The Issues Of Living In The Now

Two thoughts: 1) We have just listed our house for sale. 2) I know I am to be living in the NOW because each moment may be an opportunity for my Spirit Guide (the Voice for God) to create a Holy Encounter.

A Course in Miracles (ACIM) states [T-8.III.4 (emphasis mine)]: “When you meet anyone, remember it is a holy encounter. As you see him you will see yourself. As you treat him you will treat yourself. As you think of him you will think of yourself. Never forget this, for in him you will find yourself or lose yourself. Whenever two Sons of God meet, they are given another chance at salvation. Do not leave anyone without giving salvation to him [through forgiveness – remembering you and him are one] and receiving it yourself. For I am always there with you, in remembrance of you.”

To be in a position to allow a holy encounter to occur, I need to be Honest, Open and Willing – what old timers in AA called the importance of HOW.

I need to always turn inwards, whether I like the person or not, whether I agree with the person or not, whether I respect the person or not. How I am seeing, treating or thinking of that person (try Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Hillary Clinton or a skin head white supremacist on for size) is really how I am seeing, treating, or thinking of myself. In the person I have encountered NOW, I will either find myself or lose myself. As I have said before, this is not a once-and-done proposition. According to Jesus, this is true ALL the time, with everyone, always,

This means to me that everything is always internal. I am always the issue. Trying to control external events, people, or situations is futile, frustrating, exasperating, and disappointing. That is not a picture of peace and serenity. A lovely quote I got from someone somewhere is scribbled on my corkboard: “Strive for control over your experience of the events/people of your life – not control over the events/people themselves.”

It’s always internal!

All this brings me to the act of selling our house. A neighbor told me, “When you put your house up for sale, you no longer own your house. You have become the constant caretakers of your house.” How true that is.

Every day it seems like my to-do list grows. Regardless of how diligent I think I have been, the list just grows all by itself. I find myself wishing my vigilant wife wasn’t so vigilant. Paint the grates. Scour the decks. Move pictures then caulk and paint the walls. Move furniture for the carpet cleaners, Rearrange and clean out my bookshelves. Clean the gutters. Wash down the outside of the house – and don’t forget the windows! Oh! The decks look lovely – now, what about the fence?

The chores are simply constant. So, I think to myself, “Donnie, you are preparing this house for your next home. Someone in North Carolina is going through this exact same process for you. They are wondering where you are.”

“Wonderful, but where are my buyers?” I answer myself. “Where are the seekers? Why isn’t anyone coming? Are we ever going to be able to move? Am I stuck here? Will we get such a low offer that we’ll have to eat dog food on stale crackers I have pilfered from Wendy’s?”

 Oh! Woe is me! I am on my royal pity-pot, whining as I sit in my king baby chair.

Where in this process has my NOW gone? Where is my awareness of my continuing holy encounters? Where is my willingness to engage with the Voice for God to participate in the oneness of all I meet?

My HOW had gotten lost in the anticipations and expectations of a perfect (to me!) sale: my timeframe, my price, my inspections, my closing. In short, my perceptions had become my reality and my perspective and awareness of my Spirit Guide had been shunted into the deep background.

I was becoming a mess. Frustrated. Irritable. Short-tempered.

I didn’t like it at all.

That internal awareness of my discomfort has been – in the end – a wonderful wake-up call for me. Hence this message for you is really a reaffirmation for me. Although these messages are mostly for me, thanks for listening to me and knowing 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

#4 Apr 2016

Copyright 2016

The Wizard Of Oz And The Truth Of ACIM

At our last Course in Miracles (ACIM) group a friend loaned me a copy of a small little book called The Obvious Secret Lesson of the Wizard of Oz, (ISBN 978-0615607504) by Helen Gordon. It is only about 100 pages and printed with large type, which I am appreciating more and more.

I remember seeing the movie when I was only about 5 years old. Mother told me how I was so frightened of the green Wicked Witch. “Every time the witch appeared on the screen, Donnie, you would drop to the floor and watch the movie through the spaces between the theater seats.”

Ms Gordon has been a long-time teacher of the Course in Miracles and her website is [http://helengordon.com ]. In fact, according to information on the internet, she is the first online teacher of the Course. She has written this book to illustrate the truths of the story of Dorothy that are consistent with the truths of ACIM. The book is available through her website.

