Thursday, January 27, 2011

A Little Willingness


Chapter 18 of the Urtext reminds us of how little God asks of us in healing our thoughts of separation.  It requires only our desire and willingness.  Ego would attempt to convince us that more is required and then leave us feeling a failure in attempting to gain that which is already ours.

The holy instant is the RESULT of your determination to be holy. It is the ANSWER. The desire and the willingness to let it come PRECEDE its coming. YOU prepare your minds for it ONLY to the extent of RECOGNIZING that you want it above all else. It is not necessary that you do more; indeed, it is necessary that you realize that you can NOT do more. Do not attempt to give the Holy Spirit what He does NOT ask, or you will add the ego unto Him, and CONFUSE THE TWO. He asks but little. It is HE Who adds the greatness and the might. He JOINS with you, to make the holy instant far greater than you can understand.”

For me, it is remembering to get out of my own way.  Simply forgive, or look beyond and let go of what is not there.  In doing this, awareness of what is real enters our consciousness.  Ego would suggest that we must heal ourselves before healing can occur.  To believe this is to become ego’s prisoner, stuck in the darkness, believing we are unworthy or do not possess the understanding necessary for healing.  I see this everyday in students stuck in trying to fix themselves instead of allowing the truth of their innocence and perfection to be revealed to them by Holy Spirit.  To remove the blocks to our awareness of Love’s presence is merely to notice they are there and acknowledge their unreality.  It is in that holy instant, a moment of clarity, certainty and love are given. 

“It is your realization that you NEED do so little, that enables HIM to give so much. Trust not your good intentions. They are not enough. But trust IMPLICITLY your willingness, whatever else may enter. Concentrate only on this, and be NOT disturbed that shadows surround it. THAT IS WHY YOU CAME. If you could come WITHOUT them, you would not NEED the holy instant. Come to it not in arrogance, assuming that YOU must achieve the state its coming brings with it. The miracle of the holy instant lies in your willingness to let IT be what it is. And in your willingness for THIS, lies also your acceptance of yourself as YOU were meant to be.”

The belief in a problem, any problem, is a belief in illusions.  Instead of trying to solve the “perceived” problem, one must just acknowledge its unreality and be willing to allow Holy Spirit to heal our mind of our misperception.  But this “willingness” can sometimes be over-shadowed by ego’s relentless need for control.  We say “I am willing” while at same time planning an agenda for solving the problem.  The answer to the problem then is based on my expectations and not the truth of it, which can only be revealed by God. 

Being willing is being open to another interpretation outside of my understanding.  To be perfectly honest, we have no idea of what the “perceived” problem is much less its solution.  Our whole basis for understanding is on the past.  All perceived problems are only ego’s attempt to maintain control of our mind and distract us from the truth about who we truly are, the Son of God.  We should never be content with the “littleness” of the ego in its vain attempts to imprison the Son of God.

Our greatness, innocence and perfection are not of our own making via the ego.  Ego brands us unworthy of anything and holds us captive in the belief that we must do something to earn our right to be the Son of God.  Naturally, in our attempts to “make” ourselves worthy, we fail time and again which only serves to keep us stuck in a dream that we are impotent and hopelessly stuck in a world of pain and suffering.  This “littleness” is not humility, it is insanity. 

“Humility will NEVER ask that you remain content with littleness. But it DOES require that you be NOT content with less than greatness that comes NOT of you. Your difficulty with the holy instant arises from your fixed conviction that you are not WORTHY of it. And what is this, but the determination to BE as you would MAKE YOURSELF? God did not create His dwelling-place unworthy of Him. And, if you believe He cannot enter where He wills to be, you MUST be INTERFERING with His Will. You do not need the strength of willingness to come from you, but only from HIS Will.”

Holy Spirit meets us where we are.  Our part is but to be willing to join with Holy Spirit and allow healing to take place.

“You have been wrong in thinking that it is needful to prepare YOURSELF for Him. It is impossible to make arrogant preparations for holiness, and NOT believe that it is up to YOU to establish the conditions for peace. GOD HAS ESTABLISHED THEM. They do NOT wait upon your willingness for what they ARE. Your willingness is needed ONLY to make it possible to TEACH you what they are.”

Purification is but the recognition that we are already pure.  It is the healing of any idea or belief to the contrary.   To be open to that truth is to be willing to put aside our ideas about who and what we “think” is true  and allow Holy Spirit to reveal the truth.  Jesus puts it so lovingly in this chapter…

Purification is of God alone, and THEREFORE for you. Rather than seek to prepare YOURSELF for Him, try to think thus:

"I, who am host to God, AM worthy of Him.
He Who ESTABLISHED His dwelling-place in me created it as He would have it be.
It is not needful that I make it ready for Him, but only that I DO NOT INTERFERE with His plan to RESTORE to me my own AWARENESS of my readiness, which is eternal.
I need ADD nothing to His plan. 

But to RECEIVE it, I MUST be willing NOT to substitute my own, IN PLACE of it.
And that is all. Add MORE, and you will merely TAKE AWAY the little that is asked.”

Everyday, every moment we have a choice to align with God’s Will or attempt to substitute our own.  One path is wrought with struggle, frustration and feelings of failure and guilt.  God’s Will for us is perfect happiness.  By aligning with the Will of God we realize our Oneness with Him and experience being a channel of His peace.  That is our true function.  So little is asked and so much is given.  Salvation is ours…we need only to accept it.

Blessings and love, Lana

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