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Study of Text, Chapter 13: VII. Attainment of the Real World, P 9. 10-10-16

VII. ATTAINMENT OF THE REAL WORLD, P 9
9 You will first dream of peace, and then awaken to it. Your first exchange of what you made for what you want is the exchange of nightmares for the happy dreams of love. In these lie your true perceptions, for the Holy Spirit corrects the world of dreams, where all perception is. Knowledge needs no correction. Yet the dreams of love lead unto knowledge. In them you see nothing fearful, and because of this they are the welcome that you offer knowledge. Love waits on welcome, not on time, and the real world is but your welcome of what always was. Therefore the call of joy is in it, and your glad response is your awakening to what you have not lost.

Journal
We were in Heaven, knowing ourselves as One in God. We decided to dream of more than one and the dream became a nightmare. But it is just a dream and we are awakening now. We are backing out a step at a time just as we came into the dream. Our first step is to leave the nightmares behind and return to the happy dream. Our acceptance of the happy dream signals our desire to awaken from the dream. Love waits on our welcome.

This is accomplished as we realize that we are the cause of our unhappiness and make a decision to change our mind. This decision, this true desire for happiness is what triggers the Holy Spirit in our mind. The Holy Spirit then corrects our perception and brings it close to truth. So our part is to become aware of what we are doing and to truly desire a change. Salvation asks so little of us.

My younger daughter and I talked about her getting married. She had not decided how she wanted to do this, and was thinking about just going to the courthouse and getting it done. I think she was actually feeling me out to see how I felt about this. I had done my older daughter’s wedding for her and when my younger son planned to be married he intended me to do his. Perhaps she wanted to see if I objected to alternate plans. I told her that it is her wedding and she should do what she wanted to do. That was awhile back.

Last night we all attended her baby shower, family and friends. I had the thought that everyone was gathered, and this would be a good time for them to get married. As it turned out she had planned this big surprise. She had someone there to perform the ceremony and we all watched as Susan and Mike were married. My first reaction was surprising to me.

I felt embarrassed in front of my family that she did not confide in me and that I was not the one officiating. Then I felt rejected and somewhere between angry and sad. I watched all those feelings pass through me and I thought they would just keep going, but evidently I believed them because they stayed. I tried to talk myself out of them but that hardly ever works. It is not our job to correct our perception, only to want correction.

Finally, when I got home, I asked for help. I saw that the only thing happening here is that I was defending my self-image. I have done the weddings for my family members since I was ordained and I had an image of myself as that person. I have always presented myself as a good mother, one who is loved by her children. I often felt less than that, but it is the image I presented to the world, and now I felt the loss of that image.

It seems that I thought I needed her to show the world (and me) how special I am to her. I was reminded of how much work we put into maintaining our images, and the images are nothing. We are the Son of God, we are perfect Love, and yet here I am bemoaning the loss of an imagined illusory image.

It was still hard to let go of the desire to do so. I used the Rules for Decision. I understood that I had judged the situation. I decided what it meant, and once I had done that, my reaction was pretty much fixed. So if I wanted to return to peace and to love, I had to undo that decision. I knew it was too late for the quick restorative, so I began the step by step change of mind.

I at least knew that this thinking was not making me happy and so I hoped I was wrong. I wanted another way to look at this. I had to come back to that a few times because at first I didn’t want another way to look at it. What I really wanted was for her to know she hurt my feelings and to be sorry for it. I’m very glad that I didn’t express that out loud, knowing that I would change my mind about it. I sure wouldn’t want her special moment to be forever tainted by my unhappiness, and that kept me in check until I could allow the healing.

Finally, I knew that I wanted another way to see this. And I began to accept that maybe there was another way to see. (do ya think?) ~smile~ And my mind and heart began to open to that new perception. I really, really wanted this new perception, this true perception. I could make no image that comes close to what I was created. I understood that trading my Divinity for specialness was no real bargain at all. I saw how painful it is to need “proof” of love and approval. I wanted healing and that was my only job. The correction itself was out of my hands and so I simply allowed it.

This seems to be the way perception is corrected. My experience of this, after doing the practice for a number of years now, is that as I have become vigilant for my thoughts and beliefs and have allowed them to be corrected, I have become much happier. I haven’t slipped into that permanent state of a happy dream. As I can see from last night’s experience, I still have trouble letting go of some false beliefs that cause unhappiness. But I also see that I am willing to let them go even if it feels hard at first. Love is waiting for me to make it welcome, and I am doing that.

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

Study of Text, Chapter 13: VII. Attainment of the Real World, P 8. 10-7-16

VII. Attainment of the Real World, P 8

8 The peace of God passeth your understanding only in the past. Yet here it is, and you can understand it now. God loves His Son forever, and His Son returns his Father’s Love forever. The real world is the way that leads you to remembrance of the one thing that is wholly true and wholly yours. For all else you have lent yourself in time, and it will fade. But this one thing is always yours, being the gift of God unto His Son. Your one reality was given you, and by it God created you as one with Him.

