are opposed to joining. As I allowed my mind to be healed and soothed by the Holy Spirit, the whole situation became absurd to me.

This woman is just trying to find peace, just like I am. When she feels wrong about something it upsets her and she doesn’t feel peaceful. So she thinks she has to be right about everything. Being right feels like salvation to her. I can certainly understand that. Wasn’t I just doing the same thing? I wanted to be right more than I wanted to walk in the light. Isn’t that the same as believing that being right is my salvation?

Thank you, Holy Spirit, for enlightening my mind.

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Study of Text, Chapter 13: VII. Attainment of the Real World, P 13. 10-17-16

VII. Attainment of the Real World, P 13

13 Leave, then, your needs to Him. He will supply them with no emphasis at all upon them. What comes to you of Him comes safely, for He will ensure it never can become a dark spot, hidden in your mind and kept to hurt you. Under His guidance you will travel light and journey lightly, for His sight is ever on the journey’s end, which is His goal. God’s Son is not a traveller through outer worlds. However holy his perception may become, no world outside himself holds his inheritance. Within himself he has no needs, for light needs nothing but to shine in peace, and from itself to let the rays extend in quiet to infinity.

Journal
Again I am reminded to leave my needs to the Holy Spirit. I can rest easy knowing that everything is taken care of if I do this. My retirement date is very close. Every so often I wonder if I am going to be financially ready for that. Sometimes I start planning what to do about this bill or that obligation. Then I start to worry.

Reviewing this section of the Course is so helpful right now. When I notice I am thinking ahead and fretting, I remind myself that the Holy Spirit is in charge of my needs in this world so why would I be concerned. This helps me to back out of something that does not need my attention. I realize that I don’t know what it is I need, nor do I know how to ask for that which will not distract me, or in some other way delay me.

The Holy Spirit has His eye on the journey’s end, and that is not always true about me. Sometimes, often really, I know that the peace of God is everything I want. But then other times I think I really need something else. This neediness diverts my attention from what matters and sometimes it turns me completely away from my purpose. I don’t always realize what has happened for awhile, only that I am no longer happy and at peace. So yes, I need the Holy Spirit’s help. It is never confused about what matters.

Here I seem to have so many obligations and responsibilities. I am often confused and uncertain. I suffer and I die. It is a harsh illusion in many ways. The absolute best I can do is to experience relief from this, but never be free of it for as long as I hold the illusion in place with my desire for a personal self, and with my fear to look at the unconscious guilt I have buried so deeply in my mind. Sometimes it makes me tired just thinking about it. Maybe that is why I am so attracted to the last line.

“Within himself he has no needs, for light needs nothing but to shine in peace, and from itself to let the rays extend in quiet to infinity.”

I feel like I can rest in that promise. I feel unburdened just thinking about it. Perhaps I am not “within myself” right now, but I can get a taste of this as I step back from my plans and my worries and just let the Holy Spirit provide for me.

© 2016, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of Text, Chapter 13: VII. Attainment of the Real World, P 12. 10-13-16

VII. Attainment of the Real World, P 12

12 Only the Holy Spirit knows what you need. For He will give you all things that do not block the way to light. And what else could you need? In time, He gives you all the things that you need have, and will renew them as long as you have need of them. He will take nothing from you as long as you have any need of it. And yet He knows that everything you need is temporary, and will but last until you step aside from all your needs and realize that all of them have been fulfilled. Therefore He has no investment in the things that He supplies, except to make certain that you will not use them on behalf of lingering in time. He knows that you are not at home there, and He wills no delay to wait upon your joyous homecoming.

Journal
There are some paths that emphasize how to manifest in this life what we want to have. I don’t have an issue with that. I have done so myself and I know how it is possible and I also know how and why we limit our ability to do so. But I am not very interested in this path. This section of A Course in Miracles is the reason I lost interest in using my time to consciously manifest what I think will make me happy. I do not know what I need or what will make me happy, but the Holy Spirit does know. He knows what I need, and He will supply my needs as long as I let Him. He will renew them as long as I need them, and he will take nothing from me as long as I have need of it.

With this promise, why would I try to figure out what I need and how long I need it? Why would I give any of my time to this fruitless effort? I have spent a lifetime proving that I really don’t know what I need. I did this through trial and error without realizing that was what I was doing. But I cannot help noticing the effects of my efforts, which were hit and miss at best. So I know I am not good at even deciding what I need and I also know that I have to work hard at getting what I think I need and then holding onto it. And then if what I thought I needed were no longer there, I would feel loss, even if I didn’t really need it anymore. It is a messy and unreliable method of achieving what I need.

