Together, We Light the Way

Click link to go to:
Together We Light the Way Index

Study of the Text I. The Message of the Crucifixion, Paragraphs 1,2

I. The Message of the Crucifixion, Paragraphs 1,2
1 For learning purposes, let us consider the crucifixion again. I did not dwell on it before because of the fearful connotations you may associate with it. The only emphasis laid upon it so far has been that it was not a form of punishment. Nothing, however, can be explained in negative terms only. There is a positive interpretation of the crucifixion that is wholly devoid of fear, and therefore wholly benign in what it teaches, if it is properly understood.
2 The crucifixion is nothing more than an extreme example. Its value, like the value of any teaching device, lies solely in the kind of learning it facilitates. It can be, and has been, misunderstood. This is only because the fearful are apt to perceive fearfully. I have already told you that you can always call on me to share my decision, and thus make it stronger. I have also told you that the crucifixion was the last useless journey the Sonship need take, and that it represents release from fear to anyone who understands it. While I emphasized only the resurrection before, the purpose of the crucifixion and how it actually led to the resurrection was not clarified then. Nevertheless, it has a definite contribution to make to your own life, and if you will consider it without fear, it will help you understand your own role as a teacher.

I must confess that the crucifixion caused extreme fear in me for a very long time, even after I began studying the Course. I was greatly relieved when Jesus said that his crucifixion was the last useless journey the Sonship need make. I might hurt myself but at least it isn’t a mandate from on high. I have a choice and I am not guilty for choosing pain, and I am not guilty if I don’t choose pain.

Second confession: The crucifixion is not wholly devoid of fear for me. There is still a seed of fear in me, and I understand that this is because I still believe in fear and so everything I perceive has passed through that filter in my mind. This is true of everything, not just crucifixion. When something lovely happens, it still passes through that filter and picks up a bit of fear.

The best things that ever happened to me in this life story were the births of my children. I remember each one and the feeling of joy as I first held them, but with the joy came fear. I gave that fear stories of loss and danger, but those were just stories, explanations the mind could use to explain the fear. Nothing was actually happening to cause the fear; it was just there, painting the landscape of my illusion because it was in my mind.

At one time my fear filter was predominant in my mind and I saw everything through a heavy haze of fear. I trusted nothing, and expected the worse even as I prayed for something better. My prayer for something better did not go unanswered, though the answer was different and far better than I could have imagined. My mind began a slow but steady healing process.

I imagine it like this. I have a lovely thought or experience and it is like a brilliant and beautiful light. This light passes through my mind and its dark filter of fear and comes out much dimmed. As my mind heals, the filter gets cleaner and the light passes through with less obstruction so that when it gets to my conscious mind it is still bright.

Now I ask for healing every time I feel the fear in my mind and so fear does not have as many opportunities to take me hostage like it used to. Something happens and I notice fear and instead of just believing the fear, I ask that my mind be healed of the untrue thoughts. The part of my mind that knows no fear is stronger in my awareness now.

I do have some hooks, things that fear can hang its hat on, but there are fewer and fewer of those as I continue to ask the Holy Spirit to purify my mind. What I know is that fear is not a natural state for the Sons of God. It occurred when guilt entered the mind at the thought of our perceived betrayal of the Creator, and since nothing of the sort actually happened, the fear has no basis and is no more real than the illusion of separation. But until I have laid the guilt aside completely, fear will still haunt me and I will not know my Self.

This is why I try never to simply accept fear, but to always look at it with the Holy Spirit. I don’t ask Him to take the fear away which implies that it is real and dangerous and out of my control. I ask Him to heal my mind of the belief that the Son of God could ever be afraid. I ask Him to heal my mind of the core belief in fear, which is that my Father is angry and vengeful and so I am in constant danger.

The Holy Spirit has helped me to see that I am not afraid of things in my life, but that the circumstances of my life are the effects of my core fear. I think I am afraid of heights, but I am afraid that God hates me. I think I am afraid my children will suffer, but I am afraid that God wants our suffering. I think I am afraid of not having enough money to retire on, but I am afraid that I deserve to suffer because I betrayed God.

It is a relief to understand that I don’t have hundreds of little fears to get through and find healing for, but really I have one fear, which takes many forms. I need only be healed of the one fear, the fear of my Father. This morning I read this on Facebook. It was posted by Brian Longhurst, who receives lovely messages. It said, in part:

You have followed from afar off in faithful commitment. Now shall I draw you unto Me, into the secret place, the Holy of Holies. There shall you receive the mantle of purification (because of your heart’s desire and your faithfulness).