It was a fascinating read. Here are some brief highlights:

Dorothy:  She is on a quest to find true meaning in her life and to find her way back home, which she does when she awakens in her own bed. We are all Dorothy – in fact, we are all each character in this beautiful fairy tale. As the movie opens Dorothy is terribly afraid that her dog, Toto, will be impounded because he tramples the flowers in the garden of Miss Gulch. On her way back to the house she hides from a tornado and is hit on the head and passes out. The dream begins.

The Scarecrow: He believed he was a victim, bullied by the crows – “I am a failure because I have no brain.” Victimization was his excuse for ignorance and he attempted to project his perceived failure onto the crows – after all it was the crows, not his stupidity and failure in his job, that caused the destruction to the crops.

The Tin Man: The Tin Man’s muffled cry for help was indicative of how hard it is for most of us to truly ask for help. We stay stuck for so long in our old thinking with no flexibility to do things differently that we “rust.” The Tin Man wanted a heart , but all he could do was sing the “If only” blues. He was depressed by his situation, deep into self pity, and paralyzed by his belief that he was simply not enough.

The Lion: The Lion was just an all-talk bully, hiding behind his façade of bravery. We all can appear to be fearless when hiding our cowardice with boasts, aggression, intimidation, and put-downs.

The Good Witch: Glinda, the Good Witch, gave Dorothy the Red Slippers and the advice to find the Emerald City and talk to the Wizard.  The slippers represented Dorothy’s intuitive guidance, protection, and power.

The Evil Witch: The evil witch represents secrets we use to condemn and imprison ourselves. These secrets are the roots of our guilt that our egos use to devalue our existence, talents and worthiness.

The Wizard: After such a long treacherous journey Dorothy’s small group discovered what they were seeking outside of themselves was no more powerful than they. However, the Wizard recognized the truth about them and proceeded to reveal their capabilities to them in forms they could recognize and accept. The Scarecrow – a diploma; the Tin Man – a heart-shaped clock that ticked; The Lion -  a large medal of courage; Dorothy – hot-air balloon, which she missed getting into. But she learned, with the assistance of the Good Witch that “If I ever go looking for my heart’s desire again, I won’t go looking any further than my own backyard [within me]. Because if it isn’t there, I never really lost it to begin with.” (p. 52)

The Awakening: Dorothy awoke to find herself at home surrounded by love, friends and family.  She realized that each person had played a role in her dream. Only their form had changed. She recognized their love for her. She could appreciate them just the way they were, each with their own needs, shortcomings, and ways of living.

I need to remember I am always wearing my red slippers, determined to find my way back home. The Holy Spirit is always guiding me when I allow my Self to follow the safe yellow brick road. I cannot recommend this little book more highly. It is a true gem.

I have also had discussions with friends in the Course that relate how several movies seem to highlight what the Course describes. One is Forrest Gump (1994, starring Tom Hanks) and the other is Being There. (1979, starring Peter Sellers).  In both of these movies, you witness someone who lives in the Now, responds with acceptance and gratitude, and is taken care of. Worry, bitterness, anxiety, and resentments are genuinely absent. Virtually every encounter with each of these main characters approaches being a holy encounter. Forrest Gump’s favorite phrase is “Life is like a box of chocolates,” while one of the closing remarks of the script of Being There is “Life is a state of mind.”

However, I don’t know about you, but I’m going to start looking for a copy of the 1939 MGM movie, The Wizard of Oz.  It’s been since forever that I’ve seen it.

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

#4 May 2015

Copyright 2015

PS: I will be unavailable for the next several weeks. I’ll talk to you later when I return.

My Image of the World and My Image of Me Are One and the Same

I’ve had several communications from readers that say, in so many words, that they do not comprehend how it is that if they change their perception, it will change the world.

That’s another tough question. How is that possible? How does it work that I allow the Holy Spirit to change my perception of a situation or person and the world will change?

But that’s exactly what A Course in Miracles (ACIM) states.

Lesson 57 of the Workbook for Students addresses this whole issue very well.

1. I am not the victim of the world I see. How can I be the victim of a world that can be completely undone if I so choose? … Only my wish to stay keeps me a prisoner. I would give up my insane wishes and walk into the sunlight at last.

2.  I have invented the world I see. I made up the prison in which I see myself. All I need do is recognize this and I am free. … The Son of God must be forever free. He is as God created him, and not what I would make of him. He is where God would have him be, and not where I thought to hold him prisoner.