What if I did this instead? What if I asked Holy Spirit what it is I need right now? Then, what if I simply accepted that what I needed would be provided? What if I never again worried about any need, and absolutely knew that each need would be met in perfect timing, in a way that would be most helpful to all involved, and that the need would be met as long as the need existed? What if I knew the way the need was met was so perfect that it could never hurt me. And what if I never had to be concerned that I would be given something that would keep me lingering in the illusion? How peaceful and calm my life would be! How happy I would be! And this is the promise that we are given in this paragraph.

So what is my part? Well, I can see that I would need to stop trying to decide what I need and how to get that need met. It cannot be done for me if I am doing it myself. I would have to trust Jesus. I would have to let go of any expectations I have about how this would unfold. I would have to trust that everything was occurring perfectly even if I didn’t understand it at the moment. I would have to give up the idea that I need to do it myself. I would have to give up the delusion that I have control and need to keep control. I would have to give up self-will in favor of Self-will. I can do all this but it takes awareness and practice. But, oh my, it would really be worth it!

© 2016, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of Text, Chapter 13: VII. Attainment of the Real World, P 11. 10-12-16

VII. Attainment of the Real World, P 11

11 Everything the ego tells you that you need will hurt you. For although the ego urges you again and again to get, it leaves you nothing, for what you get it will demand of you. And even from the very hands that grasped it, it will be wrenched and hurled into the dust. For where the ego sees salvation it sees separation, and so you lose whatever you have gotten in its name. Therefore ask not of yourself what you need, for you do not know, and your advice to yourself will hurt you. For what you think you need will merely serve to tighten up your world against the light, and render you unwilling to question the value that this world can really hold for you.

Journal
When I was younger I felt an emptiness in me, and a compelling desire to fill it. I had spent my life up until that time believing in fairytales. I believed I was waiting for Prince Charming to ride in on his big white horse and save me from my aloneness. When that was done, I was sure I would be fulfilled and this empty feeling would go away. So, forever unwilling to wait, I set about finding my prince. I had in my mind the qualities I thought would make him perfect and when I found him I pursued him with grim determination until I got him.

There were so many things wrong with that plan I don’t even know where to start. But suffice it to say that the ego was running the whole thing, and that is never a good thing. I did not feel fulfilled, there was still an emptiness in me, and an ego goal and grim determination do not guarantee you will like what you get. I did not understand at the time why my plan didn’t work so I tried the same plan over and over only to fail each time. Sure, I got the prince I was after, but the plan to save myself in the relationship never worked.

The ego mind formed the plan and carried it out with precision, and it promised me fulfillment. For a time I would enjoy the feeling of being in love and my thoughts were so fixated on the other and on my emotions that I thought I was happy and had what I needed. But as time went on and the initial, “I am so in love” feeling began to fade, I realized that being with another body just isn’t enough to fill up that emptiness. Then the projection would begin and it would seem to me like the other was not my savior, but my problem. And so I would start over in my quest. Special relationships is just one way that the ego offers everything and then snatches it away.

When A Course in Miracles came into my life, I began to understand that the empty feeling was the longing for God. Slowly I began to change as I let more thoughts be healed, and as I allowed in more God. I stopped trying to get my needs met by others and began to give others the love that I discovered in me. That love does not diminish with time, but grows within me. The more I give away, the more I have to give. I didn’t have to find anyone to get this love and I only lose awareness of it when I return to listening to the ego instead of the Voice for God.

The contrast between the ego driven quest of fulfillment and the Holy Spirit’s gentle and loving guidance was so sharp that I realized I wanted to stop asking the ego for advice. I wanted the Holy Spirit to be my advisor in everything. Instead of asking the ego what I should do to be happy, I began to ask the Holy Spirit what He would have me do now. I would ask Him what He wanted me to know about any particular situation. I am sometimes confused about where He is taking me as it is not always apparent. But I give as much trust as I can and I try hard to resist that still present, but fading, desire to be in control.

