Author: cchellew

Lesson 12: I am upset because I see a meaningless world.

Today’s lesson instructs us to look at the world around us and say: “I think I see a fearful world, a dangerous world, a hostile world, a sad world, a wicked world, a crazy world …”

All we have to do is turn on the news and all those thoughts will be confirmed. Wars, rumors of wars, famine, greed, hostility, division – it’s a cornucopia of insanity out there right now. It, of course, always has been. We’ve created this insane world together – joining our fearful egos in a horror show we call “life.”

Today’s lesson is the first step to correcting that vision and becoming a clear channel for God to begin to create “the good, the beautiful and the holy,” through us. We believe, this lesson says, that we’re upset because the world is frightening, sad, violent or insane. In reality, the world is meaningless. We’re the ones who struggle with fear, sadness, violence and insanity.

We have yet to see through the illusions of all of these generators of fear within our own heart and mind, and so we project all of that onto the blank screen that is the true Reality of the world. We are the artists of our own paintings – the screenwriters of our own play of life – and we misuse our creativity and imagination to build fearful and crazy worlds. That’s because we’ve given the pen and brush of creation over to our ego – which loves to paint pictures of chaos, competition and separation.

Continue reading “AYoMW: Jan. 12, 2020 — Seeing is believing?”

Lesson 11: My meaningless thoughts are showing me a meaningless world.

I guess I can understand when the critics of A Course in Miracles call it “spiritual bypass.” On the surface, it would appear that the Course is teaching an exquisite kind of apathy. Our thoughts have no meaning, the world isn’t real and even if it were it’s all meaningless anyway. At some point, if you just did a surface reading of the Course, I suppose you could dismiss it as happy-slappy just think positive thoughts and gaze at your navel kind of spirituality.

That was the thought that I had, even in my first year of reading the text and doing the workbook. It all sort of felt like a course that encouraged you to retreat from the world, because it’s all an illusion anyway, right?

That kind of thinking misses the entire point. If you stop at Lesson 11 because you’re convinced the Course is bullshit, the Course would be fine with that. There are many other ways of thinking and believing in the world that can bring enlightenment. Truth is truth, no matter where you encounter it.

Continue reading “AYoMW: Jan. 11, 2020 — What’s it all mean, anyway?”

Lesson 10: My thoughts do not mean anything.

My thoughts have been torturing me these past few days. They keep arising and telling me what I should have done, what I should have said, how I should have acted, and, for the most part, are berating me about how poorly I am doing at this whole spiritual growth thing.

My first year doing the workbook, this lesson in particular produced angry thoughts. “What do you mean my thoughts don’t mean anything? They mean everything! I mean thoughts become things, right? So, they must have meaning!”

Yes, indeed, thoughts do become things, which makes this lesson pretty pivotal in the whole journey through the Course. If our thoughts become things, then ought we not try to exert some control over those thoughts – or at least seek to be detached from them so we can discern between right and wrong thinking?

Continue reading “AYoMW: Jan. 10, 2020 — Out, out damn thought!”

Lesson 9: I see nothing as it is now.

I heard a recent interview with A Course in Miracles teacher and author Marianne Williamson where she reiterated that the Course is not a religion. It has no dogma, no creeds, no real theology and doesn’t demand that you believe in anything in particular, except, perhaps a higher power – whether you call that God or the Flying Spaghetti Monster. One of the most profound mischaracterizations of the Course is that it is some woo-woo, New Age, feel good religion where you deny reality and think happy thoughts all day long, every day for the rest of your life.

Nothing could be further from the truth. I have discovered, in the few years that I have done the workbook and read through the text, that the Course is the most challenging spiritual mind training I have ever undertaken.

I can compare it, somewhat, to my experience in seminary. I had been told, before entering my master’s program, that seminary often makes atheists out of otherwise religious people – and I experienced this phenomenon from some of my classmates who became wildly disillusioned with their faith because seminary taught them things that the church simply refuses to teach its members. Mainly because such knowledge – such understanding – requires us first to let go of what we think we already know, and that can be dangerous to church growth.

Continue reading “AYoMW: Jan. 9, 2020 — Not understanding is the beginning of understanding”

Lesson 8: My mind is preoccupied with past thoughts.

I’m finding it difficult to start today’s reflection, mainly because I’m too busy thinking about yesterday – the pleasant memories along with those that upset my peace of mind. I’m thinking about the things I enjoyed doing as well as the things I didn’t get done, the things I should have said, the places I could have gone, the people I could have connected with, but didn’t.

Our egos love to help us misconstrue and misuse time. “The mind’s preoccupation with the past is the cause of the misconception about time from which your seeing suffers. Your mind cannot grasp the present, which is the only time there is,” reads today’s lesson.

Because our mind is incapable of grasping the present, we rely on the past to keep us occupied – or on the future, dreaming of a better moment than this one somewhere down the road. For all my preoccupation about things left unsaid or undone yesterday, I can’t change one moment of my past – and the Course tells me that continuing to dwelling on past events and feelings right does me no good, and prevents a miracle from entering my reality.

Continue reading “AYoMW: Jan. 8, 2020 — Can’t get you out of my mind …”