Several readers inquired (using different
words but asking the same question): “When I’m upset or experiencing the
‘internal unmanageability’ you talked about last week [Msg-2-Jan-2015, Internal
and External Unmanageability], how can I get God to help me when my mind is
going 90 miles per hour?”
Another honest question. Thank
you.
Short answer? You don’t “get“
God to change your mind. You allow it to happen.
There is a passage in A Course
In Miracles (ACIM) that jumped out at me when I first read it. It reaffirmed
why I had been finding the Course so compelling and why it had been resonating
with me. That passage is in Chapter 14
of the Text:
“…When your peace is threatened or disturbed in any way, say to
yourself:
I do not know what anything, including this, means. And so I do not
know how to respond to it. And I will not use my own past learning as the light
to guide me now.
By this refusal to attempt to teach yourself what you do not know, the
Guide Whom God has given you will speak to you. He will take His rightful place
in your awareness the instant you abandon it, and offer it to Him.”
(T-14,XI.6:6-11)
I have experienced that exact
truth. I didn’t know it at the time, but I have had that happen to me many
times. As an active Presbyterian minister I was a volunteer chaplain for the local
district of the State Police. They would call and I would go with an officer to
tell someone their loved one had been killed in a traffic accident. Not a pleasant
situation. After we had knocked on the door and were waiting for a response, I
would silently say: “Lord, I don’t know who these people are nor what to say.
But I’m here. When they open the door and I open my mouth, fill my vocal chords
with Your words.” (This was not a little
trick ritual of mine. I really meant it.) Time after time, He did just
that. I would say things to them that resonated and comforted them and I had no
idea where those thoughts came from. I would acknowledge that experience with a
silent prayer of “Thank You” after we got back in the cruiser to leave.
The day I began my journey to
sobriety I had said to my empty kitchen, “I can’t do this anymore!” (Again, no trick ritual. I really meant it.
Often I had said to someone “I need help,” or “I can’t do this alone.” But in
my mind I’m silently also saying, “But, if you don’t help me I’ll do it
myself.”) The minute I had that I-can’t-do-it thought, I knew who to call
and where their telephone number was in the paper jungle that was my desk. I
found their number, made the call, they were home, and they offered to help. This
was at a time when I couldn’t remember where anything was or what I was to do
next (other than take another drink). Yet, with exceptional clarity, I knew how
to reach this person. To me that seemed a miracle because it WAS a miracle.
He will take His rightful place in your awareness the instant you
abandon it, and offer it [your awareness]
to Him.”
Many members of Alcoholics
Anonymous call this process surrender or hitting bottom. But it cannot be a
contrived episode. It must be genuine. I cannot conjure this all up at the drop
of a hat. I have to be honestly trying to stop controlling my life or the
outcome of a situation. AA’s Step One: “We admitted we were powerless over
alcohol – that our lives had become unmanageable.” Step Two: “Came to believe
that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.” Step Three:
“Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.” Old timers have
summarized these three critical steps in this way: I Can’t. He can. I think I’ll let Him. That’s the spirit I’m referring to when I say
the request to see things differently – to abandon
my desire to control my life – must be made in an honest request for help.
Also, this is not a “one and
done” kind of thing. I have done Step Three by working my Program and Steps
Four through Twelve for over 25 years.
As I stated last week: “I am discovering that I cannot will myself
to get out of myself….
“What I can do is stop my
thoughts in their tracks. I do that by going into a quiet place inside me where
I am calm, peaceful and totally spirit. Sometimes I can’t get there. But more
often than not the attempt, itself, is enough to break the cycle [of my
unmanageable thoughts]. There, with my quiet Self, I am in a position to listen
for the whispers of my Holy Spirit. I am in a position to begin perceiving His
vision of Now and using it to see my situation rather than relying on my egoic
sight to help me out. Sometime it works better than other times. But it’s a
tool – a process – that is mine for the taking. It allows me to begin being honest
with myself. It allows me to begin being honest with others.
“Being honest with myself and others and being willing to see things
differently are the keys to my emotional stability and serenity. [This is
the peacefulness I so fervently desire.]
“I am reminded that I am not a body nor am I my egoic “Felix” thoughts.
I am more than that. I am an already-loved eternal spirit currently living a
human existence, which is akin to dreaming a dream. Going into my quiet place
allows me to begin to awake.”
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
#3 January 2015
Copyright, 2015
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