Morning Notes Read online

  26

  I release you from your past, that I may see you as God sees you.

  In conversations, those who are not present are often described in terms of their mistakes. Even individuals before us now are seen as stories and not as they are this instant. In faithlessness we think, “You are created in the image and likeness of your past.” Yet it's not mentally dishonest to focus instead on what is fresh, different, and unexpected. The encounter I am having now has never occur red before. Except on a spiritual level, no one is ever the same, and their progress will not be evident if I only stare at the decisions I have already made about them.

  27

  We each journey on a path of mistakes.

  When I look back, I don't have a consistent interpretation of which acts were victories or defeats. And I have seen the same childhood circumstances as both damaging and beneficial. This much is clear: Many important gains have come on the heels of my greatest mistakes. Progress is the process of correcting mistakes, not of being perfect. Today I will make starting over more important than looking back. Those who make no mistakes have already arrived. I simply don't know what mistakes anyone needs to make. Therefore, I am in no position to be “helpful.”

  28

  True helpfulness comes from connection, not from words.

  Words alone don't help. It is what God speaks in our hearts when we read or hear words that helps. That's why familiar passages from sacred scripture often mean something new each time we reread them. And that's why it never works for me to decide what someone else needs to hear. If I want to be of use today, I must focus on my feeling of connection with others, because God is hear d within the experience of love.

  29

  Trusting a greater Reality makes relationships easier.

  When I judge others, I question the innocence God has placed within them. Seeing my mistake, I must immediately put them back in God's hands. Today I will acknowledge that I really don't know how hard people try, how far they may have come, or in what ways God is transforming them this very instant. Comparing is the opposite of r elating. Going Home is not a foot race in which I compete. To conclude that I am ahead or behind another, I must first break with the peace of Oneness.

  30

  Only love can discern the bridge that stretches between two hearts. In love it is seen, and in love it is crossed.

  What another person does has no fixed meaning. I interpret behavior as I choose. What do I want it to mean? I perceive others through either my moods or my peace. Stillness sees oneness; moods see chaos. Don't fight thoughts; change the source. Since I am responsible for which part of my mind I use, today I will keep returning to my quiet mind.

  31

  Dare to be ordinary.

  God is One. I experience God by experiencing equality: the sameness in another person and the divinity in all living things. Today I will dare to turn my back on the world's shrill urgings that we should each strive to be the best. Instead, I will embrace my ordinariness. I will be normal and equal. I will have no “spiritual” posture, tell no ego-enhancing “spiritual” stories, think no separating “spiritual” thoughts. I did not create myself, and today I will relax into who I already am.

  32

  God knows the way to my heart.

  God is not nearer just because we think about God. God could not be nearer. God's strength is our strength. God's life is our life. God's happiness is our happiness. We are each made out of God. Even now, God breathes into us our purpose, our motivation, and our fulfillment.

  33

  Discouragement is not helpful.

  Discouragement is love of the ego because it turns to the ego for its sense of reality. Spirit will not and cannot confirm “low spirits.” Discouragement is never necessary. And it isn't much fun. But the answer is not to fight it. If I fight it, I make myself a victim of my own mind, which is impossible. When I am discouraged, no matter how slight the feeling, I will be still a moment and find the place in me where I am whole. I will let my mind fall gently back into place. Then, I will start over by doing just one thing without discouragement.

  34

  Whatever I worry about is not worth worrying about.

  Stillness, not worry, plumbs the depth of my potential. If I want to have a deep sense of freedom, be attuned to my intuition, and remember the beauty in those around me, worry is of no use. Today I will confront my ego directly whenever I worry. I will ask, “Just what is it you suggest I do?” In this way I see that the aim of the worried part of my mind is not to improve the future. In fact, it has nothing to do with the future. The aim of worry is always to disrupt the present by undercutting connection and peace, which can only be experienced now.

  35

  There are no questions in God.

  Today is the day I stop arguing with myself about whether the divine is logical or Truth is true. Questioning whether it is reasonable to be kind, to believe in a higher Reality, or to act from faith is merely my desire to put of f practicing today. Yet only practice brings understanding. It's arrogant to think that somehow I need my “intellectual honesty,” my wise and profound questions. What does doubt have to do with Love? My aim today will be to let all questions dissolve within the stillness of my heart and the gentleness of my actions.

  36

  Adding light to darkness solves the problem of darkness.

