May 11, 2014 - No failure

ACIM Workbook Lesson #131

"No one can fail who seeks to reach the truth."

I'm often tempted to resort to chants and affirmation when I am seeking a specific outcome in life. Many people see nothing wrong with this approach -- and perhaps even a lot of right in it! I've come to think of this approach as nothing more than mental manipulation, a form of hypnotism, which may create a temporary change, but is not a lasting solution to anything. If I'm not going to try to talk life into doing what I want it to, what am I going to do? I'm going to seek Truth, only Truth, and in this seeking of One Thing, I will find everything. It's not my job to delineate what that is. Releasing what I think I know, surrendering projected outcomes, and totally relying on Truth, God, I trust that everything I need will be added unto me. I don't even need to think about what these things are. Because whatever the outcome is, it will be far better than anything I could have planned. Truth is waiting for me to clear the mist which is hiding it. For this, I am most grateful.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"This is what is meant by seeking Truth, Christ, not 'for the loaves and fishes,' nor, like the Pharisee, with the arrogance of rank and display of scholarship, but like Mary Magdalene, from the summit of devout consecration, with the oil of gladness and the perfume of gratitude, with tears of repentance and with those hairs all numbered by the Father.”

Science & Health Page 367:10-16

                                                

May 11, 2012 - No one fails seeking Truth

A Course in Miracles Lesson #131

"No one can fail who seeks to reach the truth."

"Super Moon at Boardman Pass"
photo by Aaron Springston

This statement that we cannot fail in seeking to reach the truth seems silly to our ego-self, to our mortal mind. Isn't the fear of failure what keeps us from trying new things? I read somewhere that the fear of humiliation is at the top of the list for why we remain with the familiar. Looking back at my childhood, the embarrassing moments seem most vivid. Then why am I so eager to step out of my so-called comfort zone and reach for the truth which is seldom embraced? I think it's seldom felt because it's seldom sought. And this Truth is always there for our knowing. No one is ever turned away from this presence of God. As I think of the things we do in life, the foods we eat and how we obtain them, the modes of transportation we utilize, the lies we tell ourselves every day, the realization surfaces that we are craving simpler ways of doing everything. We want to eat fresh food in season. We want to heat our homes and travel without sucking the life out of the earth. What does this have to do with "seeking the truth"? In opening to our inner knowing, to the Truth that is waiting for us to remember it, solutions to problems which may have seemed insolvable to material sense suddenly are seen. Ways of approaching everything in our lives, from healthcare to relationships, are enlightened in thought and we wonder why we never thought of it that way before. But this is the secret -- if there is one. If you are seeking to receive something, be it material or spiritual, you are closing the door to truth. But if you are seeking like Mary Magdalene, in the humble single-mindedness of Love, then Truth becomes visible. How will you see it? That, I do not know. This adventure is quite an individual trip! However truth is seen in your world gives you glimpses of the Oneness we speak of. This pearl of great price, recognized and known, is the Truth I accept today.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

"This is what is meant by seeking Truth, Christ, not 'for the loaves and fishes,' nor, like the Pharisee, with the arrogance of rank and display of scholarship, but like Mary Magdalene, from the summit of devout consecration, with the oil of gladness and the perfume of gratitude, with tears of repentance and with those hairs all numbered by the Father.”

Science & Health Page 367:10-16

All original writings property of Marsha Havens