Future Waiting to Be Birthed

“You ask of meaning, but this is not about meaning in the way you look at it.  You seek a description of a new way, a new time, as if it is a future that is already written.  It is a future waiting to be birthed.”  Mirari

Here Mary is speaking, internally, to Mari Perron.  Mari has asked about the meaning of what is transpiring, but Mary lets her know that the future is yet to be written—and it is to be written by us.  In Mirari, we learn that women are meant to take more of a leadership role.  Women have often taken a back seat to men, but this is not the wave of the future. 

Much that A Course of Love said about “being,” the way of Mary, is coming into play here.  Our men have often championed “doing,” and indeed Jesus himself did also.  But our new way in our newly created world will be a way of relationships in that world, and for this change, being is simply more appropriate.

We also heard a great deal in  A Course of Love about a new world, just waiting to be created by us.  We are coming into this new world now, though the birth pangs are severe, and we are experiencing much turmoil as we live through these times.

But there is hope in what Mary says in Mirari.  It is darkest before the dawn, and just on the other side of turmoil is peace.

Let us do what we can to hasten that peace.

Release

“Concerns are a thought program.  I ask you now to observe that mechanism, recognized it for what it is, and accept the fact that it comes from fear.  It is fear of uncertainty, of not knowing what the future will bring.  This fear of uncertainty generates a state of anguish that must first be accepted, and then released.”  Choose Only Love bk.3, 3:I

Jesus would have us take a look at our fears, and then, after looking at them, release them.  He would not have us just try to dismiss thoughts of uncertainty.  This dismissing never works very well, and the subconscious is less likely to be healed if we eject bad thoughts without considering them.  Of course, we don’t want to make them “real” to us (something A Course in Miracles warns against), and so it seems to be me that the moments of considering need to remain brief, not an obsession.

Acceptance is written all over what Jesus counsels in his channeled works.  If we cower, we will not accept, and then we will remain in anguish.  Just know that there is an Answer, that Jesus is right here with us, when we ask, helping us to move beyond fear.

If we have lived well in the past, our future will be certain to go smoothly.  Some fear death as the greatest uncertainty, but death is like walking through an open door, nothing to fear at all.  If we have not lived well in the past, we can nevertheless entertain a course correction.  We always get a second chance with Jesus.

Pray for the release of concerns and worries, the release of our own hesitancy in the face of a future that will always remain uncertain.  We cannot see the future, and I think this a great blessing. 

But it also means that the future may be brighter than we anticipate, and when we focus on those bright things, they tend to happen.

UNITY & RELATIONSHIP IN ACOL: The Future

by Celia Hales

“We could only share in unity and relationship through a seeming separation from the oneness in which we exist. This is the great paradox that unites the world of form and the world of spirit, the world of separation with the world of union, even while it does not unite the world of illusion with the world of truth. Sharing in unity and relationship is the way and the means to see past the world of illusion to the truth of the union of form and spirit, separate selves and the One Self.” (A Course of Love, Dialogues, Day11.2)

This quotation is part of the theology of A Course of Love, part of the reason that we understand that we are One, yet distinct from each other as diverse individuations that experience relationship one with the other.

We do not have to remain in a state of illusion, but can walk into true reality, according to A Course of Love. This assertion recommends, by implication, that we cease lamenting our limitations and instead move beyond them. We move beyond in unity and relationship, the two halves of the fact that we—diverse individuals—are actually One—part of the God Who is Everything. Thus we have a form of pantheism in this assertion, but not an assertion of little, individual, self-contained gods in everything, all the physical world, but a God that is immanent in and through His creation. And as we have seen, He wants us to create with Him. Co-creators of our future and the future of the world.

What more could we ask? We move ahead in Love to experience the best that is out there awaiting us. We are called to create a new heaven and a new earth. In so doing, we become who we are—individuated parts of the Godhead, the One—in physical form, the elevated Self of form, joining with our brothers and sisters in holy relationships. We live in Love, we live in joy. We forsake pain and suffering as we co-create our future into a world without limits.

This we can do. This we must do. The world would do it, if it knew that it were possible.

