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Boxed In

I free myself when I give up the insane idea that God’s Son can be imprisoned in a body. When I stop thinking of myself in terms of a body. It is like I have drawn a box in the middle of the limitless awareness that I am, and have decided that I am only that which is in the box. My desire to be free dissolves the box I drew and I see that I am still the Creation of God, limitless and free. As I do this, I can no longer see anyone else as a body. How could they be? They are God’s Creation and thus they are the same as I am, within a whole, part of that whole and all of that whole.

How might I put myself back into that box? If I step on the scale and depending on what the number says, I am happy or upset. When this happens, it indicates that I am identified with the body, so much so that its size determines how I feel about myself. Another way I put myself back into the box is to see someone else as being his or her body, that is, seeing that person as his or her actions or looks or personality.

If I do this to someone else, I am teaching myself that I must also be what I do or how I look. There are so many little ways that I could put myself in the box. That box is so restricting. I don’t want to go back. I have asked the Holy Spirit to help me notice any remaining thoughts that could imprison me so that I can finally release them all. I am also remembering to frequently ask, “What am I?”

© 2021, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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What Is Forgiveness?

1. Forgiveness recognizes what you thought your brother did to you has not occurred. ²It does not pardon sins and make them real. ³It sees there was no sin. ⁴And in that view are all your sins forgiven. ⁵What is sin, except a false idea about God’s Son? ⁶Forgiveness merely sees its falsity, and therefore lets it go. ⁷What then is free to take its place is now the Will of God.

This first paragraph explains what forgiveness is and what it does for us. It is basically saying that there is nothing to forgive. What someone has done that seems offensive to us has not actually occurred. There is no world and there are no bodies except in our mind and not in our true mind, but in our ego-mind. It is all imagination and projected out it is a hallucination. What is not real has no real effects. There is nothing to forgive because nothing has happened. As Jesus tells us: ⁷Much has been seen since then, but nothing has really happened. (ACIM, T-3.VII.5:7) So, what is there to forgive.

2. An unforgiving thought is one which makes a judgment that it will not raise to doubt, although it is not true. ²The mind is closed, and will not be released. ³The thought protects projection, tightening its chains, so that distortions are more veiled and more obscure; less easily accessible to doubt, and further kept from reason. ⁴What can come between a fixed projection and the aim that it has chosen as its wanted goal?

That first sentence is enough to pull me up short if I were tempted to not forgive. An unforgiving thought is one which makes a judgment that it will not raise to doubt, although it is not true. May I always question every unforgiving thought. Let me bring it to the light so that I can see that it is not true. Otherwise, I will close my mind to the truth so that I can keep believing the judgment. Maybe I want to be right more than I want to be happy. Maybe I want to protect my perceptions in spite of the suffering they cause. 

The more I defend my misperceptions, the more tangled my thinking becomes until I am unable to let anything come between my fixed projection and the aim that it has chosen as its wanted goal. It is easy to see this happening if I am willing to open my mind even a little. Suppose someone has decided that I don’t know what I am talking about and makes a public attempt to discredit me. I can see this as confusion and conflict in the mind and let it go without any concern whatsoever.

What if, on the other hand, I feel a strong need to defend my point of view? What if my need to be seen as right is stronger than my desire to be at peace? If this is the case, then no amount of common sense is going to get in the way of my goals of being right and being seen as right. I will argue and protest, I will lose friends, I will win whatever the cost because I have set my goal to be right. If I set a different goal, perhaps the peace of God, then the other cannot say anything to me or about me that is not immediately forgiven because only forgiveness will cause my goal to be met.

3. An unforgiving thought does many things. ²In frantic action it pursues its goal, twisting and overturning what it sees as interfering with its chosen path. ³Distortion is its purpose, and the means by which it would accomplish it as well. ⁴It sets about its furious attempts to smash reality, without concern for anything that would appear to pose a contradiction to its point of view.

As I am reading this, I am reminded of the political dissension in our country of late. People taking sides and holding tight to their beliefs about the situations, so tightly, that they will not even read about what the other side thinks and believes. Many will defend their point of view without regard to facts and will look for facts only where they expect agreement with them. Which side is right? Neither. 

