Lightheartedly in the Flow

“When you are guided to act in ways that are contrary to usual patterns of action you have taken in the past, you will often meet resistance.  Try to be lighthearted at such times and to remember that if it ‘doesn’t matter,’ you might as well try the new way.  Remind yourself that you have nothing to lose.  You will soon learn that this is so.  (A Course of Love, 25.24)”

Affirmation:  “I will follow guidance consistently.”

Reflections:

1 – Guidance

One of my favorite topics to think about is the question of guidance.  And this passage for today is directly on this topic.  What might I say to you about guidance?

2 – “Turn on a Dime”

First, it is hard to be consistent in following guidance.  I still pause and consider before acting, and this may not be a bad thing.  Our emotions can carry us away, and we can do unwise things.  We would not do insane things, and insanity is an attribute of an undiminished ego.  I often ask to be able to “turn on a dime,” once the guidance appears to be sure to me.  And when I do, I never regret it.

3 – Clear Mind

Guidance is also lighthearted and clear to the mind.  We do not have to obsess or to analyze.  Something within us just “knows.”  And, when we act accordingly, we will soon come to see that it is as Jesus has said, we will find out that all is right.

4 – No Pressure

Guidance is not pressured.  If we feel pressured, it is likely that the ego is involved, and that we are misleading ourselves.

5 – How to Know Guidance?

How do we know guidance?  Feelings, intuitive feelings, mainly.  But dreams do figure prominently in the Bible, and I do also listen to my dreams.  If the dream is particularly lucid, it becomes a touchstone for my life.

6 – In the Flow

When we are “in the flow,” so to speak, of life, then guidance comes easily and is welcomed.  When we are resisting, we ought to wait.  We are not ready.  Do not fight yourself, as Jesus says in A Course in Miracles.

7 – Great Blessing

Guidance is one of the greatest blessings of God.  And we ought, therefore, to take it seriously, but, paradoxically, with a light heart.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

We all live too highly strung lives, even those of us who are not working full-time.  Our emotional lives are too much in turmoil.

Jesus can help us with this, as he tells us what to do in A Course of Love.  Follow guidance, but with a clear mind and a light heart.   Guidance comes in many ways, and it behooves us to try to listen wisely.  Not passively or without thinking, but with the full use of our faculties.  But we must not make a big deal of evaluating guidance, for by its very nature, it is a bit beyond us.  Guidance comes, frequently, in intuition.  But a word from a book may just as easily speak to us.

Help me to turn on a dime, if I am on the wrong pathway.  Be with all of us today to give us, with Your help and our cooperation, a good day.

Amen.

Dedicate Your Thought to Union

“Dedicate your thought to union.  When senseless thoughts fill your mind, when resentments arise, when worry comes, repeat the thought that comes to open your heart and clear your mind:  ‘I dedicate all thought to union.’  (A Course of Love, 5.20)”

Affirmation:  “I dedicate all thought to union.”

Reflections:

1 – One

We are all One.  Everything is One.  For God is one, and the All is He.

2 – Differences

We think of union, most of all, in regard to other people with whom we are particularly close.  But we don’t often realize that the union that we seek is also aware of differences.  And we blame others, for they are different from ourselves.

3 – The All

Jesus would not have us think this way.  We are in relationship one to another, but this relationship is a relationship of “sameness.”  We would do well to consider how alike we are to other people–indeed, how alike we are to all in God’s creation.  We made this world, but it often reflects a heaven on earth when union with the All has been accomplished in us.

4 – Unity and Relationship

Let us ask today for the union that we all need, whether or not we are aware of it.  This union (in relationship) is a keynote of A Course of Love.  When we have mastered this concept, we will not need to learn much more.

5 – Rise Above Difficulties

If we dedicate our thought to a desire to understand union, we will rise above.  We will know joy.  And God Himself will be glad that His children are once again communicating with Him.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would indeed dedicate my thought to union today.  I would see my brother and me as One, along with You and everyone else.  Help me to hold this one thought foremost in my mind, and I will be well on the road to a good day.

In union, we are One.  With You, we are the All.  And we are in union with everyone and everything, and we are also in relationship to other people and things, celebrating our differences, but still in union.  While these concepts may seem difficult at first, I know that they are simple but profound ideas.  Help me to teach them well.

Thank You.

Amen.