3. There is another way of looking at the world. Since the purpose of the world is not the one I ascribed to it, there must be another way of looking at it. I see everything upside down, and my thoughts are the opposite of truth. I see the world as a prison for God's Son. It must be, then, that the world is really a place where he can be set free. I would look upon the world as it is, and see it as a place where the Son of God finds his freedom.

4. I could see peace instead of this. When I see the world as a place of freedom, I realize that it reflects the laws of God instead of the rules I made up for it to obey. I will understand that peace, not war, abides in it. And I will perceive that peace also abides in the hearts of all who share this place with me.

5. My mind is part of God's. I am very holy. As I share the peace of the world with my brothers, I begin to understand that this peace comes from deep within myself. The world I look upon has taken on the light of my forgiveness, and shines forgiveness back at me. In this light I begin to see what my illusions about myself kept hidden. I begin to understand the holiness of all living things, including myself, and their oneness with me.

I must always remember that what I see in the world I see in myself. It is all one thing – my image of the world and my image of me. If my perception of me changes, my world changes. If my perception of the world changes, my perception of me changes. From Lesson 62.2: “Illusions about yourself and the world are one….”

Paragraph 3 of Lesson 58 in the Workbook for Students, says: “My holiness is unlimited in its power to heal, because it is unlimited in its power to save. What is there to be saved from except illusions? And what are all illusions except false ideas about myself? My holiness undoes them all by asserting the truth about me. In the presence of my holiness, which I share with God Himself, all idols vanish.”

I wish I could tell you instance upon instance where this has happened to me. But I cannot. I can tell you I have had enough instances where I have seen mere glimpses of this reality – where my perception changed and my world changed which, in turn, continued to change me – that convinces me this is Truth. My life in Alcoholics Anonymous is enough testimony to that reality.

If I am wandering in the wilderness – lost, hungry and freezing – I don’t need to actually see a completed hot meal set before me to understand I am near civilization. All I need to realize is to become aware of wood smoke and savor the smell and sizzle of frying bacon to understand that help is very, very near.

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

#2 March 2015

Copyright 2015

I Always Grow Through Pain

This is from AA’s Daily Reflections, a book by alcoholics for alcoholics:

In the Reflection for October 7 the meditation is entitled Daily Monitoring. “The spiritual axiom referred to in the Tenth Step  – ‘every time we are disturbed, no matter what the cause, there is something wrong with us’ – also tells me that there are no exceptions to it. No matter how unreasonable others may seem, I am responsible for not reacting negatively. Regardless of what is happening around me I will always have the prerogative and the responsibility of choosing what happens within me. I am the creator of my own reality.

“When I take my daily inventory, I know that I must stop judging others. If I judge others, I am probably judging myself. Whatever is upsetting me most is my best teacher. I have much to learn from him/her, and in my heart I should thank that person.”

The Tenth Step of Alcoholics Anonymous states: “[We] Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.” Hmmm – Continued to take personal inventory. Hmmm – continued to look within to “fix” whatever is wrong. Notice that the emphasis is NOT on trying to “fix” what’s “out there.” It is always an inside job.

AA has taught me that I always grow through pain. The exception, of course, is when I spend all my mental energy blaming and judging everything and everyone “out there” for my discomfort. When I do that, I also spend a tremendous amount of mental and emotional energy plotting, planning, fantasizing, and mentally meting out the just rewards of my revenge.

I try always to remember the little “as” in the Lord’s Prayer: …Forgive us our trespasses AS we forgive those who trespass against us…. If you believe the typical images of many Christians’ idea of Judgment Day, you better believe I don’t want God to forgive me the way I forgive.

The easiest way for me to forgive is to never have blamed in the first place. For me to not blame is to focus on what was going on inside me. Why did I choose to react rather than respond? My anger, fear, dislike, disappointment is not with the person or event that triggered it. A Course in Miracles teaches me I am never truly upset for the reason I think. So, if it wasn’t the person or event, what was it? That’s what I try to focus on. That’s where the pain lies. That’s where my growth occurs.

I will be out of pocket for the next two weeks. I’ll talk to you later.

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

#2 October 2014

Copyright, 2014

Atonement, Forgiveness and Peace

A friend asked: “Hi Don. You refer a lot about asking for another way of looking at things. What specifically do you mean? What am I supposed to look for as another way of seeing things?”

