Sending Joy

“I will give myself the gift of forgiveness by forgiving someone else.”

The deeper reason for patience, kindness and forgiveness is that it heals the heart of the one that gives them. Our kindness and forgiveness toward others is our gift to us. What we give is what we receive.

The truth of us is not in a far away land, nor is it in the distant future.  It’s right here and right now;  our immediate gift from God. All we need to do to experience it is to grow still and look inside our own heart. And then smile and be thankful for all the good in our life.  

 And let’s remember, we are magnetic.
What we offer to the world is what we attract to ourselves. 

“Perception rests, the mind is still, and light returns again. Vision is now restored. What had been lost has now been found. The peace of God descends on all the world, and we can see. And we can see!”  A Course In Miracles

“I will not worship my opinions today.” 

Our opinions are so important to us that we actually feel defined by them. We collect them like precious diamonds and hoard them in the recesses of our mind. We consider them to be more important than our happiness. More valuable than inner peace.  We cherish them above our health and joy. We feel that our power is in our judgments, our opinions and beliefs. History shows that many have willingly died for them.

We don’t understand that it is our opinions that are keeping us trapped in this narrow place of fear. It is our judgments that are the cause of all our stress and our unhappiness.  

These thoughts that we value so highly are based upon a vision and a perception so limited and so small that if we were honest with ourselves, we would gladly say, I don’t really know anything for sure.  And thereby free ourselves for miracles of wondrous delight.

Today let’s make a choice to open our mind and heart to a better way.  We deserve it.  We deserve to be happy and confident and free of fear.  Let’s unclench our fists, our jaw, our mind and make a real change.  Let’s choose peace for no reason.  Joy for the hell of it.  Laughter just because.  For no reason on earth, let’s just be happy.

Do we really think God wants us to live and die for an opinion? And now as we choose again we will see what we have overlooked before.  Opinions are not diamonds. But diamonds of joyous wonder are seen and experienced in the clear and open mind; in the kind and gentle heart.

“I will BE where I am today.”

Maybe we think we should be somewhere else, having a different experience.  Or are we exactly where we need to be right now?  If we can accept our present path with a peaceful heart, change will come naturally and flow with ease.  Sometimes we can’t see the miracles until the moment has passed. Or we can, if we wish, live mindfully in each moment and experience our walk through life as a living, breathing adventure filled with self discovery. 

In the morning we can say this prayer, “Thank you for this new day and this new opportunity for peace and healing.”  In the evening, we can say this prayer, “Thank you for this amazing day and all the miracles that led me through it.”

And then as we rest for the night, instead of mulling over every problem, every grievance, every ache and pain, we can count miracles and turn an ordinary day into an extraordinary day. The beauty of this is that the power to choose our world lies smack dab inside of us. 

Together, let’s we walk through this day with joy and gratitude.

“… and the remembrance of God shines unimpeded across the world. God’s face is seen in every living thing and nothing is held in darkness, apart from the light of forgiveness.  There is no sorrow still upon the earth.  The joy of Heaven has come upon it. Vision is wholly corrected and all mistakes undone.  Attack is meaningless and peace has come. All living hearts are tranquil with a stir of deep anticipation for the time of everlasting things is now at hand. There is no death. The Children of God are free.”  A Course In Miracles

“Today I choose a life governed by Love and seen through laughing eyes.”

Imagine a world where laughter is the universal language. Where peace is common and joy lights our path. A world where fear is not part of the vocabulary. In this world every day begins with a smile and every heart is calm and quiet.  In this exciting world, Angels fly about and carry us wherever we need to go. We can parasail from a cliff side with perfect safety or dive into the depths of the ocean and view the wonders without concerns for pollution because we have learned to respect and value all of nature.

Everyone is familiar here, not just familiar, but known as dear siblings. We have a clear understanding of unconditional love and we happily pay it forward to all the world. Every day is a celebration and an experience of delight. Danger, sickness, scarcity, war and death are gone from our thinking. Health, abundance and perfect safety are the norm. Jobs are unnecessary now because everything is shared. Prisons are a thing of the past because everyone is only kind and loving toward everyone else. We all know our greater purpose and we love giving to each other without the need for thank you’s. The reason thank you is unnecessary is because gratitude flows from us as naturally as breathing.

