 It's very relative and that perception of time, even if we said the human perception of time is extremely variable, some people will say that it's they're really enjoying themselves dancing, singing, laughing or watching a great movie, like really we'll say like an Academy of World-Wing movie, they'll come out and they'll go, wow, that was like a blink, that I got sucked into that thing and spit out at the end and it was like no time passed at all because they're so fully engaged in the moment. So if you look back, let's use some scientific terms in Newtonian science and physics, but if you go back through the history of science you will see that there was a belief just like, you know, back in the time of Christopher Columbus, the pervasive belief was that the world was flat and this idea of going out, the Nina of the Pints of the Santa Maria and traveling off home with three ships across the ocean just going as far as you can go, most people said don't do it, don't Columbus, you know, you're gonna be really sorry because you're gonna come to the end and you're just gonna drop off, your boat's not gonna sink, it's gonna worst, it's gonna fall off the edge of the world because they believe the world was flat. Most scientists throughout the centuries believed that time was absolute, that time wasn't absolute, it was fixed, like human beings existed in time, just like the chicken noodle soup, the noodles in the bowl are in the soup, they exist in the soup, human beings existed in this thing called time and the time was absolute and so this was a pervasive belief of science and then, you know, Einstein, he had a suspicion that time was not absolute, you have a mind like Einstein come along and he's not gonna just take anything on him, he didn't care how many people believe in it and how long it's been existing, he's going to investigate and he, through his investigations and explorations, he found that that time was not absolute and that everyone perceived, all human beings perceived time in a different way, so if you've got seven billion human beings, you've got seven billion perceptions of time and they don't all agree. Well, is that really true, you know, it seems like one second is one second is one second, whether you have a watch in China or New York or in Canada or Australia, you know, one second is one second is one second, no, they've taken atomic clocks now and they've flown them around in supersonic jets, they have atomic clocks on the ground, atomic clocks in the air and when they come back they try to match them and they don't match, the time is not the constant, so you're just starting, I would say with the coursing miracles and this kind of curriculum that you're working on, that's loosening and loosening and loosening and loosening and you're starting to realize that the passage of time is entirely subjective, it's not like a set objective thing that's going to be the same for everyone, which is really what Jesus says in the course, he says time and space are the same error. So anything we talk about in terms of linear time or space, you know, as it's been described by scientists and everything, that's all part of the projection and it's possible to come into the Holy Instant and as you come closer and closer into the Holy Instant, which really transcends time and space altogether, your perceptions of time and space will change, will vary greatly. Like they talk about black holes, black holes have extremely intense gravitational fields, so the same with gravity, you know, gravity, you know on Earth we may say, well gravity has such a certain pull, that's why we could say something weighs like five pounds or ten pounds or a thousand pounds and it seems pretty consistent, like we have these weights we call them, but if you took those same weights and you went and you took this guitar up inside a black hole, it would be so heavy, it would be unbelievably heavy, it would be no comparison because the gravitational pull and feel is so strong that the weight would be enormous, you know, go from being like a feather to an elephant, you know, that much of a difference because it's just showing that everything we perceive with the five senses is completely relative and that's why our perceptions of time and space will continue to alter and change and nobody is really the same as they were five seconds ago or five minutes ago, you know, we have the illusion that we have these persons and that we can describe our history and everything, but we know how it is when you get ten-eyed witnesses trying to describe what they saw, they see different things because of the variations that are there. It's very like unfamiliar so there's like some fear that comes in with that, like, you know, really coming into the whole instant. Yeah, it's very much like for human beings, human beings can seem to have fear level around certain things, and then when they keep interacting with it and practicing that they start to gain a bit of a sense of a mastery or a sense like, oh, I was afraid of that, but I didn't know what that was and now I can do it and now, oh, it's fine, it's accepted, you know, and I think with spirituality you go more and more into it and you start, you have a lot of fears that come up, but until the upside down perception comes completely right side up, it's pretty much of an adventure, it's tumultuous, you know. Some of you have heard of that movie, the Poseidon Adventure, there's been a couple of Poseidon Adventure movies, but the whole ship gets capsized, you know, there was the first one, then there was the second one, Marine McGoverns. There's got to be a morning after, if we can hold on through the night. It's very spiritual song, because it's cracking, it's like the whole world is capsized, and now we're all upside down, and we're trying to, let's keep on looking for the light, you know. We're hoping there's a way to turn this ship right side up, but everything's upside down, and so we're like in the dark, we're stumbling, and our relationships are awkward, everything we think we know, we're on our career path, we think we've got all our whole lives knocked out, we've got our career set, and we're all set, and then, you're married, you think you're married until death do we part, you think I'll love you forever, me and my baby, my sweetheart. We're