Loving Freely & Without Fear

“You who do not know how to trade your separated state for that of union have still done so when you have loved freely and without fear.  In this state your memory returns to you of who you are, and you are innocent and joyous and one with love itself. . . .Nothing but fear could take the memory of love from you, or replace so quickly the glory that is your nature with the specialness that is not.”  (A Course of Love, C:14.28)

Fear is of the ego, and fear is a game changer in the hope of reaching Christ-consciousness.  We cannot, in fact, reach enlightenment when we still entertain fear.  But, the rub, how to stop the fear that so often threatens to engulf us?

Prayer is one answer, in all likelihood the best answer that we could ever devise.  And it is not our idea, but an intuition and an experience that comes from God.  Our prayers put us in alignment with something greater than we are, and this Someone has the power to right our little world immediately.  We don’t have to suffer anxiety any longer; it just dissipates when we start to pray.

Meditation is similar, of course.  We go into a zone-type of thinking that eases our minds.  We don’t actively think at all; we focus on a sacred word or our breathing.  And the miraculous effect takes over.

Talking with a treasured friend is yet another solution to fear.  Others have known the same fear that we dread, though often we think that we are all alone because they haven’t told us about their anxieties, wanting to appear strong and solid to us.  This is a fallacy, of course, which we will come to see when we converse intimately.  All short of enlightenment are victims of the fear mongrels that rob us of peace of mind.

Think a bit of the practices that have given us peace of mind in the past.  Of course, like all things, this fear, too, shall pass.  But there are a myriad of practices which can speed fear along its way, never to return in quite the same way again.

Trust that guidance will lead us out of the darkness of our anxieties and our fears.  Trust that choosing to be unity one with another will be an almost magical solution to an intractable problem.

Love’s Embrace

Now you must forget the idea of needing to maintain specialness.  A key aid in helping you to put this temptation behind you is the idea of the holy relationship in which all exist in unity and within the protection of love’s embrace.  (A Course of Love, T3:16.15)

Let us realize that being special, even to ourselves, never gave us anything that we wanted.  A few others may have found us special also, but most everyone else resented the competitiveness that thought that we were superior to them.  This competitiveness has to go.  We are reassured on a daily basis when we cooperate with others, when we recognize that others, and we, are on the same wavelength, that we are equal in the sight of God as His children.

I used to be quite competitive.  I remember telling a friend at work, after lunch one day that we had enjoyed together, what my goals were in work.  They were ambitious.  She responded, “Don’t get too far ahead of us,” meaning the others in the reference unit.

She was right, because she sensed that my ambition would be a divisive factor in our close-knit working group.  And I never did fit in well with that particular group.  I had to go on to another before I found acceptance and peace in my working environment.  And get more steeped in A Course in Miracles.

When we recognize that all of us are held in an embrace of love and unity, as One, we are recognizing what is true.  And this truth will save us.  Our relationships, holy now, will give us solace and keep us safe.  Competitive no longer, we join in a camaraderie borne of cooperation.  We are finally living right, and our comrades in work (and elsewhere) recognize this change in us.  We are one of them, in every sense of the word.  When we acknowledge equality, we are accepted and even loved.

This does not take away from the fact that we may have experienced Christ-consciousness, and not all others in our circle will have done so.  This only means that we have walked a little farther along, not that we are better than another.  It is necessary that we share what we have discovered as soon as our brothers and sisters express interest in knowing what makes us different.  Holy relationship invites sharing.  And we feel better for easing another’s way, even ever so slightly.

Do We Have a “Special” Role to Play?

            Do we all want a “special” place in the world?  The Holy Spirit reinterprets specialness to mean the unique role that God would have us fill in our lifetime.  What, given our talents, are we best able to do, the one thing that nobody else can do as well as we?  This function, no longer ego-oriented and “special,” is what God would have us to do.  The A Course in Miracles says, in speaking of our brother, “Let him no more be lonely, for the lonely ones are those who see no function in the world for them to fill; no place where they are needed, and no aim which only they can perfectly fill.” (T-25.VI.3:6)

–from Out of the Maze, an e-book by the author of this blog.

Join Hands with Our Brothers

            In forgiving mistakes, in ourselves as well as others, we no longer need to feel that we must hold ourselves “above” another (more special than she).  We are all in this together.  As I forgive my brother of the illusory evil that he does, miraculously I find that I am more tolerant of my own mistakes.  Everything is not a matter of life and death, purest glory or blackest sin.  If I can overlook my brother’s misdeeds, forgiving them before I study them sufficiently to make them seem real to me, then I am well on the way to handling my own problems with the same benign feeling.  Judgment always reverts back to the one who judges.  That is the truth of “Judge not, that ye be not judged,” and the A Course in Miracles has given us the explanation of why this is true.

