I have received quite a few
messages from subscribers and those that are reading me through the blog-sphere
about my recent posts and what is happening in Iraq/Syria from ISIS or ISIL.
How does this horror seem to fit? Isn’t ISIS/ISIL the epitome of evil?
Shouldn’t we kill them all? Questions/Comments like that.
There are two worlds we live in:
A horizontal one and a vertical one. The horizontal world contains a linear
past, present, and future. If I imagine this world on my lap, on my left is the
past, the middle of my lap contains the present, and on my right lies the
future. There also exists the vertical world. It moves straight upward from the
middle of my lap. It is the eternal NOW.
A Course in Miracles (ACIM)
states that this vertical world is the only real world. There have been others that have proclaimed
this reality, as well. For a couple of examples, Eckert Tolle and his book, The Power of Now or Alcoholics Anonymous
and its emphasis on the current 24-hours or One
Day At A Time, or Jesus’ teachings, as recorded in the Gospels, that
Eternal Life is inside you now if you would but notice it.
The horizontal world is the
world we generally think of as “the real world.” It is the world of my
perception – and your perception, as well. Our perceived worlds have a lot in
common – a lot of shared, taught, and believed images / presuppositions / predispositions.
But there are also some significant differences in our perceptions. My wife and
I refer to our basic, lower egoic minds as Hortense and Felix, respectively.
When we have arguments – and we do – they are always about the perceptions of
Hortense versus the perceptions of Felix. They are generally arguments trying
to establish who is right, or more right, or mostly right?
So what’s going on? Let me
furnish an analogy.
In a dream I am trying to win
the lottery in order to become a super-duper benefactor of Progressive causes.
I awake in the morning angry at God because, in the dream, He refused to “give”
me the current six winning numbers. He appeared not to listen to my entreaties,
my pleas, or my wonderfully altruistic intentions. In my dream I was
frustrated, resentful, angry, and irritated at God for not “helping” me attain
“my” goal. As I awake I am still angry and short-tempered. That’s how I begin
my day. It’s probably not going to be a calm, peaceful, joyous one.
That dream is analogous to this
horizontal world – this world we all perceive but which exists only with the
meanings each of us attributes to it. Hortense has meanings she attributes that
are different than those of Felix. That can cause us “problems.” Some
perceptions Hortense and Felix share and that produces “harmony.” On some attributes
Hortense and Felix have simply agreed to disagree. Nevertheless, this
horizontal world is as unreal to God as my dream is to me. It is only a dream.
Our horizontal world is full of
pain, anger, resentments, and unfulfilled expectations – all based on fear.
It’s a fear that stems from my fundamental belief, assumption, or supposition
that I am fully separate – I am me and you are not. What is “mine” is not
“yours.” I will protect “mine” from being taken away by “you.” I know you are
trying to get “mine” because I am trying to get “yours.” Consequently, my life
in my perceived horizontal world is based on this fundamental fear that I will
not get what I want or that I will lose what I believe I have.
ISIS/ISIL believes just like
this. They want their image of Islam to prevail. You must either agree with
them or die. There is no compromise. We do exactly the same thing – only with a
little more subtlety. ISIS/ISIL fears that we will take from them and we fear
they will take from us. Because ISIS/ISIL believes they are right, they are
justified in killing those that disagree. Because we believe we are right, we
are justified in bombing the hell out of them.
I know this sounds harsh,
but…. There is no degree of evil-ness.
There is no degree in love-ness. It’s one or the other. The Old Testament word
for sin is “to miss the mark.” If you have one arrow and a lion is charging you
and you miss – it doesn’t matter if you miss by a lot or a little. You’re
supper that night – which is pretty
harsh.
However, ACIM teaches us there
is no “sin.” Operating in this dream-world – the horizontal – there is only
error, which can be corrected by choosing again and again until we finally
experience the true reality of the eternal NOW – the vertical.
In addition to Felix, my lower
egoic mind, I have a higher mind. My higher mind will see through some of this
conflict. In fact he has composed much of this message. He is able to focus on
more “moral” thoughts. But he is still residing on this horizontal plane of
existence. However, he is aware of a vertical channel to the “real” world of
spirit. He is open and willing to listen for the whispers of the Holy Spirit. I
can allow him to become more and more trained to be more and more aware of
clues or red flags that indicate Felix is in charge. However, when he
consistently begins to say to Felix “Thanks for sharing, but that’s enough,” and
asks for help to see the situation differently, the Holy Spirit has the
opportunity to work a miracle. My higher mind has the ability to choose whether
to relinquish control to the horizontal world or to be open and willing to
explore the vertical, real world.
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
#5 August 2014
Copyright, 2014