Well,
projects are a backdrop for
channeling the purpose of the Holy Spirit.
So, if you look at the problem and you start to realize there are no
specific problems there's no
environmental problems, relationship problems, health issues. There's just no
specific problems but cracked or distorted perception is the problem.
What did they say in the Bible, "you, you look through a darkened glass." It says in Corinthians.
That's a problem looking through a darkened glass. You can't really see none of us can see when we're looking through a darkened glass.
So if, if
distorted or fragmented perception is the problem, then what is it
that will stabilize that distorted perception, that will clear away that darkened glass?
Jesus says,
"Only a,
single purpose
can unify perception.
Only a single purpose can unify perception." So we have this purpose in it, you could call it forgiveness,
you can call it atonement, you can call it the miracle, you can call it one single intention,
you can call it anything you want, but this one single purpose
exercised, practiced, used,
done through,
will unify perception. So,
when we seem to have projects and tasks
well, let's take a look at that.
That would have to be the purpose behind the projects and the tasks- to unify perception.
What would be the purpose of doing the dishes?
To be done through so perfectly by the Holy Spirit, or building something, or repairing something, or teaching something, or
singing, or dancing, or whatever
the form was. The purpose would have to be forgiveness, the unified perception
to unify all of perception and to be totally done through until there is no doer and you are simply
aware that you are a being.
So,
for me that was, that's been my whole life
you know, I
seem to have skills and abilities that were developed in an ego context and then I gave them over to the Holy Spirit.
I was shy,
I was a loner,
I was not a social butterfly in any sense of the word.
I, I had a great hesitation around speaking and communication.
I was on a job many years ago where they did a job evaluation
and I was so unworthy and uncertain of myself that oftentimes
when I was talking to my superiors or whatever
my words would drift off into a mumble.
I actually mumbled. I would start off with a sentence then I would mumble.
And then I would get an evaluation back and it said, "David eats his words."
Cause I was so uncertain I would mumble and, and
so speaking was not exactly a strength.
I never went to Toastmasters.
But it was not a strength at all and neither was public speaking or any of those kind of things,
but again,
I, I was willing to give everything over to the Holy Spirit to use for this single unified purpose,
and that's what the projects are about and of themselves, it doesn't mean anything.
Sometimes I can go to a monastery or convent and even before I go through the gates I can feel,
feel telepathically
whether there's great depth there
or whether there's a lot of people pleasing and busyness all for the sake of rules and regulations and whatever
because I can feel the presence
before I actually go into the convent or the monastery because it's the purpose
underneath those doings that means everything.
And you know how the ego works, it can get you real busy in to much ado about nothing.
Where it's almost like you're just doing it because I told you so, because it has to be done,
you know for all the reasons, you know,
that, that are given. And then there's this sense of presence where,
where there's such a flow,
kind of like that movie, You Can't Take it With You, with Grandpa's house, you know where everybody,
one guys making fireworks in the basement, one lady's writing and using the little kitten, you know, as a paperweight
typing, and one's doing ballet and dancing, and one's playing the xylophone,
it's a great movie with Jimmy Stewart and Lionel Barrymore, but, but they're all in a state of
being done through and there's great joy in the house.
You could go down the street to a monastery where they're
making cheese,
or, you know,
sweeping and doing these things and if it's just ritual
the ego loves ritual for ritual sake there's no inspiration behind ritual.
Even the Course is just a it's a brief ritual with the, with the workbook, and he's asking you to springboard off that and
henceforth hear only the voice for God that the voice for God direct you in all subsequent learning.
It's not meant to keep you in ritual. It's meant to free you from ritual so you could be totally spontaneous.
How does the advanced teacher of God spend his day?
Is a question for Jesus. And Jesus says, "To the advanced teacher of God this question is superfluous."
You don't even have a thought in your mind about how you're gonna spend the day.
You're just into joy, of just whooshing through you, you know, and you're not thinking
okay, this, this, this, this. And as for
you know, like, the beginning of Carey's question was like sometimes it gets depressing to think of doing the things you're doing
if you push them out over the timeline,
I, I had a day the other day was several days ago where somebody was saying, you know, I can't wait till I'm
where David is or I want to be a messenger of peace so I can have easy street and
just sit around and sip tea and sit in the hot tub all day and
just look at the cloud patterns go by and smile and laugh and, and I think that was one of my days where I a
typical day like I've had in that week where I was having like
14-hour
days where I would get up and I'd be sucked into my communication function with Skype calls,
correspondences,
going around meeting, people seeing people and then, and then like 14 hours later
just kicking back and throwing my shoes off and going, "Ah."
