Lesson 322
I can give up what was never real.
My cat Enzo comes instantly to mind. I’ve been trying to figure out what to do with him as I cannot take him to the house with me. It’s a bed & breakfast with terrifically beautiful furniture and it’s not the place for pets.
And yet … he’s the love of my life. What am I gonna do? The past few days I’ve been thinking: well Lisa, here you are with another lesson that is challenging your ideas of what you still value in the world.
I was thinking how much joy Enzo brings me, how I physically get excited when he walks into the room, how peaceful I feel when he sits on my lap, how I wake up feeling happy when he jumps up on the bed and camps out near my head.
It shows me that I am capable of these emotions - extreme joy, fantastic happiness, eternal peace. And yet, I still think I need a cat to generate these feelings of excitement, peace and joy. Can I do it without the cat? Obviously, these strong emotions are within me as I have already displayed them numerous times on a daily basis. Can I let go of the external stimulation and still feel exactly the same way?
Extreme joy, fantastic happiness, eternal peace.
Is it possible to feel this way consistently and constantly? Without the cat?
Yes, it would have to be so.
Here is one of those situations that I cannot sort out by myself. All I can do is practice today’s lesson:
I can give up but what was never real.
I find it fascinating that this is today’s lesson - I can give up but what was never real - as it’s all I was thinking about yesterday: the cat’s not real, the cat’s not real, the cat’s not real … but then immediately came the thought: BUT I LOVE HIM!!
And then I drove back to the Dells, all excited that I was going to get to see him again. As if he was my lover or something. Special relationship. It’s doomed to fail at some point, in some way. But for now, my God, he makes me happy.
Right now, my task is to simply look at these ideas of loss and attachment.
“I can give up but what was never real.”
“I sacrifice illusions; nothing more. And as illusions go I find the gifts illusions tried to hide, awaiting me in shining welcome, and in readiness to give God’s ancient messages to me.”
“His memory abides in every gift that I receive of Him. And every dream serves only to conceal the Self which is God’s only Son, the likeness of Himself, the Holy One Who still abides in Him forever, and He still abides in me.”
Father, to Your all sacrifice remains forever inconceivable. And so I cannot sacrifice except in dreams. As You created me, I can give up nothing You gave me. What You did not give has no reality. What loss can I anticipate except the loss of fear, and the return of love into mind?”
That last paragraph actually has a few sentences that make me start pulling out the justifications to keep the cat. I feel like God did give the cat to me. He came out of nowhere as a kitten just when I needed him the most. I was taking a walk one day and he ran out and climbed the length of my body and sat on my shoulder, purring. I always felt like he’s not a cat, but a gift from God.
But obviously, he’s still causing me pain as I think about losing him. So there is a lesson in here for me to learn.
I can give up but what was never real.
November 17th, 2008 at 8:06 am
Enzo is your family, just like my kids are mine. The Love you feel is oh so very real. With our family we get to coo and snuggle to our heart’s content. We feel love when in the presense of the grocery clerk, but we don’t snuggle and smooch them. THAT is the gift of family.
No more thinking right? See what comes of itself.
Love you,
xox
ps that is what is so freakin cool about Jesus man, WE don’t have to know.
November 17th, 2008 at 8:23 am
LOL. So true. I love smooching and snuggling.
November 17th, 2008 at 8:27 am
lisa,
is enzo a metaphor for me? lol. i’ll see you in a minute.
love,
max
November 17th, 2008 at 9:14 am
I have been really upset, fearful, grieving, etc. because I cannot see my grandchildren. It’s too long a story as to the WHY and it doesn’t really matter.
Today’s lesson tells me that it is not a loss because it is not real. My heart has been aching, but you know what….I can choose to see things differently. Since as a Son of God I can lose nothing…I have not lost them. But the important thing is that I feel relief from a lot of suffering after reading today’s lesson. God will never abandon me and I have already made a decision to let God lead my life. So….I can let go of the hurt and supposed loss and follow God’s directions for me! I know that what He has to give me is a hundred times more than any “dream gift” I imagine.