This is another good question. I’ll do my best to explain. How we look at things starts with our belief in our Separation from God. The Bible uses common (in its time) mythology to convey this in the Garden of Eden stories: we sinned and thus were separated. ACIM states that we are only in error. The most common form of belief in separation is the simple statement: I am me and you are not. Everything we perceive from this egoic viewpoint is illusionary. We are not separated from God and never have been.

Being provided with another perception – another way of looking at things, events, and people, rather than seeing through our egoic filters – is the primary purpose of our life according to A Course in Miracles (ACIM). When the Holy Spirit is willingly asked for help, He (the Voice for God) will provide us with true vision, rather than physical sight. It is most often referred to a change of perception or a holy instant and will always lead to Forgiveness.

This change of perception from our “normal” egoic point of view is altered to one of seeing the Christ in others, including ourselves. This change of perception is what the Course means by the Atonement. It is not something we can do by ourselves. When we try to change our perception by acts of our own volition, our egos will simply hijack the process to serve our perceived needs. In short, our ego can wrap its fear-based / guilt-laced perceptions in the whitest robes of religious purity and altruism.

We have to train our minds to become aware of the instances where our egos are in absolute control of us. We have to become aware that our feelings of pain, suffering, anger, and fear are symptomatic of our egoic perception. We have to understand that these feelings are not “thrust” upon us from outside. Things, events or people do not make us feel afraid, hurt, or angry. Our perceptions do that all by themselves.

How we perceive, or interpret, the world we see determines what we think we see. To effectively change what I see, I need to change my perception of the world, of people, and of events.  We’ve all been to movies. When we walk out after it’s over, we do not believe the world we walk into is the world we left behind on the screen. Now, pretend you are in a special movie theater – in a special seat, hooked up to electrodes so that what you think and feel is projected on the screen. You are watching a movie that replicates what you’re thinking. The characters you see on the screen, including you, are a projection of your perception. That’s precisely the way ACIM says we truly are. We are seeing our projections when we look at people. We are not capable of seeing the real person. We are seeing our own perceptions based on our own illusionary past experiences instead of seeing the real person in front of us – NOW. Old-timers in AA will simply state: “If you spot it, you got it.” As I began to comprehend the Course, I used this movie imagery to help me see what I was doing. I wouldn’t be angry at the characters in a movie, so why would I be angry at my skewed perceptions of “real” people?

Forgiveness, according to ACIM consists of three steps. We have to participate in the first two. The Holy Spirit performs the third step. Step One: I forgive the images I've made or projected, and I forgive the people in these images, including me; Step Two: I forgive myself for making these projected images; and Step Three: I ask the Holy Spirit to help me see another way of looking at this situation/person – and then I still my mind and listen for the Holy Spirit's whispers and guidance. And I remember: Step 3 is not my job. It will just happen!

We need to perceive our world in another way. The Holy Spirit will provide that way when honestly requested to do so. That new way of looking at things will be with a different perception (Atonement) that allows us to see all anger and fear as a Call for Love. Responding to that call with Forgiveness is our true function while we are here on Earth, and it will give us the peace and serenity we truly desire.

Kenneth Wapnick, PhD, wrote about this very well in his book: Forgiveness and Jesus – the meeting place of A Course in Miracles and Christianity, Foundation for a Course in Miracles, 1998. From pages 79-80: “The belief in separation constitutes a decision we make to hear the voice of the ego, rather than the Voice for God. From this decision arise two distinct ways of looking at the world. The ego’s eyes see problems…. Central to this perception is the belief in injustice, seeing the world as divided into victims and victimizers, the former being the innocent objects of the sinful actions or thoughts of the latter. All beliefs in anger, sickness, and suffering are beliefs that justify this perception.

“The vision of the Holy Spirit, on the other hand, transforms our problems into learning opportunities, the special function through which we practice our lessons of forgiveness. Expressions of anger – towards others or ourselves – become transformed through His loving perception into calls for help, which His love gently answers through our forgiveness, healing the injustice that once seemed so real. Thus do … unholy relationships become holy.”

We put our egoic blinders on and we can begin removing these blinders by practicing the three step of forgiveness – honestly and willingly asking for the Holy Spirit’s help. I hope this helps.

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

PS: I will be away for a while – so there will be no messages until mid-to-late July. So enjoy a happy Summer Solstice and a great 4^th of July!

 #4 Jun, 2014

Copyright, 2014