Together, We Light the Way

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Crisis

Robert Stoelting on view link brought up the economic crisis and I responded to his post.

—- In Following_Holy_Spirit@yahoogroups.com, “Robert & Mary Stoelting” wrote:
>
> Robert: In every moment I have a choice of who I choose as my
> companion. When I choose the ego, I experience lack and loss, guilt and fear. When I choose Holy Spirit, I experience peace, happiness, Love and safety.
Lesson 156 tells us that we make this choice a thousand times a day.

When I journaled on lesson 156 last year I commented that my mind is like teflon. The truth just doesn’t seem to stick to it. But like Robert says, I chose ego consistently for life times and now it really does require a lot of vigilance to choose differently. It requires a great deal of vigilance just to notice I have chosen the ego. But this vigilance does pay off. I am seldom caught by ego storms unaware anymore. When I do get caught in one, I am quick to choose differently. I can tell the difference in my life because it is much more peaceful and I am much happier.

Robert says:
> With the “economic crisis” that is the major topic of discussion and
> news in the U.S., this is a time to heighten our vigilance to choose our mighty Companion, Who reminds us in each moment that all of God’s abundance is ours. God’s Son cannot be harmed, for he remains eternally as Love created him.

This is indeed a good time to be very vigilant. One cannot help but be affected by the energy of fear and anxiety that is pervading our society right now. Here in Louisiana we have additional anxiety caused by two destructive hurricanes back to back which caused damage in areas of the state that have never experienced hurricane damage. It causes people to feel fearful of the unknown and uncontrollable.

Just because I am touched by this general anxiety does not mean I have to accept it or believe it. I have a choice about this. As I listen to Holy Spirit within my mind I remember what this is for. Whatever happens in my life is a result of my desire to have it there. I take full responsibility for it. The economic crisis as well as the hurricane are my responsibility even though it does not appear to be so if you look only with ego eyes.

I gladly accept that responsibility and forgive within mind the beliefs, the perceptions of lack and the perceptions of fear, the need to defend through attack and all the other perceptions that result in the creation of chaos in the illusion. As the Ho’oponopono process suggests, I look at what I have done and I say “I’m sorry, Please forgive me, I love you, Thank you.”

The ego wants to object and say that I didn’t have anything to do with this and even if I did in some metaphysical way, it was only a little bit and lots of other people are more responsible. I just laugh at the ego. There is only one mind and salvation is not personal. We are one and we are, as one, 100% responsible.

So I treat a national crisis in the same way I treat a family crisis. I look at my thoughts, beliefs, perceptions and I forgive them. I ask Holy Spirit to be with me while I look with complete honesty and fearlessness and without guilt at all I have thought which contributed to this situation. I then ask Him to correct my thoughts and heal my mind. This is what the crisis is for; it is what the hurricanes are for.

Robert says:
> My heart is filled with gratitude that a mighty Companion walks with me Who’s strength is mine and with His help I can walk the world certain of my safety.

I, too, am grateful to the Holy Spirit. I am filled with such gratitude that I cannot even find words to express it. I am also grateful to all the enlightened help that surrounds me. Some are not in body, but stand ready to support me at my request. I now choose to call on that help, help from my angels and my guides and however that might appear. In the past I pretty much ignored that possibility, but as I have learned how powerful is the support and help of my in-body mighty companions, I have also begun to call on help from those who are out of body. I gladly and gratefully accept the loving support of every part of the Sonship that stands ready to do this service.

Robert, thank you for bringing this up for healing within mind. I am grateful to you, too, providing this healing opportunity for me. It has been on many minds and I have been teaching/learning it for a few days now, but talking about it here in this group has helped me to further my own healing.

I love you.
Myron

© 2008, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Accepting Responsibility

While I may sometimes wish that my life is someone else’s fault, I know this is not true. And really, I only wish to abdicate responsibility briefly because I understand that I can do something about it if I am responsible. As always, the only solution to every seeming problem is to choose the Holy Spirit as my teacher. Holy Spirit, I feel like I understand this lesson and accept it. Is there anything you care to share with me about this?

