“While there is division remaining between the self and the spacious Self, the self and the creative force, you remain in the state of maintenance rather than sustenance of Christ-consciousness. This is an acceptable state for this time of limited practice with those with whom you are engaged in this specific mountain top dialogue. It is not an acceptable state for full-scale interaction with the world. (A Course of Love: Dialogues, p. 164)”
Affirmation: “May I reach and sustain Christ-consciousness.”
Reflections:
The chapter for Day Fifteen is lengthy and complex, bringing together in one place the disparate threads of meaning that we have earlier explored in separate chapters, and, at the same time, moving the discussion forward by a further explanation of what “entering the dialogue” really means. Basically, “entering the dialogue” is recognized as a necessary sharing of self with others. These others do not negate the fundamental nature of individuality, though, and we will remain clear about our individuality as we progress. We will also not limit our interactions to those who believe as we do, who travel to the mountain top as we do in these Forty Days and Forty Nights. We will reach out to all others in our world, and we will do so non-judgmentally.
We learn to be neutral in our observation of our world and the brothers and sisters in it. It is important, very important, that we not judge. We let what we observe pass through us in invisibility. We do not hold to these observations, to come back to them and to judge them. This action of observation without judgment, in invisibility, is a very creative act.
We join with others in Christ consciousness, and we do so without boundaries. If we see that there are others in our company who are not ready to let go of their boundaries, that are too fearful to loose their boundaries, we accept these brothers and sisters as they are.
There is much that is as yet unknown to us, and it is in dialogue with others that we may come to know more fully. This does not negate a personal understanding, but it does open us up to dialogue with the spacious Self, the Self we share with all others. Our own pathway may be different from that of others, and our path may not even interest others in the slightest. This is alright. We will realize our true identity as we walk alone or with others. But we never want to disregard the brothers and sisters who have not made the mountain top trek with us. We need to encompass all in the Self that we share with all brothers and sisters, those who believe as we do and those who do not..
Prayer:
Dear Father/Mother,
May I know all that You hold out to me on this mountain top experience. I do not try to learn, but to know without learning. I would experience the Christ-consciousness that I long for by sharing myself with all of my brothers and sisters in love. I would sustain the elevated Self of form. All of this I cannot do of myself alone. I need Your help, and I rest in certainty that Your promise to me of these things is true.
May I share my understanding with those in my world who are ready. May I not try to share and may I not hold in judgment those of my brothers and sisters who are not ready. You will teach me the difference. Thank You for this assurance that You have given to me on this day that encompasses so much of my pathway to You in maturity and spiritual awareness.
Amen.
ACIM Workbook Lesson for Day 108:
To give and to receive are one in truth.
Mari Perron
/ April 19, 2010This remains one of my favorite Days of the Forty Days…just as a message in A Course of Love…that you have to “share who are to be who you are” remains one of my favorite passages from that first book. It is summarized very well here.
I felt a sense of excitement about it from the first, an excitement that has never fully gone away, although it ebbs and flows. There is so little said in this Course, in some ways, that is about a way to gather. We always had learning in the past, or ways of community that rested on shared beliefs. Here we are given a way to gather newly: in dialogue. To enter the dialogue as who we truly are. I just love that!
celiaelaine
/ April 19, 2010Dear Mari,
And in the “Dialogue,” we are accepted just as we are–just as we would be in conversation with our closest friends.
So often we think that we are not ready “yet.” If only we were better people, or loved more strongly and well, or–you name it. It is one of the joys of “A Course of Love” that we are accepted just as we are. We have traveled far enough along the pathway to believe and to know. This is a great blessing of this Course.
Fondly, Celia