Journal
I can have the peace of God right now and in having it I can understand it. But it must be now, not in the nowhere time of the past or the future. That is why I am forming the habit of noticing when I am in the past or the future and then making a decision to be in the present moment. At first it felt like an impossible task, but now it is easier. As I stay more in the present, I am more in the presence of Love and that is a powerful motivation.

I have been sending my son encouraging text messages once a day while he is going through this difficult time. He hasn’t answered me this week. The ego mind is making up all kinds of dreadful stories. Then I heard something very upsetting about a niece and that added to my sense of dread. The ego stories quickly pile up and take on a heaviness that they don’t actually have.

But I am also aware of what is happening. About the time I start to feel desperate, I remember that this is a story. It is an illusion and not actually happening. I am watching the story and my son and my niece are watching their stories. I ask for a different way to view this, a way I can detach from them. I suddenly had the memory of a section I read in The Afterlife of Billy Fingers. He was watching scenes from his life, not with guilt or fear but with interest. I felt like that memory was made available to me in answer to my prayer. I am willing to watch this story and all my seeming errors without fear and guilt and only with interest.

I was also reminded that I could look at the future that the ego stories point to, or I can return to the present moment where I will find the peace of God. That is my choice and one I make in every moment. After all, what is actually happening in this moment? I am not at peace because I am imagining some other moment. Right now, right this moment I reside in God’s Love. Nothing can touch me here.

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

Study of Text, Chapter 13: VII. Attainment of the Real World, P 7. 10-6-16

VII. Attainment of the Real World, P 7

7 It is God’s Will that nothing touch His Son except Himself, and nothing else comes nigh unto him. He is as safe from pain as God Himself, Who watches over him in everything. The world about him shines with love because God placed him in Himself where pain is not, and love surrounds him without end or flaw. Disturbance of his peace can never be. In perfect sanity he looks on love, for it is all about him and within him. He must deny the world of pain the instant he perceives the arms of love around him. And from this point of safety he looks quietly about him and recognizes that the world is one with him.

Journal
What an incredible paragraph this is! I remember Cate’s suggestion that we read the words as if Jesus was sitting next to us, saying them to us. I did this, and I did it in first person. As written these words have a strong impact. Reading them in first person with the inflections I imagine Jesus would use if speaking directly to me, the impact is powerful. Would you like to try this? Read it slowly, seeing Jesus sitting beside you, or before you. Imagine him leaning into you, his eyes sparkling with intensity, his voice filled with love as he shares this news with you.

And then Jesus says to you:
It is God’s Will that nothing touch You except Himself, and nothing else comes nigh unto you. You are as safe from pain as God Himself, Who watches over you in everything. The world about you shines with love because God placed you in Himself where pain is not, and love surrounds you without end or flaw. Disturbance of your peace can never be. In perfect sanity you look on love, for it is all about you and within you. You must deny the world of pain the instant you perceive the arms of love around you. And from this point of safety you look quietly about you and recognize that the world is one with you.

Even after all these years of study, I have to very deliberately shift my thinking from ego to God when I read truth like this in the Course. I am more used to thinking of myself as needy, someone who lacks, someone who has a lot of work yet to do to be ready for the truth, to be able to accept the truth. I still have enough belief in guilt in my mind to deny that this is true right now. So I have to shift my mind. This is why I use this technique. I imagine that this is true for me, and wait for it to sink in. I read it slowly. I read it with feeling. I open my heart and ask for the meaning of those words to fill me.

Can this be true right now? Can it really be that it is God’s Will that nothing touch me except Himself, and nothing else comes nigh unto me? Am I really as safe from pain as God Himself? Does God watch over me in everything? I want to know that this is true, to feel it in my heart of hearts. I have been staring into the illusion as if it were true, and doing it for so long that I must tear my eyes away from it so that I can know God, even though He surrounds me with Himself.

In the morning I start my day by deciding with God what kind of day I want. This morning, I have decided I will look on the world and see the love that is all around me without end and without flaw. And if anything comes to disturb my peace I will shift my mind to God again. I will know safety. I will know that all I perceive is one with me, and that as one, we are surrounded by God. Nothing can touch me except God.

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

Study of Text, Chapter 13: VII. Attainment of the Real World, P 6. 10-5-16

VII. Attainment of the Real World, P 6

6 No one in this distracted world but has seen some glimpses of the other world about him. Yet while he still lays value on his own, he will deny the vision of the other, maintaining that he loves what he loves not, and following not the road that love points out. Love leads so gladly! As you follow Him, you will rejoice that you have found His company, and learned of Him the joyful journey home. You wait but for yourself. To give this sad world over and exchange your errors for the peace of God is but your will. And Christ will always offer you the Will of God, in recognition that you share it with Him.

