Lesson 253
My Self is ruler of the universe.
It is impossible that anything should come to me unbidden by myself. Even in this world, it is I who rule my destiny. What happens is what I desire. What does not occur is what I do not want to happen. This must I accept. For thus am I led past this world to my creations, children of my will, in Heaven where my holy Self abides with them and Him Who has created me.
You are the Self Whom You created Son, creating like Yourself and One with You. My Self, which rules the universe, is but Your Will in perfect union with my own, which can but offer glad assent to Yours, that it may be extended to Itself.
Journal
The first paragraph is an abridged version of Lesson 152, The power of decision. I do fully accept that everything in my world comes from my desire to have it there and nothing I want is missing. I love that my world is changing because it witnesses to my change of mind. I look forward to a complete change of mind and to a return to Heaven and my creations, the children of my will. Wake me up, Father! I miss You.
The second paragraph is profound in its implications. It seems to me to be saying that I am One with God and God is One with me. God created me but He created me as an extension of Himself and thus there is no difference and no separation. This is, of course, referring to my Self, not to the self of my imagination.
Regina’s Tips on What is Sin?
Our special theme says, “The body is the instrument the mind made in its efforts to deceive itself. Its purpose is to strive. Yet can the goal of striving change. And now the body serves a different aim for striving. … Truth can be its aim …”
Actually the mind strives, and the body follows. The mental chatter that you experience is striving—it is not rest. It is striving to accomplish the ego’s “idle wish” for separation.
Admittedly, spiritual practice is also striving. However, it is striving with a different purpose. It is striving to let go of the striving that creates illusion and to return to the state of rest in which the truth is realized.
My Thoughts
Regina offered some quotes to contemplate throughout the day. My favorites were these.
“Mere listening, even memorizing, is not enough. If you do not struggle hard to apply every word of [the teaching] in your daily life, don’t complain that you made no progress.”
“When you are dead earnest, you bend every incident, every second of your life to your purpose.”
I do both these things. I strive to apply and I know my goal and use everything to that purpose. The quote I need to work with is this one.
“You are the infinite focused in a body. Now you see the body only. Try earnestly and you will come to see the infinite only.”
Regina’s Tips on the lesson
There is a simple way to see the teaching above.
If I want illusion, I get illusion.
If I want truth, truth is realized.
How do I know what I want?
What is my life about? What am I applying myself toward?
My Thoughts
Ever since I realized that I needed to choose one goal and stick to it, awakening has been easier and the shifts I have experienced have come more quickly. My one goal is the peace of God. It is my aim, my purpose, and my function. In this way, I have a clear-cut path to walk. If I notice a desire that is not going to move me toward the peace of God, which is the same as awakening, then I’m not interested. I give it away because it is not relevant to my goal. Sometimes I have to talk to myself about it, but always, I give it away.
Past Entry
Again and again, Jesus tells us that we are powerful creators and that we are completely responsible for everything we experience in the world. “This must I accept.” Jesus says that even in this world I rule my destiny. I rule it as I accept responsibility and accept healing for what I see. This is something that I now always do. I may for a moment think in terms of something outside of me, but I quickly turn it around and look within for the source of the problem and as quickly as I am able, I accept the solution, which is also within.
A few years ago, I asked for help with this because at that time I was not quite ready for that level of responsibility. I love the message I was given and it set me firmly on the road to acceptance, and gladly so.
Another Past Entry
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 only because 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, and 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 your 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 and release. I cannot take from you what you value and want to keep, but I will always purify those thoughts that 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.
Remember that the need to control is a reaction to fear. It is not control that is the goal, nor is it your environment that is the problem. What is happening in Iraq is your responsibility because it mirrors the conflict in your mind, and that is something you can correct through me. 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.
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.