Holy Spirit: Dear one, be very vigilant for the subtle ways the ego mind would have you place responsibility outside yourself. Be very vigilant for signs of guilt when you notice these moments. Guilt is not a helpful response. Notice your thoughts and release them. Think of guilt as holding tightly to what you don’t want.

The thing to remember always is that you are the source of your experience. This is always true and there are no exceptions. While your experience is comfortable for you it is easy to think about this. When you are feeling physically ill or when the bank account is low, or when the children are in trouble and you are feeling helpless to do anything, the ego will argue that you did not do this.

Me: Ah Holy Spirit, I am thinking about last night when I was playing with the baby and thinking that it would be most inconvenient if I were to get her cold right now. That thought indicates it would be out of my control, that something outside me could be my cause.

Holy Spirit: Yes, those are the thoughts to watch for. There is nothing outside your holy mind, so how could something outside you give you anything. Remember that you are seeking to master your thoughts, not control your world. Watch closely as the world shows you a picture of your thoughts. Be always certain that if it is in your awareness it is your responsibility. If what you see is not a reflection of truth, acknowledge this and release it. I cannot take from you what you value and want to keep, but I will always purify those thoughts which you give to me.

Me: Holy Spirit, where my mind balks is when I think of those things in my awareness but outside my immediate control, like what is happening in Iraq and when my child is having a problem. It is hard to understand what to do about any of that.

Holy Spirit: Precious child, the confusion you experience is caused from being uncertain who you are. It is so easy, yet, for you to forget that you are the Christ, because you are not experiencing yourself as the Christ. You most often still feel like you are Myron, that you are a single body living among many other single separated bodies on a planet in a solar system. When you make this mistake, you feel very small and very helpless which is exactly what you want to feel when you identify with the ego. The ego is the thought of separation and separation is the thought of helplessness and hopelessness. But it is, in the end, only a thought, and it is a lie.

We are not talking about control. Remember that control is a reaction to fear. It is not control that is the goal, nor is it the environment that is the problem. What is happening in Iraq is your responsibility because it mirrors the conflict in your mind. The same is true of what happens in the lives of your children. The ego would run around trying to influence politicians. The ego would be frantically seeking solutions to everyone’s problems. Of course this would ultimately fail and the ego would have proven the point that you are helpless and hopeless.

There is only one place that you can make a change because there is only one place where the problem exists. Look within your mind for the source of all things. The war in Iraq is simply showing you that you hold the energy of conflict within your mind. Forgive yourself for doing so. Forgive the idea of conflict and you will know it is a lie. Do not confuse that with making the war stop in Iraq. Your responsibility is to make it stop in your mind, and even in that is your responsibility limited to noticing the need to do so, being willing to release all value you have in conflict, and allowing me to heal your mind.

You may at first think it is a simple matter to release all value in conflict, but you are heavily invested in this idea.  However, if you make the decision to change your mind, the opportunities for looking at conflict will arise before you and you will be given a chance to see differently. Choose to be aware of them and not to push the thought aside. Each time you want to push the thought of conflict out of your awareness understand that this is your attempt to keep conflict. This is the result of placing value in conflict.

If you choose not to look at the conflict in your life it is because you still think you might need it one day. When you notice this happening, simply be aware. Do not allow your mind to succumb to the ego desire for guilt. Choosing not to look is just another thought and you can see this differently, too.

Me: Thank you, Holy Spirit for helping me to see this. I am willing to release conflict. I am willing to take total responsibility for everything in my awareness. I trust that I will be given the opportunities that I am ready for and that will be most helpful to my awakening.

© 2008, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Evacuating With the Holy Spirit

Day 1
The hurricane is still a good practice field for letting go. We have
spent yesterday and today preparing. We picked up every solid object
from the yard and secured it because it becomes a missle in hurricane
winds. We moved things away from the windows, and put other things in
plastic boxes in the hope of saving them if the roof comes off. I put
all my Pathways courses (there are many) in two of those boxes. I
nearly waited too long to buy them. Walmart and Target were nearly
stripped empty. When I went in it looked like they had been robbed.

