INNER LIGHT MInistries Journal Volume 23 Number 3
I
Key Words
by Jim Gordon, President of ILM
(from Key Words To Soul Liberation, 4/16/11) ’ve said it hundreds of times that we’re responsible for our thoughts and feelings, our actions and reactions. How many times have we listened to those words, but then never give them any further thought? If we really want to anchor into soul consciousness and move beyond the soul into the realms of Spirit and into God itself, these are key words to that action. Remember, this is a pathway of developing a relationship with God directly, and in order to develop that kind of relationship, it means that we have to take responsibility in this world. It’s when we take responsibility, when we stay conscious, when we stay present in everything that we’re doing as best we can, that that will make all the difference. The action of doing brings about change and understanding – understanding who we are, why we’re here, and where we’re going. And by being responsible for our thoughts and feelings, it truly means staying present in the moment. Really pay attention – what are your thoughts and feelings right now? And right now? And right now?
December, 2011
Jesus taught his disciples that what’s important is taking place inside of them, not outside. If we’re focused on judging other people and not taking responsibility for our own actions and reactions in that process, then we’re doing separation. When we separate ourselves from another person, consciously or even unconsciously, we have just separated ourselves from God; we are all one in Soul, and if we separate ourselves from one part, we have separated ourselves from the whole. We have to move into a consciousness of loving everyone, of accepting everyone, of forgiving everyone – beginning with ourselves. What I’m talking about is just simple awareness every day. What are you thinking and where are your thoughts focused? Are your thoughts focused on blaming, judging, condemning, anger, and frustration? Is it everyone else’s fault? They shouldn’t have said what they said about you, or you shouldn’t have said that about them? Or are you bringing your focus inward and upward, and loving everything that comes in that causes those kinds of actions, reactions and disturbances? Are you accepting and forgiving them, and focusing back toward God and God’s presence? How much energy are you giving to God every day and how much energy are you giving to the world?
Living in the world requires a lot of energy – we have a responsibility to take care of this body that is the instrument by which the soul is able to move in this world and have experience here. We have to eat, drink, clothe, and house our physical bodies, but how much more does this mind and body also distract us or call us further into the world?
Keep a journal for a while, and write down your thoughts and feelings during the day. Pay attention to how often you’re caught up in what other people are saying, or the fear patterns that the world is putting on you, or how you’re reacting with the world, and find a way to begin to bring quiet, peace, stillness and loving into those areas of disturbance, into those areas of distraction. The key is to begin to live responsibly daily and not let things distract you, and pull you back out into the world.
Even though our soul is aware that it’s at the end of a journey, it’s also still in this physical body, which is lazy, weak, easily distracted, and caught up in the ego and the mind; and the soul finds it challenging to be in, and work with, this body to liberate itself, but that’s what it has to do. We can so easily get caught up in the world and in other people’s reactions. We can easily get caught up in so many things outside ourselves that we often lose sight of what’s going on inside and yet, that’s what matters.
We are a soul in a physical form, and all of us are challenged with distractions and disturbances in the physical. It is through meditation that we begin to wake up and live the loving, the peace, and that movement of joy that’s inside of us, more and more each day. Being responsible for our thoughts and feelings, our actions and reactions is indeed a dynamic action that will bring healing, balance and wholeness inside ourselves, and help us to understand what it is to truly be in relationship with the Divine.