I hope each of you had a
wonderful Easter, which was celebrated while I was away.
A Course In Miracles (ACIM)’s
Lesson 106 in the Workbook for Students is titled: Let me be still and listen to the truth.
I believe this is the quiet
whisper you’ve heard me write about if you’ve gotten my messages before. (If this is your first message, go to my
website www.DonODell.com and subscribe.
There are no advertisements and it is easy to unsubscribe.) Hearing these
whispers is what it means to me to truly understand that I am an already-loved
eternal spirit having a human experience rather than being a human body that
has housed, somewhere, an eternal soul.
I believe this passage is related
to the resurrection. In the vernacular the resurrection is about the rising of
Jesus’ body, which proved to believers He was divine. In ACIM, however, Jesus
says it is about the rising of the mind from the ego’s dream of frailty, pain,
fear and death to the awareness of eternal life or from the insanity of the ego
to a perfectly healed perception. In this healed state I will perceive
everything as acts of love or calls for love. Jesus’ resurrection was the
proof, not of his divinity, but of the indestructibility of true, spirit-filled
Life. His bodily reappearance was a
symbol of the fact that true resurrection is of the mind and, thus, it is about
the disappearance of the body as a real
thing – rather than a magical reappearance.
When I touch base in quietness
with my true Self – that innermost part of me – I am in the presence of my
already-loved spirit: the real me.
From that place I understand there is that place in you, as well. In that place
we are One. The separateness we think is so real has vanished into thin air!
The peace and serenity I feel is palpable and quite overwhelming. In that
instant, there is no time, nor space. That is the reality of the Love of God.
That is who I really am. However, I sense it only briefly. It is not a
once-and-done exercise. I have also had similar experiences in AA, feeling
absolutely connected, on a spiritual level, to all in the room.
Wherever I experience it, it is
wonderful!
Lesson 106 states: “1 If you will lay aside the ego's voice,
however loudly it may seem to call; if you will not accept its petty gifts that
give you nothing that you really want; if you will listen with an open mind,
that has not told you what salvation is; then you will hear the mighty Voice of
truth, quiet in power, strong in stillness, and completely certain in
Its messages.
2 Listen, and hear your Father speak to you through His appointed
Voice, which silences the thunder of the meaningless, and shows the way to
peace to those who cannot see. Be still today and listen to the truth. Be not
deceived by voices of the dead, which tell you they have found the source of
life and offer it to you for your belief. Attend them not, but listen to the
truth.
3 Be not afraid to circumvent the voices of the world. Walk lightly
past their meaningless persuasion. Hear them not. Be still today and listen to
the truth. Go past all things which do not speak of Him Who holds your
happiness within His Hand, held out to you in welcome and in love. Hear only
Him today, and do not wait to reach Him longer. Hear one Voice today.
4 … His miracles are true. They will not fade when dreaming ends. They
end the dream instead; and last forever, for they come from God to His dear
Son, whose other name is you….
From my book, How the Bible
became the Bible, p. 82-3: The Prophet
Elijah [circa 9th century b.c.e.]. “Known as Elijah, the Tishbite from the
northern kingdom…. He lived during the time when Ahab, King of the northern
kingdom (Israel) married Jezebel, a Phoenician and worshipper of Baal….
“Elijah was known throughout his
life as a champion of the “little people.” In the narrative of Naboth’s
vineyard (1 Kings 21) we can visualize Elijah standing strongly against Ahab
and all the subtle (and not so subtle) messages of the king’s wife,
Jezebel—shrewd and calculating as the emissary of the Phoenician god Baal. When
Ahab comes to take the vineyard, Elijah confronts him with the terrible word of
doom from Yahweh. Elijah is supporting this common peasant against a king. His
passion for fearless support of the “little man” is deeply rooted in the
religion of Yahweh—very similar to Nathan’s condemnation of King David over his
theft of Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba (2 Sam. 11–12).
“Secondly, of course, is
Elijah’s challenge to the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. Elijah, with Yahweh
on his side, challenged Phoenician priests, with their god Baal on their side,
to a “duel of the gods.” For Elijah this was a “fall on your sword” issue….
“However, an interesting and
touching note: Following this highly dramatic pyrotechnic confrontation,
Jezebel, the queen, threatened Elijah. He feared for his life and hid in the
mountains looking for the Lord to protect him. He looked in an earthquake, in
mighty winds, in fire. He finally heard the “… still, small voice …” of the
Lord (1 Kings 19: 9–14).” This, of course, is also reminiscent of Psalm 46:10 –
“Be still and know that I am God.”
All I need to de is be truly willing to see things differently
and ask the Holy Spirit (the voice for God in ACIM) to help me develop a
different perception, I just need to be willing and to be still and listen, not
to the loud voices of my ego, but to the quiet whispers of the Lord. Just like
Elijah. Just like the Psalmist.
As I’ve stated before, “I have
to understand, on a visceral level, who the “Me” or “I” really is when I am
speaking or thinking. The “I” that says to myself, “I really need a newer, more
reliable car” is a different “I” than the one that says to Spirit, “I can’t do
this anymore; help me perceive things the way You see them.”
Although these messages are mostly for me,
thanks for listening to me and getting to know me – warts and all. As always,
feel free to forward this message to your friends, family, and those accompanying
you on your spiritual journey.
Don
#2 Apr
2017
Copyright 2017
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