This morning I am packing what will fit into my car and then will
pack the computer. We are driving to Houston where we have hotel
rooms for the next several days. Since we don’t know, yet, if we are
actually going to be hit we hate to empty the refrigerator and
freezer. On the other hand, if we don’t empty it and we do get hit it
will be about three weeks before we can come back. In that case the
refrigerator would aborb the smell of rotten meat and would have to
be thrown away.

There are lots of rumors flying around and it is hard to know which
are true. I have to watch tv to keep up, but I hate to do that
because tv is really big into drama. Yesterday I went in search of
fuel to top off my car and had a hard time finding any. While there I
listened to people talking. I heard a lot of ego chatter, a lot of
fear. It is very hard to not become part of the drama, but when I
make the effort to notice when I am getting caught up in fear
thoughts and to release them, I am able to do all that needs to be
done without getting upset. It requires constant vigilance, though.
Panic is contagious.

I notice that I will say things like: I hate not knowing where it is
going to hit. I wish it would go somewhere else. I sure hope New
Orleans doesn’t get a direct hit. That would be the end of them. I
notice what I am doing. I am wanting things to be different. I am
saying that I cannot be happy unless they are different. I am a
victim of the world I see. None of this is true. It is what it is,
and I don’t need anything to be otherwise. Everything that happens
and does not happen is an opportunity to awaken and that is all it
is. I am grateful that I have been practicing forgiveness and
acceptance.

Day 2 of Evacuating with the Holy Spirit
When I went to the lobby for coffee this morning the tv was on and,
of course, it was disaster in New Orleans talk. I began to feel very
sad for the city and everyone in it and concerned for my son who
lives and works there. Toby tends to become very stressed and then
depressed. I guess this is an appropriate reaction to the belief that
you are only a helpless and very vulnerable body living through a
disaster. I am keeping him in the Light of my rememberance of the
truth, and ask that you all join me in that prayer.

When I got back to my room I began my five minutes as Christ
meditation. I always begin by reminding myself that I and my Father
are one. This is a thought I want to hold to. It is THE thought I
want to hold to. Today as I said it I felt the truth of it as I never
have before. I sat and wept for the joy of it and for the relief of
it.

Yesterday, as we were packing up a man shows up wanting to cut down
our dead trees (they had died in the last hurricane but had
stubbornly remained standing and dangerous). I told him that I knew
they needed to come down because when they fell they were likely to
hit the house, but that I couldn’t afford to have them cut. It was
typically about $2000.00 a piece to do this. This guy and his sons
must have needed hurricane money because they cut down four trees for
$500.00. They did not remove them, but at least they were down where
they could not do damage.

After they left we noticed that one of them had fallen partially into
a ditch and would cause flooding so we had to remove that part of it.
A neighbor came out with a saw and helped us remove as much as
possible. It was really hot and difficult work, but we got it done
and hopped into the cars to leave. It is normally a 2 1/2 hour drive
to Houston but it took us 7 hours to make it yesterday. We took back
country roads and so we drove without the stop and start of the
congested freeways. Took the same amount of time but without the
frustration of bumper to bumper traffic.

We have a lovely hotel with really friendly people and enjoyed a nice
supper last night. My granddaughter (2 years old) has had pnuemonia
until yesterday when she just woke up feeling terrific. Perfect
timeing! It could have been a scary, hard, and frustrating
experience, but instead it was a pretty peaceful one. We had bought
walkie talkies and my daughter (who was in her own car and I in
mine) kept calling me mama bear and saying over and out.

We were all exhausted last night and, as I said, this morning I was
feeling some sadness until my meditation. After the meditation I have
been feeling so joyful that I can only think of having fun! My son,
Toby, is here staying at in-laws and my son, Scott, lives here. We
are all meeting with my daughter and grandkids for lunch at a mexican
place, then taking the kids to the Children’s Museum.

I know that these moments of truth, these thoughts that are worth
holding onto, do not tend to hold up against the illusion for an
indefinite time, but I also know that they never completely fade, and
that “life” is never quite the same after them. I also know that the
more times during the day that I relinquish the mistaken thoughts,
and the more times I remind myself of the truth, the easier it is to
remain in the truth no matter what is going on in the world.

