predencia

‘I am under no laws but God’s.’

We have observed before how many senseless things have seemed to you to be salvation. All have imprisoned you with laws as senseless as itself. You are not bound by them. Think of the freedom in the recognition that you are not bound by all the strange and twisted laws you have set up to save you.

You really think that you would starve unless you have stacks of green paper strips and piles of metal discs. You really think a small round pellet or some fluid pushed into your veins through a sharpened needle will ward off disease and death. You really think you are alone unless another body is with you.

It is insanity to think these things. You call them laws and put them under different names. You think you must obey ‘laws’ of medicine, of economics and of health. Protect the body and you will be saved. These are not laws, but madness. The body is endangered by the mind that hurts itself. The body’s suffering is a mask the mind holds up to hide what really suffers. It would not understand it is its own enemy; that it attacks itself and wants to die. It is from this your ‘laws’ would save the body. It is for this you think you are a body.

There is no law except the laws of God. We will begin the longer practice periods with a short review of the different kinds of laws we believe we must obey to make us safe. Then say:

‘I am under no laws but God’s.’
We will repeat this as often as possible today, at least four or five times an hour.
It is our statement of freedom from all danger and all tyranny.

Well, today’s lesson was again spot on, coming as it did along with a few letters from Northampton court regarding penalty charge notices. It was another long one and made me question whether common law is in fact God’s law, which holds at its core the adage ‘do unto others as you would have them do unto you,’ formed on the basis that we are all one, separated only by bodies. I’m not sure where PCN fit.

Second time round I’m much closer to the messages about the laws of medicine, economics and health. I am fully signed up to the creation of our own health, and have no faith in medicine, understanding that it only has the power I give to it. I am still an early student in terms of economics. I am learning to trust more that money too only has the energy and meaning that I give to it. I cannot eat it, wear it, live in it, make love to it. I am leaning to change my relationship to money in the same way I’ve changed my relationship to medicine and health.

I went for a run this morning with today’s lesson as an affirmation. Spring is here. Cherry blossoms are out, aubretia and carnelian too, and the sun popped out for a visit before being intercepted by rain clouds in the early afternoon. It worked well for me, as by that time I was firmly welded to my writing spot.

Novel update: I’ve finished the first full edit. I have a few tweaks to do, but should be able to mail it out to readers tomorrow. Unfortunately I had to cancel going to see Equinox at the Town Hall tonight to accomplish it.

‘The light has come.’

The light has come. You are healed and you can heal. The light has come. You are saved and you can save. You are at peace, and you bring peace with you wherever you go. Darkness and turmoil and death have disappeared. The light has come.

Today we celebrate the happy ending of your long dream of disaster. Our exercises for today will be happy ones, in which we offer thanks for the passing of the old and the beginning of the new. Our longer practice periods will be devoted to looking at the world that our forgiveness shows us.

Begin the longer practice periods by telling yourself the glad tidings of your release:
‘The light has come. I have forgiven the world.’
The shorter practice periods, too, will be joyful reminders of your release. Rejoice in the power of forgiveness to heal your sight completely. Be confident that on this day there is a new beginning. Should you be tempted, say to anyone who seems to pull you back into darkness:
‘The light has come. I have forgiven you.’

I went for run this morning, and instead of listening to my music I repeated today’s lesson. It was AMAZINGLY uplifting, felt like a real celebration, even though it didn’t feel like I was celebrating anything tangible. But I guess love isn’t tangible but we know when we feel it, neither is fear tangible and we certainly know when we feel it. So today I celebrated at least a hundred times, and didn’t find a single situation in which I had to use the shorter version, as no one could pull me back into darkness today.

The last couple of days I’ve been talking a lot to people whose relatives are ill. At the funeral yesterday I spoke for quite a while to someone whose husband has cancer, this is the third time and in a different place in his body each time. I recommended Andreas Moritz’s book(2009) ‘Cancer is not a disease, it’s a survival mechanism’ to her, and to my friend who called from London while I was at the funeral to tell me her mother had just been diagnosed with leukemia. Today one of my best friend’s daughter was being tested for multiple sclerosis. Yesterday my brother was discharged from hospital in Manchester after undergoing a blood transfusion and a series of tests. Tonight we received an email asking us to send positive energy to a another friend’s husband who’s been taken back into hospital with cancer.

