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Study of Text, C 14: I. The Conditions of Learning, P 4. 2-6-17

I. The Conditions of Learning, P 4

4 Any direction that would lead you where the Holy Spirit leads you not, goes nowhere. Anything you deny that He knows to be true you have denied yourself, and He must therefore teach you not to deny it. Undoing is indirect, as doing is. You were created only to create, neither to see nor do. These are but indirect expressions of the will to live, which has been blocked by the capricious and unholy whim of death and murder that your Father does not share with you. You have set yourself the task of sharing what cannot be shared. And while you think it possible to learn to do this, you will not believe all that is possible to learn to do.

Journal
Jesus talks about direct and indirect expressions. Seeing and doing are indirect expressions of the will to live. That is a strange thought because seeing and doing are all we remember and all that seems to make up life. Even if someone is blind and so cannot see with the body’s eyes, they can perceive which is another way of seeing.

I see people and places and things and do stuff with them and there. I crave the things I see, to hold them and own them. I perceive what they all mean to me and my perception is different than yours and even mine is not stable. I can change my mind in a minute about what it means. Now I love it, now I hate it.

What I see, what it means, and what I do with it; that makes up my life as I know it. And yet, Jesus says that this is an indirect expression of the will to live. So there must be a direct expression. What could that be? Perhaps being rather than doing? But what would that look like? I cannot envision that.

Jesus says that I was created to create, not to see or do. Even that has little meaning to me. I can relate to making, but making is just more doing.  Jesus also says that what I deny, I deny myself. So I deny the ability to create and therefore I cannot create. Instead I try to create indirectly through making.

We made this world. Then within the world we make things, discover things, do things. All of this is indirect attempts at creating, and it leaves us empty because it denies us our heritage which is direct creation. We can and will regain what we have blocked. So let me shift my focus. Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will teach us not to deny it. This will be indirect, too.

He says that we must follow Holy Spirit rather than ego because ego will only take you to the indirect experience where we worship death rather than life. Here is what I see as I read this paragraph. When I place my focus on ego, I live a shadow life. It is a pale copy of Life. It is indirect living.

In this imitation of living I make rather than create, and I become something that dies rather than the eternal being that I am. I suffer in pain and sickness rather than existing in eternal bliss. I am meant to share all with all, but instead I set myself the impossible task of sharing what I made, that is, death and destruction.

And thus I have set myself up for failure and I teach myself I lack in a way that cannot be filled. Only the Holy Spirit can help me out of this conundrum where I made the unbelievable and then believed in it. I can depend on the Holy Spirit to do this. He will not fail me. I only need to turn to Him with a sincere desire to be shown.

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

Study of Text, C 14: I. The Conditions of Learning, P 3. 2-3-17

I. The Conditions of Learning, P 3

3 Seeing is always outward. Were your thoughts wholly of you, the thought system you made would be forever dark. The thoughts the mind of God’s Son projects or extends have all the power that he gives to them. The thoughts he shares with God are beyond his belief, but those he made are his beliefs. And it is these, and not the truth, that he has chosen to defend and love. They will not be taken from him. But they can be given up by him, for the Source of their undoing is in him. There is nothing in the world to teach him that the logic of the world is totally insane and leads to nothing. Yet in him who made this insane logic there is One Who knows it leads to nothing, for He knows everything.

Journal
Jesus is explaining to us that the world we made does have its own logic but it is logic that leads us nowhere. He also helps us to understand that we believe in what we made and we are choosing to defend it. If that were all we had to go on, then what we made would remain true to us and we would be stuck with it forever. But because we have the Truth in our mind, the Holy Spirit Who knows everything, we have a way out of our self made world.

I was talking to someone this morning who is a Republican and a staunch supporter of Trump. He explained that he does not agree with everything Donald Trump does, but he had to vote for him. His religious beliefs do not allow him to vote for anyone who would promote abortion or same sex marriage. I could have pointed out some things that I suspect this person is concerned about now that the election is over and action is being taken.

I could let his fears give me this little opening and maybe convince him to see things my way. As I noticed these thoughts in my mind, I mentally stepped back. Even as we spoke, I opened my mind to Love. It was a bright light in my mind that exposed the fear there. Fear wants company. It wants others to join it. It wants to be right. It wants to win.

Pausing for that moment gave me the chance to choose love rather than fear. I let him talk. When his fear started to express itself, I helped him to see that his only job is to accept the Atonement for himself. Not in those words exactly, but in a way that he could understand. I reminded him that bodies can die but he cannot because he is not a body, he is spirit. Though we have very different religious views, this was something he could understand and accept.

