None of my substitutes for God can possibly work.

I woke this morning with a sobering, but happy thought:

No matter how much I try to find fulfillment through other things in my life—sex, relationships, material things, sex, fun activities, money, sex (is there a theme here?)—none of these things can possibly work. 

None of these things can possibly provide the lasting joy and peace that is already mine, that has already been given me. None of these could possibly work as a substitute for my oneness with God.

And I thank God, that this is so. I thank God, that a substitute is not possible; for if it were so, I would get lost in the offerings of the world instead of desiring to remember and learn how to experience His love, Our love.

Today, I dedicate to remembering who I am and my one true desire: to walk with the Holy Spirit in awareness of His presence, His Joy,and His Love.  I invite you to join with me in this walk today.

In Joy,

Michael

Oneness Is Not Twoness

In my lessons this past week in A Course in Miracles, I have been struck in a new way (for me) about the idea of oneness versus twoness.

See, for a while now my belief about Heaven has been that it is a state in which there is only oneness, a state in which I and the Father are one, a state that already is, and always has been, but a state that is not in my awareness or experience right now.

What’s new for me, however, is that for me to experience heaven, where there is only oneness, there must only be oneness now, which means there isn’t twoness.  That is, there IS only one will, and that I don’t have a “free will” separate from GOD’s will.  There IS only one will. I can choose to think I have a separate will.  But there IS only one will. And when I get still, I can get in touch with what my one will is, because it is God’s will and it is the only will there is.

And so going through the day in practicing Oneness, I am listening for what my will is.  Today, I found myself NOT listening to the radio while driving, NOT watching TV, NOT talking with people over the phone, but sitting quietly and listening. And as I interacted with others throughout the day, I found myself listening for, “What is our will here?”

Holy Spirit, thank you for helping me say that oneness is not twoness. There really is just one will here.

 

In Joy,

 

Michael

 

Will I Be Quiet Today?

There are days that I wake up and I am so inspired to want to go meditate and have my quiet time with God. There are days when I feel so in the flow, walking with Spirit, being guided every step of the way  with what to do and what to say.

And then there is the other 98% of the time.

Like today.

And like yesterday.

And like the day before.

There are so many times when I make excuses for why I can’t take 10 minutes to be still and remember the truth about who I am.  It’s quite ridiculous really. I SAY that quiet time in the morning is the most important part of my day.  I say it.  But my actions say otherwise.   By comparison, how often do I go out of the house without taking a shower first? Funny, isn’t it: I have time to do a physical cleansing every morning, but don’t seem to make the same time for a spiritual cleansing.  And a few days without the spiritual cleansing and my attitude stinks as bad as my body would after the same period without some soap and water.

A Course in Miracles and The Disappearance of the Universe tell me that my reluctance to get quiet in the morning, even though I know it would be most helpful, is just a manifestation of my split mind. The side of my mind that is aligned with the Holy Spirit wants to help me awaken to the truth that I am home with God. Yet the side of my mind aligned with the ego wants to stay in control and maintain the false image that I am a body, not spirit, stuck in a world of problems.

Just writing about it is a great affirmation for me. So please join with me today in being quiet and being open to the Holy Spirit leading the way.

In Joy, 

Michael

One Will

I am inspired today by the thought that there is just One Will in Heaven. 

 

Since there is just One Will, for me to “be” in Heaven means that I must get to the point where I recognize and gratefully accept that my will and God’s Will are one and the same. If my highest desire is to return to the awareness of my oneness with God…then every day I must practice the Oneness.

In Heaven, there is just One Will. Today, I practice walking with the One Will, which is my own.

I know that my seeming preoccupation with the present, my constant busy-ness, my intent on building something, my desire for sensuality, my judgment of others, etc. –are all reflective of a will that is not mine.  These are desires to make something real that is NOT.

Father, we share the One Will.  Today, I am blessed as I practice walking in the One Will.

Today, I ask in every situation, what is Our Will in this?

What is Forgiveness?

A friend asked me the other day to define forgiveness.  Here is what I sent him.
_____________________________________________________________________
 

Hey Buddy---

I’m catching up on emails that I’ve missed the last few months and noticed I hadn’t responded to this one.  Attached is a primer I put together on practicing forgiveness.  Let me give you a definition and then explain it.

FORGIVENESS is seeing your brother as sinless because you recognize what you thought he did to you never occurred.

Consider: Your wife having a dream about you lying to her over and over again.  When she wakes, she’s upset with you.  You explain that it was just a dream. However, this doesn’t help—she is still mad at you.  You explain that she is mad at you for what happened in her dream.  You explain that it was her dream, that she made it all up, and that she is mad at you for something she made up, when nothing has happened.  And so this thing that is not real (her dream) is getting in the way of your real relationship with her because she is believing in something that is not real. 

This, in a nutshell, explains forgiveness.

The spiritual discipline I follow starts with a few fundamental premises: 

1. God is perfect, eternal, unchanging, only loving.
2. Everything God created is like God: perfect, eternal, unchanging, only loving.
3. Only what God created is real and we cannot change what God made.
4. Right now, we are home in God, but we are dreaming a dream that we are living in a world that is full of change, filled with things that are good and bad, and dealing with people, some good, some bad.
5. Because it feels real, we think this world is real. But since God does not make anything that is different from God, this world that we think we live in could not have been made by God. We are still home in God, as we always have been, just dreaming we are living in a world that is unlike God and could not possibly exist.
6. Forgiveness is the centerpiece of our awakening because it leads us to see that what we thought others did to us has never occurred.  And allows us to see everyone as God created him, innocent.

This philosophy is summed up in three short sentences, which appear at the start of The Course in Miracles.

• Nothing real can be threatened.
• Nothing unreal exists.
• Herein lies the peace of God.

Very strange, I know.  But it can bring so much peace when you realize that no one is guilty. I use these words often, “I have created this for my healing.”  It helps me remember purpose and helps me forgive the other person because it squarely puts me as the creator of my dream.

Anyway…probably more than you wanted to know,

Michael

2014 - A New Start!

It’s time.  I am ready.

Let’s dedicate 2014 to remembering who we really are by reminding ourselves daily of who our brothers and sisters really are.  When I first read The Disappearance of the Universe many years ago, the chapter on the ego’s plan for salvation didn’t resonate with me.  The promise given in the book was that after reading that chapter you would be able to see the ego at work every day.  Frankly, I didn’t get it.

But over the last six months, it has become clearer. Put simply, any time I believe, “Things would be better if only the other person would _____,” this is a definite sign that my ego is at work and forgiveness is needed.

Here’s the workbook lesson from A Course in Miracles that helped put this into perspective for me.

ACIM WB#71

The ego's plan for salvation centers around holding grievances. It maintains that, if someone else spoke or acted differently, if some external circumstance or event were changed, you would be saved. Thus, the source of salvation is constantly perceived as outside yourself. Each grievance you hold is a declaration, and an assertion in which you believe, that says, "If this were different, I would be saved." The change of mind necessary for salvation is thus demanded of everyone and everything except yourself. The role assigned to your own mind in this plan, then, is simply to determine what, other than itself, must change if you are to be saved.

Who would I want to be different?  Unfortunately, the list is endless, which tells me I have a lot of forgiving to do! But I will start with those I contact today, as the universe offers me plenty of opportunities…right now.