... see Creation as Wholly Innocent

Remembering Our Innocence

“Miracles fall like drops of healing rain from Heaven on a dry and dusty world, where starved and thirsty creatures come to die. Now they have water. Now the world is green. And everywhere the signs of life spring up, to show that what is born can never die, for what has life has immortality.” (ACIM W-340)

ACIM has proved to be beautiful, yet challenging to apply and quite deep. I studied The Course for more than three years and practiced the lessons it prescribed in the Workbook for Students, but I somehow felt that I was progressing slowly. Even more stormy weather came into my personal life, and the more I studied and practiced, the rougher it seemed to become. You might recall similar moments in your life when you feel as if everything is coming apart, as if there’s very little you can do to hold it and yourself together, yet you know you’re headed somewhere. You reach out and grasp in the dark for a thread with which to get out of the maze.

This is how I felt throughout 2001 and 2002 as my prayer took on a new form. I asked again for understanding, and for an accelerator of sorts. Somewhere, there was a missing link I wasn’t grasping in this voluminous material that I knew contained truth. I was failing to fully grasp it.

In August 2003, I attended a seminar in Anaheim, California, that was sponsored by the largest distributor of ACIM materials. There, a publisher named D. Patrick Miller was onstage and recommended a book he’d recently put out called The Disappearance of the Universe. It had been written by a then-unknown author called Gary R. Renard. I trusted D. Patrick, as I’d also read his balanced journalistic accounts of the history of ACIM and other writings. I ordered The Disappearance of the Universe, or D.U. as its readers now fondly know it, immediately upon returning home from the seminar.

What followed was akin to the experience of intense psychotherapy. It felt as though I were being opened up like a can and poured from the inside out. Many emotions, dreams, visions, ideas, thoughts, feelings, and sensations flowed to finally bring clarity and a sense of true direction and guaranteed peace at the end of this journey. My search came to a stop. Now there was nothing but work left to do in order to reach the goal.

D.U. has been my companion in the study of A Course in Miracles ever since, and it proved to be a spiritual accelerator. It also sealed the answer to my childhood prayer about God’s impossible cruelty and endless and flawless unconditional love for all of His creations. Most of all, it offered a clearer understanding of a simple process of advanced forgiveness that helped me find the way home again along with all of God’s children—not some, but all. There are no exceptions in His infinite mercy and complete, perfect love, which casts out all fear and where no one is left behind—a gospel of complete inclusion and of perfect mercy.

“If God was the maker of this world, He would indeed be a cruel God,” says D.U. Now, at first glance this statement doesn’t sit well with our traditional upbringing. In fact, we may tremble in fear when we read it, seeing it as blasphemy or heresy, based on what we’ve been taught. Yet this simple misunderstanding is the source of all our pain and the block to accepting God’s completely benign presence in our lives. We see Him as the maker of both our joys and our sorrows, and this causes us distress. We then see Him within the frame of a fearful and withdrawn dualistic perspective, where God has two faces, not one, and a flimsy will. As a defense, we set out to make a will that isn’t His but ours and are destined to live in endless competition with the Almighty, who does nothing in return but love without end. God is infinite love. And not only is that all that He is, but that’s all there is, all that you are, and all that I am.

However, in order to see this truth clearly and experientially, you must purposely and voluntarily take on your cross. You must be willing to give up and remove the blocks to the awareness of love’s presence in you. The speck that Jesus spoke about in Matthew 7:5 is in your own eye, as is the plank, and both are quite easily removed if you but invite him to gently put his finger into your eye and pluck them out.

Your willingness to give up your sense of separation from your fellow humans and from God is the only way to take away the pain of the world so that every tear shall be wiped away, as promised in the book of Revelation. The key is to forgive others, yourself, and the world—the whole thing, even Jesus and God Himself if you still hold a grievance in your mind from years of misunderstanding their relationship to you. “A forgiven world rises before your eyes in innocence and majesty, to bring the face of Christ in every brother,” says ACIM.

