I love the honesty of your struggle, Sean. It does feel so vulnerable to do these things.
For me, defenselessness has so much power - it says I am so well-loved and protected from harm that there is nothing I need to go to war with. Of course, what I must come to terms with is that the eternal me can never be harmed - even if the physical me, the body, can. And yet, I find great peace in the idea of taking a position of defenselessness. It takes so much effort to try to protect myself from every danger my fearful mind perceives.
The monks have a teaching to start each day, before picking up my phone or leaving my bed, by writing and saying aloud Today is my Peaceful Day. Claiming it. Feeling it. I've been doing this lately and I'm amazed at how differently my days are going. I'm less reactive. I feel more free. I feel less fearful. Maybe that's what defenselessness also gives us. Freedom from fear. ❤️
I have been having a hard time with Jesus lately too. I wonder if it's a global thing. Last week I received the message that he has been disappointed. This does not seem like him at all. I asked, "What does that mean?" He answered that I had disappointed him as my guide and reappointed the ego. He then asked to be reappointed as my guide. He has a way with words. But I knew what he meant. I was letting life frustrate me and had been indulging in feelings of anger.
When I was waking up today, I heard the word "poppies" at the tail end of a dream. I googled it to see what it represented and I was eventually led to the poem, "In Flanders Fields" which is the origin of this flower as a remembrance of those who died in war. All day I've been thinking about the thin line between defending myself and attacking out of fear or retribution. Justified violence, like all wars, big or small. The poem talked about the rows upon rows of gravesites from the battles there during WWI. There was a photo alongside the website I came across, and there is a sea of white crosses stretching for miles, it seems. It was incredibly eye opening.
Which all led to your post, Sean. You've perfectly summed up the dilemma I am facing as well.
Thank you, Shawna. I know that Jesus very well 🙏🙏. And I love the dream and then the chain of images - the poppy, the poem, the war dead. I'm glad we're sharing this path.
Thank you for your words of comfort, Hilda. It's so nice to hear from people like myself. Sometimes it gets lonely when you're the only person around you that is pursuing this path. ; )
Shawna, if you are the only person on that path, just follow it, give us your example and walk your path. Let’s just reach out and hold hands. I’m reaching out now and I’m not letting go.
Why do I care? Because there’s nothing else I can do. Just to stand in the wilderness and not knowing where to go or what to do so I just stand and I care because it’s all I have.
Yes. This is my experience as well, Hilda. Deeper than separation is care and it's in hands that are better than mine. More and more the practice is remembering this. Thank you for being here 🙏 🙏
Loved this Sean, beautiful as always, also very accurate about my experience too of what is happening progressing through the Path, your piece has given me further clarity. No more negotiating or asserting conditions 😊
Very fabric of my existence is getting challenged.
It helps when I am reminded that they are all thoughts, my existence made out of thoughts, mistaken beliefs, illusionary, false memories, mind images.
Continuously learning not to believe in my mind, which is what I have been calling myself mistakenly, about who is right who is wrong and what should happen.
This is not my show😊 I don’t understand it and I need to give up any attempt to try to understand it.
Yes...I come too...this is really the time we were born for, the thing that was going to happen, and what we were prepared for without being really prepared. And so we continue to learn to walk together, we continue to learn to open our hands and our minds and our hearts. Day by day. We continue. Thank you Sean, thank you for being so open with us, with yourself, with everything.
Thanks, as always, for your reflections. I get being defenseless for myself -- in theory, at least. Although it hasn't really been put to the test physically. But when it comes to having the opportunity to defend others, I'm not so sure. Admittedly, I don't get the full conversations that you report. Not yet, anyway.
Thanks, Margaret. I think for me there is this evolving connection between defenselessness, or nonviolence, and care. It's like care is the underlying mechanism, and if I can connect with it, in a durable way, then the higher-level questions - how to be defenseless here, how to be defenseless there - aren't quite as challenging. Care is a form of being guided, I guess? I don't know. The times challenge me. The losses we are enduring - and the violence being inflicted on folks near and far - feel stupid and frightening. But also, defenseless is a form of resistance, and there are others that fall within the ambit of nonviolence. There were so many beautiful stories that came out of Minneapolis that give me hope and make me feel I'm not alone. I'm still working on it, and I'm sure I will be always. Thanks again.
At some point, I have to trust that love in infinite. Like the family that raises three children on their own and then adopts two small baby boys that have been abandoned. Moving from fear to love so that his caring can expand and the defenses drop because it’s the only way.
Thank you, Sean, for letting walk the road of your world, our world, one step on the gravel road at a time, letting the dry dust of the road, or the wet gravel in the driveway, lay open bare for us to smell, taste, feel and hear it along with you.
Thank you, Denise. The family example is a good one - I think often of Jesus's serene confidence in God's presence and goodness, a parent who deprives his little ones of nothing.
And thanks for the kind words. I'm working it out as I go, and grateful for the company 🙏
I am currently in Season 3 of "The Chosen" series with Jonathan Roumie as Jesus. Coincidentally I am really struck by the 'defenceless' portrayed by Jesus. Absolutely no fear. Reminds me of a paragraph in ACIM (P-2.V.2). Meanwhile I am scared stiff for him 😁🥰
I love the honesty of your struggle, Sean. It does feel so vulnerable to do these things.
For me, defenselessness has so much power - it says I am so well-loved and protected from harm that there is nothing I need to go to war with. Of course, what I must come to terms with is that the eternal me can never be harmed - even if the physical me, the body, can. And yet, I find great peace in the idea of taking a position of defenselessness. It takes so much effort to try to protect myself from every danger my fearful mind perceives.
