Faith & Real Hope

Note: The book mentioned in this post, Choose Only Love, is available from Amazon in both print and e-book formats. It was received by Sebastian Blaksley in recent years.

“Despite understanding little of what is said, still you go forward with faith and real hope, because your heart knows.”  Choose Only Love, bk.2, 6:I

When we begin reading the seven volumes of Choose Only Love, we are still largely lost in confusion, despite the blessings of what is said.  Enough has not yet been said to clue us in completely.

But as we move forward in our faith and in hope for what we know is a good treatise, we discover more.  And our faith and hope are justified.

The caveat is that our heart knows, has known all along.  When we listen to our heart, we merge with the Divine, with God, for all of us know that He is Love, and in ourselves, the heart is the center of our love.

Be with us as we read further in Choose Only Love.  Let us pause frequently to absorb the love that emanates from its pages.  May God’s blessing be upon our reading.

Sign of True Hope

“Observe how the world seems submerged in panic.  The state of terror to which many are subjected is a visible manifestation of the arrival of the time of light and truth, and that everything is being healed.  It is a sign of true hope.”  Choose Only Love:  Let Yourself Be Loved (COL bk.2, 14:I)

This quotation exemplifies a paradox.  How can we see hope, when all around us things seem to be falling down?  Our world seems in chaos.  We seem in chaos.

But this quotation says that actually this is a “sign of true hope.”  And that “everything is being healed.”  If we listen to these words, perhaps we will have peace.  The chaos won’t seem unsolvable any longer.  It will not be unsolvable any longer.

We can let our panic and our terror go.  If it is darkest just before the dawn, maybe the dawn is even now on the horizon.  We want to see the arrival of the time of light and truth, and if we stand steadfast in our faith, this quotation is saying to us that light and truth will be what we will experience.  Not a long way off, but very soon.  Delay is only of the ego, and the ego is gone from many of us now.  A Course of Love says this.

Let us take this passage to heart, sure of our God, sure of His promises.  It truly is darkest just before the dawn.

I think I can see a ribbon of light on the horizon even now.

Hope that Is Not Of This World

“Do not expect perfection, only union. Do not expect sainthood, only Godhood. Do not expect the world, expect heaven. Do not expect answers, only knowing. Do not expect learning, only revelation. Do not expect all, without also expecting nothing. Expect to know that you hold both within yourself and that you hold me as I hold you.” (ACOL, D:Day39.45)

Jesus seems to describe our future sustenance of Christ-consciousness as “nothing special” when he describes these opposites that we will encounter. A quiet transformation does not seem a big change, and Jesus is preparing us for a quiet transformation by giving us A Course in Miracles and A Course of Love. We will not awaken with a scream of mortal terror (he tells us in ACIM), but we will awaken gently. One day we will just see with a vision that is not of the physical eyes. We will know things that have eluded us previously.

We are not necessarily “perfect,” for who would describe perfection to us? This seems to be a contradiction with ACIM, for there he indicated that he would correct any mistakes that were beyond us, seeming to say that in that sense perfection would be required. I do not believe that there is any contradiction between ACIM and ACOL, and so there is a way to understand these differences that will speak to our humanness. We remain very human, and mistakes can still occur, and in that we are not perfect. It would be very disastrous for those who know they have experienced Awakening or Christ-consciousness to believe that they are right about everything!

We will not necessarily have answers that another lacks. But we will have a knowing that cannot be proved, and in this knowing our way through this world will be eased. This knowing is different from perceiving, because perception is of the ego. Knowing is vision, non-physical sight that gives us the truth without any strain at all.

Jesus continues his very personal words to us in the quotation for today, “you hold me as I hold you.” He is saying that he is always “on call” for us, ready and willing, even eager, to assist in any manner that will advance the goal of a newly created world.

Jesus wants us to have a safe and easy journey through this world, and in following the way that he sets forth in both ACIM and ACOL, he shows us the way to just that.

Dear God,

I ask to be shown a better world today. I ask for eyes that see with vision, an inner vision that doesn’t depend on my physical sight. If I listen to my heart, there is nothing that won’t be revealed to me, over time and in the embrace of Jesus and all my brothers and sisters. This alone gives hope.

Be with us as we walk through another day. Let us not take any day for granted. It is Your gift, and, as always, each day is filled with blessings.

Amen.

