LIVING IN A STATE OF GRACE
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THE ART OF LIVING IN A STATE OF GRACE
Grace is one of those words, that for me, has always seemed a bit confusing. I mean, we see it used all the time, but what exactly is grace? And what does “living in a state of grace” entail?
A Course In Miracles states that, “Grace is not given to a body, but to a mind. And the mind that receives it looks instantly beyond the body and sees the holy place where it was healed. There is the altar where the grace was given, in which it stands.” (T-19.I.13:1-3)
ACIM also states in Workbook Lesson 169: “Grace is an aspect of the Love of God which is most like the state prevailing in the unity of truth.” (W-169 1:1)
And in Workbook Lesson Section 7. “What Is the Holy Spirit?” it states: “The Holy Spirit mediates between illusions and the truth. Since He must bridge the gap between reality and dreams, perception leads to knowledge through the grace that God has given Him, to be His gift to everyone who turns to Him for truth. (1:1-2)
“Accept your Father’s gift (of grace or the Holy Spirit). It is a Call from Love to Love, that It be but Itself. The Holy Spirit (grace) is His gift, by which the quietness of Heaven is restored to God’s beloved Son.” (5:1-3)
“From knowledge, where He has been placed by God, the Holy Spirit calls to you, to let forgiveness (grace) rest upon your dreams, and be restored to sanity and peace of mind.” (4:1)
What these quotes are telling us then, is that grace is the feeling of our Oneness in God – loving All Creation as God loves It – with an all-inclusive Love. It can also be described simply as God’s Love applied directly to our heart, which causes us to see through His Eyes or the eyes of Christ. Such a feeling allows us to see beyond anything our physical eyes may perceive and know only the Oneness of All Creation instead.
This is also called being in a state of total forgiveness, which I now understand is also the state of grace.
And we can also conclude from the quotes above that since God gave our minds grace, He also gave us the Holy Spirit as our “mediator between illusion and the truth.” This means that the words “grace” and “Holy Spirit” appear to be interchangeable.
This is a lot to take in, given how the word “grace” seems to be thrown around in our everyday use. It is actually a profoundly powerful word, deep with meaning.
To be in a state of grace then, entails the acknowledgment of the Holy Spirit Who dwells within us, Who’s loving Voice can be our guide at all times, if we but allow our hearts to move into a state of total love for All Creation.
Such love, is achieved through our own choice of forgiveness (the overlooking) of everything our eyes behold in the physical, that may appear separate and outside of us. We forgive through the desire to see only the eternal Love of God pulsing through All Creation.
I don’t know about most people, but I for one forget such words and ideas the second I’m done reading or hearing them. My heart will feel inspired for but a moment to try such thinking in my daily life, but the moment I’m faced with a “forgiveness challenge” the notion of moving into a state of grace leaves my mind entirely.
So, what is the motivation for even wanting to try to live in a state of grace?
It is simply the desire for peace and joy in our life instead of strife and anger.
And how we experience life, is entirely in our own hands.
ACIM states that, “The secret of salvation is but this: that you are doing this unto yourself. Whatever seems to be the cause of any pain and suffering you feel, this is still true. For you would not react at all to figures in a dream you knew that you were dreaming. Let them be as hateful and as vicious as they may, they could have no effect on you unless you failed to recognize it is your dream.” (T-27 VIII.10.1-6)
So how do we shift our dream to a happy one? How do we call upon the Holy Spirit, Who is God’s given gift, the One Who’s thinking we shift into when in a state of grace? How do we put Him in charge of our thinking? And why is it so important to do this?
Because our ego is a very bad choice maker for us, that’s why. I think every person alive can recognize at least one or two choices made through the ego that brought them nothing but misery.
And if we listen to the ego, we are putting out the “energetic call” to manifest nothing but more misery. We are unknowingly using our creative powers for self-sabotage, drawing unto ourselves but a continued experience of suffering and lack.
