Do as God’s Voice Directs

ACIM Workbook Lesson 186 – for Thursday, July 5, 2012

“Do as God’s Voice directs.  And if It asks a thing of you which seems impossible, remember Who it is That asks, and who would make denial.  Then consider this; which is more likely to be right?  The Voice That speaks for the Creator of all things, Who knows all things exactly as they are, or a distorted image of yourself, confused, bewildered, inconsistent and unsure of everything?  Let not its voice direct you.  Hear instead a certain Voice, which tells you of a function given you by your Creator Who remembers you, and urges that you now remember him.  (WB353)”

Affirmation:  “Salvation of the world depends on me.”

Reflections:

1 – Summary

This passage is a concise summary of one of my favorite tenets of A Course in Miracles.  We need to follow guidance.  It is an imperative.  And we need to be sure that the guidance that we are getting is genuinely from the right Place, not from the ego.  The ego likes to masquerade as our Maker, and we would be wise to test out our guidance, to be certain that the ego is not intruding, giving us ideas for self-aggrandizement that will only give us grief.  (This is interpretation, not stated in ACIM.)

2 – Intuitive Advice

When we ask for advice, intuitive advice, from the Holy Spirit (or from Christ-consciousness, if we have progressed that far), then we are assured that we will have a good day.  We will not be “confused, bewildered, inconsistent, and unsure of everything.”

3 – Motivation

Is not this great motivation?  Could we ask for anything better?

4 – Flow and Ebb in Balance

Our days will flow and ebb in precise balance with the degree to which we are attuned to what our Guide tells us.  Begin the day with God, follow Him throughout the day, and then thank Him at night for the glorious day that you will have had.  These are instructions from the Manual, in which we are led to realize that a constant asking may not be practical, and it is the practical with which A Course in Miracles is most concerned.  If we turn to the Holy Spirit at the beginning of our day, at the end of our day, and in between, when we get a moment to reflect, then our day will be wisely spent.  Jesus does not ask for more than we are willing to give.

5 – Be Still

I have found, though, that more frequent turning inward for guidance is, for me, a better practice.  I do not say that I always succeed in coming to know God’s Will for me, but, if I become quiet, and listen inwardly, I am more likely to know what guidance is saying than if I rush about and hurry so.  Intuitive thoughts come unbidden, when we have been quiet enough.  There is a caveat, though, in that we must be sure that the intuitive thoughts that we choose to act upon do not harm ourselves or anyone else.  Then if we can be sure that we are being harmless (as well as helpful), we will walk a green earth.

6 – A Blessed Day!

There is no better way to have a blessed day!

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

May this day be as grand as yesterday!  Thank you for the blessings that You are bestowing on me in the present.  May I listen attentively to Your Voice, and may I follow Your advice to me.

Be with me as I walk about my world today.  There is no better way that I have ever found than to follow Your guidance consistently.

Thank You.

Amen.

Psychic Ways to Hear God’s Voice

“Only very few can hear God’s Voice at all, and even they cannot communicate His messages directly through the Spirit which gave them.  They need a medium through which communication becomes possible to those who do not realize that they are spirit.  A body they can see.  A voice they understand and listen to, without the fear that truth would encounter in them.  (M-12.3)”

Affirmation:  “Only very few can hear God’s Voice at all.”

Reflections:

1 – God’s Voice

As time has gone by, I think that more and more of us can hear God’s Voice.  The Voice is that of the Holy Spirit, and following His guidance is seen by A Course in Miracles as the way out of the maze that we have made for ourselves.  His Voice shows us the way home, the way toward not only salvation but also Awakening.

2 – Bodies = for Communication

We are told elsewhere that we are to use our bodies only for communication, that we will learn that others can be reached through our words and our actions.  If we use our bodies to evoke jealousy, attack, anger, resentment, we are using our bodies amiss.

3 – The Voice of a Brother/Sister

We are not normally afraid of another’s body.  We do not fear what another says to us or does to us, in the normal sequence of events.  (We may fear another’s anger and attack, and this is entirely human.)  But if we suddenly heard interior voices, without preparation, we would be in the same situation that the scribe of ACIM, Helen Schucman, was in when she heard, “This is a course in miracles.  Please take notes.”  So often we do not hear internally, but through the medium of another human being’s voice.  And our fears are silenced.

