Car Sense

You climb into your car for a routine trip to the grocery store. But instead of responding to your steering, the vehicle lurches toward the highway, driving itself. No announcement. No explanation. It simply goes where it wants, when it wants, as if you don't exist. You're merely a passenger watching the scenery change, seemingly powerless to influence the destination.

Absurd, right? A car that drives wherever it pleases, serving its own mysterious agenda while you're trapped as a helpless passenger. You'd immediately trade in such a senseless vehicle.

Yet we tolerate this exact dynamic with something far more intimate: our mind.

The mind is designed to be a tool—like a car—serving our highest good. Instead, most of us have unwittingly handed over the keys. The personal (ego) mind drives wherever it decides, chattering incessantly about its preferences: Why didn't he respond to my message? Maybe he doesn't like what I said. What bills need paying? How can I make more money? I'm hungry. I should probably make a doctor's appointment for mom...

On and on it goes, this mental autopilot steering thoughts and actions according to its whims. We're just along for the ride, rarely questioning who's actually in control.

The predicament becomes clear once we start paying attention. Who is driving this thing? And who should be?

The solution isn't wrestling away the wheel through force or manipulation. Rather, by gently observing our runaway mind without judgment, we naturally begin to reclaim our rightful position. Pure awareness dissolves the illusion that we must remain impotent passengers in our own experience.

Such practices precipitate a natural change in direction. One that leads to unconditional peace. As we read in A Course in Miracles, "The mind that serves the Holy Spirit is unlimited forever, in all ways, beyond the laws of time and space, unbound by any preconceptions."

Join me in Thursday's class where we'll explore practical means to take back the wheel and discover the glorious freedom that follows. I look forward to seeing you then.