Teachings of Christ Mind

Good evening. And welcome to everyone who is joining us on the internet.

It is a time this week on part of your globe for specific attention to be given to Thanksgiving—the expression of gratitude—and specifically, the acknowledgement of the evidences of God’s Love that you have experienced since the last Thanksgiving.

Now, I want to point out a principle here tonight. It lies in the statement, “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.”¹ Now notice, it doesn’t say you will find yourself made free and then you will know the truth. No. The principle I’m expressing tonight is that there is an order to this: “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.”

What does that say? It says that freedom is gained by knowing the truth, which necessarily means that the truth must be known while you lack freedom if the result is going to be the gaining of freedom.

In other words, knowing the truth will be something not easy to do from a state of bondage. To know the truth will make you free but an investment of faith in truth must be expressed when there seems not to be justification for it. Then, in the reception and experience of it, comes the freedom.

This was obviously illustrated when I raised Lazarus. Because everyone was sure he was dead and gone for good. And before I called Lazarus forth, what did I do? I said, “Thank you Father.” Ah-h, an expression of gratitude with no justification for gratitude before there was justification for gratitude. “Thank you Father, for I know that Thou hearest me always.”²

Faith in the truth had to be expressed before the evidence of it—before its transformational evidence could appear.

Now I want to finesse the word, “Thanksgiving” a little bit before we continue further. Thanksgiving is acknowledgement of truth, isn’t it, acknowledgement of the evidence of the love of God.

We’re going to be reading tonight about Reality. Under the circumstances, the seriousness with which we’ve discussed things over the past short period of time, one might say, this wonderful truth that’s being expressed doesn’t really relate yet—it doesn’t have much meaning yet. Just like truth doesn’t have much meaning to one who is in bondage to error.

Very practical, very important.

We’re going to be talking about Reality while you seem not to be in It, while you seem not to be conscious of It, while you seem not to have the transformational evidence of It. But this is exactly the way It works. And when you find yourself faced with a problem that challenges your faith, that challenges your comprehension of truth, that challenges the idea that you are loved, this is exactly the time that you must bring the acknowledgement of truth into play.

This is why it is essential while you are jailed, while you are limited, while you are suffering, to shut up, to silence your negative confident reactions and ask, “Father, what is the truth here?”

Mind you, because release doesn’t come until after truth is Known, you must seek the Father’s help in Knowing the truth while it seems unjustified, while you seem quite sure under the circumstances that there is no hope, that there is no cause for faith.

But I will tell you something (if you’re willing to remember it at the time when you’re suffering): Some weeks before or perhaps some months before, you were contemplating the truth and it was fully meaningful to you. You were contemplating the truth and you Knew it was the truth. You considered God and you Knew there was a God. In the tightness and the bondage of the moment, you still Know that those things are the truth. It’s just difficult to bring your attention to those facts of truth that you do Know when your inclination is to make a mountain out of illusion—to make the suffering and the bondage more important than the two-step, more important than knowing the truth so that the truth shall make you free. It’s Part 1 and Part 2, the principle of the movement.

So as we read tonight, if what is being read seems airy-fairy or really beautiful but irrelevant or impractical or not particularly helpful—not something you’re able to embrace with commitment—remember that considering these things is the first Part: “Ye shall know the truth and …” as a result of knowing the truth, “… the truth shall set you free.”

Now, knowing the truth isn’t a matter of reading these words and reiterating them and saying “I now know the truth.” Reading these words puts you in a place where no contradiction of truth is occurring. But in order to have the experience of what truth is in the moment you’re in, as you’re about to have your prison door unlocked, you must bring faith and commitment and understand that it’s impossible for you to feel the truth of it fully while you’re still in the cell. But you must, in order to leave, embrace it while you are there.

Now, as you know, Waking up as a process of the two-step, all revolves around a relationship because you can’t get back into the Kingdom of Heaven by yourself. You must have a Brother or a Sister whose eyes you are willing to look into and in spite of your beliefs about him or her and in spite of their beliefs about themselves, you wish only to remember God. You wish only to see God there.

