Keys to the Kingdom

When was the last time you forgot something? Can’t remember? ;)

Think about what memories are. Memories are the link between the present moment and the past. Without the memory, the past is dead to us. With the memory, it is as if it were happening right now. Sometimes we can even smell or taste the experience. Amazing things our memories.

So what happens when we forget? Well, the memory doesn't go anywhere; we just aren't able to access it. We know this, and we’ve developed a few fairly universal solutions:

1) We stop. We stop trying so hard to remember. We go for a jog or do some chores. Our experience has shown us that often when we stop struggling, the memory pops right in there.

2) We leave reminders. We tie a string around our finger. (Anybody actually still do that?) We make a list. We set something out in an unusual spot, so that we can’t miss it.

3) We run through everything that we were doing or thinking until we are left with the thing we forgot. How many times have you retraced your steps to discover your missing car keys?

All of these solutions work equally well when it comes to our spiritual journey.

Our problem is that we’ve forgotten. That’s all. We’ve forgotten who we are. We’ve forgotten what Love is. We’ve forgotten that guilt cannot be justified. Sure, we’ve made some fine substitutions here, but none bring us lasting peace. None reflect our Truth.

The good news is that if we’ve merely forgotten, we need only restore what was already there! So, just as we use the aforementioned techniques to link us to the past, we can utilize them to link us to our Truth.

1) We stop. We stop trying so hard to be spiritual, to understand, to get it. Our trying often only serves to reinforce the lack. The ego loves it when we turn spirituality into a race, debate, mountain to climb or lesson to learn. When we do so, we always prove the ego’s point – that there is something out there to attain. There isn’t. We are what we seek, yet we do not know where to look. So, stop. Give up your judgment of where and how. Give up your need to be right about who and when. Give up your belief about the problem. Let Love remind you.

2) Leave reminders. How? Give up your purpose for what you see. Instead of every symbol screaming of its difference, its specialness, allow everything you encounter today to be the reminder of where the problem really is. Let every breath you take be the reminder that you’ve only forgotten Love; it isn’t gone. Let every person you meet sing to you of their truth beyond what your eyes and ears seem to perceive.

3) Be Michelangelo. We do not have to do anything to be what we are. (This is why ACIM is a course in undoing the negative rather than a course in understanding or attaining the positive.) We do, however, have to let go of the seeming blocks of granite that we’ve placed between us and our Truth, between us and Love. Michelangelo often spoke of the beauty within his block of stone believing his only responsibility was to “hew away the rough walls that imprison the lovely apparition” or “carve until I set him free”. If we will but hew away all of the rough walls of judgment that block our awareness of Love, Love will dawn upon our mind, because that is what it is. Just as we retrace and eliminate each step to find the keys to our car, we retrace and eliminate each judgment, each defense, leaving us with nothing but the "keys" to the Kingdom.