we continue with chapter 7 the confusion
of pain and joy
the kingdom is the result of premises
just as this world is you may have
carried the egos reasoning to as logical
conclusion which is total confusion
about everything if you really solve
this result you could not want it
the only reason you could possibly want
any part of it is because you do not see
the whole of it you're willing to look
at the egos premises but not at their
logical outcome is it not possible that
you have done the same thing with the
promises of God your creations are the
logical outcome of his premises his
thinking has established them for you
there are exactly where they belong
they belong in your mind as part of your
identification with his but your state
of mind and your recognition of what is
in it depends on what you believe about
your mind whatever these beliefs
maybe they are the premises that will
determine what you accept into your mind
it is surely clear that you can both
accept into your mind what is not there
and I what is get the function God
Himself gave your mind through his you
may deny but you cannot prevent it is
the logical outcome of what you are the
ability to see a logical outcome depends
on the willingness to see it but its
truth has nothing to do with your
willingness truth it's God's will share
his will and you will share what he
knows deny his well as yours and you are
denying his kingdom and yours the Holy
Spirit will
direct you only so as to avoid pain
surely no one would object to the skull
if he recognized it
the problem is not whether what the Holy
Spirit says is true but whether you want
to listen to what he says you know more
recognize what is painful
then you know what is joyful and are in
fact very apt to confuse the two the
Holy Spirit's main function is to teach
you to tell them apart
what is joyful to you is painful to the
ego and as long as you are in doubt
about what you are you will be confused
about joy and pain this confusion is the
cause of the whole idea of sacrifice
obey the Holy Spirit and you will be
giving up the ego but you will be
sacrificing nothing on the contrary you
will be gaining everything if you
believe this there would be no conflict
that is why you need to demonstrate the
obvious to yourself it is not obvious to
you you believe that doing the opposite
of God's will
can be better for you you also believe
that it is possible to do the opposite
of God's will therefore you believe that
an impossible choice is open to you and
one which is both fearful and desirable
get God wills he does not wish your will
is as powerful as his because it is his
the egos wishes do not mean anything
because the ego wishes for the
impossible
you can wish for the impossible but you
can will only with God this he goes
weakness and your strength the holy
spirit always sighs with you and with
your strength
as long as you avoid his guidance in any
way you want to be weak get weakness is
frightening
what else then get this decision mean
except that you want to be fearful the
Holy Spirit never asked for sacrifice
but the ego always does when you are
confused about this distinction and
motivation it can only be due to
protection projection is a confusion and
motivation and given this confusion
trust becomes impossible no one gladly
obey is a guide he does not trust but
this does not mean that the guide is
untrustworthy in this case it always
means that the follower is however this
too is merely a matter of his own belief
believing that he can betray he believes
that everything can betray him yet this
is only because he is elected to follow
false guidance unable to follow this
guidance without fear
associate sphere with guidance he
refuses to follow any guidance at all if
the results of this decision is
confusing
this is hardly surprising the Holy
Spirit is perfectly trustworthy as you
are God Himself trust you and therefore
your trustworthiness is beyond question
it will always remain beyond question
however much you may question it i said
before that you are the will of God his
will is not an idle wish and your
identification with his will is not
optional
since it is what you are sharing his
will with me is not really open to
choice though it may seem to be the
whole separation lies in this error
the only way out of the error is to
decide that you do not have to decide
anything everything has been given you
by God's decision
that is his will and you cannot undo it
even the relinquishment of your false
decision-making privative which the ego
guards so jealously is not accomplished
by your wish it was accomplished for you
by the will of God who has not left you
comfortless his voice will teach you how
to distinguish between pain and joy and
will lead you out of the confusion you
have made there is no confusion in the
minds of the Son of God who will must be
the will of the father because the
father's will is his son miracles are in
accord with the will of God whose will
you do not know because you are confused
about what you will
this means that you are confused about
what you are if you are God's well and
do not accept as well you are denying
joy
the miracle is therefore a lesson in
what joy is being a lesson in sharing it
is a lesson in love which is joy every
miracle is thus a lesson in truth and by
offering truth you are learning the
difference between pain and joy and from
the workbook less than 50 for these are
the review ideas for today
I have no neutral thoughts your thoughts
are impossible because all thoughts have
power they will either make a false
world or lead me to the real one but
thoughts cannot be without effects as
the world I see arises from my thinking
errors so will the real world rise
before my eyes as I let my errors be
corrected my thoughts cannot be neither
true nor false
they must be one or the other what I see
shows me which they are i see no neutral
things but I see witnesses to what I
think if i did not think I would not
exist because like this thought
let me look on the world I see as the
representation of my own state of mind i
know that my state of mind can change
and so I also know the world I see can
change as well I am NOT alone in
experiencing the effects of my seeing if
I have no private thoughts
I cannot see a private world even the
mad idea of separation had to be shared
before it could form the basis of the
world I see get that sharing was a
sharing of nothing I can also call upon
my real thoughts to share everything
with everyone as my thoughts of
separation call to the separation
thoughts of others so my real thoughts
awaken the real thoughts in them in the
world my real thoughts show me build on
their site as well as mine
I am NOT alone in experiencing the
effects of my thoughts
hi I'm alone and nothing everything I
think or say or do teaches all the work
universe the Son of God cannot think or
speak or act in vain he cannot be alone
in anything
it is therefore in my power to change
every mind along with mine for mine is
the power of God I am determined to see
recognizing the shared nature of my
thoughts i am determined to see I would
look upon the witnesses that show me the
thinking of the world has been changed
I would behold the proof that what has
been done through me has enabled love to
replace fear
laughter to replace tears and abundance
to replace loss i would look upon the
real world and let it teach me that my
will and the will of God are one.
So, as we sink inward today,
we begin to see the nature
of the mind and the all-or-nothing nature of thought.
The thoughts of God,
the thoughts I think with God
are all.
And any thought that I attempt to think apart from God,
against God,
different from God's thoughts,
are nothing.
And I have no neutral thoughts.
The thought that I think I think
either make a false world or lead me to the real one.
But thoughts cannot be without effects.
And I don't see anything in this world as neutral,
because I have no neutral thoughts.
It's all connected.
Everything is mind.
And that is why I am NOT alone
in experiencing the effects of my seeing.
There's no such thing as private thoughts.
And I cannot see a private world.
The ego would show me a private world
based on private thoughts;
but these thoughts have no validity,
no reality.
I can't think apart from God,
therefore I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my thoughts.
And this is why I am alone in nothing.
Everything I think or say or do teaches all the universe.
The Son of God cannot be alone in anything.
There is only one mind.
It is therefore in my power to change every mind along with mine,
for mine is the power of God.
When I accept the atonement for myself,
I accept the atonement for everyone and everything,
because there is nothing outside of mind.
And the vision of Christ,
is the only seeing that there is.
Perception is not seeing it all.
I would look upon the witnesses that show me,
the thinking of the world has been changed.
As I change my mind,
the entire world looks different.
As I accept the vision of Christ,
I can see.
No longer will I confuse pain and joy.
Pain is the outcome of the ego.
Joy is the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
They have no meeting point.
They do not exist together.
While I allow this confusion to be released,
heaven is the only thing that I can experience.
It is the Holy Spirit's main function
to teach me how to tell them apart .
The confusion between pain and joy is the cause of the whole idea of sacrifice.
Yet if I obey the Holy Spirit,
I will be giving up the ego and sacrificing nothing.
I will instead be gaining everything.
This is my choice.
I will accept that I do not need to decide anything.
I only need to accept the will of God,
and accept that God's will is my will.
There is nothing else.
Amen.