            The desire for specialness simply dissipates.  One wishes instead to be part of the great mass of humankind with a kind of mystical love that leaves one at peace.  The guilt engendered by the false pursuit of specialness and separateness from one’s brother dissipates as well.  On some level, we all intuit that holding oneself apart, with a little sense of superiority, is actually self-deception and evidence of a shabby self-perception, not an exalted one. (M-21.5:5) Walk with Jesus as together we seek to join hands with all of our brothers, enemies in specialness no more.

Without Love, Peace Cannot Be

Certainly most of us have believed a lie sometime, somewhere in our lives. We have been susceptible to deception because we wished it so. If we doubt this, look back to see how our wish made it true for us, even though the basis may have been pure fantasy. Hidden in that wish, if we trace to its sources, is a desire for specialness, a desire to be a creature specially favored by God, singled out for merit that does not also belong to our brother.

Yet there is no peace in these dreams. When we put ourselves on a pedestal, we do not readily forgive lesser mortals. Without forgiveness, love cannot begin, grow, or thrive; and without love, peace cannot be. When we look with Christ’s eyes, we understand that no brother has sinned against us; we see only love where earlier condemnation had reigned. Condemnation need not be very blatant; just a hint of grievance against our brother, and the spell of love is broken. Guilt reigns supreme, because in our deepest heart we know intuitively that nothing in Reality has ever happened that is damaging to us. In contrast, when the earth sparkles and glows, seems alive in love, and is literally full of bright color, we know in our depths that we have truly forgiven our brother for formerly perceived “sins” against us. Our heart is so overflowing with love, seeking our brother to be One with him, that nothing is held back from us. We know no guilt in this epiphany, and the inner calm at being finally reconciled to God is overwhelming. We have forgiven ourselves for our failure to love God more, for in loving our brother with open hands and a clear conscience we have at last forgiven ourselves for what we believe that we did to God. We feel cleansed of evil intent and in that purification comes the knowledge that we truly were never sinners, only guilty of mistakes now left behind. And all because at last we have laid down our arms against our brother.

–from Out of the Maze, an e-book by the author of this blog.

Just Stop Thinking of Ourselves as “Special”

When we see sin, our specialness seems safe, because we attribute that sin to another, never to ourselves.  But this is a mirage, for we are projecting out what we really see within. There is no other picture.  Either sin is within, or it is nowhere.  And the great blessing is that sin really is nowhere, not in ourselves nor in our brother.  But to recognize this, specialness must be relinquished entirely.

            A Course in Miracles proclaims that we look upon our specialness as a “creation” that we would prefer over our “true creations.”  The Course is never explicit about what these true creations really are, but assures us that they are awaiting us in Heaven.  But if we lavish love on our illusory specialness, we will not soon find our way back to what is truly ours.  Here on this plane we love a parody of creation, but God would not have it so.  We are bidden to abandon our investment in specialness so that something far better–true love and harmony with an equal brother–can be experienced instead.

            It is really our insecurities, our inferiority complex, that bids us to place such emphasis on thinking ourselves better than our brothers.  There is really no such thing as a “superiority” complex; we know in our deepest heart of hearts that we are not truly better, but we then think that others must be better, and we rebel against this.  All of this nonsense must be placed aside.  Temporarily, some of us seem to have more only because we are more aligned with God, and therefore not as insane.  But we cannot free ourselves alone because our brother is a part of us, and he must come, too.  We are all One, and we only walk Home together.  The Course says that our brother is afraid to walk with us, and he thinks walking a little ahead us, or a little behind, would suit him better.  But progress is not possible this way; we know peace only walking side by side, hand in hand. “Can you make progress if you think the same, advancing only when he would step back, and falling back when he would go ahead.” (T-31.II.9:3)

We Are Equal in God’s Sight as His Children

Now you must forget the idea of needing to maintain specialness. A key aid in helping you to put this temptation behind you is the idea of the holy relationship in which all exist in unity and within the protection of love’s embrace. (ACOL, T3:16.15)

Let us realize that being special, even to ourselves, never gave us anything that we wanted. A few others may have found us special also, but most everyone else resented the competitiveness that thought that we were superior to them. This competitiveness has to go. We are reassured on a daily basis when we cooperate with others, when we recognize that others, and we, are on the same wavelength, that we are equal in the sight of God as His children.

I used to be quite competitive. I remember telling a friend at work, after lunch one day that we had enjoyed together, what my goals were in work. They were ambitious. She responded, “Don’t get too far ahead of us,” meaning the others in the reference unit.

