“‘Many are called but few are chosen’ should be, ‘All are called but few choose to listen.’ Therefore, they do not choose right. The ‘chosen ones’ are merely those who choose right sooner. Right minds can do this now, and they will find rest unto their souls.
Affirmation: “rest unto their souls”
Reflections:
1 – All Are Called
In this passage Jesus corrects a statement attributed to him in the New Testament. We will stress the new version: “All are called.” There is nobody outside salvation, ultimately. It may be millions of years before the Atonement takes place for all, just as the separation occurred over millions of years. But we are bade to be patient, because once begun, the end of the journey is sure. We will all come home in God.
2 – Pessimistic?
This idea of millions of years may seem to our finite minds to be pessimistic in the extreme. Who would want to wait for millions of years? But I think that that is why our contribution to this world is so important. Elsewhere Jesus says that the world is very tired:
“The world is very tired, because it is the idea of weariness. Our task is the joyous one of waking it to the Call for God. (T-5.II.10)”
3 – Thousand Years Saved by Each of Us
And we are also told that each can save a thousand years as the world judges time. So we are not to admit defeat before we have hardly begun to save this world.
4 – Much Rides on Us
There is another point to make. We are probably in the forerunners for those who have the knowledge of how to proceed to salvation, and then on to the ultimate, Awakening. Each person that we lead aright will derive great happiness from the changes in his/her life. And we will as well. So the more that we can reach, the faster that million years will shrink, if indeed the shrinkage in time is possible. Jesus does not promise this, but the sad state of our world would indicate that now is the time. Eckhart Tolle says, indeed, that more people must awaken now, or the planet is doomed (The Power of Now and A New Earth).
5 – Teachers of God and Their Mission
Teachers of God are those who lead the way, but only time separates students from teachers, and time does not really exist (a concept of A Course in Miracles). Teachers of God have chosen right sooner, and are thus freed to lead others back to God. We do not and ought not in any way to see ourselves as more privileged than others. To give thanks for such a blessing is to make the mistake made in the New Testament, in which a “spiritual” man prayed that prayer and did not return to his house reconciled with God.
6 – All Are Called
So all are indeed called. We don’t have to wonder anymore if “evil” men and women will be damned. Hell as has historically been perceived is a myth, though we can imagine anything that we want and therefore think that it is true. There are stories of individuals who have died (and returned to life) who saw fire and brimstone on the Other Side. So the imagination is keen, and the imagination brings to us the experiences that we believe we deserve. We create our own reality, as has often been said by many New Agers.
7 – New Testament
Jesus corrects a number of statements attributed to him in the New Testament. This ought not to surprise us, but to be a comfort, for his words in ACIM are always more comforting than the words from the New Testament that he seeks to alter. An important one is, “I came to bring a sword,” and Jesus in the Text of ACIM says that this could not be something that he would ever say. As we proceed, there is much about ultimate reality that we will learn. Listen to inner guidance, and ask yourself what is more likely to be true. A loving God and a loving Jesus pave the smooth pathway.
8 – Rest
We are children of God, and we will then find the rest that all of us crave.
9 – Yes, Rest
So many of us think that we are tired, though Jesus says elsewhere that we are not really capable of being tired–but are very capable of wearying ourselves. And so many of us weary ourselves in the course of a day. Much of this weariness seems to me to be a kowtowing to the ego. We are sensitive about what people think of us, and we try so hard to put up a good front. A perfect persona. This lamentable choice is just what the ego would have us do. And until we do otherwise, we will not find that rest that we crave. Great masters have learned that they need to be the same, regardless of what company they keep. They need not to awed by the “greats” of this world. They are humble and quiet in demeanor, and so we ought to be. We may not have awakened, as have they, but we can take steps in that direction. The initial movement comes from God, but we can indeed influence our path after that initial nod from God. Glimpses of Awakening come to many us, called satori in Eastern terminology. But be careful not to let the ego rule such occasions. It is nothing of which one ought to be “proud,” and pride is, of course, a sure sign that the ego has reared its head once again. Watch the wily ego, for its days are numbered, and so does this part of our belief about ourselves know surely.
Prayer:
Dear Father,
Thank you that all are chosen, and that we can choose to listen sooner rather than later. Then we have rest unto our souls. This is a great blessing. Thank you.
May we realize that we are called to save our brothers and sisters. This is the plan of salvation, and when we take our place in it, the time of return is shortened considerably.
May none of us be disheartened by the statement by Jesus that the return of everyone may take millions of years. As long as the outcome is certain, we ought to take heart. And the sooner we fall in line with Jesus’s teachings, and the sooner we lead others to him, the more time will be collapsed.
Thank You.
Amen.
MIRACLES EACH DAY 