God “Let Go” when We Proved to Be Rebellious

“Your mind, being of God, was constrained by the learning limits of the body and chose to rebel against the learning that was needed in order to come into the time of fullness of a being able to express itself in form, never realizing that this just delayed the learning that had to occur to release you from the limits you struggled against. (The Treatises of A Course of Love: A Treatise on the New, 8.9)”

1 – No Rebellion?

We could have had the physical form without our rebellion. We hadn’t learned enough, and in the rebellion, we only delayed learning what we needed to know, and caused ourselves much suffering as well. Such a shame. We ought to get it right this time.

2 – Physical Form

We are told in A Course of Love that we can choose physical form for the foreseeable future, on into eternity, if we embody the elevated Self of form, the one who remembers God and chooses to follow in Love’s way.

3 – New Choice

This is a new choice, a new way to be in the universe. Previously, we ignored the ego in the afterlife, but now we can ignore the ego, just let it go, in the physical life that we enjoy in this world. We don’t have to wait for the Other Side.

4 – Celebration

What joy! Now we don’t have to lament that we are in physical form; instead, we can celebrate it! But it is physical form that follows the eternal laws of God and the universe, not a separated form that brings on pain because we have an imprisoned will. God set the limits on how much we could miscreate, and therein lies our salvation. He wouldn’t let us depart too far, knowing that when pain became great enough, we would realize that there must be another way, a better way.

5 – Elevated Self of Form

We have found that better way, here and now, in the elevated Self of form. When we awaken, we will know that following guidance of our innermost Self is the best way to go. We will be in alignment with God once again, and all will truly be well for the first time in eons.

6 – Rebellious Children

“What do you who are parents do with a child who is too impatient, too bright, too eager, to learn slowly and to mature gracefully?. . .What you do is realize the impossibility of imposing your will and, because of this impossibility, you realize that you must let go. Thus your decision was also God’s decision. (The Treatises of A Course of Love: ‘A Treatise on the New,’ 8.10).

7 – Detour into Separation

This detour in separation was thus partly God’s idea. This is a metaphor, for the things of the universe are so far beyond us that we cannot fully understand. But the metaphor works, for many of us have adolescent children and know what rebellion is all about. God did let us go, knowing that He could not change our minds without violating our free will, and free will is all about what co-creators with God will one day need to fulfill our purpose.

8 – Free Will

God knew that He didn’t want to meddle with free will, and so He did allow us to take the detour into fear, thereby necessitating a return by a “journey without distance” (from ACIM). We did not actually separate, for we are a part of God and could not be alive if we actually had separated. And we are alive eternally. But we could imagine that we were separate, and indeed we did this in spades.

9 – Tiny, Mad Idea

What a mess we made of everything by not being more patient and learning our lessons as created beings of God. We needed to learn more before we could embody the physical without danger to ourselves. We entertained a “tiny, mad idea” (from ACIM), not laughing at it instead, and in the forgetting laugh did the tiny, mad idea seem to have effects. Without cause, the effects became illusion, though, illusion that is only just now being undone.

10 – Succinct Quotation

This passage explains succinctly the course that was taken in the separation from God. No further words seem necessary. Let us contemplate the passage, and let God speak to us about what we ought to do now.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

May I listen today as You guide me Home to you. You know the way; I too often forget even the little that I know. If I was ever rebellious, and tried to run ahead of Your divine plans for me, help me to grow up today and to drop that rebellion. Thank You for this succinct explanation, because all of us who read what Jesus has said can reflect on what we know of adolescents in our society and sometimes in our homes. May we realize that our “rebellion” from You was necessary, even as the adolescents in our society need to rebel in order to come to understand what their identity really is.

Thank You for today’s comprehensive explanation of what happened in the separation. May the separation be healed today, and may I awake to the blessings that You have for me in my restored state. If I am not yet ready for the separation to be healed, may I do nothing that furthers it. May I turn to You for a full healing and Awakening to the glory that You hold out to me.

Amen.

No Matter What the Cost

“The ego-self’s only desire was for you to ‘grow up’ into its version of an independent being. . .no matter what the cost. (Treatises of A Course of Love: Treatise on the Personal Self, 2.12)”

Affirmation: “I would be independent only with God giving me guidance home.”

Reflections:

1 – Independence

We like to feel that we are independent, and Jesus, just earlier than this passage for today, indicates that previously we have seen ourselves as rebellious adolescents. This is not far from the truth, but it is time, perhaps, to let the image go. We are adolescents no longer, but The Accomplished, however much we may resist this assertion as a malady set forth by the ego. It is not egoic thinking to realize that we have learned much in the course of studying A Course of Love. Jesus is ready for us to recognize that our seeking needs to end, for otherwise we will be on an endless treadmill.

2 – Ego

The ego-mind’s version of independence is deplorable. We thought that we would use our right judgment to make all decisions independent of any Higher Power. But we can’t know enough to make wise decisions; we can’t know all features of the past and future, let alone the present. So we are stymied if we don’t accept God’s guidance. We will make little headway.

3 – Suffering

We accepted many costs associated with the reign of the ego. We suffered. But though we may still know pain, being finite beings in a physical body, that pain does not now have to turn into suffering. We can rise above.

