A young man dies.
A nation erupts.
Arguments begin.
People choose sides.
Some blame racism.
Others blame politics.
Others blame the police.
Others blame the culture.
And while everyone is arguing about who is responsible, a deeper question quietly waits beneath the noise:
Who is outsourcing my power?
This question has nothing to do with a young man in the United Kingdom.
It has everything to do with every one of us.
Because the ego's favorite game is not separation.
Separation is merely the result.
The ego's favorite game is convincing us that something outside of us has power.
My father has power.
My spouse has power.
My boss has power.
My government has power.
My childhood has power.
My bank account has power.
My diagnosis has power.
My enemies have power.
My circumstances have power.
My ex has power.
And perhaps the most common one of all:
You have power over my feelings.
The moment I believe that, I have entered a prison.
Not because you have actually taken my freedom.
But because I have handed it over willingly.
This is the insanity A Course in Miracles is training us to recognize.
But the story goes even deeper.
The greatest power transfer in human history is not political, economic, or cultural.
It is the moment we hand our God-given freedom to the ego and then spend a lifetime trying to get it back.
The ego never created freedom.
It only convinced us we had lost it.
The ego never created fearlessness.
It only convinced us we were vulnerable.
The ego never created separation.
It only convinced us it was real.
Once we identify with the ego's voice, the outsourcing begins.
The ego tells us:
"You are angry because of them."
"You are afraid because of that."
"You are upset because life is unfair."
"You are hurt because of what they said."
"You are limited because of your circumstances."
And every time we believe it, we reinforce the trance.
The ego outsources power and then blames the world for stealing it.
What a remarkable scam.
Yet most of us have been participating in it for so long that we rarely question it.
A Course In Miracles does.
Jesus gently but relentlessly points us toward a radical possibility:
What if nobody is causing my experience?
What if the suffering is not coming from the event, but from the interpretation?
What if my peace was never actually located in another person, another circumstance, or another outcome?
What if I have been searching everywhere except the one place it has always been?
Within.
This is not spiritual bypassing.
This does not mean painful things do not happen.
It does not mean injustice should be ignored.
It does not mean we become passive observers of human suffering.
It simply means we stop giving the world authority over our inner state.
Because the moment I believe someone else controls my feelings, I have handed them my freedom.
The moment I believe circumstances determine my peace, I have handed them my freedom.
The moment I believe another person's behavior determines my worth, I have handed them my freedom.
And yet the truth remains unchanged:
I am still as God created me.
The courageous one awakening within us is the one who finally stops this insanity.
The one who pauses before blaming.
The one who questions the voice of fear.
The one who notices the ego outsourcing power yet again.
The one who says:
"No more."
"I will no longer ask the world to determine what I experience within."
"I will no longer surrender my peace to changing circumstances."
"I will no longer let the ego negotiate my freedom."
This is where forgiveness begins.
This is where healing begins.
This is where freedom begins.
Not when the world changes.
Not when people behave better.
Not when circumstances improve.
But when we remember who we are as God created us.
Because the truth is simple:
Nobody stole your freedom.
The ego merely convinced you to forget where it came from.
And the good news?
What was never truly lost can always be remembered.
The ego's greatest accomplishment is convincing us that we are powerless.
The Holy Spirit's greatest accomplishment is helping us remember we never were.
We've got this!
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