November 17th, 2008 at 9:18 am
Monday, November 17, 2008
The anxiety we say goodbye to forever, the dinner guest we dust off and find a sofa for, of course!
Anxiety
According to ACIM it’s not real. That’s right, not my words, but I believe them. When we are feeling anything, from mildly irritated to full blown freaked out, it is only our thinking (stinking thinking) that brought it about.
“Well Revie” you might say “what the heck is the answer to THAT!?” Well, we just need to turning that thinking around and have a little faith. Where does the faith come in and why? We don’t think one fuzzy thought and then BOOM we are in nirvana. It takes faith to have the patience to FEEL the effects of thinking that is not self absorbed.
Seek inside for the willingness to change your mind and wait patiently. Come on, come on now you think that you are unique? EVERYONE feels and attempts to manage anxiety honey. It can be cast out like a drunken dinner guest.
“God’s will for you is perfect happiness.” ACIM
Love WITH you,
RIR
November 17th, 2008 at 9:23 am
Life presents us with an endless series of choices. Our path hits a crossroad and we must choose. We feel that we must choose the path which will lead us to our goal which is truth. We cannot have everything so we must choose. Many times we feel the choice to be “the lesser of two evils.” I could make an argument that that is really every choice we seem to confront but I can argue about anything I wish so it seems irrelevant.
We cannot have everything so we must choose but we are told continually, in the course, that we can have everything in an instant if that is what we choose.
What’s up with that?
November 17th, 2008 at 11:32 am
You DO want to give up the cat or you would have never “made up” your new living situation as created it in your dream. Giving up the cat is part of your dream. It has absolutely nothing to do with God, or love, or anything remotely associated with undoing error within the dream. The cat and your new house are form, not content. But here’s the deal. Until you’re completely free of the dream and illusion of separation, and as you continue to look at your illusions in the dream that you and your ego made up in order to undo them, you have to examine them, look at them with Jesus before letting them go (the undoing part). That’s they only way of undoing. If we don’t take that step all we’re suceeding in doing is changing the dream according to the ego’s plan that we secretly want, but just won’t admit it. So you’ve created not a “win-win” situation for yourself but a “lose-lose” situation for yourself and only YOU can answer that for yourself. None of us can even come close to guessing what the lesson is.
Giving up the cat, your new house, your worry about the cat, the worry about the new house are all ego and all part of your illusion that you brought to yourself. Now…..you have to ask why and we can all be pretty sure it has NOTHING to do literally with the cat and the house. Go deep, ask the Holy Spirit for guidance and then wait quietly for your answer. It will come.
Nothing real can be threatened. Anything unreal does not exist.
But don’t forget. We’re ALL in the dream. We’re never truly free of the dream until we’re at the top rung of the ladder. And even if we think we’re half way up the ladder because we’ve “evolved” so much in our studies, guess what? We’re still on the bottom rung most likely, and have only raised our foot in preparation for the next rung, but it’s certainly not on the rung. And that’s okay. That’s the Course. Don’t forget about the progress. Don’t focus on the perfection. Progress is content. Perfection is ego and form.
Peace!
November 17th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Fabulous entry. Enzo is part of the dream you brought to yourself, and therefore not real. But the love you feel for him is real. Love is love, and the cat just makes it easier and safer for you to express love. The sense of losing him or having to choose is not part of love. Give it all up to the Holy Spirit and feel the truth behind the situation. When you feel at peace with it all then you’ll know what to do or not to do, without stress.
A stray cat just walked into my life and the first thing I thought was “oh, no, what if I fall in love with the little thing and then have to give it up for whatever reason.” Then I had to stop myself and see the folly of that thought and the dream what would likely follow, probably ending with pain and loss. Love him while he’s here without attachment, without building a whole story around him, and stay alert to any clues as to why this sweet little expression of life came to me out of the blue - what feelings I need to explore or what treasures I need to extend to others.