As D.U. states in its pages, the apparent suffering that ensues whenever we embark on a path of self-transformation and enlightenment is merely the unconscious guilt that surfaces now in order to be forgiven. I had misunderstood the stormy nights that came forth after beginning my work with The Course as indicators of failure, when in reality they heralded the truth that I was really doing nothing more than learning how to face the makings of my own ego, and that’s what needed to be healed.

That’s ultimately what needs to be forgiven so that your total innocence is remembered. You don’t effectively welcome Jesus as a personal savior until you’re ready to forgive yourself and then do so effectively. You can’t give of what you don’t have. An empty vessel can’t offer water to those who thirst; it must first fill itself with water, which it can then give and pour abundantly. To receive forgiveness, one must forgive. To receive peace, one must first choose it.

NOTE: Based on an article that appeared in the September '07 issue of Hay House's Present Moments newsletter

… see ACIM Based Cults, Ministries and Organized Religions

Is it “OK” to become an ACIM minister? To join an ACIM based religious order, cult, or organization or to start one?

Sometimes it can take the wind our of our sails as a friend recently put it to realize that it is no longer illegal for people to do what they want to with the contents of this beloved course, as seen by the many who have been its students for years before the copyright decision by a NY judge to place it in the public domain changed everything. Sometimes it even hurts for those who would see themselves as ‘true’ followers or students.

Unfortunately, we cannot say that activities like publishing mock-up copies of A Course in Miracles, altering it or breaking it apart or starting religions and cults in its name are illegal activities. They aren't even unethical any more, though they could be seen as such, since the material was originally stolen and disseminated widely through the internet before the copyright decision was made by a court.

But no, they are not illegal, and no longer can they be called that as everything is now blessed by the legal system of this country and its copyright laws.

However, could they be mistaken? Yes, according to the purpose that Helen Schucman, the actual scribe of the course identified for the course back in 1977, and which I quote here, bold and underline are mine:

"The names of the collaborators in the recording of the Course do not appear on the cover because the Course can and should stand on its own. It is not intended to become the basis for another cult. Its only purpose is to provide a way in which some people will be able to find their own Internal Teacher." (http://www.acim.org/ACIM/HowItCame.htm)

Though true then, that the course is not intended to become the basis for another cult or religion, it does not stand that this is a ‘sin’ since in ACIM there is no ‘sin’, only error, which calls for correction, not condemnation. There is no prohibition by Jesus in the course as He does not prohibit worldly behavior. How could He, when He is teaching that "there is no world!" (W-132.6.), why would He then give us commandments on how to operate in an illusory world He is telling us is not really there although it seems so real and it is the reason why we feel imprisoned and not free to accept our birthright the Love of God?

All the teachings Jesus brings to us in ACIM are to be applied to the cause of the world, the mind projecting it. Changing, modifying, prohibiting or its reverse, indulging, behavior only helps to emphasize the false idea that there is a world in which to act or not to act, therefore making it all the more real to us and plunging us deeper into the world of the ego, making it stronger by reinforcing our belief in its reality.

Another thing that the course asks of us is to be kind, for everyone is fighting a hard battle; to be kind and respect our brother's path. Everyone is embarked in a path of Atonement. Some are further along and some would appear to be stragglers. But these differences occur only "in time" while we believe we are here. In reality there is no difference among the Sons of God, but while we seem to be having this experience some walk to God on the left side of the path, some on the right, some in the middle and some between the blurred lines. That is ok. We all get to come Home in the end for the Prodigal Son is only dreaming of a world of scarcity, apart from his all loving and completely benevolent creator.

Some people can only conceive of loving God or serving their brothers within the confines of organized religion, not realizing that the true spirituality or true religion is their life process itself. That their real church is in their homes, in their minds, in their personal and interpersonal relationship with the world that apparently surrounds them, where forgiveness lessons await them ripe for the taking and without which they will not be able to find their way home as these are the very lessons that they have brought with them to learn and forgive.