She was right, because she sensed that my ambition would be a divisive factor in our close-knit working group. And I never did fit in well with that particular group. I had to go on to another before I found acceptance and peace in my working environment. And get more steeped in A Course in Miracles.

When we recognize that all of us are held in an embrace of love and unity, as One, we are recognizing what is true. And this truth will save us. Our relationships, holy now, will give us solace and keep us safe. Competitive no longer, we join in a camaraderie borne of cooperation. We are finally living right, and our comrades in work (and elsewhere) recognize this change in us. We are one of them, in every sense of the word. When we acknowledge equality, we are accepted and even loved.
This does not take away from the fact that we may have experienced Christ-consciousness, and not all others in our circle will have done so. This only means that we have walked a little farther along, not that we are better than another.

It is necessary that we share what we have discovered as soon as our brothers and sisters express interest in knowing what makes us different. Holy relationship invites sharing.

And we feel better for easing another’s way, even ever so slightly.

Specialness Is of the Ego

It is quite likely that the basis for neurosis is specialness. Many of us see in others, perhaps more than ourselves, oscillations of personality that appear to twist and turn in the wind. Alternating between sweetness and hostility, these others can make our lives miserable if they have any power over us. If manifesting in a friend, these conflicting behaviors are puzzling in the least, personally damaging, even though illusory, in the most. Yet is the specialness, the neurosis of these others, all “out there”? The truth is that we all think we are special to one degree or another.

It is just to the degree that we ascribe to specialness that we are vulnerable to the ego’s assaults, whether as assaults emanating from another or from our own inner demons. It is then that we appear vulnerable to the world’s onslaughts. We are engaged in a dance, one to another, interlocking our complexes to fit, however unpleasant the dance may become. Sometimes we see our pride pricked at the point of greatest vulnerability; this is the ego’s greatest trial, a time of great opportunity if we can only see it thus. We are being shown what needs to be remedied in ourselves, how the ego needs to be undone. If we listen, we will find a great gift in the ashes of our former “triumphs.” We will let the ego wither away at this point of neurosis.

And so it goes with all points of neurosis. As they are shown to us, we must let them slip away. Jesus is able to heal a neurotic if she is cooperating with him. One way to cooperate is to take the intellectual framework of the Course and marry that to our relationship to our brother, our love, if you will. Then the mental and emotional meld as one, and we are on our way to full recovery as Sons and Daughters of God.

Love with a Deeper Love

“Once you are no longer concerned with needs and the meeting of needs you will no longer be concerned with special relationships. You will realize that there is no loss but only gain involved in letting them go.” (ACOL, T2:9.16)

We made people special to us for selfish reasons: because we thought that we needed their support, emotional and otherwise. Other people will not feel the lack if we give up the idea of specialness—or, more exactly, if we enlarge specialness to include the whole world. This then is not specialness at all, but an all-embracing holy relationship with all brothers and sisters everywhere.

The selfish reasons for special relationships are not often recognized. We think that we find someone out there who “completes” us, and then we fall into highs and lows of drama as we seek to solidify the relationship. Sometimes the relationship succeeds, and sometimes it doesn’t. But our drama in its enactment is very real.

We have learned through A Course of Love that drama is of the ego. We have also learned that we don’t want the ego. The way is clear, now, to giving the ego up, and if we sink into calm and quiet, deep within, we will be living in true reality. Our movement toward Christ-consciousness will be quicker and more certain. And we will realize that we lost nothing when we made all special relationships holy, leaving out nobody.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that we will engage in physical displays of affection with just any and every one. But it does mean that we will love with a deeper love than we have ever known before.

And this will be the particular blessing that we give our most beloved.

Prayer

Thank You for the calm that I feel today. My fears of yesterday are gone. This is Your doing. I prayed for relief, and You answered my need.

May I enjoy holy relationships with my formerly special relationships. Holy enlarges. There is no loss. I will love ever more deeply.

Thank You for showing me how to love ever more deeply.

Amen.

Leave Behind Fantasies of Specialness

“You may ask now why it doesn’t seem so, and the only answer is that you do not want it to. You perceive but what you wish for, and your wish for specialness leads you not to see sameness anywhere at all, for what is the same cannot be special.” (ACOL, C:16.2)

We create our own reality. This long-stated New Age credo is applicable here. We project from within what we perceive without, and what we perceive without is what we wish for—on some level. Thus, because we want specialness to be the truth, we think we see it everywhere. But it is a mirage, for our inequalities are an untruth. We are equal one to the other, as God intended. Our separation, our illusory separation from God, has not changed that. We will do well to remember that we are neither inferior nor superior to anybody. We may temporarily have talents that others lack, but this is a temporary expedient only. In eternity all gifts are shared equally.

