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Study of the Text, C. Be Vigilant Only For God and His Kingdom, Paragraph 4. 2-4-14

C. Be Vigilant Only for God and His Kingdom, Paragraph 4
4 While the first step seems to increase conflict and the second may still entail conflict to some extent, this step calls for consistent vigilance against it. I have already told you that you can be as vigilant against the ego as for it. This lesson teaches not only that you can be, but that you must be. It does not concern itself with order of difficulty, but with clear-cut priority for vigilance. This lesson is unequivocal in that it teaches there must be no exceptions, although it does not deny that the temptation to make exceptions will occur. Here, then, your consistency is called on despite chaos. Yet chaos and consistency cannot coexist for long, since they are mutually exclusive. As long as you must be vigilant against anything, however, you are not recognizing this mutual exclusiveness, and still believe that you can choose either one. By teaching what to choose, the Holy Spirit will ultimately teach you that you need not choose at all. This will finally liberate your mind from choice, and direct it towards creation within the Kingdom.

Jesus is stressing the need for vigilance. I must be vigilant for God rather than the ego. We have already established that we can be vigilant. We have been vigilant for the ego and so we know it is possible. Now we are learning that we want to choose God instead. We are learning this through making the choice for Holy Spirit Who chooses God for us.

For awhile the mind is going to be chaotic as it vacillates between ego and God, choosing one then choosing the other, but this cannot last. Consistency of choice will quiet the mind. I choose God over and over and soon the mind begins to calm because there is not the desire for ego, and so there is not the chaos of conflict in the mind.

Thinking of making a choice for God or ego over and over again just makes me tired. I am ready to give up choice altogether. There was a time when that idea just seemed wrong. The ego rebelled and brought up every objection it could think of. Now it just feels peaceful and right. Jesus tells us why we are drawn to this idea even as the ego mind fights against it. Choice took the place of creation in our Mind, and in giving up choice we truly return to our Self as Creators beside God.

Could then, the relinquishment of choice be a sacrifice? In time choice is our only remaining freedom, but as we allow the mind to be healed we leave behind time to discover we exist in eternity. In eternity we are at peace and choice is not even a memory. For now, I begin to remember who I am through choosing consistently for God.

© 2014, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of the Text, C. Be Vigilant Only For God and His Kingdom, Paragraph 3. 2-3-14

C. Be Vigilant Only for God and His Kingdom, Paragraph 3
3 This is a major step toward fundamental change. Yet it still has an aspect of thought reversal, since it implies that there is something you must be vigilant against. It has advanced far from the first lesson, which is merely the beginning of the thought reversal, and also from the second, which is essentially the identification of what is more desirable. This step, which follows from the second as the second follows from the first, emphasizes the dichotomy between the desirable and the undesirable. It therefore makes the ultimate choice inevitable.

Jesus has told us that he teaches through contrast, and nowhere is this more apparent to me than when he teaches me that I want peace. I was so confused that for years I did not even know that peace was what I wanted. I didn’t value peace. I was always focused on winning which is the opposite of peace because to win, I needed to defeat someone or something. Being in opposition guarantees separation stays in place, and this cannot bring me peace because it goes against my nature.

This is an example of how it might have appeared to me in the past. My daughter seemed to be upset with me about something. I did’t know what it could be and maybe I was just being egocentric as I saw her upset and assume it was directed toward me. But she would not even meet my eyes when we visited and so I thought she was angry with me about something I said or did.

My first thought would have been that I was being unfairly treated because I did nothing to deserve this. I would want her to stop acting like I did something wrong. I would think I needed her to love me and not be angry with me. If none of this happened, I would become depressed about the situation because I could not make her love me or not be angry with me.

Then I would be angry with her. I would try to manipulate her with guilt. I might try the silent treatment. I would try to gather allies who would agree that she was being unfair and a bad daughter. It would never have occurred to me to seek peace, and if it did, I would have placed the burden of my peace on her.

Now I have one desire. I want the peace of God. I want the peace of God more than I want anything else. I want to have peace and so I teach peace to have it. The situation is the same. I see signs my daughter is upset with me. I ask if there is anything she wants to talk about and she rejects that offer. I watch my thoughts and feelings.

Her rejection feels personal and so I feel rejected. I cannot be rejected so I must be listening to the ego version of the story. I hand this over to the Holy Spirit to heal for me. I want the peace of God. I want my daughter to be healed, too, but I realize that I cannot do this for her. I feel helpless. I ask that my mind be healed of the belief I could be helpless and I am reminded that my daughter cannot be helpless either.