4 – Internal Directives

As time goes by, we will “hear” internal directives.  These may come in a variety of ways, some that we recognize as “psychic” (as the world calls them).  We may receive guidance through what is commonly known as intuition; we may pick up easily on a friend’s casual comment, the one that seems just meant for ourselves and our present situation; we may run across what is to us a particularly significant passage in a book (especially A Course in Miracles and A Course of Love).

5 – Are We Insane?

Does this make us different, somehow, from those who have been categorized as mentally ill?  Perhaps.  ACIM declares that all of us are insane to a degree, because we live in a world that is impossible and also mad.  Those who are psychotic may hear voices, and so with our own situation, we need to be especially discerning.  If a “voice” ever counsels harm in any way, then this is definitely not Love speaking.  My personal interpretation is that we can ask, “Is this from Love?,” when we hear a locution, and if the answer is “no,” then we would be wise to refrain from any action.  And even if we think that we are acting from a message from Love, we may still be mistaken.  After all, we are human.

6 – Testing Locutions

So testing out our locutions (internally heard voices) and intuition does seem mandatory.  The world has suffered greatly from those who thought that they were following God’s Will, only to learn that their actions were perceived by others in this world as anything but loving.

7 – Will the End Be Loving?

Be careful of what you perceive through “psychic” means.  ACIM is quite comfortable with the psychic, as described in the Manual, but, as with anything that comes upon us that is new, we need to be careful the end will be loving.  And that the means are not detrimental to anyone.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I thank You for the times in which my psychic messages have given me insight and kept me on Your pathway.  I would not make mistakes, listening to my ego and thinking that it is divine guidance.  Be with me as I test out my thoughts about what has come to me via a sixth sense.  Don’t let me get carried away.

Thank You for the knowledge, and I know that it is knowledge, that You have shown me throughout my life.  I also know that my perceptions have sometimes, perhaps frequently, been wrong.  Help me to know the difference between knowledge and perception.  Let me drop the ego’s perceptions from my list of accustomed actions.  I would let the ego wither away.  And I know that the ego can be very wily, even when I am trying to follow Your Way.  Perhaps particularly when I an trying to follow Your Way.

I do appreciate the psychic that has improved my mood, given me insight, and led me closer to You.  Let me not take pride in any messages that come to me by psychic means, for this is surely evidence that the ego has taken ascendancy again.  Be with me in discernment, so that I walk Your pathway and Yours alone.

Amen.

Definition of Atonement

“The Voice of the Holy Spirit is the Call to Atonement, or the restoration of the integrity of the mind.  (T74)”

Affirmation:  “The Holy Spirit. . .the Call to Atonement.”

Reflections:

1 – The Pivotal Voice

This passage sets forth the pivotal role that the Holy Spirit, our guidance, plays in restoring us to our right mind.  When we listen to this Voice only, we are well on our way to peace and happiness.  Atonement is a correction (an ACIM tenet) to our hearts and minds, a change of purpose in the way that we view our life on earth.

2 – Peace with the World

Atonement is reached when we have made peace with the world and all who are in it.  We have reached a state of oneness with all living beings.  This does include our forgiveness of all with whom we come in contact, or even think about.  Forgiveness frees us for Atonement.

3 – Listen to the Holy Spirit Always

We must listen for the Voice always.  This does not mean that we are mentally ill, or that we are choosing a pathway that is detrimental to our mental health.  The Voice is usually manifested in varieties of way, but mostly through an inner knowing that defies description.  Sometimes the Voice comes through what is obviously our own thinking, but yet paradoxically a bit beyond us.  We know that we are reaching wisdom that is not ours alone.  We have reached to God, and He will guide us when we are willing to give up self-will.

4 – God’s Will = Our Real Will

God’s will for us and our own real will are actually identical.  When we realize this, we have overcome a feeling that we are being pursued as Job was in the Old Testament.  The Course says that we need not fear God’s will for us, that the Holy Spirit would wait for our willingness; He will not impose His will on us if we are not ready.   Actually we will not need for Him to step aside unless we feel threatened.  And this false sense drops away when we listen more carefully to His dictates.  They are always for our good.

