How To Find What Is Already Present
Shifting perception blindness.
When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us. -Helen Keller
**One day, our internet signal went out, and even after it was restored, I couldn’t get the sound on my computer to come back on.
I tried everything I could think of doing and finally called the company for help. The young man said gently, “I don’t want to offend you, but have you checked to see if the volume is turned up?”
My initial split-second response was to say, “Of course I have,” until I realized I hadn’t. As I pushed the volume control up, the sound magically reappeared.
**I couldn’t find the notebook I had stored in my supply closet.
I knew it was there, but even with extensive searching, I couldn’t find it. Finally, I described the notebook to Del and asked him to find it for me. Within seconds, he reached in and pulled it out.
**I was looking for a tube of lotion that I knew I had purchased. I looked where I thought I had put it, along with every other place I could think of, but I couldn’t find it.
Finally, I decided I must not have bought the tube after all, so I purchased another.
When I put it away where it belonged, I saw the other tube beside it.
Yes, it had been there all along, but the end of the box was a different color than I remembered, so I didn’t see it.
**One spring, I never put my rolling greenhouse out because I had to paint the deck first, and that is where I always put it. However, it rained so often all spring that I didn’t get the deck painted until summer, which was too late for the greenhouse.
Later, I realized that there were many other places where I could have put the greenhouse.
**I sometimes made iced tea by putting four cups of water in a measuring cup, microwaving it, and then adding tea bags.
I didn’t make any for a few days because that measuring cup was dirty. Finally, I realized I could make two cups for the day in the other measuring cup.
All these have one thing in common—perception—perception blindness or a locked-in paradigm of thinking and perceiving.
It happens every day, all day, in everything we do and expect.
Recognizing that perception determines what we experience in the world, it becomes crystal clear that for anything to change, our job is to shift our perception, not fix or change another person, place, or thing.
What we perceive with our senses is only what we have first perceived and believed to be true.
We all make light of the beauty queen who answers, “World peace,” when asked what she wants, but we want the same thing.
We want world peace, lovely homes, more cash, and more love, so we seek ways to satisfy those desires.
Suppose I can’t even find a tube of lotion already present when the memory of what it looks like is faulty, or my state of mind is blocking seeing a notebook right in front of my face. How would I expect to find world peace without shifting out of perceptions, behaviors, and habits?
It is obviously that we have to shift our perception out of what we think and perceive, and into a new paradigm in order to see what is already present.
There are two approaches to making this shift.
One might work, but it will only last briefly and in specific circumstances.
The other always works and always lasts.
The approach that works and lasts is the one that sets thinking and perceiving on a solid scientific foundation.
This foundation starts with only One presence, and that one is the intelligent Mind, and we are Its thoughts.
This doesn’t make a lick of sense to the human mind.
But, our human mind does not know and understand the Truth of our Being anyway.
It’s the connection and knowing within that verifies to us that we are not our human mind, body, or life.
And no matter what we call this One intelligent Mind, It is all-good, all-present, all-power, and all-knowing.
Beginning with this premise as our foundation, what appears as our human ability to perceive what is already present expands.
If we choose the alternative path—the short-term, I gotta make myself better, have some positive thinking, control this with my will, make it happen kind of perception—we are in for some good times and some bad ones because we will never have left the human belief mindset where good and bad battle it out forever.
Within the foundation of divine spiritual perception, we never look for something, a person, or a situation we must fix.
Instead, we are dedicated to letting go of how we think it is or want it to be and allowing the Light of the One to shine in our lives.
This will reveal what is already present and is always practical.
While strolling through the garden early one evening, I noticed a small, round, black object. Picking it up, I realized it was the lens cap to our camera. I carried it back into the house, where Del had just started looking for it.
This is a small but perfect example that all we ever need is present before we ask.
It’s one of those spiritual laws found within the foundation of only One Mind, and it is Love.
Therefore, although we all want world peace, we will only find its permanent presence when we seek and act within the divine consciousness of Love.
And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. Isa 65: 24