The situation this morning is an example of what Jesus is telling us. The ego mind wants divisiveness. It wants fear and guilt, and it wants to be right. I saw that in my mind and I rejected it. I asked, instead, for another way to see, and the Truth in my mind came forward at my request. In that moment I was a miracle worker.

Principles of Miracles, P 26
26 Miracles represent freedom from fear. “Atoning” means “undoing.” The undoing of fear is an essential part of the atonement value of miracles.

I could have stayed with the fear and my friend and I could have battled to see who could find the most fearful thoughts and for whose perception was “right.” But by the grace of God, I had a moment of sanity and chose to Atone and so for that moment at least, I freed us both from fear.

It was also that indirect proof that Jesus is telling us about. I proved that I was blessed by blessing this brother of mine with love rather than fear. I brought us both to a place of peace and the peace of God is the only goal we need have.

The peace of God is everything I want. The peace of God is 
my one goal; the aim of all my living here, the end I seek, 
my purpose and my function and my life, while I abide 
where I am not at home. Lesson 205

And that peace is to be found within, not without. Within is where God placed our certain way home, right next to the dream we scripted, right next to where It was needed. As it says in this paragraph, God will not take our dream from us, but we will choose to give it up. This morning I made that choice, and may I continue to do so from now on. Thank you, God, for placing the Source of undoing in my mind.

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

Study of Text, C 14: I. The Conditions of Learning, P 2. 2-2-17

I. The Conditions of Learning, P 2

2 Indirect proof of truth is needed in a world made of denial and without direction. You will perceive the need for this if you realize that to deny is the decision not to know. The logic of the world must therefore lead to nothing, for its goal is nothing. If you decide to have and give and be nothing except a dream, you must direct your thoughts unto oblivion. And if you have and give and are everything, and all this has been denied, your thought system is closed off and wholly separated from the truth. This is an insane world, and do not underestimate the extent of its insanity. There is no area of your perception that it has not touched, and your dream is sacred to you. That is why God placed the Holy Spirit in you, where you placed the dream.

Journal

This paragraph made me cry, first for the insanity of it, then that my Creator placed the Holy Spirit in me where I placed the dream. My way out is assured. We made the world we see and we hold it dear regardless of the pain and suffering that is its effect. We made it in such a way that we could believe in it and so it seems very real to us.

We made it from our thoughts and it is in allowing those thoughts to be changed that we will extricate ourselves from the dream as we are ready. But because of the power of our thoughts, this dream is not just precious to us, it is logical and seems to make sense and so even as we begin to awaken from it, it is very confusing.

The ego mind argues against awakening using its insane logic to keep us engaged in the stories. Holy Spirit is helping us to see that logical or not, it leads to nothing. At first when I began to study A Course in Miracles, I believed what I was reading, but I did not practice it all the time. When I did practice it, I did so only partially. There would be circumstances that I held apart from my practice.

For instance, I held some grievances that I justified and would not let go. I would say that it was impossible, that I was trying and couldn’t, but that is never true. If we keep an idea it is because we want that idea. We believe it holds some value for us and we cannot afford to let it go. Somewhere along the line as I became more committed to this path, I let go of the idea that I couldn’t and simply accepted I didn’t want to. Then I was ready to want the change. I have never released a grievance that I regretted losing.

It took me a long time to fully accept what Jesus is telling us here. This world and the thoughts that made it are completely insane. There is no part of it that is wholly sane. Every ego thought in my mind is affected by this confused and hurtful perception. Now that I understand this, I don’t have any thoughts I am not willing to question.

I still get confused at times because instead of being the observer and staying detached, I get caught up in the story itself. But even in my confusion I know what I want. I want the peace of God and having that one invariable goal is like having an anchor that keeps me from drifting too far afield. I always, sooner or later, come back to my only goal. I no longer question the insanity of the world we made, nor do I pretend I have no control. This is making a huge difference.

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

Study of Text, C 14: I. The Conditions of Learning, P 1. 1-30-17

I. The Conditions of Learning, P 1

1 If you are blessed and do not know it, you need to learn it must be so. The knowledge is not taught, but its conditions must be acquired for it is they that have been thrown away. You can learn to bless, and cannot give what you have not. If, then, you offer blessing, it must have come first to yourself. And you must also have accepted it as yours, for how else could you give it away? That is why miracles offer you the testimony that you are blessed. If what you offer is complete forgiveness you must have let guilt go, accepting the Atonement for yourself and learning you are guiltless. How could you learn what has been done for you, unknown to you, unless you do what you would have to do if it had been done for you?

