Marcy thanks for that. I read the linked article. It really ties into what I have been looking at lately too. I had been listening to the audio class “Above all Else: Be Not Afraid.” Ken emphasized this Course quote near the end: “He loves you both, equally and as one.” This short line has become so penetrating in and of itself, to wash away all else that says otherwise, to expose my unconscious reasoning meant to covertly affirm otherwise—saying something else is true, separation is justified… in “this case.”?
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Ken’s point was that if we keep this idea in mind, we won’t separate from others… knowing that Jesus is imploring us to love others as he loves, always without exception and as one. If we are secure in knowing we are loved, and are love, we would easily recognize love and calls for love as unthreatening, being absolutely secure and knowing… in that knowing.?
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In the meantime we get to see where our thinking needs the light of love to shine on it as we willingly bring our thoughts to it in this way. Recognizing our resistance related to our fear of love and wholeness. Each time we forget always being an opportunity and not a sin, to reach the goal of complete forgiveness and the Atonement. Atonement or bust! And since the Atonement is inevitable, “bust” isn’t an option! Giving up my delay and suffering apparently is! But eventually we are busted wide open from this seemingly closed, separate, imprisoned and non-existent self… as we embrace with gratitude and love our Self without exception!?
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--Dave
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This is the complete ACIM quote:
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“In you there is no separation, and no substitute can keep you from your brother. Your reality was God’s creation, and has no substitute. You are so firmly joined in truth that only God is there. And He would never accept something else instead of you. He loves you both, equally and as one. And as He loves you, so you are. You are not joined together in illusions, but in the Thought so holy and so perfect that illusions cannot remain to darken the holy place in which you stand together. God is with you, my brother. Let us join in Him in peace and gratitude, and accept His gift as our most holy and perfect reality, which we share in Him.” (ACIM, T-18.I.10:1-9)
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Here are some of Ken’s comments on this, I found to be exceedingly helpful:
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“In you there is no separation and no substitute can keep you from your brother.” That means in your right mind this is the truth. “Your reality was God's creation and has no substitute.” Remember God created one Son, and we are all part of that one Son. “You are so firmly joined in truth that only God is there.” Meaning there's no room for your ego. “And he would never accept something else instead of you. He loves you both equally and as one.”?
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So what if you carried this thought around with you, to censor all the time whenever you had an unkind thought. What if you really did that? And each and every time you had an unkind thought about a stranger or a friend or a family member, or colleague at work, or a public official, and each and every time you had an unkind thought, an angry thought, an insensitive thought you said: “God loves us both equally and as one.”?
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That would be a wonderful example of bringing the illusion to the Truth. And then ask yourself why won't I do that? Why won't I ask myself, how does Jesus look at this person? Is he making fun of our president? Is he making fun of this person that I'm hating and badmouthing? Well, then why am I doing it? Because clearly I'm separating myself from Him and from the love of God.?
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That's obvious. So that must be my secret wish. To separate myself from this perfect love. At least now I know what I am doing. It has nothing do with you, or what this person did or said. It has to do with—I want to put a distance between myself and perfect love. “Because God loves us both, equally and as one. And as he loves you, so you are.”?
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“You are not joined together in illusions, but in the Thought, so holy and so perfect that illusions cannot remain to darken the holy place in which you stand together.”?
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“The holiest spot in all the earth is where an ancient hatred has become a present love.” Why won't I let this relationship, whatever it is, become that “holiest spot on all the Earth?”?
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In that same section, Jesus talks about how the bloodied earth is cleansed. Why don't I want to cleanse the bloodied Earth of my relationships? Why do I keep pouring more and more blood??What stops me? At least be aware of that. That would help because it cuts through all the complexity of the lies that the World tells you.
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It's not worth it. Why give up this experience of this incredible love that would last forever? For the seeming thrill of a little hate or a grievance justified, or fear indulged. That's the question you should ask, “why, why am I doing this?” “Why am I calling this person sinful?” Engendering guilt in them and making them and myself fearful? Why am I doing that??
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It's very helpful to see what you're doing. You don't have to change it right away if you don't want to, but at least see what you're doing. And see it in the specific context of your everyday living. Not so called abstract metaphysical thinking, but very specific, what my body is doing with itself, what it's doing with other bodies. What it's thinking about, what it's feeling, how it's behaving. And why do I act in a way that's directly antithetical to the way that Jesus loves??
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“God loves you both equally and as one, and as he loves you, so you are.”
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“God is with you, my brother. Let us join in Him in peace and gratitude, and accept His gift as our most holy and perfect reality, which we share in Him.” So each and every time you find yourself being angry, and again, holding on to grievances say, read these lines:?
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“God is with you, my brother. Let us join in Him in peace and gratitude, and accept His gift as our most holy and perfect reality, which we share in Him.”?
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But this means I have to bring everyone with me. I always quote the line right at the end of the text with Jesus talking about his glorious vision for us. He says: “Yet this a vision is which you must share with everyone you see, for otherwise you will behold it not.” And the vision really is the sameness of God's Son. And if we're the same, there can be no attack, no loss, no hurt, no judgment. And if I want that, then I must share it with everyone. And then when I find myself withholding that love and substituting judgment instead, it's because I'm not ready to go home yet. And that's not a sin. It's an honest statement.
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