Daily Reflections, Day Fifty two, Judgment, guilt, and fear or Love, forgiveness, and bliss?

Day Fifty two

Judgment, guilt and fear or Love, forgiveness, and bliss?

“The miracle makes no distinction among the degrees of misperception. It is a device for perception correction, effective quite apart from the degree or the direction of the error. This is true indiscriminateness.” ACIM.T-1.1.49:1-3

Are we a body with a spirit or a spirit with a body? This is not just a cute or tricky question, the answer makes a big difference to our spiritual development. The answer is that we are a spirit with a body and the body is an illusion because it keeps changing and is merely a vehicle for communication.

Once we realize that we all are Spirit with what appears to be different forms, we realize that we all are One. And this realization is what is miraculous while the forms and their locality make no difference. It is this shift in perception from form and locality to Spirit and nonlocality which is the miracle.

We can choose the ego or the Spirit any time we desire. It makes no difference when or why or what, only the how. We can ask ourselves, “Do I want to go down the path of the ego or the path of the Spirit? Do I want to go down the path of judgment, guilt, and fear or down the path of Love, forgiveness, and bliss?

Today, I will take several moments throughout the day to remind myself that I have a choice. I am a free spirit with the power of intention. Today, I will choose forgiveness and Love.

LGBTQ and the Catholic Church

I wondered if some people might be interested in this short video.

I consider myself a Roman Catholic Unitarian Universalist, obviously what some people consider politically left.

Whenever, I am faced with a moral decision, I think, "What would Love have me do?" Jesus, Buddha, Osho, and many other enlightened people have guided and instructed me.

I am a subscriber to America magazine.

Religion in the public square - What is a UU to do about the impeachment of Donald J. Trump?

As we watch the impeachment trial in the United States Senate unfold of President Donald John Trump, we can only wonder whether the Republican Senators will act in a fair and just way or whether they will act in an unfair and unjust way to obtain some personal benefit.

Unitarian Universalists covenant together to affirm and promote justice, equity, and compassion in human relations.

The House of Representatives has decided that President Trump has committed impeachable offenses against the American people as measured against the standards of the constitution of the United States. This decision has been made along party lines with Democrats deciding the President has committed impeachable acts and the Republicans have decided he hasn't.

Which side is right? Where is the truth? This decision about the truth of the allegations will be determined by the evidence. The evidence clearly demonstrates that the behavior was engaged in and the offenses were committed.

The facts are not in dispute, only the interpretation of what the facts mean, and what is to be done about the harm that is alleged to have occurred and continues to occur.

To what extent are denial, minimization, displacement, projection, and rationalization unfair and unjust? These defense mechanisms are permitted in America's adversarial criminal justice system. These defense mechanisms are permitted even if the use of them leads to a false and unfair conclusion.

The problem of justice and fairness is not resolved by siding with one or the other sides of the disgreement and conflict. The problem can only be resolved by questioning the system of adjudication itself.

The problem is not Donald Trump's behavior but the harm that has been done to the democratic institutions and credibility of the U.S. government and the impact on U.S. relationships with its allies and its reputation and credibility around the world.

A constructive adjudication of the charges is not obtained by the congressional conflicted parties but by the offender and the people harmed. What is the harm that Donld Trump's behavior has had on the integrity of the democratic instituions which the American people governed by these institutions have come to depend on? What is the harm that has been done to American's allies. Once this harm is assessed and agreed to, then a plan to repair the harm can be developed.

With Donald Trump's refusal to take responsibility for the harm that has been done, there is little hope that repair of that harm will be attempted by he and his administration. It will be left for others and the best that can be done is that the powers that enabled the perpetration of the injustice to begin with be stripped away from the perpetrator.

In reflecting on this situation of impeachment of Donald Trump which option seems to be the fairest and the most just?

A. Donald Trump is acquitted by the Senate and continues in office.
B. Donald Trump is found culpable and his behavior is censured.
C. Donald Trump is found culpable and is removed from office.
D. The matter is swept under the rug and the American people forget about it.
E. The Senate acquits and citizens become more actively involved in their democracy to advocate for fairness and justice in their political processes.
F. Other _______________________________________-----

What, if anything, should a good Unitarian Univeralist do in regards to this impeachment of President Trump and the harm that has been done to the American people, its allies, and all the people around the world?

Daily Reflections, Day Fifty one, Seeking and becoming aware of eternal peace.

Day Fifty one

Seeking and becoming aware of eternal peace.

“The miracle is the only device at your immediate disposal for controlling time. Only revelation transcends it, having nothing to do with time at all.” ACIM.T-1.1.48:1-2

Revelation is the experience of Oneness with God when the world of the ego disappears. It is possible for us humans to have this experience fleetingly. It is rare but does occur. In the 60s we called this “cosmic consciousness.” Some people try to achieve this revelatory state with drugs like LSD, Peyote, Ayahuasca, but these hallucinatory experiences are suspect as true enlightenment experiences and may be merely chemically induced psychosis.