I just cried and cried when I read this. I cried because I recognized that I don’t believe in my worthiness, and I cried because I know this is true and I am so relieved to know it is true. God does love me, still, and holds me dear. The split mind at work again. The good news is that the part of the mind that knows the truth is much more in my awareness now and while I am still aware of the ego mind, I have no doubt that I will change my mind about that and change it fully.

© 2013, Pathways of Light. https://dev.pathwaysoflight.org
You may freely share copies of this with your friends, provided this notice is included.

Tell a friend about this post.

Printable Page

Posted by Rev. Myron Jones.

Study of the Text, The Lessons of Love: Introduction, Paragraph 2. 10-21-13

The Lessons of Love: Introduction, Paragraph 2
2 You have been asked to take me as your model for learning, since an extreme example is a particularly helpful learning device. Everyone teaches, and teaches all the time. This is a responsibility you inevitably assume the moment you accept any premise at all, and no one can organize his life without some thought system. Once you have developed a thought system of any kind, you live by it and teach it. Your capacity for allegiance to a thought system may be misplaced, but it is still a form of faith and can be redirected.

This is the sentence that stands out for me: Everyone teaches, and teaches all the time. Understanding that this is true, I want to always teach for God, but since I teach all the time, the only way to always teach for God is to always think only the thoughts that I think with God. If I am thinking about how angry I am with someone, or if I am blaming someone for something, this is what I am teaching. I am teaching anger and blame. If I am worrying about money or running out of time, I am teaching lack and loss.

I stay aware of my emotions and my thoughts and this lets me know what I believe. I can say the words that I am responsible for my world, but if I am angry that my neighbors trash blew into my yard, then I know that I am not taking responsibility for my world no matter what I think I say or what I think I believe. My anger tells me that I am upset and assigning the reason for the upset to my neighbor tells me that I think that neighbor is the cause of my upset.

If I bring the problem with the neighbor to my ego mind, it will prove to me that I am right to be angry. It will offer to protect me by having a discussion with my neighbor. Since I have a spiritual ego, it will think of words to make my neighbor feel guilty that sound “nice.” But the anger and blame are there and that is what I will be teaching.

Even if I chose to pick up the trash and not confront the neighbor in any way, I would still be teaching anger and blame if those beliefs are in my mind. I would be teaching it to myself. I will be reinforcing a wrong-minded thought and making it even more real, and so harder to let go. The only way not to teach anger and blame is to accept the Atonement for the belief that someone is guilty. From a healed mind I will hear the Holy Spirit’s guidance about what to say, if anything. And with my mind healed of the belief that I am victim to my neighbor, I will be at peace.

© 2013, Pathways of Light. https://dev.pathwaysoflight.org
You may freely share copies of this with your friends, provided this notice is included.

Tell a friend about this post.

Printable Page

Posted by Rev. Myron Jones.

Study of the Text Chapter 6: The Lessons of Love, Introduction

Chapter 6: THE LESSONS OF LOVE
Introduction
1 The relationship of anger to attack is obvious, but the relationship of anger to fear is not always so apparent. Anger always involves projection of separation, which must ultimately be accepted as one’s own responsibility, rather than being blamed on others. Anger cannot occur unless you believe that you have been attacked, that your attack is justified in return, and that you are in no way responsible for it. Given these three wholly irrational premises, the equally irrational conclusion that a brother is worthy of attack rather than of love must follow. What can be expected from insane premises except an insane conclusion? The way to undo an insane conclusion is to consider the sanity of the premises on which it rests. You cannot be attacked, attack has no justification, and you are responsible for what you believe.

I’ve got this one down. I never get confused about where my urge to attack comes from. If I feel like attacking someone it is always because I am afraid. I am afraid because I think I am vulnerable to attack and I am justified in defending myself. My attacks these days seldom get past the thought phase because I am good at catching them, realizing my fear is baseless, or at least being willing to be taught that, once again, my fear is baseless.

Here is an example. I went past a turn-off that would take me to a customer of mine. I didn’t take it because he was not on my schedule for that day, but I noticed a pang of resentment toward him, and then I had one of those mental conversations that I sometimes indulge in. Everything he said to me was an attack and everything I said to him was a defense (which is an attack). All of this was in response to a story I made up in my mind about a phone call he did not return.

Giving this to the Holy Spirit, I understand that I perceived his failure to return my call as an attack. Maybe he is talking to my competitor and is thinking of switching suppliers, in which case he becomes my enemy, someone to overcome. I must convince him that I am valuable to him, but because he is now a threat to my income stream, I resent him and anything I say to him will come from fear and not from love. How do I appear valuable to him when I come with sword and shield in hand?

