When Not at Peace. . .

“I must have decided wrongly, because I am not at peace. (T90)”

This passage starts a sequence of helps to return us to a peaceful state of mind. A Course in Miracles says elsewhere that the first obstacle that peace must flow across is our desire to get rid of it. How true, if we stop to think! We are so used to drama and turmoil that we think that we are depressed when we get calm for a change. Yet calm and quiet are where we are headed (ACIM tenets).

I have a friend who questioned this “perfectly calm and quiet all the time.” I know from our long friendship that she is especially prone to drama, and she was letting me know that she liked it like that! Yes, but a little farther along her pathway, and she may change her mind. I certainly hope so.

This passage bears repeating as a lovely blank verse poem. If we are not at peace, we have made one or more errors. We are in charge in making the decisions that will bring us to peace. We can decide otherwise, and thus choose peace, moment by moment.

We do not have to feel guilty, because of the power and glory of the Holy Spirit. He can undo the consequences of our wrong action or thought–the error that made us lose our peace in the beginning.

Peace is a great blessing. All of us would choose it, rather than drama, if we would give it more thought. “Perfectly calm and quiet” is said elsewhere in ACIM as the direction in which we are heading. We may, actually, not welcome this now, because we are tied to our dramas, but as we choose more and more the peace that God grants, we will know the genius of this proscription.

“I made the decision myself, but I can also decide otherwise. (T90”

This puts us back in the hot seat as the decision maker, which we always are. We make the decisions about what reality we will encounter, though not in a simplistic fashion, for the dictum, “We create our own reality” has been much misunderstood. Taken in its worst light, this means that we see ourselves as victims, and we blame ourselves for the wrongs in our life that happen. It is not quite like that.

Our Higher Self makes many of the decisions about what we will experience, and the Higher Self sees a much broader view.

It is also cautionary not to blame another as a victim. We can’t see what their Higher Selves have in mind. What others are going through is not a conscious choice of the lower mind.

“I want to decide otherwise, because I want to be at peace. (T90)”

This moves us into deciding that we want to change our minds, because we want peace. We are being gently led down a pathway to greater peace. Jesus recognizes that our ego will offer some resistance.

“I do not feel guilty, because the Holy Spirit will undo all the consequences of my wrong decision if I will let Him. (T90)”

Do not feel guilty! You will be OK. Guilt is not the same as remorse. If we have erred, it is natural to feel some remorse. But we do not wallow in it, and all too often we wallow in guilt. This is insanity.

The Holy Spirit will undo the wrong. Don’t interfere. Let Him.

“I choose to let Him, by allowing Him to decide for God for me. (T90)”

We always choose God when we choose aright. We always feel better after we have chosen for God. And the way home is several steps closer by our so choosing.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

Help me to decide for peace, not drama. I am in charge of this decision, with the help of the Holy Spirit. If I am not at peace, I have decided wrongly. I choose now to change this decision to one of peace.

Help me to know the value of being perfectly calm and quiet all the time. May the Holy Spirit, day by day, lead me in this direction.

Amen.

Never Feel Guilty!

“If you allow yourself to become guilty, you will reinforce the error rather than allow it to be undone for you. (T90)”

1 – Reinforcing the Error

This passage emphasizes an important psychological truth, but one that we may never have heard before reading the A Course in Miracles. The passage also contains some ACIM teaching that would preclude full understanding without our reading.

2 – Ego

One of the greatest problems that we face when engulfed by the ego is the problem of guilt. We think that we have done horrendous things, and maybe we have, but only in illusion and only as mistakes–not sins. Mistakes cry out for resolution, for remedying. They do not have the attraction that a deed named a “sin” seems to have for our frail psyches.

3 – Holy Spirit

If we choose to eliminate guilt, we will help the error to be undone as well. But “we” do not undo the error; that is the providence of the Holy Spirit. He works in cooperation with our willingness to leave guilt behind. And, with guilt behind, the error is easily overlooked. We choose not to repeat the error as soon as we label it thusly–an error, or mistake, not a sin.