The reason it makes us feel bad when we see what these organizations are doing to the course and we react defensively, is because these persons and organizations remind us at a subconscious level of all the times we too have rejected the Love of Jesus or God in our own life, wanting to make Him fit into our own little box and parameters within which to accommodate Him and conditionally accept him.

What scares us in reality, at a very deep level, is this awesome unconditional Endless Source of Love and the ego fears disappearing into it and ceasing to exist. So you accept God in small portions, with answers to specifics in prayers, with religions and rituals, in bits and pieces, but not as your complete Being, Author and Source. And that is ok.... everyone is fighting this same battle.

So as to your neighbor, be kind to yourself. See this for what it is, and remember that the Love of God is unconditional, meaning there is no condition under which He cannot love you, because you are His Love Itself. And we all get a little scared at that and tend to run a way in many, many forms.

Becoming a minister, starting a church, printing another course and altering it, and teaching others about love are some of those ways in which we sometimes run away.... the ego says "better them than I" also using this as a defense mechanism to rid the self of the guilt that this rejection deeply entails. It, projection, is self-medicine…. or a form of what the course calls magic. And even that is overcome in the end by the loving part of the mind and the minister realizes that he or she has only been teaching himself all along.

And that is also ok, Jesus just waits in infinite patience as He is outside of time and so to Him time does not matter... and He does not condemn, having unified with Love Itself, He only Loves, and Is that Love, infinitely patient, kind, generous, comforting, and always available.

Just know that we are loved and that no matter what any of us does to run away from Love, Love simply is and waits in infinite patience until we are ready to fully accept It as our own, until the fear subsides.

...see Worldly Assets, Property, Things

Is It Ok To Own Property? Things? Money?

Words you read in ACIM can quickly become weapons of mass destruction in the hands of the ego… I mean a massive destruction of the true binds that bind us: Love. They can be turned into tools of the ego to further separate and alienate our already separated brothers from each other and the Self we share. Let’s take a closer look:

"Do you want freedom of the body or of the mind? 2 For both you cannot have. 3 Which do you value? 4 Which is your goal? " (T-22.VI.1.)

Compare this to another line which, if read out of context, can be rather intimidating:

"Ownership is a dangerous concept if it is left to you."(T-13.VII.10)

Some people may wonder, well.. what do I do? Do I give away every thing I own? Do I stop buying things? Do I sell my car? My house? My business? What is being asked of me here? And… who is going to ‘own’ my stuff if I give it up?

Let’s take a look at the second one above. In this one, the operative words are "if it is left to you."

If left to the mind that thinks itself fragmented (you) from the One that is its true Being and encompasses the entire Sonship, every thing is perceived through the lens of scarcity, and therefore the belief that getting, owning, having, and possessing can offer happiness and peace or what the course calls Salvation becomes the driver for your actions. You begin acting out of scarcity, and you buy and buy and accumulate wealth, or clothes, or friends, or jewelry, or food, or drugs, or alcohol and cigarettes… and there is never enough! This is because the mind that thinks it is alone is being born at each instant, in each moment out of the seed of scarcity, and following the laws of mind it then multiplies as such.

However, when holding the Holy Spirit present, and He is the Atonement principle Itself (a.k.a. nothing happened, we are not apart from God nor from each other), then the light of abundance, joining and sharing illuminates all of our decisions, and we are guided to take actions that are inclusive, mutually beneficial, and most of all, that lead to the undoing of the idea of separation among the Sons of God. How this reflects on the level of form based on circumstances can change. Sometimes you may give something, sometimes you may get something. Sometimes you may do nothing. But the key here whether you do or don’t, is there is peace in the mind.

