Gathering 2

NTI MATTHEW GATHERING 2

Emerging themes that will be expanded on:

OPEN TO GUIDANCE FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT

JUDGMENT/NON-JUDGMENT---letting go of judgment

ONENESS--we are all ONE. We seem to live in different bodies, but in SPIRIT there is only ONE Son of God and YOU are it.

Question: "What does it mean when we speak of the varied aspects of God such as the Holy Spirit, the Son of God, the Father?"

GREAT QUESTION. I don't want to get overly theological or intellectual here.

The following is simply my personal ideas, which are subject to change. Be warned that right now you are asking a finite being to explain the Infinite!

ONENESS. GOD IS ONE AND WE ARE ONE WITH GOD. That is the ultimate truth, but because we perceive ourselves as being far away from that Truth, we need to chunk things down so we can learn them and take them in.

Because we see ourselves as fragmented it is not surprising that we see God that way as well.

According to ACIM God the Father doesn't even know we left Home. It is as if the parable of the Prodigal Son was just a goodnight fairy tale, a story that never really happened.

But since we have become lost in this dream of separation, we need guidance to find our way out. God in his infinite love for his only son has provided the means for waking up to the truth of who we are.

First we are given  model, Jesus, who became the Christ one who completely knows and embraces his Oneness and Sonship with the Father.

Jesus says (and we will study this much more fully in the book of Mark) I am always with you because I am you. I am your perfection. You can do and will do all that I have done and you will see and be as I do. I am with you as a guide, a friend and a brother.

Now because we do not know how to make or hold onto that connection there is also this other energy or aspect of God we call the Holy Spirit which is that inner voice always loving, guiding and directing. The Holy Spirit says “I will work with you within your dream (of separation) to help you to awaken.” We will explore these ideas more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jesus's SERMON ON THE MOUNT which is presented in a new form in NTI CHAP. 5-6,   Is an expression of the Law of the Heart, which again, in simple terms is an expression of the spiritual truth that we are all One.

I am attracted to the Buddhist expression of the Golden Rule, "See yourself in others, who then shall you harm?"

The law of man, which is sometimes called natural law is primarily what the 10 commandments are about--they are laws or guidelines that allow us to live in a fairly civilized society. They are about behavior. NTI 5(31-32) 3 "The law is not a law of behavior."

We talked quite a bit about the HEART--the Law of the Heart, the Purpose of the Heart, etc. Your Heart is your spiritual nature, your soul, your intuitive nature--all of which are ways to describe our Oneness with God.

The other side of the picture of course is our ego consciousness. My ego, wants what it wants when it wants it and it wants it right now. My ego has a desperate need always to be right, to be in control. It only recognizes other people (other egos) as either a threat or someone to dominate and/or control. The ego has only a limited understanding of love, conditional love, "I will love you if...." or "I will love you because..."

We all know what it is like to live in the restricted environment of ego/self-centered consciousness, and as painful as that is, we seem to keep going back to that.

THIS STUDY THAT WE ARE ENTERING INTO TOGETHER IS A PRACTICE AWARENESS AND AWAKENING SO THAT WE MIGHT BE LESS INFLUENCED, AND LESS IDENTIFIED WITH THE EGO'S FEARS AND ILLUSIONS, AND MORE CONNECTED WITH THE LOVE AND JOYFULNESS OF THE SOUL.

During our last gathering I was asked, "How often do I allow myself to be completely lead by the intuition (the guidance of the Holy Spirit)?"

My first response was,to be judgmental on myself, which is not very productive.

In order for me to be guided, I have to be aware of the presence of Spirit, I have to ask for guidance, I have to be willing to listen, then I need to act on that guidance(and there will be many times when I will need to ask for help in acting on the Spirit's guidance.)

I have to admit I am not always awake and aware. That is a major piece I am asking God to work with me on, and here is an even biggest challenge---I need to be responsible for my choices.

Put very simply I have a choice every moment to be aware of the Presence of God and the Guidance of Spirit or not. I choose to be aware or I choose to be unaware.

I am so asleep most of the time that I do not even know I am choosing to be unaware of God's Presence. What is happening is that I am choosing to be aware of something else other than God's Presence--my broken down car, my sore toe, my business deadline, the argument I just had, etc. Now when I am aware of God's Presence and unconditional love and guidance of the Spirit, those things listed above don't necessarily disappear, but I can begin to look at them and hold them differently when I am out of my self-centeredness.

Suggested reading for next week:

Matthew chap. 6(9-13). 1-10 this is the NTI version of the Lord's Prayer

Matthew Chapters 7-8

I would encourage you to read slowly and deliberately.

Make note of anything that jumps out at you--something you like, that really touches you, something that challenges you, something you have questions about, etc. And bring that to our gathering next week. There is nothing too small or trivial. It is all "grist for the mill."

PEACE, BLESSINGS,

GERRY