Words of Truth

“The words we use reflect the respect we receive.” This cute ditty came to me one day while I was trying to explain to children in my neighborhood why they should not say hurtful comments to others. We all understand the importance of teaching children right from wrong and how to respect others, but do we pay attention to all the ways we respect and talk to ourselves? Do we measure our own value with the same importance? Every moment of every day we are constantly writing an internal script based on the beliefs we hold about our self. This inner dialogue has tremendous results upon our self-esteem and life experience.

Are you familiar with the principles of the hugely popular book “The Secret?” The main secret this book reveals is how thoughts and words hold a supreme command over our day-to-day experiences. Each word and thought is a lens in the glasses we wear to help us perceive the world at large. Our life circumstances often unfold like the performed roles of a screenplay. If we perceive ourselves to be unworthy, limited, lacking, vulnerable, and/or powerless, then the words we say and behaviors we do precisely become an expression of these beliefs. Consequently, through these words and actions, the world manifests exactly what we expect to see, thus reading from our own script.

Think of a commercial. To design a commercial, a team of top-notch advertising executives spend hours conceiving the perfect images to present their client’s product to the world. Words are part of this image. The advertising team carefully sculpts the description knowing that each declaration has the power to make or break the product’s success. Consider this in self- application. If you were to write a commercial for yourself, what words would you use in the script? How would you want these thirty seconds of recognition to influence your world? Would you make your pitch flippantly or would you want an excellent representation for yourself, acknowledging that you were worth just rewards?

You may not be consciously aware of all the ways you announce yourself. However, the words that you accept within your mind, do design this commercial and every moment people listen to your advertisment with the significance of a Super-Bowl audience. If we see ourselves deserving of respect, love, and consideration, then we allow our thoughts, words, and deeds to pronounce this desire to the whole of humankind. Alternatively, if we hold apathetic or negative beliefs about our worth, or accept every thought and judgment without due consideration, our words and deeds likewise welcome an experience of limitation, lack, and worthlessness. When it comes to the ego, it alone is the devotee to all ideas of worthlessness, limitation and lack. In fact, only the ego can value these mistaken identities for only the ego can reject or fear love. Feeling worthless is a normal component of human experience. We all have experiences in life where we feel worthless or just "not good enough." Don't worry about possessing these feelings, they will exist as long as you conceive yourself to be an identity contained within a body, separate from God. Having these feelings or thoughts about yourself is not bad or abnormal, yet judging them often leads us further down the rabbit hole of despair.

When it comes to the words we perceive and hear, it is most essential to fully recognize how the power of decision is always our own. We need not ever be a victim of our own limiting beliefs or other people’s judgmental thought system. We always have the right to question the basis of all thoughts and opinions. We have the right to refute or interpret them differently. Most importantly, we also have the ability to listen, love and let go of any thought which keeps us from a constant awareness of peace. Yes, when it comes to questioning, refuting or releasing these negative thoughts, accepting the miracle over the misery may seem to be "easier said than done." However, are not all tasks which result in growth or change easier said than done? If I was to stand before you and intricately describe a seven-course meal which I was going to cook, would that not also be "easier said than done"? Once again, do not worry about the resistance you have to change, simply choose instead to face the change with the willingness to allow peace instead. If I was going to climb Mount Rainier, although I would need to be aware of the path I took in progression of the ascent, it would be useless to analyze every single step. The process of analysis often engages itself in fear and time-distorted thinking. In other words, analysis is rarely "in the now." Truly, as long as you are not in the now, you are not at peace. Instead, as you concern and over-concern yourself with the "what ifs" and "I'm not sure abouts.." you choose to resist peace rather than assist peace.

Therefore, although it may seem difficult to re-route your experiences with other's judgments into a path of self-acceptance and miracle awareness, try not to judge but seek instead to just be love. Factually, no matter the manipulative or disruptive schemes of others, each thought and word which we recognize must be invited by our own self-perception. If we yield our power and emotional stability over to the opinions of others, we are consequently telling ourselves that we are deserving of these opinions. To steal a line from the film Field of Dreams: “if you build it, they will come.” Consequently, try to think of your mind as a field of dreams. Take each moment as an opportunity to see what you are building and inviting within each thought, feeling, and resulting action. Is the Holy Son of God worthy of distortion on any level? Surely not. It really is that clear.