Concepts like these quoted lines are easily distorted if one quickly reads based on the interpretation we have previously had about these concepts, for example, some people may rush to give away all their belongings thinking that by literally not 'owning' anything in the world they will be doing God's will. Others may become the target of those who use this course to talk people out of owning any property and to give it up to ‘their’ organizations. Yes… this does happen out there, in every spiritual community and the course community is no exception.

This is no different than the traditional belief system based on scarcity, which believes that in giving something away you have lost it but will ‘score’ some point in the realm of Heaven. Or that owning something is somehow 'sinful'.

Both are really reflections of the thought of scarcity, born in the thought of separation, the opposite of the Atonement ---the Thought of Joining which expects and needs no sacrifice, and expects and needs nothing because it Is everything.

So, how are giving things away for ‘points’ or keeping them with guilt both the same? Accumulation of things and the giving up of things is stating that ‘things matter’ and that this is where peace is found, somehow in ‘them’ and not in God. Peace is not found out there, in the world, in having things or not having them. It is found in the mind that chooses what meaning those things have at any given time.

Many people fall into the trap of using behavioral changes, lifestyle changes, even relocating to some cult compound and giving away all their property in order to 'comply' with the course or as if somehow this will score them some brownie points with God, as if He were keeping a book of deeds.

The course is not telling us to do anything on the level of form and there are no compliance requirements. If we turn actions into ways to control spirit we are doing nothing better than traditional faiths that use rituals to appease the god of their religion, a god of the ego, for the True God needs nothing, demands nothing, requires nothing, expects nothing, HE simply Is.. as the course says. Love simply Is. This is the Kingdom we are to seek first, and of course, all else is given unto us. There is nothing else!

The belief that owning can make happy is what needs to be undone, and just as well is the belief that giving everything away is what makes happy! The belief in scarcity that makes you want to complete yourself based on external stimuli or actions taken on the level of form, whether it be giving things, or having things, or using things, or people to fill the hole we all walk around with until we find the true love of our LIFE, which is within, is what needs to be changed. Not the assets, not the actions, not the behavior, not ‘others’ or things. As the song says: The greatest love of all I found in Me.

And this is not a little separate isolated 'me' mind you. But the expansive, generous, all fulfilled and complete Me that God Created Whole and Healed and One, in need of nothing. Once this shift in Identity takes place, who needs to find happiness in anything of the world? And who needs to find happiness in denying themselves anything of the world that is available for his enjoyment and well being?

And so, it does not stand that by ridding yourself of property you are somehow achieving a higher spiritual level. In fact you are doing the opposite, for you are still asserting the power that things have to give or take away the Peace of God in you, or complete you or take away from you and make you somehow less than What You Are. That is again an ego strategy to own the definition of What You Are, which cannot be defined by you at all, since It was Established by God Himself at the moment of creation, and that is that.

You are What God says you ARE and nothing else... His Thought of Love, and nothing else.

In the world, you cannot help but own things. i.e. It is more effective to own a house than to rent a house, for example. Not that one or the other can give or take the Peace of God, but one saves you taxes... and therefore enables you to make better use of another worldly resource: money. You buy food to sustain the body, and when you buy food you ‘own it.’ When you buy a pet you ‘own it.’ When you pay for your water bill, you ‘own the water’ you consume… when you breathe air, you ‘own it’ it becomes your own air and no one else’s!

Now, what if all 6 billion of us on Planet Earth went out stopped working and contributing, gave away our ‘things’ to who knows who, and started living off of ‘donations?’ Aren’t donations money you ‘own’ when they are given you? Is there a difference between money earned through work for donations than money earned through work for compensation? What if 6 billion people did this and went to live off of donations, and gave away all property? Who then would donate? Who would work and produce the food we eat, the things you would still need to buy to survive like shelter and clothing for inclement weather?

This is confusion of levels... nothing in the world can affect Truth. Yet, we must make peace with the world, it is the first step.

And that is that...

