The Only Thing That Matters (26 page)

The Master understands that every event in Life is part of a Contextual Field (explained here in
Chapter 14
) creating a space within which to express the next grandest version of the greatest vision that the Master ever held about who the Master is and chooses to be.

The Master, therefore, says yes and only yes to every experience. And the Master says it joyfully, gratefully, for the Master knows that a glorious moment has arrived that is perfect for the glorious expression and experience of Glory Itself, called Divinity.

How can the Master be anything but grateful for this? And when the Master knows that everything occurring has been co-created by many Souls, working in collaboration and agreement with the Master's own Soul, to produce the circumstance or condition currently presenting itself, how can the Master complain? Of what would the Master disapprove?

30
Knowing About the Tool and Using
It Are Two Different Things

P
LEASE DON'T BE SATISFIED
with simply knowing about this marvelous transformational tool called Gratitude. Make a commitment to
use this tool yourself.
You will see how the energy you may be carrying about any unwelcome event, past or present, can be transformed in the blink of an eye.

Simply say
Thank you, God
, the moment any so-called “negative” event occurs today or presents itself in your memory. Then decide immediately what you are thanking God
for
.

Say, “Thank you, God, for giving me this chance—yes, even one
more
chance—to heal my thought that …” or “… to change my old story about …” or “… to release my fears around …”—or
however
you want to use this Reliable Repetition of a Revolving Emotion.

Decide then and there Who You Are and Who You Choose To Be in relationship to the event or circumstance currently arising.

Here now are some additional examples of how you may wish to use the tool of Gratitude to allow you to focus your daily life more clearly and consistently on The Only Thing That Matters.

The Morning Prayer

Make it your habit to say to yourself each day as you awaken:

Thank you, God, for another day and another chance to be my Highest Self
.

Do this
first thing
, before thinking or doing anything else. After about a week or so it will become second nature. Saying this as you are rising is a wonderful way to plant the seed in your Mind, as a First Thought, that Life is something to be grateful for
precisely because of the opportunity it gives you
to move into the next greatest expression of your Highest Idea about You.

It tells your Mind that you know what the day's events are about, even before they occur, and that this knowing allows you to be grateful
in advance
for what will follow.

Such an announcement does more than merely put you in a good frame of mind. If you believe that what you Thought about Life has at least some effect on how Life plays itself out, you must surely see that beginning each day with such a remarkable statement of faith in the Process of Life Itself becomes
formative
in the Process of Life Itself.

It has been said that Life informs Life about Life through the Process of Life Itself. If this is true (and it is), you are doing more with this little morning prayer than saying what you expect. You are declaring what you choose to co-create. Such a declaration is neither pointless nor meaningless.

The Solution Prayer

Should your day present you with an experience or circumstance that you consider problematic, and if you find yourself paying more than a little mental attention to it, try saying this:

Thank you, God, for helping me to understand that this problem has already been solved for me
.

This is one of the most powerful prayers you could ever use, because it
presumes the outcome.
It is not a request or a supplication, but a pure and simple statement of assured awareness of What Is So.

Praying a prayer of supplication declares your lack of assurance regarding results. It is not necessary to ask for something you already have. Therefore, if you ask for something, you are as much as announcing that you may or may not get it.

Saying thanks for something before you get it is a declaration of absolute clarity that you are going to receive it. This shift of energy is neither pointless nor meaningless.

The Perfection Prayer

Whatever shows up in your Life, allow yourself to “see the Perfection.” Express your sincere gratitude with this:

Thank you, God, for the Perfection of this outcome, of this moment, and of my Life
.

Try to remain in that state of Gratitude until it becomes “really Real,” not “pretend Real.” This is about calling forth a feeling.

Sometimes people say things in prayer that they wish were real, but that they do not truly believe. That's okay. That's perfectly normal. But a statement of what you choose to be real can
become
real through the simple act of your choosing it, and continuing to choose it.

