If I am bound, my Father is not free.

If I accept that I am prisoner within a body, in a world in which all things that seem to live appear to die, then is my Father prisoner with me. And this do I believe, when I maintain the laws the world obeys must I obey; the frailties and the sins which I perceive are real, and cannot be escaped. If I am bound in any way, I do not know my Father nor my Self. And I am lost to all reality. For truth is free, and what is bound is not a part of truth.

Father, I ask for nothing but the truth. I have had many foolish thoughts about myself and my creation, and have brought a dream of fear into my mind. Today, I would not dream. I choose the way to You instead of madness and instead of fear. For truth is safe, and only love is sure.

After reading this today I turned to the manual for teachers and found myself on the page ‘What are the characteristics of God’s teachers’ I obviously needed reminding that in order of importance they are 1. Trust, 2.Honesty, 3. Tolerance 4.Gentleness 5. Joy 6. Defencelessness, 7. Generosity, 8. Patience, 9. Faithfulness 10. Open-mindedness.

I am having to trust big time at the moment. A few weeks ago I decided to be very open and honest with a friend, in a way that left me quite exposed. It was a scary thing to do, but something happened today to make me grateful that I had taken that action.

Reading through the page I was reminded that honesty requires trust. It is only because I trusted that I was able to do it, and also because in my defencelessness my safety lies. When you’ve been honest its possible to be fearless – because, after all, what can anyone find out about you that you didn’t already tell them. Honest people are safe from blackmail.