The Prodigal Son

There was once a man who had two sons; and the younger one came to him and said, “Father, give me my share of your property now!” So the father gave him his share, and the boy went away to a distant country. There he lived in a wild and foolish way, and soon he had spent all the wealth he had been given.

Famine and hard times came upon that land, and at last there was nothing for the young man to do but go and work for a local farmer, feeding pigs. Indeed, he himself was so hungry that he would have been glad to eat the garbage he offered to the animals, but no one gave him anything. Then, one day, he remembered who he was and where he had come from. He said to himself. “Here I am starving, while my father’s hired servants are given all they need. I will go back to him and tell him I am sorry. Perhaps he will hire me.”

So the young man rose up and began the long journey home. But his father had been watching and waiting for him, and he saw him a long way off, coming down the road, barefoot and in rags. With outstretched arms he ran to meet his son, and kissed him.

The young man said. “Father. I have done wrong, and I am so ashamed. I have led an evil life, and I have wasted all of my inheritance. I am no longer worthy to be called your son: I only beg you to let me work for you, and let me be treated as one of your servants from now on."

But the father only held him closer and kissed him more tenderly. Then he called to his servants. "Quickly! Bring my best robe and put it on my son, and put a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet. And kill the fatted calf, for we shall eat and make merry today. This is my son who was dead, and he is alive again! This is my son who was lost, and now he is found!”

We are all that prodigal son. We think we have left our Home with our Father, wandered away into that distant land and have squandered our inheritance of Love, Peace, Happiness and Eternal Life. Our situation now seems so hopeless and we so unworthy, there seems no hope at all.

But like the prodigal son in the bible story, we can "Come to ourself" - that is, remember what we are and where we live forever, make our decision and our commitment to take that journey back to our Father and our Home. It requires great courage, desire and constant willingness of purpose. Our Holy Spirit will be our Companion and show us our way.

Our surprise and our relief will be great when we finally arrive and find that our Father was NEVER mad at us, no matter what we thought we had done, and that He only had an infinite and unconditional Love for us all the while. Back in His Arms and His Heart, we can only wonder why it took so long for us to remember our SELF, make the decision and return to the Home we never really left and to our SELF as part of The Christ, the One Created Son of God.

SPARK OF THE DIVINE

Everyone carries a Spark of the Divine. No matter how hopeless or bad a person may seem, he has that Spark. It is within in the innermost recesses of the mind. So that is where we must go to find it. We can’t find it in noise, confusion, fear, or hatred. These will block our ability to see our own Spark. It is necessary to get very still, quiet, and go inward in whatever process is chosen. Meditation, nature, a mountaintop; it matters not which as long as the one intention, purpose and desire is to find the quiet center. When we do find that place, we will see our Divine Spark there. We fan the little flame and as it grows in intensity, our shadows begin to recede. It is then that we notice a Shining Friend is there Who has been waiting to guide us to love and truth when we ASK.

There is no way that our Divine Spark or our Guide can’t be there, because they were put there by our Creator in our creation. We can believe they are not there, think we are such sinners we could destroy them, but it is not so. Nothing we could ever do or think can destroy what God created.

We will never meet Them,’ however, until we intend to. We begin with small steps to prove Their existence. We must ASK to be shown. Even if we doubt it at first, we must assume that it is so and is available to us at our earnest request. We ask for a sign, wait, trust it will be given, and it will happen. It probably will not be in the form we expect or in the time of our choosing. So we must stay very alert and watch. This process is the same as everything else - it takes practice. We may miss the first few answers, but they will be repeated until we notice. The methods of our Guide’s answers vary widely. Each one will be told, in the form that suits his understanding best. There are many good books available describing messages from Spirit, “channeled” and otherwise. Some will suggest examples of how one prepares to receive messages. The main thing is to realize the Spark is there as is the Guide. Next ASK, and then let go of any judgment in the outcome.

As our experiences of Guidance strengthen, we gain confidence in our process. Our Divine Spark is actually our GOD-SELF within us, being the I AM of our Divine Mind.

