Are we born only to die? And if so Why?  That was my waking thought on the morning of my recent 60 something Birthday!   “What a revolting development this is,” as a character on TV used to say in disgust.  Can it be that we are born, enter the body and the world only to ultimately march steady and directly to our death?  What a (bad) joke!

First we are born helpless and dependent on others for food, clothing, nurturing or maybe not, depending on your parents, circumstances and Country of choice.  Then secondly, little by little, you realize that you will have to figure out how to take care of your needs yourself.  You go to school, again, depending on where you were born, and what sex you are for that matter.  Growing up you may be abused, have an illness, but eventually you have to figure out how to “fend” for yourself when you grow up.  If you can’t figure it out, some become sad, take drugs to help the sadness, become homeless, steal to get money for food, and end up in jail or prison.  There are millions of people in prisons who were unable to figure out how to care for themselves.

Here’s the kicker – We are all; prisoners; jailers; parents; children; candlestick makers; soldiers; artists; wall street brokers; Muslim; Christian; Jewish; Atheists; Buddhists; Hindus; and others;  in the same boat.  No one is getting out alive and everyone is fighting a hard battle!

Who created this world of disaster, the ego or God?  Would a God that is Changeless, Eternal, All Love, have you accumulate some knowledge, express your gifts and suffer from an illness or accident and then die – kaput – the end?   Would a loving God create that kind of scenario?

This is the ego’s world and it is a “bad joke.”  God has had nothing to do with it.  That thought: ”God has nothing to do with it” is the cool breeze on the fevered cheek.  This is the ego’s world where it alone rules.  In the Course, Chapter 7. Section VII. p.11 “Perceive any part of the ego’s thought system as wholly insane, wholly delusional and wholly undesirable, and you have correctly evaluated all of it.”   It is not True and it is not Real.  The only thing in this whole world that is True and Real is Loving Thought.   The only reason you are here is to forgive and remember the Loving Thoughts held within your powerful decision making mind.

The ego does not want you to know you have a mind period, let alone a decision making one!  In coming to this world the ultimate lesson is to realize, find and follow your inner truth with the decision making mind.  The ego will try to keep you from it.  That is its job.  It will offer “seek and do not find” carrots and dilemmas that it insists will make you happy and offer up zillions of distractions.  We are all in the same boat whether we hail from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.   Everyone, no matter the lesson that their soul came to learn, has entered a dream, an illusion, and in this world EVERYONE has the same problem.  We think we are separate from God.  That is the only problem – our wrong thinking. The good news is: It is not true.

In summing this Birthday thought: The ego is a parasite on the mind, it made up a world and bodies that die.  If we choose it, which we all did when we came here, it will fill us with doubt, hatred, misery littleness or grandiosity and throw in a little piece of happiness now and then to keep you going.  But it is not True. Only Loving Thought is True.  Laugh at the ego and remember that as you go through your life’s lesson, forgive all mistakes, yours and theirs, for dreaming this illusion, and change your dream, with your thoughts, as only you can do.  As a Course students we are told over and over that we are not our bodies in the Workbook Review lessons VI. “ I am not a body I am free, for I’m still as God created me.”  And finally, in Chapter 12, Section VII p.15, s.1 Jesus says “When you are tempted to yield to the desire for death remember that I did not die!”  The cool breeze of relief for some Happy Birthday Peace!

Sally McKirgan
Ashland, OR

We live in a dualistic world: good and bad, hot and cold, short and tall, young and old, etc. We also have a split mind with two thought systems. We can listen to the ego or the voice of Love. YOU, the Decision Maker decides which system to follow. Choose the Christ mind, (Spirit, Source, God, Allah, Yahweh or Creator,) Love or the ego’s voice of fear, judgment, guilt and envy. Watch your mind to see these thought systems. For stress, choose the ego’s fear, pain, guilt and hate. For peace, choose the thoughts of forgiveness, equality, compassion, non-judgment and kindness. To tell which mind you are listening to ask yourself: How do I feel? A forgiveness thought brings a soothing balm. A blaming, judgmental thought brings guilt and fear of attack. The ego thought system is designed to keep the misery, disharmony and attack going. It can also make you sick, literally!

