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Study of Text, C 14: IV. Your Function in the Atonement, P 2. 3-28-17

IV. Your Function in the Atonement, P 2
2 You who belong to the First Cause, created by Him like unto Himself and part of Him, are more than merely guiltless. The state of guiltlessness is only the condition in which what is not there has been removed from the disordered mind that thought it was. This state, and only this, must you attain, with God beside you. For until you do, you will still think that you are separate from Him. You can perhaps feel His Presence next to you, but cannot know that you are one with Him. This cannot be taught. Learning applies only to the condition in which it happens of itself.

Journal
Jesus says that we cannot learn through teaching that we are one with God. I can understand that. I read that we are one with God, and because of the source of that statement, I believe it. But believing it must be true because Jesus says it is true, is not the same thing as knowing it is true. It is not the same thing as feeling it. The way Jesus explains it makes sense; it is logical. But realizing this does not give me the felt experience of being in God if that is even the way to express it. So I can’t learn this. I can have it, though. I can have it because when the conditions are right, it will happen of itself.

My part to prepare for this, to make the conditions right, is to let myself be taught that I am guiltless, and so is everyone. That is plenty for me to do. At times, it seems so hard as to be impossible, and yet Jesus says he would never ask us to do what we could not do. It would seem to be easy when you think of it. God created me innocent and so that is what I must be. But then I get caught up in my story and the story seems to prove my guilt. With guilt comes fear and then helplessness and finally hopelessness. It is like trying to extricate myself from quicksand. The harder I fight it the deeper I sink into it.

I am not alone in this situation, and that is my salvation. God is with me through His Holy Spirit in my mind. I am helped and guided and healed as I give my attention to Him. I turn from the ego thoughts in my mind, and toward the Holy Spirit and He responds to even this slight desire for His help. As my call for help becomes stronger, I more quickly get out of the sticky mess guilt has me in. When that happens it feels like freedom! This is so simple you would think I was done with it by now.

All I have to do is accept the truth that guilt is not real and that we are innocent. There, it is done! Except that I still feel guilty and I still think I see guilt in others. When I witness a situation that seems to prove guilt, I have to let myself be backed out of it. I ask for help and then I begin to remember that the situation occurred not as proof that guilt is real, but as a result of the belief in my mind that guilt is real. The belief came first, then the situation.

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

Study of Text, C 14: IV. Your Function in the Atonement, P 1. 3-27-17

IV. Your Function in the Atonement, P 1
1 When you accept a brother’s guiltlessness you will see the Atonement in him. For by proclaiming it in him you make it yours, and you will see what you sought. You will not see the symbol of your brother’s guiltlessness shining within him while you still believe it is not there. His guiltlessness is your Atonement. Grant it to him, and you will see the truth of what you have acknowledged. Yet truth is offered first to be received, even as God gave it first to His Son. The first in time means nothing, but the First in eternity is God the Father, Who is both First and One. Beyond the First there is no other, for there is no order, no second or third, and nothing but the First.

Journey
What I got from this paragraph is that I will not see my brother as guiltless until I believe in his guiltlessness. While I look with the ego I will see guilt because that is all the ego has to offer. If I decide with the ego that my brother is guilty, I will not be able to see innocence because what I decide on is true for me. This is why I ask the Holy Spirit to decide for me. I need a new decision in order to see differently. The ego will not give me a new decision, but the Holy Spirit will.

I will not see myself as innocent as long as I see my brother as guilty. Seeing the guilt undone in my brother releases me of my belief in my own guilt. The ego would keep the mind trapped in guilt. It argues that the other is guilty and so there is no innocence to see. It uses the same argument against me, so if I accept it for my brother I will accept it for me.

The Holy Spirit says that no matter what I think I see, it is not possible for us to be guilty because we were created innocent. If I accept His judgment instead of the ego’s I will see the innocence. Acceptance comes first, and then vision to see. This is so hard for us to accept because we have taught ourselves to believe that what the body’s eyes show us came first, then the reaction came next. But this is not how it actually works. We choose what to believe and then the eyes show it to us.

