Tuesday Text: Chapter 3: Sane Perception, Section 4: Innocent Perception

          photo: Neo and Fenway besties

    Innocent Perception is true perception. This section is really important but short.

          Certain things are not matters of degrees. There are fundamental concepts which can’t be understood as opposites. Light and Dark, Everything and Nothing, can’t really co-exist at the same time. They are all true or all false.

          It is really important to understand that your behavior will be erratic until you make a firm commitment to one side. But you can't make a firm commitment to darkness or nothing. Everybody who has lived has experienced some light and some of “everything”. No one can deceive the truth totally even if you deceive yourself much of the time. This is why those who live in darkness and nothingness don’t find lasting peace. 

          Innocence is not partial. It is not a real defense until it is total. When it is partial it has the erratic nature of the other two edged defenses. The partially innocent can be quite stupid at times.  Genuine innocence is universal. When it is applied universally, it becomes wisdom. Innocent/true perception means that you never misperceive and that you always see truly. You never see what does not exist in reality. This is a place where Jesus sets the bar for correct behavior very high. If you lack confidence in what someone will do, then you are saying that He isn’t in his right mind. This isn’t a miraculous point of view. It also denies the power of the miracle. This is the incorrect use of denial.

          The miracle perceives everything as it is in Heaven. If nothing but the truth exists, and what is not true can not exist, right-minded seeing can not see anything but perfection. Only what God creates and what you create with the same will have any real existence. This is all that the truly innocent see. They do not suffer the same delusions as the separated ones. Withdraw your faith in the illusions and invest only in what is true. To whatever extent you side with misperception of yourself or others you are validating a basic misperception. You can’t validate the invalid. Give up all attempts to do so, they can only be frantic, frustrating, frenzied, and mentally deranged. 

          Validate only the true in everything that you perceive. It will make it true for you. Truth overcomes all error if you perceive truly, you cancel out misperceptions in yourself and others. If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. Focus on the good/God/Love/spark. True perception is a step away from Holy Vision.

          Purify- The process of making something clean and free from impurities. When Jesus can be perceived, we will be like him, for we see him as he is. Everybody has the hope of being purified as he is pure. Innocent perception is one step away from Holy Vision. Our only hope is to see things as they are. Go forth and see the light of God in every living thing that you encounter today.