Being Unique

“There are things you can do that I can never do, nor Mary.  Those are what make you unique. . . .”  Choose Only Love bk.3, 8:III

We all still strive for a particular place in God’s world.  Here we are seeing from Jesus that we have a contribution to make—one that only we ourselves can make.  Being unique does not have to be striven for by the ego; being unique can be an affirmation of our worth, our egoless worth.

Try to find out today what your contribution, as a unique child of God, is or has been—plus what it will be in the future.  To access intuition about this important factor in our lives, we need to get quiet.  We need to relax totally, take worries and fretting off our minds, and ask our heart to inform us of our way.  When we get a thought in this relaxed state, we need to follow it.  We may have the idea to read something, or we may have an idea of a prayer we need to pray.  Nothing genuine in this practice will harm anyone, including ourselves.

Everyone is different, and our guidance will come to us individually in different ways at different times.  Invite the insertion of the divine in our lives.

God will not tarry, for we have given our permission to Him to enlighten us with His insight about us.

Relaxation Takes Us Home

“We now will discuss being the true Self while becoming the true Self—the time in between your awareness of and access to Christ-consciousness, or unity, and your sustainability of Christ-consciousness, or unity, in form. As was said earlier: To realize the state of becoming is to realize that an in-between exists between the time of learning and the time of being the elevated Self of form. This is what our time on this holy mountain is largely comprised of. We are in an in-between state of time. We stand at the inter¬section point of the finite and the infinite in order to complete the creative act of becoming.” (ACOL, D:Day6.1)

Becoming is a state of being best felt by pure relaxation, a genuine and pure mellowness that totally encompasses our mind and heart. Jesus counsels in The Way of Mastery that we relax when seeking Christ-consciousness. If we are overwrought, there is no way that the subconscious can join us in seeking a higher way of living. Our overwrought state limits us, because stress makes the subconscious unavailable to us. When we ease into a peaceful state, we are cooperating with He Who lives within, at the deepest point of existence. We are cooperating with God.

The last section of the Dialogues of A Course of Love would have us go through a process of “becoming” that will culminate with our assumption of enlightenment or Christ-consciousness. Will we all make it? No, but many will. Not making it can be a source of great frustration, and this is the last thing that we need. If we don’t “make” it in this reading of ACOL, there is a good reason, though that reason is probably hidden from us. There comes a time when we simply have to accept God’s pivotal place in decision-making; He will lift us up when we are ready, and we are not in a good position always to evaluate our state of being.

The idea of God “lifting us up” to Christ-consciousness is metaphor. Actually the subconscious mind has been cleansed completely not only of the ego, but also of egoic patterns of thought that have clung to us. When this happens, then Awakening is assured. We will reach home; it is only a pattern of time. Accept the glimpses that come to all of us, pray for more (for this is in line with the true will of God), and wait in patience for all that we want to be bestowed on us. Love with an ever-increasing fervent intention, for Love is the opposite of fear, and fear and judgments are the impediments to our getting what we want.

Dear God,

Thank You for the relaxed manner of living that encompasses me today. May I not fall into a lassitude that would be no credit to either You or I. May this calm center follow me about the day. May I experience a glimpse of Awakening this day. One day, I know, it will extend into something sustainable.

Thank You for guiding my thoughts and feelings to an ever-increasing peace on a daily basis.

Amen.

Soothe Your Worries Away

“If you do not think you are yet prepared, if you think you are not yet ready, cease to think.  Read again these words of love and let the sound of love soothe your worries away. Give to me the thoughts that remain to trouble you and I will return them to you transformed by Love.  (A Course of Love, 32.5)”

Affirmation:  “May I give my inferior thoughts to Jesus to transform.”

Reflections:

1 – Comfort from ACOL

This passage for today is very comforting.  Let us read again from A Course of Love when we are upset, for these are the words of Love.  These are words that can lead us back to God.  The very sound of words of love will ease troubles away, and in this we have help.  We are never alone, though we may imagine ourselves to be.

2 – Jesus as Primary

Jesus takes his place as a primary factor in our lives with this passage for today.  “Give to me the thoughts that remain to trouble you. . . .”  What comfort!  We cannot understand how he will transform these troubled thoughts, but we can give Jesus a chance.  And he will not fail us; that is my conviction.

3 – Troubled Words Transformed

For troubled words to be transformed by Love is to let those troubled words be transformed by God, Who is Love (with a capital “L”).

4 – A Heartfelt Appeal

We are bade to cease to think, if we think that we are not yet ready for all that Jesus holds out to us.  He is appealing to the heart, which does not need to think.  And that heartfelt appeal will draw us in.

5 – A Conclusion

This is the final passage from the main part of the original volume of A Course of Love.  It is indeed enough, for we know that Jesus walks with us, to soothe and comfort us, to lead us Home.  And that is surely what we have wished all along.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would be soothed today.  I would join with Jesus as my companion, my friend, and I would listen to the internal promptings that may come from him.  He promises to be with us upon one unequivocal call.  I make that call today.  I leave with him the things that trouble me, for he is able to transform them so that they trouble not me nor anybody else.  What a blessing this is!

May I know the soothing presence of Jesus.  May I recognize that there are other teachers, but, for me, Jesus is the most important one.  I have chosen to follow the way that he has pointed out, and though I read from other individuals, my heart belongs to him.

Amen.

Admit Your Desire to Rest

“Admit now your desire to rest, a desire that could make you weep and make you wish to sleep an endless sleep.  If you but understood the energy required to keep the world of your illusion in its place, you would understand the rest that will simply come of giving up your need to do so.  (A Course of Love, 12.7)”

Affirmation:  “Rest today.”

Reflections:

1 – Exerting Energy

I find the idea interesting that we are exerting energy to keep illusions in place, and that we will feel more rested when we have given up this essentially heartless task.  The world is here, once again, defined as illusion (A Course in Miracles said “dreams”).  We do project our interior to the outside of our seeing eyes.  We make what we view first within.  If hate finds a place in our hearts, we will see a hateful world.  On the contrary, if love finds a place in our hearts, we will view a loving world.  Cannot we see the wisdom in this interpretation?  Cannot we realize that when we see others who are conflicted, we ourselves are at that moment conflicted, and we are conflicted first?

2 – Hugh Prather

Hugh Prather makes the latter point very precisely.  He notes that when he and his wife Gayle see couples in public who need to have something “fixed,” then at that moment the two of them seem to need to have something “fixed” in their normally loving relationship.  How could it be otherwise?  And is not this dynamic something that can be noticed, easily, in daily life?

3 – Fixing the Outer / Inner

When we have drunk too much coffee, are we not prone to pick a fight with our nearest and dearest?  We are too stressed from the caffeine, and we therefore react.  We do not act for no good reason, but we try to fix the outer when the inner has been compromised.

4 – Rest Today

Today would be a good day to decide that we will rest rather than try to prop up the world of illusion by wishing for that which we don’t have.  Just turn inward when stressed, and know that this too shall pass.

5 – Invite Rest

The only way to get rest is to invite it.  And this we do when we stop trying to make this world into something that it is not.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would rest today from my weariness.  I know that I am not nearly as weary as some of my brothers and sisters, but the ego has not yet died in me, and keeping the illusions going has sapped my strength.  I would end this foolishness today.

Thank You for the joy that You have given me today.  I know that the joy comes from You, even as I struggle against egoic impulses.  Be with me as I leave the struggle behind and simply rest.

Amen.