Yesterday’s reading said:

“You give through thought. There is literally no other way to give.”

Today’s reading asks us to take discernment beyond thought. It asks us to practice discernment regarding the actions we take in the world.

That brings up a question:

If we give through thought and there is no other way to give, do actions matter?

Today’s reading teaches that our actions do matter, because all action is an expression of thought.

For example:

On Day 165, I mentioned that I used to parent through yelling. When I practiced inquiry, I found that I yelled because of a mind-made law that said, “Daughters are supposed to always happily obey their mothers.” Yelling was an expression of that untrue idea. If I had said, “I see that idea, and I don’t believe it anymore,” but continued to yell, that would not have been honest.  I yelled, because I believed the thought. My action demonstrated the belief.

When we practice discernment regarding the actions we take, we are practicing discernment regarding thought, because action is an expression of thought.

For example:

Imagine a woman wants her son to accept one job offer over another job offer. She notices she feels a lot of anxiety about her son’s decision, so she practices root cause inquiry to discover the cause of the anxiety. She discovers that she is embarrassed when she thinks about telling people her son is a trash man, and she feels better when she thinks about telling people he works for the state highway authority. As she inquires further, she realizes her anxiety is caused by her own sense of unworthiness.

The next day, her son calls to let her know what he’s decided. As he explains why he is going to accept the job as trash collector, she notices a strong desire to change his mind. She wants to point out the disadvantages of that job and emphasize the advantages of the job with the highway authority. If she follows that temptation, she will enliven the idea of her own unworthiness,  since the belief in her unworthiness is at the root of the temptation. If she chooses to stay quiet, listen to her son and practice rest-accept-trust with her feelings, she permits a false idea to weaken in her mind.

It is important to note that changing what we do because we want truth and changing what we do because we think we are guilty for doing it are not  the same motive. The first is genuinely helpful. The second continues to clog the creative principle with untruth, since guilt is an untrue idea.

Note: The next tip will be available tomorrow morning after 3:50am ET at this link.

Thoughts of Awakening # 184

Appearances are like stories.
They only seem more real
because they seem to be outside of you.

But just as you noticed
that stories are merely stories,
you can see
that appearances are stories too.

Start by observing appearances
without immediately investing belief in them.

Withhold belief even a little,
and see if you don’t start to see
appearances as stories.

~From our Holy Spirit

Here is a link to a playsheet designed to facilitate contemplative movie watching:

 Click Here

12 Monkeys is a 1995 American science fiction film directed by Terry Gilliam, inspired by Chris Marker’s 1962 short film La Jetée, starring Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, and Brad Pitt, with Christopher Plummer and David Morse in supporting roles.

In a future world devastated by disease, a convict is sent back in time to gather information about the man-made virus that wiped out most of the human population on the planet. James Cole, a prisoner of the state in the year 2035, can earn parole if he agrees to travel back in time and thwart a devastating plague. The virus has wiped out most of the Earth’s population and the remainder live underground because the air is poisonous. Returning to the year 1990, six years before the start of the plague, Cole is soon imprisoned in a psychiatric facility because his warnings sound like mad ravings. There he meets a scientist named Dr. Kathryn Railly and Jeffrey Goines, the mad son of an eminent virologist. Cole is returned by the authorities to the year 2035 and finally ends up at his intended destination in 1996.

Pitt was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and he won a Golden Globe Award for his performance. The film also won and was nominated for various categories at the Saturn Awards.

The movie is about correcting a mistake made in the past in order to save the world and make it a better place.  The primary theme is about facing fear and the desire to find love in an unloving world. As we watch this movie, we can relate to today’s Covid fear relating to sickness and death.

The movie is available on Amazon Prime, Vudu, Itunes, and YouTube.

We invite you to join us for our next Movie Watcher’s Group which will be facilitated by Rev. George Maddox on Sunday, August 22 at 8 pm ET/ 6 pm MT.

Today’s reading says:

“You give through thought. There is literally no other way to give.”

In that statement, “thought” is broadly defined to include general attitudes and ways of being. “All is well” is one example of an attitude that gives. Seeing all experiences as having the purpose of helping you awaken is another attitude that gives.

One definition of “give” is to cause or allow someone or something to have something, especially something abstract. That definition comes close to the meaning of “give” as it is used in today’s reading.

To give is to allow truth into the creative principle by not clogging the creative principle with untruth. Of course, we clog the creative principle with untruth by giving our attention and belief to ideas of illusion.

For example:

When we judge the world and others, we clog the creative principle with untruth.

When we accept all things as they are, we allow truth into the creative principle.

When we believe that we are defined by specific qualities, we clog the creative principle with untruth. (Reference Day 173.)

When we see ourselves as open-silent-watching and when we practice awareness-watching-awareness, we allow truth into the creative principle.

Today’s reading says:

“What you give is what is experienced, so your experience is a measure of what you give.”

The more we give the general attitudes of truth, the more we experience those attitudes. The more we give thoughts of falsehood, the more we experience falsehood. In other words:

What I think, I see.
What I see, I experience.

Because this is true, we can discern what we are giving by noticing how we feel. If we do not feel free, open, relaxed, happy and trusting, we can look at our minds to see where our focus is. If we are not giving in the way we want to give, we can use thought differently in order to give in harmony with our spiritual aspiration. (Reference Day 179.)

Note: The next tip will be available tomorrow morning after 3:50am ET at this link.

Thoughts of Awakening # 183

Appearances are like a stop.
When you believe in them
you are limited by your belief.

To experience your Self
and the all
as unlimited
let go of the limits of appearances.

~From our Holy Spirit