Typical Fears No More Arise

“Living in relationship provides a constant knowing of this sort, a simple knowing of a way things are meant to be.  It is a knowing felt within the heart for which there still will be no proof, but for which there will be the certainty you heretofore have lacked.  The typical fears you have experienced in the past will not arise within this knowing.  (A Course of Love, 27.19)”

Affirmation:  “May no fears arise in me today.”

Reflections:

1 – Knowing

When we live in relationship to God and ourselves, our deepest Selves, plus with others, we are living as Jesus recommends in this passage for today.  We will feel a “knowing” in our heart that we are on the right pathway.

2 – Relationships

This is the pathway recommended initially in A Course of Miracles, but then the emphasis was on relationships, holy relationships with others, especially our most significant brother (or sister).  In A Course of Love, Jesus expands the concept of relationship to mean a relationship not only to God, but to the Self/Christ within.  When we reach deep, deep, inwardly, we are reassured, in a way that nothing else can, that all is well.

3 – Home

This is the certainty of which Jesus speaks in this passage.  This is the assurance that we are on the way home, and not to the Other Side, but the heaven on earth that we can actually know here.

4 – Listen

Be with Jesus’s words today.  See if they don’t make a huge difference.

5 – Certainty

The certainty that we are on the right pathway comes when we lift ourselves up mentally and in a heartfelt way, and we do the best that we know how.  We don’t allow ourselves to get downhearted, if there is any way that we can avoid it.  We are cheery, we are upbeat.  We are not discouraged, for Jesus is with us always.

6 – A Promise

He has promised this.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would know certainty of true knowledge today.  I would not press to know, but I would rest in the certainty that this is what You want for me.  I would not fall into a too-strong desire for Christ-consciousness, for You make that decision.  You are always with me, inside of me, for I am part of You.  Thank You for this knowledge.

Be with all of my brothers and sisters today.  May we let typical fears that arise with just living to fall away.  We need be fearful no more.  Thank You.

Amen.

revised

Deemphasize the “I”

“Begin to imagine life passing through you rather than getting stopped for examination at its intersection with you.  Begin to imagine seeing the world without the emphasis on your personal self.  Begin to form sentences and eventually to tell stories without the use of the ‘I’ pronoun.  (A Course of Love, 22.20)”

Affirmation:  “I will deemphasize my personal self today.”

Reflections:

1 – An Onion

The affirmation summarizes what our passage for today is saying, but the passage usually particularly vivid illustration.  Jesus has used the image of an onion to explain what his passing through is all about.  There are various layers, all of which represent parts of ourselves and our world.

2 – Don’t Get Stuck in a “Layer”

But we are not to get stuck in any given “layer.”  We are to let all of reality, true reality, just pass through us onto something else, one adventure after another.  And life can be an adventure.

3 – Avoid “I”

We are encouraged to stop saying “I” so much.  We are encouraged, in sentences nearby, not to refer to other individuals as “mine.”  We are to free others as we wish to be freed.  This does not mean that we love any less, only that we recognize the ultimate right of all to be free.  And when we grant freedom to others, we automatically receive it for ourselves, for giving and receiving are one.

4 – Analysis

We often have analyzed too much.  This is the mind at work, and A Course of Love encourages us to look to our hearts (and, then, our mind and heart in conjunction, which make for “wholeheartedness”).  When we have analyzed too much, we have not let life pass through us.  We have stopped at various points in the layers of the onion to consider what everything means.  And we will be wrong, for it is only in the passing through, the letting go, that we truly experience the real world.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would deemphasize the personal self today.  I will not say “I’ so much.  That should encourage others to likewise deemphasize the “I.”

May I have a good day.  May I just let events flow through me.

This day You have given me to enjoy.  And to observe, coming closer to You and others, as well as my Self, all the time.  When we seek to serve You and others, we are also serving ourselves.  Let nothing hinder this threefold way of service today.

Amen.

Needs Are Met at the Point of Need

“In creation, all needs are fulfilled the instant they become needs, which is why there are no needs.  If everything you need has been provided, having needs makes no sense.  (A Course of Love, 19.14)”

Affirmation:  “I find answers as soon as I have needs.”

