Be at Ease Today

“That you are living in the time of Christ does not mean that you will automatically realize Christ-consciousness, just as living in the time of the Holy Spirit did not mean that you would automatically realize the conscious¬ness of the spirit that was your intermediary. But just as during the time of the Holy Spirit, your understanding of your Self and God grew through the indirect means that were available to you, during the time of Christ, your understanding of your Self and God cannot help but grow through the direct and observable means now available. Just as in the time of the Holy Spirit the spirit was available to all as intermediary, during the time of Christ, Christ-consciousness is available to all.” (ACOL, T4:7.2)

We are seeing all-inclusiveness in action. Just as during the time of the Holy Spirit, the baptism of the Holy Spirit was available to all (but not received by all), now in the time of Christ, Christ-consciousness is available to all (but will probably not be received by all). But none of us are excluded, except by our own hand. It is true that God intervenes when He sees that we are ready, but we can do much to remove the blocks standing in the way of our readiness.

We need, first and foremost in this time of Christ, to love. Love is the great balancer of all things. Love is the way home. And when we love, we don’t fear and we don’t judge. We are at peace, relaxing in the arms of God, holding Jesus’s hand in a way that he says will not be illusion. What more could we ask for? If we haven’t reached Christ-consciousness yet, there is a reason, and it is not a reason that ought to get us down. We have simply not fulfilled all the requirements—yet. But there is nothing saying that the great miracle won’t happen today—or tomorrow. We need patience in such things.

When we seek to love, we set ourselves up for great blessings. And we quit our worrying and our sense of dis-ease. We allow peace to overwhelm us. And then the way is paved for a glimpse of enlightenment, a glimpse of Christ-consciousness. The faster these glimpses come, often the closer we are to maintaining and sustaining this great blessing. All in good time.

Enjoy today. Choose to give up our downhearted stance, if we indeed do have one. There can be a lot of frustration when we aren’t reaching Christ-consciousness, and we have been on the spiritual path for a long time. But struggle to attain actually moves the goal farther away, as Jesus tells us in The Way of Mastery.

Be at ease today. Know that God’s ways are not all known to us. And the goal may be the sweeter for being delayed.

Prayer

I seek today to have peace and calm. I seek not to hurry through my “to do” list. These are things of this world that can blind our eyes to the world beyond. And I would see the world beyond today.

Be with me. Take from me any agitation, for agitation is not Your way. Help me to understand that every little bit of peace that I invite takes me closer to my goal of fully joining with You, the separation healed, the way ahead a good bit brighter.

Thank You.

Amen.

Rebirth Heralds a New Ease in Non-Egoic Accomplishment

“You have formerly been capable of representing who you are only within illusion for this was the abode in which you resided. Illusion has been to you like a house with many doors. You have chosen many doors to the same house and but thought them to offer different things, only to find that the house you entered was still the same house, the house of illu¬sion. You took yourself into these many rooms and in some you were even capable of representing your true Self. This representation of the true Self within the house of illusion was like an explosion happening there. For a moment, the floorboards shook, the walls quaked, the lights dimmed. All those within the house became aware of something happening there. All attention turned toward the explosion but its source could not be found.

“In the aftermath of the explosion, the representation of the true Self settled like dust, and all the attention fell upon it. A great scrambling ensued as the recognition dawned on those who looked, that treasures were to be found there. One found art and another religion, one found poetry and another music, one seized upon a single thought and through its extrapola¬tion founded one science or another. In all of the excitement the matter of the source of the explosion was dismissed.

“Thus has been the best of what you call life within the illusion.” (ACOL, T3:7.6 – 7.8)

A beautiful passage from A Course of Love, this quotation for today lets us know that the best features of our culture developed from representations of the true Self, though those representations—art, music, poetry, religion, science—may have developed out of a persona wracked by violence. The process of evolution has indeed caused for human beings a violent rebirth. If we are still allowing ourselves to remain in illusion, we are still wracked by the “explosions” that Jesus says are happening there. This best of all possible worlds, in illusion, for us, does represent the best of our culture—the art, music, and the like.