Let yourself recognize how the words we use are only extensions of our own self-definition. Each word is a call for self-validation, control and authorship. Although each word or thought may be convincing, it cannot compare with how God sees You. This being said, it is best to attempt to use your time for True Self discovery rather than limited self-depletion. All through A Course in Miracles, Jesus is saying the same. Simply, He asks us to question every value that we hold and clearly notice when we are valuing the valueless. Jesus beckons us to always listen to the still small Voice of Love rather than the confused cacophony of fear. The next time you hear the ego hurl insults or judgments your way, think of the childhood rhyme of “I am rubber you’re glue, what you say bounces off of Me and sticks onto you.” Notice the capitalization. Any word we say from our confused self-perception, bounces off the Truth and returns into the confused by vacant nothingness of illusion’s dream because only the Truth is true and nothing else. The ego only projects what it thinks it is. As confusion, it hurls confusion. As fear it hurls fear. However, only the Peace of God is the Light of Holiness, and so as the ego hurls these snowballs, the quickly and easily melt away before the brilliance of God's Knowing Self. In fact, the literal meaning of the word “definition” is “in limitation.” Try to remember this the next time you seek to use words against yourself. Choose to clearly see how the definite seeks to defy the infinite and you will no longer choose to attach importance to words alone.

All throughout A Course in Miracles, we learn that every aspect of life is a symbol embodying a belief that we use to stand as an obstacle to our Peace of Mind. One of my favorite quotes states, “Words are but symbols of symbols, twice removed from reality.” There are two main reasons why this statement is a powerful teaching. First, Jesus asks us to take careful notice of how we invest in symbolism. As we define ourselves by symbols, these values become the nature of our life experience within the world. Secondly, he is saying that although we do wholly invest in the illusion, no representation can supersede the Light of God. Each word of our lexicon is a symbol that we interpret according to the belief we value. Each word has a representative power but not a real one. Do not brush aside or suppress the power you adhere to words. Choose instead to simply and objectively listen to the story you are wishing upon yourself, then choose to love your Self more than the story. Finally, as you recognize love over fear, all stories will simply be let go and released. This is accepting the miracle over the misery.

I live every day recognizing the inner battle. Some mornings, just upon waking, there are mulitple witnesses for insanity on my mind. Although the day has barely begun and there is no present reason for disturbance, the ego seems to have become conscious before me. Flooding forth without cognizant purpose, the ego invites me into its dance of drama beyond present time and circumstance. Sometimes its words will raucously blare on and I’ll internally hear the comments that should have been said yesterday, last week, a year ago, etc. in return for some situation where the ego feels it has been treated unfairly or misunderstood. The chattering judgments and resulting emotions are persistant. My thoughts beg me to turn up the heat, letting the ego come to full boil in feelings and actions. Sometimes I follow through in fantasy. Images unfurl within of me deservingly telling the other person off or engaging in some shade of darker (yet warpishly justified) behavior. However, even as I watch my mind imaginitively play out the perverse train of thought, there is also a part of my consciousness which observes the interplay with much awareness. “Hmmm…” the everpresently wise Holy Spirit part of my mind responds, “take a look at that thought! See how it makes you feel.” Then, no matter how convincing the drama, as I give my mind to the desire for clarity, one truth surfaces… “With this thought do you feel at peace?” Sure enough, soon I can clearly see the jagged rocks below and how I do not wish to land there.

Reality, in terms of the Course, is all that is limitless and unable to be contained by words or symbols. Truly, if the wholeness of God’s Magnificence did reveal before us, we would cease to speak because there would be no appropriate words or opinions to describe it. This Holiness is your Holiness. Therefore, to give this magnificence over to a word is quite preposterous and genuinely impossible. If you were to keep your True Self in mind, accepting it for yourself and all your mighty companions, never again could you consider a wayward opinion. This is why no matter what you decide to build within your conscious mind, the Truth of God remains unchangeable. This does not mean that we should let our minds run wild, but it is a lasting insurance for even when we occassionally let the ego have its own way.

Returning to my opening thought, “the words we use reflect the respect we receive,” the three major words in that sentence: reflect, respect and receive each symbolize a form of return. The prefix “re” means “back,” and the only difference between the other components is the method of return: we either “bend back” (reflect), “look back” (respect), or “take back” (receive). Therefore, this statement is saying, we always take back exactly what we extend. Choose to receive the Light and every moment you will look back on your True Self with this Ultimate reflection.

In summary, it is best to stay as open as possible to exactly what you want to believe. Listen, love and let go as much as you can, choosing peace instead of the rampant confused symbolism of the mistaken identity. Notice how you are the scriptwriter as well as actor and director. Realize ("think back") that no matter how convincing your portrayal of an identity apart from God seems to be, this identification cannot ever supercede your Truth. Remember that no matter what the symbols seek to present, only the truth is true. Your Value always is where God placed it. However, as we perhaps from time to time find ourselves struggling to fully accept this Truth, we can devote each day to miracles. Let the words or symbols you choose be a direct path to miracles, and you will never find yourself lost amongst the language of misperception.