I AM

It is early morning, and I am sitting on our couch in the Sun Room, aptly named because of the five large windows and two doors, sipping coffee and reading the Lesson.  It is the beginning of the reading of several spiritual texts, and sitting quietly.

My mind is fairly free of wandering thoughts.

Complete abstraction is the natural condition of the mind.  (Lesson 161, Give me your blessing, holy Son of God)

And yet, as the day goes on, I find my mind wandering with thoughts just pouring through my mind as I perceive them passing by like clouds.

Perception is a mirror, not a fact. (Lesson 304, Let not my world obscure the sight of Christ)

I sum it up in this way:

I have given everything I see in this neutral world all the meaning it has for me, seeing either the projections of my false self, or the reflections of my True Self.

When I realize that I am seeing falsely, I stop and focus on my breathing.  I consciously breathe in, tilting my head back, then stop my breath for a moment, and breathe out, tilting my head forward.

By focusing on my breathing in this manner, no thoughts come into my mind.

Usually, as I tilt my head back, I say to myself, “I,” and as I tilt my head forward, I say, “AM.”

And now I AM receptive to hear the Voice of the Holy Spirit.

Lesson 49, God’s Voice speaks to me all through the day.

Of course, as the day goes on, I will, unconsciously, fall victim to these thoughts that have no source in reality, and when this happens, I tense up.  This awareness inspired these two lines of blank verse:

I AM embracing the light while asking

for help to unbrace my “en garde” shoulders.

Lesson 162, I AM as God created me.

 

And, now, I AM sitting on our patio, simply present, taking in the sights and sounds:

The birds flying to and from the four bird feeders,

the flowers and green plants and the leaves on the trees bobbing in the breeze,

the white clouds floating in the blue sky,

the squirrels chasing each other around the tree,

the hummingbirds darting to and fro from their red feeders,

and all the time, the birds are singing,

and the doves are cooing.

I breathe in, and I breathe out, all is well, I AM.

And then, synchronistically, after writing my article, I read a piece channeling Jesus, and these two passages from “You incarnated solely to live lovingly”, Jesus through John Smallman, June 7, 2020, sent out a wonderful echo:

“By fully opening to and embracing Love, your true and eternal nature, you allow It to dissolve your fear as the realization dawns on you that truly there is nothing to fear.  If you doubt this, remember what those who have had near death experiences (NDEs) have shared in books and interviews: that there is no death, that they have fully experienced knowing the truth of this, and that as a result of their experience they have lost all fear of death.  By opening fully to and embracing Love you too will come to the personal realization that there is nothing to fear, because you will know that there is only Love.”

“To arrive at this realization daily meditation must be practiced by relaxing into your holy inner sanctuaries, as you let arising thoughts just flow through your mind without engaging with them.  It does take practice, relaxed practice, where you let go of all judgments about your competence or ability – egotistical thoughts arising – that distract you from being at One with Yourself.  When you let go of self-assessment and self-judgment, and accept yourself just as you are, peace will arise within you as you enjoy the moment: ‘smelling the rose,’ ‘watching the sunshine playing on the water,’ ‘hearing the bird song,’ ‘listening to the breeze rustling the tree leaves.’  Truly all is well.”

An Apple a Day

Until I had a stroke on July 8, 2019, I strongly believed the adage, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.”

For me an “apple” was analogous to a variety of health-inducing activities:

--being a vegetarian; for over 25 years Christine and I had been enjoying only strictly vegetarian meals.

--being in a loving relationship.  Christine and I recently celebrated our 30^th Anniversary on May 20, 2019.

--relishing my conversations with my son, Stephen, now 50, who calls once a day from his home in Colorado.

--walking for 30 minutes each day through the seasons; for me this was an attempt to sustain an athletic body that had for 8 years in Three Rivers High School in Michigan and Kalamazoo College very successfully run the high and low hurdles and the quarter mile; played football as a fullback and linebacker, ending up as an All-Conference Defensive End as Co-Captain of a undefeated team my senior year in college.

--running the  Chicago Marathon (26.2 miles) in the fall of 1978, at the age of 37, in 3 hours and 36 minutes, an 8 minute per mile pace. (I am so grateful that Stephen at age 9 was there to watch me run the race.)

--living a spiritual life.  Christine and I came across A Course in Miracles in the fall of 1986, and we have been bringing the principles into application ever since.  Miraculously, we crossed the threshold of Endeavor Academy in the Wisconsin Dells on August 7, 1997, (22 years ago today)  experiencing the privilege of learning from an enlightened being, The Master Teacher.

--being with like-minded friends.  We still live in the Dells, enjoying our friends, particularly watching Mooji videos together a couple of times a week.