It is our place to show the world that life in Love is not only possible, but eminently desirable. Ordinary people, living ordinary lives, will effect the transformation that lives ahead.

Let us begin. We have no greater task among those that which lie before us.

Future Is Bright with Promise

“What were the earth and water if they were not form?

“They were barren form. Form unable to create or bear fruit. Form was simply barren form before movement swept across it and animated it with the attention and awareness of spirit—with sound, light, and expression. Could these barren forms not be compared to the forms of the not yet elevated?” (ACOL, D:15.9 – 15.10)

The forms of the not yet elevated have been restricted, in that we have been living a dream; A Course in Miracles makes this clear, and now A Course of Love is expanding the idea. Here Jesus tells us that our form has not been all that they could be. While we HAVE been animated with spirit, we have not known spirit fully. To know spirit fully is to be in unity, in unity, heart and mind, and in unity with the Self, the inner Christ-Self and the larger Self of union.

Jesus’s intentions may seem like a tall order. But he is right here helping us throughout the change that he so fervently longs to see in each of us. He would like all to reach Christ-consciousness, in unity, and to express our love in the ultimate salvation, Christ-consciousness. We can do this, for it is fully within God’s will. We will reach Christ-consciousness when God Himself knows that we are fully ready, and this means that many more nefarious aspects of what we might do will no longer be attractive to us. We will live in love, in love with the Self whom we are, and in love with the Self whom we share with all of our brothers and sisters.

The future is bright with promise. Let us relax in God’s care, holding Jesus’s hand, as we seek to walk afresh in this world. We can have anything that we truly want, for all has been given to us and we will not want things that are beyond our scope. Ask that all needs be satisfied, and the Answer is sure.

Prayer

I thank You for this good day. I wish for many things, but I know that You will give me only what has my name on it. And ultimately, that means that all things are shared with me. This is the truth of heaven, and heaven can be here, on earth. If we live right, the blessings of Creation and of You are ours always. You just have to be sure that we won’t misuse what You give, freely and without strings attached.

My needs will be satisfied, and many of my wants as well. Perhaps to satisfy all wants would not be good for me. But I ask Your patience in my prayers. Shape my words to be according to Your will, a will that I share fully.

Amen.

Envision a Better Future & Create It So

“Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

“I come to you today as co-Creator of the Self you are and the Self you hope to represent with your physical form. I come to you today not as a personal self who is “other” than you, but as a divine Self who is the same as you. In our union we bear the sameness of the Son of God. In going forth with the vision of unity you become as I was during life. You “receive” and you “give” from the well of the spirit. You need not prepare or plan, you need only to claim your inheritance, your gifts, your Self.” (ACOL, D:1.1 – 1.2)

With the quotation for today, we begin to consider the final, third, part of A Course of Love, the Dialogues. This culmination offers much solace to those who are ready to receive it. We are stepping into our own in this final part of ACOL. We are dialoguing with Jesus, assuming the same Self that he embodies, for all, at the Self level, are the same.

We do not need to prepare or plan for what we will do next. Revelation will give us our marching orders. And we most certainly don’t need to fret about what lies ahead. Our judgments and our fears need to be left in the dust at our feet. And our separation from God, healed now, will take us into a future that will ultimately be brighter than anything we have known previously.

The future of the world might not seem bright to all reading these words. Many are still going through hard times, but it is by the grace of God that we will survive, and survive well. Our emotional well-being is paramount in deciding what our future will look like. Our best scenario is a world in which people turn to the best that is within them, and that best is the Christ-Self, lying dormant in so many. If we pay attention to the words of ACOL, the Christ-Self will no longer lie dormant within ourselves.

Be gentle with ourselves. Let relaxation sweep over us. Take it easy. This harmonious frame of mind is the best one in which to envision a future of peace, and all of us want that. Envision a better future, and even if the world seems to disintegrate around us, we can know a quiet happiness, an assurance, that all will ultimately turn out well.

