Our experience here and those situations that keep recurring is based on ourselves projecting our unconscious guilt. We do this to attempt to punish ourselves and of course to keep God from punishing us (for we can do it better!). If I keep having continued problems, unhappiness, failure, disappointments, lack of success, deep down the ego tells us that God will pity us and will go easy on me when it comes to the punishment I deserve. At the pearly gates, He will feel sorry for me and thus I will escape punishment. We need to keep going within to uncover the ego thoughts we have. This doesn’t mean doing heavy excavating, but merely recognizing the thoughts we have of fear, guilt, darkness, or sin. It are these thoughts we bring to the Holy Spirit.
It can be surprising how many fear (and its variations) thoughts lay dormant. Until, they pop up in a sudden way. We may be feeling quite peaceful, believing everything the Course instructs about the Truth, God, Heaven and the like, then one moment we are talking with a co-worker and in comes a thought of judgment.
This doesn’t mean we have failed, it means we are living in this world and it is normal for that to occur. Later, a judgmental thought may come in about a driver who cuts us off, or a news story about a shooting. We may feel sad, angry, or disgusted. These are all ego thoughts, even though we want to feel empathy for the situation.
It is perfectly fine to feel and to “be normal” in having feelings. That is part and parcel of being here in the world. We feel with our occasion here in an illusory body, in a world of illusion. This doesn’t mean we cease our feelings. It means we recognize that these thoughts are not of God.
It boils down to releasing the guilt that has become a squatter in our mind. It’s not the problems in our lives and the world that need to be solved. We let go of the intense guilt and let God in. Let Him show us of His Love and care. Let our minds be restored to its glory. When we are then in peace, it will not matter what is occurring in our lives or in our wallet. We will have shifted our perception and realized the world is a mere illusion and only Love and Oneness are real.
The aspect here is peace. Can I walk the world in peace without being swayed by what is occurring? Can I be in a neutral place as I observe the world? Certainly, I ask Holy Spirit/Jesus to look at all things with me.
When we can stop the drama and story telling, we will be at peace. The more we tell our “problem”, i.e. the story, the less peace we have. The details are not vital. What is vital is my choice of peace over all.
This is my practice every moment of the day. I may not always be perfect in it, but my effort is ever present. By doing so, I tend to forget the details of experiences from the past. I just recall the feeling. If it is still a feeling of fear, judgment or guilt, then assistance is needed. If I can look on an experience from the past that may have been difficult at the time and now see only love and forgiveness, then I know I am a miracles practitioner.
Peace,
Rev. Deb
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