I had a nightmare recently.  The core of it was I was trying to tell Del something and I couldn't speak.  In the dream I knew I was dreaming so my "task" was to wake up. 

I did.  But, I still couldn't move.  I lay there thinking how will I live this way?  How will I help my clients, write my books, be present for my family?

And then I realized I was still dreaming. When I woke up "again" I was just as I was when I went to sleep. Nightmare over, I felt immense relief.

It took me some time that night to realize that I was still dreaming when I couldn't move. Within the second layer of the nightmare I didn't bother to try to declare the truth that I was not paralyzed, I simply decided to deal with it.  I was doing "what if's." Calmly maybe, but certainly preparing to believe in and live with the lie of being unable to move.

Once I woke up out of the second layer of the dream and felt free to move about and do my "work" I almost let the lesson go. Almost, until I heard that still-small-voice within me say, "Wait, Isn't this a clever deception of the one lie?  Wouldn't it make you feel so terrible that any relief from that nightmare would lull you into a false sense of security and freedom?"

Yes, of course. In times of stress and trouble and no place else to go, we go to God.  We ask to wake up from a nightmare which can take many forms; illness, lack of funds, sadness, and grief, all within the grip of and born of fear. In our great pain we demand to wake up to Love and that awakening heals, or dissolves, that nightmare situation because it was only a dream.

In a dream-nightmare we do that by knowing the truth.  We know we are dreaming and we are not awake. We demand to wake up.

In our awake-nightmares we wake up the same way.  We know the Truth. We declare that there is only One, and it is Love, the Principle of Infinite Intelligence. 

We rise above the lie of the dream by argument, or awareness, or we perceive the immediate evidence of Grace.  With all these ways of awakening we begin with the perfection of Love and with the full knowledge that we are simply asleep to the Truth.

Waking up, we feel relief.  But, still isn't there more waking up to do? If there is any place in our lives that we are making do, figuring out how to live with it, dealing with "what if's," we can be sure that we are still sleeping. Sleeping more comfortably perhaps, but still asleep.

We are all asleep within layers of dreams.  We are all not fully aware of the consistently constant, ever available, always present, completely accessible, perfection of Love Loving Itself, which - amazingly - is who we really are.  We are the love of Love Loving Itself. 

We are - you are!

We are how Love knows itself. We are how Principle is seen.  We are the thought of Mind.

If we experience less then this ultimate Truth we are asleep within layers of the dream.

The weird part and the trap is we think we have to understand this perfection within the dream. That's the lie at work again. The dream which is the state of the lie itself, or imperfection, cannot understand perfection.

To get to understanding, we have to wake up to it. Understanding is a quality of Mind Itself. With every awakening the light is brighter, the awareness is clearer, and our life has adjusted itself to match our new perception.

As this happens, which it must, let's not be satisfied with a partial awakening. Let's continue to choose to wake up completely and stay there.

Gratitude for each awakening and awareness of the fact that there is an Infinite One propels us forward, keeping us alert to the dream. Once we are completely awake we will know as we are known.  Until then, I wish us all, sweet awakenings.