Now here's a little trick. After you choose it, allow yourself to feel it. Close your eyes and open your Mind and allow the feeling of perfection regarding the moment and your whole life to permeate your entire Body. Breathe slowly and deeply—nice, long, easy breaths—three times as you do this. By the end of the third breath, you should be starting to feel the Peace of Perfection. If it helps, picture soft golden light surrounding you while you do the breathing.

Since all experience is internal and all events and circumstances are only external, continuing to use Gratitude to see Perfection adds to the data in your Mind, which impacts your Truth about an event or circumstance, which creates a Thought about it, which generates an Emotion regarding it, which produces an Experience of it—and, once again, this Experience will be your interior Reality.

You have taken an exterior occurrence and you have literally internalized it. Such a process can turn your world
inside out
.

It would be silly to suggest that it is always easy to “see the Perfection.” It is extremely challenging when what is happening seems anything
but
Perfect. The death of a loved one, the loss of a job, and the end of a relationship would surely all qualify as events in that category. And there are many others that could be brought to Mind. So you may need assistance with this. And where can it be found?

Try this. It is the theory here that one's idea of Perfection is going to depend a great deal on one's idea of the Self, and on one's reason for being on the earth. It is these ideas that produce one's understanding of Divine Perfection, one's clarity about
What One Desires
, and from this, the mental peace that creates the end to struggle and suffering—an outcome for which all of humanity yearns.

These thoughts must come first. You must be clear about your idea of Self and your reason for being on the earth, or placing labels of Perfection on calamitous events will only anger the Mind and shut it down, turning you away from The Only Thing That Matters.

31
The Biggest Choice You Will Ever Make

Y
OUR IDEA OF THE
S
ELF
and of your reason for being on the earth breaks down, ultimately, to two simple choices. These were succinctly described in the book referenced earlier,
The Storm Before the Calm
, which laid it out this way:

Choice #1

You could conceive of yourself as a Chemical Creature, or a “Logical Biological Incident.” That is, the logical outcome of a biological process engaged in by two other biological processes, called mother and father.

If you see yourself as a Chemical Creature you would see yourself as having no more connection to the Larger Processes of Life than any other chemical or biological life form.

Like all the others, you would be impacted
by
life, but could have very little impact
on
life. You certainly couldn't create events, except in the most remote, indirect sense. You could create more
life
(all chemical creatures carry the biological capacity to re-create more of themselves), but you could not create what life
does
, or how it “shows up,” in any given moment.

Further, as a Chemical Creature you would understand yourself to have very limited ability to create an intentioned
response
to the events and conditions of life. You would see yourself as a creature of habit and instinct, with only those resources that your fundamental biology provides you.

You would see yourself as having more resources than a turtle, because your biology has gifted you with more. You would see yourself as having more resources than a butterfly, because your biology has gifted you with more.

You would see yourself as having more resources than an ape or a dolphin (but, in those cases, perhaps not all that
many
more), because your biology has gifted you with more. Yet that is all you would see yourself as having in terms of resources.

You would see yourself as having to deal with life day by day, pretty much as it comes, with perhaps a tiny bit of what seems like “control” based on advance planning, etc., but you would know that at any minute anything could go wrong—and often would.

Choice #2

You could conceive of yourself as a Spiritual Being inhabiting a biological mass—what is called a physical body.

If you saw yourself as a Spiritual Being, you would see yourself as having powers and abilities far beyond those of a simple Chemical Creature—powers that transcend basic physicality and its laws.

You would understand that these powers and abilities give you some collaborative control over the
exterior
elements of your Individual and Collective Lives, and complete individual control over the
interior
­elements—which means that you have total ability to create your own reality, because your reality has nothing to do with
producing
the exterior elements of your lives and everything to do with how you
respond to
the elements that have been produced.

Also, as a Spiritual Being, you would know that you are here (on the earth, that is) for a spiritual reason. This is a highly focused purpose and has nothing to do directly with your occupation or career, your income or possessions or achievements or place in society, or
any
of the exterior conditions or circumstances of your life.

You would know that your purpose has to do with your
interior
life—and that how well you do in
achieving
your purpose may very often have an
effect
on your exterior life.