Inspiration
As long as there is a trace of energy within you in which you are striving to get from any perceived thing or object around you what you are sure you lack inside yourself, you cannot know the love of Self.
You are busy birthing Christ!
What happens when that really occurs? First – and listen well – nothing will be unacceptable to you.
What I learned
Last night I called to me exactly what I needed to demonstrate today’s reading, and to emphasize it in such a way that I would not simply read through it and go on. I enjoyed my morning but failed to notice that I had to drive a long distance that day, so I got a late start. It put me on the road until 9 pm. I was very tired when I got to the hotel and when the clerk handed me the room key I was disappointed to see I was on the fourth floor. I made a comment about it and the clerk was defensive replying that he is not the one to assign rooms.
The toilet in my room was running and wouldn’t quit until I removed the top and jiggled something in the works. This had to be done every time it was flushed. When a train passed it was like I could feel it shaking my bed. There was some kind of loud noise that woke me. It seemed that there was one thing after another and I was feeling resentful. I stay here often and I imagined myself telling them that you would think they could do better for a dependable customer like me.
While this was happening I did notice what was happening in my mind. I realized I was judging and that it was making me unhappy. This awareness is nearly automatic now because I have been practicing it for a long time. And the simple awareness is valuable because it helps cultivate the witness. But I was unable to sustain the idea of releasing judgment. It made for a restless night.
This morning when I read this section I had to laugh at myself. How perfect last night was! It presented me with a clear example of not allowing. It helped me to see the effects of judging rather than allowing. I revisited last night in my mind and thought about how different my experience of it would have been if I had simply allowed. The long drive had given me a chance to listen to more of The New Earth on CD which was very helpful. I could have simply accepted the trip and not judged it at all in which case I would have been fully grateful for my quiet time with Eckhart Tolle. I wonder how much more open I would have been to his words if my mind had not been crowded with resentment and resistance to what is.
When the hotel clerk assigned me my room allowance would have cleared the way for gratitude. This is a nice hotel with friendly personnel but that was lost to me in that moment because I was judging the placement of the room.
Jeshua says: Judgment is the opposite of forgiveness. It lives on the side of the fence with fear. Forgiveness lives on the side of the fence with Love, and only Love can heal this world.
I had been presented with an opportunity to heal when I walked into that hotel, but in my resistance, I declined that gift. Instead, my words invited the clerk to join me in judgment and resentment. When I meet someone it is an opportunity to remember who I am and to remind that one who he is. The Christ I am can greet the Christ he is, or, as in the case last night, the ego in my mind can call to the ego that is in his mind.
Each step of the way last night I was presented with the opportunity to accept and allow. I did not often choose it, but this morning is an opportunity to forgive last night and once again, an opportunity to accept last night exactly as it happened. In that acceptance I am able to feel gratitude for what it taught me. There are no small or ordinary moments in my life. They are each opportunities to awaken. In this way, no matter how different in form they seem to be, they are all the same.
All quotes are used by kind permission of the Shanti Christo Foundation. To buy a copy of this profound book visit their website at www.shantichristo.com. I invite your thoughts and comments.