Reflections:

1 – Needs vs. Wants

All needs are met.  All wants are not.  Why?  What we need is accurate, but what we want may actually hurt us.  God protects His children, and He does not give what will ha (from A Course in Miracles).  How do we explain the pain of this world?  We have free will (not a tenet of either ACIM or ACOL).

2 – Adolescents?

The pain can also be explained by an A Course of Love passage that notes that we have been like adolescents in rebellion, and so God “let go,” much as parents let go their teenage children who are trying to assert their own identity.

3 – Point of Need

It is important to note that needs are met at the point of need–immediately.  Of course, we can note in everyday life that we don’t always recognize that our needs have immediately been met.  We are slow to see.  But see we will, sooner or later, and we can pray that our seeing may be sooner.

4 – No Problems

This passage is akin to the ACIM passage that indicates that we have no problems, though we think that we have.  The solution is always placed with the problem–immediately.  And so, when we are tuned in, we get our solution as soon as we articulate the problem.  And articulating the problem is important, for otherwise we exist in a kind of mind fog.

5 – We Are Protected

May we pray today that our needs, being met, will trouble us no longer.  We are prepared for, we are protected, and we have safety.  There is a loving God Who does all of this for us.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

Thank You for reminding me today that my needs are always met, and not just met sometime, but at the point of need.  This is akin to knowing the solution is always with the problem, and that actually we have no problems (though we think we have).  Our “wants” are not always met, and perhaps that is a good thing.  We often ask amiss.

I would have no part of an adolescent rebellion today.  That is to stay in the past.  I would welcome Your guidance on a constant basis.  That is really the only way to live smoothly.  Thank You for given me a right spirit within when I ask for it.  

Be wtih me today, aso that I have patience.  I need patience, as do all of us, with our loved ones.  I am perhaps more impatient than I would like to think.  I thought that my life situation gave me a lot of patience, but perhaps that is a fallacy.  Be with me today as I see my patience tested.  And may I know that true needs will be answered immediately.

Amen.

This Is Our Heritage

“This is your heritage.  The universe beyond the sun and stars, and all the thoughts of which you can conceive, belongs to you.  God’s peace is the condition for His Will.  Attain His peace, and you remember Him.  (M-20.6)”

Affirmation:  “May I know the peace of God today.”

Reflections:

1 – Everything

This passage is indicative of other statements in A Course in Miracles, in which we are told that our will is to have everything, and that everything has been given to each of us, all of our brothers and sisters, as well as ourselves.  Previously, we may have wanted some (little) something very much, as though to say, “If I have this, it will be as everything to me.”  But this little thing will never satisfy, Jesus says, for it is our will to have everything.  (These are paraphrases from ACIM.)

2 – The Universe

And so it is the universe that belongs to all of us, individually and collectively.  And when we attain the peace of god, we will know this.  When we are peaceful, we also want God’s Will, knowing that our own will is identical to His.  And we remember God.  This latter point is another way of saying that we have awakened (an interpretation, not stated in ACIM).

3 – Law of Attraction

Whatever we can conceive of, we can have.  This seems like a very controversial statement, but it is line with the law of attraction (not an ACIM tenet), which is getting a lot of press these days.  If we cannot conceive of something, then it is not for us.  We only conceive of that which we can and may have.

4 – Own the Universe

What does it mean to own the universe?  It is an extravagant statement, likely meant to encourage to raise our sights to higher levels.  We are not limited, though in this world we do know limitation (an ACIM tenet).   When we have moved beyond this world, we will likely know immediately what this promise of the universe really means.  The Other Side is left for another day to explore.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would attract only what is good for me, but I would first filter these things through Your Will for me.  I know that Your Will and my will are actually the same, and if I ask something in my will that is not Yours, then the ego (an insane part of myself) has encouraged this decision.

We are encourage to believe that the universe belongs to us, the universe and everything in it.  This is an extravagant claim, but it is clearly outlined in A Course in Miracles.  Thank You for this blessing.  And may we never try to claim some small part of the universe, as though it would be all for us.  We want everything good, and may we have that today.  Thank You for guiding us as we make decisions about what to ask for.