Neither is right because both sides believe in the world and in the separation ideas that are being accepted as truth. Anything that adds to the burden of separation thinking is false simply because separation is not the Will of God and therefore cannot exist. Believing in separation is an error that causes suffering and keeps us from knowing who we are because who we are is whole, is one.

4. Forgiveness, on the other hand, is still, and quietly does nothing. ²It offends no aspect of reality, nor seeks to twist it to appearances it likes. ³It merely looks, and waits, and judges not. ⁴He who would not forgive must judge, for he must justify his failure to forgive. ⁵But he who would forgive himself must learn to welcome truth exactly as it is.

Returning to the idea of the divisiveness encouraged in politics recently, this divisiveness is the error. It offends reality and it seeks to twist it to appearances it likes. Not one side or another, but both sides are doing this in that many are taking a side and thus must now defend against an aspect of Self and thus defend against wholeness. Today’s politics is a clear image of a mind divided against itself. 

5. Do nothing, then, and let forgiveness show you what to do, through Him Who is your Guide, your Savior and Protector, strong in hope, and certain of your ultimate success. ²He has forgiven you already, for such is His function, given Him by God. ³Now must you share His function, and forgive whom He has saved, whose sinlessness He sees, and whom He honors as the Son of God.
(ACIM, W-pII.1.1:1–5:3)

So, what do I do about the unforgiven thoughts in my mind and their effects? I do nothing. I let forgiveness show me what to do. I let the Holy Spirit give me words where words are needed, and prompt me to silence when words would be a break in actual communication. I remember my purpose and I use the situations to achieve that purpose. I am forgiven and everyone else is forgiven, I simply choose to accept that this is true.

© 2021, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Visiting Mom

This is something I wrote several years ago. I thought it was worth revisiting.

I spent time with my mom today. She is in an advanced stage of Alzheimer’s. She looked sad even in her sleep; sad and anxious, like she was having a bad dream. When she woke up it took her a while to focus on me and longer still to register that I was visiting her. She seemed to be reaching her hand out to me and trying to communicate with her eyes. She doesn’t seem to be able to make sounds at me, or maybe she just forgets to try. She doesn’t remember who I am at all anymore.

I talked to her anyway, telling her that I love her and miss being with her. I told her that I wish we could talk again. But as I said it, I realized I didn’t want to talk to her; I wanted her to talk to me. I wished I could have one more chance to listen to her. I would listen without judging anything she said. I would like one more chance to listen for the wisdom in her words. I spent way too much time before this happened to her thinking that I knew something. I missed a lot of what she could have told me. I felt sad for the lost opportunity.

If I had one more chance to listen to her I would give her my undivided attention. I wouldn’t be thinking of the next stop on my list or something I heard on the news. I wouldn’t be listening for the errors in what she said, and I wouldn’t be thinking that she was behind the times, that the world had moved ahead and what she had to say was out of date. If I had one more chance I would not be so foolish. I would just sit and listen as if she were the wise old woman, and the words falling from her lips were treasures she was freely giving. How lucky I would be.

© 2021, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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My Role As a Teacher of God

In 916 Teacher of God, we are given a list of twelve ways we can serve the Holy Spirit as a teacher of God. I use these all the time to be sure that I am an effective teacher for Him. I contemplated each of these points with the Holy Spirit and the following is what I received.

1. I love all the Holy Spirit Loves.
I saw someone selling something and they were at the same time pushing their political agenda which is not mine. I felt myself moving away from them. I ask to see as Holy Spirit see and to love as He Loves. My ex-husband told me he stopped watching football in protest of the men taking a knee. My first thought was all about my opinion as opposed to his. Then the Holy Spirit showed me another way to see this. He loves football and looks forward to it every year. And yet, he gave it up to be true to his beliefs. It is so helpful to step out of our stories and see the lesson it holds for us. It is always going to be some form of love as opposed to judgment. I choose to love all the Holy Spirit Loves without regard to anything in their story.

2. I remember that only what is eternal is real.
I remind myself of this all the time. I remind myself that I am not living the life of Myron. I am watching the story of Myron that occurred billions of years ago in the moment we had the thought that separation might be a good idea. I remind myself that nothing that ends is real. It is just imagination projected as if it is something real, seen and felt as if it is real. Nothing physical is real. Nothing felt that is not Love is real. This is so helpful to remember. It allows me to detach from the story and all its emotional impact so that I can use it to awaken.

