All The Way To Heaven

All the way to heaven: 

I love the weight of certain sentences, as if a profound truth dropped within the mind that immediately sinks to the heart-level of action. A Course in Miracles is filled with such words, sentences that are often strung together in a phrase that thrills me to the soul. These are the words that inspire me to live the Course, dedicating my life to their purpose of awakening. Here's an example of words that have such an impact. They carry the weight of holiness about them, urging the immediacy of surrendering to the truth that's being told: 

There is but one interpretation of motivation that makes any sense. ²And because it is the Holy Spirit’s judgment it requires no effort at all on your part. ³Every loving thought is true. ⁴Everything else is an appeal for healing and help, regardless of the form it takes. ⁵Can anyone be justified in responding with anger to a brother’s plea for help? (ACIM, T-12.I.3:1-5)

once read, I knew these words were true, although part of my mind lagged in responding. The ego certainly doesn't want to believe them. To do so would be a call to change, relaxing judgement and releasing all resentments. There would be an almost instant healing, a prevailing calmness that survives every emotional storm - and the ego's reactions would serve no purpose other than being an opportunity to return to it's original state of loving-calm. 

Only appreciation is an appropriate response to your brother. ²Gratitude is due him for both his loving thoughts and his appeals for help, for both are capable of bringing love into your awareness if you perceive them truly. ³And all your sense of strain comes from your attempts not to do just this (ACIM, T-12.I.6:1-3)

the Holy Spirit's plan is so simple in it's offer of salvation. Only loving thoughts are true, and anything else serves for the purpose of awakening. Having first read this, many years ago, I thought, yes, I can do this this. And, of course, failed in almost every attempt. But this is mind training, an entire course that's teaching me the use of miracles. I don't have to be good at this. I only have to practice. Saint Catherine of Siena said "all the way to heaven is heaven" and that's my great reminder. My every moment of remembering, every instant that I practice - that's the entirety of my awakening. 

⁴Every appeal you answer in the Name of Christ brings the remembrance of your Father closer to your awareness. ⁵For the sake of your need, then, hear every call for help as what it is, so God can answer you. (ACIM, T-12.I.7:4-5)

today, as in everyday....all the way to heaven.

~

I love you, Eric

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: Certain of The Outcome

Also, please visit to buy: 52 Ways to Live A Course in Miracles

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Certain of the Outcome

Certain of the outcome: 

so this is the Jesus of my heart, not inherited from former church days, nor made up to suit my present needs. This is a Jesus the reveals himself to me, an ongoing presence that whispers comfort through the dark and guidance for my days. Yesterday I wrote of leaving the church at a young and and mistakenly believing that I left Jesus behind too. I quoted the wonderful passage from A Course in Miracles on how Jesus waits for us, sure of our return, and will then teach us to be like him. 

and that seems to be the first lesson,

patience.

Jesus waits for us, everyone, no one excluded. Even me, at my very worst, and Jesus was still just a choice away, available. This is the intimacy of Jesus and why I never truly walked away. It was impossible for me to do so, a mistaken belief that I could leave my own heart-space. Jesus waited for me where he always resided, quite, patient, assured of my remembering him. 

and now he offers to teach me to be like him. 

that's the patience of Jesus,

always certain of the outcome.

Those who are certain of the outcome can afford to wait, and wait without anxiety. ²Patience is natural to the teacher of God. ³All he sees is certain outcome, at a time perhaps unknown to him as yet, but not in doubt. (ACIM, M-4.VIII.1:1-3)

Jesus is patient with me because he already knows who I am, and he now urges me to look deeper within myself too, seeing the very same Christ we share, And then patiently, with infinite kindness and care...I am asked to see Christ within others as well. 

everyone.

with no exceptions.

to practice being infinitely patient with myself and others,

completely certain of the outcome.

I begin to see with Jesus,

~

I love you, Eric

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: He Waits

Also, please visit: The Mystic Jesus

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He Waited

He waited:

I left Jesus behind at the end of 9th grade, my last year at Catholic school, believing there was littler need to think of him from then on. My spiritual life shaped up from teenage years reading Carlos Castaneda, Allan Watts, Chogyam Trunpa, and exploring various mystical traditions. There was little room for the traditional figure of Jesus. In my mid 20s I began hearing references to a transformation book called A Course in Miracles and thought I should consider it with a browse. Within the book, Jesus found me again, not right away, but through the course of continuous returns to the pages. This was a different Jesus than experienced before, infinitely compassionate, patient, and with the single greatest promise that was ever made to me...

³If you want to be like me I will help you, knowing that we are alike. ⁴If you want to be different, I will wait until you change your mind. (ACIM, T-8.IV.6:3-4)

so Jesus had waited for me. 

and now he offered to help me be like him. Which was something beyond my understanding at the time, intriguing, and so sweetly offered that my heart immediately accepted. Yes, I wanted to be like this Jesus, filled with a loving-kindness that only a forgiving mind could afford to extend. What I quickly discovered was that this was a means of awakening, every bit as demanding as any Zen discipline, a mindfulness practice of continuous forgiveness, a yogic path of pure devotion. 

What could you want forgiveness cannot give? ²Do you want peace? ³Forgiveness offers it. ⁴Do you want happiness, a quiet mind, a certainty of purpose, and a sense of worth and beauty that transcends the world? ⁵Do you want care and safety, and the warmth of sure protection always? ⁶Do you want a quietness that cannot be disturbed, a gentleness that never can be hurt, a deep abiding comfort, and a rest so perfect it can never be upset?

