Greetings to you this day. I am Jeshua. You have asked me about faith. And of that, I have come to speak with you this day. Faith is mentioned so often in your life. Faith is mentioned so often in A Course in Miracles. People say in religious organizations, “You must have faith, faith in God, faith in many different things.” And I tell you to have faith in God. I tell you to have faith in your brother.
And now you ask me, what really is this faith? And if I have and exercise faith in my life, what shall I do? Ah– Always comes the question, what shall I do? When I walked this earth 2000 years ago I said one day, “If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you could move a mountain.” That seems like a tremendous claim, does it not? And they attribute to me miracles– healing the lame, healing the blind, controlling the storm, walking on water. And indeed, all of those things happened. Was it because of my faith that it happened? And the answer is yes, indeed. There is a story of one who simply touched my robe and was healed. And I said to her, “Your faith has made you well”.
So what of faith, then? Faith does not come from your thinking. I have told you so many times, your thoughts do not have creative power. Your thoughts are not your real thoughts. Your thoughts have no meaning. Your thoughts are simply images. So can a simple image move a mountain? And the answer is, no. So when people say “Have faith”, it is not as simple as simply saying, “I believe in an idea.” It is not as simple as saying, “I will think these thoughts. And that must be faith and all of the rewards will follow at once”. No, indeed. Faith is beyond your words, beyond your thinking. Faith arises from the very core of your being.
So in this world, if you would have faith, what do you do? And this is what you do. Faith is when you connect with your source. Faith is when you connect with God. Faith is when you connect with me. Faith is when you connect, most of all, with your life. For I have told you, your life is love, nothing more. Totally love. If I say, have faith in yourself, I mean, pause your thinking. Therefore, let go of your fear and connect with your life. And why you connect with your life you simply experience the truth of what you are, beyond and without fear. If you have faith in me, you connect with me, Spirit, without thought, without contemplation, without fear. If I say to you have faith in God, that simply means pause, and be still, and connect with All That Is. For that is the only way to define, if you will, God– All That Is. But simple it is, indeed. For All That Is, is love.
So ultimately, if you would have faith, you open your life and connect with that which is real, that which you are. You open your life unto Love. Ah– When you connect with love, so many times I have told you, you will, in the sense of this world, know what to do, know where to go, know what to say, know what to be. And everything will be peace and joy and love. And yes, happiness. So, it is that simple. Have faith. Let go of your fear. Open to love.
But the nature of the world, here, the nature of the ego, which you have conspired to make up in order to let you experience space-time, the nature of the ego is such that it is so very strong indeed. And if you feel– if I let go of my fear, if I let go of my ego, then surely I will die. And that is true. The image, the collection of images you have about who you are, will pass away. And in exchange, you will find yourself in the presence of Love; in the presence of myself, for I am the same; in the presence of the One Self, for it is the same; in the presence of God, for it is the same; and in the presence of your own life, for it is the same. Your life, when seen through the eyes of forgiveness, beyond fear, and beyond the ego, is simply an exercise in love. When you can open to that fact, and experience it at the core of your being, beyond your thoughts, then that is faith. So how about the power to move mountains? How about the power to walk on water? How about the power to heal yourself, or another? For if you have faith, have I not said, you can do all these things. And did I not say, all the works that I do, you shall do as well. And greater works than these shall you do.
So what of faith, then? Herein lies the catch, and the dilemma. You cannot arrive at faith through the pathways of the ego. You cannot arrive at faith through your thinking. So can you decide of your ego, ah, I would like to move that mountain today, and then do it? It is by careful design that you have created this world. For if anyone could simply think a thought and move a mountain at will, you realize at once your world would be chaos in its appearance. So can you of your thinking, of your ego, exercise the power of faith, if you will? And the answer is no. For you cannot experience faith itself in that venue.
So what does that mean? You begin by having faith in your life, which is faith in me, and God, and All That Is, and every brother who walks this earth with you. And out of that faith, you will be free of your thinking. And you will know what to do, and where to go, and what to say, as I have said. Within that pathway, you may have a knowing that you are to do something within this world that will truly look to your brothers like a miracle, which will truly seem to override and overcome the laws of this world, if you will, the patterns you have set up in order to make it seem consistent and stable for those of you who walk this life. You may come to a point where you will know what to do and it will seem like a miracle indeed. And then as you allow love to flow through your being, things can happen. It arises not from your thinking, but from the power of spirit with which you connect. I said, when I walked this earth, about the miracles, “It is not I who is doing these works, but the Father working through me.” And that is an expression of how faith works. Not one time did I say I, Jeshua, ego, elect to do this miracle. Always I was connected with the source, love, God, and my life, and simply allowed things to flow.
The power of your spirit is so great that it could create an entire universe. And so connecting with an illness to allow fear to disappear, so it can heal, is indeed, minor. Even moving a mountain would be indeed, minor. So I lived my life as I urge you to do, having faith, which means staying connected to love, which is, as I have said, you, and your brother, and me, and God. I lived my life connected. And I came to show you that it is, indeed, possible. And, indeed, it is possible. And that is, in essence, all that I am trying to share with you in A Course in Miracles. If you let go of fear, which is to let go of your thoughts, which is to let go of your ego, and connect with spirit, which is love, that in the absence of fear, Spirit can, without effort, move mountains.
So can you demonstrate your faith to show off, if you will? And the answer is, no. Can you listen in your stillness and express infinite love through your being that others can experience because you have made it available to them. And the answer is, indeed you can. And in the presence of that love can fear disappear? And it can. And in the absence of fear can your world seem to change without effort? And indeed it can. That will only happen if it is part of the chosen pattern for your life, as it was the chosen pattern of mine. So faith does not arise from your thinking. Faith never arises from separation. So could you use the power of faith to overcome an enemy. I’m sure you laugh as you hear those words. For how can you connect with the ultimate source of all that is, love, while you yet believe in separation, much less having a desire to overcome your brother to substantiate and to support your own sense of separated self. So can you with faith win wars? Of course not. Can you with faith dominate your brother in competition? Of course not. Can you with faith bring unto the world infinite love that flows through your being, when you have gone beyond your fears? That is what I did. And still, 2000 years later, the world remembers.
So if you would have faith, in words, ‘tis simple indeed. So if you would have faith, and every time that you feel anxiety, or fear, or competition, or a sense of separateness between you and your brother, then you are standing face to face with that which you would let go of. And as you let go of your sense of separation, then you will connect, in one small piece, further, with your brother, until all the blocks are gone. And then you will, at the core of your being, realize that you and your brother are one. And then you will have faith in your brother. And you will understand the nature of life, the nature of love, and the nature of God, and the nature of who you are. For they are all the same.
My blessings upon you all. That is all.
Brent A. Haskell, Ph.D., D.O.
(Editor’s note: Brent Haskell is the author of Journey Beyond Words and The Other Voice: A Companion to the Text of The Course Chapters 1-15 (Miracles Studies Book). During October, 2012, I had the pleasure of meeting Brent at the Miracles In The Mountains conference in Cañon City, Colorado and hearing him give a presentation there, during which he offered to send several articles – including this one – via an email to those interested.)
I love this! Yes faith comes from joining and union with God or Love.