Why, if we are spending so much money on cancer research are we getting so many more incidences of cancer? Please, if you know someone who has cancer, read Andreas’s book.

Had a great session with my client doing our interviewed for the pretend version of ‘Desert Island Disc.’ It was sooo much fun.

Novel update: 30 more pages to edit, but seriously can’t do another word tonight.  Too many interruptions today to finish, including calls from my son who started his new job in Bermuda, having returned from New York last night with appropriate visa and permit in place. He delighted in telling me about the fish he could see in the clear warm sea. Discussed possible names with one of my readers.

‘There is no will but God’s.’

The idea for today can be regarded as the central thought toward which all our exercises are directed. God’s is the only will. When you have recognised his, you have recognised that your will is His. The belief that conflict is possible has gone. Peace has replaced he strange idea that you are torn by conflicting goals.

There is great peace in today’s idea, and the exercises for today are directed towards finding it.
Begin the longer practice periods by repeating these thoughts several times, slowly and with a firm determination to understand what they mean. and hold them in mind;
There is no will but God’s. I cannot be in conflict.’
In the shorter periods, which should be done at predetermined intervals say to yourself:
There is no will but God’s. I seek his peace today.

Today was one of those days where, without the lesson, I may have descended into judgements in a BIG way. I knew I was going to spend time with people whose energy I’ve experienced as very negative. Even after putting up protection, I was still feeling agitated about meeting them, and had asked myself at least twice ‘Why me?’ when I remembered it must be God’s will, and repeated the short version of the lesson.

How could these words bring such instant relief? Must be the preparation of the last 73 days. Anyway, I sent love ahead of me to the people, and didn’t find them in the least bit irritating. In fact they were very helpful and not as negative as previously.

One of our Writer Without Borders members died on Sunday and I attended the funeral today. It was my first experience of a Muslim funeral, and found the experience moving while being quite different to our own Caribbean funerals. A similarity though is the open coffin so that mourners can view the deceased. I found he separation of men and women odd at first but soon got used to it.

One of my clients was an hour late today, and sitting in the cafe waiting for her I reminded myself that there had to be a reason for it. Then it came to me. I was planning a session for another client tomorrow which includes projecting 20 years into the future as  a guest on ‘Desert Island Disk’ the BBC Radio 4 series where famous people look back on their lives. While waiting for my late client I realised that I would be unprepared for such an interview, and drafted my life 20 years from now. IT IS AMAZING!!! I think it’s an exercise everyone should do.

‘I will there be light.’

Today we will be considering the will you share with God. This is not the same as the ego’s idle wishes, out of which darkness and nothingness arise. The will you share with God has all the power of creation in it. The ego’s idle wishes are unshared, and therefore have no power at all.

Idle wishes and grievances are partners or co-workers in picturing the world you see. The wishes of the ego gave rise to it, and the ego’s need for grievances, which are necessary to maintain it, people it with figures that seem to attack you and call for ‘righteous’ judgement.

Your picture of the world can only mirror what is within. The source of neither light nor darkness can be found without. Grievances darken your mind, and you look out on a darkened world. Forgiveness lifts the darkness, reasserts your will, and lets you look upon a world of light.

We will begin the longer practice periods with the recognition that only God’s plan for salvation is wholly in accord with your will. After reminding yourself of this, tell yourself with gentle firmness and quiet certainty:

‘I will there be light. Let me behold the light that reflects God’s will and mine.’
Then let your will assert itself, joined with the power of God and united with your Self. The shorter version, repeated several times and hour is:
‘I will there be light. Darkness is not my will.’

Well, in case I didn’t get the message, here it is, presented in a different form. Grievances block my salvation, my happiness. I meditated on the lesson (usually I meditate first) because it felt right. Was there something I was missing, was there a reason they’ve presented this topic so many times, is it so stubborn a one to shift?

Here’s what I got in meditation. I’m only unhappy when I’m not getting, when I feel there’s something lacking, and its someone else’s responsibility to provide it. When I let go of my expectations of others I’m happy, when I hold on to what they didn’t do, or are not doing, I’m unhappy. Can it be that simple? Can it be that difficult? Just yesterday I was giving someone a hard time for not providing what I needed. The thing is, he didn’t even know that he was supposed to be providing it. How crazy is that. How many times have we castigated people for not meeting a need they didn’t even know about, then castigated them further because ‘THEY SHOULD HAVE KNOWN!!!’ They should have been mind readers. Yes! I’m beginning to see why they’ve repeated this concept so often.