On Praying for Evacuees from Regina Dawn Akers

Hi all,

I used to feel guilty when people asked me to pray for them. I thought that if someone perceived a problem in the world and wanted me to pray for them, I was validating the problem in the world and making the world real through my prayer. Yet I also knew that the request for prayer was a request for love, so I felt very confused and very guilty whenever anyone asked me to pray for them.

But then, Holy Spirit reinterpreted these words for me in NTI Philippians, Chapter 1. Here is His reinterpretation:

“I pray for you” means, I know who you are, and I know who I am, and I know what we are together.

“I pray for you” means, I know we are not separate, but connected through God, which is mind and spirit.

“I pray for you” means, I recognize our oneness, and I recognize that as I ask for you, I too shall receive.

“I pray for you” is a statement of faith that all you see and sense and experience is not all there is. It is a statement of realization that effect is the result of intent, and intent can be affected by you.

There are no chains on mind or spirit. Therefore, there is nothing to fear.

So now, when I agree to pray for someone, I realize I am not asking for a specific outcome. I am simply remembering with them (or for them, if they seem to have forgotten) that we are That Which is Real and we cannot be threatened ever, no mater what the experience is. What we are is that which was, is and shall be forever, That Which Continues. We are existence itself, “I am that I am”. And for that, I am grateful. Therefore, “I pray for you” is an expression of gratitude for our truth.

Love, Regina

To orderThe Holy Spirit’s Interpretation of the New Testament (NTI), click:
http://tinyurl.com/2kzhvb

Website - www.reginadawnakers.com
NTI study group - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NTIStudyGroup/
NTI discussion group - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NTIDiscussionGroup/

Day 3

I find Regina’s Single Quiet Thoughts from the Holy Spirit helpful and often use them to focus my mind.
—- In ACIMZEBRAS@yahoogroups.com, Regina Akers wrote:>
Your mind is closed
when it busies itself
with thinking and defining,
deciding and ideas.

This morning I woke up to a text message from my son saying that I could get information on whether we could go home if I logged onto the local TV website. They will make an announcement in a couple of hours. I think they will let us in today, but I won’t know for sure until I hear it from them. I called my house and the answering machine came on so I know I have power.

From the time I woke up until a few minutes ago, I noticed that I was getting more and more anxious. I was wondering with the ego mind if I could go home and what I should do about work and whether I have any damage. I was seeing that there are three more systems out there that will probably turn into hurricanes and I could wind up evacuating again in a few days. I was thinking, planning and deciding and I couldn’t seem to stop. I felt like a victim to my own mind.

I decided that I would do my Christ meditation. I began with reminding myself that I AM Christ, that my Father and I ARE one, and that I am that I am. It took awhile to achieve peace. My mind kept going to plans and ideas. I relaxed and remembered that the ego is just a small sliver within the Mind that I am. I set the ego in motion and it is going to continue, but I do not have to give credence to what it says. I am not the victim of the ego any more than I am the victim of the hurricane.

My chosen belief system 〈ego〉 set all of what is happening in motion. The belief in separation birthed all sorts of other beliefs and those beliefs birthed the many dramas we experience in this world of ours. So I am not the victim, but the maker of all this. I am also the one who chooses what I want to believe in and how I want to experience things.

Yesterday we decided to enjoy our evacuation. It was a true vacation day. My son Scott who lives in Houston and who we don’t see often recommended that we get together as a family for lunch at Papacitos, a well known Mexican restaurant, and what a good idea that was! I evacuated with my daughter, Sheryl and two grandkids, who I live with. And my son Toby and his girlfriend, Renee, who evacuated from New Orleans joined us. It was great!

It was really good to see Toby eating lunch without becoming violently ill. He has had something wrong with his stomach for months and for awhile there he was throwing up everytime he ate. He had lost a lot of weight and was looking bad. I had worried and fretted for a long time through this illness. At the end of July I asked friends to pray with me at a specific time. I felt the power of that prayer as a very palpable thing.