There is no trick to believing so. Our faith sustains us. Our trust in Jesus’s channeled words will see us through. Just don’t return to fear and judgment. Let those unfortunate traits remain in the past. And pray that Christ-consciousness, with its equanimity, will embrace us even as the arms of Jesus embrace us. The God deep within will answer every need at the point of our recognition of that need, and so there truly are no needs. Ask today for what wells up within as a need, and watch the solution form. There is no delay.
We are co-creating the future with Jesus. And he is here for us, guiding us as an equal partner in the working out of our world’s future.

Prayer

It is hard for me to see a bright future sometimes. I need Your reassurance that all will truly be well. I have been saying that, for I feel it internally, but I still need reassurance often.

May this day go well. May I be calm and relaxed, at peace, and feeling love. This is Your way for me. This is Your way for everyone.

Amen.

Creating a Future Unlike the Past

“This is the beginning of our co-creation. Do not seek for me to impart knowledge to you in these concluding words. Absorb the following pages as a memory returned to your reunited heart and mind. No longer regard me as an authority to whom you turn, but as an equal partner in the creation of the future through the sustainability of Christ-consciousness.” (ACOL, T4:11.5)

In the concluding pages of A Course of Love, Jesus sees us as an equal with him, partners, companions, friends. No longer are we to see him as our teacher, imparting knowledge about the future, for he specifically states that ACOL will not be predictive. He is Christ-consciousness, as he hopes that we will be—and soon, if not already. Christ-consciousness is “what is,” and therefore does not pretend to predict from all the probable futures which one we will inhabit. Many of us will inhabit different probably realities, meaning that the psychic is rendered null and void.

What does “co-creation” mean? We are working with Jesus to create a new world. At least this is his hope. We are remembering how creation really is, a remembrance that goes back to the point where memory fails us. We are going back to the beginning, a journey that A Course in Miracles suggests also. We are retracing steps that we have taken previously, going back in time. Time is like a giant carpet that is being rolled up.

This is part of the theology of ACIM and ACOL, and perhaps theology will only delay us, for we cannot all agree on theology. In ACIM, Jesus tells us that a universal theology is impossible, but that a universal experience is not only necessary, but required. We are living that universal experience now. We are fast traveling home.

Jesus hopes for the sustainability of Christ-consciousness in us. He does not want us simply to see fleeting glimpses. The world needs us now. Our part is to remove the blocks to our awareness of Love. And Love is God. God is trying to get through to us, to live through us (as He has always done). No longer insane, we will see a brighter future of no imprisoned will when we follow His guidance. Our wills have been imprisoned as long as we thought that everything and everyone in the world would have to change instead of us. That created our imprisonment. Now our perceptions are being cleansed, leading to knowledge, which is true reality. And we are being changed, first slowly, and then in a rapidly increasing manner. A crescendo of change is upon us. Are we ready?

Prayer

I would do my part, insofar as I am able, to remove the blocks to the awareness of Love. But I am finite, and I can achieve this only if You show me how. Completely and totally. I will be like putty in Your hands, if You wish it. I will be malleable. I will do as You say, but please, dear God, keep my mind from misconceptions as I walk ever closer to You, ever straighter toward the end that You seek in me.

Be with me today as I seek Your guidance to know how to love, fully and completely. Keep my fears in check. Indeed, if it is Your will, drop them from me entirely.

Thank You.

Amen.

Envisioning a Better Future Will Make It So

“Let me repeat that during the time of the Holy Spirit, some were able to come to know themselves and God through the indirect means of this state of consciousness and to pass on what they learned through indirect means. Fewer were able to achieve a state of consciousness in which direct commu¬nication was possible, to come to know themselves and God directly, and to pass on this learning through direct means. What I am saying is that it is not impossible for those who remain unaware of the new consciousness to come to know themselves and God, and to continue to pass their learning on indirectly, or through indirect communication and contrast. But this also means that the great majority will become aware of the new state of consciousness and that learning will pass through them directly through observation and direct communication or experience. It means that the last generation born into the time of the Holy Spirit will live out their lives and that soon all who remain on earth will be those born into the time of Christ.” (ACOL, T4:1.27)

There is a great promise hidden in the middle of the quotation for today. “But this also means that the great majority will become aware of the new state of consciousness. . .” Can Jesus really be saying that the great majority of us will reach Christ-consciousness in this lifetime? It is not entirely clear if he is speaking to us, his readers of A Course of Love, or of people in general. Certainly we might stand a better chance if we are reading ACOL, for its tenets clear away the mist before our eyes and allow our non-physical eyes to have true vision. We know how to prepare for Christ-consciousness. We know that Jesus has promised us that we all are having glimpses of Christ-consciousness, and some of this is unawares.

