On Christmas Eve, Bill and I read NTI Luke, Chapter 5 together. Here are some highlights from our discussion:
v1-11 Step away from what you know, and come with Me. I will show you what you don't know. I will show you what you don't think is possible and prove to you that it is true.
Wow! This is quite a promise. Step away from what you know (or what you think you know) and Holy Spirit will show you what you don't think is possible.
I watched a couple of friends practice this with Christmas this year. We have a lot of ideas about what Christmas is supposed to be like. And yet, our experience at this time of year isn't always what we think it is supposed to be. When Christmas isn't what we think it is supposed to be, many people become depressed & focused hatred.
This year a couple of my friends were willing to let go of what they thought Christmas was supposed to be, and they were willing to let Christmas be what it is this year. And they enjoyed Christmas exactly as it was given! (Yay!!)
And this is only a very small example of practicing what Holy Spirit asks us to practice in verses 1-11.
The truth is this: The only thing that keeps us from knowing perfect happiness all of the time is our thoughts. If I think a relationship is supposed to look a specific way, I won't always be perfectly happy because sometimes my experience won't match the expectations in my thoughts. (for example)
But Holy Spirit tells us if we are willing to cast away what we know, He will help us pull in a net full of what we did not believe was possible. He will amaze us with our own love, joy, peace and happiness in all situations. Are we willing to take Him up on His promise?
Before Bill and I met to read this, there were some ideas in his mind that were causing some upset. He decided to write those ideas down and look at them with Spirit. Through this simple practice of looking at thoughts with Spirit, he was able to see that the only obstacle to happiness was his ideas about the situation.
This is a perfect practice. Whenever I have thoughts stuck in my mind causing upset, I write them down and look at them with Spirit. Always, always, always, always the only obstacle to my peace in any situation is my own thoughts. When I am able to look at my thoughts with Spirit and let them go, my peace and certainty returns.
v12-16 I invite your unhealed spots into the LIght that I may heal them. I will not abandon you when the unhealed spots answer my call and step forth to be healed.
A very important part of the spiritual path is was A Course in Miracles calls "purification." Purification is seeing and letting go of false beliefs. If we were detached from these beliefs, purification would be a piece of cake (easy). But most of us are very attached to many false beliefs. Therefore, when they come up for healing, we experience the pain of our belief. Because of our attachment to false beliefs, purification can be a very not-fun time.
Spirit knows this. Spirit knows that we still cling to many of our false beliefs, so purification will often be difficult. He asks us to realize that He is with us as we suffer through purification. He hasn't abandoned us. He is watching us in love and confidence, knowing we will let go of the belief that is causing our pain. He also knows that when we let go, the pain will end. He is like the mid-wife coaching us through the birth-process, knowing that although we hurt now, a great joy is about to be born.
v17-26 This is why I tell you that there will be doubt! So when you see it, you can say, "Ah, yes. There it is, just as I was told it would be."
Spirit is helping to prepare us for the purification & awakening process by telling us that we will doubt Him and the process. Those ideas of doubt will rise. They have to rise because ideas of doubt need to be healed too.
Spirit is telling us about these ideas in advance so we won't spend too much time believing our doubt thoughts. If we invest in doubt thoughts, they will cause us more pain. If we can see them, remember Spirit told us we would see them, and let them go quickly, our pain is minimized as we return to trust and the practice that Spirit is teaching us.
v33-39 Old habits must go, for old habits will not usher in a new day. ... You will catch yourself practicing the old habits, for this has been your way until now. Slipping into old habits does not ruin the new ones. So when you find yourself donig this, forgive yourself your attraction to the old by stepping away from the old and stepping into the new. Each time you do this, you help yourself to unlearn the old and to learn the new.
I told you that Bill had some thoughts in his mind that were causing upset prior to our meeting. The thoughts really started the night before. These were thoughts that used to be strong in Bill's mind, but about a month ago he had a breakthrough and saw that these thoughts were not true. Still, on the eve before Christmas eve, the thoughts came back into his mind and he fell for them again (for a time).
However, Bill soon woke up from the old thought patterns and realized the thoughts were an obstacle. He decided to write the thoughts down and look at them with Holy Spirit.
In other words, his old habitual way of thinking and perceiving returned, but when he noticed this, he stepped away from the old habit and into the new habit. The new habit is looking at thoughts with Spirit and letting Spirit show us the errors in our old thinking.
Remember, if we are willing to step away from what we think we know (the old way we've always seen things), Spirit will show us what we don't think is possible.
I think Bill was really grateful to read NTI Luke 5 right after his experience of slipping into old belief-patterns and after choosing to look at those thoughts with Spirit (the practice of the new habit). This reinforced for him that his practice is exactly the practice that is helpful. And as Spirit says, "Each time you do this, you help yourself to unlearn the old and to learn the new." ~smile~
