Chapter 8: Let It Off the Hook — Awakening Humanity
Chapter 8 Overview
In Chapter 8 of Awakening Humanity, this chapter offers a profound and practical teaching on releasing fear, attachment, and emotional suffering through a simple yet transformative metaphor. Through the imagery of the fish, the hook, and the boat, this dialogue reveals how inner peace is restored by letting go of insistence, returning to the present moment, and allowing divine guidance to lead the way across the sea of all possibilities.
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Chapter 8: LET IT OFF THE HOOK
Releasing Fear Through Willingness
ME: I’d really like to be able to gently allow all my fears, anxieties and worries simply be quietly and gently dispelled by the light of truth. Please give me your take on how to do that, and also explain what I’m doing wrong. Because I know I’m doing something wrong at least sometimes, because what I’m currently doing only works sometimes. I’d like to know how I can improve so that I can effectively recover my inner peace consistently all the time. No matter what seems to be happening in my life now.
MARTHA: Alright then. Let us see if we can do that for you, and for many others, because yours is the same problem as everyone else’s. You are all much too “hung up” on every single detail of this world; from the number of weeds in your lawn to the loss of a loved one. The range is wide and endless over which your minds can find things to trigger a sense of loss or depravation.
Identifying the Hook in the Heart
Anything that holds you back from feeling your greatest joy possible is indeed a “hang-up.” It is a place in your heart where joy is literally blocked by such thoughts – joy truly gets stuck – and therefore it becomes impossible for you to feel it until you find a way to unblock or release those thoughts which seem to be causing the blockage.
It is indeed strange that you hold painful thoughts dearer to your heart than joyful ones. But given the teaching of your world, this is understandable. However, you will find it good to know this backwards thinking can be easily undone if you have even a small amount of willingness to try.
The first step in removing the blocks to your joy, inner peace, sense of balance and well-being, is to look directly at what seems to be the problem. Name it. Write it down. Make a list if you must. Think of everything in your life that bothers you or that you wish was different than what it is now. The only caveat is that all these things must have one thing in common: They must each cause you the same feeling. A feeling of being painfully “hooked” in the heart by the mere thought of it. This feeling need not be intense. The problem need not be judged as great or small, difficult or easy, excruciatingly hurtful or mildly irritating. A hook is a hook. Your heart, your feelings, will never be dishonest with you. Only your thoughts about such situations can be dishonest, but your feelings will always truthfully reflect your true thoughts. The important thing to do is consider anything that bothers you anywhere along the scale of discomfort.
Whatever thoughts you have selected, have you “hooked,” like a fish on the end of a line. And just like a fish, you are struggling against the hook and it seems to be dragging you along against your will. It is your “hang-up.”
Now sit with these thoughts for a moment. Look directly at them as raw and honestly as you can. Feel the feeling of your attachment to this hang-up. Again, for most, it will manifest as a sensation of discomfort in your chest. At times it can literally feel as though you have a hook through your heart.
You know you do not like this feeling.
Letting the World Off the Hook
In order to cease feeling this way, you must let this situation “off the hook.”
This can be easily done through the simple acknowledgement that you would like to be free of it. Let it dissolve in the knowledge that it does not own you. You are totally in charge of how you feel. No one else has any power over you. Feel your negative feelings fall away into nothingness. Cease to judge who is right and who is wrong. Cease to feel the need to control anyone else’s feelings or actions towards you. Let go. Put it all down for just a moment. Whatever is causing you fear, strain or worry cannot take away the one thing that is wholly true about you: You are an eternal creation of God who is as indestructible He is.
Now, let it come. Let all your fears come to pass in your mind. Let death, sickness, abandonment and loss in every form wash over your mind. Imagine the worst that could possibly happen to you.
Do you think any of this matters in eternity? Will any of these problems matter whence you leave this level of existence? Will it change who you truly are as an eternally created being?
No. None of what you imagine is part of who you are in truth. All such problems are associated with the body and the body alone. You are not your body. Therefore, for the sake of your happiness, let all things associated with it “off the hook” for even a moment and you will find your peace.
You may think this is too easy; that you simply cannot just “let something off the hook” that has caused you so much struggle. Yet, how long should one struggle with their problems? How much time should you spend analyzing them? I tell you this, you will never get to the bottom of them. The problems of your world are a bottomless pit and this path will only lead you deeper down in vibration and experience.