Most people have a limited view of mind. Some think it is in their brain in their body. Mind is like a radio frequency. It is inside us and outside us to infinity all the time. It is timeless and limitless. It transcends anything of form or time or space. Most don’t realize the size and power of mind. We use a very little bit of it, and believe that is all there is or all we are capable of. It is as though we are living in a very small house with all the doors and windows closed. If we would but open our door, fresh air would rush in. Stepping outside, we would realize this fresh air extends all the way past the clouds and the stars. There is nowhere it is not, outside or inside. Mind is the same.

Mind can go to realms never imagined and bring back information and experiences without limit. Mind can accomplish anything if it is used in the extension of love.

Once the inner SELF has been discovered and Guidance followed in all things, large and small, we are ready to fulfill our mission, the true purpose of our journey.

And how will this change in mind be experienced? It will become apparent that we are no longer interested in the things we once were. We may still be in the same surroundings, have the same relationships, but our interest in them and attitude towards them has changed. We are unable to be concerned about material things that were once all—important. Everywhere we look, we see happiness. We suddenly realize that all the people we meet are beautiful with an innocence we never noticed before. We have a knowing that anything we truly need will be supplied and any barriers be removed without our thought or effort. We remain in calm assurance that nothing can hurt us and can no longer see the fear we once felt. These are some things that happen, and the way we walk once we have centered in the quiet I AM within and listen only to the SELF and our GUIDE.

Each day, I am happily amazed to realize how little concern I have in the supply of needs and the outcome of events. I know there is a Guidance at work outside my control and that I will be directed in what will happen next in my life. A pattern of synchronicity and uncanny supply are very evident. I have learned to be very specific in what I ASK for; Guidance is very literal. If I ASK for a “need” and it is not supplied, it probably was a “want,” and not considered necessary by Guidance. When I stay centered in Spirit, my life is a beautifully orchestrated flow of happiness without effort. When I drop back into my ego mind, things get difficult again. Fortunately, each time I get to recognize the symptoms a bit quicker and consequently learn to avoid the pain I once experienced,

My lessons become more gentle, but guide me firmly toward staying centered in the SELF of my Spirit Mind and in touch with the Spark of the Divine that abides there. It seems incredible that I did not know of this process and use it long ago as I remember the twists and turns of my ego existence with all the time and difficulties experienced there. Now, with, the light of truth as my beacon and the tranquility of the Happy Dream ahead, I walk on with determination toward that happy goal.

With the knowing of BEING in the Oneness of all things, and that the true SELF is part of the Divine Idea created by God, is of God and in God, we have entered the Kingdom. We know that in the Kingdom of God we live and have our BEING, with all things needed supplied, and our path made smooth as we walk on to fulfill His Purpose in the specific role He has appointed for us. We are content and fulfilled as we walk home to God.

Once we have truly met the I AM of SELF, recognized Its DIVINE MIND and are only guided by Its Intention and Direction, we can never more be interested in or pay homage to beliefs, doctrines and processes of the ego world. We will see the fallacy of man—made ideologies, religions, and fear, turning always within for our peace and guidance. We know we will be told where to go, who to speak to and what to say. We will recognize the innocence in our brothers as our saviors and our companions on our walk Home. As we live in the Divine Light, it shines forth from us so that those who recognize it as their own can join with it. Thus is our dream of separation ended where it began and we are Home in God where He would have us be.

THE WAY OF THE OPEN HEART

As we begin to realize the PURPOSE of our DIVINE MISSION, we recognize certain steps, which have been prepared for us in our soul development. -This is not really learning anything new, but rather the unlearning of what we have made and accepted in place of the holiness of our CREATED SELF. As Dr. Kenneth Wapnick says, “Before we can remember what we forgot, we have to forget what we remembered.”

