A Seeming Hierarchy of Values

 

Art by Akira Kusaka

For years I resisted admitting that only one thing was required of me in order to experience the peace I craved. It seemed that giving myself to this one thing would cause me to be  a religious zealot. I thought that to live in Spirit would be predictable and boring. At that time, material existence seemed exciting, while spiritual living implied a certain aloneness which couldn't possibly be very much fun. As years have passed and I've become more aware of what living in Spirit means, the understanding of myself as a reflection of God has taken form in many ways. On the surface, it could seem that nothing has changed. I still work, play, sleep, and interact with others. But everything is different. By listening to my inner Self and following that guidance, I don't need to make lists of pros and cons and weigh the value of these in making decisions. This following doesn't mean that I mindlessly go through life as an automaton doing what someone tells me. It means that infinite possibilities are opened to me, that thought is expanded in ways which transcend material beliefs. Contentment and peace are waiting for me to find them, as I remember my only function. 


"This scientific sense of being, forsaking matter for Spirit, by no means suggests man's absorption into Deity and the loss of his identity, but confers upon man enlarged individuality, a wider sphere of thought and action, a more expansive love, a higher and more permanent peace."

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 265:10-15


“Hallucinations disappear when they are recognized for what they are. This is the healing and the remedy. Believe them not and they are gone. And all you need to do is recognize that you did this. Once you accept this simple fact and take unto yourself the power you gave them, you are released from them. One thing is sure; hallucinations serve a purpose, and when that purpose is no longer held they disappear. Therefore, the question never is whether you want them, but always, do you want the purpose that they serve? This world seems to hold out many purposes, each different and with different values. Yet they are all the same. Again there is no order; only a seeming hierarchy of values.” 

A Course in Miracles T-20.VIII.8:1-10


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