What is sacrifice? In our ego or wrong-mindedness, it is giving up something. In right-mindedness there is no sacrifice, because when we are aligned with Spirit, we are alive. That is when we live an abundant life. I know this to be true, yet, at times, my ego runs amuck. Like the child screaming, I want a third ice-cream. My ego screams the same way, and, at times, wins.
Yet above all else, I want to see.
Father Keating, who knew Father Merton, told us about a story of his early years and his battle with ego. He had the opposite problem than I had. I give in to my obsessions. He showed how spiritual he was by going to the other extreme, which was of course, really his ego showing how spiritual it wanted to be perceived. For, Lent, he said he sacrificed more than anyone. He was called in to see the head Abbot. He was told for Lent he had to eat everything that was put in front of him. If ice cream was out for dessert, he was to eat it. He stated that it was a very humbling experience. He never realized his ego was making the choices. He saw himself beneath everyone because they sacrificed more than him. Lesson learned.
It is amazing how often I have let the ego take control. I mean, it should be a no-brainer. Peace, Joy, Love, Guilt, Fear, or Shame. A major source of the ego’s off-balanced state is its lack of discrimination between the body and the thoughts of God/Source. So, when the ego runs the show, I leave the peace that surpasses all understanding. No wonder Paul said: I do what I don’t want and don’t do what I do want.
It is such a simple question—what do you choose? Peace or fear? Love or hate?
There are so many stories from the concentration camps when people had to answer that question and then live by their answer. They are truly great teachers for us. Do you see your family killed and choose hate or love? How do you want your life to be lived out? I say abundantly, which can not be done in fear.
It was President Roosevelt who said, “There is nothing to fear but fear itself.” I think what he meant is that when we give in to fear, things go south. We’re afraid we will be attacked, so we attack first. We are afraid that by giving everyone equal rights, somehow that might take something away from those who already enjoy those rights.
We still live in this illusionary world this way. At one point, I was so identified with my body that I feared getting cremated, because, at the end of times, how would I get my body back? (See “end times” on Google.) I always thought I was not my body, but did not understand the depths of what that meant. Really? Afraid of cremation. I am not my body, I am free…
When I was a Catholic, I did not believe in reincarnation. As my spirituality shifted, so did my thoughts on reincarnation. It seemed to me that reincarnation was possible, first because, for God, anything is possible. Secondly, God teaches us lessons over and over again—we cannot fail.
When Glenda Green asked about reincarnation, Jesus said, “Let me tell you it this way; you only have one life, but it is very long.” I used to believe in purgatory as a place for cleansing in order to see as God sees. Maybe our lives on earth are our purgatory. Heaven is here now, but we cannot see it without right mindedness.
I accept the fact that on this plane, I will not have all the answers to the mysteries of our existence. I keep moving forward as Spirit directs. Spirit know the best spirituality for me to keep moving toward the goa—Oneness. And there is more than one road that leads you there.
Let’s keep on walking.
Theresa Contaxis 
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theresacontaxis
Nov 20
What is sacrifice? In our ego or wrong-mindedness, it is giving up something. In right-mindedness, there is no sacrifice because when we are aligned with Spirit, we are alive. That is when we live an abundant life. I know this to be true, yet, at times, my ego runs amuck. Like the child screaming, I want a third ice-cream. My ego screams the same way, and, at times, wins.
Yet above all else, I want to see.
Father Keating, who knew Father Merton, told us about a story of his early years and his battle with ego. He had the opposite problem than I had. I give in to my obsessions. He showed how spiritual he was by going to the other extreme, which was, of course, really his ego showing how spiritual it wanted to be perceived. For Lent, he said he sacrificed more than anyone. He was called in to see the head Abbot. He was told, for Lent, he had to eat everything that was put in front of him. If ice cream was out for dessert, he was to eat it. He stated that it was a very humbling experience. He never realized his ego was making the choices. He saw himself beneath everyone because they sacrificed more than he had. Lesson learned.
It is amazing how often I have let the ego take control. I mean, it should be a no brainer. Peace, Joy, Love, Guilt, Fear, or Shame. A major source of the ego’s off-balanced state is its lack of discrimination between the body and the thoughts of God/Source. So, when the ego runs the show, I leave the peace that surpasses all understanding. No wonder Paul said: “I do what I don’t want and don’t do what I do want.”
It is such a simple question—what do you choose? Peace or fear? Love or hate?
There are so many stories from the concentration camps when people had to answer that question and then live by their answer. They are truly great teachers for us. Do you see your family killed and choose hate or love? How do you want your life to be lived out? I say abundantly, which cannot be done in fear.
It was President Roosevelt who said, “There is nothing to fear but fear itself.” I think what he meant is that when we give in to fear, things go south. We’re afraid we will be attacked, so we attack first. We are afraid that by giving everyone equal rights, somehow that might take something away from those who already enjoy those rights.
We still live in this illusionary world this way. At one point, I was so identified with my body that I feared getting cremated, because, at the end of times, how would I get my body back? (See “end times” on Google.) I always thought I was not my body, but did not understand the depths of what that meant. Really? Afraid of cremation. I am not my body, I am free…
When I was a Catholic, I did not believe in reincarnation. As my spirituality shifted, so did my thoughts on reincarnation. It seemed to me that reincarnation was possible, first because, for God, anything is possible. Secondly, God teaches us lessons over and over again—we cannot fail.
When Glenda Green asked about reincarnation, Jesus said, “Let Me tell you it this way; you only have one life, but it is very long.” I used to believe in purgatory as a place for cleansing in order to see as God sees. Maybe our lives on earth are our purgatory. Heaven is here now, but we cannot see it without right mindedness.
I accept the fact that on this plane, I will not have all the answers to the mysteries of our existence. I keep moving forward as Spirit directs. Spirit knows the best spirituality for me to keep moving toward the goal—Oneness. And there is more than one road that leads you there.
Let’s keep on walking.
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