4 – Only the Ego’s Independence Is Deplorable

Be sure that independence is not bad–just the ego’s version of independence. And growing up to all of our powers, our Self’s powers, is what Jesus would have us do now. We think too little of him if we do not follow this wholly welcome advice.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would drop the ego today. I have made this declaration repeatedly, but always the ego tends to sneak back in. I must make my resolution stick. Help me to do so.

A big part of my succeeding in leaving the ego behind will hinge on my relationships to my significant others. My brothers and sisters are my way. And I would be good to them today. Help me always to be good to them.

I would listen to guidance today. It has never failed me, when I have been tranquil enough to catch the right drift. But I would not act in an emotional way, which can confuse my mind. Help me to be rational and peaceful, not overwrought. And then my decisions will be right on the beam. Thank You.

Amen.

Overcoming Loss of Love

“You who have given everything to be alone and separate fear most of all that which you have given everything to attain.  For what is loss of love but confirmation of your separate state?  What is loss of love but being left alone?  (A Course of Love, 14.21)”

Affirmation:  “I would reestablish love in my life today.”

Reflections:

1 – Sacrifice

We think that we want to be independent, alone and separate, and the only thing that this gives us is fear.  We have sacrificed everything for that which we actually do not want!  Does not this sound like insanity?  And, indeed, Jesus calls this insane thinking in A Course in Miracles.  We have, under the influence of a part of ourselves called the “ego,” sacrificed our rightful place in the kingdom as well as the love that we so desperately really want.

2 – Salvation

Can this be righted?  Of course!  This righting is what salvation is all about.  When we know that we want to be One in sharing with others, One in relationship to them and One within ourselves, with God, we are back on the right track.  There is no other way to live happily.  We must give up this senseless pursuit of independence that would neglect the others in our world.  We are not meant to be alone; we are meant to share in unity and relationship with the All.

3 -Still Resist?

Why do we still resist?  What do we think that we will give up?

4 – Rebellion

I think that there still is what can only be called adolescent rebellion in us.  Indeed, this is just what Jesus calls it, in a comparison that he makes in A Course of Love.  He says that we are like adolescents who have to separate from their parents to define their own identity.  But, in an interpretation, I would go on to say that this is not desirable with our heavenly Parent–God–is the One from whom we desire separation.  We are a part of God; He is in all of us, for He is the All.

5 – Separation

We are not meant to walk on this world as separate beings apart from each other.  We weep when we try this insanity.  This insanity can never bring us peace.  Give it up today, and return to the fold of God.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

My blog today sounds a lot like traditional religion, traditional Christianity even.  And it is, but with a twist.  We are One with You, and as such we have a right to walk with You.  This is, I think, what Jesus is trying to tell us in such beautiful words.  May we listen, perhaps for the first time, today.

I would choose love over fear, and when the anxious thoughts come, I would simply let them wash over me without drowning me.  Much of this may be of the body, but my mind and heart are not yet strong enough to see all of the body’s thoughts as illusion.  May I recognize illusion when I experience it.  Sooner rather than later.  And may my walk with You bring me the quiet joy that You mean me to have.

Thank You.

Amen.

Eliminate Fear

“The separated self is so ensconced in fear that the known fears of its existence seem preferable to the unknown fears of any other kind of existence.  (A Course of Love, 10.22)”

 

Affirmation:  “I would leave fear behind today–once and for all.”

Reflections:

1 – Separated Self

Why do we experience fear?  We have not let go of the separated self.

2 – Not Actually “Separate”

What does this mean?  It doesn’t mean that the separated self is real.  It would have been impossible, regardless of whenever, to actually separate from God or from our brothers and sisters.  The best that we could do when the “tiny, mad idea” (from A Course in Miracles) entered our minds was to imagine an illusion in which we were separate.  We could not fully know the glory of what we had until we went on a journey without distance (from ACIM) away from it.  This was a choice, ACOL tells us, that God and we made together.  We were rebellious adolescents, and so He made the choice that so many parents on this earth must make when their teenagers are rebellious:  We let go.  God “let go,” but He did not leave us alone, anymore than earthly parents leave their teens alone.

3 – In Illusions (Dreams)

And in this analogy I see much of our dilemma here on earth.  We think ourselves separate from God, and so this separation is what we experience.  Separation is not true in any real sense, but it becomes real enough to us, caught as we are in illusion (dreams).

4 – We Are Not Alone

May we leave behind the fears that our presumed separation has brought to us.  We are not and never have been alone.  God is as much with us as He has been in the eons that we have been entities in the universe(s).  May this reassurance stay with us today, as we navigate once again through the minefield that this world often is for us.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

May I let fear go today.  May no obsessions mar my enjoyment of this day.  May I know that I never have separated from You, and that Your felt presence is frequently with me.  I am at peace now.  May I remain so all the day long.

May all of us leave our fears behind, when we recognize that we are never alone.  God is always with us, and so are our brothers and sisters.  We need You, dear God, and may we never be tempted to go it alone.  That is no way to live.  No way to try to negotiate a way through this sometimes difficult world.

Thank You for teaching me years ago that it is better to share with others, to reach out.  I was never happy when I tried to hold in my conflicts.  Such isolation ignores You, and it also ignores other people.  We are all in this together.

Amen.