Intuition

A new feature of poetry; my post follows. – Love, Celia

From Ann Glover O’Dell’s Midwifing the Soul:

Doxology

Praise to Thee, O Lord, Creator of the Universe,

Who brings forth from your earth womb all life.

Praise to Thee, O God, Sustainer of the Universe,

who gives life the abundance Thou designed for it.

Praise to Thee who places godhood

in the center of our being.

Blow Holy Spirit, Wayward Wind,

with all thy special power

come stir again the old desire

in us who yearn to flower.

Rain into us the fullness

of the morning dew

made into streams

that penetrate our roots.

Make green the carpet of our days

that we, lured into verdancy,

might sprout new buds

and bloom as never even

once upon a time we dreamed.

Press down upon us sunshine

of the vision in your mind

of who we were and are and yet to be,

always within the firm embrace

of thy mysterious trinity.

---

From Celia’s Images in a Reflecting Pool:

There is a way of living by intuition and a way of living by rational choice (the latter usually called just “reason”).  The two are not mutually exclusive, of course.  But I have found that life is freer, more natural, happier, when I am brave enough to let intuition rule.  And it does take some bravery.

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It takes a certain willingness to follow intuition.  Maybe there will always be a question in my mind about whether I am being rational.  But time and again events prove the correctness of following yet another hunch.

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Do we have “free will”?  I once read someone’s remark to the effect that we act as if we do when we cross the street, so why not assume that we do? 

Intuition

There is a way of living by intuition and a way of living by rational choice (the latter usually called just “reason”).  The two are not mutually exclusive, of course.  But I have found that life is freer, more natural, happier, when I am brave enough to let intuition rule.  And it does take some bravery.

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It takes a certain willingness to follow intuition.  Maybe there will always be a question in my mind about whether I am being rational.  But time and again events prove the correctness of following yet another hunch.

Living Christ

“When you pray to God, you are praying to that part of yourself that is divine, that which we call the living Christ who lives in you.”  Choose Only Love bk.3, 11:II

We are not just praying to our little personality when we pray.  We have a larger Self who is merged with God, and this larger Self is a part, but only a part, of the Christ.  Christ is a plural term, not meant in this era for only Jesus.  We partake of divinity, too.

Know that turning inward is not praying to an external God, for God is not external to ourselves.  We are a part of Him, always and forever, even when we are living with the ego in a “fallen” state.  We gain insights by turning inward to the God Who dwells deep inside.  We know better how to live.

Ask today how to proceed in life.  Let our intuition be our Guide, for God is speaking in the silence to us through our intuition.

Clear Mind and Warm Heart

“Brother, sister . . . let me tell you that you are ready to heal fully.”  COL bk.2, 9:IV

The context of this quotation is that we have let the ego go and that we are merging with our Christ-Self.  If we have taken steps to eliminate fear and judgment, the two forbidden aspects of our thoughts that keep us back, then we are ready to heal—and to heal fully.  Healing is what is happening when we reach Christ-consciousness.  And healing is what happens when we have let neuroses go.

What a blessing this statement really is!  If we can be neurosis-free, then our minds will have learned from our hearts, and we will be walking a flower-strewn pathway.

Much of this philosophy of this post comes from A Course of Love, a received writing that came around the turn of this century.  We need to let our hearts, which have never doubted God, have full ascendancy over our minds, which are characterized by The Way of Mastery, as being “very stupid servants.”  While we may not agree that our minds are stupid, we certainly can know that we haven’t ever doubted God so much in our hearts.  It is only our minds that have given us problems, intellectual problems, about a God we cannot see.

But we can intuit God, and that is what I am asking you to do today.  Listen to the heart.  Know that it does not lie.  And the heart does not need the proofs of God’s existence that the mind seems to throw up while we are in the throes of the ego.

Be ready to heal fully, clear mind and warm heart, and accept this promise of full healing as our birthright.

Just a Quiet Knowing

“Within this awareness lies the answer to every question you might choose to ask. Within this shimmering awareness is the reassurance that the end of the journey is certain. Within this shimmering awareness do you abide at one with all minds and every aspect of creation. Join with me here often, in remembrance of me. For this is the secret of communion—to relinquish the perception of the world in favor of the acknowledgment of Reality.” (“The Way of the Heart,” WOM, Lesson 11, Page 136)

The perception of the world includes much that is deplorable. We don’t have to look with fearful eyes at this perception, though. Reality, true Reality, is perfectly harmless. It is the way we perceive that shows us harmony, joy, peace, Love. It leads into knowing, or into just “knowledge,” which is an immediate understanding that is largely intuitive. We act out of knowing when we are sure of the action we are taking. No voices, no locutions, no magic. Just a quiet knowing.

We are invited to commune with Jesus so that he can show us more than we could figure out on our own. Our awareness takes a giant leap forward when we take him up on his word. His foci of consciousness is very great, so that many of us can tune in and be answered at any given time. Of course, such speculation is beyond us. How could there be numerous foci of consciousness on the part of one entity? We don’t know, but then again, we don’t have to know. We can test out our suspicions about Jesus’ availability to us, and we will not be disappointed. We will find him here for us, if we ask for his presence with an open heart.

Would it not be wonderful to have the solution to every problem, shining in the wind? Every question we seek to ask has a ready Answer in the Holy Spirit or the Christ-Self. We need simply pose a question, clear our minds, get quiet, and then wait patiently. The Answer will, when we are open, pop into our mind. There is no struggle. We are the ones who make struggle, and we are looking deep in our depths, where there is only quiet, no struggle at all.

Commune with our depths today.

We will never find a better way to live.

It Is in God’s Hands

. . .[Y]ou suddenly realize you are not the maker and doer, that you can accept responsibility for anything and everything because through you all power under Heaven and Earth is made to flow, to manifest the Love of God. So, in short, it is in God’s hands, not yours. (“The Way of the Heart,” WOM, Lesson 5, Page 63)

We are not the doers, at least not in our personality. The Doer is God Himself, Who dwells deep within each of us as One. We are, of course, One, being part of the one Self Who is manifested in the world. That’s why harm to another actually harms the self, for there are not two, but one.

The world is meant to manifest God’s Love, and it is only in our desire to see if we could create something better than He that we wandered away into separation from Him. It was never so, but we were free to be lost in the illusion that it was the truth.

Now we know better. Our separation from God was only in dreams of illusion, dreams that have played out on the stage of this world, and perhaps others. We have never left God’s bosom, and when we allow His Love to encompass us again, we will be very close to enlightenment, a stage of life, coming to all of us, that will make manifest in our world the truth that Love is the All, the Everything. God, as we know, is Love, though to think of love as an emotion is to miss the point. Love is a fact, a reality, a truth, that permeates the whole, and now we know this in our inmost being.

The eons have passed in which we walked in a fog. Now time is fleeting, and we are all passing into the knowledge of God, past perception. Now we know what was only a shadow heretofore.

Now we know. What are we to do with this knowledge? That is the only question left to answer. Let intuition rise to the surface, and that secret, too, will be revealed.

Projection Makes Perception

“What is projection? Projection occurs when there has first been denial within yourself. Projection is an act in which you psychically try to throw out of your ownership everything that you have judged as being despicable or unworthy or you—something you do not want. So you project it. You will throw it up and out and let it land on whomever happens to be nearby. Projection is the effect of the denial of the first axiom that I have given you. It is the denial of the truth that:

“Nothing you experience has been caused by anything outside of you.” (“The Way of the Heart,” WOM, Chapter 3, Page 28)

We are in the driver’s seat. We create what happens to us, though not in our personality but in our soul.
We project when we feel unable to handle life in any other way. A Course in Miracles says, “Projection makes perception,” and this truth also applies here. We essentially see what we want to see. We are, in fact, projecting our illusory world. And we see what we imagine in our depths.

If we listen to intuition, we are less likely to create reality in a way that disturbs us. If we know that we take a risk in sharing something close to our heart with a less-than-sympathetic listener, then we are foolish to take a risk like that. We have here been the cause of our friend’s lack of sympathy, and we would have been saved from experiencing this if we had just listened to guidance. We have, in effect, projected what we are experiencing. The perception will hurt us if we are not attuned to intuition and avoid saying the troubling thing.

We see in others what we don’t want to acknowledge in ourselves; that is why we have projected it. If it is “out there,” we feel less responsible for it.

But this is a chimera, an image that has no truth. We are no less responsible because we project. We have bound ourselves to it. And until we get our mind straightened out, a mind informed by the heart, we will not walk a green earth.

Project only what will not hurt. Don’t take unwise risks. Our intuition will, in fact, guide us in every situation, at every time.

Intuitive Awareness

“Christ-consciousness is the awareness of existence through relationship. It is not God. It is not man. It is the relationship that allows the awareness that God is everything. It has been called wisdom, Sophia, spirit. It is that without which God would not know God. It is that which differentiates all from nothing. Because it is that which differentiates, it is that which has taken form as well as that from which form arose. It is the expression of oneness in relationship with Its Self.” (ACOL, D:Day11.7)

Here is more theology, but theology can be a big help to us as we move toward Christ-consciousness. Christ-consciousness is consciousness, and thus “awareness,” and in reaching this pinnacle we come into our own. I like the term “Sophia,” something that I first heard years ago and found enticing. We might also think of “spirit,” for spirit is what is real, the only thing that truly is real in the universes that exist. Spirit can be anywhere at any time, and this is how Jesus can come through so many channels while keeping his sanity. His genius is such that he can focus his consciousness at multiple points simultaneously.

Without Christ-consciousness, we hear here that God would not even know God. This is because relationship allows Him to know more than the One, undifferentiated Whole could know. We come to know ourselves, also, in relationship to our peers and our significant others. In this way God is no different. Keep in mind that we are just a part of God, though a limited part, in that we are finite creatures, children of the Deity.

We do have form in this world, physical form, and though some of us believe that this is still an illusion, others of us believe that form is real. We do not have to get distracted by differences of opinion, for nobody really knows. Nobody. Nobody on this earth can know; our limitedness is just too gigantic.

But we can have mystical intuition, and it is this mystical intuition that will ultimately save us. It is how we intuit the Whole, God Himself. It is the way back. It is the only way back. God does not offer “proofs” of His existence, and only when we open to our mystical nature do we sense that He is real, and very real indeed. Keep this in mind as we consider the last few sections of A Course of Love. Realizing mystical leanings will offer footing for the more ethereal matters that Jesus will discuss in upcoming passages.

Dear God,

I ask to sense Your Presence with a mystical intuition today. And I ask to be guided. Always I ask to be guided. I do know, with a real knowing, that You do guide me. When I ask advice, shortly thereafter I find an Answer, and I really do believe that that Answer is from You.

Be with me today, once again. Keep me harmonious and easy with those in my circle. Guide my writing. Never let me mislead.

Amen.

Intuition Guides Truly

“Here it will be helpful to keep in mind the idea of “as within, so without.” We are not leaving the Self to explore, because the Self is the source and cause of exploration as well as the source and cause of discovery. And yet the Self is far more than you have experienced as yourself in the past.” (ACOL, D:14.2)

The metaphor of the dot of the body and the inner Christ-Self being in one place, and the white space surrounding being the larger Self of union is just that—a metaphor. I think we have to think mystically to get the gist of what Jesus is saying. ALL is actually “together,” not separated by a dot and a white space. All is One. And this Self includes our brothers and sisters as well. We are one Self, and this includes one Self with Jesus as well.

How do we deal with this? We can journal to our one Self; this is one way. This one Self knows far more than our personal self, even though out of separation now, can ever know. We need to draw on this Self in order to have a good life, in order to have a good mission, in order to create a new world.

This Self is, as Jesus says, far more than we have experienced of ourselves in the past. The easiest way to access this Self is probably intuition, intuition because we have, all of us, used it in the past when we “knew” something that we had no outer way of knowing. Let intuition guide today. See what the Self of union has to say.

Prayer

I would energetically and passionately draw on our Self of union today, for it is a union that encompasses all living things. I would use my intuition to discern guidance. I ask You to be clear with me; don’t let me get off track.

The way back might entail many changes, but I ask that these changes me gentle, that I not be hurled into reality. And in so asking, I know that I am asking in Your will.

Amen.

