Saturday, January 30, 2010

I Looked at Death and it Disappeared!

It happened while I was in bed sleeping early the other morning. I was having one of those highly vivid, seemingly symbolic dreams that felt completely real just like the waking dream usually does. You know the kind, where when you wake up, you remember every detail because you just lived it! Or so it seemed...

Anyway, I wanted to take the kids to Seaworld in Canada. I was driving in the car with the kids, and I saw a street sign. It said Niagara Falls Blvd. I pulled over, and the kids and I jumped out of the car and ran into this bridal salon to ask for directions. I asked the people who worked there, but they ignored me. I also asked the customers, and they ignored me too.

I found myself going into malls and bowling alleys asking everyone if they knew how to get to Seaworld in Canada. They either ignored me or said a bunch of stuff I couldn't follow. I saw a guy with blue hair and a yellow shirt who was saying he was from Vancouver, and I asked him and he said, "No."

Finally, I decided to get in the car by myself and see if I could find it. I could bring the kids back later when I knew how to get there. I found myself on a stretch of highway that briefly looked familiar, like the stretch right by my house. I quickly realized it wasn't by my house, but I remembered being on this highway many times before and always getting lost. I thought, I hate this stupid place, and I veered to the right to round a curve, but I cut the wheel too soon, and drove right off a cliff that was hundreds or thousands of feet high. I wholeheartedly believed it was not survivable.

My first thought was I can't believe I just did that! Then, I joined with J in my mind. Then, I thought of my kids and their dad and in my mind I said I'm so sorry and I love you to them. Then I thought about how shocked and dismayed my mother would be. Then I wondered if it would hurt when I landed. Then I wondered why I hadn't landed yet. Then, I opened my eyes to take a peak and saw that I was in my bed! And then, I was thrilled! Thrilled, I tell you!

Paraphrasing from the Course and The Disappearance of the Universe, There is no death. The Son of God is free!

If plummeting thousands of feet off a cliff in a 95 Buick Century ain't no cause for alarm, then maybe there just ain't no cause for alarm, after all?

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Did President Obama...

...read The Disappearance of the Universe or what? Holy Shmola, I love this guy! Everything he said during the State of the Union Address this evening could have come right out of either one of Gary's books.

I keep hearing about how his approval rating is low, and it seems every time I turn on the TV someone is criticizing him and I think, "Have you lost your freaking mind?" And then I think, "Oh, yeah, you have, we all have or we wouldn't think we were here in the first place." Good to know!

Anyway, I'm dreaming I'm a democrat. It's wild how that old separation idea appears to play itself out with the republicans and the democrats. While President Obama was speaking, they kept showing this little group of guys who refused to clap. I caught myself wondering if any democrats have ever done that to a republican President and thinking probably not.

So, instead of attacking myself, I did what any Course student would do, I joined with J and forgave instead!

And that's what it's all about!

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Mysterious Aches and Pains

So, I've been experiencing these mysterious aches and pains. One day the skin on the back of my right thigh just started hurting. Yesterday, my right elbow started hurting, and last night it was chest pains and a headache.

I tried to comprehend that pain is a mental process rather than a physical one. This pain thing seems so freaking real when you're experiencing it. Although, none of the aches and pains described above, are anything compared to say labor and childbirth which is in my experience, pain beyond comprehension!

The Course is very clear that the guiltless mind can't suffer. I do still think I'm a guilty body. My whole life I've felt like something terrible had happened, and it was all my fault. There's obviously work to be done, but I have to say that I'm not one bit opposed to seeking relief on this level while I practice forgiveness with Jesus in my mind.

It seems I've built up quite a case against myself, and I want to let Him throw it out!

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

So, Just a Few Days Ago...

I started rereading the text of the Course again. I'm not far, but as I read through the Principles of Miracles, number 45 really jumped out at me. It says, "A miracle is never lost. It may touch many people you have not even met, and produce undreamed of changes in situations of which you are not even aware."

So, I started kind of thinking about that one as I continued to read, and then I get to page 10 and J says, "That the miracle may have effects on your brothers that you may not recognize is not your concern."

Sheesh! I wasn't concerned. I was just thinking!

It's funny how highly personal our experiences with Jesus and His Course can be while we learn that we're not even people!

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Wow!

Okay, have you figured out that when I don't actually have anything dazzling to say, I post a quote? Well, here's another one. This time, I just opened the text and found page 236, Chapter 13, THE GUILTLESS WORLD; INTRODUCTION:

If you did not feel guilty you could not attack, for condemnation is the root of attack. It is the judgment of one mind by another as unworthy of love and deserving of punishment. But herein lies the split. For the mind that judges perceives itself as separate from the mind being judged, believing that by punishing another, it will escape punishment. All this is but the delusional attempt of the mind to deny itself, and escape the penalty of denial. It is guilt that has obscured the Father to you, and it is guilt that has driven you insane.

The acceptance of guilt into the mind of God's Son was the beginning of the separation, as the acceptance of the Atonement is its end. The world you see is the delusional system of those made mad by guilt. Look carefully at this world, and you will realize that this is so. For this world is the symbol of punishment, and all the laws that seem to govern it are the laws of death. Children are born into it through pain and in pain. Their growth is attended by suffering, and they learn of sorrow and separation and death. Their minds seem to be trapped in their brain, and its powers to decline if their bodies are hurt. They seem to love, yet they desert and are deserted. They appear to lose what they love, perhaps the most insane belief of all. And their bodies wither and gasp and are laid in the ground, and are no more. Not one of them but has thought that God is cruel.