A Gentle Dream of Hope

“There is creation going on in this becoming, the very creation promised you. This is the creation of the new you that you were told will precede the creation of the new world. This is what is meant by “as within, so without.” Only a new you can create a new world. The new you is the elevated Self of
form who you are in the process of becoming. This time of becoming is the time in between your awareness of and access to Christ-consciousness or unity, and your sustainability of Christ-consciousness or unity, in form. In your time of directly experiencing the movement, being, and expression of unity, you are being who you are. At other times, you are becoming who you are. (ACOL, D:16.13)

Most of our time now is spent “becoming,” though we know so much more now about just who we are becoming. As we head into Christ-consciousness, we are much calmer than we used to be—though maybe not consistently. We still have our moments. But the promise from Jesus is that we are “becoming,” and this is good news indeed.

A Course in Miracles promised us that we would not awaken (i.e., move into Christ-consciousness) in mortal fear and terror. The dream that we are caught in will become gentle, and happier dreams will come our way. We WILL be serene. And, now, in A Course of Love, we are promise that we are on the cusp of a new world, a new world that we will be creating. The promise of the future is indeed good.

If Awakening still seems to be far off, know that there are things we can do to invite it. We can contemplate, meditate, pray. We can reread A Course in Miracles and A Course of Love. Even the New Testament. If the way ahead seems long, think about how far we have already traveled. We are much more at peace—all of us—than we were when we started our journey. The dream that we are caught in has become happier. And all of us have Jesus as a friend, as he has promised—to come with “a single unequivocal call.” Do you believe it? Put aside doubts and entertain the idea, for this is a great promise indeed.

Prayer

Thank You for this beautiful, sunny day, warm and inviting to the spirit. May my spirit soar today to heights that have previously been off-limits to me. May I ascend to those heights in serenity and peace, joy and harmony. May I sense Your Presence in my life, living through me. May I be sure to thank Jesus for the good words that he has given in his channeled works.

Be with me today to increase my happiness, for happiness is a good goal, and it removes so much of our self-centeredness. Self-centeredness rises up when we are preoccupied with our problems. I would not be so preoccupied today. You have given me a clear slate for the day. Thank You.

Amen.

Allow Hope to Transform Our Day

“You must now birth the idea that human beings do indeed change. While you have known instinctively that there is a core, a center to each that is unchangeable, you must now give up the idea that this core or center has been represented by the past. You must forget the idea that the future cannot be different than the past.” (ACOL, T3:15.7)

Our core is the inner Christ-Self, and this Self has not been accurately portrayed by the “little,” or personal self. The personal self has been a persona, and previously it was an egoic persona. Now it is the self only that we present to our brothers and sisters, but it is a self that has been informed by the Christ-Self, the core that does not change. Never presented to others beforehand, of course we didn’t know what people were really like. We had never shown our true face.

Yes, when we allow the Christ-Self to emerge, and when this Christ-Self informs the personal self, we will see that our brothers and sisters will change. We will see that we change. Our misgivings about past misdeeds can be forgotten. The inner core was not represented in deeds of hostility. The Christ-Self is loving and peaceful, and this face will be seen now. The egoic self is no more, in us who are reading A Course of Love. And the personal self that we present to others will be a new face when it is informed by the emergent Christ-Self.

There is much hope in the passage for today. People who have executed deeds that are deplorable can be seen to change, because their core is good. And when they come to understand the Self Who is deep within, they can exhibit good behavior, behavior that has not seen the light of day until now.

The ego needs to die, and this is not the ego of Freud, but the ego presented in ACIM and ACOL, a false version of the self. The ego that needs to die lives in fear, and we know that living in fear is no way to live at all.

Allow hope to transform our day. All people have the potential to become new when a new identity emerges from deep within. This is the transforming hope for our world.

Prayer

I am going to allow hope to transform this day, the first day of the rest of my life. Hope quells illness, among other things. It alleviates any “down” feeling that we have. It is vastly underrated.

Be with me today. Help me to love with an ever-greater love. And may I reach out to those I encounter with genuine love.

Amen.

Retaining Hope of Healing

“Learn this lesson well, for herein lies the cure to all disease and the hope of all healing. While the body seems to tell you what you feel and bid you act in accordance with its feelings, how can this be so? The body by itself is neutral. But as long as you attribute the body with bringing you pleasure, the body will bring you pain as well. You cannot choose one without the other, because the choice is the same. The body is a tool made for your use in maintaining the illusion of your separation.” (ACOL, C:10.1)

In reality, the body is a communication device. In illusion, it is the home of our (illusory) separation from God. The body is neutral, in that it is not supposed to feel well or ill, just to exist as communication in our world of other bodies. A Course in Miracles says that we will know that we have succeeded when the body doesn’t feel well or ill, that is simply IS. A Course of Love, in this passage, says the same thing. We can have healing of our aches and pains whenever we want, once we heal the separation by opening up to the Christ within. Our real Self.