Heed the Bright Light of Intuition

“What is known to you in an instant through the new means available to you within the state of unity will still seem, at times, to need to be learned anew in daily living. This is knowing that will often come in a flash, and is, in a sense, a humorous metaphor for the idea of a divine “ray” of light descending and granting enlightenment. Take another look at your Bible for many stories such as these, and you will read account after account of people who did not know how to live with what they came to know, with what was received in a “ray of light” from within the state of unity.” (ACOL, D:13.4)

Jesus is here talking about sudden guidance, guidance that come to us in a flash. But even though we “know,” from this happening, what we know, we may have some trouble living out what we know. I think of this as a sudden intuition, but stronger than the feelings that we do often attribute to intuition. As Jesus says elsewhere, we CAN “know,” in certainty, once again. Our egos are not confusing us. Our egos are gone.

Jesus also says that it is sane to be certain, to have certainty. And what a way of life opens when we listen to his advice about this! We have long had trouble, perhaps, in making decisions, because we weren’t sure what to do or say. We feared making a mistake, and doesn’t this happen to all of us? Mistakes are natural, and they will occur, even when we are farther along the path to home. But we do not have to be immobilized by our fear of mistakes. The Christ-Self from within, and the Self of union, can take any mistake and correct it for the good of all. Just ask, once we have realized that we have indeed made a mistake. In the asking, we receive, and we do not have to wait long. We may not recognize that our mistake has been corrected, at least right away, but as time passes, we WILL be sure that all has been made aright again.

So: Listen to guidance by way of sudden intuition. And act on it—to have a good day, a happy day. Nothing wrong ever turns out right without divine intervention, and now we do have the promise of divine intervention to right our little worlds.

Prayer

I dreamed last night of the Latin motto, “Esse quam Videri,” which means, “to Be rather than to Seem.” I think this is the bright light of an intuition coming to me in a dream. Isn’t this what Jesus is meaning when he says to “be who we really are”? I don’t need to show a self that I am not. It would oppose all my religion.

Thank You for listening to me. Help me to know the truth that what You really will for me is happiness. I used to think that was such an inferior wish. But I do understand now. Thank You for clueing me in.

Amen.

Intuit & Then Share

“Working with what is in unity is not work but relationship. You are called to realize your relationship with what is given from unity. It is in that relationship, the relationship between what is and the expression of what is by the elevated Self of form, that the new is created. What is becomes new by becoming sharable in form—or in other words, what is continues to become through the continuation of relationship and the creation of new relationships. In this way, sharing in relationship becomes the goal and the accomplishment of the elevated Self of form, the means through which the Self of union is known even in the realm of separation, and thus what draws others from separation to union.” (ACOL, D:10.5)

This passage is, bottom-line, theology. In the future, the new, we will be creating by being in relationship with the larger Self, and when we express what we are receiving, we will be right on the beam: “It is in that relationship, the relationship between what is and the expression of what is by the elevated Self of form, that the new is created.”

We don’t “work” at this; it just “is.” We intuit what it is that we are to share with others. When we intuit rightly, we are in league with all the universe. We are doing what God asks of us. And when we share that knowledge with others with whom we are in relationship, we are at home in that universe. The circles of relationship ever widen. We share with more and more of our brothers and sisters, and then they join with us, in their communion with the larger Self, and the new gets created very easily.

The blessings in this way of living are abundant. We cease struggling. Jesus says elsewhere that no day is meant to be lived in a struggle with what it brings. We can believe this, and when we do, we add our part to the smoothing out of our life as well as the smoothing out of our relationships. The new reality will hold much that will make us happy. We will know, finally, that we can stop tinkering with our personality; our personality is OK just as it is. And if there happens to be anything that we lament, we can just will that deplorable aspect away, and it will be gone. That simple. Just that simple.

When we are drawing from the larger Self, we realize that our life will be easier. No more confusion. No more questioning, incessant questioning, about what direction our life is to take. Our guidance is clear. And as the elevated Self of form draws more and more from this larger Self, the blessings that come to us individually we will want to share with others with whom we are in relationship. And it is this larger circle that is meant to be. Sharing in ever-widening circles, in relationship with our brothers and sisters, will save the world.

Does this sound like pie-in-the-sky reasoning? Keep in mind that what I am saying is simply a rewording of what Jesus has told us. And is he likely to be wrong?

Prayer

I would be satisfied with my fate today. I would be satisfied that life is proceeding as it should. The way back is not difficult, but it does take some faith that what is unfolding is right and true.

I would see the right and true today. Thank You for being with me during every step of this journey back to You.

Amen.

Intuitive Glimpses

“This Course has led you through resigning as your own teacher, to becoming a true student, and to now leading you beyond the time of being a student to the realization of your accomplishment. You were once comfort¬able being your own teacher. You willingly gave up this role and became comfortable in the true role of learner. You are now asked to be willing to give up the role of learner and to believe that you will become comfortable and more in your new role as the accomplished.” (ACOL, T4:10.1)

If we see the “accomplished” in egoic fashion, we will develop a new ego to replace the one that we relinquished. And this would do us no good at all. If we see the “accomplished” as Jesus means it, as evidence of a Christ-Self who has emerged from deep within our mind and heart, we will not feel the ego at all; we will just recognize the truth of what he says, and we will newly listen to this Christ-Self as the source of our guidance.

We are living in the time of Christ now, and we give up learning from the wisdom of old. We listen to revelation from God Himself, in the moment, planning thrust aside. Living in the time of Christ, the new time, means that we don’t have an intermediary between God and ourselves; the Holy Spirit fulfilled that role when we were too fearful of God to listen to Him. But we don’t fear in the same way anymore. Our egos feared; our Christ-Self does not.

We will still feel the pattern of the ego when we approach enlightenment, Christ-consciousness. Our fear is thrusting up from layers of the mind that have become accustomed to fear. But the egoic fear is gone. We trust in a way that we have not heretofore. We know God in a way that we have not heretofore.

Listen well to the advice of what feels like guidance. These intuitive glimpses will stand us in good stead now. We will listen and be forewarned when we would best avoid certain issues. But we will listen and be relaxed when we hear things that previously would have aroused great fear within us; now we will not be moved.

The way back is assured when we listen to God’s guidance as seen through the lens of the Christ-Self. Listen well today, and be welcomed into His arms.

Prayer

I thank You for guiding me with great delicacy. I thank You for taking away from my fears with great certainty. I can contemplate changes that previously would have been overwhelming. Now I am tired of any and all suffering, and I would do what I have to do to reach a greater rapport with You. I would reach Christ-consciousness when You say the word, and I ask that You look kindly on me. Thank You for the glimpses that You have given to me. These glimpses assure me that Christ-consciousness is not something to fear through drama and tears; Christ-consciousness can be peace-evoking in the extreme. And I ask for that peace of Yours today.

Amen.

Certainty through Intuition

“Being fully aware that you have life everlasting is totally different than having faith in an afterlife. Faith is based upon the unknown. If the unknown were not unknown faith would not be necessary. Faith will become unnecessary, as life everlasting becomes known to you.” (ACOL, T4:4.13)

When we know something, Jesus is saying here that faith in the unknown becomes unnecessary. When we know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that life everlasting begins in this lifetime on earth, and continues through eternity, we don’t have to have faith in the unseen. We may not “see” life everlasting, as we see another body on earth, but we see with vision, and we know in the depths of our hearts.

It is a startling assertion that faith in an afterlife will become unnecessary. But Jesus says many startling things in his channeled works (A Course in Miracles, A Course of Love, The Way of Mastery, etc.). When we have come to trust in our intuitions, then we will see why faith in an unknown becomes unnecessary. We believe because we trust in our intuitions. And that is all. But that is enough.

The Bible says, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” And faith can seem nebulous indeed, to us on earth before we have walked along the pathway far enough and long enough to trust in an unseen God, One Whom we have come to know.

Knowing is the secret. Knowing is the way back. Knowing will come to us through our inner Self, the intuition that wells up from deep within us.

Prayer

Be with me as I seek to express love today. Expressing love is the way back to You. It is the greatest thing that I could ever do with my day. I wish to express love with every fiber of my being.

Thank You for guiding me to the right sources to come to a better understanding of what You would ask of me. May I lean on You, now and always.

Amen.

Living with Nudges of What to Do

“These last two calls, the call that appears in the form of a sign and the call that comes in the form of a demand, are about specifics in a way that the call that comes as an announcement is not. They represent the remnants of learning from the past, the final breaking of old patterns. They may seem to signal difficult times, but they are times that must be gotten through and lessons that need to be allowed to pass through you.” (ACOL, T2:5.6)

Here Jesus acknowledges to us that we may have some pain in our present and future; he says “difficult times” that “must be gotten through” and “lessons that need to be allowed to pass through you.” But he doesn’t say “suffering”!! This is important. And the acknowledgment here on Jesus’s part is somewhat at odds with the encouragement we got from A Course in Miracles when he said, “You do not have to learn through pain!” In this earlier writing, Jesus is saying that learning through rewards is more lasting than learning through pain. And, of course, he is right. But that doesn’t mean that there will never be any more pain. We are human, after all, and the directions that life takes us can seem at times to be very convoluted.

Calls will take us over the hurdle of the past, the past with all its imaginary egoic challenges. How are we ever to get through life creditably without guidance? How will we really do that? The answer, of course, is that we won’t get through life very well if we don’t listen to guidance. And Jesus is here outlining for us the way in which guidance will come to us, through calls. These calls can be very subtle. And it takes our keenest eye and ear to see and hear them. We are, also, still able to tangle ourselves up—seeing everything as a sign, for example. We can come to some very false conclusions. How do we protect ourselves?

My answer is prayer, a prayer that is the art of thought to which Jesus devotes an entire treatise. In miracle-mindedness, we live in grace always. We walk surely. We know, even when we can’t prove that we know. How many of us have believed something that nobody else thought was true? And were we right? Of course, we may not know for sure, even after years. But if the belief lingers, perhaps we are onto something after all. Revelation is intensely personal, and it cannot be meaningfully shared with anybody else. Nobody else could get inside our brains and see what we saw. And it is the same with all types of calls, and calls, we are seeing, is how guidance comes to us.

Be attuned to your calls today. They may come, at first, as simple nudges to do or say something. Test it out. Don’t put yourself or others in danger, of course, for this would be a false reading of what is coming to us. Genuine calls don’t hurt anybody. And genuine calls ask for the discernment of our heart.

Try it today. What have we got to lose?

Prayer

I do listen to my guidance, especially in the forms of nudges or nightmares. I may not consciously feel that someone or something needs to be avoided, but if my subconscious, which is the Self in me, thinks there is a problem, there is. So I listen, even though I may seem inscrutable to my friends and family.

Thank You for these ways of knowing. Thank You that I have the foresight to heed warnings. There is always more than I consciously know, but the Self has access to things that my personal self does not.

Be with me today as I settle down and heed nudges.

Amen.

Let Our Heart Follow where Intuition Leads

“Again let me stress the present-moment nature of being called. A call is, at its most basic level, a means of communication. If you are not listening, you will not hear the calls that are meant for you. If you are looking only for a specific type of call, you will miss many unlearning and learning opportunities. Thus recognition of the different calls that may now be heard is necessary.” (ACOL, T2:5.2)

Although not everyone reading this will think that he/she is being “called” to be or to do something, there are some calls going on for all of us. And Jesus, in Chapter 5 of the Treatise on Unity, goes into the various types of calls that are coming in our direction. Of course, most of us think of a “calling” as being a revelation, an announcement, and he mentions this first in the chapter, recognizing its importance. Other calls include receiving signs and demands, being “called to account” by others. Though perhaps not as important as revelation or announcements, these other calls do speed us along our way.

We will have many questions about discernment, how to figure out what calls are being made to us. Here guidance comes into play, and intuition is often the most common way in which guidance reaches us. At least that has been my experience. Intuition is not always certain; it will take some practice in recognizing when intuitive feelings are actually coming up, or perhaps we are simply having wish fulfillment. And when we are feeling vulnerable, a state of mind and heart that comes to all when under stress, we may see everything as a sign. And this only increases our vulnerability.

When others criticize us, this is a form of being called to account for our words or deeds. We may need to listen carefully. What lesson is there for us in this criticism? We do not always have to lament this criticism; it may be a friend to us. Jesus goes on to point out that we may be led to call others to account also for their words or deeds. Of course, it is important to ask for guidance in doing this in a smooth way. Criticism is an Achilles’ heel for many of us, and we neither appreciate criticism nor give it easily. We may turn off the person rather than help him/her.

Jesus is veering into the realm of the psychic when he talks about various calls. A skeptic would not even believe that such is possible. It takes an open mind and heart to see what we are being led to say and do. And when we believe that calls are possible, they will open up to us all the more. We will also be able, over time, to discern ever better what is being said.