Here is an example of this. I see someone I know steal something from me. This seems to prove that she is guilty of being a thief. I saw it with my own eyes so it must be true. Now guilt has been reinforced in the mind. But I have been studying A Course in Miracles and I don’t entirely believe in guilt anymore. So I take a leap of faith. I ask the Holy Spirit to decide for me how to see this.

I realize that, in spite of appearances, my friend cannot be guilty, and this decision makes it possible for the Holy Spirit shows me her innocence. My friend wants to be happy, just like I want to be happy. She is confused about what will make her happy. Her confusion does not make her guilty. Her confusion cannot make her guilty. God created her innocent and therefore she is innocent. That must mean that my sins are meaningless as well, because I, too, was created innocent. First, comes acceptance of the truth, then comes the realization of the truth. It cannot be the other way around.

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

Study of Text, C 14: III. The Decision for Guiltlessness, P 19, 20. 3-25-17

III. The Decision for Guiltlessness, P 19, 20
19 Whenever you are in doubt what you should do, think of His Presence in you, and tell yourself this, and only this:
He leadeth me and knows the way, which I know not.
Yet He will never keep from me what He would have me learn.
And so I trust Him to communicate to me all that He knows for me.

20 Then let Him teach you quietly how to perceive your guiltlessness, which is already there.

Journal
I struggled yesterday with ego thoughts of guilt trying to drive my words and actions. The ego would go from blame to fear over and over again. It felt very uncomfortable, but I knew then as I know now that God’s Holy Spirit is in my mind and that I can trust Him. I kept talking to God and asking for help. And of course, I received help. When the time came to speak, I was spoken through, and all is well.

Looking back on yesterday I have to laugh at the ego’s antics. Did you know that jelly beans are a way to resolve the effects of conflict in the mind? If you are doubtful about that you would be right. While they were yummy, they didn’t actually make me feel any better. “Typical, ego, seek and do not find. Thanks for nothing.”

One thing I notice is that while I was intermittently anxious, I was not nearly as upset as I used to get. What I mean by that is that when I had a worry thought or a blame thought, I would feel anxious, then I would talk to Holy Spirit and feel better. I continuously asked Him to decide for me. So while there was anxiety in the moment, there was also faith which would bring me back to peace.

The only really rough moments led to the over indulgence in jelly beans. And even that helped me to see how the mind works. I started off eating three jelly beans and immediately I knew this was an ego impulse. It was the ego offering me a solution to my anxiety that doesn’t work. In taking that direction I was feeding the ego appetite, which is trying to use the body to solve problems.

I kept going back for more jelly beans even knowing what was happening and that triggered guilt feelings. But still, I was aware and I kept asking the Holy Spirit to decide for me. There are still jelly beans in the bag so it worked. LOL.

It is important to note that in my thoughts and actions it seemed like I wasn’t receiving help, and it seemed like I was giving in to ego. But when the time came for me to speak and to act, it was clear that I was stepping back and allowing the Holy Spirit to speak through me, so my prayer absolutely was answered. The idea that was reinforced for me during this time is that I am not guilty for my vacillating mind. This is just how things work until we make a final decision for God.

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

Study of Text, C 14: III. The Decision for Guiltlessness, P 18. 3-23-17

III. The Decision for Guiltlessness, P 18
18 You taught yourself the most unnatural habit of not communicating with your Creator. Yet you remain in close communication with Him, and with everything that is within Him, as it is within yourself. Unlearn isolation through His loving guidance, and learn of all the happy communication that you have thrown away but could not lose.

Journal
I remain in close communication with God and with everything that is in God and this is because it is within myself, so how could I not be in communication with It. So why is it that I am not aware of this communication? It seems that I have isolated myself from it. In other words, I am not listening. I have my hands over my “ears” and I am going, “lalalalala” so that I cannot hear. ~smile~ Actually, this is pretty close to what is happening. I use the world I made as the distraction that keeps me from being aware of the communication with God. I use the noise of the ego mind to drown out God.