We don’t really believe these assertions of A Course in Miracles and A Course of Love, because the illusory body seems very real to us. We prick our finger, and we bleed (and we hurt). Does this mean anything? The illusion is very vivid to us; that is all. We are living in the illusion, and so feeling well or ill just exists in that illusion. But feeling well or ill, in the body, doesn’t exist in true reality. And so the aches and pains that we experience mean nothing in the end. They are nothingness itself.

If we want healing from our suffering, we must welcome the Self from deep within us. We must walk into true reality as our real Selves, our Christ Selves. We must not ask for complete understanding of this miracle, for we cannot comprehend all that will await us when we know Christ-consciousness. We probably can’t believe that healing will always occur in every situation, even then. But there will be healing, even if there are lingering symptoms. Sometimes it is an emotional healing, sometimes a physical. But healing is certain. The body remains a communication device only.

Will the body be only a communication device when we occupy the elevated Self of form? That truly remains to be seen, because this would require that we predict the future, and not even Jesus in A Course of Love will do that. We will be in a new era when there are many of us who inhabiting elevated forms. And we will write a new and different future.

For now, while in separation, we feel the hurts. For the future, healed of separation, we will recognize that the body is neutral, and we won’t ask that it save us from a stubbed toe or a hurting knee. We will understand that these things just do not matter. Our body remains a communication device only, until that great day when we have walked into the elevated Self of form. Then all bets are off as to what will happen.

Overcoming Bitterness and Uncertainty

“Bitterness and uncertainty are replaced by hope.  Hope is the condition of the initiate, new to the realization of having a home within the embrace.  It is the response that says to all you have just read, ‘Ah, if only it were true.  If only it could be true.’  (A Course of Love, 20.36)”

Affirmation:  “hope”

Reflections:

1 – Three Thoughts

There are three distinct trains of thought in the passage for today.  Let’s take them in order.

2 – Bitterness and Uncertainty Left Behind

First, we see that, as progress in reading A Course of Love, we leave bitterness and uncertainty behind.  Bitterness is a state of mind that was not a focus of A Course in Miracles, but is important to ACOL.  We are seen to be bitter about many of the things that have happened to us on our pathway through life.  And we hold this feeling of bitterness, this grievance against God, close to ourselves.  We cannot live this way in peace.  We must and will choose a better way.  And hope is the answer.  Even when life seems to go against us, because we have, like a mirror, attracted bad things to ourselves, we can recognize that this state of affairs does not have to be permanent.  We can choose again, and in the next choice, we can reach the tipping point of above 50 percent, which changes everything–if we hold firm to this concept of what we wish to see in our lives.  (Ideas are adapted from Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret trilogy.)

3 – Hope

We enjoy hope when we accept the embrace of Jesus as what we want, as we realize that he is serious about offering us the total, unconditional love that we crave.  And he soothes us, for we are much in need of comforting.  This the embrace does for us.  We imagine that Jesus is enfolding us in his arms, and we instantly feel justified.  We feel accepted by God as well as by Jesus.  And we accept ourselves, knowing that regardless of how many mistakes we have made, we are loved.

4 – The Embrace

The final sentence in the passage for today is the central hope of the embrace.  If only it could be true that I am forgiven!  If only it could be so simple to feel the peace that I want to feel!  This is the promise that hope brings to us.  And if we accept the indications of our heart, we will know peace, serenity, and we will also know happiness.  Jesus’s embrace can and will do all of this for us.

5 – Forgive Self

So let us drop our own unforgiveness toward ourselves.  We will even continue to make mistakes, for we are human (as well as divine), and we are living in this world, where there are many temptations.  But we need not feel that all is lost, that there is no hope.

6 – Hope Will Take Us Home

This passage tells us that there is hope.  And this hope will take us home to God, while we continue to walk this world.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

The solution is always with the problem, and when we have articulated precisely the problem, and just as precisely turn that problem over to You, the solution appears–and quickly.  Your time is not ours, but more often than not the time is soon, even within our timeframe.  This gives us hope, which we are studying today.  And of course any lingering bitterness about what life has dealt us, or any uncertainty about what to do in the future, dissipate.  We always know the next right step, when we have taken the time to ask with sincerity.  Thank You.

Be with me today as I seek to solve the pesky problems that have married my mornings recently.  I feel anxious in the morning, and You would not have it so.  I feel on the verge of a breakthrough, and I have hope that this is a certainty.  I do ask for help with sincerity.

Thank You for listening to my prayer.

Amen.