 All this forgiveness offers you, and more.

(ACIM, W-122.1:1–2:1)

this was my path, Jesus had waited for me and I was now ready. My commitment has never waivered, although my practice has often been unsteady. Through the years, and no matter what's happened, Jesus has extended his love to me, never once causing my faith to falter. He believes in me. He is infinitely patient. He loves me. 

he tells me that we are alike.

and finally,

I believe him 

~

I love you, Eric 

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: To Trust This Silence

Also, please visit: The Wisdom Jesus

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To Trust This Silence

To trust this silence: 

a stormy November morning, 4:00 am, and the usual writing themes play through my mind. As lightning flashes outside, I wait for my own sudden strike of inspiration to reach the page. Some mornings are just quiet in their giving though, subtle insights are more forthcoming than a great flash of words. What I love is the holiness experienced here, a whisper, and then a length of silence before I hear anything more. I've learned to trust this silence, coming to know the importance of not rushing through the sacred space between each word.

this where the Holy Spirit speaks to me.

the space between thoughts.

and listening now,

I write these few words.

~

I love you, Eric

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: Sincerely So

Also, please visit: The Power of Eight

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Sincerely So

Sincerely so, 

and without compromise, no longer content with a better version of the same dreamed up world - I truly only want the peace of God. In A Course in Miracles, Lesson 185, I'm reminded that to say these words means absolutely nothing. Without a pure conviction they're just another hollow prayer asking for an upgrade within the dream. But to mean them, sincerely so, and even for an instant....that's my salvation.

yes, I truly want the peace of God.

with my memory of God completely restored.

 and that's my only prayer.

~

I love you, Eric

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: An Opportunity

Also, please visit: The Tears of Things

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An Opportunity

An opportunity:

post election morning, coffee at hand, and a brand new page before me. I love that life offers me it's pure potentiality each morning, an opportunity to write something from a fresh point of view. This is as true with elections as it is with writing, there's a possibility present that's never been offered before - at least not in this particular form. What we have no is the opportunity for cooperation, balanced restored and a real chance to forgive our way into something truly stunning in it's depth of understanding each other. It's not wishful thinking, it's here within our grasp, erasing sides and seeing the wholeness of reality. But what we need is vision, we need compassion, and again we need forgiveness. 

it's the only way forward.

Forgiveness recognizes what you thought your brother did to you has not occurred. ²It does not pardon sins and make them real. ³It sees there was no sin. ⁴And in that view are all your sins forgiven. ⁵What is sin, except a false idea about God’s Son? ⁶Forgiveness merely sees its falsity, and therefore lets it go. ⁷What then is free to take its place is now the Will of God. (ACIM, W-pII.1.1:1-7)

we have trapped ourselves in a story repeated told about ourselves. There's no possibility of moving forward when we hold these views so tightly. Forgiveness, true forgiveness, is the vision of reality that doesn't cling to stories formerly told about ourselves or others - it's the fresh potentiality of each moment, an allowing of the resurrection through the refusal to continue to crucify each other. There's no exceptions to this opportunity of vision, we see everyone as equally whole, and more so, we continuously bare witness to our original innocence before a single story was ever told. Again, with no exceptions made. I love that we can do this, that our worst thought about another can be forgiven and in that very same moment they offer us our salvation. 

of course we can do this.

it's the only reason we're here.

yes, it's easy for me to say this right now, my "side" won and I see a brighter future. But it's always been a possibility and I've held this same hope through every election. It's not about sides. It's about forgiveness and an opportunity to be truly helpful.

and it starts right now.

this morning...a brand new page.

let's write something beautiful, something true. 

~

I love you, Eric

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: It's Who We Are

Also, please visit: Politics of Love

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It's Who We Are

It's who we are:

kindness is the way, and also, it's the natural outflow of my practice. Early in life I was told to be kind, in Catholic grade school it was stressed as a means of reaching heaven, and my parents were kind by example. So it was easy path to follow along. 

later, life growing harsh, kindness seemed to matter less. Or at least it seemed too. The truth is that life just grew busy, hurried, and kindness often fell to the wayside of my rush. Fortunately I was saved from the curse of an overly busy life, meditation and A Course in Miracles slowed me down and brought me the gift of patience. Not that I was, or am, always faithful to this gift. But I am, however, sincere in my commitment and practice. 

more so,

kindness is my natural state of mind. 

yours too.

 

we only have to choose the right internal teacher. 

love, 

or fear.

the first is our natural state of mind, our God-source, kind by it's very nature. The second choice is the ego and it's always wrong, loud, and in a hurry. So we retrain ourselves to notice the results of our choice, and then begin to keep our focus on the one that truly brings us joy. A simple practice, but not always so easy at first. Yet kindness is our practice, being true to ourselves is our only concern - so patiently, infinitely kind, we choose again, and then again. 

until we remember:

³Holiness created me holy.
⁴Kindness created me kind.
⁵Helpfulness created me helpful.
⁶Perfection created me perfect. (ACIM, W-67.2:3-6)

it's already what we are.

always.

~

I love you, Eric

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: Initiated

Also, please visit: The Wisdom Teacher

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