Regina Dawn Akers

Jamie and the dead rabbit, part I

Jamie is my black lab. She’s got a good life for a dog. She has a fenced in backyard that she can run and play in, I take her on 1 – 2 walks each day, and she gets to sleep with me every night. She also has a best friend, Zeak. Zeak is a black spaniel that comes over to play in the backyard with Jamie everyday. It’ a really good life for a dog.

Early this morning, Jamie killed a rabbit in the backyard. Jamie is a very gentle dog, so although she killed the rabbit through a quick reflex of instinct, she isn’t the type to rip through the fur and eat the rabbit. She treats it more like a stuffed animal. But, she knows it is hers and she won’t leave its side. She values this dead rabbit.

Jamie got a bit bored in the backyard by herself and started scratching on the window. This is her way of telling me that she is ready for Zeak to come over. I brought Zeak over, but Jamie isn’t playing with him. She is too afraid to leave the side of the valued dead rabbit. I mean, after all, if she walks away from the rabbit, Zeak might take it from her. Right?

So today, Zeak and Jamie are not playing. Jamie is bored and unhappy, but not willing to give up that which she values in order to be happy and care free.

Kind of silly, don’t you think?

When I am not feeling happy, it seems that it may be worthwhile to look in the mind and ask, “What is my dead rabbit right now? What am I holding onto that is blocking my happiness?”

Jamie and the dead rabbit, part II,
The lesson continues

Jamie spent most of yesterday lying next to her dead rabbit. She wouldn’t let Zeak come near her. She wouldn’t go and play with Zeak. When I opened the door to give them a treat, Jamie, who usually bounds to the door with great excitement, would not move from the dead rabbit’s side. Finally, I took Zeak home.

Yesterday evening, I called Jamie into the house. I went into the backyard with a shovel and two plastic bags. I scooped up the dead rabbit and disposed of it. When I let Jamie out again, she sniffed and sniffed for her rabbit but could not find it. She seemed to mourn the loss of her rabbit by refusing to eat her supper. (She was still willing to sleep with me though.)

By this morning, the rabbit was completely forgotten. She asked for Zeak about an hour earlier than usual, and you should have seen the excitement when I let Zeak into the yard! She jumped on him in a joyous, playful way, and they were off and playing immediately.

Does Holy Spirit ever take things away from us, like I took the rabbit away from Jamie? The answer is ‘yes.’ Does that mean that we may sometimes have to sacrifice? The answer is ‘no.’ Jamie did not sacrifice when I took the rabbit. She perceived it as a sacrifice, but if you saw her with Zeak today, you’d understand that there was only gain.

Holy Spirit is not separate from us. It cannot want for us apart from what we want for ourselves. However, we are only aware of our conscious wants. Holy Spirit is aware of both our conscious and unconscious wants, and Holy Spirit can see the measure of each. When our true desire to ‘Know thy Self’ begins to awaken within, the strength of that desire may not be fully conscious to us, but our Holy Spirit sees it clearly. So our Holy Spirit responds to that desire by arranging things into alignment with it. We may perceive that as a sacrifice, if we choose to hold to the ego’s perspective. But it isn’t a sacrifice. It is our true desire at work.

When I started studying the A Course in Miracles, I was planning to get married, retire from my career and move to Colorado. After giving myself to Holy Spirit, my plan for my life began to unravel. I chose not to see it as a sacrifice, but as a forgiveness opportunity. I let it unravel without trying to save it, and I focused on watching my mind. When the unraveling was complete, I found that I was filled with joy. I knew Holy Spirit had a plan for me that would make me happier than the plan I had for myself. I had no idea what that plan was or when it would come about, but I could feel that my true desire was in the lead.

If you’d like to hear the story of this unraveling in full, you can play this interview with Rev Lee Catalano: Click to download

~giggle~ It sounds like Jamie and Zeak are having a lot of fun in the backyard today.

“The miracle compares what man has made with the higher level creation, accepting what is in accord as true and rejecting the discord as false. All aspects of fear are untrue because they do not exist at the higher creative level, and therefore do not exist at all. To whatever extent a man is willing to submit his beliefs to this test, to that extent are perceptions corrected.”

“To whatever extent a man is willing to submit his beliefs to this test, to that extent are perceptions corrected.”