When we are particularly mellow, question whether or not this peace is a glimpse. It may very well be. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could feel this way all the time? We can. It is only heartbeat away, for time does not really exist. We live in an eternity, and we ought to be happy today. This is a paraphrase from an Eastern thought, inspired man. Let us take it to heart.

Soon the current generation will pass from this earth, and all here will have been born within the time of Christ. Sanaya Roman’s Orin says that vibrations are passing through our earth now, vibrations that weren’t present previously. And these vibrations make it easier to reach Christ-consciousness. Jesus does not say this in ACOL, but doesn’t it make sense? Energy is what the universe is composed of, and vibrations are energy. A finer and higher vibration will teach us much. Let’s embrace the idea today.

We can move toward Christ-consciousness ever so slightly by envisioning this eventuality. Envisioning is powerful stuff. Let’s spend a while in visualization today, and see what differences emerge in our lives. We may get a surprise.

Prayer

As I take to heart the message of A Course of Love, I find my daily life improving. Things just keep getting better and better. I thank You for this phenomenon, and my inner Christ-Self, for the two of You, merged as one, do make quite a difference in what I experience when I turn to You.

Thank You for guiding my hand as I write. I am not conscious of channeling, but if this happens, I thank You. Be with me for the remainder of this good day. And thank You for the help you give to set aright anything that just seems to be wrong.

Amen.

Let Memories Pave the Way to a Beautiful Future

“As was already stated, the first opportunities for you to learn the art of thought will be provided through what we have called the re-experiencing of memory. These are opportunities to re-experience the lessons your life has brought you.” (ACOL, T1:4.21)

This directive is fun to do. Who does not like to re-experience our life through memories? Of course, later on Jesus will caution against interpreting what we are reviewing. This interpretation is what we are used to doing, and it won’t get us where we want to go, which is to respond to our past with love and patience, sure that when we relive, we are safe.

We do learn through our lives. In the Dialogues, the third and last book in A Course of Love, Jesus encourages us to avoid study of the old masters, the learned wisdom of those whom we have deemed wiser than we are. In its place, he counsels observation of our lives, observation of the world and all that is in it, observation that will take us somewhere. And this observation is what we are now doing with our memories. We are trying to see what we can learn from what has gone before.

My own personal recommendation is that one lie across a bed when re-experiencing memories. This puts the body at rest. It is how I got up-to-date with my life when I was quite young, a child. We can’t retrieve memories well if we are uptight; the subconscious won’t come to our bidding. But the subconscious is what we are retrieving now. And when we have successfully retrieved the subconscious, we go on to the Unconscious, the God/Self deep within. And the union with our depths is what this re-experiencing of memories is really all about. It will lead to this further blessing of union with our depths.

Our life is our best learning mechanism. Have we really ever doubted this? The best knowledge that we have ever read is meaningless unless we can find something with which to identify. And this identification is with what has occurred in our lives.

Be still today, in whatever place or position you deem wise. Let the mind (and heart) rest. And see if God Himself doesn’t speak to us from our depths.

Dear Father/Mother,

May I spend some time today in contemplation of my life history. I get so busy sometimes, and in the busyness I fail to reach to You.

I would not make that mistake again today. Be with me as I seek to find You in my depths. Be with me as I seek to learn from my past. And may I know that regardless of what has happened, I am safe now.

Amen.

