...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.