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Study of Text, Chapter 13: VII. Attainment of the Real World, P 3. 9-26-16

VII. Attainment of the Real World, P 3
3 You do not really want the world you see, for it has disappointed you since time began. The homes you built have never sheltered you. The roads you made have led you nowhere, and no city that you built has withstood the crumbling assault of time. Nothing you made but has the mark of death upon it. Hold it not dear, for it is old and tired and ready to return to dust even as you made it. This aching world has not the power to touch the living world at all. You could not give it that, and so although you turn in sadness from it, you cannot find in it the road that leads away from it into another world.

Journal
I am turning from this world, but Jesus, do I really do so in sadness? I want very much to find my way home. I want to look around and see the light and beauty that is the real world reinterpreted by the Holy Spirit. I want to look at each person and each place, at each thing and see only God expressed. I want to respond to what I see with joy and I want the peace of God, uninterrupted. So what is it that I find so important, of so much value that I would choose it instead?

As I think of this I let my mind wander to yesterday. I notice the times I felt happy. I was sitting with my boss and thinking what a kind man he is and how happy I am I finally chose to see that in him. Another time, I joined with two coworkers to discover the answer to a sticky problem. I felt so pleased to just be in their company and I felt our unity. Another time I was at the bank and a teller I was not using took the time to speak to me and seemed happy to see me, and I took the time to look into her eyes and I knew there was a joining

These were little things, but as I look on the day, it was moments like these that made it a happy day. They were moments of union, of shared purpose and of gratitude. So what happened during the day to pull me out of peace? Well, I feel myself being annoyed at a coworker and saying something “funny” about her to another coworker. As we laughed the day felt a little darker. Another time, an error was made and I saw the error and felt superior that I did so, and pointed to the error, and I lost the sense of union that is so essential to my happiness and peace.

I was grudging in my kindness at the restaurant because of judgments that I was making. I had a moment of thinking my boss was foolish in his decision, and another of wondering if someone else was silently judging me. I had a couple of times of thinking that my son needs to do something he is not doing and to stop other behaviors and felt really dark and heavy. I texted him advice but felt uncertain that I was doing so with guidance. I was definitely taking advice, but was it from Holy Spirit or was it from ego?

These little moments in the day point to what it is I value more than Heaven. It seems I would rather be well thought of, secure in my job, and feel superior, than to feel the touch of God. I would rather laugh at a coworker and gossip, I would rather judge than love, and I would rather accept the fearful ego interpretation of my sweet son than to let Holy Spirit show me his beautiful essence. I would rather act out of fear than to rest in trust and certainty.

How very strange it is to see the things I value over my joy and peace. I am grateful that I can see this so clearly because for most of my life I was oblivious. Now that I see it, I can change it. In fact, I see that scale is tipping. I was much more accepting and loving than I was judgmental, and though I did have moments of fear for my son, I had many more of faith and trust and certainty. Some days I wonder if I will spend eternity in this messy hell that I made, and those are dark days indeed. But those days are the exception now, as I am learning to love the light.

© 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 2. 9-26-16

VII. Attainment of the Real World, P 2
2 The world you see must be denied, for sight of it is costing you a different kind of vision. You cannot see both worlds, for each of them involves a different kind of seeing, and depends on what you cherish. The sight of one is possible because you have denied the other. Both are not true, yet either one will seem as real to you as the amount to which you hold it dear. And yet their power is not the same, because their real attraction to you is unequal.

Journal
Here is how I am learning to deny the world I see. When I wake up and my first thought is, “Oh shoot, it’s Monday. I have to go to work,” I remind myself that this disheartening feeling is made up. There is no such feeling in the real world. Then I decide if I want to keep that gloomy feeling or allow a real feeling to express through me.

When I look in the mirror and see something I don’t like, something older and heavier and saggier than I want to see, I remind myself that this judgment is not reality. It is something I made up. It is a choice based on a false belief. Then I decide if I want to keep this judgment and believe in it. Or would I like to look in the mirror and see the reflection differently? I wonder how this could be, how could it feel. I don’t understand how it would work, but the truth does not need my understanding. All it needs is a wish, a desire to see differently

When I was with my son, and my eyes showed me his pain and suffering, his confusion and his depression, I had a choice. I could believe in what I was seeing, and for awhile I did. This belief showed me a bleak future for him. But I knew then as I know now, that I was not looking at the real world. There is a real world and I can see it if I am willing to look away from the world I made up.