Prayer:

Dear Father,

Help me to discern when my inclination is coming from the Holy Spirit.  Help me not to let my own thoughts interfere.

May I follow the guidance that I perceive to be true.  This will lead me Home to You.

Amen.

The Way to Salvation

ACIM Workbook Lesson 321 – for Thursday, November 17. 2011

Affirmation:  “Father, my freedom is in You alone.”

“Your Voice directs me, and the way to You is opening and clear to me at last.  Father, my freedom is in You alone.  Father, it is my will that I return.  (WB462)”

Reflections:

1 – The Path to Salvation

This is a three-part procedure to salvation, to Oneness with God, to return to the Oneness that we thought we lost in separation.  We can have freedom only when we are at One with God; anything else leads to the imprisonment of our will with resulting pain.  Detailing the path to salvation in three sentences in the prayer for today does indicate to us how very simple the essence of A Course in Miracles really is.

2 – God’s Voice Speaks

First, God’s Voice, the Holy Spirit (or Universal Inspiration) tells us what to do to effect not only our salvation, but the best living out there that is possible while we are effortless seeking our salvation.  It is a straight line to God when we are flexible in changing our directions during any given day, changing to head straight through to the next right step that we have been given.  God’s Voice does not often direct us in advance, though when we need to plan for the future, He does direct us how to do so.  (That is the only time that planning is encouraged; otherwise, it is a defense best left alone.)

3 – Our Will Is Free

Second,  we are free only when we are at home in God.  Then our will is not imprisoned.  Our imprisoned will is a theological point in ACIM that may be difficult to grasp.  Basically, it explains that God put the limits on how much we could miscreate.  Sooner or later we would have to recognize that there is a better way to proceed.  The limits for pain may be high, but they are not infinite (a paraphrase from the Text).  We will want to avoid pain, and the only way is to bring our will into alignment with what our real will is, which is the same as God’s Will for us.  He does not punitively punish, though–never.  He only gently guides us into the right decisions, the ones that will easily show us the better way.

4 – Return Is Our Priority

Third, we recognize that our return to God is the priority of our lives.  It is all that we really want, but all the other blessings of the real world wait upon this return.  We do not desire to follow down blind pathways, trying every turn, here and there.  We want the straight way to the heart of God, and we can have it.  A Course in Miracles explains the means to us (from the Text).  Occasionally revelation will reveal the end of Awakening, but to get there the means are needed, and this is what Jesus is detailing in ACIM.

5 – Our Freedom Is in God Alone

So, our freedom is in God alone.  To live this truth is to find our way back.  But we have to love God, and we have not to be afraid of Him.  When we see the blessings that He has waiting in His storehouse for us, we will be more reassured that His Will is never punitive, and that He is never cruel.  Our own meanderings have caused the pain and suffering inflicted upon us so far in our journey through this life.  We create our own reality, and if we choose pain, then we will find the suffering that this pain entails.  But we can live peacefully, even when the world cries out in pain, if we have a calm certainty that what we are seeing is illusion.  We help others in pain, but we do not join them in their pain.  We recognize that pain is a form of insanity, and we would ask that our minds be awakened to the truth, the benign truth, that reality actually contains.  Guidance will show us the way.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would walk the pathway to You today.  I would not seek inferior methods, but would seek to know that Way by listening to Your Voice, the Holy Spirit.  I would do only what is loving, discerning Your Will, in part, by testing out if I am feeling love or feeling fear.

Only in love is there hope of salvation, to finding our way back home.  I would be at home in You today.

Thank You for this brief passage for today from A Course in Miracles that encapsulates the way to You.

Amen.

Feeling Abandoned

ACIM Workbook Lesson 279 – for Thursday, October 6, 2011

Affirmation:  “Creation’s freedom promises my own.”

“The end of dreams is promised me, because God’s Son is not abandoned by His Love.  Only in dreams is there a time when he appears to be in prison, and awaits a future freedom, if it be at all.  Yet in reality his dreams are gone, with truth established in their place.  And now is freedom his already.

“I will accept Your promises today, and give my faith to them.  My Father loves the Son Whom He created as His Own.  Would You withhold the gifts You gave to me?  (WB436)”

Reflections:

1 – We Are in the Eternal

In the present our dreams are gone.  This is the eternal present, the eternal Now (an interpretation, not stated in ACIM).  We will get past even the “happy dreams the Holy Spirit gives” (a quotation from the Workbook), and know the real world that God will grant us to see when we are ready.  Only He knows the place and the hour.  But we can pray that our experience of the real world comes soon.