Immediately as I sat down to do my part, I felt the loving energy of that praying wash over me. It was so strong that I silently wept through the entire thing. I immediately felt healed of the anxiety and doubts that had plagued me. I heard the question, “Do you love this man enough to allow him his experience?” And I knew that I did. And that was it. I think of him now and I feel nothing but love; there is no need for him to have any certain experience just to make me feel good. Of course I would like to see him choose a happy experience, but his choices do not affect how I feel. I feel compassion because I know how it feels to choose ego over God, but I don’t feel the need to convince him of anything, nor do I feel sick that he is sick.

I didn’t think he accepted the healing, but I knew it was there for him when he wanted it. Slowly he has started to feel better and now, while he is still nauseous a lot of the time he has stopped throwing up. He sees the healing as a slow recovery that would have happened anyway and doesn’t think the prayers had anything to do with it. I see it as our minds being connected, and our light shining into his mind illuminating the truth. He is accepting it in the only way he can, a little at a time. I don’t feel any need to convince him of the power of prayer. God does not need defense. He will accept that healing when he is ready for it.

From Regina:

Leave the mind open
by listening to the heart.
It speaks too
although its Voice is quieter
and it does not use words.

Using the vehicle of my Christ meditation I have been able to Leave my mind open to hear the quiet Voice. I am feeling very peaceful again. Yesterday after lunch we took my my two year old granddaughter, Macey, to the children’s museum. We loved seeing her have so much fun. So when Toby called to see if I wanted to go to the Museum of Natural History, I was excited to join him. Nothing out there has changed; there are still the same questions and problems, but how I feel about them has totally changed. Without the anxiety I feel better, my body is healthier, my relationships undamaged by stressful responses. I am so grateful.

From Regina:
The mind can put words
to the message of the heart.
When it does this,
the mind is not thinking.
It is listening.

~From our Holy Spirit
www.reginadawnakers.com

I have done my best to put into words what I have experienced and felt this morning. It is not easy to do, and I have not expressed the healing that takes place when I am finally able to make the decision to be healed. But I do feel intense gratitude for the peace that envelopes me now. I am willing to notice when my awareness is focused on ego and to shift that awareness to the Holy Spirit. I am willing to do this all day today.

Last Day of Evacuation With Holy Spirit

They lifted the mandatory evacuation yesterday so that we could go home. There was no damage at my home because we barely caught any of the storm. In fact, a friend told me the mayor made an announcement on TV. He said that there had been a report of a twig in the road somewhere in town and he wanted to assure everyone a crew was right on it. Ha ha ha.

This is the way it is sometimes. If the path of a hurricane is near you, but uncertain, and if you live near the coast you really need to leave. I think that because of the devastation left by Katrina and Rita so recently, they over reacted and got everyone out sooner than they needed to. It causes a financial hardship for a lot of people.

Now that I am home I am looking around at the mess my room is. I have a lot of things boxed in plastic containers and since there are three possible hurricanes in the gulf I hesitate to take everything out. I’m thinking about it.

When I read Regina’s single quiet thought this morning I realized that, once again, it is very helpful for what is going on with me.
—- In ACIMZEBRAS@yahoogroups.com, Regina Akers wrote:
>
> One way to let go of
> the thinking in the thinking mind
> is to watch it.
>
> Pay attention to the stories it tells,
> not from a point of involvement and belief,
> but from the perspective of learning.
>
> What are these stories telling you?
> How are they teaching you to see the world?
> What are they asking you to expect from your brothers?
>
> Are these stories helpful?
> If not, why are you listening?
>
> ~From our Holy Spirit

I noticed that I was beginning to feel annoyed about little things that were happening, and with people who I came in contact with, people and things that would not ordinarily have bothered me at all. The truth is, when I felt that first twinge of annoyance, I felt ashamed and rather than really looking, I pushed it down where I wouldn’t have to see it. I busied myself with things and pretended I was not the small selfish person the ego was telling me I was. As a result of not looking at it with the Holy Spirit right that moment and allowing Him to correct my thinking, these kinds of thoughts kept popping up repeatedly during the course of the evacuation. They were like little splinters continually causing me discomfort, but not enough pain to motivate me to allow healing.