unbreakable, we're unstoppable, there is nothing in this world that's going to break us apart. Oh my God, I want to divorce, what? You promised me, until death do we part. I want to divorce. You know, it's shattering, you might say that along this whole journey of the human experience, there's going to be many, many shattering points, because we've become addicted to linear time, and we want continuity, we so much want continuity. That's what people are looking for in relationships, they want continuity, stay with me. Instead of that, like the Carol King song, will you still love me tomorrow? I want my happiness, my stability, my peace, depends on what you and I are going to be doing for years to come. And when the divorce comes along, it's like wham, slice, the butcher's knife coming, boom! There is no tomorrow, we have no future. Actually, when you come more into the holy incident, that we have no future together, suddenly becomes the truth. It becomes from this panic thing to, oh, we actually do have no future together. We have now together, we've always had now together, we always will have now together. I've even done talks, I was over in Spain last year, and I was getting this talk on the holy incident, the present moment, and relationships and everything, and I didn't know it, they had told me to come over, they wanted me to marry this bride and this groom. The bride and the groom were in the audience. I had met them, I was supposed to do their service the next day there, so the next day when I came to meet with them, I said, do you have any vows for both Spanish? He said, I love you now, that was their one in Spanish one. It was a real quick service. I love you now, I love you now, you may kiss the bride. And I played Ave Maria, this beautiful Ave Maria, and they all just swayed and danced. We were all kind of in this mystical state, but they were very happy, and that's all they could settle on for their vows. And it was easy to remember your vows. It was, and no broken promises. No, you told me, no expectations, no divorce lawyer, just think about the practical aspects of that are enormous. We can see what a contradiction that is to believing that the love is linear and then looking for love on the linear timeline, looking for all that continuity on the timeline, and it's just not there. So in the end, for centuries, nuns had gone through all the vitiate, they had to go through all these different steps to become what? The bride of Christ. Now that, you can see what they're desiring is union with Christ. But we're learning from, of course, the miracles, that takes a lot of forgiveness. You can't just say I'm the bride of Christ. You actually have to let all the darkness up, clear it all out, and then when you're clear, you're clean, and you're into alignment with God, then you're more than the bride of Christ. You are the Christ. You are the living Christ. And that's really our destiny. Our destiny is to remember ourselves as the Christ and one with God, which Jesus was showing. That's why they call him the way-shower. He was leading us. He was showing us the way, all the teachings in the Gospels. And then now, here we have a course of miracles. In the Gospels, he said, take no thought for the morrow. The day has enough trouble for itself. Take no thought for what you shall wear, what you shall eat. Well, that's pretty specific. Don't be concerned about what you're wearing. That kind of rules out the fashion industry. Right away, you know. I don't want a profession. Take no thought and take away nutrition. Take away dietitian. You know, all the things in this world are so big on what you eat. Take no thought for what you shall eat. Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven, and all else will be added unto you. It's a very practical and very simple teaching about living in the present moment. So, you know, thousands of years go by. He comes back through Helen Shuckman, and it's kind of like, in case you missed it. In case you missed it. I gave it to you really simply. They did a pretty good job. And they put it down in this book called The Bible. And a lot of these Bibles, they put my words into red prints. But if you're still having problems, out of this whole book, just reading the red prints, I'm going to give it to you again. And he says in the Course, Once you have accepted his plan, the Holy Spirit's plan, as the one function that you will fulfill, there will be nothing else the Holy Spirit will arrange for you without your effort. He will go before you, make you straight your path, and living in your way, no stones to trip on, and no obstacles to bar your way. Nothing you need will be denied you. Not one seeming difficulty that will melt away before you reach it. You need to take thought for nothing, except the only purpose that you would fulfill. Well, is it the field? Take no thought for tomorrow. Take no thought for what you should wear or eat. And in case you missed it, he gives us a passage that, in the Course of Miracles, has been called the promise. The promise is extremely simple. It's basically saying, get in touch with your purpose and follow the Holy Spirit's plan, and you need take thought for nothing. What about the practicalities of living? What about economics? Nope, you need take thought for nothing. What about exercise? I was just in Greensboro, and my friend Gaila, she said, do you brush your teeth, David? She wants to know, let's see the practicalities, how far are we going? Do we have to brush our teeth? Do you floss? I love North Carolina. Come on, we heard they teach you to do this. We're going to get down to the nitty-gritty here. Let's get down to the nitty-gritty. So I talked to her about how everything is given and orchestrated, and what, you know, nothing will be denied you. Not one's seeming difficulty, but will melt away before you reach it. That's something really good. That's something like Divine Ease. And that's saying, all you have to do is have alignment with the Holy Spirit and absolutely everything, the financials, the food, the housing, the relationships, everything. You don't have to worry about Mother Earth anymore, you don't have to worry about Father Time, you don't have to worry about the Cozum layer anymore. Pollution? No, don't give a thought to pollution. Recycling? No, don't