Exchange This World for Our True Home

“Jesus, united with the Christ in you, is he who can teach you who you are and how to live as who you are in a new world. He can open heaven to you and walk you through its gates, there to exchange this world at last for your true home. But it is not your body that will pass through heaven’s gates, nor your body’s eyes that will view the new world you will behold and take with you. To view a physical world of dimension, shape, and scope like unto the old and hope to transport it from one place to another would be delusional. The new world does not have to do with form, but with content. A content that is as transferable as an author’s words upon a page.” (ACOL, C:P.36)

If the new world does not have to do with form, then the new world is real in intangibles—the peace, joy, harmony, that we hope to find in everyday life now and sometimes fall short of finding. Jesus unites with the Christ in each of us to show us the way. This is what our Self is doing to make changes in our experience of this world. We will lay aside the forms when we go inward to experience reality. And we will be well-served by this substitution of the changing, decaying form with something that will always last.

We are led to believe that we have something left to do on earth. I think this task has to do with what Edgar Cayce called the “Sons of God” rescuing the “daughters of men.” We are here to catalyze others to a new way of life—but after we ourselves have understood the changes that need to happen in us, and in them. The gender pronoun in Cayce’s pronouncements doesn’t matter; this is old school thinking in a male-dominated world. But the essence of what he said is important. There is a reason that we are here, trying to do our best in a world gone awry. We have to gently lead ourselves and others back to God.

The content of our new world, not the form, is transferable. That is, we can spread the good news of joy and peace without trying to create new form to spread that good news. The intangible blessings that we experience are always spreading. That is what comes of the intangible. And we inhabit a better world by living these intangibles in our everyday life.

Let Edgar Cayce’s words give us a blessing today. Ask how we might move this world a little closer to the God within. God will answer us, of this we can be sure.

Jesus Points toward a Truly Spectacular Future

“This reality begins with awareness of what is beyond body and mind, form and time. It proceeds to this awareness being accepted, adopted as an ability, and then to becoming your new identity. It proceeds to the transformation we have spoken of, to the act of becoming the elevated Self of form.” (ACOL, Dialogues, 14.15)

The elevated Self of form is part of our new inheritance from God. What does it mean? We live in Christ-consciousness, in peace and love, in the House of Truth, in the same physical structures that we have called home during the period of the ego. These bodies become somewhat transformed, though, for we are encouraged to believe that they will be less prone to illness. We will be living better, without stress, and this goes a long way toward ensuring that we live comfortably in our form, our physical bodies.

We can choose to move into a reality that knows no bounds, all within the physical body. We can choose it for eternity if we wish; Jesus makes this assertion (in slightly different words). Not all of us would choose to live in physical bodies for eons, but there is that possibility. It is a new choice, a choice blessed by God, to know physicality without the false steps the ego led us down.
Jesus says that he doesn’t know what this future will bring. He doesn’t have those answers, because probable futures differ, and he has set his mind in A Course of Love not to be predictive.

At least as long as life holds for us, we ought to be glad of our physicality. It was a new choice, and now we are led to understand that we can not only maintain, but also sustain, Christ-consciousness in our physical bodies. The pages of the future that we will write will be all new. It is indeed a truly spectacular future that Jesus points us toward.

Peak Experiences

“Let us separate experiences you might call peak experiences from experiences of extremes that served as learning devices. Peak experiences often follow occasions of happiness or trauma, but they do not happen within them. Peak experiences are what you can look forward to rather than back upon if you but choose the Peace of God. (Treatises of A Course of Love: Treatise on the Art of Thought, 10.11)”

Affirmation: “I look forward to peak experiences.”

Reflections:

1 – Better Future Ahead

We can look forward to peak experiences because A Course of Love makes many promises that presage a better future for us, better experiences ahead. We ought to consider well the assertion in this passage for today that peak experiences follow occasions of happiness or trauma, but they do not happen within them. So perhaps we are bringing something of our contemplation of the event that prompted the peak experience that follows the event. We experience the emotion, and then we, in our minds, carry the emotion into an assessment that constitutes a peak experience.

2 – Personal Experience

I do know that only in retrospect have I frequently called an event a peak experience. There has to be some time delay. But many of us, perhaps, have not realized that peak experiences follow the emotion. Peak experiences are a great blessing, and I have known several in my lifetime, but they were spaced out in time and relatively infrequent. I would like to recognize more as time passes, and I think that this will be possible, now that I am more attuned to the concept of peak experiences.