And may our guidance be correctly ascertained by us.  May we not let the ego intrude on this most sacred of happenings, guidance from the Holy Spirit or the Christ within.

Thank You.

Amen

Call by God Answered

“And what, O teacher of God, is it that you want?  You have been called by God, and you have answered.  Would you now sacrifice that Call?  Few have heard it as yet, and they can but turn to you.  (M-13.6)”

Affirmation:  “I would answer the Call from God.”

Reflections:

1 – Students/Teachers

This passage is for students of A Course in Miracles as well (an interpretation, not stated in ACIM).  Only time separates the student from the teacher, and time does not really exist.

2 – Loyalty

All of us can be at least a bit wavering in our loyalty.  Life gets busy, our prayer time drops off, and only when we find ourselves in a jam, do we remember to ask God for help.  Doesn’t this sound familiar?

3 – The Pathway

Here, in this passage, Jesus would keep us on the pathway.  He knows that our brothers and sisters need us, and they need us very greatly.  Would we turn from those we love deeply?  No.  Then let us not turn from those we know less well.  They too need us.

4 – Plan of the Teachers of God

The plan of the teachers of God is said elsewhere to be a plan that is the only possible solution to the pain in which most brothers and sisters of ours find themselves.  We do care, or we would not be reading these reflections.

5 – What Would God Have Me Do–Today?

Let us ask God what we might do today, for Him.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

Help us to find Your plan for this day.  Let us not second-guess You at all.  Be with us throughout the day, so that we know where and when to do Your Will.

May all of our decisions be right.  If we make mistakes, because we are human, help us to correct those mistakes before they might harm ourselves or another individual.

Let me hear Your guidance, Your Holy Spirit, aright today.

Amen.

Glimpse the Face of Christ

“Does one whose vision has already glimpsed the face of Christ look back with longing on a slaughter house?  No one who has escaped the world and all its ills looks back on it with condemnation.  (M-13.4)”

Affirmation:  “I would see Christ today.”

Reflections:

1 – Vivid Language

With particular vivid language, this passage shows some of the negative view of our world as we live it.  But not with condemnation.  Jesus is compassionate always, and here he is expressing concern but not negativism.  He is telling it like it is.

2 – Awakening

We will escape the world when we have experienced Awakening, even though we may still be living in this world.  When material things no longer beckon us, as the ego wishes, we will be a long way toward home in God.

3 – Meaning of Glimpsing the Face of Christ

We need to understand glimpsing the “face of Christ.”  It is said elsewhere in ACIM that Jesus saw the face of Christ in all his brothers (and sisters, because the word “brother” includes women and is coming from the sixties, when ACIM was channeled) and remembered God.  We may find this miracle happening sooner rather than later, but only, perhaps, as a glimpse.  The insight will not last, for miracles are perceptual, and therefore do not last (a Text tenet).  When we experience this miracle more often and for longer periods of time, I would believe that we are inching closer to Awakening (Enlightenment).

4 – See This World with Clear Eyes

We do live in a “slaughter house.”  But we do not often realize this, for we have become accustomed to the maiming and killing.  We need, perhaps, to see the world with clear eyes so that we will be ever more motivated to leave–not through death, but through a higher vision.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would choose to look on all my brothers and sisters today while seeking to glimpse the face of Christ in them.  I remember a friend once saying to me that we are meant to see the fact of Christ in everyone.  Certainly Jesus has this view as well.  May I too come to have this view, this understanding.

Be with me as I go through the day.  Help me not to take offense at anything that might happen.  Help me to live Your way.

Be with my brothers and sisters, especially those who are struggling today.  The struggle is temporary, for A Course in Miracles notes that the solution is always with the problem.  But we don’t have see this, and so the solution eludes us.  May the solution of any thorny problems that others and I have today appear right away.  I do know that this is Your way.

Thank You for bringing me this far through this world.  And may I give something back to everyone with whom I form a bond of any nature.

Amen.

Turn the Pain Over to God

“Healing will always stand aside when it would be seen as threat.  The instant it is welcome it is there.  (M-6-2)”

Affirmation:  “I welcome healing today.”