In the world, we simply behave normally, and reflect the kindness that we are, as called and guided to do unto our brothers. That is all. But we do not need to do anything behaviorally to control the state of Spirit. That cannot be done.

And thus is how we learn to be in the world, but not of it. And this is a process, it is not a balance we achieve overnight, particularly in the beginning because the ego is still driving our actions in the world, the thought of scarcity and separation.

We do not need to 'act' spiritual, we just need to recognize that our true Identity is Spirit, while we seem to be experiencing a different thing and seem to see each others as separate bodies with separate interests and levels of being. Keeping that thought in mind then we ask for guidance as to how to proceed in our actions and let them reflect our new learning.

The key is in recognizing that nothing of the world comes from God and therefore nothing of the world can give or take His peace. Once you know that, then you act in the best interest of all, as guided by Spirit. Sometimes that may mean that you buy and own things, sometimes that may mean that you do not. Let The Heart of Love be your guide as behavior is only the effect of cause, which is in the mind. We want cause (mind) driving our actions, not effect (behavior).

Our goal is to learn to remember Spirit is our true Identity, and we do it by removing the blocks to its presence in us, the thought of scarcity and separation and its many manifestations is that block.

There is no difference among the apparent fragments of the Sonship, no one is wiser, better, higher, or more spiritual or different. Nor can we ‘buy’ our way into a higher level of being, we can only awaken to it, by changing our minds about what we believe to be true.

We all have wisdom within for the Sons of God are created equal, and we are that Wisdom, we are the Love of God. We are everything we could ever desire
to BE.

You are the fulfillment you seek, and no action in the world is going to return this Identity to you, only the removal of the blocks that impede our Vision to its awareness can give us our Self back.

… see Worldly “Duty”

Is Serving Jury Duty A Forbidden Activity In ACIM?

As the eyes scan a mailer that comes in this week and has included a request for donations from a large Course In Miracles organization I sit here and ponder and the thought comes that there is need to clarify.

It seems that a lot of ‘level confusion’ is taught by several of these newer ACIM based organizations, a very common thing nowadays. This is a natural process of making a transition in the mind from the worldly way in which we see things to a more abstract and benign way, Another Way, a way that is less entangled in the formalities of form and more in line with the fluidity of Spirit for the betterment of all humanity.

Here is an example: If you become a supporting member of this organization by making a pledge / donation you enjoy the many benefits of membership. Here is one of these benefits listed: “Supporting Members who feel morally guided to not serve on a jury because they do not want to sit in judgment of another "brother" can receive a letter to help them explain to the Judge why it is against their religion to be on a jury. This letter has been 100% effective.“

The mind travels back to a time last year when I had to serve jury duty in a local murder case in the town where I live. Two teenagers ages 18 and 19 had killed a 40 year old drug dealer in a robbery stint. They were trying to rob him of his drugs and accidentally killed him, according to them they didn’t mean to and that was not their intent, though in the end that is what happened.

As it is I prayed and talked to Jesus that if my help and judgment were needed in this capacity I would do the best job I could with integrity, and I was made alternate juror no. 13. I had to listen to the entire trial, examine the evidence, and be ready to vote if someone became unavailable. But no one got sick or missed a day of the trial, so at the moment of deliberation I was sent away. The votes came in. One was found guilty on all charges, the other guilty on all but one. The 12 agreed with what would have been my vote. While we waited, the bailiffs and I took a pool, and everyone’s vote agreed as well. Not a single one disagreed.

Now, was I sitting in judgment of my brothers?

Well, there was no guilt. It was a job, and I gave it my honest best. I was called to Jury Duty, it was a duty. My brothers in the community were asking me to represent them and do my duty on their behalf. I listened to the evidence and prayed to let any bias pass by, in case one may be there, one never knows (one of them was Hispanic).

Now, these are the laws of the land, these are the laws of the world we made, our very own version of ‘cause and consequence’. I felt no guilt, no remorse, but only peace and gratitude for the learning experience.

