08.18.24 "Be Ready for Bold Moves"

Sometimes we are called upon to make bold changes in our life situations when we start to follow Spirit. "Changes are required in the minds of God's teachers. This may or may not involve changes in the external situation. ... There are those who are called upon to change their life situation almost immediately, but these are generally special cases." (OrEd.Mn.9.1) Many years ago I had one such “special case."

Each year when Aug. 16th arrives I am given an opportunity to pause … and to reflect on this. It was on August 16th in 1979 that I, traveling alone with 2 suitcases and a backpack, boarded a late night bus in Ithaca, New York to head for New York City. Hours later, arriving on the west side of Manhattan, I navigated (via subway), to the east side of Manhattan to board a train that took me to JFK International airport. There I boarded a commercial airlines for the first time in my life to fly non-stop across the United States to San Francisco, California.

The trip was exciting and filled with a fair amount of anxiety. Dense fog prevented us from landing in San Francisco and we had to land across the San Francisco Bay in Oakland, California instead. We stayed in the plane, on the tarmac, for an hour, maybe more, waiting for the fog to clear. Eventually it did, and we took off from Oakland to hop across the Bay to the San Francisco airport – probably the shortest commercial airline flight in history (lol).

While I had originally planned to reach San Francisco around 7 p.m., by the time my shuttle from the airport hit downtown San Francisco it was after midnight. I had been traveling for about 24 hours and it was now August 17. I had arranged for a place to stay for a couple of days with people I had never met and hardly knew. Literally a friend of a friend. I then had to navigate San Francisco’s public transportation system late at night to get to my host’s apartment. No one was awake when I arrived, but they had left the door unlocked and a light on in the bedroom I would be staying in. I remember being very relieved and still very excited when I finally walked into that room – again with my 2 suitcases and a backpack.

What I am reflecting upon at this moment was how bold a move this was. I was able to do it because I felt I was definitely following Divine Guidance. I wasn’t thinking about this as tuned into the Holy Spirit at that time in my life, but that’s what was happening. "In everything be led by Him and do not reconsider. Trust Him to answer quickly, surely, and with love for everyone who will be touched in any way by the decision. And everyone will be." (OrEd.Tx.13.81) Once I had made the decision to move to San Francisco I never wavered. I never reconsidered.

From time to time I have been led by Holy Spirit to make other bold moves, that sometimes confront long standing and almost universally accepted world views. While never easy, being predisposed for this can help. Many things ACIM practice may guide us to will encounter great resistance from various forces that appear to be in the world. When we prepare ourselves for this mentally, it helps us stick to the Divine plan, and achieve the Divine objective.

Join me on Sunday to explore this and to prepare for the bold moves you may be asked to take.

29 min.
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