  My thoughts constitute the happiness or misery in which I live. When I battle my thoughts, I split my mind and put myself in a firefight with shifting realities. However, I can safely leave all conflicted thoughts in place if I merely add God to them. No matter how strident my ego, it can't completely drown out God's quiet reassurance. Today, all I need do is worry in peace, be discouraged in peace, be confused in peace, and so on. There is always music behind the discord, if I choose to hear it.

  37

  Fear is my responsibility because fear means that I am conflicted.

  We are like children pointing and screaming at a shadow, and all the while a loving parent stands beside us offering comfort and safety. God shows us the place where we are invulnerable and completely at peace. Yet if I am conflicted about moving in that direction, the peace of God doesn' t force me to decide against my desires, even though those inclinations, no matter how tentatively or erratically followed, always hurt me. Today, when I notice I am afraid, I will examine my mind for conflicting purposes.

  38

  The means I use to change my mental state becomes my new state of mind.

  I can't force my mind to be whole, because force itself is mental. Pressure in any form is war. When part of my mind tries to force another par t to change, the outcome is mental upset. However, if I focus my full attention on wholeness, my mind becomes whole. When stillness and peace are the means, stillness and peace are the result.

  39

  Just one thought of blessing recreates me in its image.

  I intend to pray for others, but so often I for get or do it halfheartedly. Perhaps this is because sincere gifts from a loving mind are given without calculation, and prayer by its very nature is anonymous. But it is not without effects on the one who prays. As I go through the day, I will try to notice any damaged images I carry about anyone I see or think of, and I will correct them on the spot.

  40

  Awareness disarms my ego.

  Our busy, conflicted mind never forgives, for only peace can see innocence. Whenever I fall back into my ego, all the old stuff is still there. There is no way to perfect it, but there is a way to disarm it. When I look long and carefully at my judgments, when I “look the beast in the eye,” I begin to see that these are not my deepest feelings. But I must stay with that process long enough that I truly do perceive a different side of me and not just sugarcoat the mental contents with pleasant words.

  41

  My mind is a gift. Its nature is pure.

  There is no tension in simply being what I am. Letting go and relaxing are the same. I have to work quite hard to be unlike the child God created. Tension is a clue that I am at odds with my function and my destiny. Therefore I will settle into the day as it unfolds. There is nothing to figure out and no sales pitch I need give myself about who I am. There is One who knows what I am all about and never forgets. I am relieved of that task.

  42

  See your ego's plan for you clearly and you can't help but laugh.

  Forgiveness is not a state of mind in which no judgmental thoughts about myself or others occur, but one in which they show themselves to be utter nonsense. I know when I have reached that point when, even though I am conscious of the thoughts, they no longer make me anxious or stir me up. In fact, if my forgiveness work has been thorough, the unforgiving thoughts are seen as laughably absurd.

  43

  Wallowing in guilt is self-indulgent.

  To indulge in thoughts of guilt, remorse, and regret seems virtuous, an act of humility or honesty. But it's actually a failure to take responsibility for my past actions, because it's still all about me. These thoughts don't help or heal the individuals I have hurt. I must interrupt my self-attack and give the blessings I have withheld. Often this is best done silently, since the consequences of making amends directly are unpredictable. The decision to bless comes from within and includes the intuition of whether or not to act.

  44

  Attack is the problem, not the answer.

  I am making the same mistake in a different form when I indulge in shame, guilt, or self-loathing— first I hurt this person; now I am hurting myself. Justification for attack does not hinge on the object of the attack. Attack in any form blocks the experience of peace.

  45

  I cannot betray myself by “loving too much.”

  What could I possibly lose by seeking the pea
ce of another person—literally making another's peace my single-minded goal? I can certainly lose by destroying another's peace; in fact, loss will be the one reliable outcome. And I can lose by loving too little and thereby making myself small. But to “love too much” is merely to be my self, to be my own hear t, to be my true and deepest nature, which is all I have ever wanted to be. Real love isn't “balanced” and can't be measured or quantified.

  46

  Love is a preview of heaven.

  Love is not just our way out of fear, it is our destination point and our fulfillment. In the words of the apostle John: Love one another, because love is of God. And everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. But the unloving know nothing of God, for God is love.

  47

  The jailer is also in jail.

  Freedom is found in little things—in errands and tasks and small encounters. Today I will practice freedom by remaining aware of the situation I am in, the individuals who are present, and the quality of my thoughts. I will not force my thoughts, but simply stay conscious of the sentence layer of my mind, which tends to focus narrowly on who or what needs to change. In wanting to control, I am automatically controlled. Instead I will extend freedom by putting no pressure on other people and making no attempt to micromanage events. I will do what I do with flexibility and ease and a steady, peaceful awareness.