Prayer

I have often listened to intuition to catch my callings. Sometimes this is easy, and sometimes not. If my own stubbornness gets in the way, I am conflicted. I would not be conflicted today.

Help me to discern what is and what is not a “call.” Help me to know when my Christ-Self is leaning me in a new direction. Be with me as You live through me. Intuition is a great blessing. Thank You.

Amen.

Sense the Vibes

“Imagine the air around you being visible and your form an invisible space within the visible surroundings. This is the reality of Christ-consciousness. Consciousness may seem to be embodied by form but the reverse is true and has always been true.” (ACOL, Dialogues, Day 12, 12.2)

The assertion in this quotation may seem very strange indeed. But there is a Oneness to reality that we often miss. The Self that we are exists out in the open; inside, we all too often miss the mark, especially if we haven’t yet opened to the inner Christ. Our little bodies don’t keep the Self apart from our environment. Intuitively we know this, for do we not sense “vibes” that are seemingly outside of us? Of course, we all do sense these vibes, though we may not, until later on, put much credence in them.

Now is the time to put credence in vibes. We will live much better, for these psychic attunements are evidence that we are opening to a larger reality.

So consciousness is outside of our physical bodies, our physical form. We are a solid mass of physicality in our bodies, but we exist in the ether. We are not isolated, encased in bodies. When we think about this a little, we will be reassured.
Despite what the ego used to tell us, we don’t really want to be so independent of each other. We know, somehow, somewhere, that we are mean to be in concert with one another. This sharing of being is what life is really all about, what life is about when it is truly lived.

Let’s truly live life today, sharing and in concert with one another.

Holy Spirit Speaks to Us through Intuition

“The Holy Spirit is the Mind of the Atonement. (T-5.I.6)”

The Holy Spirit is the Essence, the means by which we are guided to accept Atonement. He is the Voice for God, the Universal Inspiration. His way back is the one that we follow to a whole new beginning in life. Salvation is ours, and soon (we hope) after that, Awakening is ours as well.

The Holy Spirit was created to lead us back home. According to ACIM, He didn’t exist prior to the illusory separation of us, God’s children. He was the Answer, even as Jesus became the entity in charge of first carrying out plans that would save others.

The Holy Spirit speaks to us through intuition, nudges and hints, deep feelings that just won’t go away, a chance word from another that takes on unusual meaning for us. His ways of guidance are manifold, but of one thing we may be sure: He chooses ways that we ourselves, though no one else (in all probability) will recognize as right for us. He knows us intimately; he knows what we are ready to hear. And he chooses our part in the plan through a knowledge of that which we have which will most benefit the world.

We never have any reason to fear what the Holy Spirit tells us. We only have to listen and follow. The life we develop will be beyond our wildest imaginings.

Share the Atonement when So Prompted

“My part in the Atonement is not complete until you join it and give it away. (T-5.IV.6)”

Jesus says repeatedly in A Course in Miracles that he is in charge of the Atonement, that his resurrection was the event that started the Atonement principle (not the crucifixion). He does not express any understanding for the skeptics among us about how his resurrection might have been a true happening. He never downplays his resurrection also. He simply assumes that, somehow, in some way, the resurrection happened, and it started the whole movement of Christianity that transpired from then on.

How do we “give away” the Atonement? We share. We don’t share indiscriminately, because we are not called to proselytize. We are told, in one vivid point, that sometimes a smile may be all that another person is ready to accept. Salvation has come for that moment.

Thus we accept the Atonement for ourselves; that is “joining” it. Then we give it away in whatever manner the Holy Spirit prompts. And when we are on the beam, we may give it away without even being aware of a special prompting. We will just act in line with Jesus’s plan, his plan of Atonement or correction to the ways of the world.

Give Up a Life of “Trying”

“While the original intent remained within you and caused you to attempt to express a Self of love despite your fear, fear has thwarted your every effort and caused the very effort that has continued the cycle of fear. (The Treatises of A Course of Love: A Treatise on the New, 3.5)”

1 – Fear

To hear that fear has actually caused effort is a revealing statement. We are encouraged to understand in A Course of Love that our real way is effortless. So this is yet another reason to know that fear is best left behind, not in any great resistance, but just in a turning aside.

2 – Self of Love

It is good to know also that we have sometimes expressed a Self of love despite the fear that hounded us on every side. This was, according to Jesus, the result of the fact that our “original intent” in this world has followed us even into the world of the ego. We have not totally forgotten our original intent in being born into a world of form, of physical bodies and a physical world and universe.

3 – Trying

“To have to try to be who you are and to express who you are is the result of the displacement of the nature of love with the nature of fear. (The Treatises of A Course of Love: A Treatise on the New, 3.5)”

4 – Illusions

We do not have to “try” to be anything in particular. When we let the illusions drop away from our minds and hearts, we will remember what we really are, and this reality is good. The remembrance is everything. Trying suggests work, and elsewhere Jesus says that his new way of living is effortless. This assertion is like unto the one in the New Testament, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
5 – Natural and Effortless

The fact that being who we really are is natural and effortless is a reassurance of the most keen kind. How do we achieve this, especially when we realize that we still may harbor anger and attack, harbingers of fear? Jesus says elsewhere in A Course of Love that if we don’t like a particular trait, we just decide to eliminate it, and then it is done for us. Maybe this sounds too good to be true, but Jesus is in charge of miracles (an A Course in Miracles tenet).

6 – Love

We need to open, wholeheartedly (a tenet of ACOL), to the feeling of love. This means also when doing so is a stretch. A “stretch” does not have to be hard or difficult. Just ask for help, and it will be forthcoming. ACIM makes the assurance of assistance, upon asking in prayer, a part of the coming of the real world.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

Help me to just choose love today. May I not “try,” when I am so weary of trying. Love is natural to all of us, and when we ask Jesus’s help, we will experience the love that we so desperately have sought in all the wrong places.

Help me to reach to Jesus today. Help me to have the spirit of love in my interactions with the brothers and sisters that I meet today.

May this day be good. May I follow Your guidance, as revealed by my inner Self or by the Holy Spirit. I can’t tell the difference, and perhaps that is as it should be. The intuitions come in the same way for me. Perhaps others have the same experience.

Be with me today, I ask You. Help me to do what is best for this day. And help me to be happy in this day. Happiness is one of my functions, as A Course in Miracles makes clear in the Workbook. I would follow that glorious way today. Thank You.

Amen.

Seeing with the Vision of Christ-consciousness Is upon Us

“Seeing with the vision of Christ-consciousness is already upon you. You are in the process of learning what it means. This treatise is here to help you do so. (The Treatises of A Course of Love: ‘A Treatise on the New,’ 2.33)”

1 – Transition

This passage clarifies the point of transition. We are ready for Christ-consciousness, but we may still have questions, and it is these questions that the “Treatise on the New” seeks to explain to us.

2 – Give Ourselves to the Experience

Certainly no transition is without bumpy spots. Neither will this one. But it can be effortless if we give ourselves to it wholeheartedly, as Jesus asks in the first volume of the series of A Course of Love. We are used to hearing the Holy Spirit, and most of us are used to rejecting His advice from time to time, even when we know in our deepest being that what He bids us say or do is the right choice.

3 – Inner Knowing

Now we will take the next step into the time of Christ. We will follow our inner knowing without the struggle that we sometimes experienced when trying to follow the Holy Spirit. Previously, we were often weak, often indecisive, when the Voice of the Holy Spirit asked us to say or do something that made us uncomfortable. Jesus described this situation well in A Course in Miracles. He even said that what the Holy Spirit bade us to say or do might be embarrassing to us. But this, he said, was a misperception coming from a “shabby self-perception,” and would best be left behind. All of us have struggled with this advice, sometimes with more success, sometimes with less.

4 – Unconsciously

Now we are at the point of allowing the guidance that we receive to be received unconsciously, if we so will. God has promised this; Jesus has passed the Word along to us in A Course of Love. This becomes the effortless way that we will live in the future, once we have accepted the promise of all that this way of life holds out to us. This is the essence of living in Christ-consciousness. Let us not allow indecisiveness to delay us further. May we accept this promise today.

5 – Internal Guidance

It seems right to say that our guidance will come internally, but how will we hear it? Will there be nudges of guidance such as the Holy Spirit gave us?

6 – Nudges

Based on my limited experience, I think that the nudges that we get from the inner Christ-consciousness will be virtually indistinguishable from the nudges of the Holy Spirit, except that I do think that Jesus is working with us as more willing followers. We will not get stubborn nearly so often. We will recognize that nudge as a celestial accompaniment to our day, something that is going to give us a better day.

7 – Identical to Holy Spirit

The nudges themselves are, I think, identical to the nudges that were given by the Holy Spirit. When I had glimpses of Awakening on two occasions many years ago, my guidance was exactly the same in “nudges” that I had earlier come to recognize as being from the Holy Spirit. The intuition is identical. But how we respond to it is not.

8 – Respond More Readily

If we are on the beam, we will respond much more readily. We are more willing followers of Jesus now. And we know that what he encourages us to say and do is right on.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

May I see the vision of Christ-consciousness today. May I know what lies ahead for me, if I follow what Jesus has been saying to me. May I offer the words that he gives to me without embarrassment, and may I listen to the Voice of the Holy Spirit until such time as my guidance is received internally, without any strain at all.

Be with me today as I seek to leave attack, judgment, and unneeded planning of the future behind. When I have done that, I will know that God will be willing to take the final step for me to reach Christ-consciousness. Thank you.

May this day go well. Remove any confusion that I still have over the guidance that I receive. If the guidance in a given day seems to change, help me to know if I have edged into a new probable reality. Help me to follow Your guidance, minimizing my own confusion.

Amen.

Know with an Inner Knowing that Will Aid the Eyes’ Sight

“Have you thought your instincts will be sharpened and that you will know with an inner knowing that will aid the sight of your eyes? (The Treatises of A Course of Love: ‘A Treatise on the New,’ 2.31)”

1 – Jesus

This passage describes succinctly what Jesus has explained earlier in the “Treatise on the New,” but in less cogent terms. We will know with an inner knowing, once we have accepted the Christ-consciousness that he holds out to us as awaiting us at the end of the “journey without distance” (an ACIM quotation) that we have taken. This inner knowing is somewhat different from the intuitions that we have come to recognize from the Holy Spirit. In my experience of the Holy Spirit, there was a definite statement, felt internally, of what the next step was to be. There was a bit of a delay as the Holy Spirit stepped back and let me make a decision of whether or not to follow His guidance.

2 – No Delay

But in this inner knowing of the Christ-consciousness, there is no delay. The way is effortless and easy. We want to follow the instinct that has suddenly, almost imperceptibly, arisen in us. This is akin to allowing Jesus to guide us without our conscious awareness, a step that he told us in A Course in Miracles still awaited us. He said there that most were not yet ready for this type of guidance. In A Course of Love, we have become ready. We are asked to become ready. We are told that we need not seek for yet another way, another pathway that will give us more peace. The time of peace has arrived. We are justified. We do not have to wonder if we are worthy.

3 – Misleading Us?

This type of reassurance is very important at this juncture. Many will feel that it is too good to be true, and many will believe that Jesus is misleading us–but if we take him at his word, we will experience the truth of what he says. ACIM also talked about the fear from us that Jesus might be misleading us. But no one who has studied those volumes long and faithfully still clings to this early misinterpretation.

4 – ACOL

Now we are asked to accept A Course of Love with the same acuity. We need to recognize that perfection on our own part, achieved by ourselves, is not the goal. Has the belief that perfection of our little personalities not always been the sticking point? But in A Course in Miracles, Jesus reassures us that he stands at the end of the journey to reach to us, to correct the mistakes that we cannot correct. He stands ready to help us at our point of failure. This he is doing in A Course of Love (though he does not say this specifically). Jesus would have us to realize that mistakes do not impede the “perfection” to which he draws us. He wants only a perfect faith, and even though we demur, this perfect faith is, as A Course of Love indicates, within the power of all of us–with Jesus as our always loving guide, ready to correct our errors as we move toward Christ-consciousness (and indeed, as we live Christ-consciousness).

5 – Inner Understanding

The decision to listen to inner understanding is not lost on those of us who might still be living with the Holy Spirit rather than the Christ Self. All of us have access to a knowing that is vastly superior to anything that we had access to when the ego was in the foreground.

6 – Internal Asking

If we don’t feel that we have a real sense of what to say and do, just ask internally.

7 –

That is all that is required.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

May I live Christ-consciousness today, living with the knowing that is inner entirely. I recognize the prompting of the Holy Spirit, and I find that actually there is an oscillation between the two ways of coming to know the right pathway.

