“The body could not help but be thus, as it was made with dual purposes in mind. It was made to make real and then glorify a separated self, and it was made to punish that separated self for the separation. Its creator had in mind what is reflected in the body: self-aggrandizement and self-effacement, pleasure and pain, violence and gentleness. (A Course of Love, 9.7)”
Affirmation: “May I unite today, rather than live in dualism.”
Reflections:
1 – A Dualistic Manifestation
We know such variations in our everyday mood when we are tied to the body too closely. We do know pleasure, and we can know gentleness–but not all the time, for the body is a dualistic manifestation. We are often led astray by our desire for the things of the body, the pleasures of this world. But these pleasures turn to ashes and dust in our hands when we have avoided the joys and attributes of God. He gives us joy, harmony, peace, tolerance, kindness, gentleness, and the like. Only when we place these intangibles above any material things do we find the peace of God that “passeth understanding” (from the Bible).
2 – Why So Dense?
Why do we so often seek to attract the things of this world, when we ultimately find that these things do not satisfy for long? Why are we so dense?
3 – Ecstasy of the Spirit
It is because we have known such poverty of spirit that we do not know the ineffable heights to which the ecstasy of the spirit can lead. We have bowed down to idols, with the ego’s firm approval. We have had this part of ourselves, our ego, tell us what to do and when to do it. And, when we learn that we can attract better things for ourselves, the first thing that we think about is the material.
4 – Material Needs
Be sure that God wants to meet our material needs as well. He knows that we have physical bodies that desire warmth and comfort, but He would comfort our hearts as well. And the only way that He can do this for us is to bind our will to His. To turn to our egoic will is to deny the joys of God. And to turn to the material to satisfy us is to turn to something insubstantial and non-lasting. Everything in this world will one day turn to dust.
5 – Christ/Self’s Action
Be careful of what you set your heart upon, for you will surely have it. This is quotation the source of which I have long forgotten. But it speaks to me today. We need God and He knows it. He would come from our depths to speak to us today, through the Christ/Self that knows both human and divine. The Christ/Self mitigates the dual nature of spiritual/physical, and turns all to productivity. May we have the happiness that we all seek, and may we get very clear about what will bring us that happiness. It is not solely the material, or even primarily the material. It is the intangible from God..
Prayer:
Dear Father/Mother,
I would pray that I know the dualistic nature of the body no longer, that I experience the Christ/Self within that unites physical and divine. This is a tall order, for I have traveled far into oblivion. But I would reverse that direction today, to know You as my Creator and Sustainer.
Be with me as I seek to live a calm and tranquil life, but one with happiness and joy. You know that I need aliveness and vitality, and the union of physical/divine in the Christ/Self can bring all these blessings to me. Thank You.
Amen.
MIRACLES EACH DAY 