think about recycling. Skincare? UV rays? No, no, no. You need to take thoughts of nothing. Nothing, nothing, nothing. No, no, no. You're missing the point, nothing. Nothing means nothing, nothing means nothing. So, you know, it almost sounds like a fairy tale. You know, when you really take his central teachings, he's saying they're extremely simple, but you have to transfer the training, you have to apply it across the board before you see that it actually works. And to me, that's the feeling I had in my life all these years ago where I thought, okay, I've read in the Bible, I was a Christian, I've read in the Bible, I've read it now in the Course, and it was almost like he was doing, like, Morpheus in the Matrix, with the finger on him. Come on, come on now. You're going to jump with me, or you're going to go for this. And that's been the experience. That's where the joy, the happiness, the laughter come in, is saying yes to that finger that's calling you. It can seem extraordinary, but for me it was devotion to inner listening. Because I did have people that came after me that kind of like Peaceful Grim went around the world, you know, just living very simply and everything, and they said, I tried, David, I quit my job, I started just walking and traveling around the world, and I got beat up and mugged and robbed. And I said, I didn't tell you to do what I'm doing. Jesus is not saying, do what I did. You're going to have crucifixion seeing to look forward to our lives and everything like that. He's saying, think. Think with me. When he says I'm calling you out of the world, he's not going to say a laser beam is going to come down. Just take your body out of the world. He's saying, I'm calling you out of the thinking of the world. I'm calling you out of the fear-based thought system. When you made the world, the ego is fear. When you believe in linear time, it's like the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill was playing Yale on Yale's home field. It would be a road game. Well, spiritually, we're on a road game. We're on the road. We're on the ego's playing field. That's why we really need guidance. We need a good signal caller, a good play caller who's going to call the plays from above because it's a hostile crowd. They're all booing. As some of you may have noticed in this world, there's a lot of antagonism that we get from all angles because we get these mixed witnesses. We're on the road. We can't even hear the signal sometimes. The signal caller's calling. We can't even hear the signal. Booing us so strong and making all this noise because trying to disrupt us. That's why we really need to, as best we can, give it over to the Holy Spirit. I figured I would test it out with Jesus. I certainly didn't try to just say yes, yes, yes. I would try to reason with Jesus. I would say, listen, listen. I have been on planet Earth for 20-some years. First, let's talk about money. You need to take that for nothing and all my conditioning says you better pay attention to your money issues because you're in big trouble if you don't. You could end up desolate, broke or in prison or if you don't take care of it. So I said, money does not grow on trees. I cannot just go out and start plucking $100 bills or $20 bills or $10 bills off of the trees to pay my bills. I said to Jesus, money does not grow on trees. He says, yes, I know you believe that. That's how you start it. He's not going to try to just deny what you believe in but he said he will tell you it's a belief. And of course there's beliefs in nutrition. Of course there's beliefs in economics. Of course there's beliefs in maintaining the body. There's beliefs in medicine. There's beliefs in all kinds of things and he's just saying in lesson number 50 I am sustained by the love of God. Come with me and just take a movement towards me where I'm at and start to question these things that you're sustained by all these other beliefs. Maybe your mind is filled with unreal beliefs and he's saying that's okay but we can work with that. That's what he was always saying to me, I'll work with you. I know you still believe money does not grow on trees so I'll guide you towards jobs and jobs will give you money to pay your bills and pay your debts and we're going to practice forgiveness while you're doing this. We're going to practice rinsing, rinsing, rinsing the mind of all these erroneous beliefs you have but we're going to be practical. We're not going to skip over anything. You have debts and you need to work a job to pay the debts, that's fine. I'll guide you to those jobs. I'll guide you very specifically while you're wound into this linear belief in time and space I will filter through your belief system and give you clear practical guidance. Where to go, what to do, when to stay, when to leave. Those are important decisions that we have to make and if we make them out of fear or past learning we tend to stay stuck in the same routines, the same patterns just going round and round but when we give them over to the Holy Spirit we still handle everything. Everything still gets handled. You still go to the grocery store as long as you believe you still have hunger you still need food to handle that hunger you go to the grocery store but you have holding counters in the grocery store you start to see the Christ in everyone you meet in the laundry man, grocery store and auto mechanics. They gave him when he was getting his windshield fixed on his truck he had a holding counter with the guy while he was doing it he was enjoying this beautiful time together this joyful talk together while the guy did a great job fixing the windshield so to me that's what makes it practical I've always talked about it's not just been a lot of affirmations and a lot of hopeful wishful thinking that I could manifest a different world it's been practically speaking where would you have me go? What would you have me do? Who would you have me meet? What would you have me say? Coming and doing these gatherings for 20 some odd years I just show up I don't have anything planned, written down no agenda, don't know what words will be spoken or given but I do trust that it will be for my benefit and for the benefit of the whole universe but I don't have anything in mind for it at all and we can do that with our life too