There is a Mouse in the House

Spiritual growth and healing on your spiritual journey!

Subject(s): General Interest
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February 27, 2007 at 14:15:55

by Dan Joseph Page 1 of 2 page(s)

http://www.awakeningpath.com

Years ago, I lived above a three-car garage in the woods of Connecticut. The landlord fashionably called the place a "carriage house apartment," but the fact was that it was just a garage. And a not very tightly-sealed garage, at that.

I was fairly comfortable there until a few months into the lease, when a new tenant moved in – an energetic little mouse. The mouse stayed within the walls; I never actually saw him in the apartment. But boy, did he get around.

He’d scratch at the plaster right next to my bed, sometimes throughout the entire night. He’d scurry through the walls of the living room area. If you told me that there was a whole family of mice making all that noise, I wouldn’t be surprised. However, I think it was only a single, very active mouse.

I tried banging on the walls with a metal spoon, which would quiet him for a few minutes (but only a few minutes). I bought an electronic device that generated high-frequency noise. He didn’t seem intimidated by that. Eventually, I grew tired of the whole situation and moved out. For all I know, he’s still there today.

The interesting thing about that mouse was how intense his impact was on my life. One tiny mouse almost drove me mad. Little scratches in the walls, night after night, can do that to you.

And this story brings me to another kind of mouse – one that is even more disruptive to our peace (and in a way, more subtle in its work).

Inside the Walls
A Course in Miracles has some lofty teachings. It says: You are forever loveable. You deserve perfect peace and joy. Miracles are your right – and not a few miracles, but an endless amount.

When I read those ideas in the Course, I thought: Hey, sounds great. But who the heck experiences that. Perfect peace and joy? Endless love and miracles? Not in my world, that’s for sure.

Then I read a bit more. These things are your right, said the Course. You deserve them. But there is some interference in the way. And so we have some work to do: we need to clear away that interference. We need to unblock the flow of God’s Love into your heart. As we open a path for that Love, you will once again begin to experience your divine inheritance.

Oh, OK – there was some work to do first. That sounded reasonable. But I was confused. What was this "interference" that needed to be cleared away? What were these "blocks"? The whole thing seemed rather mysterious.

Then, one day, things became a bit clearer. I began to realize that there was a noise in the back of my mind that went on nearly twenty-four hours a day, like the noise from the mouse. Except it wasn’t a scratching or scurrying; it was a subtle flow of thoughts.

These thoughts echoed through the walls of my house like a radio left on in the basement. The broadcast was quiet, subtle, yet very persistent.

I began to listen closely to that broadcast. What exactly was it saying?

The Message
It was at that point that I got my first real taste of what the Course calls "the voice of the ego." (You could also call it "the voice of the inner critic.") It was a stream of thoughts flowing in the background of my mind, echoing through the walls.

Here’s what that stream of thoughts said:

--You are such a failure.
--You know, it’s remarkable that you’ve been able to get this far in life.
--People are going to see what a fraud you are.
--It’s only a matter of time.
--If you want to do the right thing, you should just hide out by yourself.
--People would be horrified if they saw you for who you are.

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www.DanJoseph.com

Dan Joseph has been writing about the connection between spirituality and psychology for the past ten years. He is the author of two books: "Inspired by Miracles" and "Inner Healing."

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