THIS INCARNATION 14

P. 110-111

A REFLECTION/MEDITATION

Suppose that God is all. God is Everything. Suppose that God is Love, Be-ing, the Power of Creation. And suppose that the only and ultimate energy or movement of this Allness is to grow and evolve.

(It was said of Jesus, as a child entering into young manhood, that he grew in wisdom, age and grace, and that is a material world metaphor.)

Even though words are by their very nature limiting, we are continuing to stretch to embrace the meaning behind the words.

And suppose that the way God has chosen to grow and to evolve is through all of the billions and perhaps even infinite faces all of His/Her creation. So that, for instance, here on planet Earth, from the tiniest subatomic particle to the most complex being, from the beginning of the end and the end of that spectrum, from the Alpha to the Omega, every form has consciousness and every form experiences itself in its own unique way. And this is not just one experience, it is a continuum. What would it be like to realize that all experience, removing from it the stigma of judgment, of right or wrong, or good or bad— it all experience that is moving and evolving.

How would that change our vision of life?. Imagine the tiniest of subatomic particles, conscious on its own and yet also moving and evolving and then joining with others along the way, becoming more and more complex. Now, what is interesting here is that each subatomic particle still retains a sense of self and yet at the same time knows that it is contributing to more than that it is.

So if we take that particle and observe it joining with others becoming more and more complex, doing more more complex actions/responses here on planet Earth, and finding similar patterns beyond the Earth. A complex being called a solar system and a sun and then each one of these suns and solar systems becoming more and part of a more complex being called the Galaxy containing billions of suns and then billions of galaxies becoming part of this known universe. And this is only a stretching our imagination to begin to encompass the material world.

What about the immaterial worlds? What about other dimensions? What about energy beyond matter, beings that would be impossible or ungraspable by the intellectual mind and yet still being there beyond all reason. What would it be like to know that you sit in the midst of all of this. And that even on an Earthly level, all of the lifetimes you have lived you are living Right Now.

See that is something else as well. The world we have been taught to live in exists in linear time, one thing following the next. That is the way it's supposed to be, that is the way it should be, and therefore that is the way it is. And yet we know intuitively or even instinctively that there is more than our linear thinking. love goes beyond that, gratitude goes beyond that, our sense of self goes beyond that.

So you see this thing called life, your life, your individual personal life, is such a minuscule piece of this entire tapestry woven of both visible and invisible threads. Now when we say “minuscule” that does not mean unimportant. What the grain of sand has to contribute to this Divine Evolution is valuable and important, as what this blade of grass has to offer, as to what this dolphin has to offer, as to what this human being has to offer. There is no measurement or judgment in this realm. We are all participating in this continuing Act of Creation.

The only seeming difficulty is how often we forget, but let us take another leap here, to know that even our forgetfulness is a chosen mode of operation by Spirit to allow us to learn on even a deeper level the truth of Who We Are. There are no mistakes or errors.

So here we all are, with billions of other beings participating in this marvelous dance this mad marvelous stance with our own unique script in our hands. What would it be like to do this joyfully. 

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REFLECTION 2 

WHAT I SEE AND HOW I SEE

Tell me one last thing," said Harry," Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?"

Dumbledore replied: "Of course it's happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?"

From Harry Potter: The Deathly Hallows

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Stated many times in the NTI: “What you see, you see through the filter of your mind.”

Even a bad mood can change the way I see the world. Richard Carlson in A Shortcut Through Therapy states: “When you are in a ‘down place’ your vision become distorted.” for instance, the little crack in garage wall which has been there for months instead of being something you will get fixed someday, now turns into “My house is falling down around my ears!”

Now think of all the other filters that can distort my vision of the world.

Aside from my mood these are a few more filters that can distort my vision: the weather, what I ate last night, past hurts or woundedness, defenses that I have built up to protect myself, doubts, fears, addictions and compulsions, ego needs to impress or get attention, guilt, shame, and so many other factors both conscious and unconscious.

What kind of world do I see? Do I see a world, including myself and others, through the eyes of God’s Unconditional Love, or do I see the world through the many filters that distort my vision?

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And now—the Book

I’m going to summarize a few things from these pages without directly quoting from the book. There are many deep teachings that sometimes can get lost in the words.

Whenever we are aware enough we can choose peace rather than anger, fear, separateness, etc. But that does NOT mean that we have to invite our “problem” people to dinner. I can love so-and-so, and true know that he/she is a divine child o God, but my personality self and theirs might still have a difficult time being in the same room! 

(We will explore this more a little per when we examine a question about passivity.)

BUT look at the powerful learning the ones up here for you. If you are willing you can ask yourself, “Why is this person or behavior so bothersome? How is my self-worth or my perception of myself being called into question? What does it trigger within me? What is it in me that I need to accept, embrace, open to healing?” It is here that our learning and evolution takes place.

Please keep in my mind, we are continually teaching there is a difference between responding to people and life situations from the personalty/ego perspective and that of the Christ Consciousness that you are. So when confronted by seeming conflict you might want to ask yourself, “Who is doing the talking here?”

When e speak of forgiving yourself, we are also speaking of the need for your healing,* We can all recognize that. BUT here is the catch 22—in order to heal, I need to be open to healing, and in order to be open to healing, I need to see myself as worthy of healing.   

*healing can also be looked at as “healing my perspective.” Instead of seeing myself as an ego/personality, I see myself as the refection of the divine that I am —I see with the eyes of the Christ.

We are told quite often that we are not being led to take infinitely huge leaps of consciousness, simply to be open to the POSSIBILITY. Open to the possibility of healing, the possibility of holding ourselves sin worthiness. 

“Now, how do you move beyond a lifetime of shame, of fear, of living in ways that were not for your highest good? Can a human being, in fact, be repatterned, be reborn in their own higher knowing to a peaceful way of existing? Is this possible, or is this illusion? We will tell you this: It is not only possible; it is the work we do with you, that we do with each of you as you align to us. The intention that you hold that it may be possible is what allows this to be. But the history that you have known, that you grab and you hold on to for the safety of the known is often more of a comfort than what you cannot fully hold because it has not made itself fully present, is what you are encountering when you wish to say no.”

When we come up against older leanings that have basically become part fo our consciousness, when these old beliefs are challenged, they do not imply disappear. We might have to grieve their loss, in our on personal way, we might have to examine our resistance—not in judgmental or blaming way, but in a way that allows us to gently and lovingly release and leet go of ht not longer serves me.

One of the ways that the ego/personality “fights back” I by making us think the new ways we are adapting to are passive, or wimpy. The ego can make no sense t all in the dictum of ACIM, “In my defenselessness my safety lies”

Please keep in mind, there is no “rule book” here, “Well, when the happens, you do this>” Each instance in our lives we have a choice to respond in love or fear—the form of that response might be different more often than not.

Let us take the gospel directive, “Turn the other cheek.” On the surface that appears to e the ultimate in passivity or victimhood. Why would we ever be asked to do that?

There are a number of different levels of understanding and operation here.

The first is that I do no have to respond to anger or hurt with more anger and hurt. I do not have to stand there and be hit again, but I do not have to hit back. (Recall Gandhi’s quiet revolution when his people would be beaten by the British soldiers. Another group would come up and take tie place, until the soldiers were so weary they could to beat them anymore. I realize this is an extreme and that most of us will never e called upon to express that level love and heroism, but there it is).

This is also NOT a teaching about “Sticks and stones..etc.” We are not ignoring pain and hurt—what we are teaching is there is Truth deeper than and beyond the pain and hurt.