“[This treatise] will continue the view from within the embrace, an embrace and a view that is inclusive of all. (The Treatises of A Course of Love: A Treatise on the New, 1.1)”
Affirmation: “Jesus’s embrace includes all”
Reflections:
The passage immediately above refers to one of the most beautiful (and beautifully written) passages in the first volume of A Course of Love. The “embrace” in that first volume was an invitation from Jesus to come into his arms, and to be at peace and at rest. He recognized then that many (maybe all) of us are tired from seeking, and that the ways of this world have taken their toll on us. He would have to rest awhile in the embrace, to feel his loving presence, to know that all is well.
The embrace in ACOL is essentially an assertion that Jesus is there for us when times are tough.
A Course in Miracles is to the mind what A Course of Love is to the heart. We are bade elsewhere to live in “wholeheartedness,” a combining of the mind and heart in Jesus’s loving embrace. He never leaves us comfortless. In Matthew, in the Sermon on the Mount, we too see this quality in Jesus. His reassurances are comforting in the extreme.
Note that the passage from ACOL emphasizes that all are included in the embrace. Jesus will soon say that “all are chosen.” This is a reemphasis of the statement in A Course in Miracles, a statement that became book titles for Kenneth Wapnick, a scholar and student/teacher of A Course in Miracles. Ken wrote books entitled, All Are Chosen, and Few Choose to Listen, quoting ACIM. I think that Jesus is saying in A Course of Love that all are chosen, and not only that, but perhaps we might imagine that those of us who are reading his words in A Course of Love do “choose to listen.” May we choose to listen aright, no longer letting the ego rule our lives.
Prayer:
Dear Father/Mother,
May I rest awhile in the warmth of Jesus’s embrace. May I know that this embrace is always there for me, to give me comfort and solace. This world bears heavily on us, sometimes, despite our best efforts. Thank You for the words of Jesus that what he offers is the rest and safety that we all need.
Thank You for being there for us. May I never forget that prayers to You give my day a greater benefit not only to myself, but to my brothers and sisters also. May I be alert to the guidance that is there for the taking. May I listen for the unheard, but felt, whispers of the heart–of the wholeheartedness–that tell me what to say or do next.
Amen.
ACIM Workbook Lesson for Day 142:
My mind holds only what I think with God:
I thank my Father for His gifts to me.
Let me remember I am one with God.