You only need to notice your problems. That is all. Then let them off the hook. Once you do this, the solution will manifest itself easily and clearly in the shortest amount of time possible. In fact, at times, such solutions will be near instantaneous. At other times, events may first have to align themselves in order to bring about a positive solution. However, keep in mind, no amount of analyzation can change the past. But you can greatly alter your future through shifting to a new and higher vibration now through letting your emotional attachment to the problem “off the hook.”
ME: But what if someone has done something terribly wrong to us? What if it’s an abusive situation? Do we just let people walk all over us or even murder us?
MARTHA: Not at all. Just the opposite in fact. By letting your feelings about the situation off the hook, you are cutting all such people and events loose – you have cut the line with them. No one and nothing can touch you in this state of mental indestructibility. They can even beat you, mock you and finally crucify you, and you will retain your personal power. This does not mean you approve of or support what someone else has said or done. It merely means that their words and actions have no bearing on your own sense of personal power. You know your truth remains true, regardless of what someone else says or does. You are simply reclaiming your personal power and while in this state you are most connected to your Inner Guidance, Who will direct you accordingly. You may be guided to take some form of action or you may be guided to remain still and steady as you are. All you are asked to do is get yourself off the hook and into the boat. You are rising above the situation and looking at it from your center of peace – the boat that floats above the violent sea that contains a myriad of fearful things and situations.
The Boat, the Fish, and the Present Moment
In truth, you are both the fisherman and the fish. You can choose to live life from the perspective of the boat, or from the perspective of the fish caught on the hook, struggling against everything you encounter.
Once you feel your peace, you have gotten off the line and are now in the boat.
Do you see how your hang-ups tether you to a line? You are not free when you feel such suffering. By holding onto your grievance, want or need, you merely set a hook in yourself which causes you to struggle.
The boat represents the present moment. It is where you will find your Source and Center. It is a place of quiet rest and joy. The boat moves forward in time, floating on the sea of all possibilities. And like time itself, it moves forward regardless of how many hooks you have set in your heart, holding you underwater.
You can cause the boat to move very slowly through experiencing life as one difficulty after another, but you can never stop it entirely. Yet, if you let everyone and everything “off the hook,” the boat will coast smoothly and speedily forward. You will progress much more quickly on your journey, and you will enjoy floating serenely on top of the sea of all possibilities, rather than struggling on a hook beneath the water.
Catch and Release as a Spiritual Practice
Play with this practice. Have fun with it! Continue to let more and more things off the hook as you encounter them throughout your day. Make a game of it! Imagine all your hurts and wants and needs; the unfulfilled dreams, the desires of your heart that have been thwarted by one thing or another.
Then see how it feels to just let it all go. Let your attachment to all these feelings float freely away behind you. You are only making one small change. You are letting yourself off the hook. You want to be in the boat, serenely enjoying life as the fisherman, not the fish.
Therefore, every time you sense yourself as the fish on the line; and you will know by the tug you feel from the hook in your heart; let it go. Play this game of “catch and release” as often as you can.
You do not have to be tedious about this process. You can let the entire world off the hook in a single holy instant and it is done.
Feel no guilt over so easily overcoming your problems, which exist merely because of how you are seeing things. There is no guilt in being a fish caught on a hook, so long as you remember to let yourself go.
In time, you will notice you feel very good while in the boat. It is an inner place where the sun is shining, the water is wide and calm, as you glide smoothly across it, lovingly working side-by-side with God, your Captain; for He is there with you in the present moment of the boat.
This is where you always want to be. And if you happen to fall overboard and find yourself back on a hook, you can jump back in the boat with a single thought: “I do not want this feeling. I want to be happy and back in the boat, safe with my Captain. Struggling on the end of a hook is not worth the loss of my peace.”
Then simply focus on something that will act as a life preserver; a positive thought to bring you back. You can use anything. You can focus on your breath or notice the soft feel of a warm blanket. Anything will do, so long as you allow it to uplift you even the slightest amount.
The goal here is to reach the feeling of love and even if it is on the most subtle level, you will have succeeded.
The deeper process at work here is that you are slowly learning to turn your thoughts inward and away from the world outside. You are not giving your peace away to that which will one day cease to be. You are giving your energy to what is timeless and eternal instead; you are giving your energy to God. And He will always increase what you give, and therefore He will increase the joy, peace and love you extend inward to Him. The key here is noticing the love you feel. Love is the vibrational signal you want to give to the world in order that it be reflected back to you. What you give, you will receive. This is your God-given power to create.