Additionally, is ACIM a religion?

Of course not! It is not intended to be one, never was and never will be, though that is how many of these new organizations are setting themselves up to function. We are reminded of the words of Helen Schucman, the course’s scribe, in the brief summary she wrote about the course in 1977 where she says (the bold and underline are mine): “The names of the collaborators in the recording of the Course do not appear on the cover because the Course can and should stand on its own. It is not intended to become the basis for another cult. Its only purpose is to provide a way in which some people will be able to find their own Internal Teacher.” (http://www.acim.org/ACIM/HowItCame.htm)

Nothing Jesus asks of us in his course is about form, but it is all about content. And contents is always the same, one or the other. We are either being guided by the idea of fear and separation, or the Thought of Love that KNOWS what is best for everyone of the Sons of God, the entire Sonship.

Nothing is to be applied on the level of form, but on the level of mind where the contents rests and where the cause of this world rests as well. The world is the effects of its choices. The effect of this cause is reflected in the world we experience and perceive.

As I serve in jury duty I personally do not sit in judgment of my brother. I bless him and hope that he can find the way home after making such a sad mistake. But we do not know what anything is for. What if as young as they are they find their way home in jail? There are many programs nowadays that teach both The Work of Byron Katie and ACIM, like Joe Wolfe (http://www.prayguy.com) an ex-convict turned Teacher of God that is doing such a wonderful job mailing the transcribed summary of Gary Renard’s workshops for free to prisoners and others who cannot hear or attend workshops.

The course tells us not to judge, but this means not to condemn, because we do not know everything as the Holy Spirit does in order to judge justly. We are not to judge because we simply can not judge, not because it is an edict, a commandment, or a sin.

However, doing a job as a juror and following the guidance of the Legal System is a duty and a service to the community, and a responsibility as a citizen on the level of the world. The judgment is passed by the law of the community, for the community’s well being in a world filled with confused brothers who have chosen to act mostly based on fear instead of love, for now, not by the juror.

No wonder the course says: “Nothing so blinding as perception of form” (T-22.III.6.7). If one thinks everything the course teaches applies on the level of form one ends up literally paralyzed, unable to serve jury duty, unable to be a judge or an attorney, unable to even pray for any thing or anyone or to attend a funeral and be appropriately kind and loving, since it also says that the idea of death itself is unreal.

I was so impressed with how the system works, how the jurors are instructed to cast a vote, not to judge, only based on the letter of the law, only based on the ‘evidence’ presented and nothing else. They must read the law and understand it, then understand their boundaries. But they are not asked to condemn their brother.

If we learn to tune in to the Thought of Love instead of acting out of fear, we may be guided at times to go ahead and serve Jury Duty, go ahead and give testimony that sends someone to prison, go ahead and sue someone, go ahead and teach some one, go ahead and hug someone. The actions don’t matter. We may at times be guided not to do any of those things, but do others that in that one instance represent the beneficence of God for the entire Sonship. We do not know, so let us not think that our actions by our individual decisions are what is right or wrong. It is our thinking that makes it so, and is our thinking that will lead us out of fear, not our action in the world.

There are no "forbidden" activities in ACIM. Only mistaken thoughts.

....see 'Doing' In the World

What is “Do nothing” all about?

This phrase appears in the course five times explicitly, and other times implicitly throughout the book.

This as many other statements is often confused with either being an injunction, a sort of suggestion or even as far as a commandment by Jesus to be applied on the level of form to worldly activities, whether good news or bad news, as in: “Well.. I just got promoted so I need do nothing” or “Well.. Someone just got robbed and I need do nothing” or “I am being abused and I need do nothing” or “ "I need do nothing, so I'll just sit here and watch TV or tweedle my thumbs."