  48

  If I don't need anything from you, I am free to think of you in peace.

  The moment I want something from another person, my happiness is compromised. Each time I try to influence someone, I set myself up as a victim, because it's impossible to get perfect cooperation from anyone. Today I will observe that I survive just fine without my expectations being met or my demands obeyed. In fact, in letting go, I am left with the peace that is already mine.

  49

  Every hour I am focused on the future, I suffer an hour's loss of this life.

  Clearly, to dwell on the future or the past is to avoid living now. The present can be scary because so often it's associated with emotional or physical pain. Pain may be a means of bringing one back to the present, but it is not the only means. Stillness is also centered in now, but a now of an entirely different sort. The quiet now is very broad and reliable. It contains no dread, no jolting interruptions, and no abrupt beginnings. Beauty shines from ever y aspect, and peace is the gift both given and received.

  50

  The longest strides come from standing still.

  The paradox of progress is that we grow each time we realize that we can only be where we are. I can't fail to grow in happiness, wholeness, generosity, and inner strength when I am quieter mentally, more peaceful, and above all, more present.

  51

  I will give peace with my thoughts and cause no harm with my words.

  We enter the awareness of many people in the course of a day. With each encounter there is a little exchange, and we leave something behind. This trail, and not our individual accomplishments, is our legacy to the world. At the end of my life, what tracks do I want to look back and see?

  52

  If God holds me, why am I holding on?

  As I grow older, I am able to do increasingly less, yet my mind doesn't seem to age. Yes, brain functions like memory and calculating skills have deteriorated some, but the “I” that I am remains the same. It seems clear that my real safety lies in the recognition that whether I am physically paralyzed, compulsively hyperactive, or somewhere in between, I still remain as God created me. Therefore I can safely say, “Today I hold onto nothing, because God holds on to me.”

  53

  My mind is like a hand that can open or clench. The choice is mine.

  If I am capable of tightening my mental grip, I am also capable of loosening it. I am free to let go of wanting and getting, having and losing, worrying and denying, all of which require me to narrow my mind. A relaxed mind can't sustain a fearful or judgmental focus. Today I will notice each time my mind tightens, for if the divine is real, I can rest in the truth that there is nowhere else I need be and nothing else I must have.

  54

  God's light shines in all directions.

  To heal the past, just dance backward through the rays of God, which shine through every step you ever took. They were always there, even though you chose to close your eyes. Then dance back to your home within the present. But leave the door open wide behind you to such brilliant shadows and healing memories.

  55

  Wherever I go, God is already there.

  From your heart, the River of God flows gently into the future. Immerse every fearful expectation within the still and silent waters of divine blessing. Then watch as the River washes each anticipation, now sparkling with welcome, onto the shore of your tomorrow.

  56

  Repeatedly assessing past performance is failure to concentrate on what can be done now.

  Today, each time I feel even a slight stab of defeat or disappointment, I will be still and remember that God is not mistaken in loving me. I will sense this love deep within me, and I will watch as it quietly replaces all shame and anguish with a fresh determination to do the best I can this moment.

  57

  “Trust yourself” and “Trust God” are not conflicting ideals. I must trust what I am, but what I am is never alone.

  It's impossible to choose without conflict between being selfless or selfish. The first choice makes me feel self-neglectful and the second, self-indulgent. To “sacrifice” for others makes me resentful and can lead to hatred, yet to disregard their needs, isolates me and may lead to a deep loneliness. But the choice between the two is always false because God is both love and peace. God's love blesses each and all equally, and to choose God is to choose peace. When I ask myself, “What is the most peaceful thing to do?” the answer is what I want to do, and it is kind to all.

  58

  Today I will see through the eyes of Love.

  I am called to a great wedding. I am asked to embrace Life everywhere I look. Life's vision sees the threads of innocence woven through all people and things, like a shaft of light falling across treasured objects long hidden in darkness. Because I am real, and because Life is real, I must already be a part of Life, and it a part of me. There is a place in me so harmless and still that all fear has dropped away. As snow unifies a landscape and moonlight transforms it, today my vision will arise from this place, and it will blanket the world in peace.

  59

  When I extend what I am, I broaden my happiness.

  Nice people are always happier than mean people. To expand and extend the love in my heart creates in me an innocent vision. It doesn't reform other egos, but it does see beyond them. This seeing is not mere illumination, like shining a flashlight on a trash heap. Spiritual sight is spiritual reality. What is seen in love is at one with the seeing. Nothing has more substance and presence than accurate perception. Ego perception is arbitrary and unstable, but to look gently is to begin to see heaven at hand.