On the novel front. The editing was like wading through treacle today. I’m exhausted now. I need to find the energy for one last push to get it completed by Sunday. Of the 77 pages I wanted to complete today to achieve the target, I managed 20. Need a big push over the next few days. I am wearing a hole in the carpet where I’ve been sitting to write.

‘Holding grievances is an attack on God’s plan.’

While we have recognised that the ego’s plan for salvation is the opposite of God’s, we have not yet emphasized that it is an active attack on His plan, and a deliberate attempt to destroy it. In the attack, God is assigned the attributes which are actually associated with the ego, while the ego appears to take on the attributes of God.

It is perhaps not so apparent why holding grievances is an attack on God’s plan for salvation. But let us consider the kinds of things that you are apt to hold grievances for. Are they not always associated with something a body does? A person says something you do not like. He does something that displeases you. He ‘betrays’ his hostile thoughts in his behaviour.

You are not dealing here with what the person is. On the contrary, you are exclusively concerned with what he does in a body. You are doing more than failing to help in freeing him from the body’s limitations. You are actively trying to hold him to it by confusing it with him, and judging them as one. Herein is God attacked, for if his son is only a body, so must He be as well. A creator wholly unlike his creation is inconceivable.

As long as we attack it we cannot understand what God’s plan is for us. In the longer practice periods we will try to lay judgement aside and ask what God’s plan for us is:

‘What is salvation Father? I do not know. Tell me, that I may understand‘
The shorter periods (two per hour) should begin with:
‘Holding grievances is and attack on God’s plan for salvation. Let me accept it instead. What is salvation, Father?
Then wait in silence and listen for his answer.

This is the longest and most complex lesson so far. The text is quite convoluted and goes on for nearly three pages (1500 words) whereas some have been as few as 300 words and relative straight forward. There is a definite attempt to drum home the connection between holding grievances and inhibiting our experience of happiness, which is what our salvation is. So, I searched within the deepest recesses of my soul for any grievances that could still be lurking there and found a few, not only dug in, but clinging on for dear life when I’ve tried to pull them out. They are the ‘how dare they’ ‘how could they’ ‘I don’t believe s/he did’ ‘how insensitive’ ‘how inconsiderate’ etc ones.

Even ones I thought I’d booted out some time ago, during my most intensive forgiving phase, had somehow found a way to slide back and lay low, like a virus on my hard drive, slowing down my most effective and efficient functioning. I’m realising that this letting go of grievances is a constant daily thing, like dusting. If dust is not to be given an opportunity to settle it must be moved everyday. This, I am realising is the purpose of daily meditation, it is the constant cleansing of the physical, emotional and spiritual bodies. Otherwise, like dust the grievances gently fall and accumulate. It is the defrag of the hard drive. The job is never done.

I’m still editing the novel. There’s another job that requires patience. One of my clients has a saying ‘the reward for patience is patience’. I need a big dollop right now. I checked out the title I have in mind on Amazon and stopped looking after the first eight pages.

‘My grievances hide the light of the world in me’
‘My salvation comes from me’
‘Only God’s plan for salvation will work’

These three lessons all deal with the fact that we are responsible for our own happiness but that we think other things, other than ourselves can bring us happiness. Below are a the parts of the lessons that spoke most to me

Lesson 69 – ‘Salvation is our only need. There is no other purpose here, and no other function to fulfill.
Lesson 70 – But it also means that nothing outside yourself can hurt you, or disturb your peace or upset you in any way.
Lesson 71 – This ensures that the fruitless search will continue, for the illusion persists that, although this hope has always failed, there is still grounds for hope in other places and in other things. Another person will yet serve better, another situation will yet offer success.

There’s been no blog for a few days because, after completing the first stage of the novel I was so wiped out I slept for nearly two days. It didn’t help that I had a tooth extraction late on Friday, and as my body is unused to medication it felt the impact of the local anaesthetic quite acutely.