Let me start by telling you about an experience I have from time-to-time. Sometimes people call me or write to me asking for help, because they are not at peace. I always give the discussion to Holy Spirit, and then I listen and wait for a prompt on what to say. Occasionally, I will hear the other person describe a belief they have in their mind that seems to be the cause of their current unhappiness. Usually, when I point out what I heard, the person on the other end of the phone is grateful. They didn’t see the belief on their own and they are happy to have it pointed out to them. I pass that gratitude on to Holy Spirit. But on rare occasions, the person with the belief will say, “No!” And then go on to tell me why that belief is true or why they must maintain that belief for their own happiness or protection.

In the contrast between these two reactions, I see what I must do if I am to let my mind be healed.

“To whatever extent a man is willing to submit his beliefs to this test, to that extent are perceptions corrected.”

Holy Spirit once placed me in a vision where I was in a tunnel. It was like a wind tunnel, except that which flowed was not wind, it was love. But the tunnel was blocked by a brick wall, and the wind could not flow through. I knew the brick wall needed to be taken down, but the bricks were securely cemented together. It looked like an impossible job to me. Then I heard Holy Spirit say, “I will loosen the bricks for you. Your job is to find the loose bricks. When you find them, take them down from the wall.”

I knew this meant that Holy Spirit will help me find the obstacles in my mind that block the presence of love within me. He will point them out to me in one way or another. My job is to let go of the obstacle once it is pointed out. My job is to be grateful to find another loose brick, and take it down from the wall. Holy Spirit went on to say, “Be joyful as you take the brick down from the wall. With each brick that is removed, the flow of love increases.”

“To whatever extent a man is willing to submit his beliefs to this test, to that extent are perceptions corrected.”

“‘Except ye become as little children’ means that, unless you fully recognize your complete dependence on God, you cannot know the real power of the Son in his true relationship with the Father.”

Regina

“Equality does not imply homogeneity now. When everyone recognizes that he has everything, individual contributions to the Sonship will no longer be necessary.”

~ACIM Original Edition, Chapter 1, paragraph 88

How does this inspire me?

It reminds me of why I am here. When I started the spiritual path, I seemed to start by taking a step of surrender. Many of you have heard this story. I was on a Disney Cruise about to begin the ACIM text and workbook, and I decided to say an opening prayer. As I said that prayer, a desire to be only useful to God came over me. In that thought of wanting to be only useful to God, I was not separate from anyone or anything. In that thought, I was a part of the cause that influences the total effect, and yet I was totally surrendered to Cause that knew better than I. I said, “I will learn anything you want me to learn and do anything that you want me to do.” I only wanted to be useful.

This desire that came over me on that Disney Cruise is captured within this sentence from the Original Edition. God does need “individuals” who are willing to let go of “individual will” and be fully surrendered to the purpose of healing our one mind. This is needed as long as any aspect of our mind is unawakened to our reality. And in this purpose, I step forward to serve. I step forward with willingness to surrender completely. I can feel that desire. It is so strong within me that I cannot even capture it with words. But maybe you feel it too and understand.

With Love & In Deep Gratitude,

Regina

“The basic decision of the miracle-minded is not to wait on time any longer than is necessary.”

~ACIM, The Original Edition, chapter 1, paragraph 87

How does this inspire me?

It reminds me to choose to be the presence of love now, always. For example, I hit snooze a few times before waking up this morning. When the alarm went off for the final time, I noticed that the first thought in my mind was, “No! I don’t want to get up!” The thought was so loud that it shocked me. I realized immediately that I had been listening to the ego by hitting the snooze button. I was not leaving my sleeping and waking habits to the Holy Spirit, as I usually do. I was listening to “I want . . .!”

I recognized the error. I chose to let go of the thought, put my trust back with the Holy Spirit and surrender my will by reaffirming, “I want only what the Holy Spirit wants.” With that, I felt the agitation and annoyance slip away. Peace and joy and excitement returned. Why? Because I decided not to wait to make the decision for God in my mind. I decided to accept my responsibility and make the decision now.

