Hello world. The following was written 8/01/2022.
If everything we experience is for our benefit nothing can be wrong, bad or unwanted. Everything has a reason and purpose for being experienced by the one who is experiencing it. Circumstances are catalysts to looking within at what is believed and questioning it. They are catalysts to one looking at what they have chosen to believe of themselves.
A brother shares, “There is physical pain and then there is emotional pain. Neither is natural to us. Both are caused by our thoughts. When we make decisions with our ego rather than with the Holy Spirit, we set ourselves up for suffering. If we have a strong practice of noticing our thoughts, we will learn to reject those that are not true and to keep only those that reflect the Thoughts of God.
The ego loves its dramas and its solutions. It makes up the stories, tells me what they mean, and then offers me solutions for the meanings it chose. The ego’s solutions never point to love because it doesn’t know what love is. It never points to the truth of what I am because it doesn’t know what I am. The ego thinks we are one and the same. But I am not this body. I am not the ego. I am as God created me. Thank you, God!”
Alex responds, “I don’t know what kind of physical pain that you have to deal with on a daily basis, but my thoughts did not cause me to have scoliosis since I was a young child, nor the physical pain that I have to deal with because of it on a daily basis. Nor did my thoughts cause me or my wife Sabrina Reyenga to get covid a couple weeks ago that brought about nearly unbearable headaches and body aches.
However, if you want to believe that all of your physical pain is brought upon yourself by your thoughts, you are certainly allowed to believe that. The question in the end remains, however, is it helpful to believe that all of your pain is brought upon by your thoughts? Does it serve you to believe that, and does it lead to less pain in the long run, or does it bring a component of self judgement and guilt every time that you end up experiencing physical pain?”
Our brother responds, “If things just happen to me, Alex, I would be a victim of the world and I would be condemned to suffer for what I have no control over. That would be far worse. Knowing that Lesson 152 is true, I continue to heal my mind of untrue thoughts and beliefs. The body is just another part of the world that shows me there is still work to be done on that level. The Course also tells us that guilt is the cause of all sickness and so I know what to work on. And, no, I don’t choose to feel self-judgment and guilt when I notice thoughts that are not true in my mind or when I get sick.”
My response, “Actually just because things happen DOES NOT mean you are a victim of the world. Not everything comes from ones thoughts. Being raped, molested or even beaten were not thoughts in my head I chose to think about and believe were possible for me. THAT IS a copout and judgment held something is or has gone wrong so one is a victim of the world as you seem to believe.
Our circumstances do not matter. It is our state of Being which matters. How I choose to judge what is being experienced is what lays the foundations for my mental state of being. How I judge each experience to be is what causes all mental and emotional pain and suffering. Even in the act of being raped I have to judge it to be something which will destroy me before the act will hold an impact on me. I have to believe I AM this body and what is being done to it defines me.
It is a choice being made by me in those moments to judge which causes the mental and emotional anguish being experienced from those moments forward. Once the act is done the only one still thinking about it is me in those moments and the thoughts I am producing are JUDGMENTAL THOUGHTS. Those judgmental thoughts ARE what creates all pain and suffering for me from that moment forward.
I didn’t think about being raped before it happened. I didn’t ask for it to happen. It was simply an event which occurred. How I chose to perceive it to be after the fact is a choice. There are no victims. There are choices being made to judge so believe by every individual Being. Until one experiences something for themselves they hold no understanding of the mental mind screw occurring for those who do experience such things. They hold no ability to empathize with another in understanding what they go through, nor how to heal such experiences. All they hold is a JUDGMENTAL BELIEF they know best and what everything is for.”
Alex responds, “I never said that things just happen without rhyme or reason, for if they did, then indeed, we would have a world full of victims. However, that does not mean that our thoughts creates everything that occurs to us either. It is not so black or white as either one or the other. We do not get to choose the curriculum. There is a reason behind every lesson and every experience we have. There is a higher consciousness, a higher intelligence. It is up to us to decide for ourselves if everything that occurs to us for for our highest good. For if it is not, then again, yes we are victims of the world.”
My response, “There is a misconception being held one chooses their circumstances, so chooses to experience pain and suffering. This simply is not true. Circumstances are catalysts to looking within at what is believed and questioning it. No one chooses to be in a car accident, robbed, raped, beaten or homeless. These are not choices one chooses with forethought to experience. They are events which occur one must look at the experiences of. They are catalysts to one looking at what they have chosen to believe of themselves.”
Blessings on your journeys my brothers. Hugs and love. You are loved. I love you.