There is a strong warning in the quotation for today. If something good doesn’t seem so, and the only answer is that we do not want it to seem so, then where does that leave us but in a fantasy world? And such it is. We are living in illusion, at least until we cross the barrier into Christ-consciousness, when true reality will seem much more real than anything else.

Why would we want specialness to be true? We are listening to the ego, who feels all alone and lonely, but who actually likes it that way if its specialness can remain intact. The ego is a part of our belief about ourselves, and a lamentable part, but we ourselves must take steps to turn aside (gently) from its counsel. Then and only then will we begin to see the sameness between ourselves and others. We will finally have found the easiest place to challenge the ego, for ego-oriented thinking will have lost its hold on us.

Be sure today that we are equal to all. Not inferior, not superior, but one in sameness. This is the truth.

And, if we contemplate our lives, we will realize that we would actually have it no other way.

Prayer

Dear Father/Mother,

I would leave behind my specialness today and every day, knowing that I would not choose ego-oriented ways of thinking any longer. This choice ensures that I am following what You would wish for me. It also ensures happiness for me, because to think, in error, that I am either inferior or superior is to think falsely. And to bring unhappiness down on my head.

I would wish for your blessing today as I seek to be compassionate of all whom I encounter. They may not know the blessing of reading A Course in Miracles or A Course of Love, but I can still learn from our interaction. Their pathway may be different, but because we are all the same, they too will come to You in their own time.

May this day unfold as it is meant to be, in Your highest will.

Amen.

Enjoy Life in All Its Abundance

“You only need be open to the place that no specialness can enter, and bid your brother choose for you. For in his choice you join with him and with your Father. In this choice lies one united will for glory that knows neither specialness nor separation. In this choice lies life eternal.” (ACOL, C:15.12)

The idea of allowing our brother to choose for us is new. This brother is Jesus, who is in charge of the Atonement, at least in Christian circles. Here we do not find specialness, but a choice that is borne of equality of all brothers and sisters. Even when we think that we know and understand more than another, we are still equal. Only in time are talents unevenly given; in eternity they are the same.

We do not rightly know either specialness nor separation. We are one united will, when we are joined with the Self who is deep within us. This Self leads to an equanimity that is unlike anything we have experienced before. We will have patience that has previously eluded us. We will exhibit love that has never been part of our experience in sharing. We will know a new life, a life eternal, that enfolds us with its grace and gives us all that our heart desires.

If the day goes gray, remember these truths. Nobody will have all charmed days; there are always things that could be better. But there comes a point at which we need to express gratitude for all that we do have, and gratitude spawns happiness. The way that we walk on any given day will affect all the future. Learn what works by consulting the inner Self. Even dialogue, in writing, with this inner Self. The truths that we will experience will indeed transform our lives.

Gratitude grows great within us when we know that we are living life eternal right now. We don’t wait for an afterlife; we are here and now in eternity. When we truly know this, we will walk a green earth.

Specialness Defeats Us / Choose Equality

“How many rest within this sphere of influence? Twenty, fifty, one hundred? And how many times is this multiplied by each of them? And yet this is but a fraction of who your specialness influences. In truth, your specialness affects everyone. “ (ACOL, C:15.6)

This quotation doesn’t say so, but we all know that specialness is not something to be supported. Our belief in specialness apparently reaches out to include everyone, ultimately. This is because we influence each other, and when one of us finds a home in specialness, we are leading others to look to their egos as well.

How can we resolve this dilemma? First and foremost, drop egotistical ideas from the mind. The heart will lead rightly in this endeavor, if we listen to it. Second, know (intellectually also) that specialness is not the way reality really is. Reality created all of us as equals to each other. Our heart will lead rightly about this as well. Third, as soon as the ego or the idea of specialness enters the mind, resolve to abort the experience. This is not as hard as it sounds, though we may fail in the beginning.

Gently turn aside from the ego and its specialness. Know that we have never been made happy by feelings of specialness: We knew moments of artificial joy, but these were followed by times of deep despair. And we can expect this dynamic to continue, if we do not reject specialness once and for all.

The way back is made easier, as always, when we listen to our heart. The heart knows that we wouldn’t be other than we are, that regardless of what another has that we think we want, this is a mirage. We are created to be one with all, one with God, with others, one with our Self. And specialness intrudes on this divine plan.

Chip away at the desire for specialness a little at a time. Soon the idea will seem very foreign to us indeed.

And we will emerge from the darkness into the light.