You would have me just to “know,” but I will be patient and wait for Your messages, however they are given to me. In A Course of Love, Jesus indicates that what got us in trouble in the first place was our impatience; this is when the “tiny, mad idea” crept in. May I know patience today. And may You walk with me every step of my day today.

Amen.

How to Re-find Paradise

1 – Day 16

“Everything that can’t be seen but is, is consciousness. Accepting everything that can’t be seen, including the unknown, is full consciousness. Acceptance is key. You can’t accept what you fear. (Dialogues of A Course of Love, Day 16)”

2 – Acceptance

Much emphasis on acceptance in the Dialogues of A Course of Love! Jesus reiterates here how very important it is for us just to accept—not to judge, not to regret, not to even feel sorry over. Of course, A Course in Miracles emphasized forgiveness of our brother throughout. And forgiveness is still the key to undoing the ego. But in A Course of Love, it is hoped that we, the readers, will have gone beyond the ego into another realm—not yet Awakening or Christ-consciousness, but closer than ever before. And to move into this new realm, acceptance of ourselves just as we are is crucial. We may see many imperfections in our personalities, and, objectively, there may be many imperfections. How do we handle this? We just turn aside from those parts of our personalities that we don’t want to keep. Importantly, we don’t resist, for in the resistance the ego reasserts itself. Resistance to undesired personality traits is a form of defensiveness, and the ego is strong in defensiveness. Also, defenses make what they would defend against (from A Course in Miracles).

3 – Self

So we accept. Just as we are. Knowing that we are whole and good in our real Self, the inner Christ Self. Our imperfect, personal self has been made only in illusions. None of the bad things that we thought we might have done to others, or that we did to others, has actually done anything at all—in reality. Of course, in the illusion the material objects seem very hard to us, very real. And we may need to ask for forgiveness from those we might have wronged. This sets the record straight. We are undoing what made wrong in the dream, the illusion. And sometimes this endeavor moves us closer to accepting our Self just as we are. We accept the personality, and, as the personality is cleansed by turning aside from those character traits that we wish to overcome, we are healed.

4 – Consciousness

We need to move into full consciousness, and we need, as this quotation points out, to move into consciousness without fear. We will not fear when we have allowed Jesus to guide our minds. Or allowed the inner Christ Self to guide our minds (as in A Course of Love)—or the Holy Spirit (as in A Course in Miracles). How can we give up our fears? We can but try, and in the loving of ourselves and others—when the love replaces the fear—we find rest for our spirits.

5 – Sickness

“Sickness is not sickness but rejected feelings. The rejected feelings exist as separate and forgotten physical manifestations until they are willfully remembered and accepted back into the spacious Self. (Dialogues of A Course of Love, Day 16)”

6 – Spacious Self

We want to get over any and all sickness. If we conceive of the spacious Self as a larger, more all-encompassing Self Whom we are, we can imagine enfolding that sickness into this spacious Self, and then, miraculously, we are healed of sickness. Sometimes physical symptoms do linger, but that does not have to concern us. Healing is actually of the mind, and when the mind is healed, our real Self is healed.

7 – Healing

The physical manifestations may go away. We can ask God for a healing, engage in dialogue with our inner Self, and then miraculously learn of a new medication, a new treatment, or a new way of living that will eliminate the physical manifestations of illness. Pills, medication, are a form of magic, but Jesus does not counsel giving up pills if they are keeping fear at bay. He says in ACIM that the last thing that the fear-ridden mind needs is more fear, and we may have more fear if we throw away our pills. We are living an illusion, and if we are aware that the pills are healing our symptoms, then we will find that in our dream. We create our reality. And our ideas about that reality come true. This is a stern warning as well as a truth about the nature of our illusory reality.

8 – Illness

If we dialogue with the illness, talk to it, actually, we may see that we are no longer rejecting feelings about that illness. And the illness may spontaneously disappear. Our ideas about “reality,” our dream, are stubborn, though, and nobody should doubt the reality of a healing because of the continuance of physical symptoms (from ACIM).

9 – Reintegration

“The reintegration requires, of course, a change in what you want to prove to yourself. All you may now continue to seek proof of is that your feelings, rather than your thoughts about your feelings, reflect who you are, and that by acting on them, you will act in accord with who you are and thus in accord with the universe. (Dialogues of A Course of Love, Day 16)”
10 – Feelings

We need to get close to our feelings. We don’t need to be cerebral about it, meaning that we don’t need to bring the thoughts of our minds into the act. We need to experience feelings directly.

11 – Thinking

All of our lives we have been taught to discount feelings in favor of the so-called “rational” mind. Of course, the mind is not rational, and its judgments are always, always, faulty. The world teaches for reliance on judgment of our (ir)rational mind, but we need to recognize, as ACIM tells us, that judgment in our own minds is not possible. We cannot see past, present, and future in all its ramifications. We cannot judge aright. Not that we don’t judge aright, but that we cannot. Then we look to a Higher Power for His counsel. In ACIM, this is the Holy Spirit; in ACOL, this is the Self within, the Christ Who is the All with God.

12 – Holes

If we act on feelings, we will stop digging holes for ourselves. We will climb out of the holes that the ego dug for us. If we act on feelings, we will first experience the happy dreams the Holy Spirit sends; and then we will move ever closer to the reality that the Awakening will show us. Know, though, that we cannot merit Awakening. It is God’s gift, given us when we are ready. And being good and spiritual will not guarantee readiness. Only God knows what in us He is looking for, before we move into Christ-consciousness (Awakening).

13 – Intuition

“When you feel an ‘intuition’ you respond differently than you do to unwanted feelings that you are quick to want to ‘do something’ about. If all feelings were treated more like intuition is treated–with a ‘knowing’ that the feeling has come to tell you something that is as yet unknown to you, but nevertheless for your benefit, you would go a long way toward acceptance. (A Course of Love: Dialogues)”

14 – Spacious Self

We need to accept all feelings, even those that seem borne of fear rather than love. By so doing, we encompass all feelings with the spacious Self of Christ-consciousness, and the fear, held within the love, is dissipated.

15 – Illness
Illness is a form of rejected feelings. When sickness comes upon us, we are likely to try to reject it as an unwanted intrusion into our world. But we must hold within ourselves these feelings, knowing that illness is a form of external searching. When we accept all feelings, whether of loneliness or despair, anger or grief, we join with the spacious Self.
When we live in the present, we are accepting of all feelings by living the Christ-consciousness that we have all so desired to call our own.
16 – Paradise
Paradise is re-found when the fear that had been expelled is welcomed back by the embrace of love. No feelings are bad; all are to be accepted, and kept if we deem them good and “loved” into a better feeling if we deem them bad. The rejection of fear thoughts helped to create the hell that overcame our world. Welcoming back the fear thoughts, while encompassing them always within love thoughts, will lead us back to paradise.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

May I come to understand my feelings in the same way that I have, over the years, come to accept intuition as valid guidance. May I come to understand and to act on what my feelings are telling me, but only if they are loving feelings for my brothers and sisters.

May I encompass fear with love, rejecting nothing, because rejection will only act as a force field to make the fear stronger. Thank You for these thoughts by Jesus for this day.

Many people pray for Awakening, for Christ-consciousness. And I am among those people. Take from me all part of my personal, little, self which is hindering the bestowal of this great blessing. Like Michaelangelo, carve away the parts of the block of my personality that are in the way of the Self Whom you want me to display always. I know that it is only these excess blocks of marble that are keeping me from You. I would move closer to You today. Now and forever.

Amen.

Trust in Your Feelings

1 – Trust

“You think of feelings either as that which comes to you through your five senses or as emotions, and you have not trusted in these feelings as much as you have trusted in rational thought. This lack of trust works both for you and against you now. It works for you in that you do not have to resist and reject an existing trust as you do with the thoughts of the mind you call rational. It works against you because all feelings are capable of providing what you have called intuitive knowledge or insights and your distrust of this knowledge and insight will need to be overcome. (Dialogues of A Course of Love, Day Ten)”

2 – Intuition

We need to rely on feelings, as this is our insight into intuition. We have previously, often, and especially before studying A Course in Miracles, believed that feelings would lie. Now that may be true, and so we test out our feelings; we fail to act on aggressive or unkind impulses, but impulses are not the same as genuine feelings as meant in this quotation. Genuine feelings don’t lie; they tell us what to say and do. They are our only Guide to what the Self is trying to say to us. (A Course in Miracles called this inner sense the Holy Spirit, or Universal Inspiration.)

3 – Thoughts

We do not have to reject feelings in the same way that we have to reject the thoughts of the mind that previously appeared to be rational. These thoughts were egoic notions that led us badly astray. And we would be rid of those lamentable thoughts now. We are through with the ego.

4 – Feelings

Listen to your feelings about what to say or do. If these feelings are genuine, they will be harmless, even better than harmless—for that will offer salvation to all around us.

5 – To “Know”

“To ‘know’ before you act is wise. But to think that doubting your feelings or seeking outside assurances of what you know will lead to either confidence or certainty is foolish. (Dialogues of A Course of Love, Day Ten)”

6 – Christ Self

To “know” is an inner sense that comes from following the inner Christ Self. It relies on feelings, and it is the same as intuition. The “knowing” is even more profound than run-of-the-mill feelings, though. The knowing is profound, a real insight that what you are contemplating saying or doing is right in God’s eyes.

7 – Foolish Doubts

We are told in this significant quotation that to doubt our feelings is foolish. What a revelation! We have been taught by this world to doubt our feelings always—to rely instead on the judgments of our the mind that we thought were rational. These judgments were amiss, for we cannot know the past, present, and future in all its ramifications. We cannot judge aright, and so we cease trying.

8 – Blessing

This brings a great blessing to us. We always know what to do and say when we rely on the intuition that is down deep within, the Christ Self.

9 – Christ-consciousness

“Thus I will speak to you from this point onward as the voice of Christ-consciousness, the voice of your own true consciousness, the consciousness that we truly share. I came to you in the form of the consciousness of the man I once was because you were, prior to this point, unready to give up image for presence, the individual for the universal, reliance on an outside source for reliance on yourself, Jesus for Christ-consciousness. (ACOL Dialogues, p. 148)”

10 – Time of Christ

This quotation explains that we are to rely on the inner Christ Self. The quotation does not specifically mention the Holy Spirit, but elsewhere in A Course of Love, Jesus has proclaimed that the time of the Holy Spirit has ended, and that we are now in the time of Christ. And he doesn’t mean only himself. The Christ is a shared identity, an identity which all of us have.

11 – Home

We need to cease relying just on the man Jesus. We need to depend on Christ-consciousness for our reliance upon the truth. This will take us home. This will sustain Christ-consciousness in ourselves.

12 – True Consciousness

Our true consciousness is Christ-consciousness. And it is this on which we must come to rely.

13 – Save the World

This chapter is lengthy, but the quotation above does encompass the most important point. Jesus tells us many things about power, but his most important concept is the fact that reliance upon our own Self in Christ-consciousness will help us to save the world. This is a strong assertion, but he does not mean for us to be crusaders unless our intuition guides us to our goals. He says quite a bit about following intuition, in relying on our Self rather than to turn to outside sources in trying to make decisions about our life. We must have confidence in our feelings.

14 – Jesus

So Jesus will stop speaking in these 40 days and nights as the man who lived over 2,000 years ago. He will speak as our own Self, the Christ-consciousness that we are meant to share with him and all others. Jesus stresses that these communications are dialogues, not simply the imparting of information from him to us.

15 – Elevated Self of Form

He describes what we will feel as the elevated Self of form. We will feel not much different than we do now, but more peaceful and free of the constraints of the body. Jesus compares what we will feel in this world with how we imagine our loved ones who have crossed the barrier of death. We imagine them as we knew them, but more peaceful and free of the body that they knew in this life. Jesus too notes that he wants us to feel happiness and peace, especially now in this final chapter in which he addresses us as the man Jesus, rather than the Christ-consciousness which we will share in the remainder of the 40 days and nights.