3 – Drop Extremes

We do need to drop the extremes that have been used as learning devices. The time for such learning devices is passing, as we read through A Course of Love. Extremes are of the ego, and we have left extremes behind, with the ego. Remnants of the ego may still prevail, of course, but by now in our study the ego has been weakened considerably. We best serve when we are perfectly calm and quiet all the time (from A Course in Miracles). Right now we may not recognize what blessings are ours when we let go of extremes, let go of drama, but we will come to know–first in glimpses, and then as a steady state of mind and heart.

4 – Mists before the Sun

We need to choose the Peace of God. When we do, in earnest, many of our problems will dissipate as mists before the sun. We have peak experiences ahead of us, because we have chosen the Peace of God. We no longer want drama, extremes of emotion, as these only take us away from that ineffable Peace. May we follow the pathway to an enlightenment, a Christ-consciousness, that will engulf us sooner rather than later. And when we leave anger and attack behind, I believe that Awakening will follow quickly. These words that I am using–enlightenment, Christ-consciousness, Awakening–all mean the same thing. May all of us walk together in the sunlight, blessed by the presence of God, Who (metaphorically) lifts us up when He knows that we are ready for the blessing of Awakening.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

May I ask for and receive a peak experience today. I realize that part of the experience comes from my personal self, part from my Self. I would know You, and peak experiences, I believe, are one way that we better communicate. Thank You for the several experiences in my life that I have, in retrospect, called “peak.” I have also called several of these “holy instants.” And so they have been.

Thank You for the holy instant that I knew when I first realized that prayer was the answer for me, because of the witness from another that I received. May prayer answer all things, not some, but all. Communing with You is a great blessing, and feeling Your presence sets right my day.

May all whom I touch today know Your presence as well as Your saving grace. Thank You for being with me today, and I ask that You be with my brothers and sisters as well.

Amen.

Let’s Play Today

“This is not a test and you cannot fail.  You are merely playing:  Play at observing yourself from above.  Can you look down upon yourself?  And can you skip along and get in front to see your body coming toward you?  (A Course of Love, 10.28)”

Affirmation:  “Let’s play today.”

Reflections:

1 – Skip Ahead

The deeper meaning of the passage for today is that time is an illusion (an interpretation, not stated in A Course of Love).  If we can skip ahead of ourselves, and see ourselves coming ahead, then we are in a fantasy about the future, that we are that future, and that we ourselves are coming along on the pathway just as we ought to come.

2 – A Glorious Play

What a glorious play this is!  Can we be sure that we are following along on the pathway that we ought to take?  But is there even a choice?  How much is preordained?  A Course in Miracles says (as does this passage in A Course of Love) that we are merely reliving the past, that the past is like a carpet that will roll up when the end is reached.  If so, it is obvious, at least to me, that Jesus is here playing with this idea a bit further, and encouraging us to do the same.

3 – The End Is Sure

If we can imagine that the end is sure, and that we are caught in an illusion that does not have to be  painful in the least (we choose), then perhaps today is the time to affirm this understanding in the depths of our being.

4 – In a Joyous Frame of Mind

If we skip ahead, and then look back, we are in a joyous frame of mind and spirit and heart.  May we imagine this game for ourselves today.  May we imagine that we see tomorrow and that it is better than today–even if today is pretty good already.  Is this not where Jesus is leading us in A Course of Love?  He would have us, in the third volume of the trilogy (The Dialogues of A Course of Love), join him on the mountaintop, where we will finally know Christ-consciousness in a sustained and elevated Self of form.  This is where we are headed.  Let us take care that the individual steps on our pathway are well-chosen, so that we will be ready for the mountaintop when that time comes.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

Thank You for this playful exercise today.  May we imagine ourselves ahead of the time which we are in now, and enjoy the pleasures of a future time.  We will help to make those pleasures real.  Be with me today and always, present and future.

Help me to lighten the mood of those with whom I interact.  Your way is always best, and You are not the solemn God that so many of us may have thought in the past.  Help me to lighten up, even as I seek to help others to do the same.

Amen.