For awhile I was mesmerized by the fearful world of the ego belief system, but peace called to me and after a few days of suffering I decided to allow that vision to fade away. When I did, I began to see something closer to the real world. I began to see my son, not as he sees himself, but as he truly exists.

Jesus tells us that every thought is a prayer. He tells us that our thoughts are images we have made. He tells us that every thought takes form on some level. He tells us that no one can suffer loss unless it be his own decision, and that nothing occurs but represents our wish, and nothing is omitted that we choose. He says that here is our world, complete in all details. Here is its whole reality for us. He says that we but do this to ourselves.

He says that what I see reflects a process in my mind, which starts with my idea of what I want. From there, the mind makes up an image of the thing the mind desires, judges valuable, and therefore seeks to find. These images are then projected outward, looked upon, esteemed as real and guarded as one’s own. From insane wishes comes an insane world.

© 2016, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of Text, Chapter 13: VI. Finding the Present, P 1. 8-29-16

VI. Finding the Present, P 1
1 To perceive truly is to be aware of all reality through the awareness of your own. But for this no illusions can rise to meet your sight, for reality leaves no room for any error. This means that you perceive a brother only as you see him now. His past has no reality in the present, so you cannot see it. Your past reactions to him are also not there, and if it is to them that you react, you see but an image of him that you made and cherish instead of him. In your questioning of illusions, ask yourself if it is really sane to perceive what was as now. If you remember the past as you look upon your brother, you will be unable to perceive the reality that is now.

Journal
I have really been practicing staying in the now and have small success, but I’m not giving up. I keep practicing. Here is another way to practice. I can start to notice my thoughts about the people in my life. Then I can notice if they have anything to do with the person I perceive in front of me at this moment, or if they are just past thoughts carried forward. And that is on the level of form, because if I saw him without any of my projections I would see his Divinity.

I am sometimes jarred from sleeping mind as I realize that I have been cherishing an image of a person rather than the person that they are. For instance, I have suddenly seen one of my children, really seen them, and realized that not only had I fixed in my mind an image of that one, but it was an image of my own making. It was really an image of my thoughts about that one. Those thoughts are no longer relevant, if they ever were, and if I keep cherishing them, I will not ever know this person I love.

As I think about this, the illusion I seem so fond of gets blurry and seems to waver. Could everything I have believed was real and indisputable be just images projected from my mind, just like Jesus has been saying? Ha ha ha. Yep. I was thinking about a friend of mine. There was a “fact” about her that I absolutely believed, and one day she said something that shattered that “truth” about her.

Again, I was startled to realize that I don’t really know this person either. I just know my thoughts and beliefs about her, just like I do with my children. How deep does this go? Is there anything about her that I didn’t make up through my I thoughts? Does everyone she knows have an image of her that is entirely different than mine? I know for sure that some of the people in her life think of her differently than I do. I can almost guarantee that she knows herself differently than I know her. I made her up out of my thoughts and beliefs and she made herself up out of her thoughts and beliefs. Gosh the world I see continues to shimmer in and out of focus.

And so now I have to ask myself if I am courageous enough to let the images go entirely so that I can see what stands behind them, what is actually real and true.

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

Study of Text, Chapter 13: II.The Two Emotions, P 110. 8-25-16

V. The Two Emotions, P 11

11 The Holy Spirit is the light in which Christ stands revealed. And all who would behold Him can see Him, for they have asked for light. Nor will they see Him alone, for He is no more alone than they are. Because they saw the Son, they have risen in Him to the Father. And all this will they understand, because they looked within and saw beyond the darkness the Christ in them, and recognized Him. In the sanity of His vision they looked upon themselves with love, seeing themselves as the Holy Spirit sees them. And with this vision of the truth in them came all the beauty of the world to shine upon them.