I will teach what I want to learn. My daughter is having her story. That is all that is happening here. The ultimate ending of all stories is God. Nothing to worry about here. I am at peace. I want only peace. The story cannot bring me peace, nor rob me of peace. It can only be the story. As I choose peace regardless of the direction the story takes, I am teaching peace. Perhaps it is a lesson my daughter is ready for. Because it is a lesson I am ready for, I learn it.

The ego offers me another opportunity to choose war, another chance to win this “argument,” but I am not interested. It tries to scare me with stories of loss. I am not interested. If I become attracted to any of its enticements, I will ask for correction and return to peace. I will do this as often as I need to. This is how my life is different now that I realize that peace is all I want. The contrast between my life now that peace is my goal, and the life I lived when I thought winning was my goal is so stark that I cannot miss the lesson.

© 2014, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of the Text, C. Be Vigilant Only For God and His Kingdom, Paragraph 2. 1-31-14

C. Be Vigilant Only for God and His Kingdom, Paragraph 2
2 The Holy Spirit does not teach you to judge others, because He does not want you to teach error and learn it yourself. He would hardly be consistent if He allowed you to strengthen what you must learn to avoid. In the mind of the thinker, then, He is judgmental, but only in order to unify the mind so it can perceive without judgment. This enables the mind to teach without judgment, and therefore to learn to be without judgment. The undoing is necessary only in your mind, so that you will not project, instead of extend. God Himself has established what you can extend with perfect safety. Therefore, the Holy Spirit’s third lesson is:

Be vigilant only for God and His Kingdom.

I have learned to be vigilant for God and His Kingdom, but that was not always the case. I have been vigilant for the ego for many years. An example of being vigilant for the ego is attack thoughts. This morning I woke up thinking about something I forgot to do for a customer. I lay there listening to my mind.

I heard that irritating little voice attack me for my carelessness. Then it attacked my customer for not taking care of his own business. Then it attacked my fellow workers for not doing their part to prevent this. The ego doesn’t care who is attacked as long as I am attacking and defending. If I am attacking or defending, I am being vigilant for the ego.

I used to be vigilant for any sign that I was under attack. I expected to find them and so, of course, I did. I had not yet learned to question the belief that I was a victim of the world I saw and I completely believed this. As a victim or potential victim of the world, I had to be on the lookout all the time. I had to be ready to defend myself against what I saw as unpredictable and unfair attacks. It’s a wonder I had time to do anything else. It takes a lot of effort to be this vigilant.

The good news is that by the time I discovered that I am not the victim of the world I see, but actually the maker of the world, I had established the fact that I can be vigilant. Now I just needed to turn that vigilance toward God rather than the ego. So this morning as I lay there berating myself (and everyone else) for forgetting to do this favor for my customer, I was also watching my thoughts about it.

First I would be anxious and would make plans about how to mitigate the fallout from the situation. This is me identifying with the little mind. Then, from the seat of the observer mind, I would become aware of these thoughts as if I were watching all this on the big screen, and it was hilarious and I would laugh. Then I would slip right back into the ego drama of it all. I switched back and forth for awhile knowing that I was torturing myself with my conflicted thinking.

Finally I noticed Holy Spirit was urging me to get out of bed. I did so and automatically began my morning ritual of coffee and prayerful journaling. As soon as I got up and started my morning, the conflict resolved itself. My vigilance for God means more to me than my vigilance for ego. I gave the attack thoughts over to Holy Spirit to be judged and the situation resolved.

I think getting out of bed was symbolic for me of choosing against ego. It was like washing my hands of ego. As soon as I did it, I felt relieved. It’s funny how the mind works and it’s neat that I don’t have to understand it; I only have to follow the guidance of One Who does. While I was being vigilant for ego, the attacks seemed real and justified, and defending myself seemed urgent indeed.

It was hard to pull my attention away from it, but when I became vigilant for the Kingdom, the idea of attack seemed ludicrous, and my mind returned to peace. From the peaceful mind I teach peace and I learn it. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for relieving me of the burden of judging. I gladly surrender judgment to You.

© 2014, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of the Text, B. To Have Peace, Teach Peace to Learn It, Paragraph 9. 1-30-14

C. Be Vigilant Only for God and His Kingdom, Paragraph 1
1 We said before that the Holy Spirit is evaluative, and must be. He sorts out the true from the false in your mind, and teaches you to judge every thought you allow to enter it in the light of what God put there. Whatever is in accord with this light He retains, to strengthen the Kingdom in you. What is partly in accord with it He accepts and purifies. But what is out of accord entirely He rejects by judging against. This is how He keeps the Kingdom perfectly consistent and perfectly unified. Remember, however, that what the Holy Spirit rejects the ego accepts. This is because they are in fundamental disagreement about everything, being in fundamental disagreement about what you are. The ego’s beliefs on this crucial issue vary, and that is why it promotes different moods. The Holy Spirit never varies on this point, and so the one mood He engenders is joy. He protects it by rejecting everything that does not foster joy, and so He alone can keep you wholly joyous.