Of course, like splinters, if left to fester these unhealed thoughts tend to get out of hand, and before you know it I had become this bundle of reactivity. Everything people did seemed to be an attack on me personally and I reacted to them. I felt bad about that and of course the ego loves it when I feel guilty. That just reinforces fear thoughts and a sense of separation. Thank God I have had a lot of practice turning this kind of thing over to the Holy Spirit. Even though it took me a while to get to it, I forgave myself for all the projections I put on others.

It was easier to do this forgiveness work because I was noticing the stories the ego tells me. When I pay attention to them it is easy to see that these stories are not true and that they do not make me happy. Then I am more willing to relinquish them by allowing the Holy Spirit to correct my thinking.

Beyond the Thinking Mind or Another One is Coming

—- In ACIMZEBRAS@yahoogroups.com, Regina Akers wrote:>
Beyond the thinking mind
within the heart
there is reason and knowledge
that guides you.

When I got up this morning, I knew that there was something going on in my mind that I was not acknowledging. It was not immediately obvious to me what it was. I didn’t feel strong emotions, but I noticed that I stayed in bed longer than I needed to, and that I didn’t really want to get up. I would have fallen back to sleep if I could have. I knew there was something to look at, something that was disturbing my peace but I didn’t know what it was.

When I tried to think it through, my mind felt foggy. I couldn’t see clearly or get a grip on anything in particular. I picked up the closest book which was The Way of Mastery. I opened it to this question: Where am I perceiving myself as a victim of the world I see? So I decided to look at that. Immediately several circumstances came to mind and I knew that this was my problem this morning. I also knew that I could not solve this with the ego’s help. I had to get out of my thinking mind.

When you are lost from the heart,
caught up within the stories
of the thinking mind,
you are lost from this reason
and from this knowledge.

This is why you suffer.
You do not know your Self.

I started where I was. I decided to write down a list of the stories I was telling myself about victimhood and then write about each one. I started with the first thing that came to mind. There is another hurricane out there. I saw that I hated the idea of another hurricane. I thought about the cost of the last evacuation and knew that it would put a serious strain on my budget to do it again. I know my daughter simply does not have the money to pay for another one. I heard people talking about not evacuating because they could not afford it.

I thought about how much I dreaded the whole process; worrying and fretting, being uncertain about tomorrow and then the packing and making decisions about what to bring and what to leave. I thought about the destruction, the loss of property, the danger to those who remain behind. I thought, specifically, about how hard I have worked to get my little house finished so I can move out of my daughter’s house and how close I am to having it completed, and wondered if I would have to start over. It made me tired just to think about it.

I thought about my loss of income. I work for commissions and when a hurricane hits anywhere in the state I have customers who are not using my product and who are not receiving deliveries. It is going to make for a very small paycheck and now it may well get even smaller.

I was telling myself a lot of stories about this hurricane. I was believing them and so I was suffering. My stories were confusing me about who I am and that causes me to suffer.

Let go of the stories
by not believing them,
and listen intently
to the silent reason
and knowledge
of the heart.
~From our Holy Spirit.>
www.reginadawnakers.com

Writing it all down allowed me to acknowledge what was in my mind and to own it as self caused. Doing it with the Holy Spirit allowed me to do it without guilt or fear. I allowed my mind to rest a moment and opened my heart to the Holy Spirit. I felt such love and gratitude to this Voice for God. At first I was confused because I didn’t hear words, and then realized I didn’t need words because I felt peace wash over me.

I understood that I had been giving value where there was no value. I realized that there is no real value in holding onto this little part of the illusion and that the only reason I felt anxiety was because I had mistakenly thought there was. As soon as I let go of the need for the illusion to remain in a certain form, all the fear fell away.

As I quit believing the ego stories of disaster, I was able to listen to the truth. I know that this MUST be the perfect experience for me now. I know that my only purpose is to allow God to extend love through me in each moment of this experience. So all I need to do is to give my willingness to this and ask the Holy Spirit how He would have me love. I can choose only love or fear, so in choosing love the fear dissolves.