Reflections:

1 – Don’t Retain the Pain

We take a lot of interest in our physical and emotional health, perhaps especially when either is compromised.  The more interest we devote to pain, the more likely we may be to retain the pain.  But Jesus would not have it this way.  Yet he stands aside when that is our choice.

2 – Levels of Our Mind

We do not have access to all levels of our minds.  And it is this that seems to be implied in the passage for today.  We think we want healing, but do we really?  Are we getting something, some benefit, from our compromised health?  This is a question that all of us would do well to ponder as each new ailment rises on the horizon.

3 – Emotional Healing

The healing that will be there immediately may not be viewed by the physical eyes.  But all of us have known miraculous emotional healing when one turned the matter over to God.  We have seen this in ourselves, and we have seen this in others.  There is probably no exception to this miracle.  We have made emotional healing a priority, and we have admitted that we do not know how to bring it about.  So we turn it over, and, there, in a place that we do not often see, is the healing that we have prayed to have.

4 – The Best

Could we wish for anything less today for ourselves and others?

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would have emotional and physical healing, beginning immediately.  I do not ask in arrogance, but in humility.  You want me well; you want me to learn through rewards, not pain.  Let me leave any and all discomfort aside today.

Thank You that my health has always, with a few exceptions, been good.  As I grow older, I ask for the same.

Be with me today as I seek to walk Your pathway of healing, physical and emotional.

Thank You.

Amen.

Tremendous Release / Deep Peace

“You have no idea of the tremendous release and deep peace that comes from meeting yourself and your brothers totally without judgment.  (T47)”

Affirmation:  “meeting. . .totally without judgment”

Reflections:

1 – How True!

How true!  We cannot even comprehend the full blessing of this passage, but we do see glimpses when we try to withhold judgment and just love.  The irony is that so long as we judge, we will perceive others as judging us.  This is the tenet of the Course that projection makes perception.  Nowhere will we find this more evident than in both judgment and attack thoughts.

2 – Comforting Words

The words, “tremendous release” and “deep peace” are comforting in the extreme.  Do we not all wish for this?  Here we find out how to effect this transformation.

3 – Do Not Judge–Ever!

We must remember not to leave ourselves out of the equation.  We must not judge ourselves, just as we must not judge our brothers.  Frequently, we seem to have an internal judge that chastises us for misdeeds, real and imagined.  These we are bade to leave behind, and we will know release and peace.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

May I leave judgment behind forever.  May I know the release and the joy that come from tolerance for my brothers and sisters.

May my day go well today.  This will happen if I just remember to be tolerant of my brother’s perceived failings, and I open my heart to love.

Amen.

The Nature of Love

ACIM Workbook Lesson 84 – for Sunday, March 25, 2012

Affirmation:  “Love created me like Itself.”

Selected Passage:

“I am in the likeness of my Creator.  Love created me like Itself.  (WB149)”

Reflections:

We are meant to be creatures of Love.  This lesson echoes biblical teaching:   made in the image and likeness of the Creator.  And we were taught, long before ACIM was given, that God is Love.  May we assume the mantle of Love today.  This does not make us equal to God, though ultimately we are meant to be co-creators with Him.  He created us; we did not create ourselves (an ACIM tenet).  We are told in ACIM that we are particularly apt to forget this distinction when we are being egotistical.

Affirmation:  “Love holds no grievances.”

Selected Passage:

“Grievances are completely alien to love.  Grievances attack love and keep its light obscure.  If I hold grievances I am attacking love, and therefore attacking my Self.  My Self thus becomes alien to me.  I am determined not to attack my Self today, so that I can remember Who I am.  (WB149)”

Reflections:

This passage is a strong motivator, almost in selfish terms (though not intended to make us selfish).  We would give up grievances so that we do not attack our Self.  We can have no peace, of course, when we are unloving to our Self.  This is reminiscent of the biblical teaching to love thy neighbor as thyself.  If one does not love one’s self, then it is impossible to love our brothers and sisters.  But this directive is in direct contradiction to the kind of love of self that the ego encourages.  We would do well to remember this.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

Help me to understand this lesson.  What is Love?  Are You the Love Whom I am like?

I would believe so.  And help me to absorb this great blessing.

I would not hold grievances today.  I would know that I am perfectly safe.  Thank You for this reassurance.

Amen.