If this were the real world, God would be cruel. For no Father could subject His children to this as the price of salvation and be loving. Love does not kill to save. If it did, attack would be salvation, and this is the ego's interpretation, not God's. Only the world of guilt could demand this, for only the guilty could conceive of it. Adam's "sin" could have touched no one, had he not believed it was the Father Who drove him out of Paradise. For in that belief the knowledge of the Father was lost, since only those who do not understand Him could believe it.

This world is a picture of the crucifixion of God's Son. And until you realize that God's Son cannot be crucified, this is the world you will see. Yet you will not realize this until you accept the eternal fact the God's Son is not guilty. He deserves only love because he has given only love. He cannot be condemned because he has never condemned. The Atonement is the final lesson he need learn, for it teaches him that, never having sinned, he has no need of salvation.

Wow!

Monday, January 11, 2010

From the Manual for Teachers...

Well, I wanted to post a quote from the section in the Manual called, WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF GOD'S TEACHERS? My current favorite is:

VIII. Patience:

Those who are certain of the outcome can afford to wait, and wait without anxiety. Patience is natural to the teacher of God. All he sees is certain outcome, at a time perhaps unknown to him as yet, but not in doubt. The time will be as right as is the answer. And this is true for everything that happens now or in the future. The past as well held no mistakes; nothing that did not serve to benefit the world, as well as him to whom it seemed to happen. Perhaps it was not understood at the time. Even so, the teacher of God is willing to reconsider all his past decisions, if they are causing pain to anyone. Patience is natural to those who trust. Sure of the ultimate interpretation of all things in time, no outcome already seen or yet to come can cause them fear.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Mikey's DU Quote of the Day...

Mike Lemieux, aka, giddyupmikey, is a fellow repeat reader of Gary Renard's books, and he's also a student of A Course in Miracles. He does a lot of cool stuff with all this cool stuff, and you can check him out by clicking on his link on the top, right of this page!

Anyway, his quote for today came from Your Immortal Reality on page 53. This is Arten speaking:

True forgiveness means you don't judge and condemn another. There's not really any sin and guilt out there, because none of this is happening except in a dream and dreams are not real. So J counsels you in His Course not to make the ideas of sin and guilt real in the people, events, and situations you see in the world. When you seem to see some twisted form of the original error rising to frighten you, say only, 'God is not fear, but Love,' and it will disappear.

I love this quote. It couldn't be any clearer! Thanks, Mike, for posting these! I'll take all the reminders that I can get!

God Is

Thursday, January 7, 2010

I'm Just Saying...

I have someone in my life who provides me with many, many forgiveness opportunities. Yay!

For awhile, up to and including yesterday, I had been feeling a lot of resistance to this person. I've done every forgiveness thought process I've ever heard about 2,347,982 times. And then suddenly, lastnight, there was a "poof" and then no more resistance. Then the stuff I heard coming out of my mouth was like the perfect stuff to be saying to this person, and it was happening with no thought from me.

Then later, I thought, I must be doing a really good job with this forgiveness, and then I thought what if I'm feeling temporarily good on account of I managed to project some of my unconscious guilt onto this person, and then I thought, nah!

I'm doing it, and it works. I'm just saying...

Monday, January 4, 2010

It's a Done Deal!

That's a cool idea. It means that everyone, without exception, is going to wake up and realize they were really safe at home in heaven the whole time! What a permanent revelation that'll be!

Eventually, true forgiveness leads to the knowing that the separation from God never occurred which is the atonement. It's all so simple, yet knowing all that doesn't mean I know all that. That's the thing.

It seems to take a while to remove the blocks to the awareness of love's presence. Apparently, if I woke up too quickly it wouldn't be pleasant. That is beyond my comprehension...

Now that I think of it, most all of this is beyond my comprehension, but I don't let it slow me down any. I have a feeling that the kindest thing I could ever do for anyone is learn and apply A Course in Miracles, and so, I will.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

It's a Blizzard Out There!

So, we were supposed to get like 3 to 6 inches of snow today, but so far we've gotten like 3 to 6 feet! It's almost like a freak of nature out there. Man, oh man, I know what it's for though. Everything is for the same thing...

I'm working on it. Hey, how about a group weather forgiveness thought process?

It couldn't hurt!

I'll borrow from Pursah in the Disappearance of the Universe: You're not really there. If I think you're guilty or the cause of the problem, and if I made you up, then the imagined guilt(cold) and fear(snow) must be in me. Since the separation from God never occurred, I forgive "both" of us for what we haven't really done. Now, there is only innocence and I join with the Holy Spirit in warmth, I mean peace.

And now I'm happy to report that in my mind, it's summer, probably.

Friday, January 1, 2010

Happy New Year!

Here's a little Course quote to start the new year off! It's from the section called, Christmas as the End of Sacrifice:

This is the time in which a new year will soon be born from the time of Christ. I have perfect faith in you to do all that you would accomplish. Nothing will be lacking, and you will make complete and not destroy. Say, then, to your brother:

I give you to the Holy Spirit as part of myself.
I know that you will be released, unless I want to use you to imprison myself.
In the name of freedom I choose your release, because I recognize that we will be released together.

So will the year begin in joy and freedom. There is much to do, and we have been long delayed. Accept the holy instant as this year is born, and take your place, so long left unfulfilled, in the Great Awakening. Make this year different by making it all the same. And let all your relationships be made holy for you. This is our will. Amen.