Living in the Mind of Christ

“Each time you can interrupt the momentum of the mind for perceiving nothing but problems, you will begin to discover that the underground river of the Mind of Christ is yet within you still.  As you feel your successes more and more deeply, that in turn builds your desire to live in that stream.  (“The Way of Transformation,” The Way of Mastery, Chapter 20, Page 247)

Living with the Mind of Christ is a great blessing. When we live in our personal mind, often beset by the ego, we live a demoralized life filled with problems–one following another ad infinitum.

This is no way to live. If we believed nothing else, seeing the truth of this problem-oriented life as a bad way to live would be enough to encourage us to turn to a Higher Power. Even if we are unsure about whether that Higher Power is God.

A Course in Miracles reminds us that the solution is always with the problem, no time delay, no procrastination when we are seeking to follow God’s guidance. But why, oh why, do we focus so on problems, something that only succeeds in bringing us more of them?

Live with the Christ Mind instead. Jesus’ help is only a sure call away. He comes, though we don’t understand how, and we often don’t recognize when. The Mind of Christ is a part of us, whether we call this the Holy Spirit or the Christ-Mind. There are no barriers between these terms.

The “something greater” will save us. Call on help today. Know that we are heard, and that we have a sure help on the way.

Still, Small Voice

“Rest with me, and acknowledge that our minds are joined. As you rest, again, you might notice that thoughts seem to arise and pass away. But do you not sense them, now as though they were coming from a place where you are not, as though you had sunk more deeply to a place of quiet beneath the surface upon which thoughts flow back and forth without ceasing?” (“The Way of the Heart,” WOM, Lesson 11, Page 135)

Being quiet, staying in our quiet corner, is a most powerful way to connect with the God within. If we let the hubbub of the world get into our mind and heart, we will find it very difficult to listen to the still, small Voice. And listening to the still, small Voice is exactly what we need to do.

What will that Voice tell us? Some of what we hear will be unique to each of us, for we are unique creations of God, with nobody else the exact duplicate of ourselves. But some of what we hear will be shareable with others, for they too will need the same message. Shareable when they are open to hear, for we do not want to force ourselves on anybody who is not ready to hear God’s message.

If we “rest” with Jesus, we will be well on our way to a new day in living. He would not have us anxious and tied in knots over anything. His Father is not reached that way. We make our own hell on earth when we let nervousness take over. So contemplate silently, or meditate. Still the mind and heart.

When the mind and heart are stilled, then flow happens. And flow is as close to following the Holy Spirit’s every nudge as we can come. We don’t get stubborn and seek to have everything “our” way. We listen to our inner guidance, and then we act. This best way to live is open to all of us, though not all of us are equally listening. For those who are, the message is clear and unmistakable.

Be still and listen for God’s prompting in our very soul.

We WILL hear, and we will not be disappointed in what we hear.

Turning toward Home

“Therefore, when you awaken in each of your mornings, look around. Who is that person sleeping next to you? They are your perfect companion. They are a messenger from God. For just behind your experiences, there is something deeper taking place. Because your mind is resting right next to the Mind of God, when you first say as a soul, ‘I want to awaken, I want to go home,’ the Father answered your prayer and began to send the thought through your Spirit and through your soul to your conscious mind:

“I know how to direct you home. Give up this career and start that one. Move from this location to that location.

“You began to feel all manner of impulses. You began to read different books. You began to do different things. You met someone and fell in love. All by accident? Hardly! (“The Way of the Heart,” WOM, Chapter 3, Page 31)

Our way back to God, back home, is calculated with no accidents of salvation. There are no accidents at all! This may be hard to accept, especially if we have had hard times, but the fact is that our souls have planned our contract with this world. Everything has had a reason, part of the plan, though we will never understand it all this side of the veil of death.

When we receive promptings of where to go and what to do, what to say, even what to think, we are receiving promptings of the Holy Spirit or the Christ-Self. As soon as we indicated that we were ready to turn toward home, God answered. And this Answer was beyond anything that we could imagine, in most cases, better than anything we could imagine.

