Month: March 2020

Lesson 91: Miracles are seen in light.

Anyone who knows me, or reads my Facebook page for a minute or two, knows that I am no fan of the current resident of the White House. I think he has been a disaster for this country.

However, early on in the coronavirus crisis he said something that caught my attention. During a press conference on Feb. 28, 2020, he said of the virus: “It’s going to disappear. One day, it’s like a miracle, it will disappear.”

He was rightly admonished for such a comment, not because what he said is untrue – a miracle could indeed make the virus disappear – but because of his obviously selfish intention for the remark. What he was engaging in is what A Course in Miracles calls “magic,” because he wished for something to happen on a bodily level so that he, personally, would not be harmed by the pandemic in the form of losing an election or seeing his popularity dip.

But, on one level, he was right. This pandemic or anything that causes suffering on this earth can, like a miracle, disappear. We can’t get there with wishful thinking, though, because that just betrays the fact that our faith is still in the ego and the systems we have created by joining our egos.

Continue reading “AYoMW: March 31, 2020 — The curse of wishful thinking”

Lesson 90: Review of:
Lesson 79: Let me recognize the problem so it can be solved, and
Lesson 80: Let me recognize my problems have been solved

We feel like we have many problems for two reasons:

1. We have a grievance – a complaint or a feeling that something is not going as we want it to go, and
2. We believe time is an actual thing.

During this time of pandemic and self-quarantine, we are acutely aware of time and how it seems to be passing so slowly as we eagerly await the day when we can get back to our regularly schedule lives of getting up, going to work, coming home, having dinner, going out with friends and socializing again. It’s been a few weeks, but already it feels like we’ve been cooped up in our homes and neighborhoods for an eternity. 

We misuse time, this lesson tells us, because we cling so tightly to the one grievance that causes all of our problems – our belief in separation – from one another and from God. It’s easy to see the separation right now as we watch the world from our individual living room windows. It’s easy to feel isolated, particularly because this pandemic focuses us squarely on our bodies and our fear for its health and safety.

Continue reading “AYoMW: March 30, 2020 — Don’t be such an ass”

Lesson 89: Review of:
Lesson 77: I am entitled to miracles, and
Lesson 78: Let miracles replace all grievances

That word “entitled” is a trigger for the ego – it is for mine, at least. The ego likes competition, difference and specialness and words like “entitled” pricks its interest and it starts to pay attention. When I read that “I am entitled to miracles,” my ego gets a little tickled. It wants me to give God’s laws a little twist – pervert them to mean that the “I” this phrase is pointing to is the little “s” self – that egoic “I” that believes I am “entitled” to something special while others are not.

However, if we are, indeed, under no laws but God’s, we begin to understand that this “I” is actually the collective, nondualistic “I” of our higher, Divine, capital “S,” Self. That Self is not an ego, doesn’t even know about the ego and has no idea that it is more or less “special” than anyone else. This Self that we all possess is that piece of divinity that resides within each of us – and when the Course says “I am entitled to miracles,” it means everyone, equally, is entitled – because there is only one of us here.

Continue reading “AYoMW: March 29, 2020 — Life is beauty full”

Lesson 88: Review of:  
Lesson 75: The light has come, and
Lesson 76: I am under no laws but God’s.

For as much as I like to think myself a rebel, I really am a rule-follower. I may violate the laws of fashion on a regular basis, but when it comes to other laws, I am careful not to run afoul of them – with the usual exception of the speed limit, which everyone seems to take as a mere suggestion anyway.

I never liked getting into trouble and have never been keen on taking too many risks. The laws we have set up in the bodily world can be harsh and the last place I ever wanted to end up was in handcuffs, having crossed some societal line between “legal” and “illegal.”  

Our ego pats us on the back for this kind of behavior, convincing us we have “integrity” and “values,” but in reality, I’m just scared of having someone put my body in a jail for some transgression. Good rules make for good behavior among those who fear some manner of bodily consequence.

Continue reading “AYoMW: March 28, 2020 — No more old spice”

Lesson 87: Review of:
Lesson 73: I will there be light, and
Lesson 74: There is no will but God’s.

Whether it’s a hurricane, famine, terrorist attack or now this pandemic, scratch the surface of humanity and you’ll find a bunch of people talking about how whatever’s  going on is “God’s will,” or at least God’s “punishment” for something humans do, such as dare to love someone of their same gender. (Can you hear my eyes rolling?)

Such grievances – and yes, they are grievances – are what keep us from willing that there be light and recognizing that there is no will but God’s. A Course in Miracles tells us time and again that we are free to follow our own will – to see the world through the lens of competition and fear and believe all we want to in the ego’s false god of punishment and wrath.

We can put all our faith in the ego, or we can put all our faith in God. There is no in-between. We cannot kinda believe in miracles and have them happen. Either we surrender our will to God’s will or we don’t. You can’t be a half-assed miracle worker.