But is this the way that we want to proceed as time continues to unfold? Aren’t we tired of picking ourselves up off the floor and striving for perfection in our achievements in art, music, science, etc.? Jesus says that life in the “House of Truth” is effortless and means an end to struggle. Would we not all want this? Climbing a new mountain of achievement, never being satisfied with what we have accomplished—at least for very long—means that the ego has been front and center in our motivation. When we accomplish in the House of Truth, we still strive but we do not struggle. Accomplishment is not a personal achievement any longer. We have tried and failed to get satisfaction from personal achievements. Now we try something new and different. Achievement in true reality, which means that we are One with our brothers and sisters, with our Self, and with God. To be that different surely means that we have made many footfalls upon our path back to God.

Have we not cringed, often, from thinking that something more is asked of us, some new achievement that will give us satisfaction in life at last? We shrank from the reality of this, for it was not true reality, but an illusion. Our egoic satisfactions lasted only until the gold wore off. And our accomplishments were not solid gold. They wore, leaving base metal showing. We have had enough of this.

Be glad that in the treasures that fell to the floor we found a glimmering of greater value. Now we can develop these treasures without struggle or pain. We can accomplish, not as a personal achievement, but through the guidance that we receive from the Self Whom we all are. The Self is One, as God is One. And we don’t take personal glorification from what comes beyond us. Not in art, music, poetry, science—you name it.

And we recognize the difference.

Prayer

I often strove for accomplishments in the past, but I am through with that now. Jesus has told me that, like others who are following him, I have accomplished now, and struggle is meant to be no more. What a glorious thought this indeed is! If only we could all believe it! If only we could be at home in the ease of accomplishments that are won for all people. No longer egoic for self, but magnanimous for all.

Be with me today as I seek to walk Your way once again. If I have to pick myself up again, let me know that You are lifting my hand to help me steady. Your way is the only way worth pursuing, and I walk in Your glory when I don’t make any attempt to achieve for myself only. These hollow victories are left behind in the dust.

Thank You.

Amen.

Interactions with Others Can Be of Ease & Certainty

“Certainty and ease as surely go together. There are no more decisions for you to make. There is only a call for a dedicated and devoted will, a will dedicated to the present moment, to those who are sent to you and to how you are guided to respond to them. One will be a teacher, another a student. The difference will be clear if you listen with your heart.” (ACOL, C:28.13)

A reassuring passage, this quotation for today tells it like it is—if we are strong enough to comprehend and to put into practice. If we can be at ease when we are certain about things, we will go a long way toward home today. Ease and effortless living are prized in A Course of Love; we don’t have to struggle. In fact, we are forbade struggle as a very bad idea, something that the ego got us caught up in so that we would take the credit when we succeeded after much struggle.

May we get past all of this disaster today. Let us live in the present moment, sure of the present, more sure than we have ever been of anything before. We will encounter others, some of whom will be teachers for us, some of whom will be students for us. If we are fortunate, we will fall in line with the difference.

We are to observe in the outside world, and later on we see that this observation enlarges into being “in-formed” by the larger world. When we observe and when we are informed, we will take life as it comes. We won’t be confused by the fact that some know more than we do, some know less. This is only relevant while we are in time, and time is an illusion in our world. Beyond the veils of death, time is no more. And the same for space.

If we listen with our heart, in ease and certainly, we will know which individuals we encounter are meant to be our teachers, and which we are meant to teach. Listening with our heart, as always, is extolled in ACOL.

Live today in ease and, with it, certainty of a present that will give us all that we truly need. There are actually no needs, for needs are met at the point of recognition. And when this happens, we know that needs are no more.

Dear Father/Mother,

We so easily misunderstand each other. We so easily overstep our bounds and do that which does not help another. But with You guiding us, these mistakes will vanish into nothingness. As they came from nothingness, the mistakes of the ego.

Help us to reach out to others only to the extent that they are ready to receive. We need to pull back if our gestures are not helpful to them. May we have enough sense to understand the difference.

Amen.

Effortless Ease in Learning A Course of Love

“This is not a self-help course but just the opposite. This course has stated time and time again that you can not learn on your own and that resigning as your own teacher is the only way to learn a new curriculum. This course will not call you to effort of any kind.. . ..It merely calls you to sanity by calling you to let go of illusion in favor of the truth (Treatises of A Course of Love: Treatise on the Personal Self, 4.1)”

Affirmation: “I will resign as my own teacher today.”

Reflections:

1 – Effortful Excursions

Jesus would have us recognize that the many effortful excursions that we have been on in our lives have been diversions. We didn’t recognize the insanity of the illusion in which we find ourselves. So we can not really help ourselves, try as hard as we may. We need guidance from our Self, and this guidance is informed by glimpses of the truth that Jesus is here conveying to us. There is no other valid way to learn.