What I have discovered is that what God gives is truly given. It cost me nothing and it is never snatched away as inevitably happens with the ego’s “gifts.” What I receive from the Holy Spirit is mine for as long as I need it, and it never hurts me. He gives truly and generously out of abundance. If something is suddenly gone, I know that I no longer need it, though I sometimes become confused and think I have lost something. But eventually I realize what really happened, that person or thing or circumstance is no longer needed, and I’ve learned to wait in happy anticipation to see each of my needs met in this perfect way.

© 2016, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Posted by Rev. Myron Jones.

Study of Text, Chapter 13: VII. Attainment of the Real World, P 10. 10-11-16

VII. Attainment of the Real World, P 10

10 Praise, then, the Father for the perfect sanity of His most holy Son. Your Father knoweth that you have need of nothing. In Heaven this is so, for what could you need in eternity? In your world you do need things. It is a world of scarcity in which you find yourself because you are lacking. Yet can you find yourself in such a world? Without the Holy Spirit the answer would be no. Yet because of Him the answer is a joyous yes! As Mediator between the two worlds, He knows what you have need of and what will not hurt you. Ownership is a dangerous concept if it is left to you. The ego wants to have things for salvation, for possession is its law. Possession for its own sake is the ego’s fundamental creed, a basic cornerstone in the churches it builds to itself. And at its altar it demands you lay all of the things it bids you get, leaving you no joy in them.

Journal
Jesus knows that in eternity we need nothing because we have and are everything, but in this world built on the idea of lack, there are things we need. If we give our needs to the Holy Spirit He will fulfill them in a way that will not hurt us. I live by this creed. I am fully convinced that I do not know what I need or even want. I have asked for things and received them and regretted my choices. I have been left unfulfilled. I still do that sometimes, but when I notice I am doing it, I change my mind quickly.

Regina Dawn Akers gave a class when The Secret was all the big rage. She talked about it, and how she was able to use the idea but in a way that was safe. Instead of telling Holy Spirit what she wanted, she asked Him what she wanted. This is what I try to do in all cases. When I succeed, I find myself with what I need for as long as I need it. I know I didn’t do anything except desire what was needed, and so I have no great attachment to it, or a fear of losing it.

My home is an example. I had the thought that I wanted to retire someday, and in fact that I would have to retire at some point, hopefully not too far away. Then I had the thought that I would never be able to do that if I kept paying rent that would be unaffordable in retirement. I also would like to live in a comfortable place in a nice neighborhood.

I’ve never had house envy and while I can appreciate a nice house, I don’t get excited about it, or long for it. So I didn’t have anything special in mind, and really, I couldn’t figure out how on earth I could buy a house of any kind. I didn’t have a down payment and that was important. Also it was late in life for me to be making this decision. How would I get it paid off in only a few years before retirement? I would just be in the same fix.
But the thought persisted and so I just gave the need to Holy Spirit.

Very soon, other thoughts began to surface and I followed each one as it came to me. Within a few months I was living in my own home. It meets all my needs and I am very comfortable here. Within the last three years I have paid it down and this month, I will pay it off. It is really miraculous when I think of that first thought that I should by a house and where I am now. It could have all gone so differently if I had listened to the ego objections.

Since all I did was follow directions and ignore ego, I don’t worry about the house. I needed something in the world, and Holy Spirit supplied it. I didn’t make it happen and so I don’t feel responsible for it. I have no particular fear about loss because the Power that provided once will provide again. I don’t feel attached to this form of provision. If I am to move again for some reason, I am ok with that, too.

The ego hates that. It wants to worry about hurricanes and flooding. It wants to worry about taxes and any other calamities it can come up with. But I am learning through this experience and others that I give my need to Holy Spirit and trust His judgment and His love, and I have done my part. Even if the solution does not seem to meet my expectations, I generally just wait to see how He has it all worked out. It might very well be that I was wrong about the purpose of what He provided and all will be enlightened in its time.

An example of that is my job. Everything changed at work quite suddenly and it threw me for a loop. But I did my best at each step to overcome my fear and allow the situation to unfold. At first it was hard to see this situation as another gift from Holy Spirit, something I needed and would appreciate. And yet, I have allowed relationships to be healed, to be made holy. I am so very pleased with everything that occurred.
I am learning to trust Love and to surrender to It. I am never disappointed when I do.