Continue reading “AYoMW: March 27, 2020 — You can’t be a half-assed miracle worker”

Lesson 86: Review of:
Lesson 71: Only God’s plan for salvation will work, and
Lesson 72: Holding grievances is an attack on God’s plan for salvation.

It’s a paradoxical time we’re living in while we deal with this coronavirus pandemic. We have been forced apart physically, but our innate desire for unity over separation is driving us to find new ways to connect to one another. Musicians are livestreaming concerts from their living rooms, churches and other spiritual communities are seeking ways to hold virtual celebrations, teachers are reading stories online to their students and others are checking in with neighbors, making supply runs for others and generally seeking new ways to create community.

We are hard-wired to want to be together, because, I believe on some level we know that this separation we feel truly is an illusion. This is not our true state of being and now that we are limiting our physical presence with one another, we are finding out that we are more than our bodies – we are realizing what A Course in Miracles and other metaphysical teachings have been telling us for millennia – we are all joined in one mind.

Continue reading “AYoMW: March 26, 2020 — The paradox of pandemic”

Lesson 85: Review of
Lesson 69: My grievances hide the light of the world in me, and
Lesson 70: My salvation comes from me.

Grievances? Again? Really?

Oh, wait, that’s a grievance, isn’t it? Being irritated with having grievances pointed out again and again … yeah, I guess so.

This is why A Course in Miracles is nothing if not redundant. We recalcitrant human beings have the attention span of a gnat. Always flying at the closest face or pile of manure, no matter how many times our Higher, Divine Self wants to swat us away from our ridiculous egoic compulsions to attack one another and compete with everyone for what we see as limited resources.

Our ego is like a demented Oprah: “You get a grievance! And you get a grievance! Grievances for everyone!”

Our grievances – everything from petty irritation to our outrage at the state of the whole world – blocks our sight. It hangs like a heavy, black curtain blocking us off from the Light of the Divine that is always shining within us. If we can remember, though, that it is only a curtain of illusion that shrouds that light – easily removed by remembering that we are that Light and nothing else – the veil is lifted and we can see the world clearly through our Holy vision.

Continue reading “AYoMW: March 25, 2020 — Ya gotta laugh”

Lesson 84: Review
Lesson 67: Love created me like itself, and
Lesson 68: Love holds no grievances

I have often remarked, at my spiritual community, that I preach the same sermon every week, just with different examples. The underlying theme of every message is how we can end the separation and remember who we are as beings of light and Love.

A Course in Miracles is no different. It’s an entire book that repeats the same message in every sentence. If we could just fully comprehend one sentence of this book, and allow it to lead to our enlightenment, all the other words become unnecessary. We all learn in different ways and at a different pace from one another, so the Course presents the same idea over and over again, with different words and examples.

I know that if I could fully integrate these two lessons in my own heart and mind, enlightenment would descend upon me in a flash. However, being the recalcitrant bodily form that I am, still firmly ruled by ego, I have to read the words again and again and practice them constantly to even give me a moment of insight into what the Course is teaching.

Continue reading “AYoMW: March 24, 2020 — My grievance casserole”

Lesson 83: Review
Lesson 65: My only function is the one God gave me and
Lesson 66: My happiness and my function are one.

Back when I was a kid, we spent Saturday mornings glued to cartoons on television, and some clever folks decided to take advantage of our longer attention spans back then by producing educational videos called “Schoolhouse Rock.” The catchy tunes and lyrics helped us learn about everything from how Congress passes a bill, how to sing the preamble to the US Constitution and why three is a magic number.

One of my favorites was about a train conductor in charge of “Conjunction Junction.” His job, he sang, was about “hooking up words and phrases and clauses.” He sang about three (there’s that magic number!) conjunctions in particular: “and,” “but,” and “or.”

He puts all the boxcars together in these lyrics:

Continue reading “AYoMW: March 23, 2020 — Living in your function junction”

Lesson 82:
Review of Lesson 63: The light of the world brings peace to every mind through my forgiveness, and
Review of Lesson 64: Let me not forget my function.

In this time of social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic, we have a unique opportunity to remember our function as the light of the world and to truly put it into practice. While we cannot be together physically, it’s a great time to remember that we are always joined in our minds and in our spirits. We are never alone – and as A Course in Miracles tells us, we are never healed alone.

If you find yourself with some extra time, I invite you to do the exercises especially from the review of Lesson 63. This is a time when we can meditate on those around us and the challenges they are facing. Think of a few friends and family members, bring them into your heart and mind and say: “Let peace extend from my mind to yours.” Say their names and extend your loving thoughts and feelings to them.

Continue reading “AYoMW: March 22, 2020 — Like a fish out of water”