--starting each day, reading a Lesson from the Course, beginning with Lesson 1 on January 1, and then reading such texts as “God Calling,” “Jesus Calling,” “From The Christ Mind,” scribed by Darrell Price, “A Course of Love,” “The Jesus Trilogy,” scribed by Gina Lake, and so forth.

Now, I know, (and notice how powerful the word “know” is, containing the word “now,”) that an apple a day may not keep the doctor away, knowing that I could be a heartbeat away from a physical trauma, and yet I am going to passionately “love them there apples.”

 
Very often during the day,

I sit quietly and consciously breathing in and breathing out,

remembering that the Latin root of

spirit” is spirare,

meaning “to breathe,”  

breathing in The Holy Spirit,

the breath of God,

and in that moment I AM present,

thoughts come and go like clouds,

and I AM so grateful for each passing moment,

savoring my meals,

enjoying being with Christine,

talking with Stephen,

walking, carrying a cane,

not using it,

loving the Course,

hanging out with our friends,

and reading the spiritual books on my Kindle.

For me, now, these activities have nothing to do with prevention; they have everything to do with living life with a grateful heart, and a smile on my face, and each time I greet a friend, I say to myself, “Namaste.”

Inspired by Jon Mundy's essay, "After Enlightenment, Zen What?"

I am just loving Jon Mundy’s new book, entitled “A Course in Miracles and. . .” 

 In the Introduction he makes clear his intention:

It is the intention of this book to show how many of the ideas contained in A Course in Miracles are reflected in a host of different religions, individual thinkers and schools of thought which both pre-dated the printing of the Course and can now be found in the teaching of other contemporary teachers.

In the 32 Chapters, you will find comparisons with The Bhagavad Gita, Yoga, Buddhism, Judaism, Alcoholics Anonymous, and so forth.

One of the first Chapters I read was Jon’s, “After Enlightenment, Zen What?” 

This section of his Chapter, “Make Believe” caught my eye:

In 1958, Country Music Singer, Conway Twitty (1933-1993) had a number one hit song entitled, “Make Believe,” in which he bemoaned the fact that all the hopes and dreams he had about a possible loving relationship were—only make-believe.  “My only prayer will be. . .someday you’ll care for me, but it’s o o only make believe.” Zen says, “Be in the world but don’t be of the world.”  Don’t be caught in make-believe.  There is no need to renounce the world—just see its illusory nature and let it be.  That which needs to be fixed isn’t in the world—it’s in the mind.  Thus, Mahatma Gandhi can say, “Be the change you want to see.”

It is obvious to me that Conway Twitty, the narrator of the song, recognizes that he is experiencing only “make believe,” and, yet, he does not see the alternative; he does not see that it is possible to shift from a special relationship to a holy relationship.

This morning, after reading that Chapter yesterday I, synchronistically, read these two stanzas in Chapter 30, “The New Beginning,” Section Viii, “Changeless Reality.”  In these stanzas, you will see that I played with the pronouns and added some parenthetical comments, as if I were talking with Conway Twitty.

Because reality is changeless is

a miracle already there to heal

all things that change, and offer them to you

to see in happy form, devoid of fear.

It will be given you to look upon

your sister thus. But not while you would have

it otherwise in some respects. (make believe) For this

but means you would not have her healed and whole.

The Christ in her is perfect. Is it this

that you would look upon? Then let there be

no dreams (make believe) about her that you would prefer

to seeing this. (holiness) And you will see the Christ

in her because you let Him come to you.

And when He has appeared to you, you will

be certain you are like Him, for He is

the changeless in your sister and in you.

This will you look upon when you decide

there is not one appearance you would hold

in place of what your sister really is.

Let no temptation to prefer a dream (make believe)

allow uncertainty to enter here.

Be not made guilty and afraid when you

are tempted by a dream (make believe) of what she is.

But do not give it power to replace

the changeless in her in your sight of her.

There is no false appearance but will fade,

if you request a miracle instead.

There is no pain from which she is not free,

if you would have her be but what she is.

Why should you fear to see the Christ in her?

You but behold yourself in what you see.

As she is healed are you made free of guilt,

for her appearance is your own to you.
(5,6)

The Course and many other spiritual teachings show us how to make this shift.

He/She: Lovingly Describing Some Male/Female Differences

In our Writing Workshop, we decided to practice writing a brief narrative from the point of view of an anonymous narrator going into the minds of two characters.

Here is my narrative, exploring the male/female differences in awareness.

He and She

The couple walk into Biaggi’s Restaurant in Madison, WI., and wait to be seated. He is in his mid-40’s, with an athletic build, trim, a closely-shaved head, wearing wire-rimmed glasses. She is in her mid-30’s, slim, with long, black hair, dark eyes, and a pretty face with high cheekbones.

