AUGUST: To Not Make A Choice… Is A Choice
I Could See Peace Instead of This
“These are challenging times.” How often are we hearing that now? I agree. I am sure this was also uttered during the American Revolution, the 2nd World War, and especially during the agony of our Civil War. Then, as well as now, visionaries come forward offering us another way. A way to see beyond the present darkness, a way to a more peaceful and caring coexistence, a way to unite. But the vision of a peaceful coexistence is but an idea. Experiencing that vision requires the willingness of you and me to make a choice.
Hello dear ones,
As I sit with you in silence each month, one thought continues to illuminate itself. It wants me to remember my power. Choice is a power---an innate condition of our beingness . . . whether we have made friends with it or not. When I was a kid, there was a game we played called “hot potato.” Five or six of us would form a circle and the tossing of the pretend “hot” potato would begin - everyone frantically getting rid of it by trying to pass it off to someone else without dropping it. If you dropped it, you lose, and you’re out. That’s an image in my mind of what being in denial of my power is like—I’m trying to pass.
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But I have come to realize that there is a consequence of my power of choice. The effect goes one way if I choose—or another way if I “think” I am not choosing. To not make a choice—is a choice; there is no gray. I am either in right minded or wrong minded thinking. There is only the choice of listening to the insane voice of the ego, or listening to the Holy Spirit’s vision. What I think/do makes a difference one way or another. I can’t pass.
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When in my late 20’s and throughout my teaching years, while living in a bedroom community outside of Washington D.C., I took my children and my students on trips to the Capitol grounds. Each time I stepped inside the Lincoln Memorial I was unexpectedly overcome with chills of reverence as I read the words on the wall that Lincoln wrote in 1864.
“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
All are created equal . . .? I could not have expressed it then, but some part of me was awakening to the concept that we are all one. At the time, I had suppressed the memories of my kaleidoscopic visions, (which I’ve written about in Thank God I’m Crazy) not understanding them yet, and was focused on raising a family. I always left with teary eyes. What an incredible vision! Oneness.
I think this experience was a tiny crack in my realization that there is an inner and an outer world. There is a world I see without and a world I see within—and as I later learned, I do not have to be the victim of the world I see. I always have a choice as to how I see. This perspective is the springboard for vision. I can shift my perspective of the world in both its inner and outer aspects. I could see peace instead of this.
Why would I make a choice to see this way?
“Because peace of mind is an internal matter. . . It must begin with my own thoughts and then extend outward . . . In doing so, you are making a declaration of independence in the name of your own freedom. And in your freedom, lies the freedom of the world.” ACIM
In this choice to make a personal declaration of independence, then the vision becomes—God is in everything I see, because, God is in my mind. When the choice is to consciously overlook the ego’s chaos, and instead SEE ONLY LOVE . . . “It is from your peace of mind that a peaceful perception of the world arises.” ACIM
Just imagine you are in a big dark room filled with people each holding a candle. If you make the choice to light your candle, the darkness is not so dark. And . . . if, with your light, you choose to light another’s candle, and – inspired by your choice – that one chooses to light another, and so on until all are lit . . . the darkness is gone!
The world needs more love 😊 Light the light of the sanity of love 😊 You are a visionary!
***** SEE ONLY LOVE FOR THAT IS WHAT YOU ARE *****
MEANWHILE . . .
A great outcome for me during this quarantine has been the development of my new website! It is now launched—and I’m very excited about it! I hope you find it beautiful and user friendly. (Looking back at my old site . . . amazing how much clutter can accumulate in a few years :-) When you have a moment, perhaps you can take a peek at the updates. graceavalon.com If you have any feedback or questions regarding my site, or the thoughts I bring up in this newsletter, please feel free to contact me here.
Stay well—remember your power—and be happy.
So . . . until next time
When you find yourself staring into the headlights of fear—as I often do—stop and tell yourself, I am insane right now 😊 then laugh and remember . . . THANK GOD I’M CRAZY!
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Thank God I’m Crazy available in paperback and e-book on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Thank-God-Im-Crazy- Journey eBook/dp/B074SV56V7 at Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/thank-god-im-crazy-grace-avalon/1130994303?ean=9781945390760 Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Grace-Avalon-1441929822714370/?ref=hl
Thank God I’m Crazy includes pictures of places which took place in Grace’s life, as seen in her visions. Grace Avalon, teacher and intuitive counselor, has taught A Course in Miracles for nine years. She gives presentations, seminars and workshops for anyone whose known abuse, thought they were crazy, or wants to live a joyful life.
*** Marianne Williamson, author of Return to Love has said, “Grace Avalon inspires all of us to trust the wisdom of our hearts. Here is spirituality in practice.” ***