This morning we will talk about a sentence in the Course that says that the ego analyzes
and the Holy Spirit accepts. One of the ego's major weapons in its war against God, and
specifically in its war against the decision-making part of our minds, is judgment. And judgment
and analysis go hand-in-hand. And along side of judgment and analysis is the insane idea
that we could possibly understand what goes on in this world, the possibility to understand
what goes on in our world, that we could understand why we do things, why people around us do
things, why people we elect to public office do things, and we're always trying to analyze,
to understand, to judge. And all this is nothing more or less than an ego ploy to keep us thinking
that there's something here, number one, that it's true there is something here in this
world that we could understand and make sense of. When the truth of the matter is the only
thing that makes sense is that nothing here makes sense because the whole world was made
to keep Sense with a capital "S" away from us. On the other hand, the Holy Spirit accepts,
meaning that without trying to understand or analyze anything, all that the Holy Spirit
tries to have us do is whenever we are confronted by an event, situation, circumstance, occurrence
or relationship that we simply accept that this is what we have chosen and the only thing
that's important at this point is whether we choose to look at the event, situation,
relationship through the Holy Spirit's eyes or through the eyes of the ego. And if we
look through the eyes of the ego, once again, we will always be tempted to try to make sense
of what is going on. In other words, the only meaningful way of relating to anything in
this world and especially our relationships in this world is do I look at this situation
through the eyes of peace or through the eyes of judgment. This was part of an important
message that Helen had received from Jesus a number of years after the Course was finished
being scribed when Helen had asked Jesus what should I say to this person who is in need
of help. And Jesus' answer was don't ask me what you what you should say. Ask instead
that I help you look at this person, again, through the eyes of peace and not judgment.
In other words, accept the situation as it is. Don't try to judge it or evaluate it or
make sense of it. Go within where I am, Jesus was telling Helen, experience my love, accept
my love, and then the loving answer will come through you in something that you think, something
that you feel, something that you say, something that you do. In fact, after that sentence,
Jesus said then all the help of Heaven, all the angels of Heaven will come to your aid,
meaning that the love in your mind that you have accepted rather than having prior accepted
the ego, that love will now guide everything that you say and do. I said a moment ago that
we simply accept the situation as what we have chosen. I am reflecting a more basic
teaching of the Course of the fundamental unreality of time, that time is not linear,
and that everything has already happened. I'm not going to go into this in any depth
this morning with you, but the idea is that everything that we experience here is simply,
as the workbook lesson says, a reviewing mentally of what has already gone by. All that's important
is not why we have chosen something, why someone else has chosen something, why things happen
to us—all that is important, once again, is that once we are confronted by the situation
that our only meaningful choice is whether I look at this through the eyes of peace or
the eyes of judgment. Does this make me—does the situation call for a lesson that my learning
it will make me happy or will it reinforce my anxiety and my tension and my guilt. An
example I frequently use when I make this point in classes is that when I find myself
driving on the highway and I get a flat tire that the issue is not why I got the flat tire,
why did somebody put a nail there, why did I attract a nail, on and on and on. All that's
important is that once there is a flat tire to my car that I see to it that the tire be
changed whether I do it myself or I call Triple A [AAA] or hail a passing motorist to help
me. All that matters is that I do so peacefully instead of anxiety, tension, anger, depression,
et cetera. So in other words, the way we go through our day is to try to be as peaceful
as possible, recognizing that nothing outside of us can affect us in any way. Once I'm free
from that terrible burden of trying to understand and analyze what is going on and why it's
going on and how I should respond in form based on what's going on, once I could accept
that and accept the Holy Spirit's correction instead, then my life will be a quiet joy
regardless of what goes on around me, regardless of what I think I understand. Let me conclude
by citing another passage in the text where Jesus says that you still believe "that your
understanding is a powerful contribution to the truth, and makes it what it is." So that's
a celestial putdown for all our would-be intellectuals who try to analyze and understand what's going
on. All that is needed, once again, is that quiet acceptance of the truth, and the truth
is "I am never upset for the reason I think" as Lesson 5 says, and "I could see peace instead
of this" Lesson 34.