 

© 2008, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Who I Think I Am

I often begin my day with a five minute exercise of existing as if I were Christ having a human experience. This begins with bringing my attention to the present moment and becoming completely aware of that moment; what it feels like to sit in this chair, to feel the air on my face and temperature fluctuations as the air conditioner clicks on and off. I notice my body and how it feels. I notice all the little sounds I ordinarily miss; the bird outside the window, the nearly, but not quite, silent sounds of a house before anyone begins to move around.

I allow myself to be newly amazed each morning that I, as Christ, have made this extraordinary illusion, and I feel deep gratitude for God that He created me to be so perfectly free that I can, without guilt, make this extraordinary illusion. I can play at being separate from God and He loves me all the way through this impossibility.

I end the practice remembering that I and my Father are one and that no amount of imaginative play can change this. This morning I extended the practice by remaining in the present moment as much as I could. I became fully aware of only what was happening in each moment. This was unexpectedly difficult to maintain. I would start off fine, but quickly notice that I was thinking about something in the future or the past. I would then bring my attention back to the present moment, only to notice, rather soon, that my mind had wandered again.

I think that when I am completely focused on this moment, to the exclusion of all other moments, past or present, that I do exist as Christ having a human experience. And that when this happens the ego does not, for those moments, exist. This is why I keep allowing my mind to wander. I am keeping my self in existence. Of course, this self exists to the exclusion of my Self. I don’t seem to be able to be aware of both at the same time. I can know, intellectually, that they both are in my mind, but I cannot experience them both at the same time. I wonder if this realization is the result of Regina’s Single Quiet Thought from the Holy Spirit:

Who you think you are
separates you from
who you think you are not.

Who you think you are
provides you with
the opportunity to judge.

Who you think you are
is more than an experience.
It is a tool.

It is a tool that allows you
to continue to play
the game of separation.

Are you willing
to let go of
who you think you are?

~From our Holy Spirit
www.reginadawnakers.com

I am grateful for the awareness I gained today and I am going to spend the rest of this day practicing being Christ having an experience of a body rather than the body trying to be separate from God, something it can never achieve. Perhaps it will get easier as I go along.

© 2008, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Reflections on the Journey of the Soul

Usually around 10-12 we have the first stirrings of the desire to
know who we really are, but there is much to do within the world,
much to learn and so we set it aside. The same questions emerge
around mid-twenties, but again we are busy establishing ourselves in
the world, and it is often in the mid thirties or forties that the
questions begin to press upon us. We now have more time, less urgent
business within the world.

I followed this pattern myself. I was involved in religion before
that but it was a very fear based exercise. In my thirties I became
interested in God and in who I was and why I was here. By the time I
was 33 I found A Course in Miracles. However, I moved slowly through
it and used life to distract me frequently. I began reawakening to my
purpose when I approached 50. It was as if a switch had been thrown.

At 50 there was an internal prompting, as if something said, “OK, now
it is time.” This is when I found Pathways of Light and began my
ministerial studies. From that point on I felt like something within
me knew something I did not know. I would think that becoming a
minister was crazy, but then I would feel this knowing that I was
doing what I needed to do. I would doubt everything I was remembering
about the truth, and become very afraid, but then I would just know
it was alright.

I can see that there is the ego thought system of separation within
the mind which drives us for a long time as we establish our lives,
but the Memory of God, the Holy Spirit, is there as well gently
reminding us of something else. When the time is right, the reminders
are more interesting to us and we listen more closely, according to
our readiness.

At first I looked back on my life and thought about all the time I
had wasted and wished I had done better. But I understand now that I
was doing my work even while nearly completely unconscious. All of
those times when I chose to listen to ego, I was giving myself the
experiences I needed to decide what I really desired. Did I like the
way my life had gone? Did it feel good when I lost my temper, or
treated someone like they didn’t matter? Were my special
relationships fulfilling and did they bring me happiness? Now that I
had this wealth of experience, I could continue as I was, or decide
that this was not working and that I wanted to listen to the other
Teacher.