But it wasn't a tired "ah". It was just like oh, yeah, I just was
being done through for 14 hours.
Like a whirling dervish and yet feeling energized by it, not feeling fatigued
at all by those 14 hours.
More like the Nestea plunge, ahhh, wishcho
Back into the water, you know, because
the whole point's to be done through. It's not, it's not to think, I need do nothing is talking about
the form.
Oh, that's a sneaky one,
you know, the ego can get you and I need do nothing and then after a while you start to feel bored,
lazy,
lethargic, you know, and you know that the ego has slipped another mickey in the drink, you know,
and, and you didn't even know it, you like, I'm gonna be on easy street today, I'm gonna do nothing.
Where's the joy?
Where's joy? Let's have some joy, you know, because you're trying to do the ego is trying to do nothing.
Miracles are involuntary.
You know, it doesn't mean anything to you. If you're not in the joy, if you're not truly,
you know, coursed through by the Spirit. So yeah, so that's, that's what
the projects are for that, they're only for one thing and that's for unifying perception.
And there's one part in the Course where Jesus says, "You can use the body
with the Holy Spirit to expand your perception." I love that.
Imagine somebody says to you sweep the floor. Okay.
And then you tell yourself, "Oh gonna expand my perception."
That's the truth.
That's the Holy Spirit speaking to you. Not, "Yeah, I get this, sweeps them under the rug, see if they can see that."
here's if they can see that no, it's it's very
It's very different. The ego is devious and the Holy Spirit's like yeah expand your perception.
I remember one time I was in
Denver, Colorado at a spiritual group called, with this group, called A School of Innocence and,
and, uh one of the people in the community Joshua
was told by somebody there that he had to go out and rake the leaves in the backyard
and he was raking the leaves all right, but not like Ben, Ben's
famous time where he was here at the monastery
and I don't know who told you to go out, was Lisa or somebody told you to go rake the leaves and
Ben had long hair like Moses and he had this big flowing robe on like Moses
and somebody here at the monastery had told him to go rake the leaves
it was like a 45 mile an hour wind outside
and Ben grabbed that rake and I swear I was right here in this room,
and I was looking right out this window with Lisa, Lisa was right there, and we looked out and we were,
"That's inspiring." Because Ben was out there
dancing in the wind
he looked like Gene Kelly with this rake and he was raking and, I mean, the leaves were blowing all over the place
and he, he wasn't literally raking the leaves for, to get them in a pile or anything, because he couldn't get his
rake on them, but he was like dancing away and his hair was blowing in the wind,
this is back in those, before you had clean shaven, you had the long
Moses hair and the big Moses robe and all the shiny, sparkly things on it. And he was so happy and
Lisa's like, "All glory to God. Praise Sweet Jesus."
You know, and to me that was just a clear example of the miracle because you said, "Yes!"
To rake those leaves and damn if you could even rake a leaf because it was blowing all over.
Now let's get back to my story with Denver. Like this is the opposite of that. I remember looking out there and
Joshua was pissed. He was pissed, he was angry.
And I remember going outside and walking up to him and he's raking the leaves and he's really,
really angry. Every motion was anger, anger, anger. And so I said, "Well stop for a minute Let's just talk." and everything. And
he said to me, it's kind of the same thing along the line of,
Chris's question about what's the purpose. He said,
"What does raking leaves have to do with enlightenment?"
And I said, "That's a really good question, let's put the rake down and let's
explore that. What does raking leaves have to do with enlightenment?" I said, "This is really good." I said,
"Now,
how are you feeling now?" He said, "I am very
angry." And I said, "Well, what do you think's going on?" He said, "Well,
this so-and-so told me to rake the leaves. I don't want to rake the leaves. I'm not inspired to rake the leaves.
I don't see the value in raking the leaves.
I'm angry at this person for telling me and bossing me around and
I'd rather be doing anything else but raking the leaves."
I said, "Okay from all that we can deduce that you're upset."
And he said "Yes." I said, "Okay, now
what does upset
have to do with enlightenment? Let's take it away from, what does the raking the leaves have to do with enlightenment,
let's just look at your state of mind. What does upset have to do with enlightenment?"
And he said, "It, it doesn't
have anything to do with enlightenment."
And I said, "So
why do you think you're upset then? If you came here,
what, what was the purpose did you, why did you come to this community?" He said, "I came here for enlightenment."
I said, "But now you're upset." He said, "Yeah, I'm upset." "But you came here for enlightenment, and now you're upset.