2 – Not Self-Help

We have often heard that A Course in Miracles is a self-study course. Jesus says categorically that A Course of Love is not a “self-help” course, and I think by implication he would feel the same about ACIM. Self-study is a study of insanity, at least before we have experienced Awakening or enlightenment, or, as called in ACOL, Christ-consciousness.

3 – Read Leisurely

We do not need to be expending effort as we learn now. We read in a leisurely fashion, but always mindful that we are reading something that can change our lives dramatically. ACOL calls for less intensive study than ACIM. It is just not possible to retain the credo if we work at it too hard. Rereading in a leisurely fashion works best. And then the words will engrave themselves on our hearts.

4 – Memorizing Difficult

I have found it frustrating that the words of ACOL do not memorize as easily as the words of ACIM. I think that this has something to do with the fact that ACIM is iambic pentameter blank verse, a form of poetry (except in the very beginning of the Text). But the words of ACOL will be memorized as more time is spent with the volumes. And more time is needed, at least until we reach the 40 Days and 40 Nights of the Dialogues.

5 – Leave Insanity Behind

Let us leave behind our insanity today. We have been lost in illusions, and they have imperiled our way. May the way be smooth from now on. And communion with God will make it so, with Jesus, thus far, as our guide.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would do nothing effortful today, and that blessing will come about because I vow not to plan my day. I will look ahead a couple of hours, but no more. And thus far today, that determination has stood me in good stead.

May we realize that we don’t have to work hard to incorporate the blessings of A Course of Love. We do find that reading ACOL can be easy. We do not have to intensely study, and indeed it is counterproductive to do so. Help me to remember this blessing today.

Be with me throughout the day. May the day go smoothly for my brothers and sisters everywhere, and may the day go smoothly for me as well.

Amen.

No Struggle / Only Ease

“A first step then in learning to recognize when you are acting upon notions of who you think you are rather than on who you truly are, is the appearance of the struggle or resistance. A a swimmer quickly learns, the only way to return to ease of movement is to cease to struggle or resist. (Treatises of A Course of Love: Treatise on the Nature of Unity and Its Recognition, 4.6)”

Affirmation: “I would choose ease today as I follow ACOL.”

Reflections:

1 – Metaphor

The metaphor of a swimmer is used very well in A Course of Love. We are told elsewhere that we would not want to try to move in the water the same way that we move on land. Our movements are actually easier in water, but require an awareness that our environment is different from land. We move with more ease in the water, if we do not fight the water. This fighting would be a completely detrimental reaction, leading to major problems in swimming. And the same, in effect, with trying to live ACOL. We move with ease and not resistance when we don’t fight the words that have been given us. We soon feel much more ourselves, as the Christ Self will come through more and more over time, and we will be living our real Selves.

2 – No Struggle

We do not need to struggle anymore! What a relief this is! To give up struggle is something that we have wanted to do for a long time, but very likely we did not think giving up struggle was possible. And maybe we didn’t think that it was even desirable. We pit ourselves against forces beyond our control, thinking that we are building character. And we do, in fact, build some strength by struggling. But there is a better way. We give over our concerns to a Higher Power, and He paves the way for us. He is strong for us. In A Course in Miracles, this Power is the Holy Spirit. In A Course of Love, this Power is the Christ Self. Jesus declares elsewhere in ACOL that we were previously in the time of the Holy Spirit, but that now we are in the time of Christ. He is not here referring to the Jesus of 2,000 years ago, but to the Self that we all can inhabit.

3 – Time of Christ

Moving in water can be effortless, but it requires some practice. One may intuitively grasp the concept of swimming, but usually some training is required. And the same with what we are doing here. We are learning in the time of Christ. We are learning effortlessly, but we need some attention to what we are learning to assimilate all of it. And that new way of learning is by observation, not intense study (which would be very effortful indeed). We will learn, and we need to relax in the learning. One’s better life depends on mastering these concepts in A Course of Love (since we have chosen to use this as our means to Christ-consciousness), but we do not have to do so with great expenditure of effort. Indeed, to try that way would be counterproductive.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would learn a new way in the time of Christ. I would learn without trying to resist or to struggle, but I would learn with effortless ease. Sometimes to my personal self this seems too good to be true. But this evaluation comes only when my ego is rearing its head.