Love to you all. Have a blessed day.
November 17th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
well, according to ACIM EVERY darn thing is FOR our awakeing. just saying. i’ll tell you this, it is a whole lot easier to look at “lisa’s crap” than what is going on in ones own mind, now isn’t it dear?
November 17th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
Hi Lisa,
The Course says God is in Enzo because God is in everything so when you look at the cat you see the God in you. I’m sure you will be guided to do the best thing for all.
November 17th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Beautiful. Love him while he’s here without attachment, without building a whole story around him, and stay alert to any clues why this sweet little expression life came to me out of the blue.
Love always arrived unexpectedly and unannounced. It’s so great. God is good.
November 17th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
Sometimes this is awesome and sometimes it’s full of bull. I fully resonate with the grandmother who is dealing with the loss of her grandchildren, because I am entering a similar situation with my only grandchild. I also recently, with great personal pain, put two of my very sick cats to sleep. I cried like a baby over it even while I experienced profound relief from the prolonged struggle to take care of them. But this whole thing about saying everything is not real seems like a big cop out to me sometimes. Of course, everything exists only in the mind of God; but that doesn’t mean it’s not real. That is as real as anything will ever get. ALL of it is real. If you can only get through the pain by pretending it’s not real, you have wasted your learning opportunity. Your lifetime would have been better given to someone who could fully engage and experience it to the full. Here’s what I think, I think it’s spiritual cowardice to keep saying that it’s not real. It’s real and love has to find a real way to live through it.
You know what really ticks me off here? We have this great gathering of “spiritual” people. I’m sure I’m not the only empath in the group. So why is it that everyone is afraid to say what I’m sure some are thinking? What about Enzo’s emotions? He does have emotions and they are real to him and to you. They exist in this reality that God created. How do you think he feels? Blowing it all off with comments about it not being real is an exercise in personal insanity and denial of Love.
I’m not saying that you have to give up the bed and breakfast; I’m not saying that you have to take Enzo with you. I’m saying that denial is a poor substitute for truly experiencing life.
For what it’s worth, my mother owns a lovely old Victorian home that she operates as a Bed and Breakfast. She has a cat that she loves and she didn’t leave it behind when she moved from California to Iowa to live in the B&B. She has a very large basement on the house, with a separate entrance. So, she fixed up an apartment in the basement and lives there with her cat. The cat goes in and out through the side door entrance and never enters the guest areas with the antique furniture. Problem solved, for my mom anyway. Perhaps there might be a similar win/win solution for Enzo and you.
Even if you do decide that you must release Enzo from your life. Honesty requires respecting his emotions as well. He may well be just fine with a new home that you locate for him, but please don’t disrespect his love by considering it a no thing.
For those who think I just don’t get it. I’m sure you can dismiss my thoughts on the topic as not real either. But, if you weren’t thinking them too, you wouldn’t be reading this.
November 17th, 2008 at 6:47 pm
Right after I wrote the above entry, I read my next email and felt it’s topic was perfect timing for a discussion about emotions and empathy. Here is the link to the page.
http://6thsenseconnection.ning.com/profiles/blog/show?id=2161060%3ABlogPost%3A21391&xgs=1
November 17th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
I have to agree with Bea. Enzo is real because love is real.
November 17th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
I am willing to challenge all my ideas. That’s all. To take a good honest look at what is in front of me, always, and just look at it.
I’m not making any plans. I’m not asked to do anything or not do anything. Just to be still, practice the lesson, trust and take a look at where I find myself. How simple.
My experience is that everything always turns out for the best when i put all my cares, worries, problems, and plans into the Hands of God. When I don’t know what to do … I do nothing.
When I do my part, the Holy Spirit does His part is joyous response.
I love what Chapter 24 says: “to learn this course requires willingness to question every value that you hold.”
How incredible!
Lesson #1: Nothing I see means anything.
Lesson #2: I have given everything I see all the meaning that it has for me.
Lesson #3: I do not understand anything I see.
