MY CHOICE FOR GOD TO USE

Fail not in your function

of loving in a loveless place

made out of darkness and deceit,

for thus are darkness and deceit undone.

from "A Gift of Peace" at p. 95

I've read "A Gift of Peace," reread and reread and reread, since 1986. That is one of my favorite passages, and it was another epiphany when I realized that "darkness and deceit" are everything in my world that is not peace, not of God, thus are of the reasoning mind. 

My mind had always interpreted darkness and deceit as only relative to friends, foes, countries...people, just people. No. Darkness and deceit are the flip side of God consciousness...they exist only in our ego's reality (which, we must remember, does not exist).

I awoke this morning with my diagnosis of macular degeneration on my mind. I turned my thoughts to my original incurable, progressive disease which I had prayed so hard to not have. God knew better, I now have it and, gratefully, I have named it "Blessed."  

So here's my choice today...I get to think of my diagnosis of macular degeneration as the worst thing that could happen to me and not fair into the bargain: I live alone, I'm getting (got!) old...how can I deal with certain blindness, and all the uglies inherent to that? (This is a.k.a., poor, pitiful, put-upon me thinking.) 

OR, I can make a conscious decision to love my eyes just as they are right this very minute, give them to God to tend to, and remind myself, as needed, that macular degeneration may be the necessary tool that I chose for God to use in bringing me higher in consciousness with Him. 

That works for me. I say "thank you" and get back to happy.

Thank you.

UNCORK SELF AND GOD POPS OUT

The key to living a complete and fulfilled life lies in the realization that there is a mystical, transcendental Presence within us that has already provided our infinite supply unto eternity, that contains within Itself our companionship unto eternity, and that has within Itself the power of fulfillment. -- Joel Goldsmith, "A Parenthesis in Eternity" at p. 269

There. That perfectly describes the realization of God within us...as opposed to the acceptance in our head that there is a God out there. And God realization depends mostly on self-conquest through self-discipline; i.e., our daily obedience to spiritual disciplines.

As today's "God Calling" states: My servants lack [anything] and think I fail. These [things]are but the outward manifestations that result from obedience, honesty, order, love -- they come, not in answer to urgent prayer, but naturally as light results from a lighted candle.

We hear early and often that our new life is an inside job, and still we seek out there for the right fixer...the right meds, the right mate, the right job...the right thoughts even. If we will but turn our will and our life (along with our thoughts and our words) over to the care of God, we can and will walk free in our own mind.

Thank you.

WHY IS SIMPLE SELDOM EASY?

If we are encountering many frustrating or disturbing experiences, even such apparently minor ones as missing our bus or misplacing things, we may be sure that we need more frequent and deeper contact with the Source. -- Joel Goldsmith, "The Heart of Mysticism" at p. 897

That's it. That's our only need...more frequent and deeper contact with God.

Of course, the hook is that we must first experience the realization of God. Just agreeing that there is a God is heading in the right direction, but so what that there is a God? If we continue to cower in self-centered fears, tower in self-centered rage, live in our rues, regrets and remorses with self-superior judgments thrown in, so what for God?

Why did and do we struggle so hard to come to believe that there is a power greater than ourselves just to continue feeling unloved, unwanted, unneeded and unappreciated? And clearly loving the un-... else why go there so often?

Why? When the solution is so simple: "Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven and all else will be added unto ye."

Thank you.

ACCEPTANCE...AN ACT OF GRACE

[The following is a reprint from my blog of February 19, 2012.]

“If you do not transform your pain, you will always transmit it.” — Fr. Richard Rohr

To me, the rest of that thought is: in your search for someone out there to blame.

“If you do not transform your pain, you will always transmit it in your search for someone out there to blame.”

There is no one to blame, not even yourself. There is no one to blame for anything, no reason to shame anyone. You are, however, responsible for your pain…no matter who or what the apparent cause.

It is through surrender that pain is transformed…and then becomes the instrument through which you can be of benefit to others.

All pain is beneficial to you when you learn to take responsibility for it…and the instant you think, “Yes, but…,” you’re going down that wrong road again.

There are two truths about pain…1) all transformed pain is beneficial; and 2) finding someone to blame nurtures, grows, your pain.

Another truth: Acceptance, like forgiveness, cannot be received through an act of will…it can only come through the grace of God.

Thank you.

ON GOING AGAINST EGO'S ADVICE

So I was talking with my friend Sylvia, and she was so excited about my advice to her the previous day. According to her, she had told me she was praying for an answer to a problem and getting no answer, and I had said, "Pray harder."

