Can Jesus Be Anywhere, Anytime?

“Forget not who you truly are, but forget not also to be in joy in your experience here. Remember that the seriousness with which you once looked at life is of the ego. Drape your persona in a mantle of peace and joy. Let who you are shine through the personal self who continues to walk this world a while longer. Listen for my voice as I guide you to your purpose here and linger with you in this time to end all time. (Treatises of A Course of Love: Treatise on the Nature of Unity and Its Recognition, 13.6)”

Affirmation: “May I listen for the voice of Jesus today.”

Reflections:

1 – Jesus

Only fairly recently have I taken Jesus at his word that he is here with us, given “one unequivocal call” (from A Course in Miracles).

2 – Norman Vincent Peale

Previously I was much influenced by the many books by Norman Vincent Peale in the last century. He told many stories of sensing the presence of Jesus in times of great need, stories that included himself as well as recounted tales from other people. I was especially impressed by one story of a secular business leader who was coming to the end of his life and had little faith, finding himself out of control and fearful. His minister (not Dr. Peale) recommended that he talk to Jesus as though he were a business partner, drawing up a chair by his sick bed, and surmising what Jesus’s responses might have been. Later on, it became clear that Jesus became for this former tycoon much more than a business partner, but a tender and gentle healer. When he died, one hand was outstretched from his bed to the chair that was always drawn up beside the bed. And his face was peaceful.

3 – Law of Physics?

Can we not see that there must be some law of physics not yet discovered that allows Jesus to be just anywhere, at any time? He has walked further back to God than any of us, and, according to such psychics as Edgar Cayce, he is our leader here. Not all individuals choose him as a leader, but we are among those who do, as evidenced by the reading that we seek out.

4 – Insomnia

I have found it a great comfort in the middle of the night, when awake (for sometimes I have insomnia), to realize that there is nothing to fear, though the night is dark, the hours before dawn stretching a long way. I know that everything will look better in the morning. But when I imagine that I am not alone, for I have asked for divine companionship, the anxieties that used to plague just disappear in the mists of the night air outside my window.

5 – Carry Life Lightly

We do not need to live this life in a serious vein. Jesus himself could be serious, but according to biblical accounts, he also relaxed in the company of his disciples and enjoyed social interaction as well, even with those who were despised by the authorities of the day. Life is carried more easily if it is not carried with an air of seriousness. The lighthearted touch is the benign touch. And the healing touch. The seriousness that we have all known, at least from time to time, has been of the ego. So let’s resolve to let that part of our persona dissipate now.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I need the hand of Jesus today. I need this hand very much. I have much new to be grateful about, and I thank You for those new aspects to my life. That these blessings come after prayer, or asking, is obvious. May I always remember that prayer brings about miracles in a way that nothing else can or does.

May Jesus walk with me today, in lightheartedness and no seriousness that is unnecessary. Thank You for Your reassurances that all is well, that there is nothing here that You can’t handle.

Amen.

Collapsing the Need for Time

“There is not a period of waiting or a period of time between giving and receiving. There is not a time lapse between the recognition of needs and the meeting of needs. It is accepted that giving and receiving occur in unison, thus further collapsing the need for time. (Treatises of A Course of Love: Treatise on the Nature of Unity and Its Recognition, 7.20)”

Affirmation: “I will all day give and receive.”

Reflections:

1 – Solution Is with the Problem

This passage for today emphasizes a kindred idea in A Course in Miracles: recognizing needs and the meeting of needs (A Course of Love), and the solution is with the problem (ACIM). This idea is particularly encouraging to me, for when I ask, internally, for guidance on anything, most of the time I get an answer within a short time, even immediately upon occasion. The idea comes to me from my own mind and heart, but I would like to think that the personal or “little” self is informed by the larger Self.

2 – Time

It is auspicious to note that time is actually collapsed when we see a need and ask for a solution. Jesus has more to say about time in other parts of the texts. He indicates that he will arrange time to allow us to perform miracles. Nobody here understands how this is possible, but we can listen with the heart and not seek for intellectual confirmation. The heart knows when the mind balks. The malleability of time is a law of physics. And religion and physics seem to be coming close together in recent years.

3 – Needs Met

If we have a need, and we ask for the meeting of that need, we will normally be reassured. The answer may not come in the form that we expect (or even that we want), but it will come, and the answer will be even better than what we thought we wanted. I know this from personal experience. The ways of God do not have to stay mysterious. We can know much of the mind of God from internal searching of our own heart and Self.

4 – Giving and Receiving

If we give, we will receive in kind. This means often that the Golden Rule to do unto others what you would have them do unto you is a very good response. In addition, the laws of karma are triggered here. Cause and effect still reigns. But grace can mitigate the worst results of wrong thoughts and actions.

5 – Grace

We do not hear much about grace in ACIM and ACOL. The word itself is not important, but the idea is. We are saved from ourselves by God Himself (a personal interpretation), and we can then reach out to aid others. We do not have to wait to do a good deed or to spread kindness. Our days will blossom into truly desirable hours if we follow the recommendation from Jesus that we give and receive, allowing time to collapse. It is important to let time collapse, because our brothers and sisters, along with ourselves, are caught in this world now. And the world winds on wearily, and suffering continues. Jesus would change all of this, and we are his hands and feet to do so.

6 – Reach Out

Reach out to just one other person today, and test the truth of giving and receiving as one.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

Thank You for the fact that time will collapse if I recognize a need and find the need met. This is such good news in this weary world. It helps us to live in a world of dreams–still–but happy dreams. I long, though, for reality to filter through. And I ask for more glimpses of the real world today. May I do nothing to hinder the real world’s emergence.

I ask for Your presence in my life. May I feel You with me. And thank You that I sense You right now.

Amen