© 2016, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of Text, Chapter 13: VII. Attainment of the Real World, P 9. 10-10-16

VII. ATTAINMENT OF THE REAL WORLD, P 9
9 You will first dream of peace, and then awaken to it. Your first exchange of what you made for what you want is the exchange of nightmares for the happy dreams of love. In these lie your true perceptions, for the Holy Spirit corrects the world of dreams, where all perception is. Knowledge needs no correction. Yet the dreams of love lead unto knowledge. In them you see nothing fearful, and because of this they are the welcome that you offer knowledge. Love waits on welcome, not on time, and the real world is but your welcome of what always was. Therefore the call of joy is in it, and your glad response is your awakening to what you have not lost.

Journal
We were in Heaven, knowing ourselves as One in God. We decided to dream of more than one and the dream became a nightmare. But it is just a dream and we are awakening now. We are backing out a step at a time just as we came into the dream. Our first step is to leave the nightmares behind and return to the happy dream. Our acceptance of the happy dream signals our desire to awaken from the dream. Love waits on our welcome.

This is accomplished as we realize that we are the cause of our unhappiness and make a decision to change our mind. This decision, this true desire for happiness is what triggers the Holy Spirit in our mind. The Holy Spirit then corrects our perception and brings it close to truth. So our part is to become aware of what we are doing and to truly desire a change. Salvation asks so little of us.

My younger daughter and I talked about her getting married. She had not decided how she wanted to do this, and was thinking about just going to the courthouse and getting it done. I think she was actually feeling me out to see how I felt about this. I had done my older daughter’s wedding for her and when my younger son planned to be married he intended me to do his. Perhaps she wanted to see if I objected to alternate plans. I told her that it is her wedding and she should do what she wanted to do. That was awhile back.

Last night we all attended her baby shower, family and friends. I had the thought that everyone was gathered, and this would be a good time for them to get married. As it turned out she had planned this big surprise. She had someone there to perform the ceremony and we all watched as Susan and Mike were married. My first reaction was surprising to me.

I felt embarrassed in front of my family that she did not confide in me and that I was not the one officiating. Then I felt rejected and somewhere between angry and sad. I watched all those feelings pass through me and I thought they would just keep going, but evidently I believed them because they stayed. I tried to talk myself out of them but that hardly ever works. It is not our job to correct our perception, only to want correction.

Finally, when I got home, I asked for help. I saw that the only thing happening here is that I was defending my self-image. I have done the weddings for my family members since I was ordained and I had an image of myself as that person. I have always presented myself as a good mother, one who is loved by her children. I often felt less than that, but it is the image I presented to the world, and now I felt the loss of that image.

It seems that I thought I needed her to show the world (and me) how special I am to her. I was reminded of how much work we put into maintaining our images, and the images are nothing. We are the Son of God, we are perfect Love, and yet here I am bemoaning the loss of an imagined illusory image.

It was still hard to let go of the desire to do so. I used the Rules for Decision. I understood that I had judged the situation. I decided what it meant, and once I had done that, my reaction was pretty much fixed. So if I wanted to return to peace and to love, I had to undo that decision. I knew it was too late for the quick restorative, so I began the step by step change of mind.

I at least knew that this thinking was not making me happy and so I hoped I was wrong. I wanted another way to look at this. I had to come back to that a few times because at first I didn’t want another way to look at it. What I really wanted was for her to know she hurt my feelings and to be sorry for it. I’m very glad that I didn’t express that out loud, knowing that I would change my mind about it. I sure wouldn’t want her special moment to be forever tainted by my unhappiness, and that kept me in check until I could allow the healing.

Finally, I knew that I wanted another way to see this. And I began to accept that maybe there was another way to see. (do ya think?) ~smile~ And my mind and heart began to open to that new perception. I really, really wanted this new perception, this true perception. I could make no image that comes close to what I was created. I understood that trading my Divinity for specialness was no real bargain at all. I saw how painful it is to need “proof” of love and approval. I wanted healing and that was my only job. The correction itself was out of my hands and so I simply allowed it.

This seems to be the way perception is corrected. My experience of this, after doing the practice for a number of years now, is that as I have become vigilant for my thoughts and beliefs and have allowed them to be corrected, I have become much happier. I haven’t slipped into that permanent state of a happy dream. As I can see from last night’s experience, I still have trouble letting go of some false beliefs that cause unhappiness. But I also see that I am willing to let them go even if it feels hard at first. Love is waiting for me to make it welcome, and I am doing that.

© 2016, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
You may freely share copies of this with your friends, provided this notice is included.