16 – Relationship with Jesus

“I ask you not to give up your relationship with me as the man Jesus, but to accept that the man Jesus was simply a representation in form, of Christ-consciousness. I do, however, ask you to give up your identification of the voice of this dialogue as that belonging to the man Jesus who lived two thousand years ago. To continue to identify this voice with that man is to be unable to recognize this voice as the voice of your own true consciousness—the voice of Christ-consciousness. Yet to realize that this is the same that animated the man Jesus two thousand years ago will aide you in realizing that this is the voice that will now animate the elevated Self of form, or in other words, you.” (Dialogues of A Course of Love, Day Ten)”

17 – Consciousness

“Consciousness is about what you are aware of, not about what you think. And you are very much aware of your feelings. (Dialogues of A Course of Love, Day Ten)”

18 – Egoic Thoughts

We are told to doubt our thoughts, for they have previously been mostly egoic. We need to be aware of consciousness that points to intuition and comes to us as feelings to be followed. Only in genuine mental illness do we have to be very, very careful of “guidance” that would lead us astray. Dependence on inner voices in mental illness becomes a warning sign.

19 – Insanity

But most of us are quite sane, though we have previously, under the grip of the ego, been insane for eons. We lived out insanity, or madness, and now we would be through with it. A Course in Miracles repeats this truth quite a bit. We don’t want to accept it, but when we see the state of our world, it becomes something that is not so easily brushed aside.

20 – Love

“The power of love is the cause and effect that will change the world by returning you, and all your brothers and sisters, to who they are in truth. (Dialogues of A Course of Love, Day Ten)”

21 – A Healed World

This is the way that the world will be healed, and the answer, “love,” sounds almost trite to hear. Yet if we reflect on what love really means, we will know peace, and we will know how to heal our brothers and sisters. We need to return to who we are in truth, and that is the Christ Self within. The little self, the personal self, has always been a mirage, an illusion, a persona. And we would cease to make masks that hide us from the world.

22 – Compassion

“Blessed brother and sister, we feel the same love, the same compassion, the same tenderness for each other and the world. This is unity. This will save us. This will save the world. (Dialogues of A Course of Love, Day Ten)”

3 – Salvation, Forgiveness, Happiness

Here is the emphasis on saving the world, our function (though we do not lean on anybody who is not ready). Our function is salvation, forgiveness, happiness—all synonyms for what we would be and what we ever more would become fully.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

Thank You that Jesus is ready to see our own Christ-consciousness, and, in effect, to speak to us as equals. I do not feel worthy, but help me to realize that these thoughts and feelings are the vestiges of the ego.

On this day, please set my feet on the right pathway, if I have in any way veered off that pathway. Help me to help my brothers and sisters in need, and may You help me as well. I need your help desperately, for my allegiance varies from day to day as I seek to eliminate my neuroses. Be with me today as I seek to live a sane Christ Self. This is really the one way to be, and I would be that way henceforth. If I doubt that this is possible, please remove all doubts from me. Help me to walk slowly and gently through this world, for it has many obstacles to my inner peace. May the inner Self encompass all my mind and feelings today, so that I fulfill Your wishes for me in this day.

I welcome Jesus, once again, into my life today. I am very grateful that he lives in service to all of my brothers and sisters, and myself. Thank You for Jesus.

Amen.

Attempts to Supplant God’s Will May Indeed Seem Frightening, but They Are Merely Pathetic.

1 – Avoidance of Magic = Avoidance of Temptation

“The avoidance of magic is the avoidance of temptation. For all temptation is nothing more than the attempt to substitute another will for God’s. (M42)”

2 – God’s Will = Our Real Will

Elsewhere in the Course we learn that God’s will is actually the same as ours. It is the same as ours if we only knew ourselves better. Studying the Course will open up ways to know ourselves better. And much study will convince us that we are not like Job of the Old Testament, unwilling recipients of guidance, but instead willing recipients of guidance because we know that what we “hear” is legitimate and will bring us closer Home.

3 – Ego

“Magic” thoughts are those inspired by the ego (an interpretation of the Course, but not stated directly therein). Often magic ideas are superstitious ideas that have become a part of us through long years of following the ego.

4 – God’s Way

If we set our will each morning to following God’s way, we will be well on our way to avoiding temptation. We will know that what God wants for us is what we too desire. Anything less is magic.

5 – Pathetic

“These attempts may indeed seem frightening, but they are merely pathetic. (M42)”

6 – Heaven Restored

“Rooted in sacrifice and separation, two aspects of one error and no more, he merely chooses to give up all that he never had. And for this ‘sacrifice’ is Heaven restored to his awareness. (M42)”

7 – Irrationality

Magic, as defined by Jesus, is irrationality (an interpretation, not stated in ACIM). And the magic, the irrationality, is rooted in the belief in sacrifice and in the separation from God. Sacrifice and the separation are both the “detour into fear” (from ACIM) which happened when the ego arose in our thought processes. But we don’t really have anything worth having when we have the ego.

8 – Heaven

When we give up the error that is the ego, Heaven is restored to our awareness. Can we believe this? Can we willingly give up egoic and egoistical strivings? If we can assess carefully, we will acknowledge that the puffed-up ego does not mean much in the final analysis. When we are on our death bed, we won’t put much store in anything that the ego had us striving to do; we will know that it was all vanity. Why not reach that conclusion while most of us have many years left of life? Why not enjoy Heaven on earth, the promise that is here held out to us by Jesus himself?

9 – Helen and Bill

The truth of these statements is found in the living out of them—nothing more. Reflect on where you have been and where you hope to go. See if ego is still managing your pathway. And just wonder, just wonder, if there might not (and Helen and Bill found, co-scribes of ACIM) be another way?

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I am still not flexible enough to turn aside from my own self’s wishes to follow the guidance that I am perceiving from the Holy Spirit–at least not always. Please help me toward this willingness. I know that it is the very best thing for me.

Please be with me throughout this day, as I perceive, through my intuition, the will of the Holy Spirit. This may be my greatest need. Please help me to perfect following guidance as I go about my normal life.

Amen.

Now Can the Teacher of God Rise Up Unburdened, and Walk Lightly On. Giving Up Judgment, His Sense of Care Is Gone.

1 – Sense of Care

“Now can the teacher of God rise up unburdened, and walk lightly on. Yet it is not only this that is his benefit. His sense of care is gone, for he has none. (M28)”

2 – Holy Spirit

This passage refers to turning over our decisions to the Holy Spirit. We carry life more easily once we have done this, and we do not feel burdened, as if we are carrying a load on our backs.

3 – Walk Lightly

Our sense of care is gone. We walk lightly in the light. These reassurances are worth their weight in gold. Who would not wish to walk the earth in peace and calm that is not abated?

4 – A Sure Guide

Why would we have a sense of care, when we have a Guide that is sure? We must only ask that we be given the grace always to follow that guidance. As we do follow that guidance, we become more and more reassured that it will always be there for us, and we drop our cares into the lap of God.

5 – Judgment Gone

“He has given it [sense of care] away, along with judgment. (M28)”

6 – Martha and Mary and Jesus

What a joy to give up the sense of care! We are, like Martha of the New Testament, worried about so many things. Martha was preoccupied with preparing a meal, and she wanted Mary, her sister, to help her instead of sitting at the feet of Jesus, where Mary was drinking in the words of Jesus.

7 – Rebuke

Yet Jesus kindly rebuked Martha, saying that Mary had chosen the best part, which in this case, was listening to him.

8 – Sit at the Feet of Jesus

May we be like the Marys of the world, not to disregard our obligations, but as often as at all possible, to sit, metaphorically, at the feet of Jesus and drink in his words. Then indeed is our care given away.

9 – Judgment

“Judgment, like other devices by which the world of illusions is maintained, is totally misunderstood by the world. It is actually confused with wisdom, and substitutes for truth. (M27)”

10 – “Good” Judgment?

Judgment seems to be wisdom, but, as we have been suggesting, it is far from wisdom. We think that “good judgment” will get us the outcome that we cry to have.

11 – Guidance

This is not true. Good judgment, whatever that is, will not get us the outcome that we cry to have. Only following guidance will do that.

12 – We Cannot Judge Rightly

“It is necessary for the teacher of God to realize, not that he should not judge, but that he cannot. In giving up judgment, he is merely giving up what he did not have. He gives up an illusion; or better, he has an illusion of giving up. He has actually merely become more honest. (M27)”

13 – Honesty

Would we like to be more honest? Of course! And this is the way—give up judgment! We cannot judge aright—ever. We may make wise decisions because we have been protected by God, but the consistent right decisions only come from guidance.

14 – Intuition

What does it feel like with intuition, the most prevalent kind of guidance? I sense a feeling tone to such guidance, in that I sense what the next right step should be. Sometimes guidance looks to the future, but in the step-to-step process of our days, intuition usually gives us the next right step. Sometimes the guidance comes to us as our own thinking rather than as a feeling. We will know that this thinking is guidance because it will seem a bit beyond us, though actually the thinking is coming up from the unconscious deep within. There God rests, and there the Holy Spirit communicates from God to us.

15 – Judgment Always Impossible

“Recognizing that judgment was always impossible for him, he no longer attempts it. This is no sacrifice. On the contrary, he puts himself in a position where judgment through him rather than by him can occur. (M27)”

16 – Relinquish Judgment to the Holy Spirit

This inner process of thinking, or the inner process of feeling (intuition), allows judgment “through” us to come out. So we do not give up judgment entirely; we just relinquish it to the Holy Spirit, Who is deep within. And His decisions are right. We will soon realize this. It takes little time to know that one’s egoic notions are faulty, and that the guidance of the Holy Spirit is on the beam.

17 – Guiltless Son/Daughter of God

“And this judgment is neither ‘good’ nor ‘bad.’ It is the only judgment there is, and it is only one: God’s Son is guiltless, and sin does not exist. (M27)”

18 – Theology

This passage is a theological construct of A Course in Miracles. God’s Son (or Daughter) is innocent of wrongdoing, for he/she has acted only in illusion, a dream. And thus he/she has not acted at all.

19 – Sin

Sin does not exist, for sin is seen as an attractive alternative. Call something a “sin,” and we want to do it again. This is lamentable human nature.

20 – Mistake

In contrast, call something a “mistake,” and the only right thing is immediately seen to be correction of the mistake. Our “sins” are all mistakes, in the theology of ACIM.

21 – Past, Present, and Future

“In order to judge anything rightly, one would have to be fully aware of an inconceivably wide range of things; past, present and to come. One would have to recognize in advance all the effects of his judgments on everything and everything involved in them in any way. And one would have to be certain there is no distortion in his perception, so his judgment would be wholly fair to everyone on whom it rests now and in the future. Who is in a position to do this? Who except in grandiose fantasies would claim this for himself? (M27)”

22 – Prescience

This passage summarizes what we have been considering. We can’t know, in a prescient manner, what we are about. Lacking knowledge of past, present, and future in all its ramifications, we no longer attempt to judge on partial understanding. We give over judgment to the Holy Spirit, who is omniscient or all-knowing.

23 – Lay Judgment Down

“Therefore lay judgment down, not with regret but with a sigh of gratitude. Now are you free of a burden so great that you could merely stagger and fall down beneath it. And it was all illusion. Nothing more. (M28)”

24 – Jesus’s Appeal

This passage is Jesus’s appeal to us to stop the foolish judging to which we are almost addicted. If possible, try to live this day without judging what to do next. Let guidance direct your footsteps.

25 – Close of the Day

And see, at the close of the day, if you did not get into a free-flowing frame of mind that offered you a good day.

26 – Reassuring Passage

A reassuring passage, as so many of the passages A Course in Miracles, are. We are bade to lay judgment down–to make no decisions for ourselves. Can we really do this? The Course elsewhere indicates that we should set our will at the beginning of the day to follow guidance, and then give thanks at the end of the day. Then our decisions will be far more likely to be right. ACIM is always practical, and asking at every juncture may not always be practical (an ACIM concept).

27 – A Guide

It is calming to know that we have a Guide who will not fail. This we can feel with gratitude.

28 – Burden of Judgment

The burden of trying to make judgments of what to do or say has always been extremely difficult for us. And we learn now that doing so has all been illusion. We don’t have to feel all alone in the universe. We have a Guide, and His guidance is the Way that makes our life a calm and gentle experience.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

May I be led to lay judgment down forevermore. I do know in my heart of hearts that judgment can only hurt me. Let me be through with it forever.

Thank you for guiding me through the Holy Spirit. When I follow His prompting, I know that I am always taking the right pathway.

Amen.

Definition of the Ego

“I have spoken of the ego as if it were a separate thing, acting on its own. This was necessary to persuade you that you cannot dismiss it lightly, and must realize how much of your thinking is ego-directed. (T67)”

1 – Autonomous Ego?

How autonomous the ego seems to be! Yet it is only our own thinking, the part of our thinking that is insane. Insanity is a concept that some of us find hard to imagine; we think that we are thinking clearly. But, in the grip of the ego, we are quite mad. And in not thinking clearer, we give up any hope of Heaven.