Even in this state of separation I have chosen, God’s Voice is available to me. God’s Voice speaks to me all through the day, and even here I can learn to hear only that Voice. It is just another insane idea of the ego world that I must “learn” to listen to the Voice of God, a Voice that never has and never will cease to communicate with me. I am not completely deaf to that Voice anymore. I have learned to listen to it, to be aware of it.

Sometimes it feels like love and something like joy, sometimes like peace, and sometimes a blessed stillness. Sometimes It gives me Its thoughts and inspiration. Sometimes It gives me words. Sometimes it is just an understanding of where I am to go, what I am to do, what I am to say. Sometimes when I am wrestling with a thorny issue and I say something like, “Holy Spirit, decide for me,” all the other thoughts and feelings just fall away and all I know is that I am safe and loved.

But nothing I have said here captures the Voice for God and the effects of listening to it.  And that is not exactly communication with God, I think. As I understand it, real communication is not the exchange of words. It is the extension of love. The words and ideas are just the echoes of the love that is being communicated. It is like the love of God is being extended to me and then it is being interpreted in a way that makes sense to me in this contracted state I have put myself in. The love takes on form that is most understandable and most useful to me in the moment.

I am beyond grateful for the communication I am able to accept at this time and I am determined to be more open to communication with my God.

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

Study of Text, C 14: III. The Decision for Guiltlessness, P 17. 3-22-17

III. The Decision for Guiltlessness, P 17
17 How gracious it is to decide all things through Him Whose equal Love is given equally to all alike! He leaves you no one outside you. And so He gives you what is yours, because your Father would have you share it with Him. In everything be led by Him, and do not reconsider. Trust Him to answer quickly, surely, and with Love for everyone who will be touched in any way by the decision. And everyone will be. Would you take unto yourself the sole responsibility for deciding what can bring only good to everyone? Would you know this?

Journal
I was thinking last night about someone I love who seems to have taken the hard road to Awakening. He is so lost that he doesn’t even know he is traveling that road, and it is a painful path for him. I was talking to Jesus about it, asking Him what my part is in this. My life is not at random so this person is part of it for a reason. What is that reason?

Am I supposed to play an active part? Am I supposed to intercede or say words, or just silently know the truth? It can be confusing sometimes. In Helen’s notes from Jesus he talked about miracles and how her desire to be her brother’s keeper had made her miracle ready, and thus she was able to perform a miracle that touched many. So maybe that is my part, to be my brother’s keeper. Or maybe not.

I didn’t feel like I was getting an answer right away, so I had the thought to share my confusion with a fellow teacher, which I did. Perhaps I will hear from him today. I had asked, and in some way, from Jesus directly into my mind, or from someone else, I knew I would receive an answer. So I let it go and decided to do some work on my website.

In the process, I “accidentally” pulled up yesterday’s writing from this journal. The first thing I read was this. “Say to the Holy Spirit only, “Decide for me,” and it is done.” Ok. Of course. I immediately asked the Holy Spirit to decide for me what needs to be done in this situation. This is something simple I can do and something I have experienced many times, and so know without doubt that I can trust it.

This morning’s reading is further encouragement. I am told to be led by Him in everything, and instructed not to reconsider. Again, this is something I can do. I can step back and let myself act only on guidance. Just a short time ago fear would have prevented this, but through vigilance and willingness that fear has abated. Now I am prepared to listen and to do as directed.

To do anything else is to doubt God’s intentions. Could a God of Love want anything but happiness for His children? Could an all knowing God be wrong about how to achieve this? His Voice will tell me what I could not possibly know for myself. Why have I ever even considered taking on the intolerable burden of deciding what is best for this one I love?

My concern of last night was simply fear trying to reassert itself in my mind. It was like I was reconsidering my decision to be done with fear about this situation. It was the ego mind offering its advice and proposing solutions. As always, I was free to ask the ego to help me decide, or to turn in God’s direction and receive His quiet and certain help.

I am so glad I have made a habit of choosing the Holy Spirit as my partner in decision-making. I have proven over and over that the ego is not good at this, and that the Holy Spirit makes impeccable decisions. I feel peaceful in my decision this morning. I am still looking forward to hearing from my friend. I am certain he will have a helpful message from Jesus for me.

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

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Posted by Rev. Myron Jones.

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