Journal
An example of this is my relationship with my ex-husband. We had a very contentious marriage and the break-up was even worse in some ways. I spent a long time looking at each unforgiven thought about him and forgiving it as quickly and as completely as I could. Eventually, I had forgiven him, myself, and the situation. I knew it was forgiven when I offered him a miracle.

We still worked for the same company, and sometimes found ourselves, of necessity, working together. This time we were at an awards banquet and for a few minutes everyone else from the company had left the table to do other things. Out of nowhere I heard myself telling him that I was sorry for my part in our problems.

For so many years I had not considered me to be a problem. He seemed so obviously guilty, you see. ~smile~ It wasn’t until I said those words that I knew they were true. The miracle for him was in hearing them said. I saw his antagonism, whatever was left of it, simply melt away. It happened right there before my eyes. I knew that I must have accepted the Atonement for my grievances because I saw myself sharing that blessing with him. How could I have shared it if I had not received it?

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

Study of Text, C 14: Teaching For Peace, Introduction. 1-25-17

Chapter 14: TEACHING FOR TRUTH
Introduction
1 Yes, you are blessed indeed. Yet in this world you do not know it. But you have the means for learning it and seeing it quite clearly. The Holy Spirit uses logic as easily and as well as does the ego, except that His conclusions are not insane. They take a direction exactly opposite, pointing as clearly to Heaven as the ego points to darkness and to death. We have followed much of the ego’s logic, and have seen its logical conclusions. And having seen them, we have realized that they cannot be seen except in illusions, for there alone their seeming clearness seems to be clearly seen. Let us now turn away from them, and follow the simple logic by which the Holy Spirit teaches the simple conclusions that speak for truth, and only truth.

Journal
I laugh every time I read this sentence. “The Holy Spirit uses logic as easily and as well as does the ego, except that His conclusions are not insane.” Did he mean it to be kind of funny? Anyway, Jesus talks about the ego’s insanity often. It is insane thinking because it is opposite to reality. The definition for insane is, “lacking reasonable thought,” or “exhibiting a severely disordered state of mind.”

I know someone who is considered to have a mental disorder, so you can say he is insane. He hears voices that are not there. He sees things that are not there. He imagines that he is threatened by different conspiracies. He absolutely believes these things and to him they are as apparent as the sun coming up in the morning. He thinks that those of us who doubt him must be insane or at the very least conspiring to make him doubt the obvious.

This is what is happening to us all. We are hearing voices, too. I can be doing anything and there is a voice in my head that tells me stories or gives me meanings to what is going on around me. The stories are rehashes of the past, often changed a bit so that I feel better about the past. Or they are stories projected into the future based on the stories from the past.
Sometimes it just narrates my life, as if I would not be aware that the sky is a pretty shade of blue unless the voices in my head told me so.

This voice will judge everything going on around me, deciding what it means, based on… well, that’s hard to say. One moment it is based on something from the past or something read in a book, or heard on TV. Or, who knows. It offers one meaning and then in the next moment, offers another. Its ideas are disordered, and if I listen and believe them, and, Heaven forbid, act on them, I will often find myself in trouble. And the chatter never stops.

I followed these ideas in my mind for a long time. Once I began to understand the insanity of doing this, I started questioning that voice. The book by Michael Singer, The Untethered Soul, helped me to notice the insanity of listening to these voices, and now I have a quieter mind than I used to. The chatter isn’t quite as insistent as it used to be and often when I notice some particularly insane idea I am able to laugh at it, rather than believe it.

As I question the voice of the ego and with the Holy Spirit’s help, I let many of the crazy thoughts go. I am becoming aware of not just moments of blessed silence, but also thoughts I think with God. The ego thoughts were always about a personal self and defending that self from other personal selves. Now, much of the time, I am aware of a sense of union with others, and of love without cause, simply there, and of peace.

God created us like Him, in His Image and with all the power and the glory that is God. He gave all of Himself to us in our creation. To believe that the world is out to get us, and that we are endangered to the point that our life is spent making up of defense and attack strategies, this is surely insane.

The ego uses its twisted logic to make all this seem reasonable but it cannot make it sane. I have a choice. I can continue to follow the insane logic of the ego, or I can choose to see the clarity of the logic of the Holy Spirit. The ego uses logic to bring us through suffering to death. The Holy Spirit uses logic to bring us to union, to love and peace, to Heaven. I am learning to choose the Voice for God, the Holy Spirit to untangle the mess the ego left behind in my mind. Yes, it is another voice, but it is a sane Voice and it is my chosen Voice.

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

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