Ask Amy: Oneness in Anxiety
Q: My mom and I were “one in anxiety” during my childhood. Even though I am now 63 years old, I notice that there is a hidden benefit in anxiety because it protects my loved ones. Ego says that if I stop feeling anxious, I will abandon my family. I am really afraid of what I might do if I feel better. Can you help me see this differently?
A: Your question addresses a deep, underlying deception that the ego plays on all of us, one way or another. Your phrase “one in anxiety” is very insightful because the ego mimics and distorts basic truths, like Oneness, to use for its own fearful purpose of usurping God’s Love.
Now that you have uncovered this core belief, you have also exposed the ego’s strategy to use anxiety as a “protective” bond between you and family members. Perhaps your family members are chronic worriers, ruminating, complaining and commiserating about worldly dangers. Ego tells you that if you disrupt this foundation of family “security,” you may just abandon them entirely! What might you do if you abandon anxiety instead?
“If you want peace, you must abandon the teacher of attack. The Teacher of peace will never abandon you.” (T-14.XI.14:1-2)
The truth is that as you abandon the ego, your Inner Teacher illuminates your life. As you permit the Holy Spirit to enlighten you, trust and faith increases. You discover you cannot NOT love your family. You may limit your conversations or visits with them, your behavior may change, but the natural Love which is your essence (and theirs too, even if they don’t know it) must imbue all your relationships because Love is all-encompassing.
“The opposite of love is fear, but what is all-encompassing can have no opposite.” (T-Intro)
Share your fear and guilty feelings with the Holy Spirit. Hold nothing back. Explain you are afraid you will abandon your family entirely as you join with Him. Lean on Him; He is your Comforter and your Guide. As you trust your Inner Teacher, you will find you naturally follow Him. Following Spirit leads to miracles of release from the imprisoning thoughts which now bind you. Your family may remain exactly the same, but the shift in your perception will reveal we are all United, and that you can never abandon or harm another when your Source is One Love.
“The single vision which the Holy Spirit offers you will bring this oneness to your mind with clarity and brightness so intense you could not wish, for all the world, not to accept what God would have you have.” (T-14.VII.7:7)
This Q&A appears in the Ask Amy column from the Sept-Oct 2016 issue of Miracles magazine. Miracles is a well-loved staple in the ACIM community. For a subscription, email [email protected] or call 845-496-9089. Click here to purchase digital copies. To ask Amy a question, email miracles (at) amytorresacim (dot) com
