Sustained

Sustained: 

yes, I am sustained by the love of God. Lesson 50 of A Course in Miracles arrives to me with a soft urgency to remember, a life rope of grace in times of my forgetfulness. This my my reminder to sink deep within the reality of God, calm and abiding, placing no faith within a dreamed up world. It's the answer to every problem of the dream, indeed, it's the whisper of my awakening. 

Here is the answer to every problem that will confront you, today and tomorrow and throughout time. ²In this world, you believe you are sustained by everything but God (ACIM, W-50.1:1-2)

this lesson mentions the "eternal calm" of the Son God - promising that nothing can intrude upon the mind that is steeped within God's presence. That was the promise I trusted through years of care-giving for both my parents, delivering a new language of infinite patience and tenderness to ease my mind as well as their's. Being sustained by the love of God isn't a distant promise of what will be available after years of diligent practice - it's the immediacy of my surrender, given to me now, and now, always in this one and only Holy Instant. 

Put all your faith in the Love of God within you; eternal, changeless and forever unfailing. ⁴This is the answer to whatever confronts you today. ⁵Through the Love of God within you, you can resolve all seeming difficulties without effort and in sure confidence. (ACIM, W-50.4:3-5)

eternal, changeless - that's the promise. 

not distant.

now.

yes, I am sustained by the love of God...this moment, 

and always.

~

I love you, Eric

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: My View 

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My View

My view::

my only role is to provide the

heart-space-

clearing away all he debris that seems to keep

you from reaching here.

and then we finally meet,

exactly where we've always been...home.

~

and so forgiveness is my clearing tool, removing all obstacles from my one clear view of you. This is my work, a loving task of recognizing all that seems to lay between us, and gently now, gently, sweeping each one away. There's nothing else I would rather do, honestly, than to clean away all that blocks my vision of you, of the world really, and finally rest in my own self-reflected view. The truth is that I'm not even the one who does the actual clearing. My job is to to simply recognize these barriers and invite a loving presence to sweep through for their removal. 

and truly, now, 

it's the most joyful thing I do.

~

I love you, Eric

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: Occasional Grace

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Occasional Grace

Occasional grace:

so the real ritual of writing, the one that truly brings the muse to me, is to note the empty screen and recognize that there is nothing here for me to say. I am not the author of anything, not a single word comes from me. But I am an instrument of occasional grace, sometimes receiving just the right phrase, or being gifted a sudden inspiration. My talent has become a singular ability of surrendering to the page and asking the Holy Spirit what it is that I should say. 

the very best writing results form listening.

and simply writing what's received.

And if I need a word to help me, He will give it to me. ²If I need a thought, that will He also give. ³And if I need but stillness and a tranquil, open mind, these are the gifts I will receive of Him. ⁴He is in charge by my request. ⁵And He will hear and answer me, because He speaks for God my Father and His holy Son. (ACIM, W-361-365.1:1-5)

~

I love you, Eric

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: A Ceaseless Prayer

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But First, Pause

But first, pause: 

I'm willing to pause, to truly step back and let the Holy Spirit lead the way. What I want to examine now is even my slightest insistence that I know a better way. My wish is to be shown, gently led to wherever it is I next need to be. Yet what I find is that even surrender carries the risk of becoming an endeavor, that at times I point myself towards my preferred path and then ask  the Holy Spirit to lead me further in the direction I already wish to go. 

and so I'm willing to pause,

to take just a moment and ask the Holy Spirit if this is indeed the path that I should follow. It's that instant given to stillness that makes all the difference now. My willingness is met with a soft assurance, not always a direct answer, but a presence that promises me continued guidance. This is coming to be enough, my demands have lessened, and I no longer need to know everything immediately. 

but it all begins with a pause, 

just a quiet moment before I commit to action, 

 then asking the Holy Spirit,

³What would You have me do?
⁴Where would You have me go?
⁵What would You have me say, and to whom? (ACIM, W-71.9:3-5)

and guidance always follow.

~

I love you, Eric

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: A Ceaseless Prayer

Also, please visit: It's All Mind

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A Ceaseless Prayer

A ceaseless prayer: 

and now pray without ceasing, that's the directive given, how I'm supposed to move through life. This is supposed to be a nonverbal communication, full-way openhearted. My prayer is for guidance, continuously so, asking only to be truly helpful. I pray for an easier release through forgiveness, to be mindful of any judgement made towards myself and others, immediately recognizing that I have decidedly wrongly and then choosing again to be at peace. 

mostly though,

I'm to pray with gratitude, thankful that I rest in God. 

and that's how I'm asked to move through life.

a ceaseless prayer.

~

I love you, Eric 

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: My Teacher

Also, please visit: It's All Mind

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My Teacher

My teacher:

my mother was a teacher, by all accounts an exceptional one, long remembered after her first grade students grew up. We had a a contentious relationship for much of my life. It seemed, to me, that the sweetness she held for her students was absent towards me. I carried the weight of what I felt was her disappointment for a long time. 

not long after her retirement, my mother began a long decent into the fog of Alzheimer's, robbing both my parents of heir dreamed of retirement. I became one of her primary caregivers, a trusted and steady guardian for her to depend on. She became my teacher. My mother taught me the language of infinite kindness, re-establishing my inner vocabulary to one of continuous patience. I became truly mindful of how I wished to speak to her, looking past the Alzheimer's to the person that I had missed seeing through all the years of my own insecurities, resentment, and judgement towards her.

I discovered, and experienced...the love that had always been present.

one day I walked past her room and heard her speaking as if she were addressing a roomful of people, children actually, students. Knowing she was alone, curious, I peeked in and say my mother teaching a classroom of children only she could see. She was engaged and loving, calling each child by name and offering them a gentle correction or praise. I didn't interrupt, no need to, these were the real children of her mind and I was privileged to share their lesson. This was the moment  I truly saw my mother, my heart burst open with vision and the children, for just an instant were as real for me as they were to her. It was then that she looked up and saw me, giving me a look of such deep love - and what broke me open even further, a smile of pride towards me. 

my mother became my teacher, an exceptional to the end.

actually, she's still teaching me.

I look for the unseen things of the word now, maybe not a classroom of students to see, but an undercurrent of love that only needs my recognition. My mother taught me the grace of letting go and the steadiness of the presence that remains. She continuously reminds me to trust the unseen, that eventually my eyes will open and I will truly see the classroom of the  world and its need for one more loving teacher. My mother has prepared me for that role. 

she taught me vision,

and infinitely more.

I love you mom.

~

I love you, Eric 

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: The World I Made

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The World I Made

The world I made: 

with the privilege of many years of practice now, those early lessons of A Course in Miracles continue to astound me with the simplicity of their profound message. This morning lesson 23 came to my attention with a subtle weight of authority:

I can escape from the world I see by giving up attack thoughts. (ACIM, W-23)

even after decades of practice my attack thoughts are still to creating a world that hurts me. This is the value of reviewing the lessons, returning as a cleansing ritual, sweeping the mind clean of its accumulated debris. Attack thoughts are subtle, multiplying quickly as the littlest of grievances until they gather as a fully ranging storm within the mind. Lesson 23 reminds me to be careful, mindful, and never wait to offer myself forgiveness. 

and with this, 

I can again escape the world I made.

one forgiven thought at a time.

~

I love you, Eric

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: Commitment

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