The ego mind is fixated on fear, fear of loss and lack. Maybe I will lose a customer and my boss will value me less. I could lose money and not have enough for all I think I need. I fear not being valued. The ego solution to being afraid is to fight back through whatever means, but always it is some kind of attack and defend strategy in which I am separate from this other person. I see us with different goals and to achieve my goal, the other must relinquish his. Now I am enemy to my customer as well as to my competitor. I feel as if I am surrounded by the enemy.

Of course none of this has actually happened except that he failed to return my call. But as I allowed the scenario to play out in my mind I could see how the ego works to keep separation in place. I feel a pang of discomfort and the ego weaves it into a story in which I am surrounded by the enemy. The ego offers to protect me by giving me ways to defend myself. Now I am making everyone separate and am attacking my brother and so the underlying feeling is that I am guilty, and don’t deserve to win. The ego lies about being able to protect me.

When I offer it to the Holy Spirit for interpretation He reminds me that my customer and my competitor are innocent, just as I am. We are none of us guilty for our thoughts or our actions. He reminds me that we have one common goal and that is to feel safe and happy and we achieve this through forgiveness. As I regain my equilibrium and remember the truth, I remember that this is my function and my only function.

The feeling of being less than, attacked, of loss and lack, all of these are just different forms of believing I am separate from God, and thus cannot be true. All of this is turned around as I accepted responsibility for my thoughts and beliefs rather than seeking someone else to blame. I was afraid because of the meaning I gave a call not returned, not because of anything else.

Even if I was right about the failure to return the call and I did lose that customer, I am the one who decides what that means. No matter what seems to be happening in my story, I give it all the meaning it has for me, and I am free to remember that forgiveness is my only function. When I remember my function and focus on my forgiveness work, I trust the rest to work out as it will. The ego says I must be forever on guard but the ego is such a liar. I am perfectly loved and perfectly protected. When I remember this I am perfectly at peace with whatever is occurring.

© 2013, Pathways of Light. https://dev.pathwaysoflight.org
You may freely share copies of this with your friends, provided this notice is included.

Tell a friend about this post.

Printable Page

Posted by Rev. Myron Jones.

Study of the Text, II. The Voice for God, Paragraph 12. 10-17-13

II. The Voice for God, Paragraph 12
10-17-13
12 I have enjoined you to behave as I behaved, but we must respond to the same Mind to do this. This Mind is the Holy Spirit, Whose Will is for God always. He teaches you how to keep me as the model for your thought, and to behave like me as a result. The power of our joint motivation is beyond belief, but not beyond accomplishment. What we can accomplish together has no limits, because the Call for God is the Call to the unlimited. Child of God, my message is for you, to hear and give away as you answer the Holy Spirit within you.

I often make a mistake that I think is common to many of us. I notice that my behavior is not like Jesus’ behavior and I feel guilty for it and try to change it. The harder I try the more frustrated and anxious I become. Jesus says right here that I should behave as he behaved. The thing I forget is that he goes on to say that the way to do this is to let the Holy Spirit teach me how to think like Jesus and then my behavior will automatically be like Jesus. “What would Jesus do?” should be “What would Jesus think?”

Anytime I become upset or discouraged with myself it is always because I have put the horse before the cart. I have tried to drive my life through the behavior and that is backwards. This part is absolutely simple. I notice the thoughts that need to be changed, looking at them with the Holy Spirit and accepting His correction. Easy peasy.

If it is not easy, it is because I have, once again, become confused about my part. If I am anxious about my behavior I must believe that I should control it and am not doing so. Otherwise, I would simply be happy to see an effect of an unhealed mind because this means I have an opportunity to accept the Atonement for us. I think that right now in my life this is my most frequent mistake. I still sometimes look at my behavior and judge myself rather than seeing my behavior as an opportunity.

When I compare how I feel when I do this as to when I remember my function, it is clear that my happiness lies in forgiveness, not judgment. As I forgive myself for my errors, realizing that nothing is really happening because the entire illusion is nothing, I know I cannot be guilty. Now it is just a matter of allowing the Holy Spirit to heal my mind.

It is a matter of trust. I trust Jesus, I trust the Holy Spirit, and so I am learning to trust myself. I anticipate a peaceful mind as I do this more and more. But even more exciting is the promise Jesus makes that what we can accomplish together has no limits. Holy Spirit, please heal my mind today. I will trust you to do that according to my desire. I step back and allow you to do your part.

© 2013, Pathways of Light. https://dev.pathwaysoflight.org
You may freely share copies of this with your friends, provided this notice is included.

Tell a friend about this post.

Printable Page

Posted by Rev. Myron Jones.