This little experience with the alarm clock helped to revitalize my commitment to Holy Spirit. I found myself shuffling to the coffee pot while telling myself that I want to see all of the little “I want” and “I don’t want” thoughts in my mind that I have not been aware of so I can let them go and replace them with “I only want what the Holy Spirit wants.” I decided to continue to use time effectively now. There is no reason to wait. I’m obviously ready to find these subtle thoughts and let them go, and so that is the step I will take now. And when that is complete, HS will show me the next step that needs to be taken. I will not wait. I will take each step as it is pointed out to me. By taking each step as soon as I am ready, I am not waiting on time any longer than is necessary. That feels like the perfect pace for me.

With Love,

Regina

Hello Friends,

Without what seemed to be any particular reason, I was looking at the idea of cancer yesterday morning and asking, “What is the right-minded way of looking at cancer?” I felt HS shared a truly right-minded perspective with me, and I was grateful for the perspective. Then yesterday afternoon, I suddenly felt a prompt to go onto PalTalk. This was unusual, as I seldom go onto PalTalk on a Saturday afternoon. But I trusted the prompt and logged on. A friend of mine also showed up. He was asking for help with his cancer. I shared the right-minded perspective HS had shared with me just hours earlier. Since then, he and I have communicated further in email. Here is what I shared with him through email:

1. All things need to have the same purpose if our purpose is to accept the atonement for our-self. The body and cancer are no different. So, we are to give our cancer to the Holy Spirit and say that we give this experience the purpose of awakening.

2. We are to accept the cancer. This is very subtle. We don’t accept the cancer as a situation that is true or permanent or needs to be, because none of that is true. It is an illusion and clearly temporary within our eternal existence. It will not last, and we know this. We accept it as an experience now and remember the purpose we have given it. We love the experience by loving the opportunity it provides us for awakening. We are grateful to Holy Spirit for the opportunity to heal the mind and awaken.

Note: When we resist cancer, it is because we are believing it. If we believe illusion, illusion persists within experience. Even having the wish that the cancer be healed can be a subtle form of believing it. The right-minded approach seems to be to accept that it isn’t real . . . it is a temporary experience for the purpose of healing the mind . . . and to be grateful for this experience as we are grateful for all opportunities to heal. Give the entire situation to HS. Remain firm in purpose within the mind.

3. Fear will come up in the mind through the experience of cancer. Other stuff may come up too, like guilt, unworthiness, feeling of being betrayed or rejected, etc. As these feelings come up, we are to remember the purpose we have given the experience . . . to accept the atonement for our-self . . . and we use the experience to acknowledge our thoughts and feelings and willingly let them go. This may seem to be difficult in the case of cancer. That is ok. The fact that it is difficult just means that we are very close to the root and doing some really meaningful work. We just keep doing our best and keep asking HS for help. A good inspiring story about forgiving fear over and over is found in NTI at Mark 14, verses 32-42.

Here is some truly helpful information about physical illness from the Original Edition of A Course in Miracles. This comes from the last section of Chapter 4. That section is titled True Rehabilitation:

“The ego is likely to fear broken bodies because it cannot tolerate them. The ego cannot tolerate ego weakness without ambivalence because it is afraid of its own weakness as well as the weakness of its chosen home [the body]. . .

By the way, in the last paragraph just prior to the True Rehabilitation section, the Original Edition describes praising God in this way:

“God is praised whenever any mind learns to be wholly helpful. This is impossible without being wholly harmless because the two beliefs coexist. The truly helpful are invulnerable because they are not protecting their egos, so that nothing can hurt them. Their helpfulness is their praise of God, and He will return their praise of Him because they are like Him, and they can rejoice together. God goes out to them and through them, and there is great joy throughout the Kingdom. Every mind that is changed adds to this joy with its own individual willingness to share in it. The truly helpful are God’s miracle workers whom I direct until we are all united in the joy of the Kingdom.”

The key seems to be: be willing for any experience without resisting or fearing it, and give the current experience the same purpose as all experiences . . . healing of the mind. Then, trust HS and be willing for “thine Will, not mine.”

Jesus is a true inspiration when we are asked to be helpful in this way, because he accomplished this perfectly.

With Love,

Regina

“The miracle is much like the body in that both are learning aids which aim at facilitating a state in which they are unnecessary.”

“Remember that all things are well in My Sight. I am the Holy Spirit, the overseer of all things. I see to it that all things are good, and so they are.” – The Holy Spirit, NTI Acts, Chapter 7