Journal
This morning I glimpse the other world. I follow love gladly because it feels so good! It feels like joy. It feels like I am supported and cared for. It feels like I am cherished. It also feels like I am something that I don’t remember, a mystery, but a mystery just only out of reach, something very close. There is this sense of happy anticipation.

I see the ego thoughts in my mind trying to pull me back to its world of separate beings with separate thoughts and separate goals. It reminds me of things I need to worry about, things that need my attention, things that are sure to go wrong. It wants to be angry and fearful. It wants to find the guilty party. It wants to overcome others and be the winner. It is dark and foreboding, the best of its gifts fleeting and unsatisfying.

But right now in this moment, I just don’t care about ego, and am uninterested in its offerings or its warnings. Just in this moment, I am carried by peace, by Love. And just this moment is the only reality that exists. In this moment is the Will of God, and in this one moment, I share it with Him. I have thought that the world had meaning and value and I sought for my place in it. And I suppose that this will happen again for awhile, but maybe not. Who knows, maybe I will follow Him gladly all day long, maybe all the way Home.

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

Study of Text, Chapter 13: VII. Attainment of the Real World, P 5. 10-3-16

VII. ATTAINMENT OF THE REAL WORLD, P 5
5 You have been wrong about the world because you have misjudged yourself. From such a twisted reference point, what could you see? All seeing starts with the perceiver, who judges what is true and what is false. And what he judges false he does not see. You who would judge reality cannot see it, for whenever judgment enters reality has slipped away. The out of mind is out of sight, because what is denied is there but is not recognized. Christ is still there, although you know Him not. His Being does not depend upon your recognition. He lives within you in the quiet present, and waits for you to leave the past behind and enter into the world He holds out to you in love.

Journal
I love the sentence where Jesus tells us that all seeing begins with the perceiver. I will perceive according to my understanding, and according to my desire for one thing or another to be true. What I desire to see, I will see even if it is illusion and not really there. What I judge against, I will not see though it is there. So what I see in my world is only and always what I choose to see, what I want to see. When I first realized that was true, it was a startling revelation.

How is it that I came to see some of the pretty awful things that have shown up in this life experience of mine? They are here because I have misjudged myself. I have judged myself worthy of nothing else. How is it that my life has become more peaceful and loving? I have stopped judging myself as much, and have given that function back to the Holy Spirit where it belongs. And so I am beginning to accept my true nature, rather than the ego version I made to take its place.

My true nature is love, and acknowledging that nature, I have begun to see love everywhere. I feel loved, and I give love. I feel cherished and valued, and I cherish and value others. This used to be a rare feeling for me, and undependable, coming and going for no apparent reason, and often questioned and doubted even when it occurred. That seldom happens anymore.

When some little doubt tries to find a place in my mind, it usually withers before it can grow. Doubt and fear cannot grow where peace abides. When it does find a place in my mind, I begin to weed it out immediately, asking the Holy Spirit to purify my mind once again.

I have so often in the past struggled to see the Christ in another, to experience that elusive Christ Vision the Course talks about. I finally began to realize that Christ isn’t seen with the body’s eyes, and is not realized with the ego thinking- mind. Now I am opening my heart to the Christ within that has seemed absent to me only in my confusion. I open my heart to know the Christ in me, and this is the prerequisite to seeing it in others.

The Christ resides in a peaceful mind, in a loving mind. This peaceful, loving mind is in me and always will be, having been established in my creation. I become aware of it, as I desire it. I learn that I desire the peaceful loving mind as I turn from the ego offering of self-will, which inevitably bring chaos, drama, hatefulness, fear and guilt. The more often I choose God over ego, the more certain I become that this is the choice I want to make every time.

And speaking of time, I have learned something about this through experience. The Course tells me that time is not real and that past and future do not exist. It tells me that Loves Eternal Presence can be found only in this present moment. I have seen that this is true and so I know it. Because I know it as true, and because being in the presence of Love is a blissful experience, I choose this as often as I can.

I am still in the practice stage of making this choice, but just thinking about it brings tears of joy to my eyes, so I know I will continue to make the choice. It feels hard right now because my mind is so used to wandering to the past or the future. Keeping it in the present sometimes feels like I am herding cats. But I have already, even with such little effort that I have made, experienced the effects of this choice and so I will keep doing this until wandering away from the present moment is a rarity.

© 2016, Pathways of Light. https://dev.pathwaysoflight.org
You may freely share copies of this with your friends, provided this notice is included.

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Posted by Rev. Myron Jones.

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