Learning now can be full of ease as well as joy. I do not have to pit myself against hard challenges. I ask You to pave the way for me. Tell me how to do my part. Tell me, guide me to do the right thing. May Your intentions for me win out always.

Be with all of us who still question if a new way is too easy. I know intellectually that a new way is not only possible but also easy, and I would bring my emotions in line with this knowledge. Thank You for being with me, for giving me the sense of Your presence.

Amen

Give Up Difficulty for Ease

“Let me be clear.  The seeming lack of difficulty in this course is where its difficulty lies.  To give up difficulty for ease is more than some egos are willing to accept.  (Addendum to A Course of Love:  Learning in the Time of Christ)”

Affirmation:  “May I know ease today.”

Reflections:

1 – Ease

Reading A Course of Love should be a task full of ease.  The difficulty arises when we try to study it as we study other courses of study, including A Course in Miracles.  A Course of Love is more abstract, which is the means by which our hearts are engaged.  We do not have to study, and, if we try, we will go astray.  We will also be greatly frustrated if we try to study it as a textbook.  This is not the right approach at all.  Just let the words drift into your mind, stopping for nothing, taking deep thought for nothing.  Repeated readings will get the gist of it into your heart, actually by bypassing the mind (which wants to analyze).

2 – Beauty of the Language

The beauty of the language is enthralling.  When we let the words flow over us, we are captivated by the content as well, though we may not recognize this at first.  We may think, and rightly so, that we are missing a lot, or that we are reading things that we do not fully understand.  As we move closer to Awakening, the words will begin to make more sense to us, and without any strain at all.

3 – The Ego

Our egos continue to get us into trouble.  The ego wants to make everything hard that is actually meant to be easy, because its rule is to seek but not to find (an ACIM tenet).  Try to loosen the ego’s hold on our minds, but not by overtly resisting it, for resistance makes the ego strong.  The ego is strong in strife (another ACIM tenet).

4 – Easy Reading

A Course of Love is actually easy reading, much easier than A Course in Miracles.  Mari, the scribe, listens with her heart perhaps more than her mind, and Helen (ACIM scribe) listened to her mind.  This approach is exactly what Jesus needed in channeling to the two individuals, for ACOL is to the heart what ACIM was to the mind.

5 – ACIM and ACOL

We will do well when we realize that, after ACIM and now as we consider A Course of Love, we are ready to listen to our hearts.  They know without demanding proof of everything.  They lead us aright.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would choose ease today, especially in reading A Course of Love.  I wish no more to be frustrated by the fact that my mind cannot study ACOL as it did A Course in Miracles.  

May this day morph into one of ease.  May my heart inform my mind that egoic influences are dead in me.  And may that deadness be true.

Amen.

There Is Nothing Outside of Me

“Here, rest comes to weariness and gently lays it aside.  Time has ended and there is nothing you must do.  Being replaces identity and you say, I am.  I am, and there is nothing outside of me.  Nothing outside of the embrace.  (A Course of Love, 20.9)”

Affirmation:  “There is nothing outside of me.”

Reflections:

1 – “There Is Nothing Outside of Me”

I puzzled over this quotation from A Course in Miracles for a long, long time.  What does it mean?

2 – Part of God

A teacher in a group discussion once explained it as saying that we encompass all.  And I think that she was close to the meaning.  We are the All, the One.  The nearest symbol that I have is the hologram, where every part is seen in each part.  God is the All, but we are a part of God (according to ACIM and ACOL).

3 – The Embrace

When we need to have reassurance, comfort, or release, here is a place to find it.  This place is within the embrace of Jesus and of the universe(s).  We feel rest from weariness, and we lay aside our weariness.

4 – “I Am that I Am”

When we are saying “I am,” then we are close to God’s pronouncement in the Bible, “I am that I am.”  We are trying to replace being, or God, with our personal, egoic identity.  And we are coming close to doing that.

5 – Rest

“Time has ended and there is nothing you must do.”  Certainly those of us who have worked long and hard at our jobs, with our families, with the community and world of which we are a part, may come to understand this passage as an invitation to take a much-needed rest.  Our work hereafter will be effortless (an ACOL tenet).  We will feel contentment, tranquility, and joy.

And we will feel love.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

Please help me to understand that there is nothing outside of me.  We are the All, and we are part of You.  These are deep mysteries, and I am puzzled.

Help me to get through this day well.  It promises to be a difficult day, and I need Your help.  

Amen.