3. I serve the timeless.
I serve the timeless by not giving credence to the world of time. I use it for awakening without believing in it and thus reinforcing it in the mind we all share.

4. I bring peace to every relationship.
This is an ongoing process. I make every effort to bring peace to whatever relationship I am in whether it is a momentary relationship with someone I pass on the track as I take my daily walk, or a lifetime relationship as the ones with my family. My intention is that each relationship be peaceful and loving regardless of what is happening in the moment. Here is something I wrote about this morning in answer to a question regarding relationships.

Cate was writing about something that helps our understanding here. She was quoting Jesus in the Manual for Teachers. “2. The simplest level of teaching appears to be quite superficial. ²It consists of what seem to be very casual encounters; … a child who is not looking where he is going running into an adult…. (https://acim.org/acim/en/s/804#2:1-2 | M-3.2:1-2)”

She was saying that we can treat each “bump” as a child running into an adult. So if someone cuts you off in traffic or steals everything in your house, you can see it as an assault if listening to the ego’s interpretation of the event. But if you choose to ask the Holy Spirit, you will see it differently. Some brother, acting on his fear, bumped into you. That is how I see that all things are the echo of the Voice for God if we care to hear it. Some fearful brother may be calling for love. Will we give him what he needs or will we condemn him and ourselves at the same time. Will we hear an attack (ego) or the echo for the Voice for God?

5. I look upon my brothers with complete forgiveness.
I do this most of the time and if I fail to do so, I ask for healing until I accept it. Eventually, I see them as they are in truth, perfect and whole and as God created them.

6. I see past mistakes rather than reinforce them.
This is what I do and the reason my mind is almost always at peace. I cannot be at peace if I am attacking the Son of God. I look past my mistakes and the mistakes of others. It is easy to do when I remember who we are and I always eventually remember this.

7. You see past suffering to the truth.
This used to be harder for me. When my children suffer there is still the immediate response of suffering with them. This isn’t helpful for any of us so I ask for another way to see the situation and I accept it as soon as I can. When I am suffering it is easier to remember the truth and I generally get there pretty quickly. I have been healing my mind of guilt because I have had so much pain in my body and I know that guilt drives us to punish the body. I find it easy to move past the feeling of suffering as I work to heal the mind. The ego really enjoys suffering and tries to bring it to my attention over and over but I am not interested.

8. I recognize illusions of separation as just shadows that are mistakes, not to be taken seriously.
This is true. I see myself separated from someone by our politics and I may feel something at first but soon it is just funny. It is funny that I would let some brief opinion that will fade away with the next big thing in the world of constantly shifting ideas keep me from Love.

9. I recognize that God’s Will is my will.
Oh, yes! Sure, I still experience the ego will trying to insert itself in my mind, but I know that is just a temporary aberration. There is no will but God’s Will.

10. As I serve God’s Will willingly, I remember that I am Spirit.
Again, yes! The more I serve God’s Will, the more I recognize that my will is the same as God’s Will and this awakens the memory of Who I Am.

11. As Spirit, I release myself and my brother by recognizing what is of true Value in my brother.
What is of true value in my brother is of true value in me because we are one. Only Love is of true value and we are only Love. I will not recognize it in myself if I refuse to see it in my brother. I will not see it in my brother if I refuse to recognize it in myself. We are inextricably tied to each other in this process because in actuality we are one.

12. As Spirit, I see my brother as my savior. As I see the truth in my brother, I awaken. I bring peace and release to the world.
I do see my brother as my savior. He is either supporting and loving me, or he is asking for the love that he needs. If he needs love and I give it to him, I know that I have love and am love. When I look past his ego words and behavior, I see the light in him and to see that light, I know it must also be in me. Knowing the love and light that is in me, I begin to know my Self and this awakens me. In my awakening, I am peaceful and since I can only give what I have, I give peace and release to the world.

© 2021, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Getting Out of the Box

T-31.III.4. 5 It holds in prison but the willing mind that would abide in it. 6 It sickens at the bidding of the mind that would become its prisoner. 7 And it grows old and dies, because that mind is sick within itself. 8 Learning is all that causes change.