One of the beliefs that Holy Spirit purifies is time. We are told not to stay in the past, which doesn’t exist and not to send our mind into the future, which doesn’t exist. This is the way the ego uses time to keep us in the illusion. The Holy Spirit uses time to awaken us. All I have to do is make a decision for awakening and the Holy Spirit helps me to see things differently.

Yesterday I was enjoying the leisurely morning of a snow day. We didn’t actually get snow, but rather ice. Either way, though, the south doesn’t tend to fare well in this kind of weather. We are so unprepared for it. No snowplows, no salting of the roads and no one has snow tires. So I got the day off, two days actually. I love it. I still woke up early, and went straight to my meditative writing and posting. But today it was done at a very leisurely pace.

I also did other things, too. I worked on two of the Pathways of Light courses I am doing with other people. I read and watched a John Mark Stroud video. I made homemade bread and drank hot chocolate. Just a really nice two days. But yesterday I remembered I would be going back to work the next day. Instantly I was out of the now moment and into the future, a future which I based on my experiences from the past. My little bubble of contentment burst.

But (yay for me) I realized that I was misusing time and in so doing, I was destroying my own happiness. I changed my mind. I let the thought that I need to think about tomorrow, and the thought that I know what tomorrow should look like, dissolve. Letting it go right away was good. If I let it settle in for a stay, it would be harder to get rid of it. This is the right use of time, this catching wrong-minded thoughts and letting them go to the Holy Spirit.

As I continue to allow the Holy Spirit to choose for me, many thoughts are being healed. I try to keep an “I don’t know” mind. In this way I give up judging, planning and deciding on my own. One Who knows does this for me. I just keep my mind open and ready to receive.
.

© 2014, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of the Text, B. To Have Peace, Teach Peace to Learn It, Paragraph 9. 1-29-14

B. To Have Peace, Teach Peace to Learn It, Paragraph 9
9 The second step, then, is still perceptual, although it is a giant step toward the unified perception that reflects God’s knowing. As you take this step and hold this direction, you will be pushing toward the center of your thought system, where the fundamental change will occur. At the second step progress is intermittent, but the second step is easier than the first because it follows. Realizing that it must follow is a demonstration of a growing awareness that the Holy Spirit will lead you on.

I see many signs in my life that Holy Spirit is guiding each step I take. I wind up in just the right place, talking to just the right person. I find the next idea that I am ready for.  Sometimes I foolishly believe that I did these things on my own, that I can explain logically how I got from step A to step B. But when I stand back and look at my life I see that this is an illusion. It was all planned for me by One Who cares for me.

The first step, “To have, give all to all”, was hard to understand. Even now I have to stop a moment and remind myself why this is true. It completely turns the separation idea on its head, and my inability to hold onto the idea is a reflection of how much of my faith is still directed to separation.

I must be further along in my understanding than I think, though, because I completely understand and accept the second step, “To have peace, teach peace to learn it.” This makes perfect sense to me. I do this all the time. I teach and in my teaching, I learn. I do this through action, through words, and through my writing.

The Manual for Teachers says this: “The course, on the other hand, emphasizes that to teach is to learn, so that teacher and learner are the same.” It also says of the teachers of God, “They are not perfect, or they would not be here. Yet it is their mission to become perfect here, and so they teach perfection over and over, in many, many ways, until they have learned it.”

And so this is what I do. I teach to learn. I teach peace to learn peace. Every time I choose peace I see the results and I am motivated to choose peace again. As I teach peace others are affected by this lesson and they become motivated to choose peace. And on yet another level, as this choice is played out in our world, the mind shifts, and we all are affected by this shift.

We can see the effects of this shift, this desire for peace within the mind, as we look at the world. There have been some outstanding teachers of peace such as Mahatma Ghandi who taught change through non-violence. He played out his role on a really big stage and so affected the way many thought. The many little changes shifted the mind that we are.

We have as a whole, moved from believing everything our governments tell us, and from believing that war is our patriotic duty, to believing that peace is a better choice. It is not a complete shift, but the direction of the shift is clear. When I was a child we learned that we should follow our political leaders without question, and that going to war was the only way to protect our country and ourselves. We didn’t question this, and those who did so were considered unpatriotic and were looked on with suspicion.

Later as a teenager and a young adult, all of this shifted. We rebelled against this idea and embraced the idea that peace makers were the real heroes. Through teachings like A Course in Miracles we are accelerating this shift as we learn to see each other as an extension of our self, and to desire for another only what we would want for ourselves. We are learning that peace is all we want.