To Us Jesus Looks for Hope

“You do not love yourself.  But in his [Jesus’s] eyes your loveliness is so complete and flawless that he sees in it an image of his Father.  You become the symbol of his Father here on earth.  To you he looks for hope, because in you he sees no limit and no stain to mar your beautiful perfection.  (M-23.5)”

Affirmation:  “hope and perfection”

Reflections:

1 – We Are Lovable

This passage sounds almost too good to be true, but A Course in Miracles says many things that are contrary to what our ego would say about ourselves.  Here Jesus is talking about our real Self, the Christ within (an interpretation, not stated in ACIM).  Here Jesus is assuring us that we are lovable.  We do not have to have gigantic inferiority complexes that defy our good sense.  It is our ego that has led us astray, but the ego is not our real personal self, or the Self–neither of these.

2 – Created in Our Father’s Image

Jesus sees that we are created in our Father’s image.  Biblical teaching says the same.  Would we continue to doubt this?

3 – To Love Properly

We do not love ourselves properly, though the ego may entertain many egotistical thoughts about how wonderful we really are.  We know in our heart of hearts that something is amiss.  But Jesus says that it is not our Self that is amiss.  We can be full of hope as we walk into a new day.

4 – Not Flawed

Jesus does not see us as flawed, however much we may believe that we are flawed.  We have the strength of God in us, because He is in us–and we can come to see that this is true by inner communion.  May we offer prayers of gratitude that this is so, that we really are strong and have no limit.  Elsewhere Jesus says that we are not without limits in this world, but here he is saying that there is a way around those limits.  Let us believe him.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

May we sense, even ever so slightly, that we are not terrible people.  Jesus sees the best in us, and that best is quite good.  We do not believe this, because our ego has so twisted our minds that we think that to believe we are good is egotistical thinking.  It is not.  

But we are good only in our Self.  The egoistic self, the personal self, does say and do things that are regretful indeed.  But we, our Self, can ask for forgiveness of ourselves and others for these misdeeds, knowing that God has never condemned us.  Jesus shares the laudable attitude that God holds toward us.

Thank You for these reassurances.  We often feel little, poor, and miserable, but You would lift us up and assure us that we are holy in Your sight, for we are created in Your image.

Amen.

The Light of Hope

“Into this hopeless situation God sends His teachers.  They bring the light of hope from God Himself.  There is a way in which escape is possible.  It can be learned and taught, but it requires patience and abundant willingness.  (M-17.8)”

Affirmation:  “I will be patient today.”

Reflections:

1 – The Way

We would be doomed if there had not been others, including Jesus, who showed us the Way.  And now it is up to all of us to make a difference for our brothers and sisters who are caught in fear and insanity.

2 – Teachers/Students

We are all teachers and students at different times.  It is not arrogance to assume that one is a teacher of God.  We all teach what we would learn (a Manual tenet), and we do so all the time, even during sleeping hours (also a Manual tenet).

3 – Sharing

We would be in a hopeless situation in this world were it not that some have seen more, and therefore are willing and able to share.  These individuals are not above making mistakes, and also being ruled by the ego.  We have seen the shadow emerge in some of our religious evangelists in our lifetime.  So we need to ask for help from the Holy Spirit constantly, and we need to pray that our own shadow does not overtake us.  The shadow is a Jungian term, and it is not, perhaps, precisely equated with the term “ego” as used by Jesus in A Course in Miracles.  But to my mind the two terms, ego and shadow, seem close in meaning.

4 – Live What One Teaches

If we are seeking to be a teacher at any given time, we need to be very patient with our brothers and sisters.  If we do not live what we preach, we will not make very much headway with them.

5 – A Smile

And nowhere does Jesus counsel proselytizing.  He says, famously, that some are ready only for a smile.  We need to be ready and willing to share, if our brothers and sisters are interested.  But we need to desist if they are not.  We need to find a way for all of us to emerge from this “hopeless” situation.  And I believe that we all will (an ACIM tenet).

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would offer smiles today to those who are ready for smiles.  But I would offer more, by way of sharing, if the individual wants more.  Only the other person can say what he or she is ready to hear.

May I have patience today.  Failing to have enough patience is one of my weaker points, and I would instead make patience an asset.  Be with me as I seek to find You in the many ways that You show Yourself in this world.  You are within me, of this I am sure–as You are within all of my brothers and sisters.  We project from within, making a world that is good or poor, depending upon our point of view.  Many people suffer much, and we are tired.  Be with us today as we seek to overcome inertia, and seek Your will in all that we do.  Help us to help others, even as we also are helped by You to do so.

Thank You.

Amen.