When I saw how all things really do work for good, I stopped fighting
the ego and thinking of it as enemy. It is simply the way I keep the
illusion of being separate from God going. I am not at war with it
and it stands no chance of taking me somewhere I don’t already want
to go. The only thing left to do is to back out of that thought
system by noticing where I use it in my life and deciding
differently. This is a really radically different way for me to look
at it, but it feels right to me. And it seems to work better and make
for a happier life without all the tension of being forever at war
with a part of myself

© 2008, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Ego Reaction

Slowly, a little at a time I am opening my mind to Holy Spirit and
receiving some thoughts. What I noticed this morning is that the ego
part of my mind is very uncomfortable with this process. It wants to
understand using its usual methods. For instance, how does this fit
in with the understandings that ego has developed through logic and
past experience.

This is the ego’s function as it sees it is to collect information,
organize it and use it to protect the body-mind. Like seeing that
stepping into the street without looking both ways could result in
the death of the body and so ego considers this valuable info and
files it in the brain for use when needed. This is the kind of
information the ego understands and feels comfortable with.

What the Holy Spirit gives me cannot be used in this way. This
morning as I was sitting as Christ for my five minutes of practice I
suddenly realized what a powerful mind it takes to uphold this
illusion. Those are the words I can think of but the actual
experience was far more than I can articulate. Suddenly I felt like
crying. I felt very fearful and that was when I realized that ego was
threatened by what it cannot understand. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for
helping me to understand where this fear came from, and thank you for
the immediate correction of this thought.

© 2008, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Give me your blessing.

When I first started doing the lessons some of them were so beautiful and so comforting, some went right over my head, and some I was obviously afraid of. Then I reached a point where I knew that I didn’t really understand any of them and I was afraid of all of them. Now I seem to be more accepting and less fearful. Speaking each one feels like a sacred moment, and each word is filled with meaning. These lessons feel like old friends returning with new gifts as I am more and more open to accepting them. I am learning not to struggle, and that I don’t need to wrestle the gift from the lesson; quiet, honest acceptance elicits meaning, and what I am not ready for will be disclosed later when I am less afraid.

What is interesting to me is that the longer I study and practice the simpler it all becomes. “God is but Love, and therefore so am I.” God is Love and nothing else. I am created like God and so I am only love. Nothing else is true. “I am as God created me.”  Every bit of evidence to the contrary is false because only this is true. All my fears and doubts are just the effect of imaginative child’s play and change nothing. I am still as God created me.

“Give me your blessing holy Son of God” is the request I make of each brother and what he gives me is truly a blessing. If it seems like an attack it is because I have mistaken who he is and so have forgotten who I am. I ask for his gift and do not judge it on appearances. I cannot judge on my own because the ego has taught me insane lessons of lack, fear and uncertainty. My vision is no longer clear and so I go to my Helper and ask clarity. I know there is only blessing from my dear brother and I am ready to see it as such.

I am so filled with gratitude this morning, and I ask that Holy Spirit come forward in my mind and accompany me as I enter the more active classrooms of this school. I have visited them with the ego and have not found it helpful.

Holy Spirit: Precious child, I have always been with you and will never leave you. I am part of you and it is My function to guide you. We are filled with love and gratitude for the vigilance you have shown as you practice the Course. We rejoice as we watch you slowly open your eyes and learn to see truly. For a while longer you will be tempted by the ego, and will be drawn back into the dream, but, as I have said before, never again will you be completely lost in it.

Myron, do not allow yourself to think of the ego as a powerful adversary. The Son of God has no adversary. The ego is just a thought. It is the thought that there is something other than God. In dreams it seems to have caused untold pain and fear. It is the thought of murder and guilt, but in the end it is only a thought.

How often have you thought one thing and then changed your mind? Because you have held this thought for so long and because you have defended it with layers of concealment you have made it seem something more than just a thought, but I assure you that is all it is. When you are ready you will simply stop thinking it, and all that will be left in your mind is the love of God.

© 2008, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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