Be Determined to Give Up Specialness

“While you desire specialness for yourself, your true Self will remain hidden and unknown, and since this is a Course that seeks to reveal your true identity, specialness must be seen for what it is so that you will desire it no longer. You can have specialness or your true Self, but never both. The desire for specialness is what calls your little self into being. This is the self that is easily wounded, the self that takes on grievances and refuses to give them up, the self that is prone to pettiness and bitterness, resentment and deception. Be truthful as you examine yourself and you will see that this is so.” (ACOL, C:15.3)

Jesus appeals to our better nature when he asks us to consider what the little self is really asking of us; it is asking for pettiness and bitterness, resentment and deception. Are there really any among us who would want these things? And these things are come as a result of our desire to cling to specialness, thinking that we are better than anybody else. What a bad deal this really is!

There is nobody among us who has not, in league with the ego, wanted to think that we are superior in some way to others. This is a reverse to an inferiority complex, and psychologists say that there is no such thing as a “superiority complex,” that it is always a feeling masking the sense of inferiority. This makes sense, for we have long blamed ourselves for not feeling right with God. We sense a separation from the Almighty, and we think that we are to blame for this, adding guilt to our sense of having somehow failed. This is the dynamic that is really going on in the push to be special. We sense that we somehow have failed at life (which we have), and we think that specialness will cure this deep feeling of despair.

Specialness won’t cure anything. It will only compound troubles. We are encouraged to give up thinking about specialness for ourselves as well as our significant others. We are to love, and love freely (though within certain physical restraints). We want to let the Self out to play, the Self who knows true reality and will lead us rightly. We cannot cling to the specialness of our little self and also acknowledge the true worth of our real Self. And our real Self is our salvation.

The Self who is real will free us to be ourselves, for the first time in eons. When we let go of our desire to be special, we will see that the Self holds our release from dark imaginings.

Let’s concentrate on giving up specialness as much as we have concentrated on giving up the ego. They are the same in different words.

Be determined today to right the sense of inferiority that has always clung to us. We are not special, but we are good in the eyes of God, good and innocent. And never let us forget these truths.

Envisioning a Return to the Natural State

“A shared vision of unity and a return of all to the state natural to all, is that I ask you to imagine, envision, and desire. (The Treatises of A Course of Love: ‘A Treatise on the New,’ 6.4)”

1 – Prayer

This passage gives us what our prayer is to be for. We are to share ourselves with our brothers and sisters, and to ask that they too return to the state that is natural to all–the state of communicating with our Creator, with God (an ACIM concept). A Course in Miracles says that we taught ourselves not to communicate with our Creator, and that this is not a natural way of living. Let us return to the natural today.

2 – Imagine, Envision, Desire

The terms, “imagine, envision, and desire,” are hallmarks of ACOL in which we believe that the new Christ-consciousness to which we are all called will embody this essence. It will not be learning anymore, the curriculum ofACIM. We will understand through direct revelation from God, and this will not be a perceptual truth, but a knowledge. And knowledge that is true comes only from God.

3 – Natural

The word “natural” in the passage is particularly appealing to me. We all desire the natural in our little individual worlds. We do not find that we are attracted to that which is strange and peculiar. And the natural is whatACOL is to bring about. If a thesis lacks the test of naturalness, it is best left aside. But this is not to allow intolerance in our lives. What is natural to one individual is frequently not so natural to another, and we must be tolerant of these differences.

4 – Those Who Do Not Choose the Natural

“Your brothers and sisters who do not choose their natural state still are who they are and holy as yourself. Your brothers and sisters who choose alternative visions are still who they are and holy as yourself. (The Treatises of A Course of Love: A Treatise on the New, 6.5)”

5 – Special?

There is nothing special about those of us who are taking to heart A Course in Miracles and A Course of Love. Sure, we may reach enlightenment sooner than other brothers and sisters, but that does not mean that we are “better” than they. We are all holy Sons and Daughters of God.

6 – Specialness

We can look at the idea of “specialness” in two ways: either all of us are “special” or none of us are. This is all the word means, to us now as we verge into taking our place as Sons and Daughters of God. When the ego reigned in us, specialness became very important indeed. And we suffered accordingly, for never did we experience a “high” without a resulting “low.” This is all that specialness ever did for us.

7 – Vision

But now we are seeing anew, with a new vision, the vision of the inner Christ. We are seeing that specialness is a red herring, something that we don’t want in any shape or form. And we are the better for realizing this, though we are still, most particularly, not better than anybody else.

8 – Slow Down & Invite Enlightenment

Come unto our own today. Let us slow down, go through the motions of our day with mindfulness, and invite enlightenment. Glimpses of Awakening, called satori, will come before there is a sustained state of the elevated Self of form. Enlightenment is God’s Will for us, the only way that we can be happy consistently. And happiness is His Will for us as well. He is not evil. He didn’t cause the suffering that we and others have endured. We brought this on ourselves, from an imprisoned will that saw not how to free ourselves.