2 – Ego Separate?

Is the ego a separate thing? No. We made the ego when we wanted to separate from God and His guidance. We thought that to be independent would give us something that loyalty and love for God would not. But we are never intended to fail to communicate with our Creator. We are intended to share with others, not to be separate and apart. And we will be unhappy as long as we cling fiercely to independence (or try to do so) and avoid God and others in our daily lives.

3 – Ego-Directed Thinking

“. . .[H]ow much of your thinking is ego-directed. . . . We cannot safely let it go at that, however, or you will regard yourself as necessarily conflicted as long as you are here, or as long as you believe that you are here. (T67)”

4 – Conflict

We do not have to be sorely conflicted, even when the ego is not dead in us. We can turn more and more to the Holy Spirit, letting Him guide our thoughts and actions. If we do not turn to the Holy Spirit, we ask for conflict, for how do we know what to do that will make it all turn out right?

5 – Intuition

If at first we don’t “catch” an intuition, then we can always ask again for advice. Jesus says in ACIM that we always seek advice before taking action, either of the ego or the Holy Spirit. We cannot take action autonomously. And if we are resistant to the advice that we get from the Holy Spirit, it would be wise to wait. If we have already forged ahead, then stop as soon as we can make ourselves, and then follow the guidance as we perceive it. Our perceptions can always lead us astray, of course, but our perception of what the Holy Spirit is saying is likely to be less wrong than is our perception of what the ego says. The ego advises to confuse.

6 – A Part of Your Belief

“The ego is nothing more than a part of your belief about yourself. Your other life has continued without interruption, and has been and always will be totally unaffected by your attempts to dissociate it. (T67)”

This is the best succinct definition of the ego in A Course in Miracles. “A part of your belief about yourself.” Such a definition removes some of the allure that the ego will continue to have until we have found our way home. It deemphasizes the ego as a major difficulty; it implies that a “part” of belief can be disrupted without too much trouble.

7 – Motivation

Is this true? Can we dissociate ourselves from the ego easily? That depends on motivation (a concept of A Course in Miracles). Jesus seeks to encourage our motivation to learn, and then, through learning, to remove the blocks to love’s awareness. Our guide is the Holy Spirit. ACIM spells out the means.

8 – Another Life

Very reassuring is the statement that we have another life continuing without interruption. This implies that there are parts of ourselves elsewhere, in other dimensions, but this is an interpretation, and A Course in Miracles is not specific about what is meant. We can hope that we have another life in other dimensions, the Self that we have forgotten in this world. Truly this is a great reassurance, and a great cause for giving thanks. We have not lost everything by the tiny mistake that we made when we chose this world of the ego over heaven.

9 – Escape from Illusion

“In learning to escape from illusions, your debt to your brother is something you must never forget. It is the same debt you owe to me. Whenever you act egotistically towards another, you are throwing away the graciousness of your indebtedness and the holy perception it would produce. (T67)”

When we love our brother/sister, we know that we are indebted to him/her for a good life, for we are not in this alone. Others play gigantic parts in what we believe to be our reality. And when we love, we see the good parts of others. We are not blinded by what we imagine, rightly or wrongly, to be their “faults.”

10 – Significant Other

This passage also suggests that our way is in our relationship to our most significant other—as ACIM says, our “brother” (which also includes our “sister”). This is the way of A Course in Miracles, and cementing our relationship to a significant other is how ACIM is saving us time. “Save time,” and “learn what time is for.” These are quotations from ACIM, and we are encouraged to take to heart the truth that time is to bring us closer home, to Awakening, to Heaven on earth. What better way is there to spent time? We need to help others, but we ourselves are limited in what we can do when we are still stumbling about in the shadows. “Love thy brother as thyself” is still operative. But traditional Christian orthodoxy has not always stressed the social gospel. The traditional indicates that we have to get our heart right first before we can make a meaningful contribution to the lives of others.

11 – “Holy”

“The term ‘holy’ can be used here because, as you learn how much you are indebted to the whole Sonship, which includes me, you come as close to knowledge as perception can. The gap is then so small that knowledge can easily flow across it and obliterate it forever. (T67)”

This passage emphasizes the distinction between “perception” and “knowledge.” Perception is our own contribution, and it is temporal. It is also often wrong. Knowledge is of God, and it cannot be effectively imparted to us as long as the ego rules. Miracles are perceptual, and therefore none of them is lasting. But revelation is of God, and is therefore knowledge. Of course, with our limited perspective, we cannot always see the difference between what is happening. We can ask, “Is this my perception or is God granting me knowledge?” Then let one’s heart be the guide.

12 – Knowledge vs. Perception

Knowledge usually comes as an inner process, a sense that, “Yes, this is right!” We are surprised by knowledge, whereas we often reason our way into a perception. Knowledge does not ask for the ego’s analysis, knowing that by definition the ego’s analysis is faulty, inaccurate, incorrect. Ask for knowledge of the Holy Spirit and do not let our mind run amuck with musings about the real state of what we are viewing in the world. Because we will usually be wrong. And we will always be wrong if the ego is, at the moment, in ascendancy.

Prayer:

Dear Father,

May I deemphasize the ego in my own mind, as I realize the truth of the “part” of me that it is. Something that is only a “part” can be overcome, with Your help, easily.

Thank you for the reassurance that I have a Self that stands above all the doings of this world. I do not understand, but I do not have to understand to be reassured that all is well in Your world.

Amen.

You Are the Dreamer of the World of Dreams. No Other Cause It Has, nor Ever Will.

1 – Idle Dream

“You are the dreamer of the world of dreams. No other cause it has, nor ever will. Nothing more fearful than an idle dream has terrified God’s Son, and made him think he has lost his innocence, denied his Father, and made war upon himself. (T-27.VII.13)”

We are caught in an idle dream, nothing more. And we can escape. We can have the happy dreams that the Holy Spirit brings (from the Workbook of A Course in Miracles). That idle dreams have consequences is superbly obvious now. Elsewhere Jesus says that the concept of “idle thoughts” is untrue, that every thought produces form at some level. Now, we cannot understand this, but we know that the forms that our nighttime dreams produce do seem real at the time of nighttime dreaming. Now we are told that idle thoughts are not really idle, that they too produce form. We may soon come to realize that this is how we make our reality, create our reality. We envision what we want (or don’t want), and it becomes our reality.

2 – Cause and Effect / Law of Attraction

This is the concept of cause and effect. This is the concept of the law of attraction. We must begin to guard our thoughts more carefully, lest we fall into the doldrums and see our world fall apart. But there is a way out, and A Course in Miracles and A Course of Love point out that way out. We turn from judging what to do next, or what to think, and we let inner guidance point out the way. There is no better way to proceed than to listen to intuition.

3 – Personal Experience

I remember recognizing intuition first when I was 21 and in the throes of an emotional crisis. My first precognition was intuiting that I ought to take a look at a specific monologue in Shakespeare just before the final exam, while I was in college. I did so, and in a few moments I found myself sitting in a classroom with that monologue staring back at me on the test. I had to identify not only the speaker, but also the context. And if I hadn’t intuited just moments before walking to class that I ought to take a look at the monologue, I would have been up a creek.

4 – Intuition

All of us have had these experiences. As time wore on, I felt such intuitive experiences more and more. There have been times when I have listened to little else. This can lead to some foolish choices.

As Jesus says, “The partial innocent are apt to be quite foolish at times” (from A Course in Miracles).

My best moments have been, though, when I listened to the intuition bubbling up from my interior, even when that intuition bade me say or do something that seemed embarrassing at the time. (Jesus also warns that this will happen, in the Manual.)

5 – Fearful Dream

“So fearful is the dream, so seeming real, he could not waken to reality without the sweat of terror and a scream of mortal fear, unless gentle dream preceded his awaking, and allowed his calmer mind to welcome, not to fear, the Voice That calls with love to waken him; a gentle dream, in which his suffering was healed and where his brother was his friend. (T-27.VII.13)”

What a beautiful passage! Can we not imagine a God who welcomes us gently and with love to Awakening? Can we not all look forward to this experience, however far in the future it may seem to be?

6 – Awakening

Our suffering is healed when we experience Awakening. Even if the body is sick. Our suffering is healed because we know mental clarity, and mental clarity is much to be preferred over bodily health. Many medieval mystics would be considered certifiably mentally ill if alive in our culture today. One need only scan Evelyn Underhill’s Mysticism to recognize the truth of this statement. But their culture was different. There is, as Joseph Campbell (The Hero with a Thousand Faces; Mythology to Live By) has pointed out, a fine line between swimming in the waters of the unconscious and being drowned in them. The mystic swims; the mentally ill (all too often) drown. But the waters of the unconscious are the same in both cases. And many people in psychosis are extremely religious.

7 – Change the Dream

“Accept the dream He gave instead of yours. It is not difficult to change a dream when once the dreamer has been recognized. (T-28.VII.14)”

Here is an indication that we play a part in determining just when our Awakening will be. If the dream is changed, if we determine to change it, we will be ready to awaken gently and without terror. Is it really so difficult to change a dream? There are those who can experience lucid nighttime dreaming, in which they determine the course of nighttime dreams. We are in a better position in daytime dreams, the illusion in which we are caught, for we are able to act more freely, are not so buffeted about by the dream.

Affirmation: “I would dream happy dreams today.”

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

May my day go well, with dreams that I do not rue. May I follow guidance consistently and therefore have a great flow to my day.

Our desires sometimes get us into trouble. May we wash our desires in the unconscious that You inform, so that life is good and we are contented and happy.

Amen.

God’s Will Identifies My Real Desire

“What you desire now is the Will of God because it is your true desire, your will and God’s joined as one. (Treatises of A Course of Love: Treatise on the Personal Self, 22.14)”

Affirmation: “I desire God’s will, which is the same as my real will.”

Reflections:

1 – Guidance

An echo of A Course in Miracles, this passage for today emphasizes why we ought to listen to guidance or intuition, or whatever way in which we understand God’s Voice reaching us. If we are following ACIM, this way will be the Voice of the Holy Spirit. If we are following A Course of Love, this way will be the inner Christ leading us home. In actuality, because All is One, I see no effectual differences between these two. We can appeal to the triune God to see how this might be: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

2 – Choice

The realization that God chooses for us (or the Holy Spirit chooses for us) is the realization that we want no alternate will. He chooses the way that will make us the happiest, and happiness is a laudable goal. He also chooses the path toward Awakening, or Christ-consciousness, or enlightenment, or salvation (there is no real difference in these terms).

3 – God’s Will

For those of us, myself included, who have wrestled as Jonah did with God’s will, we can now recognize that the wrestle is a false issue. God does not bend us to His will if we are unwilling. But, in effect, He says, “Choose this way, for it will make you happiest.” The Holy Spirit in ACIM chooses very small details of our everyday life, setting up the flow of events and circumstances so that we have good days. Even when times are tough, still is this true. The times will not be experienced as tough when we stay close to guidance and God. We will sail through as though there were no barriers to our happiness.

4 – Listening Internally

So the Holy Spirit (in ACIM) chooses “for us” (from ACIM). His way is the one that we would choose if we understand all circumstances, past and present, as well as future. Of course, it is impossible for us to know all of this, and this is why we need an informed Guide. We need to give up our personal judgments, which are always false, and listen to an inner voice.

5 – The Pathway

We will walk the pathway with surety when we follow that inner voice.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would listen to inner knowledge, knowing that I am guided every step of the way—if I listen correctly. May I recognize that I can still make mistakes, even big mistakes, but I pray that I will follow instead, Your way, accurately.

Be with me as I go about my day. Help me to correct my wrongs. Give me the grace to see Your way in everything. There is no better way to live an egoless existence than to follow You moment by moment.

Amen.

Coming to Know Once Again

“Why, then, is this called learning? Learning simply means to come to know. If what you know has been forgotten, you still are in need of the learning that assists you in coming to know once again. (Treatises of A Course of Love: Treatise on the Nature of Unity and Its Recognition, 10.11)”

Affirmation: “I would learn about salvation today.”

Reflections:

1 – Forgotten Much

We have forgotten much. That is the reason that salvation needs to come to us. We have learned much, but often we have learned the wrong things. And we have learned things that are not eternal, often wanting those things just because they weren’t eternal.

2 – Observation

Now we move to learning that which will stay with us. And we learn, we find from elsewhere in A Course of Love, that we learn through observation, not intense study. We rest easy in this world, looking both inside and outside, for our learning. We learn, most of all, through guidance, because guidance lets us know what to do next. Following intuition is one of the secrets of a successful life.