I free myself when I give up the insane idea that God’s Son can be imprisoned in a body. When I stop thinking of myself in terms of a body. It is like I have drawn a box in the middle of the limitless awareness that I am, and have decided that I am only that which is in the box. My desire to be free dissolves the box I drew and I see that I am still the Creation of God, limitless and free. As I do this, I can no longer see anyone else as a body. How could they be? They are God’s Creation and thus they are the same as I am, within a whole, part of that whole and all of that whole.

How might I put myself back into that box? If I step on the scale and depending on what the number says, I am happy or upset. When this happens, it indicates that I am identified with the body, so much so that its size determines how I feel about myself. Another way I put myself back into the box is to see someone else as being his or her body, that is, seeing that person as his or her actions or looks or personality.

If I do this to someone else, I am teaching myself that I must also be what I do or how I look. There are so many little ways that I could put myself in the box. That box is so restricting. I don’t want to go back. I have asked the Holy Spirit to help me notice any remaining thoughts that could imprison me so that I can finally release them all. I am also remembering to frequently ask, “What am I?”

© 2021, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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All That I Give Is Given to Myself

Jesus what do you want me to know about all that I give is given to myself?

Jesus: Why do you think it is that facilitating classes and talking to students and counseling those in distress brings you so much peace? You help others find peace and so you find peace. You have seen this when you interact with your kids. When you visit Susan and you do little things for her, and she is grateful and feels loved, and you feel loved by her. You gave love and so you received love.

You have seen the opposite as well. You become impatient with someone who doesn’t understand or accept what you give and afterwards you feel uneasy and doubt yourself. Even though you may not have spoken the words that you felt, you doubted your brother and so you doubt yourself. When you spread fear thoughts, you feel fear.

It should be absolutely clear by now that you cannot give anything away because giving it is how you keep it. Ideas leave not their source. You have heard my words. All minds are connected and so what you think is shared in all minds, and in sharing it you strengthen your belief in it in your own mind. You know this. Just be mindful.

© 2021, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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I Am Eternal Spirit

What are the blessings that come with letting the truth return to your mind?
C-3.8. How lovely does the world become in just that single instant when you see the truth about yourself reflected there.

It is easy to get caught up in the story and forget who We are. This is why we need constant reminders. It is the reason for A Course in Miracles, for the daily lessons, for these courses. Most of the time, I know this world, this body and its story are not my reality. But sometimes I start taking it very seriously, as if this is all there is to us and every little thing is of great importance. Thank God, this doesn’t happen so much anymore and when it does, I know my way out. I know that each time it happens, I remember the truth and I become stronger in the truth. It is my part in the Atonement to accept it, to make decisions for God over and over until I know nothing else. I have to be absolutely certain that I want God before God can do His part and lift me to Him.  The following is an example of a time when fear did come temporarily into my mind and how I handled it,

Yesterday, my daughter and son in law took me for a ride on the “mule”, a for wheel ATV. I didn’t really have any interest in this but said yes before I thought it through. We went over and under and through every terrain you could think of. I was jostled and had to duck to avoid being hit by branches. I didn’t enjoy it and wished I hadn’t come. First, the ego-mind blamed my daughter for inviting me. She surely knew this was not my cup of tea. This was a typical ego projection. When we don’t like how we feel, we look for someone to blame. 

I couldn’t hold onto this thought for long because it was ridiculous. All I had to do was say no and I didn’t. Then, as the terrain got really rough, I felt fear. Of course, as soon as I opened the way for the ego to interpret the situation, fear was bound to show up. At some point in the ride, I came to my senses. I remembered that fear is not real and so I must be choosing an emotion that is distressing me. So I stopped. Once I stopped, I enjoyed the rest of the ride. 

First, I had made a decision with the ego and experienced resentment and fear, then I changed my mind and made a decision with the Holy Spirit and experienced happiness. That’s the way of it in every circumstance. I already knew this but it was a good reminder. We must make these decisions every day and in each situation. I used to be upset with myself when I did something like this, when I fell back into an ego response, but now I see that it doesn’t mean anything. It is just another opportunity to reinforce the truth in my mind.

© 2020, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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