Learning to Move Mountains by Saying to Myself, "Yes, and."

Lately, because of some things that “appear” to be going on in my life, my trials and tribulations, I have found it necessary, in fact, absolutely essential, to rely more and more on A Course in Miracles, particularly, the lessons for each day, to remind myself, constantly, of the truth of who I am, so that the falsity of what I think I am can fade into the nothingness from whence it came.

It is not necessary to go into the content of the things going on in my life because the content changes from moment to moment; it is the form that needs attention. The form is always a thought-image that has no source in reality. When I let go of the thought-image, the content simply melts away, much like an ice cube sliding across a hot, flat grill; as the ice (form) melts, the water (content) evaporates into nothingness. The heat of the grill represents transformation. All that it required is the loving warmth of gratitude and the right belief and the constancy of trust and the certainty of forgiveness.

It is no surprise that, while constantly asking for help, I had this remarkable dream the other night.

I am on a mountain, and I am walking along a road leading to the bottom where I am supposed to attend a meeting. I go to the edge of the road, looking down the side of the mountain, and I decide to bound my way down. I simply jump and land softly, bending my knees, crouching and then springing up again, and leaping downward again. This was fun and easy and simply a delight.

Close to the bottom I come upon some beautiful Roman ruins, fallen marble columns lying in soft sand. I quickly walk through them, wondering how far it is to the bottom, and I come to a short, gently-inclined dirt path. At the bottom is a vertical board blocking the entrance to the road, and I easily break through it.

I woke up thinking that I had made my trials and tribulations into mountains, and I remembered a Biblical passage where Jesus says that you can move mountains.

And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Matthew 17:20

Firmly standing in the state of mind of the peace of God, I can forgive thoughts that have no source in reality; I can, literally, remove thought-images that seem as large as mountains. Blissfully bounding down a mountain is a demonstration of this.

This simply requires my belief that it is possible because it is only a mistaken belief that makes thoughts seem mountainous in the first place.

What keeps the world in chains but your beliefs?
And what can save the world except your Self?
Belief is powerful indeed. The thoughts
you hold are mighty, and illusions are
as strong in their effects as is the truth.
A madman thinks the world he sees is real,
and does not doubt it. Nor can he be swayed
by questioning his thoughts' effects. It is
but when their source is raised to question that
the hope of freedom comes to him at last.
W-p1.132.1

And, then, I remembered, once again, that trials are but opportunities for me to practice coming into the awareness of the truth of who I am.

Trials are but lessons that you failed to learn
presented once again, so where you made
a faulty choice before you now can make
a better one, and thus escape all pain
that what you chose before has brought to you.
In every difficulty, all distress,
and each perplexity Christ calls to you
and gently says, 'My brother, choose again'.
He would not leave one source of pain unhealed,
nor any image left to veil the truth.
He would remove all misery from you
whom God created altar unto joy.
He would not leave you comfortless, alone
in dreams of hell, but would release your mind
from everything that hides His face from you.
His holiness is yours because He is
the only Power that is real in you.
His strength is yours because He is the Self
That God created as His only Son.
T-31.Vlll.3

For me, practice is essential. Over the years, I have practiced in different ways, and right now, this is how I practice moving mountains, and it is as simple as ice sliding across a hot grill.

As often as I remember, I focus my awareness is on breathing in and breathing out, breathing in and breathing out.

For these moments, my awareness is not on my thought-images showing me a meaningless world. These thought-images have nothing to do with my True Self. In fact, my awareness of a particular thought-image is preventing me from experiencing my Self as God’s Son; thus, I am depriving myself of the awareness of His Love.

My preoccupation with a thought-image prevents me from being aware of the Thoughts of God.

God’s Voice speaks to me all through the day.
W-p1.49

Not my will, but Your Will. Not mine, but Thine.

Now, and I mean, in this moment of peace, I can say to myself when thought-images come into view, “Yes, and,” meaning let them arise “and” let them go. Let them melt away.

This practice enables me to shift from looking at the thought-images and saying “Yes, but.” It is a very subtle difference that the “but” enables me to, encourages me to, linger for too long on the thought-images that have no source in reality, thereby making them seem real. It is a very subtle difference that I use to keep me separate from God. The difference between “and” and “but” is as subtle as that “b,” but it is there.

Consciously, breathing in and breathing out and saying “Yes, and” enables me to do this.

Let go all the trivial things that churn and bubble on the surface of your mind, and reach down and below them to the Kingdom of Heaven. There is a place in you where there is perfect peace. There is a place in you where nothing is impossible. There is a place in you where the strength of God abides.
W-p1.47.7:3-6

Ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.