The purpose of the world is forgiveness! Forgiveness is our function over and above marriage, career, family etc. It brings inner peace. When you are upset there is something to forgive. We can be hurt by nothing but our thoughts and we can change all thoughts that hurt. For example: Someone at work really bugs you, he/she is a loud mouth, controlling, conniving busy body. Ask the voice for Love/Spirit in your mind: How can I see this differently? Then wait. A thought will come, maybe in the next few minutes, hour or even later but hang tight! Keep asking. If asked, the ego mind will bring up an attack or get even thought. The thought that brings a feeling of release and peace is the voice for love within your mind. Forgiveness sets in. Sometimes this has to be repeated because the ego is resistant. When we can see a person or situation differently, we understand that it was just a mistake; we had a lesson to learn about our perceptions, expectations and or projections. A projection is a judgment that we project out, onto someone else in order not to recognize it in ourselves. Like disliking someone who constantly interrupts when we in fact do the same thing but no one tells us!
How freeing to have a mind at rest! When tenseness, headache or worry sets in there is something to forgive. Forgive, release and laugh at it! Remember, your true identity is Spirit, eternal, residing in Oneness and Loved. So is everyone. How can the eternal be hurt? The only thing that seems to hurt is the ego and the ego is not who you are! It is false and has a loud shrill voice. Don’t listen to it. Choose the decision making mind and listen to Spirit, the eternal that is in you. Forgiveness enters and heals all wounds, judgments and grievances. We all have had painful experiences that seem beyond the forgiveness factor. The question is: How long do you want to hold onto the pain? We have a high tolerance for pain. It will last as long as you withhold forgiveness. Be pain free in 2010 and forgive everyone for everything!

Sally McKirgan, A Course In Miracles student, artist and poet lives in Ashland, Oregon.

We have Free Will so we can think or do anything we want; however, we are miserable and bereft of comfort for we have thrown our comfort away. Like the baby, God went out with the bath water! In projecting “hateful old man” on God we are fearful. We think he is out to get us with his lightning bolt. Ask yourself if blaming God for misery is worth throwing love away. God cannot represent both love and fear. That is like mixing oil and water. God is one or the other. God does not control your life or your thinking….you do – remember free will? What you think is up to you. Give up blaming chaos on God or you will deprive yourself of Love. Remember your thoughts are not always true!

If God is LOVE as many spiritual traditions believe the Creator to be, then surely such an energy could never even conceive of creating evil or malice. A Loving God would never create wars, torture, havoc, birth defects, disease, death or natural disasters.

Speaking of natural disasters, Insurance companies need to stop using the term “an act of God” in their policies. Scientists tell us that global warming is the cause for more intense hurricanes, stronger storms and the shift in world weather patterns. Did God create global warming? Nope, you and I did and still do.

There is no doubt about it God is a great mystery. If there are a zillion people on the planet, we will have a zillion different concepts or ideas of what this mystery might be. But for the time being and until we can agree, let’s stop calling it an Act of God and take God out of the misery producing business. Let’s rid ourselves of the old worn out concept that God is a paranoid schizophrenic, maniacal invisible being, bent on our destruction. That concept has been engrained into our thinking over the Centuries by our very own ego – not God’s.

When you enter the beautiful solid glass doors at SOU, Schneider Museum of Art, in Ashland, Oregon, look down, and you will see these words engraved on a large granite stone: “Art is a Gift from God.”

If Art is a gift, then it would be through our gift of creativity that we could find evidence of God. This means the creative process which has come down over the millennia includes your creativity and the gifts you bring forth. Everyone is creative! What do we do with gifts? We share them with the world. We are born creative. We sing, dance, paint, draw, drum, count, create music, songs, symphonies, write books, plays, poetry, hold a hand, design buildings, bridges, houses, cars, trucks, motorcycles, tricycles, airplanes, wagons and E=mc2 … all gifts to be shared with the world.

Creativity includes Compassion, Trust, Tolerance, Joy, Generosity, Faithfulness, Honesty, Gentleness, Patience, Open Mindedness, Mercy, Kindness and Goodness. Next time you think “Act of God” visit a museum or create something and remember God is in the business of Love, so do something you Love and you will be closer to God! An Act of God then is something that comes from Love flowing through you and the act is in letting it out! You are the Actor!

– Sally McKirgan, July 15, 2009