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Study of Text, Chapter 11: III. From Darkness to Light, P 4. .9-9-15

III. From Darkness to Light P 4

4 The way is not hard, but it is very different. Yours is the way of pain, of which God knows nothing. That way is hard indeed, and very lonely. Fear and grief are your guests, and they go with you and abide with you on the way. But the dark journey is not the way of God’s Son. Walk in light and do not see the dark companions, for they are not fit companions for the Son of God, who was created of light and in light. The Great Light always surrounds you and shines out from you. How can you see the dark companions in a light such as this? If you see them, it is only because you are denying the light. But deny them instead, for the light is here and the way is clear.

Journal
Again, Jesus is telling us we can do this. He is telling us that we have all we need, because what we are, is all we need. The light that will guide us and awaken us is in us. It shines out from us. So I ask myself how it is that I manage to see the darkness in all this light. I must be really determined to walk with these dark companions, or rather, the ego part of my mind is determined. “I” am determined to walk in light.

It is this determination that keeps me looking at my thoughts and releasing them to the Holy Spirit. It keeps me from running, and it keeps me from choosing denial over honesty. I believe Jesus when he tells me that I can do this and that the light is already here, already available to me. It makes my heart beat a little faster when I think of that!

Jesus began this paragraph by telling us that this is not difficult, just very different. We have become accustomed to pain, suffering and death. We think that guilt and fear are natural and fully justified. What we refuse to see is that we find justification because we are looking for it. We look for it in the dark and we find it there because we put it there. We are the authors of our sad and fatalistic stories. We write the story, project it outward, and seek to find it. We then pretend we don’t know where it came from, but it definitely proves our point.

Today when my thoughts wander to the darkness, I am going to remember this. I am going to remind myself that I see dark images because I am looking in the dark. I can as easily see the joy and the peace and the love that is God and so is me as well. I can look at the light instead. It is a simple choice. I am going to use my favorite mantras to remind me and help me turn to the light.

The peace of God is everything I want. God does not will this, so it cannot be. God’s Will is my will. Then I will let the Holy Spirit give me whatever thoughts He knows will help me.

© 2015, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Posted by Rev. Myron Jones.

Study of Text, Chapter 11: II: From Darkness to Light, P 3. 9-8-15

III. From Darkness to Light P 3

3 O my child, if you knew what God wills for you, your joy would be complete! And what He wills has happened, for it was always true. When the light comes and you have said, “God’s Will is mine,” you will see such beauty that you will know it is not of you. Out of your joy you will create beauty in His Name, for your joy could no more be contained than His. The bleak little world will vanish into nothingness, and your heart will be so filled with joy that it will leap into Heaven, and into the Presence of God. I cannot tell you what this will be like, for your heart is not ready. Yet I can tell you, and remind you often, that what God wills for Himself He wills for you, and what He wills for you is yours.

Journal
It seems like it would be so easy to just surrender to this joy and watch my bleak little world vanish. What is it in the world that is so important to me that I would hesitate to choose to know that God’s Will is mine? I ask myself that question this morning, and right away I think about how difficult I made things for myself last week, and how my thoughts kept me in the bleak world I chose.

I was angry, frustrated, fed up, with a situation at work. I got all tangled up in my thoughts and spent the week slipping in and out of the ego mind. I seemed unwilling to forgive the situation and felt like I was unable to do so. Today, my mind is clear. I see that I was projecting images from the beliefs in guilt, fear and rage that are obviously still in my mind.

It wasn’t really about the story of guilt, fear, and rage but rather, the story was imagined and projected into the world from those beliefs. While I was enthralled with that little drama, I kept listening to the ego tell me, first, it was someone else’s fault, then that I must fix the story. The advice varied wildly, but the refrain was always focused on the story.
Once again, I got caught up in trying to fix the effect, like looking into my reflection in the mirror, not liking what I see, and trying to correct the image I see there.

Today, with more clarity, I see the obvious. If it is in my life, I put it there. If I want it gone, I must invite the Holy Spirit to look with me and heal my mind. It is never about the situation or the people involved; it is always about my mind and what I find there. The situation simply reflected my thoughts and showed me what I believe to be true, that guilt is real, I am unfairly treated, and I am a victim. Jeez.

And today, I see that none of this could possibly be true. God does not will guilt and fear and rage. If this is not God’s Will, then it cannot be. I must be dreaming, a really bad dream as it happens, but still just a dream. I cannot be what God did not create. I cannot have a crazy distorted will that is different from God’s Will. I am an extension of Love and joy and peace are my inheritance.

Holy Spirit, You and I know the dark places in my mind. Please bring the light to those shadowy beliefs. Teach me not to simply pardon, but to forgive entirely. I don’t want to pretend the situation is undone; I want my mind to be completely healed. I want to look at each person involved and see only Christ, and to feel only love. I need your help and I open my heart and mind to that help.