Study of the Text II. The Voice for God, Paragraph 11, 10-16-13

II. The Voice for God, Paragraph 11
10-16-13
11 When you are tempted by the wrong voice, call on me to remind you how to heal by sharing my decision and making it stronger. As we share this goal, we increase its power to attract the whole Sonship, and to bring it back into the oneness in which it was created. Remember that “yoke” means “join together,” and “burden” means “message.” Let us restate “My yoke is easy and my burden light” in this way; “Let us join together, for my message is light.”

I have often called on Jesus to help me remember how to heal. The average day is sure to have many times when I will first see things from the ego perspective, realize my mistake, and ask for healing. The wrong voice tempted me, but now my goal is oneness, and I seek to make that goal stronger and stronger, so I seldom miss an opportunity to change my mind. I change my mind about what I want, and the Holy Spirit changes my mind. We are a team.

I spent a couple of days watching myself as I experienced my body as if it were sick. I know that this cannot be true. The body does not feel, so how can it feel sick? The mind was sick and needed healing. By the middle of the day yesterday I was feeling better, and by 5:00PM I was well enough to enjoy a movie. The body seemed to be getting well. That was the appearance, but it was the mind that being healed, and so projected that effect, just as it had projected the effect of sickness.

I noticed this morning that I woke up looking for symptoms and some part of me was hoping to find some. I think I wanted another day at home. I wanted some mild symptoms that would give me an excuse to stay home but not so serious that my day was spoiled. That is one of the ways that sickness is valuable to me. Another way is that I have believed that sickness proves I am not really waking up, that I am not worthy of God. It is, as the Lesson tells us, a defense against God.

I am willing to be healed of both those beliefs. If I want to stay home, I am just going to take a vacation day. I’m not going to give sickness value in my mind. If I feel unworthy, I am going to notice that thought in my mind and ask the Holy Spirit to change my mind, to correct my thinking and heal my mind. In other words, I ask for the Atonement and accept it.

Before I got sick and for awhile during the sickness I got caught up in feeling like the ego instead of just watching the ego. I think that this happens when I judge myself and others. Usually, I watch my “life” from at least some detachment, then other times I am fully in the story. When that happens I suffer and if it happens long enough the ego projects it; the ego tries to throw the suffering in the mind out onto the world, sometimes onto my body and I think I am sick.

I will tell you the truth, I am amazed that I can still get so caught up in the story as to forget the truth, even for a short time, much less for several days. When I am sane, I can’t imagine doing this, but when I forget my self and get hooked by the story, I am right back there. The difference, though, is that I am not completely there, not ever.

All the time it is happening, I am asking for healing. When I am less insane, I watch myself being lost and asking for help. When I am very insane, I just feel lost and ask for help. I will be glad when I wake up completely. I am tired of the conflicted mind syndrome. I am happy, though, to do my part in healing the mind. I am willing to do it with less suffering is all I am saying. I know it is not a necessary part of awakening for it to be painful, so I ask for the Atonement for that.

© 2013, Pathways of Light. https://dev.pathwaysoflight.org
You may freely share copies of this with your friends, provided this notice is included.

Tell a friend about this post.

Printable Page

Posted by Rev. Myron Jones.

Page 260 of 389 pages ‹ First  < 258 259 260 261 262 >  Last ›

<< Back to main page of Together, We Light the Way

Featured Store Items

Spiritual Counselor Training — based on principles of A Course in Miracles, including ordination. More….

24 ACIM Practitioner courses including 50-page study guide, CD's or MP3s, with facilitator. More….

Healing Inner Child 8-week program will help you nurture your inner child, connect with your Higher Self and heal relationships.

Listen & Receive 30-Day Home Study Learn to receive insight for your life in a form that is perfect for you …heal fears, find joy & peace. Learn more.

Hey, Holy Spirit, It's Me Again by Rev. Myron Jones. An indispensible guide for anyone on the path of ACIM with insights on the 1st 90 lessons. More…

True Forgiveness by Rev. Jennifer McSween. The Proven Path from Pain to Power and personal happiness in 5 Simple Steps. Learn more.

From the Christ Mind Book II scribed by Darrell Morley Price. A great supporting supplement to A Course in Miracles. We highly recommend it. More….

Forgiving Kevin Audio book by Rev. Larry Glenz. A moving and inspiring true story of a father/son relationship that withstood seven years of addiction, recovery, and relapse. More….

Healing Family Relationships Applying the Principles of A Course in Miracles audio book by Rev. Myron Jones. Learn how family relationships offer fertile grounds for forgiveness and healing your judgments of the world. More.