The Gift of the Great Rays

Want to be happy? “You have no idea of the tremendous release and deep peace that comes from meeting yourself and your brothers totally without judgment. When you recognize what you are and what your brothers are, you will realize that judging them in any way is without meaning. In fact, their meaning is lost to you precisely because you are judging them.” A Course In Miracles T- 3.VI.3:1-4 What you think and the judgments you have will either make you happy or sad. The mind is a beautiful thing to change. It is up to you to change it. When the judgmental mind—aka the angry, worried ego—is silenced, there is calmness and unity. Consider taking a deep breath and choosing peace. You are innocent and everyone is the same at their core. Our judgments are irrelevant and wrong. Refuse to believe every thought that crosses your beautiful mind. During this Covid 19 pandemic, it seems everyone is pretty miserable. Things are not normal or like they were in January 2020. Our lives have been disrupted. How are you feeling? Maybe the better question is “what are you thinking?” Because whatever you are thinking, there is a 99% chance your feelings have something to do with it. I go in and out of worry and depression, but then I remember I’m grateful for those who are on the front lines dealing with illness and death and thankful they continue to work to keep the world running as well as it is. The only way to sidestep misery is to be aware of how you perceive the situation. Perhaps a change of mind is in order. You are 100% responsible for what and how you think, judge, understand, and see the outside world. We have a choice regarding how we interpret things and situations. If we see something as awful or terrible, we are making a judgment, the ego is in charge, and the mind is fixed. If we can accept that we don’t know what something is really about, we can relax and view what goes on around us with an iota of lenience—just a little. We then begin to open the mind to the idea of discernment versus condemnation. With discernment, the mind is open to the idea that we can be tolerant. With condemnation, the mind is closed, locked, never to be swayed, and forever miserable. I’m thinking of wearing masks as I write this, but it could be anything that disturbs your peace. I want everyone to be safe and wear a mask. I don’t like them because they restrict air, and I need air, but I wear one anyway. I can understand why someone would choose not to, but I want peace. So I have to change my mind, on the spot, adding a dash of tolerance and mercy to my thoughts. Just because I disagree, I do not have to allow hatred or anger to bring misery to myself. I can see either love or the call for love. And the call for love is to send to others, it is also for “me” too. My mind needs love and peace as well as theirs. The ego does not have to ruin my day, my life. I choose to sideline the dominant ego’s thought system and choose charity and mercy and, by the way, make myself happy. When we give mercy and respect to others, we hold mercy and respect for ourselves too. We don’t realize how much needless unconscious guilt we pile on our psyche with righteous judgments and opinions feeling certain we are right. We are all innocent at our core. I want to be right or happy? I let go of the conviction that I know what’s right when in fact I don’t. We like to think that we know it all. But we don’t know what our soul needs to experience or lessons we have come to learn, until they arrive at our doorstep. We don’t know someone else’s lessons either. One thing we can do when we remember we want to be happy is to ask the love within to give us another thought, to help us see things differently. It is imperative to train the mind to choose calmness in the face of horror or fear. We are responsible for “how we see and how we interpret things and situations.” If not at peace, ask the Holy Spirit for a new perception and look through the eyes of peace. When we drop the hand of the ego and its claim for riches or objects that never can or will satisfy we move towards happiness. Remember you have not lost your innocence because it is your heart’s desire. You are a Holy Son of God, a Brother to Jesus and brother to the World.