© 2015, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Posted by Rev. Myron Jones.

Study of Text, Chapter 11: II: From Darkness to Light, P 2. 9-7-15

III. From Darkness to Light P 2

2 God’s Son is indeed in need of comfort, for he knows not what he does, believing his will is not his own. The Kingdom is his, and yet he wanders homeless. At home in God he is lonely, and amid all his brothers he is friendless. Would God let this be real, when He did not will to be alone Himself? And if your will is His it cannot be true of you, because it is not true of Him.

Journal
It is so important that I accept the truth that God’s Will is my will. This imagined will I have made to take the place of my true will is hurting me. It tells me that I am endangered and in need of defense. It tells me that I am alone and apart from all of creation. It tells me that I must find special people from whom I can take what I think I lack and somehow this is going to ensure my happiness.

No wonder I often feel alone and friendless, small and frail. I have a voice in my head that teaches me this is true, and sadly, I made this voice, and I keep it intact by listening to it. I call it my will and I value it in spite of the bad advice it continues to give me. I treat it as if it is what I am, and I defend it against God.

All along I have a true will, the will I share with God. It sits alongside the small personal will that I have been listening to. I can reclaim my true will by simply desiring to do so. Sometimes I think that I have done this, and I feel such joy and peace you wouldn’t believe. I cannot imagine why I ever wanted a separate will.

Then I return to my separate made-up self and again I am enthralled with the idea that I need it. I think I need to defend myself against a co-worker and I cannot use God’s Will to attack so I pick up my little self will again. Or I think that I need to look different, or I need more money, or I believe I am guilty, and God’s Will does not recognize any of this as true, so I turn to the little will. It brings me proof that I am right to be afraid and offers me lifetimes of advice that has never met a single one of these needs.

I am tired of wandering homeless. This prodigal daughter longs for her Father and the Will she shares with Him. This is why I am so grateful to my brother, Jesus, for bringing into action the solution to this dilemma. Thank you, Jesus, for the Atonement. Thank you for your devotion to the Atonement. I am grateful for the Holy Spirit, the Bridge that will allow me to cross from the illusory world to my true Home. The peace of God is everything I want.

© 2015, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Posted by Rev. Myron Jones.

Study of Text, Chapter 11: III. From Darkness to Light, P 1. 9-3-15

III. From Darkness to Light P 1

1 When you are weary, remember you have hurt yourself. Your Comforter will rest you, but you cannot. You do not know how, for if you did you could never have grown weary. Unless you hurt yourself you could never suffer in any way, for that is not God’s Will for His Son. Pain is not of Him, for He knows no attack and His peace surrounds you silently. God is very quiet, for there is no conflict in Him. Conflict is the root of all evil, for being blind it does not see whom it attacks. Yet it always attacks the Son of God, and the Son of God is you.

Journal
Right now I am feeling anxious because I have to talk to a customer about a mistake I made. I want to do it right this moment and I know the reason I am in such a hurry is that I feel guilty and afraid, and I want to make everything right. This is always the ego solution to everything I think is wrong. I hate how I feel, so the ego says I need to do something to make it right. I must find the right words to make up for my error and the sooner the better.

The Holy Spirit, on the other hand, is gently nudging me in another direction. The situation is not the problem. The problem is the ego interpretation of the situation. The ego says I am wrong and guilty and in trouble. The Holy Spirit says that the problem is that I believe I am this story and that I am endangered at every turn.

He says that the story of Myron making a mistake is the effect of the belief in my mind that I am separated from God and so am vulnerable. It is the effect of believing the thought that life is not fair and that guilt is an endless, awful burden that is mine to carry. So fixing the story isn’t going to help. I will still be left with these mistaken thoughts that will simply make more stories of disaster.

Other than the thoughts in my mind about the mistake I made and what I must do to correct it, nothing has happened in regard to this situation. I am hurting myself with each fear thought I entertain. I am moving myself further and further from the Light that is in my mind. The Holy Spirit will comfort me and guide me if I turn to Him. But to turn to Him, I must turn from the ego.

I cannot be at peace if I try to listen to both voices. They speak different languages, they turn in different directions. Trying to walk both paths at the same time keeps me in conflict and conflict is painful. I am suffering, but it is suffering I brought on myself. It will stop the moment I choose. I will choose God, Who has never led me astray and never failed me.

© 2015, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Posted by Rev. Myron Jones.