Now, if it were true that ‘I need to nothing’ is something to be applied on the level of the body we might as well just sit on a couch like lumps of coal for the rest of our lives and become nothing more than vegetables. And even then, we will be doing something.. we will be "sitting on a couch like lumps of coal, breathing, eating, thinking, shifting positions, yawning, sneezing, etc."

Why would Jesus want that? Even worse, how would that ever make you happy or help you find happiness in the long run?

This is why it is so important to keep in mind that all of these statements represent nothing but thoughts, ways of thinking, changes of mind, changes in how we approach our actual doing, first on the level on the mind, then letting that approach reflect our allegiance in the mind to the thought of Oneness, the healing thought, and let it then take form as needed to help, aid, love, protect, extend, engage, embrace, assist, heal, learn, teach, etc.

“I need do nothing” is a thought… to be carried with you as a helper at all times. The operative word is "I."

“I need do nothing” as a thought of non-interference:

Right before we actually have to ‘do’ something.

“…3. You do not know what healing is. …. 9 Focus your mind only on this:

I am not alone, and I would not intrude the past upon my Guest.

I have invited Him, and He is here.

I need do nothing except not to interfere.” (T-16.I.3.3)

“I need to nothing” as a realization:

This is a reflection in a moment of ‘light’ when you say to yourself “duh! I really should trust God more often!”

“T-18.VII. I Need Do Nothing

“When peace comes at last …; or when the goal is finally achieved by anyone, it always comes with just one happy realization; "<I need do nothing.>" “ (T-18.VII.5.7)

“I need do nothing” as a statement of allegiance to God (Oneness) in the mind:

To be believed, trusted, and carried with you in the mind.

“ "I need do nothing" is a statement of allegiance, a truly undivided loyalty. 8 Believe it for just one instant, and you will accomplish more than is given to a century of contemplation, or of struggle against temptation. “ (T-18.VII.6.7)

“I need do nothing” as a statement of dependence on God, our Author and Creator:

A realization, quoted in the scriptures as “Of myself I can do nothing…I can do all things through Christ who give me strength” but keeping in mind that in the course Christ is not a man but Gods entire Creation, which includes you, me and the entire Sonship. It is the thought of that Oneness that brings you strength. I do not represent me alone but all my brothers. This helps allay the temptation to act selfishly.

“And I must learn I need do nothing of myself, ….” (W-337.1.6)

As we can see, not once does Jesus say that this is an order or a suggestion for us to become couch potatoes, but on the contrary, to be very involved in the world, to keep doing what we do, but to bring our dependence on God, our loyalty to Him and our trust in Him to all that we do.. to learn to step aside and realize that we are not alone and therefore we must not make decisions alone but must make them in a way as to not exclude a part of the Sonship from a benefit, a blessing, a healing. The thought of not excluding anyone from our forgiveness.

As bodies that we think we are, we cannot help but do something at all times… the human body and its attached individualized psyche is always doing something... much of it on auto pilot. Right now as a body, you are doing something, you are reading these lines, you are breathing, typing, thinking, seating, standing, moving your foot, itching your leg, blinking your eyes, assimilating these words...

We cannot “do nothing” on the level of form, that is an impossibility.

So let us not torture ourselves thinking that Jesus is asking us to do the impossible and trying to traumatize our lives. As if we weren’t already impaired enough in our judgment, interpreting things this way can make it even worse.

We “do nothing” only on the level of mind. The emphasis here is on the word “I,” as in “I” need do nothing, “I” must step aside and let the thought of “joined interests” be my guide in all that “I” DO.

“I” in and of myself am nothing, and can judge nothing justly, therefore “I” must get out of the way as much as possible and let One Who Knows the needs of the entire Sonship at all times direct my actions, my words, my thoughts.

This is the formula: One quick prayer of joining, take action, no regrets, no looking back. Trust.

When “I” step aside, I learn to be an instrument of peace, and cease being a lonely “I” becoming an integral part of the ongoing miracle of Love on this plane.