A. Development of Trust, P4
4 Next, the teacher of God must go through “a period of sorting out.” This is always somewhat difficult because, having learned that the changes in his life are always helpful, he must now decide all things on the basis of whether they increase the helpfulness or hamper it. He will find that many, if not most of the things he valued before will merely hinder his ability to transfer what he has learned to new situations as they arise. Because he has valued what is really valueless, he will not generalize the lesson for fear of loss and sacrifice. It takes great learning to understand that all things, events, encounters and circumstances are helpful. It is only to the extent to which they are helpful that any degree of reality should be accorded them in this world of illusion. The word “value” can apply to nothing else.
Journal
“It takes great learning to understand that all things, events, encounters and circumstances are helpful.”
I certainly found that to be true. At first, I was very afraid to believe this. When something I thought of as bad happened, I felt anxious at the idea of accepting it was helpful. It just seemed too counterintuitive, and I was afraid that by accepting everything I was just asking for more suffering. It felt too much like sacrifice and that was what I was afraid of all along, that God wanted my sacrifice.
Later, I began to see that some of those “bad” experiences, were actually helpful and I lost some of my fear, but I was still very selective in what I accepted. For instance, I would have a financial crisis, watch my fear thoughts and ask for healing, and experience a miracle as I became calm and even happy. I could see the value of the situation and the practice. But when it came to some of my special relationships, I was too entangled with them to consider the painful experiences as helpful.
Now, I finally have had that great learning and I never doubt that all circumstances are helpful. I believe this for myself and for all others, even for my children. That was the last great lesson for me when it comes to this particular idea. Of course, I am compassionate to my children’s suffering, but I also understand that these painful circumstances have the potential to help them wake up.
“This is always somewhat difficult because, having learned that the changes in his life are always helpful, he must now decide all things on the basis of whether they increase the helpfulness or hamper it.”
This is the sorting out that we must do. We have valued many things that are not truly valuable, and that actually hamper our awakening. I used to value my image. I wanted people to think of me in a certain way, and when they didn’t, I would be very upset. I used to value money and judged myself on the basis of how much I had. This showed up as pride in the car I could afford to drive and the brand name on my clothes as an indication of my affluence.
There are other ways we value what is not valuable. My special relationships, for instance, were very hard for me to give up, and it is even now a challenge at times. I value physical comfort. I am learning to let that one go a bit at a time. An example of how I am doing that occurred just yesterday.
It started raining while I was out and I dreaded getting out of the car and getting soaked. I know this isn’t the end of the world, but I really hate that. So I used my present mantra for these situations. I reminded myself that I can’t change this, I don’t want to change this, I am not asking anything of this situation. It is irrelevant. Because I accept this as true and want to live it, the mantra works for me.
You might wonder why this even matters. Well, there is the obvious benefit, that is, when I resisted the reality of the situation I suffered, and when I accepted the situation I didn’t suffer. But even more important is that when I believed that I hated getting rained on and that it shouldn’t happen, I was declaring myself a victim of the world. And, I was placing myself in a subcategory of people who don’t like to get wet in the rain and thus strengthening my belief in separation.
And here is the reason I don’t simply accept this sort of reasoning.
“It is only to the extent to which they are helpful that any degree of reality should be accorded them in this world of illusion. The word “value” can apply to nothing else.”
I will not value what is valueless because in doing so, I am binding myself ever so much more tightly to the illusion. So it is easy now to know if I want to keep a belief. I ask myself, “Does this belief bring me closer to the peace of God or does it take me further away?” The answer to that question determines if I a want to keep the idea or to have it corrected by the Holy Spirit. If it does not bring me closer to peace and love, closer to awakening, it has no value to me and so does not truly exist. I chuck it!
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