This process is not unlike how our smartphones will fill our newsfeed with more of what we search for and engage with on the internet. In fact, this is exactly how the “law of attraction” works.
We are creative beings with the same abilities to manifest as God. What most do not realize however, is that such powers come through our heart. We can chant positive affirmations day and night, with no results, so long as our heart feels something different than what our mouth and mind is saying.
Our creative energy, given us by God to create the world we desire, is only activated through the power of the energy in our heart – our feelings.
Again, this is the reason why the need to learn how to live in a constant state of grace is so important. We want only the highest, most positive, outcome to all things in our lives. We want nothing less than our greatest abundance in all ways. That can only manifest if we are living in our highest, most positive, abundant state of being.
With that being said, even ACIM acknowledges that living in this positive state can be difficult to maintain at all times. The Course encourages us to merely recognize when negative thoughts are plaguing our mind, then actively desire to let them go. The key to this process of letting such thoughts go, is recognizing them. Then you move into the role of active, conscious creator through the intentional use of your thoughts. Such awareness is the practice of grace, the active choosing to do the “Will of God” and the joining with the Christ Mind.
The practice of “thought watching” is the most powerful thing you can ever do to begin to shift your life into a heavenly experience of joy, peace and abundance in all ways.
And now I will share with you a very powerful and simple tool that you can use to shift your mind and hence your heart, into an instant state of grace.
First, it is important to understand why you are choosing to be out of alignment with a state of grace to begin with. Again, it is merely a matter of preference, and preferences can be changed. What state of being do you “prefer” over anything else? Simply notice when you are not in alignment with your preferred emotional state and choose differently.
Again, sounds easier said than done! So, I will explain this process a little deeper.
Anytime you have a feeling that is of a vibration that is not aligned with peace or love, first allow it, acknowledge it, own it. For you cannot heal what you do not know needs healing. But the next step, after this awareness is brought forward, is deeply important. The next step will trigger a transformation from ego-mind to the grace of the Holy Spirit. The next step will diffuse and neutralize your ego, and the negative vibration you do not want.
Once you recognize your feelings have shifted into a state of anger, hate, fear, anxiety, or whatever you’re feeling that is out of alignment with the truth of your being; a being of peace and love, simply say:
I am feeling this negative emotion because I choose to believe I need to.
Or you can say some other semblance of the above, such as “I must believe this emotion serves me in some way I find beneficial.” Or “This feeling and these thoughts make no sense, because I am unhappy, and I do not want to feel unhappy. I want to change my belief about what I want to think and therefore what I experience.”
It is critical to acknowledge what emotion you are feeling, followed by, “because I choose to believe I need to.”
Next realize that choices can be changed.
When you begin to observe the feeling and make this statement in the moment, thus owning it, recognizing your active choice in the matter, you will find that the negative vibration will lose its power. Perhaps the feeling will not be entirely dispelled, but it will certainly become diminished, diffused, neutralized to such an extent that you can look at it with some semblance of sanity. You will be able to see your own self-sabotage and begin to consider that perhaps you would like to let such a thought and subsequent feeling go.
Why is the simple thought process of recognizing your part in choosing how you feel so powerful? Because we have been programmed by society to have feelings, but never to ask ourselves why we are generating them to begin with.
We are taught from birth to state our feelings without questioning if they are logical or not. We simply state, “I am angry,” or “I am feeling hurt, rejected, unfairly treated, abused,” and so on and so forth.
But where in all that finger pointing and blame is the recognition of your active choice to feel such things to begin with? It is typically argued that “this person did such and such to me, and they’re making me feel this way.”
The choice to be triggered was not theirs. They are not more powerful than you, and they do not run your emotions like a puppeteer. We each actively choose to react the way we do to all situations and events.
No one controls us, but our own self. And neither can we control anyone else’s reactions to us. Which drives the ego crazy with negativity and it mounts even further evidence against the outside world as the cause of all our problems.
What if you chose differently?