Our skills are appreciated by everyone and we all work together. Those who love to plant, plant the food and the flowers and the trees and then gift them to the rest of us. Those who enjoy cooking make our mouths water with their delicious concoctions. Food is healthy and plentiful. There is no such thing as hunger because, remember, everything is shared. Those who love to paint pictures do so with a loving heart and the art is so powerful it takes our breath away. Those who love to act and sing and dance and make music gift their talents to the rest of us and bring us joy with their moving performances. Those who love to write, write the most amazing poetry and stories beyond anything we’ve ever known because it comes from their deepest and most holy place. A place we aren’t even aware of now. Those who love to serve, serve only God and He guides them in their service to all others.

Those who love to invent things are honored for their skills and their inventions are provided to everyone without question and everyone without question is grateful for the sharing of these gifts. Those who love sports perform with ease. Every skill is an art and comes from the highest Loving place within us. Boredom doesn’t exist because we are all too busy being happy and doing what we love best, writing, reading, working with our hands. Whatever it is we love to do is only what we do. Televisions, cell phones and computers are only used for sharing good news and for teaching us about the wonders of the greater world and the worlds beyond this one. Judgment is gone. Attack?  Defense? Unnecessary.

Competition is an archaic tradition now because everyone does everything for the artistry and the pure pleasure of it. No stress and no disappointment is involved because there are no losers. In this new world everyone wins. There are no extremes in nature because nature is governed by our kindness and compassion. Our loving thoughts tame tornados and tsunamis and make earthquakes and floods impossible.  Death is over.

Seem inconceivable? If so, it’s only because we can’t wrap our mind around the possibility that there is another way, another world, another experience that we are denying and closing off. And we don’t understand how powerful we are and how real God is. If our intentions are for a beautiful utopia and if our minds are open and accepting and ready to share and to live in Love, then it must happen.

God is not impossible. God simply is. And we can choose how to see each moment and each person in our lives. What holds us back is only fear. Fear takes a thousand forms, but in the end, it’s only a decision. We can surrender fear and forgive its cause whatever that may be and then choose God instead. If we all did this, in time we would be experiencing a healthy, holy, laughing, loving, abundant and glorious world.

Afraid of change?  Afraid of sacrificing the things we like about this world the way it is? What if we could try this new world for just a day?  Would we really come back to the darkness and density and pain and suffering we know now?

The power in the joining of the minds and hearts of God’s Creations in Love is beyond what we can comprehend. But who needs to understand? We just need to choose Love and trust God to take care of the rest. And we need to do this a moment at a time, an hour at a time, a day at time. The more consistently we choose God, the more beautiful becomes our world.

Today I will let God show me how to be helpful.”

“All are chosen. Few choose to answer.” from A Course In Miracles

We are so intent on believing we have to do something in the world that we run frantically here and there trying to fix things from our limited understanding.  This inevitably leads to mistakes.  We keep making the same errors over and over and then expecting different results. It isn’t our business to fix ourselves or the world.  Our business is to open our minds and hearts to God’s Love within us and allowing Him to fix things. Once we understand this, we will see great transformation in our lives and before long in the world.  God is the power of Love and we must forget everything but that.  Only Love can make the necessary corrections for healing us and the world. We just have to let it happen.

Don’t be deceived into thinking that God will just do things like magic tricks.  What God does is presents us with opportunities to be truly helpful.  It’s up to us to choose to follow His guidance.  When we do we will find that we have never been busier or more filled with joy.  In God’s busyness we are never overwhelmed or frantic or in doubt about anything.  In God’s busyness, there are only calm and quiet miracles which create hugely loving changes.

We’ve tried it our way.  Over and over and over. How many times have we said, “I’ve tried everything and nothing has worked.”  So why don’t we just stop trying and allow the Divine Universe to lift everything from us so true transformation can happen. Now are we truly helpful.

“I will let God do His job today.”

