Practice the Presence of God

“A sense of separation from God is the only lack you really need correct.  This sense of separation would never have arisen if you had not distorted your perception of truth, and had thus perceived yourself as lack.  The idea of order of needs arose because, having made this fundamental error, you had already fragmented yourself into levels with different needs.  As you integrate you become one, and your needs become one accordingly.  Unified needs lead to unified action, because this produces a lack of conflict.”  (A Course in Miracles, FIP ed., T-1.VI.2)

Which of us would not want a lack of conflict?  We can realize, as the Workbook says, “There is another way of looking at this.”  There is also a way of thinking of God that will immediately quell conflict.  If we place our minds on the concept of God, Himself, we will know inner peace.  This is not the only way, of course, but this thought process is the most direct.  We quiet the ego by thinking of God, and in the quietude we live above conflict.  We will overlook the conflict.

We are very conflicted beings, very moody and very antagonistic, initially, to listening to what will give us peace.  After all, we have invested a lot in the ego, and the ego says that it will protect us.  This is not true, of course, because the ego and egotistical thought processes only lead to more conflict and turmoil—exactly what we need to move from.  We are not moving away from conflict now, because we all too often think that we are really living when the drama is high.  This is the insidious thing.

We need to practice the Presence of God in our daily lives, from moment to moment (when we remember).  This Presence does not have to be a constant thing for us, and indeed, it cannot be, for our minds are made of short-term attention spans.  Yet, the more we can welcome God’s Presence in our lives, the better our lives will become.

We are living on different levels, fragmented parts of ourselves that know no better.  We do not have to have multiple personalities to recognize that we partake of this phenomenon; this fragmentation is rampant in our culture, for we have forgotten God as our unifying Force.  He will solve the problems that we think we have; He will show us how to rise above the chaos of the world.