Well, your poor imprisoned state of mind and theirs isn’t going to help you a heck of a lot. But there is something that is going to help you one hundred percent. And that is something that it’s easy to forget: God loves you. You are God’s Self-expression. God regards you always and forever with the same love and honoring and Knowing of the ultimate truth of you that He has of Himself—that He gives to Himself because you Are Him, embodied.

Sometimes it’s difficult to remember that. But the way out of the difficulty you’re in when you can’t remember it, is to consciously choose to remember it, even if initially it seems like a rehearsal of nonsense.

As I said, there have been times just a few weeks ago or a couple of months ago that none of it seemed to be nonsense. And if you remember that, you can remember that you still believe it even if you’re not feeling it. And now the movement has begun. Now the shifting of perception is beginning and the way out of the suffering is assured if you persist.

So:

… that you are intending to treat as a holy relationship so that you might practice the holy instant and remember God in your experience of your Brother …

… the Holy Spirit …

… the truth you and your Brother share.

Now mind you, this is important. Because although you’re intending to have a holy relationship with your Brother, the way to have it is to join with the Father first or to join with the Holy Spirit first in you so that the truth that God has placed in you as a conscious awareness is remembered because you’ve chosen to pay attention there. And in the remembering, becomes your understanding, your Knowing of the truth that spontaneously gets extended to your Brother or your Sister. And it works the same with your Brother or Sister.

I say this because you don’t want to try to join with each other first before having done the two-step and gone within as it says here:

… the Holy Spirit …

To the place where you have it together, which is not through space and is not one personality dickering with or pleading with or cajoling or encouraging another to change in some way to make the relationship really good. You see? That’s not what we’re talking about.

… well, let’s remember, when you’re not in a state of inquiry of desiring to Know and being silent enough to let the Knowing introduce itself to you, then you engage in thinking and reasoning and coming to your own conclusions. And that’s outside of the holy place within you. And that’s where illusion is happening.

… just as when you’re not feeling bound and unable to be grateful, you can remember a few weeks ago or a few months ago when your clarity was with you and you did have confidence and faith. You see?

And when you let yourself give your attention to that, it will re-register with you and begin to transform the unholy, unpleasant relationship to its natural position and nature.

… in this place that you and your Brother or Sister occupy.

There is such a place. But it only registers with you when you shut up. It only registers with you in the silence of your intent to have some other perception. And as I’ve said before, that seems to require you to abandon authority—to not be in charge. Blessed words, those: “not being in charge.”

In other words, your experience of Oneness with each other is as clear and as strong as your Oneness with Him, the Father. That’s because in the absence of your thinking, in the absence of your willfulness, God’s laws prevail. What God is Being prevails as it always has, but now it’s not missing your attention.

That’s the truth. It’s not there now. Oh, I know, yup, you don’t seem to be having a holy relationship, therefore, it has to have entered there. Nope, it hasn’t. It’s just that you are not choosing to be devoted in your attention to that place where it is. You’re devoting yourselves to your best judgments, your best thinking and playing off of each other in that process. And that’s why it seems not to be there.

You see? The Holy Spirit is there to remind you of the truth that it’s being hard for you to believe. Because the Holy Spirit knows that your remembering it is the answer to the problem—constituting the evaporation of the illusions.

Well, you could say, “Well, I don’t know that I would have it be here. You know, it’s really hard for me to believe that if I go ahead and trust that that old bitch or that old bastard will really change and won’t just take advantage of me in my moment of weakness.” You see? And so you write that script and you devote yourself to it. And you don’t …

… the radiant truth …

You’ll even forget that that is …

Because on your good days you knew that you wanted it to be there. You see?

… the Holy Spirit …

… give the Holy Spirit a little bit of faith that you have in your Brother. Present the Holy Spirit with that little bit of faith that you have. That’s like saying, “Okay, I’ll dare to know the truth. And even though it seems unreasonable, I’ll dare to let the truth make me free even though I can’t justify it yet.”

… even though at the moment it seems that there is.

You’ve got to take that stand while you still seem to be in prison, while you still need to be set free. I promise you, if you don’t take this stand, if you don’t adopt this position, you will remain stuck until you do. It’s the only way out. This is why whining and complaining is useless. “I don’t think it’ll work. I’m sure it won’t work. There’s no point in my putting any effort in this.” Bullshit! Of course, there is. It’s the only way out. So it will work and it will be worth the effort you put into it.

