When Life Becomes Too Much

“The embrace can now be likened to the starting point of a shared language, a language shared by mind and heart and by all people. It is a language of images and concepts that touch the one heart and serve the one mind.” (ACOL, C:21.6)

The “embrace” is introduced in A Course of Love by Jesus, who encourages us to imagine that we are enfolded in his arms. Then his embrace of us becomes mutual, and we also enfold him.

The imagination does not play on the sexual at all. It is meant to be a reassurance that someone out there knows what we are going through, is with us through it, and will see us through it. We are tired, very tired from our long journeys in separation from God. We sometimes feel sorry for ourselves, feel lacking all hope, and need to know that this feeling of ennui is not unusual: It is a universal experience.

But not many people own up to this feeling. We hide our disappointments in life, we don’t share our worries and concerns, and we lament the bad turns that life seems to have given us.

There is a way out. We can contemplate the truth of this embrace, that we are one with All, everywhere. We can consider that maybe Jesus really is with us, and that he brings angels with him. Help from the Other Side is forthcoming.

Knowing that we are not alone in our weariness in this world goes a long way toward alleviating that weariness. Knowing that we are not unique in feeling this lassitude helps also. The embrace encompasses all of us, every last one of us.

Ask for help in our weariness today. Expect help to arrive, and very often that help does in fact arrive. Prayer works.

Prayer

Dear Father/Mother,

Thank You for the better feeling that I feel today. My anxieties have diminished, because I have listened to the words of the embrace. May I reach out to others, who may be helped by my words as well.

May we help one another, even as You help us. We are all in this together.

Amen.