4 – Be Firm with Yourself

“Be very firm with yourself in this, and keep yourself fully aware that the undoing process, which does not come from you, is nevertheless within you because God placed it there. Your part is merely to return your thinking to the point at which the error was made, and give it over to the Atonement in peace. (T90)”

5 – Forgiveness

We need to forgive ourselves. This way we avoid the guilt that threatens to engulf us, even over minor matters (because we don’t perceive those matters as minor). A Course in Miracles says that guilt has made us mad (insane). And an important point: God does not forgive us, because He has never condemned us. One does not forgive unless he has first condemned. That is why it is so important for us to forgive our brothers and sisters. We have condemned, sometimes even unconsciously, and we need to rectify this mistake.

6 – Would I Fail to Forgive Myself for This?

But the most important aspect is that we have had trouble forgiving ourselves, and if we can’t forgive ourselves, we can’t forgive others. It is just that simple. So our prayer should always be, when faced with an attack from another, “Would I fail to forgive myself for this?” Often the answer will be “no,” and we need to alter that choice to something better—complete absolution through forgiveness.

7 – Atonement

Atonement is mentioned again in this passage. Many of us have a problem with the term Atonement, but it is mainly described in ACIM as an “undoing.” We let our errors be undone by the Holy Spirit, and thus we approach Atonement. We are absolved of error, for we have turned our misthoughts and misdeeds over to the only One who can correct them: the Holy Spirit. And He is always quick to change what has hurt us. He means us well, unlike the ego, which never means us well.

8 – Finding Peace

“Say this to yourself as sincerely as you can, remembering that the Holy Spirit will respond fully to your slightest invitation:

“I must have decided wrongly, because I am not at peace.

“I made the decision myself, but I can also decide otherwise.

“I want to decide otherwise, because I want to be at peace.

“I do not feel guilty, because the Holy Spirit will undo all the consequences of my wrong decision if I will let Him.

“I choose to let Him, by allowing Him to decide for God for me. (T90)”

The above passage is a good one to read and reread when in the throes of our neurosis. The Holy Spirit will act to relieve us of our neuroses, just as Jesus has promised to so act as well. Jesus will stabilize us, and he will heal us. The Holy Spirit, being a part of the Holy Trinity, but an Idea, will move to do the same. All that is asked of us is that we surrender to His will for us. We will never regret that surrender.

9 – Unequivocal Call

The Holy Spirit does not impose Himself on us, but He acts at our slightest invitation. This is similar to Jesus’s promise to come at a single “unequivocal call.” We need the Holy Spirit at the point in our progress. Later on, approaching Awakening, we will turn to our inner Christ Self to change us for the better.

10 – Peace that Passeth Understanding

We are at peace when we have allowed the Holy Spirit to have His way with us. That peace is akin to the peace that passeth understanding, from the Bible.

Prayer:

Dear Father,

If I make mistakes, I will feel guilty when I come to myself. This feeling of guilt can be undone when we seek to be forgiven, of ourselves and of the other person whom we feel we have wronged. May I find that forgiveness now, and leave guilt behind.

Help me to turn to the Holy Spirit when I am tempted to make mistakes that will induce guilt. Thank you for being there for me.

May this be a good day. I am so thankful for the new turns in my life. Blessings seem to be reigning down upon me, and it behooves me to be grateful for these blessings. You are the Source of blessings. And I can so choose to recognize how to react non-neurotically in my daily life. This much I can do, though I cannot do it all. Be with me as I seek to make the best decisions as I go about my day. May my decisions always be informed by guidance. And may I fail to be resistant to that guidance.

Thank You.

Amen.

The Bible Gives Many References to the Immeasurable Gifts Which Are for You, but for Which You Must Ask.

“The Bible gives many references to the immeasurable gifts which are for you, but for which you must ask. This is not a condition as the ego sets conditions. It is a glorious condition of what you are. (T61)”

Affirmation: “immeasurable gifts are for me”

Reflections:

1 – Greedy?