… you know, whatever God creates is Real.

What does that mean?

It means that no little imaginary whippersnapper can come along and say, “Well, I’m going to be a different way.” No Son of God can come along and say, “I am actually going to pretend to be what I’m not, and I’m going to persist in it until I make it true.” There can’t be any such substitute. After all isn’t it obvious that if a holy Son of God is pretending to be a poor human mortal, it’s still a holy Son of God pretending that? Every bit of skill at acting that’s brought into play is still brought into play by a holy Son of God, who hasn’t stopped being a holy Son of God.

That’s why you must remember that, you’re neither behind the point of perfection, nor advancing toward it. You’re at that point and must understand yourself therefrom. Why? Because that’s the only way out.

The only way out is to make a stand for the fact that any attempt that you’ve made to be what you’re not hasn’t succeeded—never has succeeded. And therefore, you are at this moment unbound believing you’re bound, by choice but not by actuality.

Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. You will remember that you are neither behind the point of perfection, nor advancing toward it. That you’re at that point and you must understand yourself therefrom. And that the truth shall make you free.

You see? And only God has ever been there … or here where you are. Your imaginations haven’t changed Reality or the Love of God or His Expression of you in one iota. It simply hasn’t happened. And your release from any bondage is inevitable when you dare to know the truth first before the freedom is there and when you realize that your expression or your acknowledgement of truth is always more than some intellectual procedure. It’s an expression of love, because you are acknowledging truth as thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving isn’t a politeness. Thanksgiving is an acknowledgement of truth—a result of truth recognized, a result of having chosen to Know the truth. You see?

You’ve tried to create something else instead of you and you’ve tried to adopt that sense of self as actually being you. But you can’t do it. And besides, God would never accept something else instead of you no matter how well you presented it. That’s how Loved you are. And that’s how safe you are and that’s how sure your transformation, regeneration and redemption are. You see, although you may not be experiencing it, this is the good news. And this is the justification for gratitude … this is the justification for what is truly thankfulness.

… you and this one you have chosen to be the one whose eyes you will look into and remember God.

Again, you may not be feeling it, but that is what you ARE.

… illusions only separate you.

Now, these are words you should be reading in the context of thanksgiving, in the context of giving some focused attention and intention to see the truth that holds you in the perfection of God’s Love and in the perfectness of His law’s that prevail when you’re willing to know the truth before the truth sets you free.

He is.

Now, obviously when you have an investment in getting even with a Brother or Sister, when you have an investment in besting him or her, when you have an investment in controlling him, peace and gratitude are unavailable—two things essential to Waking up, two things essential to your regaining your sanity.

That has to be your goal while you are with your Brother. This has to be the presence of mind and the attitude which you must be exercising while you are with your Brother. If peace and gratitude are essential, then be intelligent and cut the crap! Stop generating fear! Stop arousing anger! Stop trying to get even! Stop going for justice! Those don’t do it. Peace and gratitude do.

And you know what? It’s not your Brother you’ll have a hard time getting past in this process, it’s your own insistence upon your right to have it your way when you want it.

You know, the simple abandonment of an activity can cause you to Wake up, can cause you to be the one who sets the whole world on a path of more obvious transformation and regeneration and redemption. That’s all … just neglecting to do something that you can neglect to do. But it will require you to stop valuing your right to do it. And to stop fooling yourself into thinking that your doing it is going to give you the credibility that is needed in order to fulfill your destiny.

No matter how glorifying and gratifying you describe the process, it’s something that doesn’t work. And so you can simply neglect to do it anymore. You see?

Now I’m going to stop here for this evening because although what I’ve discussed is simple, it is significant. It is something to not move past too quickly. It’s something to spend time with, to embrace in the quietness so that in the quietness you might find yourself able to allow even greater quietness, even greater peace and even greater opportunity for gratitude than you’ve been able to achieve so far.

This is so important. It is so beautiful. And the acknowledgement of its truth constitutes an expression of gratitude that embraces everything—blesses everything—and in the process you get to keep the blessing.

May you feel the Love that embraces you. And may you let yourself neglect to do the things that keep you from feeling it.

I love you. I love you all. And I look forward to being with you next week.