Simply Do This

In times of uncertainty, this is what helps me the most:

Simply do this: Be still, and lay aside all thoughts of what you are and what God is; all concepts you have learned about the world; all images you hold about yourself. Empty your mind of everything it thinks is either true or false, or good or bad, of every thought it judges worthy, and all the ideas of which it is ashamed. Hold onto nothing. Do not bring with you one thought the past has taught, nor one belief you ever learned before from anything. Forget this world, forget this course, and come with wholly empty hands unto your God.

Can you do it? Can you lay aside all false ideas about yourself and the world? Can you relinquish all ideas of lack, of littleness? Can you have faith in One Who Knows you and knows you perfectly?

This is the great challenge of our time. Will you go on denying that there is a God who loves you totally? Will you put your faith in the temporal? Or in the eternal?

Time is a sleight of hand. It isn't even real. You are making up time to prolong your inevitable demise. You cannot die. You are not a body. All fear stems from this one idea: that you can annihilate yourself. And it's simply not true.

You are an eternal loving being created by an all loving God. He would never allow you to suffer pain, sickness or death. Love knows not of fear or death. He does not know of what you have made of yourself. You are perfect and whole as God created you. You could not alter yourself.

You are asleep in a dream, that is all. It is time to awaken and be free.

I have been challenged to my core. I have experienced deep losses. So have you. There is no difference, except perhaps I am totally aware that I am dreaming. And in this dream, the only thing I need do is let go. Forgive and be forgiven. Yet, I don't even know how to do that. The only thing required of me is a little willingness. This willingness is even provided me by the Holy Spirit. I have to sit still, stop the worrying, stop the incessant need to know what is happening to me. I don't know. I just know there is a God of love that I can trust totally with all my being.

I must let go absolutely. Until then, I am nothing. I am afraid, selfish, self-seeking and dishonest. The real program of healing the mind that is the Course in Miracles in application, is the 12 Step Program. This program has helped me immeasurably with my awakening. It brought me to my KNEES. Where I truly belong, of course.

I begin each day there and I know that making that decision to turn my will and my life over to the care of God, is everything. I can do nothing of myself. But I can let go and let God. This is so important and has gotten me through the deepest, darkest moments of my journey. I know there is a God because I have put my total trust in Him to heal me of my dream of separation from Him.

Do I have doubts at times? You bet. Do I know what to do when I have them? Yes. Get on my knees and ask to be shown. I don't have to know what to do about tomorrow. I just have to know about right now. This is critical. Because all my fear has to do with the future. I don't know how I will pay my bills, I don't know if I should sell my house. I don't know if I should go back to school, find a new job...you fill in the blank. You see? Ask for help and it will be given in the moment you are most afraid. Especially when you think you need a solution to a problem right now.

If I am patient, I can trust that everything will be shown to me. I have to get really quiet, stop my questioning, let myself not know everything for a moment. In the now, I am totally uncertain, and in the uncertainty, I am free to let God direct me. I am safe because I am trusting in my higher power to direct me in all things. This is how it works. I feel like a little kid, who knows that my parent is with me and is taking perfect care of me. Even when I am afraid.

This is a miraculous occurrence. It doesn't really have anything to do with my ideas or my thoughts about myself. It has only to do with release. It has only to do with loving myself, my enemy. Serving my brother. Taking care of myself in the moment. Being good to myself. All fear is attack. It is an attack upon myself. I can stop attacking myself, surely, if I so choose.

I am sure about my purpose here, which is to wake up and be healed and let God be God. Then and only then can I be of service to those who still suffer. Working my 12th Step has shown me that I am not the center of the universe. That you are. You, a representative of God, are my savior and helper. I can rely on God, I can rely on your help and I can know that you are not separate from me. I know you are me.

If I harbor hateful thoughts about anyone, anyone at all, I am in so much pain, I cannot stand it. Love is the answer and forgiveness is the key. But how to forgive when it seems like someone has wronged you? Here it is: It's you. You have that thought, you have made it up. You are responsible for the cleanup. So, be about it. Let go your thoughts about the other guy. Has God changed His Mind about him, or about you? Get on your KNEES.

Ask yourself this. Who walks with me? Who is my guide, my protector, my friend?
Communicate with this mind. You are being led on this journey out of time, out of space...to a place of perfect peace. And it is not in the future. It is right NOW.

In all the years I have been on this path, I have always found that my own ideas are the problem. It is where I hold onto the idea of trying to be safe here, in a world of death. But safety comes from knowing WHO I AM.

When its really dark, I get on my KNEES. Ask to be shown. Everything I need to know is revealed. It is a miracle. In spite of your misgivings, your doubts, your fears, you are healed.

Love is letting go of fear. And anger, doubt, faithlessness, is all part of fear. It is not different. That is why I love the 12 Steps. It forces me to look at my fear. To reveal the darkest thoughts I hold onto to myself. Then in the relinquishment of my ideas about myself, I miraculously healed. If I don't look at these fears, these ideas of pain, I am still protecting them, so I still want them.

I don't like being in pain. I don't like feeling that I am all alone here. I am sick and tired of it. So, I do it. I get on my knees and ask for help.

But if I look straight at these fears, they are released, and I am undone. Doors open up. I find myself in a new place. It feels unfamiliar, but it is totally happy and joyful. Peace is joy. You are happy for no reason at all. It is natural to you.

Be free to be yourself. Open up. Let go all your ideas. All your fears of future dread. Just open up to let God in. He is real. He is your protector in all circumstances.

I love you and hope this helps.

Blessings!
Monica