Sometimes we feel greedy when we pray for something specific. This is not, however, the way of either the A Course in Miracles or the Bible. Here we see that asking is the way to receive. Actually, asking for something specific is the intended way for us to receive.

2 – Be Specific

If we are not specific, the Holy Spirit will need to lead our minds and hearts to know what it is that we really want. This takes additional time, time that we do not need to waste in such a fashion. If we want the “immeasurable gifts,” we need only ask. The Bible says, “Ask, and you will receive.” This glorious promise is in line with the teaching of the Course as well, as we see in this passage.

3 – What Gift?

What gift would you really like to have? If it is in line with our best interests, we can have it for the asking. Elsewhere Jesus points out that our Father does not give gifts that are not good to His children; He protects us from our own misunderstandings. So do not be afraid that you will ask amiss. Pray for His will, and the blessings will always be good.

4 – God’s Will and Our Real Will

The unspoken truth that the will of God and our real will is identical is implied in this passage:

“No force except your own will is strong enough or worthy enough to guide you. In this you are as free as God, and must remain so forever. (T61)”

5 – Imprisoned Will

Our will, though, becomes imprisoned when this will is placed in the hands of the ego. This imprisonment leads to terrible things, terrible pain. And ACIM says that when this pain becomes bad enough, we will be led to understand that there is another way. Tolerance for pain may be high, but it is not ascendant. We change our ways.

6 – Not Punishment – Cause and Effect

This is not punishment, but just the inexorable way of cause and effect. Jesus says a lot about cause and effect in ACIM, and he makes it very clear that he will not tamper with our mind’s choices until we see that a different way is called for. If he interfered with cause and effect, he would be tampering with a law of the universe, and this is not something that he would ever do.

7 – Joy

So we choose with our will. That will must be bent to the will of God eventually, knowing that that is what we really want. And the joy that we know when we have surrendered makes certain to our minds and heart that we have chosen correctly. We are free to choose, always. But ultimately, we will not choose to walk apart from God. All of us find our way home at last.

8 – No Preconditions

A side issue that is important to our study of A Course in Miracles is that we need not use our free will to put preconditions on God. He cannot even move to bring Awakening to us when we have closed off ourselves by preconditions. We don’t want to be made anxious, we don’t want to feel pain, we don’t want to have a scream of mortal terror when the light comes on. And when we study ACIM, we are promised that we will not have a scream of mortal terror when the dream ends and we awaken. The light will come on, and we will recognize that we are no longer dreaming of a light, but seeing a genuine light. And we will not fear.

9 – Mindfulness

“Let us ask the Father in my name to keep you mindful of His Love for you and yours for him. He has never failed to answer this request, because it asks only for what He has already willed. (T61)”

This is a plea that we remain open to God’s Love for us. There is no Force greater in the universe. And when we walk in Love’s way, we walk with a charmed life. We are joyous. We live in harmony. We do not suffer. Life is good, for we have found the secret.

10 – No Other Gods

“Those who call truly are always answered. Thou shalt have no other gods before Him because there are none. (T61)”

This passage is akin to the New Testament’s “Ask and ye shall receive.” We will receive answers to our questions, when we ask those questions of the Holy Spirit. Our problems will be solved, for the solution is always with the problem. So we need not wait long, unless we think (erroneously) that we have a long wait. The actual truth is that God moves immediately when we ask the right questions. This harkens to the first passage in this posting, which emphasizes that we have to ask for things from God. He will, however, in my opinion guide our thinking so that we stay on track. He will guide our thinking so that we know the right questions to ask.

11 – Gentle Way Home

This way home is gentle. The light comes on, but we do not scream. And Jesus is the companion who holds our hand on this walk.

Prayer:

Dear Father,

Help to realize that asking for Your gifts is not greedy. And I must ask if I am to receive. Guide my asking in line with Your will.

May the Holy Spirit inform my choice about what to ask for. Then may I thank You for those manifold blessings.

May today go well, because it starts off well. May I keep my mind and heart positive, full of Your grace. May I know that any and all problems have a solution, right with the problem. And may I open myself to find the solution to anything that troubles me.

Amen.