However, the shift in perception from the world of the ego to the world of the Spirit is the miracle when time stands still. It is what is sometimes called “the holy instant.” People often have this experience when they mediate or are involved in activities which facilitate a state of flow. Flow is when the activity seems effortless and we are “in the groove.” There are many ways to achieve flow and often it is called something other than a “miracle” but sometimes we use words like “runner’s high,” “the light bulb went on in my mind,” “I could experience the vastness of the Universe,” “I became one with everything.”

This Oneness with God is our home to which we are returning whether we know it or not. The question of our return is not in doubt; it is only a question of when, how much time it will take. With the miracle we get a little taste, a momentary experience of time standing still.

Today, I will take moments throughout the day and remind myself of my Oneness with God, the source of my being, the Higher Power of which I am an expression and a part. I will thank my Origin for allowing me to be aware of this existence temporarily until the Oneness becomes my eternal state of mind which is abiding peace and bliss..

Daily Reflections, Day Fifty, Appreciating the timeless mystery of life.

Day Fifty

Appreciating the timeless mystery of life.

“The miracle is a learning device that lessens the need for time. It establishes an out-of-pattern time interval not under the usual laws of time. In this sense it is timeless.” ACIM.T-1.1.47:1-3

When a miracle occurs it seems as if time stands still or time flies. When we re-orient to the ego world, we often wonder what happened, the lightbulb went off in our heads, and we feel temporarily enlightened.

This experience of time flying or standing still or being in a timeless place takes us out of the position of feeling victimized by other people or life’s circumstances. We feel like one with everything. What has happened is that in our mind we have shifted from the world of the ego to the world of the Spirit. We have escaped from the world of separation with its guilt, fear, anger, resentments, to a world beyond it all. We have awakened from the nightmare which we usually experience on the path of the ego as our life and find ourselves in a place of Love and peace.

The miracle is both a choice and a gift. Sometimes, it has been called “grace” as in the great hymn whose lyrics are “I once was lost and now I’m found, Twas blind, but now I see.” When we are blessed by this grace it does carry us to an out- of -pattern time interval and we have a sense of timelessness.

Today, I will take periodic moments to just “smell the roses” and shift my attention from the mundane tasks and activities I am engaged in to the wonders of being conscious of my functioning and remember that I have a choice for the ego with its judgment and guilt or the Holy Spirit with its unconditional love and peace. This remembrance and choice is often experienced as a miracle and takes me beyond the immediate into the timeless mystery of Life.

Daily Reflections, Day Forty nine, What will you choose, Love or the Ego?

Day Forty nine

What will you choose, the miracle of Love or the fear and guilt of the ego?

“The Holy Spirit is the highest communication medium. Miracles do not involve this type of communication, because they are temporary communication devices. When you return to your original form of communication with God by direct revelation, the need for miracles is over.” ACIM.T-1.1.46:1-3

The miracle is only needed, and only makes sense, when we are on the path of the ego. The miracle reminds us and helps restore us to the path of the Spirit. If we are already on the path of the Spirit what purpose or function would the miracle serve? It wouldn’t be necessary because we have already chosen to leave the path of the ego for the path or the Spirit.

Miracles then are temporary devices which serve the purpose of helping us become directly aware of our Oneness with God. Miracles clear the way for awareness of Unconditional Love from any obstacles or barriers blocking this experience. The Holy Spirit is the link between the path of the ego and the path of the Spirit and helps us become aware of the choice we always have between the two.

The Holy Spirit reminds us of our power to choose Love instead of the things of the ego. The Holy Spirit helps us activate our witness that can observe our functioning cognitively, affectively, psychologically, socially, and spiritually so that we can objectively perceive our options, our choices.

The ever present eternal choice is between Love and fear. Fear is borne out of separation, and Love is borne out of forgiveness. Forgiveness brings about the Atonement which is a miracle in itself and having experienced the Atonement is no longer necessary.

Today, several times, I will step back, reflect, and ask the Holy Spirit for assistance in choosing Love over separation, choosing the path of the Spirit over the path of the ego. I know that when I choose rightly I will experience peace and when I choose wrongly I will be upset, afraid, and guilty.

Daily Reflections, Day Forty eight, I am called to be faithful, not successful.

Day Forty eight

I am called to be faithful, not successful.

“A miracle is never lost. It may touch many people you have not even met, and produce undreamed of changes in situations of which you are not even aware.” ACIM.T-1.1.45:1-2

The miracle is the stone thrown into the pond and the ripples proceed outward influencing things never intended by the stone thrower.

When one person changes their mind and accepts the Atonement for themselves miraculous experiences are generated throughout the whole of humanity.

We can just faintly grasp the idea of the interdependent web of existence, and yet we intuit that it is true, that all things are connected somehow in ways we can’t begin to fathom.

We are assured that Love is never lost but once intended Love does its work in ways we have no way of apprehending and the spiritually mature understand this and appreciate that Love’s will will be done, not ours..

Love is a mystery and to live with Love is an awesome and miraculous way to live and be in this world.

Today, I will take several moments throughout the day to remind myself to live in faith and not be attached to any particular outcome or results. I will remind myself that I am called to be faithful, not successful. Whether I am successful or not is out of my hands and not for me to say.