A Bit of Stichomancy

So I'm feeling paranoid and dramatic, and my mind won't let me be realistic. All day, I've been making things up that, while they technically could happen, are so wild and dramatic I reek of self sabotage.  I've decided to ground myself with a little bit of stichomancy.  I've selected four books that speak to me, and am going to open them up at "random" and see what they have to say.  First up: The Science of Mind, by Ernest Holmes:

page 498: If we lack wisdom, we are to come to the source of all knowledge and we shall receive it.  But how are we to ask?  In faith, believing.  A double-minded man gets nowhere.  How true this is!  GOD CAN GIVE US ONLY WHAT WE TAKE, and since the taking is a mental act, WE CAN ONLY TAKE WHAT WE BELIEVE WE ALREADY HAVE!  This is in accord with the teachings of Jesus: that when we pray, we must believe we already have the answer to our prayer.

interpretation:  I have been of two minds about my current situation, so it is only natural that I am feeling insecure about it.  If I am open to the direction of the universe, then whatever the outcome will be to my long term benefit, and that which I fear cannot harm me. 

Second: The Bible, NRSV

Joshua 20:1-5 Then the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying, "Say to the Israelites, 'Appoint the sities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses, so that anyone who kills a person without intent or by mistake may flee there; they shall be for you a refuge from the avenger of blood.  The slayer shall flee to one of these cities, and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the sity, and explain the case to the leders of the city; then the fugitive shall be taken into the city, and be given a place, and shall remain with them.

Interpretation:  I cannot allow my natural dramatic and paranoid nature to eclipse my belief in the fundamental benevolence of the universe.  Up until this point, things have always worked out for me, and even the seemingly most tragic and devastating events have been for my benefit.  There is no reason to believe that this time will be any different.

Third: A Course in Miracles

Page 473: A miracle is a correction.  It does not create, nor really change at all.  It merely looks on devastation, and reminds the mind that what it sees is false.  It undoes error, but does not attempt to go beyond perception, nor exceed the function of forgiveness.  Thus it stay's within time's limits.  Yet it paves the way for a return to timelessness and love's awakening, for fear must slip away nder the gentle remedy it brings.

Interpretation:  any perception of attack or danger is based on a faulty conception of reality, one based on the catastrophically flawed perceptions of our own senses.  Reality, as it is, has no concept of attack or danger.  The only miracle is the realization of our own sinlessness, and this realization causes all thoughts of attack or danger to dry up and blow away.

Fourth:  The Diamond Sutra

Chapter 17: The Buddha said, "So it is Subhuti.  And if a bodhisattva says, 'I shall iberate other beings,' that person is not called a 'bodhisattva'.  And why not? Subhuti, is there any such dharma as a bodhisattva?"

The venerable Subhuti replied, " No, indeed, Bhagavan.  There is no such dharma as a bodhisattva."

The Buddha said, "And beings, subhuti, 'beings' are said by the Tathagata to be no beings.  Thus are they called 'beings.'  And thus does the Tathagata say, "all dharmas have no self, all dharmas have no life, no individuality, and no soul.'"

Interpretation:  One of the recurrent patterns of the diamond sutra, one that can be subsituted with my own question:  There is no such thing as paranoia.  'paranoia' is said by the Tathagata to be no paranoia.  Thus is it called "paranoia".    I am neither paranoid, nor not paranoid.  To judge oneself for one's thoughts is the form of attachment that we call arrogance.  I have thoughts.  I experience those thoughts, and then I have other thoughts.  They have no necessary connection to reality.  They have no existence in and of themselves, anymore than do the dreams I have every night.