If I ever thought praying harder was a viable solution, it has not been in years...and years. My only prayer for a way long time now is and has been, "Thank you." Thank you for anything and everything that is appearing before my eyes or only in my head covers it, according to me.

It is written, and I do believe, "The Father knows your needs." That being my truth, all I need remember is that I'd rather have God's will done in my life than my will done in my life. Ergo, my prayer can only be "thank you." I sometimes pray, "Thank you for my life just as it is right this very minute," but that's for me, not God.

To go back to Sylvia...that's such a clean-cut example of what we hear is what we hear, not necessarily what was said. As a matter of fact, what we hear is seldom what was said, because as we hear, we interpret.

Sylvia is a new friend and has not heard me talk about my only prayer. I'm guessing she interpreted what I said based on what she was thinking she needed to do...i.e., pray harder. And, hearing that from another pleased her beyond the beyond...she was sharing my advice with all her friends, she said.

I made listening noises and realized that now was not the time to "correct" her. My feeling is when someone is obviously tickled with what they heard, unless it will do a harm to them or others, let it stand. God will lead us both to whatever and whenever a correction is needed. [Sidebar: I cannot emphasize enough how greatly my ego disagrees: "Others will know that advice is puny...and with my name on it!"]

Thank you.

ON TURNING TO GOD FIRST

By your acceptance or rejection of these universal beliefs, you determine what governs your life. -- Joel Goldsmith, "The Heart of Mysticism" at p. 898

I understood this from a different angle this morning. Previously, I've considered "these universal beliefs" to be whatever spiritual principles find a home in our heart, that we therefore make ours and follow...meaning that, in general, our heart and our head live at peace.

It was the thought that followed my reading the above that set me thinking. I flashed on the lives of Gandhi, MLK, Jr., Jesus...all of whom advocated for peace, for love, yet all were murdered.

I thought of how we try to find the gold in every event, action, happening that comes to us...with the possible exception of human relationships...the bumps, the ruptures, the tears.

Have we ever been willing to find the gold asap then...like, in the midst of the petty spat? Or immediately after since sometimes we don't even know we are in a petty spat! The only requirement is that we turn to God before our ego-victory reasoning mind connects and determines why the other person is wrong.

We learn to keep our big mouth shut...most of the time. (I personally have learned to share the happening with one other person just to keep me honest. If I don't share, I will explode in anger, after which my story will prove I am an angel straight from heaven and the other one is an agent from hell.)

All of that is staying in the reasoning mind...and I don't fault it entirely. That way has saved more than one friendship...but there is no spiritual growth there.

Yet, I have dealt with...or been dealt with by...the IRS, my anxieties, the deaths of loved ones, and more. I know, therefore, that if we will consciously look for and find the gold in each situation, we can know and show each situation was our angel. There is our spiritual growth.

Yet, I cannot recall ever looking for the gold in petty tears in the fabric of friendships. And a great many of those dinged friendships simply went begging, faded away. Not from hate but from lack of love...lack of caring enough to find the gold in the dispute. Just another I'd rather be right than loved.

I wonder if the easy cop-out for not immediately turning to God in the midst of our spat is that we're just too fearful (read "self-willed") to stay. The pop-psychologists claim that fright demands fight or flight so we grab flight and figure God'll be there tomorrow, we can check with him then.

The gold in this is: If we sincerely desire still more spiritual growth, this is the golden goose for going for it.

Thank you.

ACCEPTANCE IS NON-RESISTANCE

It is probably the most courageous thing you will ever do to accept that you are just yourself. -- Fr. Richard Rohr, "Daily Meditations."

Extending that thought: That says to me that the most courageous thing we can do is to accept ourselves just as we are when others are not accepting us just as we are. True acceptance is non-resistance, and that does take courage.

It takes courage to feel another's resistance/judgment and not explain, justify, excuse ourselves...or, the most common response, to not resist/judge right back.

The problem is not in another's resistance, the problem is in our own ego's interpretation of that resistance. It takes courage to turn a deaf ear to our own ego's siren call. For it is ego, our own ego, that is resisting what it is hearing, what it is interpreting as it hears it, and promptly puts another's name on it.

Ego deflation at depth, I'm guessing, is quite simply the realization of God. That realization is what needs tending...that which we must discipline ourselves to return to always...for our reasoning mind, our ego, will break in, will demand our attention. Our courageous act is to let it! Let it in so we can let it go...let it flow right on through us. A truism: What we resist persists.

The ego's call is so attractive because it always has someone else as its source for blaming and shaming. No. To go down that road is to detour from our only acceptable goal; i.e., our own still more spiritual growth. That is ours and ours alone to align with the realization that God is...and that is enough.

We develop a consciousness of enough, and we know peace.

Thank you.