Logic follows that if you are thinking thoughts you don’t like, then you should also want to voluntarily stop thinking them. Would you suffer at your own hand if you were aware of it?
We cannot stop our suffering unless we know it is but ourselves causing it and shift into a state of grace – our preferred peaceful, loving, abundant state of mind.
We have never been taught how to dispel such thoughts of hate, fear, or anxiety. Just knowing we are feeling an emotion we do not prefer is not enough, we need to learn what to do when we feel such things. We need to learn to complete the thought behind the feelings which is, “I am choosing to feel this emotion because I feel I need to.”
We have never been taught how to dissipate such unwanted emotions down to such a level as we are able to work with what we are feeling and heal our mind which brings about a healed heart. Which in turn, brings about a loving, peaceful, abundant life experience.
This exercise can be done the instant you feel anything you do not like, and the instant that you do, you now have a tool you can use to bring yourself back into control. Once in control (emotional awareness), you will be able to let go of your ego and hand your mind over to the Holy Spirit.
This exercise can also be used to reinforce any positive or preferred emotion as well. Just do the same thing: recognize your good feelings and remind yourself that you are choosing to feel the joy, peace, love, and abundance. Remind yourself that you are making this choice because you believe you want to.
And you do! For obvious reasons!
This will then retrain your mind – literally rewire it – into a state of positivity. This strengthens your ability to remain in such a positive state even when the negative situations come up. By practicing noticing your positive feelings and reinforcing them by acknowledging you actively want them to continue, you are forming a new habit in thinking. You are literally re-wiring your brain to exist in a more positive, healthy, and healed state.
You are learning how to live in a constant state of grace.
And when you live in a constant state of grace, your positive vibration shifts your physical reality to match what you are feeling. Vibrational matches to your emotions will begin to appear in your life. Old, unwanted habits will simply fade away. Toxic people will quit, move or somehow shift out of your reality. Relationships will heal. Your life will begin to transform in new and unexpected positive ways, all without effort or struggle on your part, because effort and struggle are not in alignment with peace, joy and love.
As you expand your “positive gravitational pull” you can also add another reenforcing idea or visualization: Imagine that at the core of your being, there is a powerful bright light. This light is the circle of light within you that is often referred to in ACIM in many of the Workbook Lessons and throughout the Text. It is the essence of your being, but often we cannot see it or are unaware of it because we have blocked our inner vision of this light with our negative beliefs. But as you neutralize your negative thinking, this light can shine through, calling to All Creation to bring you everything that is good, loving and joyous. This happens as the dark clouds of negative thinking blocking your inner light are lifted by your own choice.
Next, in your mind, feel or sense your consciousness move into this light. Become one with it. Allow it to encompass your entire being to such an extent that it becomes impossible or very difficult to pull away from its love, peace and joy.
Then allow this light to be extended to All Creation, giving back to It as you have received. Desire for all beings, living things, planets, and even the grains of sand to rest in peace, love and all forms of abundance with you.
There is literally nothing greater you can do with your Divine Power, for as you give, so shall you receive as taught by ACIM. Therefore, if you want to receive your greatest good – unimaginable good, beyond what your ego can conceive – then extend thoughts and feelings of greatest good to All Creation. And such intensions will be reflected back to you. The important thing to remember is to exclude no one and nothing, or forgiveness will not be complete, and you will be left with unhealed thoughts, which will bring you suffering.
Complete your forgiveness though, and move into the light within you and you will then be living through the eyes of Christ and seeing all things as forgiven – not separate, but at One with you.
You will be living with the Voice of the Holy Spirit as your only Guide.
When you become conscious of your thoughts, you will be living as a conscious creator.
When you are living as a conscious creator, you become a living miracle worker.
You will be living as Who You Are in truth, as God created you.
You will be doing the Will of God, Who’s Will it is for you to be happy, at peace, and living abundantly in all imaginable ways.
You will be living in a state of grace.