The last message of November
dealt with Acceptance and discussed the importance of distinguishing between
FORM and CONTENT. I received several comments that indicated there was some
confusion between the two.
These comments seemed to be
centered around my paragraph: “My ego
sees Form AS Content; the Holy
Spirit sees only Content. Form is
meaningless. Content is either an
aspect of love or fear. To the Holy Spirit the difference between a hateful
thought and a beheading is negligible. To my ego the difference in Form is
exceptionally significant. But the Spirit’s reality is that hate is hate, fear
is fear, anger is anger. It is of my ego – regardless of Form.”
I will elaborate.
If my perception reflects an
aspect of fear, it is of my ego and cannot be an aspect of actual love. Fear
and Love don’t mix, regardless of how well I try to shake them together. They
don’t mix, regardless of the mental gymnastics I go through. Since Fear is of
my ego, like every other egoic thing of mine, it is illusionary. It simply does
not exist except within the universe of my perception.
The Holy Spirit understands this
and will interpret my ego’s fear as a call for love, just as He will interpret
your ego’s fear as a call for love. But the Holy Spirit needs human hands,
eyes, and ears to help Him correct that perception. That’s where I come in. That’s
where you enter the picture.
That’s our job. That’s our
function.
To perform that job I need only
do two things: I need to be willing – really willing – to see things
differently; I need to learn to forgive.
The Holy Spirit helps me do
both.
To try to forgive members of
ISIS, for example, as an act of my egoic will is only a veiled form of
insidious judgment. Conjuring up my egoic will, I will say to myself, “These
ISIS folks are trying as best they can to find peace through their form of
religious beliefs. They want to belong to something that provides a sense of
meaning and purpose in their life. So, in fact, do I. Therefore, I must pardon
their misguided acts of murder and hope they straighten-up and begin to fly
right. I hope they begin to think just as I do. After all, I don’t go around
and behead people. Help them, Holy Spirit to see the truth, as You and I both know
it. Okay? Thank You. Amen”
I have just judged ISIS. It’s as
if I were saying: I know better. I am more in tune with spirit that they. I
believe in the Bible. They believe in the Quran. I know what’s best for them.
All God needs to do is agree with me and grant my request to straighten them out
– straighten them out as I see it, of course.
What preposterous BS!
True – I don’t go around
beheading people. I just go around looking down my nose at bigotry, at
ignorance, at self-centered power grabs, at fear-based political lies, at
others’ obvious egoic behaviors. Yes, ISIS “sins.” Yes, I “sin.” But they
really, really, really “sin.” I just sort of, kind of, “sin.” But my motives
and intentions are good, I tell myself. How can theirs be?
All of this is FORM-based. All
of this is illusionary.
But the Spirit’s reality is that hate is hate, fear is fear, anger is
anger. It is of my ego – regardless of Form.
Rather than willfully trying to
pardon ISIS, I need to understand that ISIS is not upsetting my peace of mind.
My thoughts about ISIS are upsetting my peace of mind. As A Course in
Miracles tells me, I need to remember I am never upset for the reason I think. This
is a hard lesson for me.
So …
·
I need to still my mind by not paying attention
to my thoughts.
·
I need to understand I am reacting to my own
perception – not God’s.
·
I need to understand I need another way of
looking at this situation.
That’s as far as my higher egoic
mind can take me.
At this point all I can do is
ask the Holy Spirit for a different way of looking at all this. I can ask for
the true willingness to see things differently. Then I can begin listening –
not to the loud boisterous voices in my head – but to the whispers of Spirit.
The Holy Spirit will provide me with a different perspective, if I will
recognize it. He will work through my changed perception and perform miracles I
cannot begin to imagine. In all of this I will find true, lasting peace.
The actual process of changing
my mind or the actual process of seeing things differently is not my job to do.
It’s the Holy Spirit’s. When I find it difficult to separate Form from Content,
it tells me I am attached in some way to the reality of the Form I believe I
see. Most often this occurs when the Form I see is one I believe is right and
just. Yes, those can be as illusionary as my more unsavory egoic perceptions.
Although these messages are
mostly for me, thanks for listening. As always – feel free to forward this
message to your friends, family, and those accompanying you on your spiritual
journey.
Don
#1 December 2014
Copyright, 2014
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