Inner landscapes - sexual attraction

The inner worlds can be pictured as intricate and varied as the geography of the outer world, and each life as a traveler through psychological landscapes. At some times it may seem the inner terrain is strewn with rocks and pot-holes that make froward progress difficult, that keeps our eyes focused upon the ground ahead. Other times we may fix our gaze upon the grandeur of distant panoramas without any thought about the ground under foot. The picture presents various aspects of life, and the mental habits we fall into and the confusions we have become comfortable with. From the wider perspective of the spirit, all approaching storms are seen far off and can be easily avoided, and the erroneous beliefs that so frequently cause us pain are readily recognized and can be corrected.

There is within each of us a divine desire to join with our brothers. It is a powerful and fearful impulse. It is powerful because it is the irresistible pull toward our reality as God created us. It is fearful because to join with another threatens the cherished self-image of independent autonomy. To resist the pull is like a stone resisting the pull of gravity, and not roll down hill. The pull cannot be resisted, but it can be deflected and distorted.

The impulse for minds to join is the miracle-impulse, as that terms is used in “A Course in Miracles.” The distorting force of false autonomy twists the divinely inspired miracle-impulse for minds to join into physical sexual attraction. As the Course states, “The confusion of miracle impulse with sexual impulse is a major source of perceptual distortion, because it induces rather than straightening out the basic level-confusion which underlies all those who seek happiness with the instruments of the world.”

Jesus compares being bound to inappropriate sexual impulses to one living in a desert. He is, of course, referring to an inner psychological state and not an outer environment. The main characteristic of a desert in the world’s environment is its lack of water. A psychological desert is an inner landscape starved of the living waters of spirit.

Jesus advises, “The thing to do with a desert is to leave.”

The power of attention

"The task for this period is not to let uncreative thought have lodging room. You say you make pictures, your mind conceives them like dark magic. Try not to do this, and the best way not to make negative pictures is to make spiritual pictures. Let into your mind the noble company of thoughts, thus will you keep out the rabble. Make your mental company glorious."

From: Letters of the Scattered Brotherhood

"To be IN the Kingdom is merely to focus your full attention ON it. As long as you believe that you can attend to what is NOT true, you are accepting conflict as your CHOICE. Is it REALLY a choice? It SEEMS to be, but seeming and reality are hardly the same. You who ARE the Kingdom are not concerned with seeming. Reality is yours because you ARE reality. This is how having and being are ultimately reconciled, not in the Kingdom, but IN YOUR MINDS. The altar there is the ONLY reality. The altar is perfectly clear in thought because it is a reflection of PERFECT Thought. It sees only brothers because it sees ONLY in its own Light."

From: A Course in Miracles Chapter 7, Section 3 - The Reality of the Kingdom

—oOo—

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

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Through Heaven's Eyes

from: The Prince of Egypt

A single thread in a tapestry,
though its color brightly shines,
can never see its purpose
in the pattern of the grand design.

And the stone that sits up on the very top
of the mountain's mighty face,
does it think that it's more important
than the stones that forms the base?

So how can you see what your life is worth
or where your value lies?
Ohhhh, you can never see through the eyes of man.
You must look at your life
look at your life through heaven's eyes.

Lai-la-lai...through heaven's eyes.

A lake of gold in the desert sand
is less than a cool fresh spring,
and to one lost sheep, a shepard boy
is greater than the richest king.

Should a man lose everything he owns
has he truly lost his worth?
Or is it the beginning
of a new and brighter birth?

So how do you measure the worth of a man
in wealth or strength or size,
in how much he gained or how much he gave
the answer will come.
The answer will come to him who tries
to look at his life through heaven's eyes.

Lai-la-lai...through heaven's eyes.

And that's why we share all we have with you
though there's little to be found.
When all you've got is nothing
there's lots to go around.

No life can escape being blown about
by the winds of change and chance,
and though you never know all the steps,
you must learn to join the dance.

You must learn to join the dance.

Early Christian writings online

Christian Classics Ethereal Library. The mission of the CCEL is to build up the church by making classic Christian writings available and promoting their use. English translations of early Christian writing available online.