Ultra Retreat - 4

From ACIM Text Ch 4.VII

- The ego is the part of the mind that believes your existence is defined by separation (from God).

- The part of the mind that is spirit: is in complete and direct communication with its Creator; the mind cannot totally lose the ability to communicate (with God), even though it may refuse to utilize it on behalf of being.

- You are asked to live so as to demonstrate that you are not an ego.

- I (Jesus) will direct you to wherever you can be truly helpful, and to whoever can follow my guidance through you.

- The Holy Spirit is in your right mind…I (Jesus) can bring Him to you only at your invitation. The higher mind thinks according to the laws spirit obeys, and therefore honors only the laws of God.

- If you can accept the concept that the world is one of ideas, the whole belief in the false association(s) the ego makes (illusions)…is gone.

Monday, I jog/walked 14 miles and walked 4 in the afternoon. On Tuesday, I jog/walked 10 miles and walked 4 in the afternoon. On Wednesday, I jog/walked 14 miles and bagged the afternoon walk due to an electrical storm. Today, Thursday, I jog/walked 14 miles and I don’t know what the afternoon holds.

I am having a private self transcendence race. Transcendence is the point of all this exercise. My mind, my desire, for a couple of days has been on some key points:
a) I want to connect with the part of the mind that is spirit, instead of ego.
b) I want to shift the ideas and thoughts I am using to make the world (including my body).
c) I want to totally rely on Jesus’ guidance and care. In fact, it is a huge relief to me that I can let Jesus handle everything.

When I am out running, I am practicing my ACIM thoughts and lessons. Yesterday’s lesson was a tough one for me: “I feel the love of God within me now.” It was tough because I was in my ego mind and my ego mind can’t connect with God. I felt no love as far as I could tell physically. My ego mind was really hammering me about the job situation. I could repeat the lesson to keep my mind at least off fear; but I kept wondering about the blank wall I seemed to have between me and God. Later in the day, I got an unexpected call from out of the blue, which could lead to a new job. I considered how I felt to have someone care for me like that. I had to say, “Wow! I need do nothing. Love cares for me.” During the phone call, I felt the Love of God.

My job is to direct my thoughts towards spirit and not ego. Other than that, Jesus will guide me to a future employment which is his choice, not mine.

Today’s lesson is “I choose the joy of God instead of pain.” The prayer that goes with it is, “Pain is my own idea. It is not a Thought of God, but one I thought apart from Him and from His Will. His Will is joy, and only joy for His beloved Son. And that I choose, instead of what I made.”

My mind has been at peace today. I am not worried. I want to continue my self transcendence race. I want to continue building my fitness, mentally and spiritually. I want to reformulate the ideas I am using to make the world and my body. I can do this with Jesus’ guidance. And, spending the time on this, investing in myself, is quite possibly the reason I was laid off.

It seems quite easy today to look at what I am thinking and decide if it is pain. If it is pain, then I give it to Jesus and instead think about the lesson: choose joy. The Universe, Jesus, Self, Whatever Name, seems to care for me. All through my life, I’ve had experiences which were out of my logical planning and which helped me. Today is no different.

My job is to be in the self transcendence race. I want to live in a world which makes no logical sense; because it is purely love and created by spirit, not my ego.

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