The monks have a teaching to start each day, before picking up my phone or leaving my bed, by writing and saying aloud Today is my Peaceful Day. Claiming it. Feeling it. I've been doing this lately and I'm amazed at how differently my days are going. I'm less reactive. I feel more free. I feel less fearful. Maybe that's what defenselessness also gives us. Freedom from fear. ❤️
Thank you Andrea - I appreciate this very much, especially the daily practice 🙏 🙏
~ Sean
I have been having a hard time with Jesus lately too. I wonder if it's a global thing. Last week I received the message that he has been disappointed. This does not seem like him at all. I asked, "What does that mean?" He answered that I had disappointed him as my guide and reappointed the ego. He then asked to be reappointed as my guide. He has a way with words. But I knew what he meant. I was letting life frustrate me and had been indulging in feelings of anger.
When I was waking up today, I heard the word "poppies" at the tail end of a dream. I googled it to see what it represented and I was eventually led to the poem, "In Flanders Fields" which is the origin of this flower as a remembrance of those who died in war. All day I've been thinking about the thin line between defending myself and attacking out of fear or retribution. Justified violence, like all wars, big or small. The poem talked about the rows upon rows of gravesites from the battles there during WWI. There was a photo alongside the website I came across, and there is a sea of white crosses stretching for miles, it seems. It was incredibly eye opening.
Which all led to your post, Sean. You've perfectly summed up the dilemma I am facing as well.
With love,
Shawna
Thank you, Shawna. I know that Jesus very well 🙏🙏. And I love the dream and then the chain of images - the poppy, the poem, the war dead. I'm glad we're sharing this path.
Love,
Sean
Thank you for your post Shawna, I’m glad to have your company.
Thank you for your words of comfort, Hilda. It's so nice to hear from people like myself. Sometimes it gets lonely when you're the only person around you that is pursuing this path. ; )
Shawna, if you are the only person on that path, just follow it, give us your example and walk your path. Let’s just reach out and hold hands. I’m reaching out now and I’m not letting go.
Why do I care? Because there’s nothing else I can do. Just to stand in the wilderness and not knowing where to go or what to do so I just stand and I care because it’s all I have.
Yes. This is my experience as well, Hilda. Deeper than separation is care and it's in hands that are better than mine. More and more the practice is remembering this. Thank you for being here 🙏 🙏
~ Sean
Loved this Sean, beautiful as always, also very accurate about my experience too of what is happening progressing through the Path, your piece has given me further clarity. No more negotiating or asserting conditions 😊
Very fabric of my existence is getting challenged.
It helps when I am reminded that they are all thoughts, my existence made out of thoughts, mistaken beliefs, illusionary, false memories, mind images.
Continuously learning not to believe in my mind, which is what I have been calling myself mistakenly, about who is right who is wrong and what should happen.
This is not my show😊 I don’t understand it and I need to give up any attempt to try to understand it.
Thank you very much 🙏
Good morning Aysin! Thank you for being and sharing - I'm glad the post was helpful - and glad we get to share the path 🙏🙏
~ Sean
Who knew that defenselessness was Care of the Soul. Not this one.
But in this new light, it is more welcome.
🕊️
Yes...I come too...this is really the time we were born for, the thing that was going to happen, and what we were prepared for without being really prepared. And so we continue to learn to walk together, we continue to learn to open our hands and our minds and our hearts. Day by day. We continue. Thank you Sean, thank you for being so open with us, with yourself, with everything.
🙏🙏
Beautiful 🙏
I and the Father are One. My job is to surrender to that. I give it all up. Today I pray I can give it all up.
Always this 🙏🙏
Thanks, as always, for your reflections. I get being defenseless for myself -- in theory, at least. Although it hasn't really been put to the test physically. But when it comes to having the opportunity to defend others, I'm not so sure. Admittedly, I don't get the full conversations that you report. Not yet, anyway.
Thanks, Margaret. I think for me there is this evolving connection between defenselessness, or nonviolence, and care. It's like care is the underlying mechanism, and if I can connect with it, in a durable way, then the higher-level questions - how to be defenseless here, how to be defenseless there - aren't quite as challenging. Care is a form of being guided, I guess? I don't know. The times challenge me. The losses we are enduring - and the violence being inflicted on folks near and far - feel stupid and frightening. But also, defenseless is a form of resistance, and there are others that fall within the ambit of nonviolence. There were so many beautiful stories that came out of Minneapolis that give me hope and make me feel I'm not alone. I'm still working on it, and I'm sure I will be always. Thanks again.
~ Sean
(Sigh). Yes.
At some point, I have to trust that love in infinite. Like the family that raises three children on their own and then adopts two small baby boys that have been abandoned. Moving from fear to love so that his caring can expand and the defenses drop because it’s the only way.
Thank you, Sean, for letting walk the road of your world, our world, one step on the gravel road at a time, letting the dry dust of the road, or the wet gravel in the driveway, lay open bare for us to smell, taste, feel and hear it along with you.
Thank you, Denise. The family example is a good one - I think often of Jesus's serene confidence in God's presence and goodness, a parent who deprives his little ones of nothing.
And thanks for the kind words. I'm working it out as I go, and grateful for the company 🙏
~ Sean
I am currently in Season 3 of "The Chosen" series with Jonathan Roumie as Jesus. Coincidentally I am really struck by the 'defenceless' portrayed by Jesus. Absolutely no fear. Reminds me of a paragraph in ACIM (P-2.V.2). Meanwhile I am scared stiff for him 😁🥰
It's an interesting show! I love Jesus's easy confidence and clarity and yeah, knowing what's coming is heart-breaking.