2 – See the World with Vision

In reality, our dreams are gone.  The world will look different because we will see with vision, with new eyes.  We know that this blessing is on the way when we have seen little edges of light around familiar objects.  Real vision is coming.  It may take a long time, but time itself is an illusion, and so this truly does not matter.  The end is sure, now that we have started of the pathway.  (These are paraphrases from ACIM.)

3 – The Gift of the Real World

The gift of the real world would not be withheld by God.  The prayer for today counsels this.  May we wait in expectation, not beset by preoccupations that only scatter our consciousness.  May we wait for God to act, and may we know that He would choose for us to listen to the Holy Spirit and let Him act in us, to bring about our readiness.  We do not have to do a lot, only a “little willingness” (a Text quotation) is required.  The Holy Spirit accomplishes the vast majority of the change that we wish to see in ourselves.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I long to see the real world on a sustainable basis.  May my dreams of this illusory world stay happy, and edge into reality.  I long for the vision that only You can give.  May my eyes see with real vision today.

Be with me as I do the small part that the Holy Spirit requires of me.  I know that His part is much larger than mine, and that this is a blessing.  I would only choose amiss, without His guidance.  Be with me today as I seek to follow Your Voice, Your Universal Inspiration, throughout any temptations of the day.

Amen.

How to Cure Madness and Fear

ACIM Workbook Lesson 278 – for Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Affirmation:  “If I am bound, my Father is not free.”

“Father, I ask for nothing but the truth.  I have had many foolish thoughts about myself and my creation, and have brought a dream of fear into my mind.  Today, I would not dream.  I choose the way to You instead of madness and instead of fear.  For truth is safe, and only love is sure.  (WB435)”

Reflections:

1 – Choose Reality

If we would not dream, we must choose the real world; we must choose God’s reality.  We are caught in dreams, still, most of the time.  Most of us do have glimpses of Awakening, glimpses of the real world that precedes Awakening.  The dreams that the Holy Spirit brings are meant to calm our frantic minds so that we welcome Awakening and are not fearful of the experience.  Jesus tells us that if a light is turned on while we are asleep, we will initially be afraid be afraid of this light, thinking it is part of our dream (or our nightmare).  But once we awaken, we realize that we are no longer dreaming and that we have returned to the world.  So we are no longer afraid of the light.  (These are paraphrases from ACIM.)

2 – Dream Not of Fear

We would not dream of fear today.  We would not dream at all, but pray to awaken.  We would not be insane any longer, for that is exactly what we have been in this disturbed world.  We have been mad, just as surely, though less obviously, than the unfortunate individuals who are committed for mental illness.  Our mental health is precarious also.  We need to know that just because we are walking freely into the world and not behind locked asylum doors, we are not necessarily sane.  Most of us are not sane.  May we come to understand the Voice that speaks to us of the reality of God in which we can walk away from madness.

3 – Take Steps to a Sane Reality

If we love, we are taking steps to a sane reality.  By love, we do not mean special love relationships, unless these special love relationships are well on their way to being holy relationships.  Our way home is through the love that we bear for our brother (and sister), and this is the way in which we practice forgiveness.  It is the way of A Course in Miracles.  When we are together with our brother (or sister), we are forgiving, kind, generous, and in so being, we are learning God’s way.  We do not need to contemplate (or meditate) for extremely long periods.  This is a way meant for others, and ACIM is meant for us.  Let us follow the way of ACIM today, and let us start by totally forgiving our brother (or sister), knowing that to do so is the way home for us.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would follow God’s Voice today.  I would do so knowing that I wish not to be misled into believing that my illusions, fueled by the ego, are masquerading as God’s Voice.  Be with me to ensure that I make this distinction between delusion and sanity.

May I walk into the real world as quickly as my steps can take me there.  You have prepared me, and it is up to me to follow Your Way with joy.  When I am truly joyous and at peace, then I am less likely to listen to the ego and to be misled back into insanity.  Be with me today as I seek only what You bid me to find.

Amen.