When they are seated, the Host hands them the menus, and he orders a cup of coffee, and she is not sure what she wants.

He quickly scans the menu and selects the Eggplant Parmesan.

She looks around the restaurant, noticing how the cream-colored curtains match the brown napkins and beige tablecloths. 

He sips his coffee and looks at the overhead flat-screen snowing a football game, and he sees that five minutes remain in the third quarter: Packers 14, Bears 10.

She looks at the young couple sitting nearby and admires her hair, and the way her orange earrings match her orange camisole underneath her white blouse. She observes that they are very much into each other.

The waiter returns and asks if they are ready to order, and she says, “I haven’t looked at the menu, yet, but I will have a cup of coffee.” 

He checks his cell phone for messages during commercials.

She notices that an older couple at the table to their left are not having a good time, their faces impassive. They are hardly talking.

Finally, she looks at the menu and tries to make a decision between the Butternut Squash Ravioli and the Quattro Formaggi Tortelloni.

“So, I see the Packers are winning,” she says.

He smiles, nodding his head.

“I think this coffee tastes funny, what do you think?” she asks.

“I didn’t notice,” he said.

It is as if he walked in wearing a headlamp, focusing on one thing at a time; while she walked in holding a candle, softly illuminating the entire room, giving her diffuse awareness.

He looks at her and smiles, recognizing their differences, and says, clicking his cup on hers, “Prost,” remembering this line from a poem by Andy Petro:

When I highlight our Oneness
And celebrate our differences
I experience unconditional love.

She nods her head, smiles, and says, “Namaste.”

“Let it Be”: Paul McCartney and his Mother, Mary

When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom
Let it be

And in my hour of darkness
She is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom
Let it be

As we walk through the day, seeing with our body’s eyes, we tend to react to negative situations with conditioned responses, imposing the past, taking away any chance for a peaceful day.

That is why I love “Let it Be;” it is a gentle reminder to step back, take a breath and just let things be as they are.  This is a very powerful teaching, echoing Jesus in Lesson 268, Let all things be exactly as they are.

Let me not be Your critic, Lord, today,

and judge against You. Let me not attempt

to interfere with Your creation, and

distort it into sickly forms. Let me

be willing to withdraw my wishes from

its unity, and thus to LET IT BE

as You created it. For thus will I

be able, too, to recognize my Self

as You created me. In Love was I

created, and in Love will I remain

forever. What can frighten me, when I

let all things be exactly as they are?

Let not our sight be blasphemous today,

nor let our ears attend to lying tongues.

Only reality is free of pain.

Only reality is free of loss.

Only reality is wholly safe.

And it is only this we seek today.

For me, the “it” in “Let it Be” has two references.  When I face a  negative situation, I can say to myself, “Let it Be, meaning, just let go of what the body’s eyes are seeing; and in that moment, I can experience “Let It Be,” meaning, let me experience seeing with Christ’s vision, moving from “it” to “It.”

As I listen to the repetition of the phrases, I hear “Let it be,” and then I hear “Let It Be,” freeing my mind.

This brings to mind one of my favorite poems, “The Red Wheelbarrow” by William Carlos Williams (1883-1963):

so much depends

upon

a red wheel

barrow

glazed with rain

water

beside the white

chickens

Indeed, so much depends on seeing things exactly as they are, seeing with Christ’s vision.

If God’s Voice assures you that salvation needs your part, and that the whole DEPENDS on you, be sure that it is so.  (Lesson 186)

Salvation of the world DEPENDS on you, and not upon this little pile of dust.  (Lesson186)

There is a way to look on everything
that LETS IT BE to you another step
to Him, and the salvation of the world.
(Lesson 193)

Finally, here is Paul McCartney’s account of writing the song

from Barry Miles, “Many Years From Now.” 

Paul McCartney said he had the idea of "Let It Be" after he had a dream about his mother during the tense period surrounding the sessions for The Beatles ("The White Album") in 1968. According to McCartney, the song's reference to "Mother Mary" was not biblical.

“I had a dream I saw my mum, who’d been dead 10 years or so, It was so great to see her because that’s a wonderful thing about dreams: you actually are reunited with that person for a second; there they are and you appear to both be physically together again. It was so wonderful for me and she was very reassuring. In the dream she said, ‘It’ll be all right.’ I’m not sure if she used the words ‘Let it be’ but that was the gist of her advice. It was, ‘Don’t worry too much, it will turn out OK.’ It was such a sweet dream I woke up thinking, ‘Oh, it was really great to visit with her again.’ I felt very blessed to have that dream. So that got me writing the song ‘Let It Be.’”