So you're not in the purpose for which you came?" He said, "Yeah, that's right." I said, "Why is that?"
He said, "I don't know." I said, "Well, can you see that, that purpose is a choice?
Did you have a choice of your state of mind
regardless of what you're doing." And he said, "Yeah, I can see that." "So why are you choosing to be upset?"
"Well because they told me I had to rake the leaves." I said,
"So you believe there's somebody outside of you, somebody not you, told you, you have to do something that you don't want to do."
He said, "Yeah, that's it." I said, "What's that have to do with enlightenment?"
He said, "I don't, I guess nothing." I said, "Well, why are you choosing it?"
"I don't know." I said, "How did you get here?"
I said, "Did somebody twist your arm come down to Louisiana and, like,
put, pushed your arm behind your back and say you've got to go to Denver to get enlightened?"
"No." I said, "Did you come here voluntarily?"
He said, "Yeah." I said, "So you're here voluntarily, nobody made you come?"
"That's right."
"So you're here voluntarily?"
"Yeah, that's right." "And your purpose of coming is for enlightenment?"
"Yes, that's right." "And now you're upset?"
"Yeah." "Oh,
why, are you choosing to be upset?" "Well, they, they told me I had to rake the leaves."
This who's on first, what's on second,
I don't know is on third, you know, it's no amount of evidence will convince you of what you do not want.
It's the purpose you bring with you,
it's the purpose in mind that you bring to the projects that you bring to the whatever you're doing, that's everything.
That's your decision. It's not that the world happens to you in some kind of accidental
oh, I happen to have a bad day because this happened to me and this, and this, and this.
You know, remember the, the
workbook lesson myself, capital Self, is ruler of the universe.
It is
impossible that anything should come to me and bidden my, by myself even in this world it is I who rule my destiny.
What happens is what I desire; and what does not occur is what I do not want to happen.
Okay, you don't need a whole course of miracles. You can just use that one
phrase, that,
myself is ruler of the universe. The power of decision, lesson 152, the power of decision is my own.
He says, "You may believe that this is too all-encompassing to be the truth." Jesus says.
The power of decision is my own. "But, he says,
"Truth has no exceptions."
Indeed, that's exactly the way it is,
everything that seems to happen to me I ask for and receive as I've asked. And there are no exceptions,
ever, ever, ever. So, this is where we're zooming in to enlightenment where we start to take the empowering
journey, and seeing how powerful our mind is the power of decisions and we don't try to let ourselves get snagged into
this idea that we're just raking leaves, or just doing the dishes,
or just chopping the celery, or whatever, which the ego would have us freeze into
because why? Because that's littleness and the ego wants us to be content
with littleness and just leave it at that. Just stay guilty and little. And, and a unified purpose lifts us up
higher and higher and higher into a state of the celestial glory,
you know, to, to a level of mind, which we see is all
encompassing.
So it's never about the project.
It's more about the motive. What's the motive?
With what is it for? What's the motive for the project? And for me,
that's the best thing in my life is, it doesn't matter if I have 50 emails,
the number doesn't matter,
uh, I just pray and if I'm guided to pick out two or three and respond to those
then that's everything. And I've never felt a sense of coercion. I've never felt a sense of duty.
It's, It's not fun to feel that you have a duty
to serve the Holy Spirit, you know, an obligation. Oh, I'm gonna,
I'm gonna have a day serving the Holy Spirit. I'm obligated,
uh, to the Holy Spirit today, you know, where's the fun
in that. I, I would always say what the Holy Spirit wants for me is for me to be happy
to me, for me, to be inspired, for me to experience myself as I truly am and not to
hold on to this idea of what David wants, what David wants, what Da-David doesn't want. That's going to get me nowhere.
Most of the tasks that I did at the very beginning, uh,
even ones that, that the Holy Spirit would,
would ask me to do- talk to somebody, or call somebody, and do this, in this. I had trepidation and
fear and doubt at the beginning because it was so out of pattern for the way
I was living my life and yet I still followed and I felt bursts of joy after I got off the phone,
after I visited somebody in the hospital,
made a, paid a visit to their house. I was just
swelling with joy.
Because I listened and followed even when the ego was saying "Don't do it,
don't do it. Stop. You're gonna lose your autonomy. You're gonna lose your individuality if you keep
following in, that little voice." I just kept at it. No, I like tell me - I like that joy
I like that feeling so I have one more that feeling of joy, and so I,
I lost myself in that,
uh joy, I lost my ego you could say, not my true self, but in that experience.