9 – Guidance

Now we are learning how to free ourselves, but it is the guidance that we get that points out the Way. Be reassured today that enlightenment is God’s Will for us, and He will bestow that blessing as soon as we clear the cobwebs from our minds, let our hearts rule, and follow along salvation’s way.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

May I return today to unity with all my brothers and sisters, as I pray for them. May we return, together, to the state of co-creation with You, the state that is natural to us. May this blessing happen sooner rather than later.

Thank You for guiding me gently along the correct pathway. My pathway is strewn with blessings when I am wise enough to recognize these blessings.

Amen.

Overcoming Suffering

Suffering and sin comes from specialness, and so it is but specialness you must leave behind.  And there is a way to do so, a way that will not harm any of those you love even while betraying all they would hold dear.  (A Course of Love, 15.11)”

Affirmation:  “I would leave specialness behind today.”

Reflections:

1 – Specialness

Our brothers and sisters very often choose specialness rather than recognizing that in this separation, all is lost.  They do not really want to be separate from us, though they may think that they do.

2 – Likewise, for Us

Likewise, for us.  We may have studied A Course in Miracles and A Course of Love long and hard, but still when the weakened ego beckons, we choose specialness.  We just must choose again.  We also do ot want to be separate from our brothers and sisters.  We are all One, and it is time indeed that we recognize this.

3 – Can We Leave Suffering Behind?

Certainly we would leave suffering behind if we could do it.  And leaving behind specialness, in all its forms, is the way out of suffering.

4 – All Are Equal

We need to realize that we are all actually equal in God’s sight.  While out talents may seem to differ in this world, eventually all will be shared.  While some temporarily have more and some, less, this is indeed temporary.  And it is up to us to assist those in need while our hearts tell us the right thing to do.

5 – Knowledge

Our brothers and sisters hold specialness dear.  But it is not for us to do so.  If we persist, we will endanger all of which we have knowledge.  And it is God Who gives us the knowledge.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would renounce specialness for all time now.  This specialness is of the ego, and I would leave the ego behind.  We suffer because of our belief that we are “special.”  And we truly are not.  All of us are equal in Your sight.

If You would have it so, take this desire for specialness from me today.  Thank You.

Amen.

Specialness vs. True Self

“While you desire specialness for yourself, your true Self will remain hidden and unknown, and since this is a Course that seeks to reveal your true identity, specialness must be seen for what it is so that you will desire it no longer.  You can have specialness or your true Self, but never both.  (A Course of Love, 15.3)”

Affirmation:  “I would deny specialness in favor of my true Self.”

Reflections:

1 – Egocentric Specialness

Specialness is an egocentric desire to be better than other people (or, occasionally, the reverse–worse than others).  For whatever reason, we think that if we are different, rather than the same, we will merit more in this life.  We think that being special means that we have more than others–always “more.”  But this reasoning is fallacious.

2 – Specialness in Other People

We need to recognize that nobody welcomes specialness in another person–except as that specialness seems to give to the other something that he/she wants.  We look for certain special things in our chosen life partner, but we often find that this specialness is a mirage, and then we may drift away, only to seek again a specialness that will never last.

3 – Competition

In our peer relationships, we do not want another to excel in the competition.  We want to be better.  But does that make us more loved?  I think not.  Cooperation in a common goal means that all peers are equals, and equals we are indeed in God’s eyes.  All of us have been given everything, ultimately.  But on this earth, this is not so, and so we often find ourselves envious of the goods of another.  We do not love in such a state of mind, and love is the great need of all of us (as always).

4 – Self/Christ

We need the true Self, which is the Christ within.  When we really consider these words, how could we desire anything other?  We do not receive knowledge of the Self when the go reigns.  Everything sought by the ego ultimately turns to ashes and dust in our hands.  All of the ego’s playthings are temporary.  But when we turn from the desire to be better than our brother/sister, we are primed to know the Self that we all share, for we are all One.  Then we know that true boons of this world, as well as the world beyond.  We have indeed found our way home.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would drop specialness today for all time.  Competition just wore me out, when I tried it, and try it I did for years.  Finally, in the last 20 years or so, my desire for cooperative living has won out over specialness.  Thank You for this insight and the willingess and ease with which I have been able to accomplish it.  Only You did that.

Thank You for the understanding that cooperation works much better than competition.  There is no way that competition, over the long haul, can bring anything but misery.

Help me to resist specialness in all its forms.  I would choose a right sort of humility, and I would choose to avoid arrogance.  I can do what You lead me to do, when You help me.  Only then, when You help.

Amen.

