It takes me a week to incorporate what I am being taught with the readings lately. That is how the Holy Spirit works.

Consistent review of what we think we believe will clarify our thoughts and create a better future.

It takes me a week to incorporate this reading into my understanding. It is interesting how the Holy Spirit works.

1. See others as you would like to be seen, as you are right now.

Let them throw off the cloak of guilt, shame, and embarrassment along with you.

The true and complete forgiveness of the Atonement does not allow any of that guilt, shame, or even embarrassment because you are a beloved child of God. So is everyone else, yup, even that one, and even them!

At the same time, you want to have healthy boundaries because if they are in ego mind they are out to attack, and while you may not need to point that out to them. You can be aware of it yourself and still engage in a loving manner.

2. As you engage with others, do so as if you were feeling God’s Love through them and bringing God’s Love to them because you are.

This is a relatively new understanding for me.

It took a lot of years for the Holy Spirit to show me that sometimes people do not have “nice intentions”. In fact, some were downright hateful. ACIM (A Course In Miracles) confirmed that instruction.

Then came the years that Holy Spirit taught me to “see” what they were doing, even while I loved and forgave them, and I just tried to avoid being hurt by them.

It required me to level the playing field between myself and others. I had been taught that I had to meet some standard but that I was to be understanding and forgive anyone else, whatever they may do.

One of the things that I did was to see what gifts they offered me as coming from God, not from them because I understood that there would be conditions and expectations from them for extending the gifts that I may not be comfortable with otherwise. I said “thank you” to whoever I received it from but I gave God the credit for the gift. And then I treated them with respect as a child of God.

That concept is something that is not easily understood because people think that respect is to be given to those deserving of respect and if we did that we would respect NO ONE, including ourselves which happens to be the case and gives us the world we see at the moment.

Giving thanks to God is actually a key component of what really started separating me from people because that is an ego game and how we “seem to connect” in societal situations. It would be several years before the distances were really seen (or acknowledged without an attempt to correct it) by me and I let go of the attempt to connect in society. Having children that would grow up and need to create their own lives and abide by the “rules of societal connection”, plus being part of a church that was very structured also extended our separation but it did finally happen. Please understand that I know that the separation has no reality because God IS.

Today I find myself hesitant to socialize with others much because the “games people play” as egos are fairly easy for me to see through now and I do not have any desire to confront people. Once the Holy Spirit shows me their intent or way of viewing the world I cannot disrespect that or we will clash and there will be problems.

This was what got me into several relationships in my life. I would not listen to the red flags and such that I was able to see. I do not begrudge them because they all taught me more and more about myself, people, and God.

Today I am able to see things that no one would acknowledge and I need to know how to interact with them as Father would have me do.

Today I am hearing the Spirit whisper to me that I want to see the Love of God in them. Feeling God’s Love through them and bringing God’s Love to them because I am.

This is not where we live life yet. I truly believe this. It is sort of a pre-life because at this time we have this crazy idea that we could be separated from God and that is insane.

Life is in another “dimension,” or something, where we are all aware that we are as God created us.

3. You can use the things you are learning to give different perspectives to old issues.

Just like you clean out your closets your beliefs need to have regular review and adjustments. This is how we grow and understand ourselves better.

Writing a journal or keeping a word document of comments you make can give you great insight.

You could even do like me and do readings from a book of what you understand about life and discover what you are learning along the path of life.

4. Depression

Disclaimer: I am not a therapist of any sort. Just a resident of planet earth.

Depression is one of the three base temptations of Jesus after 40 days of fasting. The other two are power hunger and addiction.

Dissatisfaction with the world as it is will at the least leave you sad. I call that PTSpD, Post Traumatic Separation Disorder.

I do suspect that a lot of what brings depression in the world is believing that this is life.

I mean, how can it be life when we think we are separated from God and one another in purpose and that lack is possible in any form? Seriously, this needs to be let go of through the Atonement!

The Atonement is the only place that truly relieves depression because it is the only thing that allows one to connect with God and all that is and know that we have not arrived but we will.

Faith would be a good place to start but the Atonement is better.

Till next time, God bless, debi.