[I]f you were to think now of a person whom you know who has died, you would not be likely to think of them much differently than they were in life, even while you are able to imagine them being peaceful and free of the constraints of the body. This is as good an idea as I can give you of how to imagine the elevated Self of form, as not much different than you are now, but peaceful and free of the constraints of the body. D:Day10.27

I could pull many quotes that make what we are headed for sound grander than that, but this is the one that my heart most responds to. When I imagine my dad, who died almost a decade ago, it is in exactly this way. The memory of this quote was prompted by a visit from my oldest sibling, my brother John who came in from California, partially to help the rest of us access my mom’s needs. She is not dying. She is getting very old and facing what most of us will face if we make it to her age, which will, in weeks be 92. Mom is very frail and we’ve begun to question if she can continue to live alone safely. She feels that she can, does not want to move, and does not like the idea of hiring help.

I would guess this sounds familiar to many of you. You don’t want to take away anyone’s right to choose; to take away their free will. As I began to ponder this, I realized it wasn’t only old age, or memories that reminded me of this section of “A Treatise on the New,” but the idea of free will:

You cannot express yourself independently of the whole! It is as impossible as it would be for the finger to do so. And yet you think that this is possible and that this is the meaning of free will. Free will does not make the impossible possible. It makes the possible probable. It is thus probable that you will use your free will in order to be who you are. But it is not guaranteed! It is your choice and your choice alone that is the only guarantee. This is the meaning of free will. T4:5.9

Then Jesus says:

When you die, you do not die to who you are or who you think you are. You do not die to choice. At the time of death you are assisted in ways not formerly possible to you in form, to make the choice to be who you are. You are shown in ways that the body’s eyes were unable to see, the glory of your true nature. You are given the chance, just as you are being given the chance now, to choose your true nature with your free will. T4:5.9

Because you have now made a new choice, a collective choice as one body, one consciousness, to end the time of the intermediary and to begin to learn directly, you are given the same opportunity that was formerly reserved for you only after your death. It was formerly only after your death that you chose direct revelation by God. Think about this now and you will see that it is true. You hoped to live a good life and at the end of that life to know God. Your vision of the afterlife was one in which God revealed Himself to you and, in that revelation, transformed you. The direct revelations that will come to you now will transform you as surely as did those that came to so many others after death. T4:5.12

Again, like with the quote with which I began, there are many more eloquent ways that the “new” is presented to us. But this somehow makes perfect sense to me. It makes sense that we would want to transform now rather than later. It feels like such a blessing to even imagine being able to do so, as he says:

You are God’s harmony, God’s expression, God’s melody. You, and all that exist with you, form the orchestra and chorus of creation. You might think of your time here as that of being apprentice musicians. You must learn or relearn what you have forgotten so that you can once again join the chorus. So that you can once again be in harmony with creation. So that you can express yourself within the relationship of unity that is the whole of the choir and the orchestra. So that you can realize your accomplishment in union and relationship. So that you can join your accomplishment with that of all others and become the body of Christ. T4:5.2

What a lovely idea that the choice is merely now or later—that this choice to return to who we truly are is eternally ours. It may not make choices like the ones we face with elderly parents any easier…but then again…maybe it does!

Mari’s next public appearance:

Unity of Sedona

When: Saturday, October 15, 2016 – 10 AM to 4 PM.
Where: Unity of Sedona, 65 Deer Trail Dr., Sedona, AZ 86336
Tickets: $75 prepaid, and $85 at the door.
To register: http://goo.gl/Rh5q5P
Or contact Kathy Scott Perry, Event Coordinator, at 512-938-9996, or kathyscottperry@gmail.com.