DECEMBER: If Christmas Is A Sign Of A Star Shinning Within Us Then… What’s Sacrifice Got To Do With It?
IF CHRISTMAS IS A SIGN OF A STAR SHINNING WITHIN US
THEN . . .
WHAT’S SACRIFICE GOT TO DO WITH IT?
“The sign of Christmas is a star, a light in the darkness. See it not outside yourself, but shining in the Heaven within, and accept it as the sign the time of Christ has come. He comes demanding nothing. No sacrifice of any kind, of anyone, is asked by Him. In His Presence the whole idea of sacrifice loses all meaning. For He is Host to God. And you need but invite Him in Who is there already…”
ACIM Ch. 15, S, XL, p2
Hello dear friends,
As we come together in quiet time, I truly wish whether your Christmas Day was spent alone or with family and friends, that love and joy is bountifully magnifying within you. And, if not yet, may the seeds that have been sown burst into blossom for you in the days to come.
The presence of covid in our family required us to delay the date for our Christmas gathering so for the first time in our 31-year marriage, my husband and I spent it alone/together. 😊 In a different way, it turned out to be one of the most meaningful Christmases we’ve ever shared. We watched loads of Christmas movies, dined among the Dana Point Harbor lights, strolled through our neighborhood to enjoy the decorations, and savored the simplicity of love. . . almost as though we were now seeing what had always been there.
Early in our marriage, my husband bought for me the picture you see above. It is beside the bed, and each morning I am reminded of the innocence of love that I am . . . and nothing else. My innocence is always there, but for me to be aware of it, I know I must ask the Holy Spirit to take charge of my mind. Why? Because in every moment I make a choice between the voice of the ego, and the voice of the Holy Spirit—who offers the love that is pure and complete and asks nothing. However, not so with the ego. The ego wishes no one well—suffering and sacrifice are its bond in all relationships.
Whenever I’m angry, I can be sure I’m in a situation the ego loves. The Course says that all anger is an attempt to make someone else feel guilty by projecting my unconscious guilt onto others. Guilt is the only need the ego has to survive. I once heard Ken Wapnick, ACIM’s foremost teacher say that, “
“The ego is not real. It’s our belief in the ego that makes it seem real.”
The only purpose of projecting my unconscious guilt is to delay communication, which delays my realization of oneness.
To make someone guilty is to subconsciously expect attack, and having asked for it, I believe I am guilty, and then am attracted to it. This is an insane addiction where the attraction of what I do not want seems to be much stronger than the attraction of what I do want.
Awakening is withdrawal (letting go) in a dream of insanity, and accepting the joy of love only—right here and right now.
To withdraw from the ego’s guilt is not sacrifice. There is no cost, no loss, no deprivation in order to give up the lure of something that keeps me in fear. Sacrifice is simply a choice to separate from love. The choice for joy is to rejoin with my true Self, and to remember that the sign of Christmas is star shining in the heaven within me, and that kingdom within me is pure love.
That’s why Christmas is the end of sacrifice, because to hold on to guilt/fear is the opposite of love. Christmas is symbolic of the time of Christ arriving and informing all of us that Christ is love, God is love and that is what we are . . . and nothing else.
“Can you imagine what it means to have no cares, no worries no anxieties, but merely to be perfectly calm and quiet all the time? Yet, that is what time is for; to learn just that and nothing more.”
– ACIM Ch.15, S1, p1
By taking this very Holy Instant, now, and thinking of it as all there is of time, (no past and no future) I can begin to practice the Holy Spirit’s use of time. From this Holy Instant where holiness is born again, I can go forward in time without fear. But, the Holy Instant of release cannot be mine unless I remember when I attempt to attack another that his release is also mine. Christmas is to remember that you are the Christ—and also to see it in another.
We need not be afraid to look at the entire ego thought system as of our own making. In the Course, Christmas represents the end of the ego thought system. The correction of our mistakes (wrong thinking) is simply to choose again! Salvation is undoing😊
“Now I could view with insight both the frailties of this world and the reality of this world. Through the path of unconditional forgiveness, I no longer tried to change the world. Instead, I was changing my mind about the world.”
TGIC p. 355 – (LINK TO TGIC)
Celebrate the Heaven within that I am and you are!
I love you all.
So, until next time,
When you find yourself staring into the headlights of fear, I hope you can stop . . . allow yourself to laugh at your temporary insanity . . . and say, as I often do, THANK GOD I’M CRAZY! 😊
***** SEE ONLY LOVE FOR THAT IS WHAT YOU ARE *****
Thank God I’m Crazy available in paperback and e-book on:
Thank God I’m Crazy includes pictures of places which took place in Grace’s life, as seen in her visions. Grace Avalon, teacher and intuitive counselor, has taught A Course in Miracles for nine years. She gives presentations, seminars and workshops for anyone whose known abuse, thought they were crazy, or wants to live a joyful life.
*** Gary Renard, (International bestselling author of Disappearance of the Universe, and international speaker) says, “Grace Avalon’s courage to share her secret visions that led her out of deep abuse to heal through forgiveness brings a whole new level of understanding to the principles of love found in A Corse in Miracles.”
*** Marianne Williamson, (NY Times bestselling author, teacher, and internationally renowned speaker) , has said, “Grace Avalon inspires all of us to trust the wisdom of our hearts. Here is spirituality in practice.”