3 – Intuition

When I am particularly obstinate on any given day, I am not inclined to follow intuition. My ego has moved back in ascendancy, and I am not having a good day. This happens to all of us to one extent or another.

4 – To Start the Day Anew

But it does not have to be so. We can take a quiet moment of reflection to start the day anew, as Jesus recommends in the Text of A Course in Miracles. We can always start the day over, and indeed we really ought to do so if we are consistently choosing a different action from the one that intuition is prompting.

5 – Learn Anew

We need to learn anew, to learn once again. We forgot vital things eons ago, and just now are we coming to our own again. The way is not hard, though it may be long. Millions of years long, but we who study the way of ACIM and ACOL can shorten this time for ourselves and others. Sometimes a thousand years and more are saved (from ACIM).

6 – Learn Aright

Ask for the right way to learn today. Don’t delay, for delay is likely to be of the ego, which tries to make everything that is easy, difficult. Difficulty is of the ego, for Jesus’s way is smooth and peaceful and effortless. Ask for his way today. He will show you what he means and how to do it.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would start my day aright. I know that I can always start the day over again if things go awry, but why waste time? I wish for a good day. I ask You for a good day. And I ask to learn what I need to learn to be ready for You to choose consistent Awakening for me.

May all of us walk the path today. May all of us help each other, to the extent that any of us are willing to be helped. The day goes smoothly when we are calm, tranquil, and when we reach out to others. Thank You for this insight.

Amen

Being in the Right Place at the Right Time

“But now this alternative [learning with the heart] is being revealed to you and it does call for a change of thought so extensive that all thought, as you once knew it, does need to cease.  (The Treatises of A Course of Love:  Treatise on the Art of Thought, 2.8)”

Affirmation:  “May I comprehend the new way of thinking.”

Reflections:

1 – What We Need

We do need to learn with the heart.  The heart knows things that our mind does not understand.  Frequently the mind wanted proof of God, and the heart knows of His existence without proof.  I do not mean that we never question, for that would not be realistic, but we rest in assurance that all that we need to know will be provided us.  And it will be.  We do not need to check our minds at the door of salvation.  But learning through the heart takes us through the door of salvation.

2 – Cease the Old Way of Thinking

It does seem daunting that we are asked to cease to think in the old way.  How will this be accomplished?  It seems so impossible and perhaps even impractical.  But it works.  We are reminded, at the point of need, of plans that need to be made.  When we listen to intuition, we know without being told.  We follow guidance, and we are where we need to be at the right time.

3 – Jesus

Can we make this shift?  Yes, but not totally alone.  Jesus promises to be with us, and in A Course of Love, he says that it is necessary that we accept him.  He does not mean that he is the only way to salvation, but if we have made our home in ACIM and ACOL, then he is our way to salvation.  We have made our choice, and we need seek no longer.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

May I follow the guidance that comes with today’s passage.  May I listen to intuition, guidance, and may I follow–turn on a dime.  May I learn to even think in a new way.  May I listen with my heart, and not second guess.

Be with me today as I seek to make these changes that will be more in line with Your will for me.

Amen.

A Receptive Heart

“You are coming home to the way of the heart.  What you gain by sharing with others is a situation in which you ‘learn’ in unity through the receptivity of the heart.  (Addendum to A Course of Love:  Learning in the Time of Christ)”

Affirmation:  “May I share with others today.”

Reflections:

1 – Heart

May my heart be receptive today.  May I share with others, to the extent that You would wish.  May I share accurately, and may my heart dictate the words that I write.  Only when the heart is engaged do we really come to realize that we are really alright the way that we are, that all is well with us, and that we can correct the faults of our personality simply by willing these faults to disappear.

2 – Unity

All of us are One.  This is what “unity” means.  And we are one not only with our brothers and sisters, but with God and His helpers, and with ourselves, our deepest Self.  May this assurance bring us comfort today.  May we realize that the oneness of our being means that we are never alone, and therefore we do not have to fear isolation.  We are not meant to be isolated, however introverted we may be.  Everyone needs some companionship, and it is in the assurance that we are One that we know that we are not alone.

3 – Observe

May our hearts be receptive today.  When our hearts are open, we can observe (the replacement for learning) in a way that we cannot otherwise.  May today be a good day, a receptive day, that lends us credence for a safe world in which all of us abide under God’s care.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

Thank You for the intuitive indications You have given me today.  They provide much solace, much comfort.  May I not depend on intuition to live my life totally, but may I know that the solution is always with the problem, and so the answer is there for me to find–immediately.

When I listen to my heart, I am the better off for it.  May I encourage others to have a good day, listening also to their hearts.

Amen.

Follow Your Heart

“When your heart can feel, you need no judgment to tell you the difference between one thing and another.  You thus can begin to quit relying on your body’s eyes to distinguish the true from the false, the real from the unreal.  (A Course of Love, 21.3)”

Affirmation:  “May I listen to my heart today.”

Reflections:

1 – The Heart

Today’s passage is another indication of the primacy of the heart in our new experience of being one with Christ.  If we listen to the heart (this passage is saying), we will know the good.  We will no longer be mired into the egoism of the mind, which wants to understand and/or prove all things.  We do not need to “prove” all things.  This is an egoic interpretation, and we would be wise to quit such rationalizing immediately.  Our benefit will come immediately also.

2 – Look Inward

We have relied on our body’s eyes to tell us what we see, but we see illusions.  And so we need to look inward.  What we see from within is a changed world, a world of true reality, a real world.  Our body’s eyes deceive, and we would be deceived no longer.

3 – Little Edges of Light

When we have seen the little edges of light around familiar objects (from A Course in Miracles), we will know that vision will come quickly.  This perceptual indication will not last, because no perception lasts.  But the knowing that comes with the perception will last.  And what we know will help us to realize that God is always with us, that Jesus is our companion, and that we are surrounded by help from our brothers and sisters.  We do not have to go it alone any longer.  Indeed, we must not.  We are placed in this world with others for a reason.  We are never meant to be isolated.

4 – Reach Out

When we reach out to others (if they welcome it), then we are helped immediately.  We must be careful not to force our unwelcome attentions on another, though.  This is a mistake often made in special relationships, and we would have all of our special relationships evolve into holy ones.  Then we will have an inner knowing about when to act, and when not to act.  We will function in the dark no more.

5 – Inner Vision

Be with us today as we seek to follow your inner vision.  We will not trust the perceptions of our outer eyes, our physical eyes.  We know that the ego deceives, and we would be deceived no longer.  Help us to follow Your way, and Your way alone.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

Help me to follow my heart in all circumstances today.  There is a time for the mind, but the heart knows in a way that the mind can never know.  I have all too often looked at life in an intellectual way, and this has skewed my view of this world.  May such skewing fall by the wayside, and fall immediately.

Help me to reach out to others who may be hurting.  Help me to respond to others in a way that would be helpful.  Thank You for the camaraderie of kindred spirits.  Thank You for this experience.

Be with us as we seek to see with inner vision today.  The inner is always preferred to the outer, for the outer is illusory.  I would see the real today, the intangibles of peace, hope, harmony, joy, serenity.  Help me to do so.

Amen.

We Need to Know What to Do

“As long as you fear your own ability to know what you do, you cannot be fully cooperative.  (A Course of Love, 20.32)”

Affirmation:  “cooperation”

Reflections:

1 – Tiny Little Statement

This is a tiny little statement with deep meaning.  If we don’t trust ourselves to do the right thing, we will not be fully cooperative with our brothers and sisters.  We will think, subconsciously, that we may lead them astray.  And well we may.  We need to ask for guidance at every turn, and when that is assured, we can be cooperative without fear of making wrong decisions.

2 – Guidance

We do have the ability to know what we do, and we can do the right thing when we look to God as our guidance.  Many of us have sought over long years to “do the right thing,” but we have remained unsure of ourselves.  Have we really always made the right decisions?

3 – Mistakes

Probably not!  But mistakes do not ultimately matter, for we have received Atonement.  We are one with God, by the time that we have walked the whole pathway.  We are both human and divine, and we know that we are on the right track.

4 – God Will Provide

Nobody needs to be fearful in his/her daily life.  God will provide, and when we make the determination to “do the right thing,” we can rest assured that His guidance will be forthcoming.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

As You know, guidance is one of my favorite topics.  I welcome the advice that You give me.  The only problem is when I wonder if the advice is coming from my ego and not from You.  Then I can easily get confused.

Take the confusion from me today.  Help me to discern exactly what Your will really is, and I do know that it is my will as well.

Amen.

THE GIFT CALLED GUIDANCE

Published in Miracles for November/December 2012 (publisher Jon Mundy).

by Celia Hales

A Course in Miracles would have us defer to the Holy Spirit in our decisions.  This guidance is true, and it does not always have to be constant in our lives.  But it can be.  Let me explain.

“Does this mean that you cannot say anything without consulting Him?  No, indeed!  That would hardly be practical, and it is the practical with which this course in most concerned.  (M71)”

Jesus goes on in this passage to recommend consulting with the Holy Spirit in the morning, asking for the His guidance when it is feasible to do so, and then thanking Him at night.  In other passages throughout the Manual, though, Jesus goes further in recommending that we turn over our decisions increasingly to the Holy Spirit.  He speaks of this need particularly in regard to judgmental thinking, which he indicates that accuracy is impossible for us, because we do not know all the facts–past, present, and future–that impinge on a given decision.  If Jesus really means this (and I feel certain that his words are very intentional), how might we turn our decisions, especially our judgments, increasingly over to the Holy Spirit?  How do we know when the Holy Spirit is speaking to us?

My own reflections over the years of studying ACIM have evolved from a primary dependence upon feelings, or intuition, to a broader recognition that the aspects of life that we cannot get out of our minds may be the Holy Spirit speaking to us.  Here is a 10-point list with some commentary of the ways that I have discovered guidance acting in my life.  Do not take anything unto yourself unless it finds a place in your heart.

1 – Listening in Prayer.  The “listening” time of prayer is the best way that I believe that I receive guidance.  I am careful, though, not to forget that my own desires may interfere with what I “hear,” and that I may make a mistake.  Many have said that God speaks in the silence, and I think this is an appropriate way to seek His Will.

2 – Keep a Prayer Log.  In the early eighties the spiritual writer Catherine Marshall recommended keeping a prayer log, very specifically, with prayers listed succinctly and then the answer, when it was received, recorded and dated.  I followed this recommendation for the remainder of the eighties and into the nineties, and I found it very, very useful.  (Probably I should return to this practice.)

3 – Intuitive Advice.  In daily life I receive guidance through a feeling that I ought to take a given course of action.  “Feeling” is akin to intuition, but that is not the whole of it, I think.  I believe that our minds, our intellects, frequently interfere with receiving the Holy Spirit’s messages, and that the Holy Spirit finds it easier to reach us through our emotions, our feelings.

4 – Intrusive Words.  Sometimes I am able to be in a spirit of inspiration, and, much as if I were writing without being sure what I would say next, words come into my mind from my unconscious that suggest a given pathway.  I do not actually hear a voice; it is my own thinking, but it also seems to be a bit beyond me.

5 – An Inner Knowing.  Quiet times may bring forth an inner knowing of how to proceed in a matter that is troubling us.  This is non-verbal, akin to hearing the Holy Spirit in our innermost hearts.  This “knowing” without being able to verbalize “how” we know is powerful stuff.  I think that it is certainly one of the most potent forms of guidance.

6 – Journaling.  Writing out our struggles in a journal is a way to invite the Holy Spirit’s input.  I try to let my conscious mind die down and to invite thoughts from my deepest spirit.

7 – Dreams.  In especially faithful times, we may have a dream that appears vivid and suggests the next step for us in our life.  Certainly dreams and visions are important ways in which God spoke to His people in the past, as recorded in Scripture.  I have had two significant “warning” dreams in my life that I still recall vividly.  The dreams came when I was contemplating a pathway that I now realize would not have been healthy for me.

8 – Agitation.  Occasionally in my life I have become severely agitated when I was walking along a given pathway.  I have come to see such agitation as evidence from the Holy Spirit that I am walking the wrong way.

9 – Visions.  Many years ago, when I was 25, I had a series of nighttime hallucinations, or visions, that became important to me in setting the pathway for my life.  Perhaps there was a reason that this gift came at an early age.  The visions have not recurred.

10 – Signs.  Signs are welcomed by many, but I would caution against too much an emphasis here, because it is very easy to twist signs around to mean anything that we want.  (Jesus says in ACIM that we can twist symbols around.)