We are a thought in the Mind of God, which cannot leave the Mind that thinks it. But before we can remember that Truth, it is sometimes necessary to go through a process in remembering similar to our ”journey”, discussed earlier. Actually there is no journey, no time, no place or anything at all outside God. This is an abstract absolute, almost impossible for us to understand from within the dream we think we are experiencing. The world we “made” is the transmutation of divine abstraction into imperfect form. However, content is always the same, even if the form seems to have changed. Our holy, Spirit Mind as SELF still exists within us even if we have forgotten. Water is always H₂O even though the form changes to a solid (ice), liquid (water), vapour (steam), which all seem different from each other to our perception.

As we consider the wholeness and holiness of our CREATED SELF, we think of our pyramid of truth:-

Our pyramid of power has as its base LOVE and WISDOM. LOVE is not as most often perceived by the world, which basically is the love of material form or emotion, but is the Love of God. In that we recognize the Oneness of all things within the Mind of God. There they are all complete, perfect, total and eternal. We know that everything is within that Love, and nothing is outside it. The WISDOM, again, is not the wisdom of the world with all its great store of extraneous facts, figures and philosophies, but is the Wisdom to recognize only the Love that is All That Is.

When the LOVE and WISDOM are filtered through our true SELF, our POWER is established for us to begin to give away. The only way Power is maintained is by giving it away, the opposite of the world’s view of how power is maintained.

As we continue our process of purification in filtering out our chosen ego and all its devious ploys to keep us “asleep” and unable to remember our Truth, we see the similarity of our “journey” of awakening with that of Jesus, our elder brother who returned first but “came back” to show us the Way. Two thousand years ago He walked among men, as they could not understand other methods of demonstrating His example.

Now we can at least read and write, so a “Course correction” has been given to us who have strayed so far off course. Pay attention to the instructions provided so that we may now experience the love that will remove the fear, in whatever form we are presently perceiving it.

God’s Divine Purpose is to have us as human expressions of His Divine Idea of Creation, go through a similar journey in our own awakening. That awakening to the memory of God and Truth begins, as we are “reborn” through our virgin mind, free of our ego. This step is usually done in a humble setting within our “animal” world. We are instructed to get to a place of quiet and peace, perhaps alone in nature beside “still waters” or at the “top of a mountain,” or within that quiet center in our mind while we are right in the middle of our confusing ego world, if we are strong enough. We are right within the “manger” of our animal world when we make the decision for our rebirth.

Having had the “little willingness” to have Holy Spirit show us the way, we are still within the darkness of our ego world. He will guide us through it, with all its lessons, when we are willing to have Him do so. As we learn our lessons of forgiveness, we are centered less and less in ego and more and more in the Spirit of our SELF until we become aware of the I AM within us. We then speak and live the Truth we have found which is not of our ego but of the Voice for God dwelling within our Spirit Mind. This part of the process takes a long time as we discover our lessons of Truth one-by-one over the period of our awakening. When we stumble, Holy Spirit will wait patiently without any impatience or judgment of our faltering or diversion. When we have finally been “washed clean” of all our ego thoughts, we stand in the “Light”, in the full realization that we ARE the Light of God within us. We know our SELF and are completely willing to be led by our Holy Spirit. He will take us back out into our world to share our message of Truth with all who are ready to hear it.

Even then, there will be many temptations, which our ego will try to seize to preserve itself. He has his pyramid of domination as well:—

The ego sees his power deriving from his PRIDE in himself and his “accomplishments,” together with PLENTY in material forms of every description. There is NO LOVE and NO GOD. The ego’s gods are retaliatory, demanding, sometimes punishing, and sometimes generous but always in control through fear.

So we must remain on guard to recognize the three great temptations of PRIDE, PLENTY and POWER. As our will is tempered in the fire of our ego world, we come out the other end of the gauntlet still knowing the I AM of God within and that this is totally what I AM, we enter the real world of Holy Spirit.

Even at this point, the ego world will judge us, even more harshly, as we have “dared” to show another way. We may be deserted, reviled, ignored, or attacked. Egos have a nasty way of turning from “suspiciousness to viciousness.”