If the day seems grim, just be patient. God does not intend us to suffer. The way back is clearer without pain. We learn better without pain, but through blessings.

This way is without the lamentable happenings that have given us grief. This new way will save us for a happy today and tomorrow, one that we could not imagine in our most wondrous imaginings.

Experience the Soul

“I speak from experience that separation is an illusion. When death occurs in your plane, in that very moment you still have the power to choose to recognize that something has changed, and to shift your attention to a different faculty that the body could never possibly contain. One in which you perceive and hear and communicate with that spark of divine light—the soul—that seems to have given up the idea of trying to keep a physical form animated. This is imperative. In fact, it is the very first step of The Way of the Heart.” (“The Way of the Heart,” WOM, Chapter 1, Page 4)

We here get a glimpse of what it is like to die. The body is given up, and our souls emerge in full light of day. The soul, “spark of divine light,” will emerge at death if it has not already. I believe that the soul, in The Way of Mastery (The Christ Mind Trilogy), is part of the all-embracing Self, and the same as our personal self, here, called the Christ-Mind, in of A Course of Love. Jesus uses different words over the years, but his meanings remain stable.

We are not actually separate from God (and never have been). He emerges from deep within all individuations of Himself, what we and our brothers and sisters really are. My comprehension is that this differentiation of “God-stuff” was necessary that God might experience. He differentiated His Self into parts, and we are part of those parts, His creation. Totality, or the All, is not experiential. “All” and “nothing” often, ultimately, are experienced in much the same way. But there is an “All,” and we are participating, as an individuated entity, in that All, Who is God. He lives through us. And our soul, when freed from the depths of our entity, knows this.

We shift energy when we die. That is all that happens. We can experience the soul here on earth, too.

And it is that which we would do today.

Recognize the Christ-Mind by How Gentle Its Thoughts Are

“The first step in being able to forget such thoughts [of the ego] is in recognizing them as separate and distinct from the thoughts of your right mind or Christ-mind. This will be easy because the thoughts of the ego-mind were always harsh with you or with others. The Christ-mind and the thoughts that come from the voice of the Christ-mind will be gentle. (Treatises of A Course of Love: Treatise on the Personal Self, 10.9)”

Affirmation: “I would experience the gentle thoughts of the Christ-mind today.”

Reflections:

1 – Gentle Thoughts Give Happiness

Most of us may now recognize that gentleness is much preferred over the raucous shrieks of the ego-mind. And the Christ-mind gives us the gentle thoughts that give us so much happiness. Is it any wonder that happiness is a worthy goal to be sought?

2 – Avoid Harshness

We do not really want to be harsh with ourselves or with others. I have recently prayed that I would get along better with myself. This seems to be an inspired prayer, not unlike a prayer to get along better with other people. We want to be gentle. It is a mandate if we wish to live well.

3 – Flow

What other characteristics accompany gentleness? Peace of mind, tranquility, serenity, calm. And we are more loving as well. When we treat others as well as ourselves gently, we flow with the day. We don’t have to talk ourselves into a good mood; it is part of the blessing of the prayer to be gentle.

4 – Commune with God

The ego ought to be falling away now. And we will know this when we commune more with God. Communion sometimes means verbal prayers, silently or aloud, but it also is a state of mind and heart. We feel better when we communicate with our Maker. Try it and see.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would remember You today. I know from my reading that You are lonely, in an anthropomorphic way, when Your children don’t communicate with You. You recognize that we sleep and need to be awakened. I would awaken at Your command. But help me to be patient.

Help this day to flow well in gentleness. May I avoid harshness in my words and in my demeanor, and may I do You justice as I walk through my day. Others need me, and certainly I need, in an almost selfish way, to treat myself well in order to be able to serve others. There is no better way to live than to talk with You on my daily rounds. I pray that I will not forget You today.

Amen.