Are You Conscious? There are two ways one may go through life, conscious or unconscious. The unconscious person is the one who lives by the world and by one’s own ego. This is the person who says they can see well and all the time they are really blind. This is the one who is in charge of his or her own life. This one is he or she whose ‘self’ is dependent on the relationship to the world either in accord or in reaction. This ‘self’ has no idea how to be ‘not of the world’ and thus whether he or she knows it is so much a part of the world even in the name of religion.
The conscious person is one who is blind but inwardly sees. Jesus once told the religious leaders that the reason they were truly blind was because they said they could see. They saw only what they wanted or were able to see. (see John 9:41) The conscious person is truly aware of their self that stands in opposition to the self that is Christ in them. The conscious person is not afraid of their ‘selves’. They know that to see is to look past that self into the Kingdom of God where the self is truly loved and nurtured by none other than the community of God which we term Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is the conscious person who can truly love for their self is not at stake anymore. The person of Christ has been formed in them.
Perhaps this is why Jesus said to Nicodemus (John 3), ‘no one can see the Kingdom of God unless he or she is born again’. In order to be conscious and see clearly we must receive our birth from God. We are invited to new eyesight that is Kingdom seeing. The world around us is bathed in the Kingdom of God where righteousness and joy and peace and love reign supreme. But we keep slipping into unconsciousness, which takes less effort actually than being conscious. Being conscious requires discipline of the body and mind. Lazy people are unconscious. They have their routines and even religious observances to numb them to the Kingdom of God. The great thing about being conscious is that all we need do is seek it, want it and pursue it. Was Nicodemus willing? We think so by how the whole story ends.
Grace Matters 
We’re about to see a whole lot of “unconscious, lazy people” go through their routines and “religious observances” during the next month or so, consumed in gift buying, tree buying, Santa Claus outfit buying, decoration buying etc…….totally consumed in this world while at the same time proclaiming to celebrate the birth of our Heavenly Father’s Son. And I might add actually believing He was born on December, 25th….but that’s another issue. It’s my own personal hang-up I readily admit, but I believe the Maker of this universe deserves much better from His creation and certainly living in a conscious manner as you suggest would be a fine way to begin. To do so just might lead to showing Santa Claus the way out the back door and allowing the Son of Man to finally enter through the front door…..devoid of all the accoutrements designed by the unconscious people of past and present.
I thought I was until I read your masterful explanation. Thank you.
Larry Faraone