False Evidence Appearing Real
It's about more than fear.
A little green tomato fell off one of my plants, and I put it on my window ledge to ripen. Days later, I noticed it wasn't there. I didn't move it, Del didn't move it, so where was it?
I took my rings off and put them on the sink. When I went to look for them later, I couldn't find them. Where were they?
One very early morning, I joined Del on our porch to drink our morning brew. The pine trees on the other side of the rail were a big haze. I couldn't see anything and was afraid something else was there.
I was filling the teakettle with cold water. The kettle was hot, so steam was produced when water entered it. Touching the faucet, I quickly pulled back because it felt like I had burned my hand, even though only cold water was coming through it.
What do these four incidents have in common?
The answer is that they are all examples of a mist-perception, a misperception, false evidence appearing real.
Looking for the little green tomato, I accepted the possibility that something "weird" had happened to it or that Del was teasing me and had hidden it.
When I stopped both those thoughts and stated instead, "Nothing in Mind is ever lost," the next time I went to the sink to get something, I saw that tomato lying beside the faucet.
Looking for the rings, I remembered putting them on the sink. This was a false memory because when I saw them weeks later—note the weeks later—they were exactly where I had left them.
They were neatly placed over the straight handle of the faucet. Then I remembered putting them there to keep them from rolling away.
Fuzzy images beyond the porch gave me a touch of fright. What if something was wrong with my eyes? Stopping that ridiculous thought, I waited until my eyes adjusted to the dark and the trees slowly emerged.
As for the teakettle, I laughed as I realized my senses had pictured what I was thinking back to me, as they always do.
The steam gave the illusion of heat, and that is what my sense of touch registered back to me to ensure that what I experienced was congruent with what I believed.
There is no difference between these stories and the seemingly more important or frightening ones of insufficient money, unhappy relationships, missed purpose, or ill health.
Looking at numbers that say there isn't enough money in our checking account and accepting them as real is the same as wondering where my little green tomatoes went.
We can think of many reasons why it may be true that there is not enough, but that will only continue to blind us to the fact that supply, in whatever form it is needed, is present now.
The Infinite never loses anything!
Emotions ranging from sadness to anger about relationships because of false memories of what has happened or is happening are no different than a false memory of where my rings were placed.
All relationships are always between Love and Love.
Getting our perceptions in line with that Truth, loving relationships are visible and experienced now.
Not seeing a purpose in our lives occurs because of the false idea that something is wrong, which only perpetuates the illusion of fuzziness.
Resting safely in the knowledge that everything we do is the purpose of God being Itself and that we are aware of that purpose (even when we can't see it), every step we need to take emerges clearly.
In fact, instead of just a row of pine trees, infinite possibilities are always present and available, and the perfect possibilities for each moment are always available.
We must continually monitor, be watchful, and be vigilant about what point of view we accept—and choose the highest awareness of good, God, that we have in each moment.
Then, we will not be taken in by false evidence that appears real.
The faucet was cold, not hot. All that is ever going on is the presence of God. That's it.
Any other evidence reported back to us by our senses results from our inward agreements to what is real, including the false evidence of ill health.
Unless every thought stems from the awareness of the infinite divine Mind, Love, we will continue to see false evidence appear real, which, of course, produces fear in its many forms.
However, all we have to do is shift our point of view back to One, and keep our state of mind in harmony with Love.
It's important to remember that our emotions and reactions to what appears to be real gives it the only power it has.
To dissolve the illusion of a problem, we must remove the emotion, stop the reactions, and shift our point of view to the Truth.
Then what we experience in life will be closer in line with Realty: Love loving, Mind knowing, Principle governing, Spirit grounding, Soul enjoying, Truth revealing, Life living. Shift perception to this, hold to it, protect it, and watch the "world" shift to match that perception.
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