This is the process through which you help your Creator bring in the net from the sea of all possibilities.
It is important to keep your momentum with this process going – in the beginning, it may only last but a few moments before old fear-based thoughts creep back in. But as you practice more and more, allowing your thoughts to align with love for longer and longer periods of time, you will find that it builds momentum. Positive things will begin to manifest in your life, as your positive thoughts align your feelings with the vibration of your Creator; the vibration of Love.
This does not mean you can never have a negative thought ever again, for fear the world will come crumbling down around you. Quite the contrary! There is great power in “catching yourself” as the fish through noticing your fearful thoughts and remembering you do not want them. Do not try to solve them or force them to “go away” for this will only make them stronger. Simply notice your feelings and use your power of decision to focus your thoughts on something else; on something that uplifts you even a minute amount. Then you will have accomplished what many have spent lifetimes trying to learn.
In time, you will need no other positive or love-filled thought than this: “I am a creation of God. I cannot be destroyed or deprived of anything this world has to offer. I am that I am and have no need but to know my Unity with creation. In this knowing, all needs are thusly met.”
As you practice, you will learn you are a powerful conscious creator; that your thoughts and feelings dictate your experience and nothing else.
Love is how you reach for your Captain, and as you do so, He will take your hand and pull you the rest of the way back into the boat, so long as you do not let go by deciding you prefer the feeling of the hook.
As you continue to practice, your life will open up for something new, something miraculous as you learn how to float above the world and its problems.
You will find you can go anywhere you want on the sea of all possibilities. All outcomes are now open to you because you have set no limitations on what can manifest. There is no hook set in your heart, blocking you from arriving at your happy destination.
Trusting the Captain on the Sea of All Possibilities
It is important that you do not try to direct the boat; you must have zero insistence on any outcome to any situation or you will only find yourself back in the water as a fish on a hook – you will have fallen overboard. You are not the Captain, but the crew. Your job is to sit back, relax and follow your Captain’s lead, Who’s only order is that you do not insist on what should come in on His net. Do not insist on how, who, when or what will come to you as an expression of the joy you have asked for. Yours is only the task of trusting through peace and patience.
The Captain knows where to go on the sea of all possibilities. He casts a wide net to bring you what is most needed. For His net encompasses All That Is. All you need to do is help Him bring in the net. You can only help by being in the boat. Therefore, it is important that you notice the moment you get hooked and feel yourself going overboard. Release the hook the instant you feel any form of emotional discomfort, want or need and you will have released yourself as the fish.
If you are truly in the boat and remaining free of any insistence to any outcomes, you will notice that synchronicities will increase in your life, as the world arranges itself to meet your new, higher vibration. Act on these positive offerings; this is the bounty coming in from your Captain’s net. All coincidences are signs of new opportunities manifesting in your life. Act on them. Move with them in the current, even if you interpret them as uncomfortable or fearful.
Indeed, there may be times the waters feel choppy and the waves will threaten to capsize your boat. You can calm the storm by simply remembering to let go of the hook. When you do this, the storm loses its power over you and the energy is transformed; now serving you rather than you serve it.
Never forget, you can climb back in the boat the instant you notice you are on a hook. You do this when you remember to replace fear with love, through whatever means is most comfortable to you.
Become diligent at keeping your mind clear of all unwanted thoughts, remaining in the boat with your Captain, as He casts His net wide on your behalf. Await what comes with peace in your heart, knowing it is already coming to you now. Do not let yourself worry about how it will come or what it will look like. Trust it will bring you only joy. Do not set a hook in your mouth through expectation, but release yourself through peaceful acceptance, here in the present moment, where all miracles are possible.
Now, sail peacefully along on the ocean of all possibilities without fear you will drown in it. Remember that the present moment is your ship, your thoughts are the winds that propel you forward, and God is your Captain.
ME: Again, you amaze me Martha with your clarity. Thank you for your help.
This concludes Chapter 8 from Awakening Humanity
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About the Author: Beth Geer
Beth Geer is a long-time student and teacher of A Course in Miracles, known for her Holy Spirit–channeled messages and her ability to translate ACIM principles into living, breathing spiritual practice. Through her books, YouTube teachings, and Monthly Miracle Minded Messages, Beth guides seekers toward forgiveness, inner peace, and awakening to Love.
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