For most of us, teaching peace to learn peace is happening on a much smaller stage. We find ourselves being attacked in some small way at work, and instead of rallying our “troops” and going to war against our antagonist, we choose forgiveness. Don’t think that because the stage is smaller it is less important in healing the mind. Each time any of us choose peace over attack, the mind responds to this miracle. Because Jesus is directing this chain of Atonement, our choice is more effective than we could ever know.

© 2014, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of the Text, B. To Have Peace, Teach Peace to Learn It, Paragraph 8. 1-28-14

B. To Have Peace, Teach Peace to Learn It, Paragraph 8
8 This is still a preliminary step, since having and being are still not equated. It is, however, more advanced than the first step, which is really only the beginning of the thought reversal. The second step is a positive affirmation of what you want. This, then, is a step in the direction out of conflict, since it means that alternatives have been considered, and one has been chosen as more desirable. Nevertheless, the term “more desirable” still implies that the desirable has degrees. Therefore, although this step is essential for the ultimate decision, it is clearly not the final one. Lack of order of difficulty in miracles has not yet been accepted, because nothing is difficult that is wholly desired. To desire wholly is to create, and creating cannot be difficult if God Himself created you as a creator.

I have chosen peace as preferable to chaos and I really do want peace. I want it more than I ever have before, because now that I have had some sustained peace in my life I don’t want to lose it. This is good. It is through contrast that we learn what we really want, and deciding on a thing is how we get it. So now that I know I want peace, I can have it. I have it not because of anything I do; I have it because I truly desire it.

And yet, I don’t always choose peace. I still sometimes choose conflict. This is how I know that I am still confused. I still need the Holy Spirit to heal my mind because I do not wholly desire peace. It is important to remember that if I did wholly desire peace I would have it. I am a powerful creator and so it is not difficult to choose peace and have peace.

It feels difficult sometimes because I still want other things as well as peace. What do I want more than I want peace? What do I want so much that I am willing to tolerate a conflicted mind? I notice that I still want to be right. I still want a personal will, a personal self. I still want to defend against God. I can hardly believe this is true, but there it is in my mind.

At the same time, I know I want peace and so when I see behaviors and thoughts in my mind that are driven by these beliefs, I ask for the Atonement and I accept it as I am able. This is my only part. I see that I am not at peace and I choose peace by asking that my mind be healed. It is simple and when it does not seem to work, I know that I am still resisting, still choosing something else. No problem. I simply choose again.

© 2014, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of the Text, B. To Have Peace, Teach Peace to Learn It, Paragraph 7. 1-27-14

B. To Have Peace, Teach Peace to Learn It, Paragraph 7
7 You are not asked to make insane decisions, although you can think you are. It must, however, be insane to believe that it is up to you to decide what God’s creations are. The Holy Spirit perceives the conflict exactly as it is. Therefore, His second lesson is:
To have peace, teach peace to learn it.

I have been looking at attack thoughts and how they teach me I am vulnerable. Mostly I don’t attack and when I do I catch it and ask that my mind be healed in the belief in attack. I see in this section of the Text why I don’t want to attack. When I attack, myself or others (I don’t think there is any difference), I am insane. In attacking I am deciding what God’s creations are.

I don’t read the paper or watch news very much. I have an app on my phone that gives me a few headlines every day, much of it local. As I would read these apps, which often came with pictures of the miscreants, I would notice my judgmental thoughts. Sometimes it was just a passing thought and sometimes the judgment had a lot more venom.

Regardless of how strongly I felt about it, my judgment is saying that I am deciding who this one is. I am disregarding God’s decision that His creation is good, and that He is well pleased with His Son. Instead, I am declaring that this one does not live up to that Divine declaration. I am saying that he is something else. This, of course, opens the possibility (probability) that I am not what God created either.

In a single casual judgment I have, in my mind, undone what God has done. No wonder I believe in guilt and fear, and think I live a life of suffering, a life so frightening and so painful that death seems the only solution. And even in that, I am redefining reality in spite of God Who knows nothing of pain, suffering and death. I am so insane.

It is a temporary insanity, though, and there is a solution. There is within my mind a failsafe, the answer to my insanity. The Holy Spirit is placed in the mind where the confusion exists. It undoes the insane thinking, as I am ready to let it go. There are many prayers, lessons, affirmations, and mantras that I can use to help me decide that I want healing. But it is the desire to be released that allows the Holy Spirit to heal me.

Now when I read those news blurbs, especially when there is a picture, I look into their eyes and tell them the truth. I tell them that they are innocent, that nothing they have done or that has been done to them, changes that. I tell them that it is insane to believe they can undo what God has done and that, despite appearances, it cannot happen. I tell them the truth about themselves, and so I learn the truth about me. I teach peace rather than attack. I teach peace to learn peace.

© 2014, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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