Journal
I really long for the day that I look within and see only Christ. When that happens, I will then look without and see only Christ. I will see that there is nothing but God. Oh holy day! I know this can and will happen. I have periods of time in which I feel perfectly at peace and in which I feel loving, loveable and loved. I feel so much love welling up in me and as me that it obliterates the ego darkness for awhile. So I know this can happen, and that it will happen and eventually the darkness will be a shadow of a memory.
In the meantime, I continue my process of noticing the dark thoughts and allowing them to be healed. I notice how my body feels and if it isn’t healthy and pain free I take that as a symbol of the unhealthy, painful thoughts in the mind and I ask for healing.

If I look at my bank account and notice it is dwindling, I watch my thoughts. Maybe I just wonder how the numbers will get larger and wait with curiosity and anticipation to see that happen. But if I get upset about the numbers then I recognize this upset as a fear of lack and loss and I bring that belief to the Holy Spirit to be undone.

If a relationship is imperiled I ask the Holy Spirit to look with me and see what it is I have done. Have I used this friend, or have I projected onto her or him? How does this relationship crisis make me feel? Am I sad or angry or maybe guilty? Does it trigger memories of relationships from the past that remained unforgiven? Whatever I find in my mind, I look at with Holy Spirit, and I accept healing to the best of my ability at this time.

© 2016, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of Text, Chapter 13: II.The Two Emotions, P 10. 8-24-16

V. The Two Emotions, P 10

10 You have but two emotions, and one you made and one was given you. Each is a way of seeing, and different worlds arise from their different sights. See through the vision that is given you, for through Christ’s vision He beholds Himself. And seeing what He is, He knows His Father. Beyond your darkest dreams He sees God’s guiltless Son within you, shining in perfect radiance that is undimmed by your dreams. And this you will see as you look with Him, for His vision is His gift of love to you, given Him of the Father for you.

Journal
We have only two emotions, love and fear. God gave us love and we made fear. When we are fearful we see a scary world. When love is our vision we see a loving world. I noticed how true this is the other day. My brother was my boss and I had little to do with his partner. When my brother retired and his partner became sole owner of the business, a lot of things changed. I looked at it through fear and everything that was said and done brought up fearful thoughts.

My new boss seemed to micro-manage everything and he seemed to have no faith in me even though I had been doing a good job for the company for many years. I pushed against this and I figured I was going to get fired at any time. I felt like he resented me and just kept me there until he got someone more suitable to his way of doing things. Everything he said seemed to prove my worst fears. I was miserable and felt trapped in this situation.

I hated not being at peace and yet everything that happened at work reinforced my fearful thoughts. But I kept using the Rules for Decision and I kept asking for another way to see. The only other way to see is through love. So I began to say “I love you” each time I thought of him or had a resentful or fearful feeling about him. Things began to change.

What changed was not his management style or how he thought of me or treated me. What changed was my vision. I began to feel loving toward him. It was the darndest thing. I began to say I love you because that was my guidance. I didn’t really mean it at first, but I knew that it made sense. If I am unhappy hating him then another way to see would lead to love, so I started moving in that direction. And lo and behold, I wound up there!

He called me into his office to talk about something and I heard myself saying to him that I liked him. I told him that I liked that he was so involved. I told him that even though I would be retiring soon, I hoped he would continue to do well, and that I would do what I could to make the transition easier. I didn’t know I would say these things, but I felt the truth of them as they came out of my mouth. And I felt love rise up in me as we spoke.

I went from resenting his interference to seeing it as involvement and enthusiasm. As I listened to him I saw how hard he was trying to be a good boss and a good person. And the only thing that changed was my vision, not him and not my job, and not my work, just my vision. I chose to see through love rather than fear and the Holy Spirit helped me to do that even though I didn’t understand how it would happen or even how it could happen.

Will he fire me before I retire on my own terms? I don’t know. Maybe. Without looking at the world through fear I am not worried about that anymore. If I get fired I will just see what happens next. He has a vision for the company and it is one that I don’t agree with, but instead of resenting him for that, I can ask for another way to see the situation. I can ask for a way to see it through love rather than fear. My world can appear depressing and scary, or it can appear interesting and loving. Up to me!

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

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