Through it all, we steadfastly maintain the certain knowing of BEING I AM within as ONE with GOD. The trial that we set for ourself is over and we are back home with GOD, where we never really left, as it was all our dream into our search for specialness. Our perceived separation is over and we wait but for God to take the final step.

THE LAWS OF GOD

Just as the ego has its laws, described in A Course In Miracles as the laws of chaos, being those of projection and death so are there Laws that express God’s existence and the extension of His Kingdom. In Heaven, these laws include Creation, Love, and Truth. They are total, abstract, complete, and eternal. Nothing can ever affect them and there is nothing outside them.

As we perceive God’s Laws reflected here in our word, our “mirror of heaven”, they become forgiveness, healing and freedom.

1. FORGIVENESS. As we see only the Christ in our brothers, we forgive ourselves for what we mistakenly had thought of our brothers. Forgiveness is “selective remembering” so we can always choose to see only the “Spark of the Divine” in them and so remember God. We actually forgive them and ourself for what we did not do. Dr. Jerry Jampolsky describes forgiveness as, “Giving up all hope for a better past.” Jerry developed the process of “attitudinal healing” from specific Workbook lessons of ACIM© and is an excellent place to begin the basic steps in healing our relationships.

2. HEALING. All healing is of the mind. We have been accustomed to believe our body gets sick, usually from causes outside ourself, and this then may make our mind sick. It is not so. The mind decides and the body follows. The body merely follows dis-ease within the mind. A doctor may treat the symptom with drugs or surgery, but it is our own mind that must decide to cure. If the cause of dis-ease is not identified and released, the same or some other symptom will arise. Sickness is a choice. No one dies without his own consent.

3. FREEDOM. Again, freedom is of the mind. Once we recognize what and where we are forever, we realize nothing can hurt or contain us. We are a Son of God, part of the Christ Mind, forever inviolate, One with God complete, perfect, total, and eternal. Our freedom lies in our original Innocence, which we never left. We recognize this one truth and know our freedom in God. Since we, all of us are a Thought in the Mind of God we are all part of His Divine Idea of creation, and can never leave His Mind or be anywhere else because there IS nowhere else. God, being total, complete, joyous and eternal Love and Truth can only create like Himself. As His extension, we are this also. We thought we could be something else, but we were mistaken. In this knowing lies our freedom. Wherever we seem to be, whatever we seem to be doing, we are God’s extension, the Christ Mind experiencing God to Himself. Such is our Mission, our Purpose, and our Goal.

We become aware of The Laws of God when we awaken from our dream of separation, accept the Atonement, salvation, resurrection, and our seeming re-birth in God. Then we know we already have all the peace, happiness, and love possible and are safe, healed, and whole, back Home. God already forgave us before our dream ever started. Can we do any less now?

The Serpentine Path

When we decide to begin to wake up, we choose which path we will take. All roads lead home, but some take much longer than others and are a lot more work. The direct route is straight up and is instantly available if we so decide. However, ego does not recognize the simple and so helps us complicate the journey. Even though we are earnestly and sincerely seeking the light and truth, our ego will lead us on a very slow and twisted path while “we try them all.” Ego says, “So you want enlightenment? OK, let’s go look for it together.” Of course, his hidden agenda is for us not to find it, as he would then no longer be needed. His dictum is “seek but do not find.”

The direct path up is always there and always available. As we walk Home, each time our serpentine road crosses it, we have the opportunity to give up the long painful journey and turn to the direct route Home. We simply say, “I have no need of this,” and we go directly Home at last.

Enter into your “quiet center” wherein dwells your “Divine Spark”, fan it gently to a flame and head directly to that light. Pay no attention to the loud and shrieking diversions of the world, it has none to offer. As you walk, gather up any of the lost and wandering ones ready to choose the straight road. What begins with one or two will grow and grow until the march becomes a mighty throng going home. Such is the “plan of the teachers” as we all walk Home together.

“I AM ABOUT MY FATHER’S BUSINESS.”

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