26.02.06
0702 – You Cannot Not Choose
Posted in the Branch at 7:19 pm by Linda 
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from Issue 007 — Jun 2002
There are so many truths the Course points to, which, as we go into them more deeply, reveal themselves as things we cannot choose against. Laws of Life, Mind, Spirit, however it is expressed, demand these choices be made as an inevitable function of being. It is the egoic mentality within us that keeps on insisting that there is a grey place, a place in between, in which we can dwell, and not make intrinsic choices. In other words, it is the egoic in us that will, in every instance, seek compromise. It never tells us each effort involving compromise is itself a choice.
The Course frequently alludes to this as wanting a little of heaven in hell. More worldly expressions are wanting the best of both worlds, or more blatantly, wanting to have your cake and eat it too. The Course is here to teach us that there is no cake to be had here! That there seems to be is the great illusion.
Recognising that there is no place of compromise in which we cannot not choose, we are propelled in the direction of making authentic choices in which the sting of the sense of sacrifice and deprivation has at last vanished. And with that vanishing there is no place in which anger, hatred and attack can be harbored. This is truly the dawning of peace and its gentle release.
Here is a list of some of the non-negotiable choices we must make simply by virtue of being.
- You cannot not choose to have a guide for decision. You are either listening to the Voice for God or of the ego.
- You cannot not decide. Appearing not to choose is a choice.
- You cannot not choose heaven without being in hell. Until you decide for heaven you are in hell.
- You cannot not choose to serve. You serve God or ego in every instant. No exceptions.
- You cannot not choose a Master. Your master is either God or ego.
- You cannot not choose to teach and learn. Your lessons are either of God or the ego.
- You cannot not choose to pray. Your entire life is a prayer. You are either praying from a place of need or want and the underlying belief in separation or you are praying for help and forgiveness for that very belief. In moments of joy, your prayer simply expresses gratitude for the fact of union.
- You cannot not make a decision about judgement. You are either holding on to the perceived right to judge or you are handing judgement over to a higher power.
- You cannot not identify with something. That something will either reflect the laws of God or laws of the world.
- You cannot not be in relationship. You are in relationship with all things, through all time and beyond because you are, so to speak, made of the self-same substance.
- You cannot not have faith. You have faith in the ego and its world or Spirit and its laws.
- You cannot not believe. Every thought, feeling and action we do reflects a belief.
- You cannot not cultivate and maintain a sense of self. In our journey here, our sense of self will move in the direction of compounding error, or reflect a willingness to forgive and heal.
- You cannot not, in your awareness, choose to separate or join. You are choosing one or the other each instant and through all time.
- You cannot choose to be a help or a hindrance in the great process of awakening. You are being one or the other.
- You cannot not be vigilant. You are being vigilant for God and His Kingdom, or for the ego.
- You cannot not choose to renounce. You either renounce the Spirit and its fruits or the ways of the world.
- You cannot choose to be a disciple. As a Course student you are either following Jesus as a model for learning or the ego.
- You cannot not choose to act while you believe in time. To choose not to act is an act.
- You cannot not choose to participate. The appearance of not participating can only be known, felt or experienced within the very context of participation.
- You cannot not choose to be for or against the Son of God. Each perception reflects your choice.
- You cannot not choose to be Life. You are. The ego is an idea of death and destruction. But even in the midst of the apparent destruction of life, there has to be one who knows it. Who is that one?
- You cannot not choose to be part of the problem or part of the answer.
- You cannot not choose to use the body as a means or end.
- You cannot not choose to extend or project.
- You cannot not choose to curse or bless.
- You cannot not choose to view each moment as an opportunity for forgiveness or to reinforce your judgement.
- You cannot not choose to worship. In each instant you are either worshiping idols or the true God, which is Spirit and beyond all idols.
- You cannot not choose to be a co-creator with God. That is your very nature.
- You cannot not be seen and known by Life and your brothers. In our heart of hearts, behind all appearances, we see each other exactly as we are. There are no private thoughts. Within the unfolding of the great carpet of time, all that has been hidden and what is beyond is always revealed exactly as it is.
- You cannot not be an idea.
- You cannot not be Spirit. However much we rant and rave, no matter how bleak and tumultuous the storm, it always passes. What is it that always remains?
Jesus said that anyone of the Holy Spirits thoughts “…contains the whole curriculum if understood, practiced, accepted, and applied to all the seeming happenings throughout the day. One is enough. But from that one, there must be no exceptions made.” (W-p1 rV.in.2: 2-4)
Any of the above ideas, sincerely contemplated in terms of their implications, also contains every other idea. Given the unity of all things, which the unified thought system of the Course reflects, how could it be otherwise?
As we continue to resist accepting the Answer we already have received, we hear Jesus’ voice asking: How long, Holy Son of God, how long? Yet even within the apparently interminable unfoldment of time, the end is inevitable. Let us remember that the idea of the inevitable is frightening only to the ego. To the Christ in us it is a source of great joy. We are here for each other and the more deeply we accept this, the more joyously and lightly we walk through this realm of appearances. Heaven is here and heaven is now. We hear the Voice for God say: “ Awaken and be glad.” And as we smile, in the self-same instant, the Universe smiles back.
Linda