MAY: Food… Fulfillment or Fear?
FOOD . . .
FULFILLMENT OR
FEAR
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate—our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light—not our darkness that most frightens us.” ACIM
Hello dear friends,
As we join together in silent introspection, we can also be in gratitude for the opportunity once again to gather with friends in sunny weather for celebrations and back-yard barbeques, and lots of good food! Food has always been a way of bonding in any sort of gathering. It’s not unusual to sometimes “overdo,” but for several decades now many are concerned that this has become a serious health issue. Two thirds of our country is obese. We are hungry for something we are not finding.
When I look back at the news and films when I was growing up (no dates here 😊) it was rare to see someone morbidly obese. Now so many folks are meeting with this health challenge. Some of what is different now is the decline in households with an older generation where youth have access to more attention and sage advice, along with a severe decline in a lifestyle wherein religion and spirituality or an awareness of a higher truth is made an important part of guidance in a child’s learning. Then there is also a part of corporate America which has learned how to use food in the maze of consumers’ difficulties as the cheese that solves all our problems.
Beneath it all, what we are really dealing with, and what the ego has learned well how to play upon, is—guilt. Guilt keeps us in doubt and fear, and it hides our Real Self. Guilt is self-betrayal. It makes us a victim. Where does that guilt come from?
The Course tells us that self-sabotage is when we are continually trying to prove that I am a body that suffers, and I have no control. When we repeatedly reinforce this by getting into accidents, or sabotage our relationships, use drugs to escape, become anorexic, or sit on the couch watching TV all day, maybe eating a half-gallon of ice cream when we’re not hungry . . . we are saying I’m here—but it’s not my fault. Someone has done this to me and there’s nothing I can do about it. I’m just a victim.
This is a reinforcement of the original idea that I have separated from my source, I am a body, I exist, I chose this separation from God, and now I must pay the price for it. Meanwhile, the ego loves to demonstrate that I am here, and if I suffer it proves that I exist. The subliminal message of this denial is that—I am guilty.
When I can see that this is erroneous thinking which keeps me in fear and denies my peace, then I realize that . . . I can choose again! I can learn to see and accept the power I’ve had all along. Arrogance, the Course says, is thinking that I can be separate from God. True humility is to accept our holiness as part of God. The first step to inner peace is to know that I am only Spirit, I’m not really a body, and I have been created in the likeness of God, and God is Love.
“Truth will correct all errors in your mind which tell you you could be apart from Him. You speak to Him today, and make your pledge to let His function be fulfilled through you. To share his function is to share his joy.” WB L. 107, 9
There is nothing outside of us. It’s all a projection from our mind. Like watching a movie that seems to end in death, but there is no death. Fear is not real. Guilt is not real. The ego is not real. It’s all in our mind—and we can change our mind. We can forgive and be free to accept the beautiful being (not body) that we are created to be. The body is not good and it’s not bad. It just is. The “action” occurs in the mind.
“I am not a body, I am free. I am still as God created me.”
“The body is a lesson in communion, until communion is.” ACIM
One way to connect with our unconscious guilt is to know that when we avoid looking at the darkness in our past, it stays in our unconscious, and keeps us bound in guilt. In refusing to acknowledge our suffering, we actually prolong it and deny ourselves the opportunity for profound wisdom ultimately limiting our personal growth, true healing and our opportunity for awakening.
Transcendence can only come when we finally face our pain and wrestle with what it has to teach us. Practically speaking, there are those who can help us to let go of our past such as therapists and mental health programs, or just sit down with a friend or a journal, and ask for Spirit’s guidance. No one ever has to know what you say or see what you write, and you will be amazed at what your higher self can reveal to you. Facing our fears is a powerful way forward through the pain, to a deeper, more joyful awareness of our lives, and our true selves.
“Once I had given my subconscious permission to trust my inner voice, it was like a damn had broken open. When I let go of resistance, I began to shift into alignment with my own divine blueprint. Just as nature has coded the chick in the egg to hatch, or an acorn to become a tree, I realized that to heal and be happy, the path was to continually surrender to my inherent nature, which is the sanity of Love.” TGIC (CLICK)
We are not on a spiritual journey. We are all one Spirit on a human journey in the process of remembering who we are. And the good news . . . we know we are in truth when we are in joy!
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.”