These three lessons have propelled me into another sphere of acceptance of the futility of trying to impose my will on Gods. Each day I am being challenged to see how peaceful my life can be, will be, if I am willing to surrender to the reality of my situation and to come out from behind the veil of illusion. Not an easy task when most of the people I interact are firmly wedged in grip of the illusion. I know how hard I fought to hold on to it, and how, despite my attempts to do otherwise, I slip into fear of lack, fear of inadequacy, and the fear of not being good enough. Only when I’m able to remember that I am whole already, that I have everything already and that no harm can come to  me that I did not invite, only at these times do I feel at peace. Then I’m invincible, totally at ease with my connection with my source.

The sentence ‘another person will yet serve better, another situation will yet offer success’ totally sums up my journey to date. From this point on I understand the futility of this. No other person can serve better as that person is merely a reflection of me, will only show me who I am. Until I am serving me best no one else will. Until I accept my success the world will not show it to me, it’s the reverse. I must be successful first, then it will show up as a reflection of who I am.

I’m now in the editing stages of the novel, and beginning to think of a name. The only one that seems to fit has been used hundreds of times before, but if nothing else reveals itself I’ll go with it. After all millions of babies are born every day, and no two are the same – even twins.

‘Love holds no grievances.’

You who were created by love like itself can hold no grievances and know your Self.

Begin today’s extended practice period by searching your mind for those against those against whom you hold what you regard as major grievances. Some of these will be quite easy to find. Then think of the seemingly minor grievances you hold against those you like and even think you love.

Say to all of them individually, ‘I would see you as my friend’ In addition repeat the idea several times an hour ‘Love holds no grievance. I would wake to my Self by laying all my grievances aside and wakening in Him.’

Did as much as I could today on this lesson but wiped out by the push to finish the novel last night, and despite the fact that I could have slept till any time I wanted today, woke up at 7 am after only four hours sleep. Took the opportunity to walk in the park, take pictures of the brave flowers, and discuss chemtrails with my son.

Decided to leave the novel for today. Will get into serious editing tomorrow.

‘Love created me like itself.’

Today’s idea is a complete and accurate statement of what you are. This is why you are the light of the world. This is why God appointed you as the world’s saviour.

In the longer practice period, we will think about your reality and its wholly unchanged and unchangeable nature. We will begin by repeating the truth about you and then spend a few minutes adding some relevant thoughts such as;

Holiness created me holy
Kindness created my kind
helpfulness created me helpful
Perfection created me perfect.

You may find it necessary to repeat the idea for today from time to time to replace distracting thoughts. Practice it as often as you can, four or five times an hour.

No problem with today’s idea. Don’t think I managed 4-5 times every hour though. I did, however, do it as often as I remembered and would say extra ones then. So in all about 50 times today.

The main reason for the lack of practice was my focus on the novel. YES! YES! YES! I complete the first telling of the story, it took just under 90,000 words, 350 pages. Not bad in 67 days. Now comes the editing. It’s at times like this that I’d reach for a large glass of Sauvignon Blanc, but tonight it was a bottle of still water, as I’m still on the wagon till the end of the month. Now I have to find readers – well post editing of course.

‘My happiness and my function are one.’

You have surely noticed an emphasis throughout our recent lessons on the connection between fulfilling your function and achieving happiness. This is because you do not really see the connection. Yet there is more than just a connection between them; they are the same. Their forms are different, but their content is completely one.

Begin the ten-to-fifteen-minute practice period by reviewing these thoughts.
God gives me only happiness
He has given my function to me
Therefore my function must be happiness
Try to see the logic in this sequence, even if you do not yet accept the conclusion

In the shorter practice period, which should be every half an hour, repeat the following.
My happiness and function are one, because God has given me both.

I managed the morning one and some of the shorter ones today, but certainly came nowhere near every half and hour. I believe my function is service. I’ve been responsive to the opportunities for service that presented themselves today, even though I was extremely tired for most of the day, the result of writing till 2 am. I found patience when it was needed. Usually I am at my most irritable when tired, but I just kept telling myself that my happiness depended on fulfilling my function.

Even the news that my son was being deported from Bermuda didn’t fill me with anxiety. I’ve totally accepted that whatever his function is, it requires this, because nothing is included that is contradictory or irrelevant. I think he’s beginning to see it too.

Novel update: It now feels like an overdue baby. Friday’s finishing line is looking decided dodgy as I haven’t written anything today, steeped as I was in IT training.

Picture was taken in Mogan, Gran Canaria, last year. Needed something to cheer me up after the grey and wet of most of today.