Study of Text, Chapter 11: II: The Invitation to Healing, P 7. 9-2-15

II. The Invitation to Healing, P 7

7 Would you be hostage to the ego or host to God? You will accept only whom you invite. You are free to determine who shall be your guest, and how long he shall remain with you. Yet this is not real freedom, for it still depends on how you see it. The Holy Spirit is there; although He cannot help you without your invitation. And the ego is nothing, whether you invite it in or not. Real freedom depends on welcoming reality, and of your guests only the Holy Spirit is real. Know, then, Who abides with you merely by recognizing what is there already, and do not be satisfied with imaginary comforters, for the Comforter of God is in you.

Journal
There is only one kind of healing, the healing of the mind. From a healed mind, a healed world is reflected. The only way to heal the mind is to invite the Holy Spirit to look with us on what is not healed and to undo what we see there. In joining with the Holy Spirit, we join with God, and we know our Oneness.

This is our function, our only function and the only way we are going to Awaken and achieve peace. The Holy Spirit waits with us as we make this decision. As we call to Him, He steps forward and lights our way. When we look to the ego for comfort and guidance, the Holy Spirit steps back. He must do this because He cannot override our will.

What we discover is that the ego is not a comfort and guides us deeper into nowhere. Eventually we must return to our true Guide because no one will choose darkness forever. The way this has unfolded in my life and probably in most lives, is that I don’t make this choice only once, but over and over. Each time I make the choice for God, the ego gets smaller and less substantial in my mind, and the choice for God is easier to make.

Let us not be satisfied with imaginary comforters, for the Comforter of God is in us.

© 2015, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Posted by Rev. Myron Jones.

Study of Text, Chapter 11: II: The Invitation to Healing, P 6. 9-1-15

II. The Invitation to Healing, P 6
6 You will never rest until you know your function and fulfil it, for only in this can your will and your Father’s be wholly joined. To have Him is to be like Him, and He has given Himself to you. You who have God must be as God, for His function became yours with His gift. Invite this knowledge back into your mind, and let nothing that obscures it enter. The Guest Whom God sent you will teach you how to do this, if you but recognize the little spark and are willing to let it grow. Your willingness need not be perfect, because His is. If you will merely offer Him a little place, He will lighten it so much that you will gladly let it be increased. And by this increase, you will begin to remember creation.

Journal
I am as God is, and this is my nature in truth, though not so much in the illusion. Here I seem to be something else altogether, something weak and fragile, guilty and afraid. But as I give my attention to that spark in my mind, the light grows and I see more clearly. My Guest knows what I am and knows how to awaken me to this glorious truth. All I have to do is invite His help and make Him welcome through my attention to Him.

Thank you, God, that my willingness does not have to be perfect. His willingness is perfect and it will increase mine. Here is the sentence that encourages me greatly this day.

Invite this knowledge back into your mind, and let nothing that obscures it enter.

I invite the knowledge of what my function is, and who I am. I invite healing of all that is not God, and I invite the Holy Spirit to use this vessel for His work. I make this invitation real and useful as I let nothing that obscures it enter my mind. I do this every day, all through the day, as I stay vigilant for obscuring thoughts and beliefs and readily give them to the Holy Spirit that they be purified.

© 2015, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Posted by Rev. Myron Jones.

Study of Text, Chapter 11: II: The Invitation to Healing, P 5. 9-1-15

II. The Invitation to Healing, P 5
5 The Holy Spirit cannot speak to an unwelcoming host, because He will not be heard. The Eternal Guest remains, but His Voice grows faint in alien company. He needs your protection, only because your care is a sign that you want Him. Think like Him ever so slightly, and the little spark becomes a blazing light that fills your mind so that He becomes your only Guest. Whenever you ask the ego to enter, you lessen His welcome. He will remain, but you have allied yourself against Him. Whatever journey you choose to take, He will go with you, waiting. You can safely trust His patience, for He cannot leave a part of God. Yet you need far more than patience.

Journal
The Holy Spirit is always with me and always will be because He cannot abandon a part of God. What He needs from me in order to help me is my welcome. I must want His help. Otherwise all He can do is wait patiently for me to realize I do want that help. But as Jesus says, I need more than His patience. I need His active participation in my Awakening.

I do welcome the Holy Spirit, and I open my mind and heart to Him. I ask for His help, His guidance, His healing. But I must protect His place in my mind through continuing to desire His help. It is still too easy for me to turn to the ego for answers, so I must be vigilant in noticing whom I ask for help. When I look to the ego for guidance, I have lessened the Holy Spirit’s welcome and so, while He remains with me, He cannot help me.

I want to Awaken and the Holy Spirit will help me to do this, and it will occur much more easily if I do not block His help. This is not hard; it just requires practice and dedication to my purpose. I have gotten pretty good at catching the mind’s tendency to return to judgment and to lose itself in illusions. I have gotten pretty good at changing my mind. Now I continue my practice until I have mastered this decision.

© 2015, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
You may freely share copies of this with your friends, provided this notice is included.