We have the opportunity to choose truth or illusion every minute of our day. We tend to identify with our ego which is always invested in the outside world. It creates what we see and protects it. Our ego, which can stand for “Edging God Out,” wants us to control all the events and people we experience which usually creates more problems. It wants us to handle everything alone, to protect itself at the expense of all else. We love and hate the world simultaneously. To seek truth means to detach from what we’re seeing and hearing through the ego’s filters. It means to rise above chaos and search for inner peace.  A Course in Miracles reminds us that the ego seeks chaos for its selfish purposes. Truth always lies in love, ignores chaos and acknowledges peace. We may ask, “Where is the source for truth?” The answer comes from within - “Be still and know peace.” All we need to do is forgive.

Listening for our truth within takes practice. Our ego wants our attention every minute. It’s the default setting in our thinking and the voice we hear in our heads. I’ve had a lot more time to get quiet here since my life as I knew it came to an abrupt halt. I recognize the ego’s voice that wants me to feel like a victim and a martyr. It wants me to live in fear, to be agitated and ready to attack and be attacked. Its power lies in the uncertainty of the future. I’ve applied for two jobs that I didn’t get. The eyes of truth tell me they would have been stressful and chaotic, but my ego wants me to feel like a failure and believe that the right job may never come. Listening to that voice is discouraging and it pulls in all the evidence from our economic climate and difficult times. It wants me to question the decisions I’ve made that have lead to where I am today.

Coming to believe in our truth within powered by Spirit allows us to become aware of our negative thinking and actions. The truth we’re seeking reminds us that we’re never separated from God or from each other. When we feel attacked, it’s not easy to accept that the mean-spirited actions of others are merely their calls for healing and help. We seek truth to feel differently toward those who we believe have attacked us and triggered those feelings. Changing our perceptions is miraculous. Let’s start to believe that only loving thoughts are real and that everything else is an appeal for healing & help. We accept that electricity is real each time we turn on a light even though we can’t see the source, yet it’s so hard to accept that there’s a Divine Energy operating in the universe that always has our highest good at heart.

Let’s begin to look at friends, casual acquaintances and even our enemies through the eyes of truth. It’s impossible to have thoughts of comparison and conflict when love is our guide. When we start our day looking at the first person we see with love, our ability to see the second and third person that way increases. When we’re backed up in traffic, dealing with mean-spirited neighbors or an overly demanding boss, let’s seek truth. Let’s observe our fellow travelers who seem to face all of life’s experiences with a smile and ask how are they doing that? The ego sees a hostile, violent and indifferent world. As we seek truth and the peace that surpasses all understanding, the world will change right before our eyes.

Please write to me at sandyislands@hawaii.rr.com and feel free to browse previous articles under publications at www.sandyislands.com