“I revealed a God of Love and the Holy Spirit provided for indirect and less fearful means of communion or communication with God” (The Treatises of A Course of Love: “A Treatise on the New,” 2.4)”
Affirmation: “God is a God of Love.”
Reflections:
The Holy Spirit, as described in A Course in Miracles, is our source of guidance. How does He speak to us? There are many ways. Sometimes it is in our silence, when we have gotten quiet enough to “hear” an inner voice that reassures us of the next turn on our pathway. Sometimes it is a quiet inner knowing that comes unbidden (but usually after we have become still and quiet on the inside). Sometimes it is through the words of our brother or sister, which seem to speak to our situation, and we recognize that we have heard the “truth.” There are, perhaps, as many ways to “hear” guidance as there are people to receive this guidance. We do not usually have to wait long.
We need to get the fear out if we are to listen to guidance effectively. Many people, even many advanced seekers, hold to a notion of God that is fearful. We retain the image portrayed by writers of the Old Testament, which was written in a different era, with a different culture to address. But we are now in the Twenty-First Century, and it behooves us to turn aside from all fearful concepts of God, and to see Jesus’s interpretation of a loving God. We will not see God as loving if we continue to blame Him for the bad things that happen in this world. All such unloving concepts must be abandoned. God does not wish evil on anyone; he does not “punish” anyone. These things we bring upon ourselves, as part of the higher Self (an ACOL concept) that sees a broader view than do we.
This interpretation is not a “blame the victim” mentality. We are not aware of the larger picture beyond our world. Usually we don’t see the broader picture, and where we fit into it. But trust that it is there, and that our higher Selves had a part in the planning. Then we do not have to hold onto the fear of God anymore.
God did not bring our pain and suffering unto us. And, even when we do feel pain, we don’t have to turn it into suffering. This latter concept is gloriously described by Eckhart Tolle (The Power of Now, A New Earth), who suffered tremendously before his release, miraculously, about age 30. Jesus says in A Course in Miracles that we do not have to learn through pain. Eckhart did, but this pathway is not for all. And, as students of both ACIM and ACOL, we can pray that any pain be lessened, and certainly that any pain not turn into suffering. Then the fear of God’s part in that evil can be eradicated.
Prayer:
Dear Father/Mother,
Help me to know that God is not a fearful God. He wishes only the best for us, His children. May we accept this assurance today, and walk in peace.
Be with us as we go about this day. Thank You for the quiet sense of peace that communing with You gives me.
Amen.
ACIM Workbook Lesson for Day 153:
In my defenselessness my safety lies.