Lesson #4: These thoughts do not mean anything.
Lesson #5: I am never upset for the reason I think.
Lesson #6: I am upset because i see something that is not there.
Lesson #7: I see only the past
Lesson #8: My mind is preoccupied with past thoughts.
Lesson #9: I see nothing as it is now.
Lesson #10: My thoughts do not mean anything.
Lesson #11: My meaningless thoughts are showing me a meaningless world.
Lesson #12: I am upset because i see a meaningless world.
Lesson #13: A meaningless world engenders fear.
Lesson #14: God did not create a meaningless world.
Lesson #15: My thoughts are images that I have made.
“It is because the thoughts you think you think appear as images that you do not recognize them as nothing. You think you think them and so you think you see them. This is how “seeing” was made. This is the function you have given your body’s eyes. It is not seeing. It is image making. It takes the place of seeing, replacing vision of illusions.
I love A Course in Miracles because it is so uncompromising.
This _______ is an image that I have made.
That ________ is an image that I have made.
That cat is an image that I have made. He’s in my mind.
The list of beautiful lessons goes on and on.
Lesson 24: I do not perceive my own best interest
Lesson 25: I do not know what anything is for.
Lesson 27: Above all else I want to see.
Lesson 28: Above all else I want to see things differently.
Lesson 29: God is in everything I see.
Lesson 30: God is in everything because God is in my mind.
Lesson 31: I am not the victim of the world I see.
Lesson 32: I have invented the world I see.
!!!
“Today we are continuing to develop the theme of cause and effect. You are not the victim of the world you see because you invented it. You can give it up as easily as you made it up. You will see it or not see it, as you wish. While you want it you will see it; when you no longer want it, it will not be there for you to see.”
The first 50 lessons are the best.
I am blessed as a Son of God.
God goes with me wherever I go.
God is my strength. Vision is His Gift.
God is my Source. I cannot see apart from Him.
God is the light in which I see.
God is the Mind with which I think.
God is the Love in which I forgive.
God is the strength in which I trust.
There is nothing to fear.
There is nothing to fear.
There is nothing to fear.
There is nothing to fear.
God’s Voice speaks to me all through the day.
I am sustained by the Love of God.
I love you. This is a holy encounter and I rejoice in your presence. Thank you all for showing up here, and lifting me up the way you do.
November 18th, 2008 at 9:06 am
Bea,
i am not one of the scholars who can quote and then tell you the page, BUT Jesus tells us in ACIM that it is NOT helpful to deny that we experience ourselvs VERY MUCH as here and in a body.
i agree with you 100%.
lisa expresses fearlessly what we are ALL going through. the path of forgivness is our suffering for believing in the world and then allowing our ideas to be forgiven (undone). she does it right out loud and if the rest of us are doing it correctly, we are going through the EXACT same process and just keeping it to ourselves.
Lee
November 18th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
I have to agree with everyone. There is no right or wrong. As I see it, there are two ways of looking at everything: from the very real human stand point and the spiritual way. Neither is better than the other, but just a choice. When I’m suffering the pain of loss of anything or even a threat of loss, I definitely feel very human and all seems very “real” (yes, I know, define “real”). When the fear is transcended or the situation gets resolved, or the threat goes away, then I can sit back and realize that my own consciousness had a lot to do with what happened and how it happened. Even the people within the situation (or at least they way they behaved during the ordeal), were directly related to how I saw the whole thing. I’m not sure I’m making any sense, but what I’m trying to say is that following the ACIM teaching doesn’t mean that we refuse to deal with “reality” in the world, but simply transcend it by going through it, not around it. Saying to someone in pain that what s/he’s looking at is not real can sound cold and even insulting, but it’s not meant to be. Better to not express our opinion that way and allow the person to come to that conclusion on his own terms and time. We are not here to correct anyone. There is nothing to correct.
In my own experience, I have come to realize that a shift in how I see reality has A LOT to do with transforming it for me and for those involved. It’s simply amazing. the ACIM teaching works.