Once There Is Love, It Is Forever

“Let us ask instead how loving all as one can bring harm?  If you love all the same, what loss is there to anyone, including the one you would choose to make special?  All that is lost is specialness.  (A Course of Love, 14.31)”

Affirmation:  “I would choose to love all in my life.”

Reflections:

1 – Betrayal?

There is little in this passage with which to disagree, if the passage is understood in its fullness.  Certainly parents love all their children, and what love is given to one is not normally taken from another.  Yet when it comes to our significant other, our brother/sister, we often think that if we love someone who was once “special” to us, then we are betraying our brother/sister, the one in our life now.  This is not so, but the explanation does take a little consideration.

2 – Love Is Forever

Any love, once experienced, never fades entirely.  Once there is love, it is forever.  Even the playwright William Shakespeare says this.  And certainly the love that is expressed in our scriptures is meant to be a forever thing.   We transform the specialness of our relationships into holy, and in a holy relationship, there is no room for jealousy.  We bind ourselves with a tight bond to the significant other in our life, but we do not put blinders on, to eliminate all thought of the other loves that we have known.  This is reality, and there is no reason to feel guilt in reality.

3 – Lose the Specialness

We would lose the specialness that, all too often, tries to cling to our loves.  Specialness can turn to hate, and to indifference, whereas genuine love remains itself–heartfelt love that knows no ending.  May we experience this heartfelt love for others today, and may we turn to God within in our experience.  There is no room for specialness in a world that can become beautiful by the love we harbor for all living creatures.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would come to realize ever more deeply today that love is all one, though we have different kinds of love for the individuals in our lives.  We never outgrow a love that has once been in our lives.  We never dismiss it entirely.  And we will reconcile on another plan, as A Course in Miracles tells us.

Thank You for this reassurance.  May we love, and love greatly, for this is our way out of fearful and anxious thoughts.  This is our way home to You.  And I would go home to You today.

Be with me as I seek to know You ever more deeply.

Amen.

Our Mission Is Very Simple

“My trust in you is greater than yours in me at the moment, but it will not always be that way.  Your mission is very simple.  You are asked to live so as to demonstrate that you are not an ego, and I do not choose God’s channels wrongly.  (T68)”

Affirmation:  “Jesus does not choose God’s channels wrongly.”

Reflections:

1 – The Ego

Jesus seeks to bring us to him in these well-chosen words.  He assures us that he is certain that we will live without the ego, that we will first live as though we are without an ego.

2 – Mission Substantial

We have a substantial mission in this world.  We are one of “God’s channels.”  We are meant not to find our way Home ourselves, but also to facilitate the coming Home of our brothers and sisters.  Jesus’s faith in us in intense, because he knows that the only way that this world can work is if we do our part to reform the hearts and minds of our brothers and sisters–not to speak of our own.  When we do this, all will be well.

3 – Proselytize?

This injunction from Jesus does not mean that we aggressively proselytize.  In A Course in Miracles, he states that some are ready only for a smile.  And so we turn off others if we try to interest them in “our” way–A Course in Miracles–prematurely.  We do not want to turn others off.  We seek to avoid the controversy of theology, as this is only dividing and a barrier between others and us.  We are best to seek help from guidance as often as we possibly can, because we are apt to become zealous in our approach if left on our own.  Jesus does not want us to strain to represent him in this world.  The easy and natural approach will always work best (an interpretation, not stated directly in ACIM).

4 – No Call to Specialness

“I do not choose God’s channels wrongly.”  This is not meant to be a call to specialness.  All are chosen as God’s channels; all are meant to return Home.  And Jesus says elsewhere that all will return, though it may happen over millions of years.  This is not cause for despondency, because we have Jesus as our elder brother every step of the way.  Our own way will lighten immeasurably as we learn to put into practice the dictates of the Course.

Prayer:

Dear Father,

Help me to realize that I am a channel for God.  However many mistakes I make, still is this true.  Thank you.

May I take up my mission in this world.  To do so, I need to live as though I am without ego.  Help me to relinquish the ego, and to take my place in the salvation of this world.

I know that when the ego rears its head, I am unhappy.  This is my clue that I have gotten off my pathway to You.  Please guide me gently back home.

Amen.

Specialness

“The specialness of God’s Sons does not stem from exclusion but from inclusion.  All my brothers are special.  If they believe they are deprived of anything, their perception becomes distorted. (T12)”

Affirmation:  :”I would have clear perception today, perception leading to knowledge.”