I have not followed blindly.  Jesus would not have us check our minds and spirits at the door.  I have tested out my perceived guidance, and that is how I have found it true.  I invite you to do the same.  Intuition is a right-brain activity, and, as such, it does not respond well to our timetables.  We may need to present a question to the Holy Spirit, and then go about our day in full confidence that the answer will come when the matter has retreated from the forefront of our minds.  Present a problem or question, and then let go.  Trust the Holy Spirit to make His will known to us.  He will not fail.

In my twenties I heard a very dynamic preacher of the gospel speak on the topic of guidance.

He stressed, “I have known people at the end of their lives who said, ‘I knew that God was telling me to do that.  But I didn’t do it, and I regret it.'”

He went on, vehemently, “I have never known anyone to say, at the end of their lives,  ‘I knew that God was trying to get me to do that, and I did it, and I regret it.'”

Jesus may be commenting on the same guidance when he says the following in the Manual, in a passage that is comforting in the extreme:

“Do not, then, think that following the Holy Spirit’s guidance is necessary merely because of your own inadequacies.  It is the way out of hell for you.  (M70)”

By this statement, I think that ACIM is telling us that we make our own hells on earth.  Listening to the Holy Spirit with increasing frequency shows us the way out of our self-made hells.  I believe that in fact there is no limit to how the Holy Spirit speaks to us,  for our God is not a limited God in any way.  He will find a way to get through to us.  He asks only that we try to discern.  If we miss the first glimmering of guidance, God will bring the same message to us in yet other ways until we get the message.    Remain flexible.  Learn to turn on a dime.  Following the Holy Spirit in this way is joyous.  It is the enlightened way to live, even before we know the Awakening that the Course holds out to us.  As A Course in Miracles makes clear, there can be no better way to live, in the time of the Holy Spirit,  than in following the guidance of Universal Inspiration.

I once read, “Why beseech heaven for a miracle one would not recognize at high noon?”  After actively seeking guidance, we are perhaps in the right frame of mind, for the first time, to recognize miracles when they occur.

The Way Out of Hell

“Do not, then, think that following the Holy Spirit’s guidance is necessary merely because of your own inadequacies.  It is the way out of hell for you.  (M-29.3)”

Affirmation:  “May I diligently follow guidance today.”

Reflections:

1 – Following Guidance

I am not yet consistent in following guidance, and some of the ways in which guidance comes to me are not entirely clear.  Perhaps this is the way for all of us:  We don’t follow consistently, and so we don’t always hear accurately.  We have not done our part.

2 – Insight about Guidance

May we recognize that the ways in which guidance comes to us may differ from person to person, and even differ for a given person over time.  The words that come into my mind that sometimes appear to be guidance are actually egoic in intent.  And the ego does not mean me well.  I pray for help in watching this ego of mine just dissipate, just wither away.  But the ego still dogs my footsteps, and when I am ego-driven, I am likely to be angry or in verbal attack mode.  Neither of these states of being are of God.  And I choose to follow His pathway.

3 – Becoming Stronger

My weakness, I know, can become my strongest point, with the Holy Spirit or Christ[-consciousness leading the way.

4 – Nighttime Dreams

Often my dreams are reflective of the guidance that is confronting me about any and all problems that may develop in my life.  So I try to listen to my dreams.  The ego has been silenced, I think (an interpretation, not stated in ACIM), in sleep.  Intuition works, and frequently works immediately after the intuition is received.  But all of us can make mistakes in following what we perceive to be guidance, and so we must apply the test of love to what we perceive.  Will this guidance harm anyone?  Or will it just make be feel uncomfortable?  We need to discern wisely, and sometimes kindred spirits in our inner circle can see clearly more than we can.

5 – Still Learning

There is much that I still do not know about guidance.  But I make learning about the way to travel a priority.  And I do trust that I will be led aright.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

Sometimes I get stubborn about guidance, and I am reluctant to do the things that I feel are being asked.  This dynamic needs to cease in me.  Help me today to be a willing acceptor of guidance–all the time.

If I am being stubborn, ease my willful mind.  My heart would do Your bidding, for my heart is not influenced by the ego.  May the ego become a non-issue.

Thank You for walking with me today.  And tomorrow, and the day after.

Amen.

How Should the Teacher of God Spend His Day?

“How Should the Teacher of God Spend His Day?  To the advanced teacher of God this question is meaningless.  There is no program, for the lessons change each day.  Yet the teacher of God is sure of but one thing; they do not change at random.  Seeing this and understanding that it is true, he rests content.  He will be told all that his role should be, this day and every day.  And those who share that role with him will find him, so they can learn the lessons for the day together.  (M-16)”

Affirmation:  “My lessons do not change at random.”

Reflections:

1 – Assurance of Guidance

This passage once more assures us of guidance.  And that guidance is described as being from the Holy Spirit, or Universal Inspiration.  We need to consider very carefully the ways in which guidance can come to us.  In reality the ways are numberless, but it is also possible to categorize some of the more obvious ways in which guidance comes to us.

2 – Intuition

The primary quality for many of us is an internal feeling, which may be described as intuition.  We just have an inner knowing of the right next step to take.  We do not often see a whole pathway stretch out before us; normally we are given the route in a step-by-step fashion.  And we are given that route at the moment that we need to take it.  By what way could it happen otherwise, without confusion?  If the Holy Spirit showed us an end far in the future, would we not fret that we are unable to fulfill the often grand ideas that He has for us?

3 – Reading

Sometimes the guidance comes through reading, especially inspirational reading.  A Course in Miracles is an obvious choice, but I do not counsel opening the book at random and seeking for magical answers.  Jesus warns us about magical thinking, and we can be led very much astray by techniques that partake of randomness.  I believe that it is far better to read bits of ACIM meditatively, and to wait for the guidance to emerge full in one’s thoughts.  Of course, we are human and we do make mistakes.  So we must ask ourselves if anyone would be hurt by the thought or action that we contemplate.  Love is the central theme, along with forgiveness, and nothing borne of love or forgiveness is likely to lead us astray.  This is not romantic love, though, but a settled good feeling toward our brothers and sisters.  Romantic love often speaks to the emotions, and emotional reactions can easily be of the ego.

4 – Period of Quiet

A period of quiet at the beginning and end of the day is almost mandatory.  If we do not subscribe to this idea, there are other ways that the Holy Spirit can reach us.  But sometimes we can avert suffering by listening to Him ahead of time.  When we have been quiet, taking in His counsel, we are less masochistic.  And masochism is at the heart of many of the things that go wrong in our lives.  Not for all of us, but for some.

5 – Devote the Day to God

So, let us devote this day to God.  Let us follow His way with a dedication that we ask Him to give us.  And, at the close of the day, be sure to thank Him for guiding throughout the day.  If the day was not optimal, ask for a better tomorrow.  And seek to spend a few minutes in contemplation over what went wrong and why.  Over time, more days will go right than wrong.  This is my experience, though not stated directly in ACIM.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

Guidance has been much on my mind today, and perhaps that is not a coincidence.  Indeed, Jesus says in A Course in Miracles that there are no accidents in salvation.  That is reassuring, even as it prompts me to be careful what I think and pray about.

Help me to follow my intuition today.  I am posting this blog late in the day, because I got an inkling of feeling that I ought to wait, to post later in the day today.  Why?  I do not know.  But I do think that maybe I will come to know.

Help my brothers and sisters who need help with their little as well as their large problems.  Give them (and me) the assurance of what to do to live a sane and joyous life.  I know that joy is the hallmark of my contact with You.  And I thank You for that.

Amen.

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.

There Is No Limit on God’s Will

ACIM Workbook Lesson 320 – for Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Affirmation:  “My Father gives all power unto me.”

“Your Will can do all things in me, and then extend to all the world as well through me.  There is no limit on Your Will.  And so all power has been given to Your Son.  (WB460)”

Reflections:

1 – Follow God’s Will

This prayer is very insightful (as with all prayers to God by Jesus).  God’s Will can do all things through us, extending unto the world as a whole.  And we have the power to effect change because God’s Will is resident in us.  Of course, we have to be open to following that Will, and to be so, we must discern correctly.

2 – How Do We Discern God’s Will?

How do we discern the Will of God in any given situation?   The following are my own interpretations of ACIM, not stated directly therein.

3 – A Suggested Procedure

First, we get silent and still and quiet.  This is a preliminary step to almost all correct discernment.  If our emotions are turbulent, it is impossible to hear God’s Voice without having those very emotions intrude.

4 – Ask for Guidance

Second, we ask for direction and guidance of the Holy Spirit.  He is our Communicator from God (an ACIM tenet).

5 – Ask Others for Help

Third, if appropriate, we test out our discernment by going to others for help.  We do not always stay just within ourselves.  If there are no appropriate others, of course, we are on our own.  And this can be tricky.  So this leads to the final question.

6 – Love or Attack?

Fourth, is the discernment that we are making a gesture of love or of hate (attack)?  This is a testing of the guidance we have received.  If we consistently follow “feelings” or “intuition,” we may follow amiss if we think we are being led to do something that is less than honorable.  The ego is very wily, and it will mislead if given half a chance.  So the test of a loving gesture is important.

7 – Change Ourselves

We have the power to change the world, if we are first changed ourselves.  Many evangelists and gurus have stated the same over the years.  Many religious leaders have believed this, including the renowned Norman Vincent Peale (who saw a banner to that effect in his youth and therein changed the direction of his life, leading to a life of ministry to others through Christianity) and Billy Graham (the most renowned speaker of our era in regard to preaching the Gospel).

8 – A Course in Miracles = Our Curriculum

Let us today take up our curriculum, A Course in Miracles.  We may alter the curriculum to suit our temperament; Jesus does not forbade this, and even encourages it by saying that “There is a curriculum for every teacher of God.”  The forms vary tremendously, but if we keep an open mind and heart, and we respect each other, we will not really clash.  May the teaching and learning that all of us do today make a difference in the world that we inhabit.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would take my own advice today as I seek Your will in how to direct my life.  If there are omissions in what I say, then please correct me.  Help me to live a peaceful, tranquil way as I walk this world, because serenity invites accuracy in discerning Your Will.

Be with me today.  Thank You for guiding me to understand some of the ways that I can know Your Will.  Be with me as I seek to implement those ways of discerning.

Amen.

Heaven Is Restored to Me

ACIM Workbook Lesson 300 – for Thursday, October 27, 2011

Affirmation:  “Only an instant does this world endure.”

“We see Your holy world today.  For we, Your loving Sons, have lost our way a while.  But we have listened to Your Voice, and learned exactly what to do to be restored to Heaven and our true Identity.  And we give thanks today the world endures but for an instant.  We would go beyond that tiny instant to eternity.  (WB448)”

Reflections:

1 – How to Avoid Mistakes

We have listened to “Your Voice,” which is God’s Holy Spirit, or the Universal Inspiration (from the Text).  The more quickly we listen, when confronted with a decision point, the more likely we are to follow in God’s way.  We will not be as likely to make mistakes; indeed, making mistakes is impossible when we learn to discern the Holy Spirit’s prompting.

2 – How Does the Holy Spirit Prompt?

How does He prompt?  The most accessible to me is what I call my intuition.  Other ways are a “feeling” that I ought to do a certain thing, a thought that will not leave my mind about a way to proceed, an inner knowing of what God is pointing out for me to do.  Many find the Holy Spirit’s guidance in silence, when communing with God.  An inner knowing overcomes us, and we just recognize, without strain, the next step to take.

3 – This World Can Be Seen as Holy

This world is indeed holy when seen through the eyes of God.  We wander aimlessly about this world until we turn, once again, to God.  We may wander away many times in the course of a lifetime, but, not matter, as long as we ask forgiveness and seek the pathway again.  We would not wander aimlessly down many pathways, although the world offers many.  This would be meaningless, as well as a crucial delay on the road to salvation.  We do not need to follow all the pathways of this world, only to decide in the end that God’s pathway is best.  We can decide this right now, and it would behoove us to do so.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

May I follow the Holy Spirit’s prompting consistently today.  May I not drop into defiance.  May I know that He always shows me the way that I would choose, if I had the knowledge that He does.  May I be flexible, even when my reason seems to be listening to the ego that I would disown.

Be with us today as we go about our business in this world.  May we see the world as holy, as You see it.  May this day be a glorious one.  And may I do what I can do to assist my brothers and sisters to see the holiness that You point out to me.

Thank You for always staying by my side.

Amen.