One moment there may be a spark of joy, but it isn’t long before that is squashed by darker feelings of impending doom.  We tell ourselves with and without words that we don’t deserve the joy.  And if we look around it certainly seems as though it’s true. All the suffering and the wars and the lack of this and that build a picture in our mind that since this is the way it is, it must be what we are entitled to. And we have these inner conversations that convince us that our pain is absolutely deserved.  Or if not deserved then certainly we must be innocent victims of an insane world.

There is enough judgment, anger, fear, sadness, suffering, guilt, attack and blame in the world without our joining in the din like children pounding on a pot with a wooden spoon crying, “I know what’s going on and it isn’t good. Not only is it not good, but it’s all your fault!” 

We can’t stop the insanity by shaking our fist at it. Or by accepting ourselves as less than we are. We peer fearfully through a dirty window and then believe, not in the window, but in the dirt. Following the advice of our small minds is how we become part of the problem instead of part of the solution. This is our time for stillness and for listening to He Who knows what we don’t.  We are the window, not the dirt!

The way to know if we’re mistaken is to ask ourselves these questions:
Is this thought coming from love? 
Is this thought kind? Compassionate? Forgiving? 
Are we letting God be in charge of the world? 
Or are we trying to do His job?

“Let me trust in Love today.”

How do we look at situations like the tornado in Oklahoma and suffering throughout the world?  How do we make any sense of it?  The answer is we can’t make sense of it. Such devastation is beyond human comprehension. But we don’t need to understand it to be helpful. There are many ways to lend a hand when terrible things happen in the world.  And many, many people do. That is what creates miracles from devastation.

But the most powerful way we can help is by asking God for guidance. And by giving Him our fear.  If we are experiencing fear and sadness in any form, we cannot be our most helpful.  God does not cause devastation, but He stands beside each one of us and offers Love.  And so to be helpful in the highest sense, we must accept His Love and send that to Oklahoma. 

Fear and Love are both energy working in opposite directions.  Fear is what causes devastation.  Love is what heals it.  We don’t need to understand tragedy in order to be willing to be a channel for peace in the world.  We need only be willing to be at peace in our own mind and that energy will send comfort and healing to Oklahoma and everywhere where there is suffering and war and hunger and hopelessness. 

If we want to help Oklahoma in the most powerful way possible, we must forgive our brother and our sister, our mother and our father. We have to forgive our friend and our co-worker and the guy who cuts us off in traffic. And we must forgive everyone whose political and religious beliefs are not our own.  And then we must forgive ourselves for every mistake we believe we have made.  Forgiveness is only letting go of all judgments and attachments to this world and giving them to God so He can correct them and then return them to us pure and healed. When our thoughts are clean and clear, God can use us as a conduit and a channel to heal all the fearful minds and hearts throughout the world and in our neighborhood and in our home. When our thoughts and hearts are pure and loving, God can use that energy to prevent devastation in the future.

Our fear brings chaos.
Our willingness to forgive brings healing.
Our fear causes suffering and pain and scarcity.
Our Love is the channel for God’s correction and His holy abundance.

“I will choose wisely today.”

The body is simply a channel for communication and nothing more. So what do we want to communicate?

Health or sickness?

Joy or fear?

Peace or anxiety?

Abundance or poverty?

Love or hate?

What we choose to communicate will be our experience.  So let’s choose wisely.

“I expect only good things today.”

When we look into the future and focus on the unknown, we have a tendency to assume the worst is about to befall us. As we watch things unfold, it almost always comes into our mind that it won’t be going our way.  Our way, of course, being what we would perceive in our limited thinking as the “right” way.  So let’s take a moment to turn that thinking around.  Let’s assume that whatever hints we get about the future are going to bring “good news”.  Let’s trust that healing is happening no matter how it may look or feel to us at this moment.

As blessed children of a Loving God, we must believe in a beautiful experience so we can be open to it. In God the possibility for miracles and holy instants are not just possibilities, but inevitabilities. It’s inevitable that we should be happy.  It is pre-ordained that we have a joyous life. Let’s take it for granted that God is Love and anything other than God simply isn’t possible.

And now we can walk lightly through our day with a smile of joyous expectation on our face.