Reflections:

1 – Everyone Is “Special”

All of us are included in this statement about specialness.  We are all equals.  Elsewhere Jesus says that none of us has anything that is not also given to our brother.  He also says that temporarily some may have more than another, but eventually this will change.  These are theoretical foundations of A Course in Miracles.  What is this “more” that some have now?  It is an understanding about forgiveness that leads to salvation, and, with this, happiness.  All of these–forgiveness, salvation, and happiness–are said at different points in ACIM to our “function.”  We may find that we are too self-centered when we are unhappy to reach out effectively to others, or even to forgive them.  And we may get so down on ourselves that we don’t see how salvation is possible for one such as ourselves.

2 – Wait for the Mood to Lift

This is faulty thinking.  When our mood lifts, we will see more clearly.  Our seeing may still be perceptual rather than a knowing, but the right perception leads inexorably to knowledge of God.  This pathway becomes clearer the farther along we walk.  At this point, it may be enough to know simply that we will be happier when we ask for guidance, and this guidance will console us.  Our needs will be met.  We may not now believe this, for we live in a sometimes difficult world, but our attitudes will change, and even if other people perceive problems for us, we will live protected in the haven of God’s Arms.  (These are interpretations, not stated in ACIM.)

3 – Perceiving in a Distorted Fashion

When we feel little and left out, we are perceiving in a distorted fashion.  We think that we are deprived.  But none of us are deprived of anything, except it be our choice.  We can choose again, and the Holy Spirit will respond.  We may actually receive what we ask, or we may not.  If it would hurt us, we will not receive it.  Jesus says that a loving Father does not give a Son (or Daughter) what would hurt him (or her).  He will protect us still, if in our ignorance we ask for what will harm.

4 – Gifts of the Holy Spirit

When we ask for the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we are always answered in the affirmative.  These are not “special” gifts, but gifts that are the inheritance of everyone.   By so doing, we have taken the right prayer and wedded it to the philosophy of A Course in Miracles.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I do understand that all of us are “special,” which can also be stated that none are “special,” because we are all equal.  I would not let the ego intrude today; I am trying to encourage my ego to wither away.  I do not mean my personal self, but the egotistical, false sense of self that I all too often had in the past.  I would let that past stay in the past.

May we come to understand that one day all gifts from You will be shared by everyone.  In the meantime, for awhile some will have more of one thing, and some more of another.  All of this is only temporary, in our illusory world.

Be with me today as I seek to remain in the flow with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  I would welcome entry into the Christ-consciousness, but I await Your nod on this.  I have had glimpses of Awakening, and for that I am grateful.  I pray for all my brothers and sisters that they will have glimpses, before the new Way is sustained.

Amen.

A Way of Living in the World that Is Not Here

“There is a way of living in the world that is not here, although it seems to be.  You do not change appearance, though you smile more frequently.  Your forehead is serene; your eyes are quiet.  And the ones who walk the world as you do recognize their own.  Yet those who have not yet perceived the way will recognize you also, and believe that you are like them, as you were before. (WB291)”

Affirmation  “There is a way of living in the world that is not here.”

Reflections:

1 – Avoid the Ego with the Passage for Today

This is an especially sweet passage.  Beware, however, of letting the ego in.  This statement is not saying that we are “special.”  We can say that nobody is “special,” or that all are “special”; either way works.  We are not alone, and we have no gifts that will not one day be shared by everyone (a Text tenet).

2 – Others Believe Also

It is comforting to know that we can find others with similar persuasions about in the world.  This does not necessarily mean that these others will be students of A Course in Miracles; there are many ways of learning the perennial philosophy.  We can walk happily, as we incorporate the tenets of ACIM in our lives.  Certainly already each of us has had moments of recognition that someone in our world is walking the way that we choose to walk.  Sometimes we see Christ in their eyes, an especially sweet miracle when it occurs.

3 – Of Like Mind

We become aware of these others of like mind when we are looking for it.  Mostly, perhaps, it is a matter of eye contact.  It is like a secret society.  But especially know that we cannot let specialness enter in, or we lose the concept entirely.  All will come to walk the world this way, eventually, and it is our function to bring that day closer.

4 – Ask God

If we have not experienced this way of living in the world that is not “here,” then let us pray together for this blessing to come upon us.  God will not delay, for we are asking in His Will.  He wants this way of walking the world to become the way of all.

5 – Do Not See “Specialness”

The only error that we could make, and it would be a large error, is to see specialness in this miracle.  Then we will look down upon those who are simply not yet ready for this miracle.  And time is an illusion, the only thing that separates perceived miracles from coming to all of us.  There are no gifts that one day will not belong to everyone.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would walk through the world today with a serene expression on my face.  I would know that all of us, excepting nobody, has troubles, but I would also know that the solution is always found with the problem.  Ask for help, and You grant it.

I thank You that there is a way to find others of like mind.  And I would do so today.

Amen.