Lesson 178
God is but Love, and therefore so am I.
(165) Let not my mind deny the Thought of God.
God is but Love, and therefore so am I.
(166) I am entrusted with the gifts of God.
God is but Love, and therefore so am I.
My Review
One day, I was talking to someone I love very much. He talked about all the things that are wrong and about his victimization. I wondered what to say to him and opened my mind to Spirit for guidance. I heard nothing and so just listened and loved. Knowing what I know, it is easy to see ego thinking in others, easier to see it in them than in me sometimes. But sharing this information is not always helpful to them. My hard and fast rule is to speak only with guidance.
I woke up this morning thinking about my friend and wondering if there was some way to help. I went through various possible conversations in my mind but discarded each. Bottom line; he didn’t ask for my help, and I received no guidance to offer. (If I felt uncomfortable with his situation Byron Katie might ask me whose business I was in. If he is in his business, and I am mentally in his business, who is taking care of mine?) I can look at my reaction to his comments and ask the Holy Spirit to teach me to look past error to see only truth. Perhaps that is all I am supposed to do with this, and perhaps the reason it keeps coming up in my mind is not for his healing, but mine.
Just before I started this lesson, I thought of him again and asked the Holy Spirit to let me know if I was to say anything to my friend, and to please be very clear about it. My eye went to this message in Lesson 166. Jesus says the gifts of God are for me to give, but then he says to teach by showing the happiness that comes from feeling the touch of Christ. He says that if I live in fear, I am teaching that fear is justified. I have been entrusted with the world’s release from fear. My job is to not betray that trust. The way I do this is to live a happy transformed life. This is a pretty clear message to me.
When I know something that has helped me it can be very tempting to preach it, especially to someone I have a strong connection to. I sincerely want to help. I am a word person and I am most comfortable using words, but nothing teaches like an example. In fact, without example, the words are empty and useless. My experience has been that when a person is ready for something new his mind will open enough to notice that someone else seems to have it. Then he will ask for help, or in some way open that door. Storming the door before he is ready will just cause him to barricade against the assault.
Holy Spirit, thank you for the many ways in which you speak to me. Thank you for finding a way to help me hear your messages.
Another Time I Chose Again
This was written when there was a catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. I couldn’t help but see that it is just as appropriate now.
There is much talk right now about disasters and other scary stuff. It can be easy to get pulled into this especially since there seems to be so much evidence to prove that life is scary. If you live on this planet you have seen pictures of the Gulf oil spill. Living near the Gulf, I am bombarded with information about it. Much of this information invites me to join in grievances against the oil companies, the governor, the president or just about anyone who is available to be a target for the fear so many are experiencing right now. The human experience is about projection, and the bigger the fear the more quickly we project.
When I first realized the extent of the oil spill in the Gulf, I was shocked. I got drawn into disaster scenarios and, like many other people I began projecting my fear onto others such as BP. I became afraid of the upcoming hurricane season and began imagining how awful it would be to experience a storm surge with all that oil out there in the gulf and I would get angrier than before. I noticed that I seemed to be compelled to talk about the situation with others.
After a while, though, the years of practicing vigilance noticing my thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and then asking the Holy Spirit to correct my thinking and heal my mind, paid off. I was very uncomfortable with the way the ego was directing my life in this area and asked the Holy Spirit for help. I soon realized that there is one thing I can do to be helpful. I can remember that everything in my life is here by invitation. I am not the victim of my world, but the cause. So the solution is to change my mind.
The oil spill is just another form the separation thought takes. One problem; one solution. I ask the Holy Spirit to heal in my mind of the thoughts that contribute to upheavals within the world. It doesn’t matter if the upheavals seem to be in my personal life, or if they play out on a bigger stage. My only responsibility is that I heal my mind, which, of course, helps heal the mind of the Son.
As I accepted correction from the Holy Spirit, I have noticed that I am no longer joining in frightening conjecture with others, nor do I follow that path within my own mind. I am no longer looking for someone onto whom I can project my fears. I am sitting with my fears and using this as an opportunity to experience that fear cannot hurt me. It is disturbing only if I believe it is. I need plenty of practice with this because it is easy to forget.
I don’t want to see the earth abused. But I am not choosing to follow the ego into the pits of an angry hell as I project my fear and guilt onto others and imagine the worst possible outcomes. I don’t sit around watching the media hype it up. I don’t join my anger with the anger of others. I don’t passively accept my mind’s tendency to project. As a result, I am an island of peace and attract those who are ready to consider this option over the option of anger, guilt, and blame.
As my friend, Sonja, said last night, “We are the lightworkers and this is our opportunity and it is our responsibility to step up. If not now, then when?” I am the light of the world. That is why I am here. I choose to step out of the darkness where the ego would have me dwell, and be the light that we all long for. Please join me.
I love you.
I’m sorry.
Please forgive me for whatever is going on within me that is causing this problem.
Thank you.
I can substitute any current disaster for the Gulf oil spill, from my own little personal disasters to the large-scale disasters. The solution is always the same. We are innocent. We are the Sons of God. We are deeply loved. We are invulnerable. We are one.
I forgive myself for using this disaster to attack my holy self. (Thank you, Nouk, for this very simple and helpful prayer.)
From Regina
Regina said something in a tip from an earlier lesson. She said: “…from NTI Ephesians, Colossians and Luke 9: As we contemplate our truth, the clean energy of our truth goes into the world as grace. As grace, it will do what it does to correct misperceptions and miscreation.”
I think this is the most important thing I can do in the world. I keep my focus on who I really am, on the Self. I remember that I am not the illusion of this body/personality that I seem to be. I remember that beneath that mask, I am Love Itself. As I do this, I also allow my Higher Self to guide me as to what I am to do in the world when there is something that must be done. From a consistent practice of remembering that I am Love, my mind is open and receptive to any guidance I receive.
I am, in union with my brothers, the Thought of God. It is not enough to say that I am the Thought of God if I am going to deny it through my thoughts, words, and actions. When I follow thoughts into a story and I find myself angry or resentful or any of the other emotional states that the story calls for, my mind is denying the Thought of God. That is why I am vigilant for my thoughts. When I see that I am interested in one and it is taking me into the virtual world again, I stop it quickly before I am too deep into the story. If I fail to do that, I let the story go as soon as I can.