Blog

Lesson 114: Review of
Lesson 97: I am spirit, and
Lesson 98: I will accept my part in God’s plan for salvation.

When I came out as both a lesbian and a Christian a couple of decades ago, I was immediately inundated with messages from strangers that I was sadly mistaken in my belief that I could be both of those things at once. I was told, point blank, that continuing to pursue a lesbian “lifestyle” (whatever that is, but I’m sure it includes cats and softball) would forever separate me from God.

My go-to Bible verse at that time was Romans 8:38-39 in which the Apostle Paul writes: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Continue reading “AYoMW: April 23, 2020 — You’re not the boss of me”

Lesson 113: Review of
Lesson 95: I am one Self, united with my Creator.
Lesson 96: Salvation comes from my one Self.

The idea that I am “one Self, united with my Creator,” is guaranteed to make your ego emit an evil, “Muhwahaha” kind of chuckle. You can feel it rubbing its hands together, saying, “We’ll see about that.”

The ego demands that we be many selves – the self we take to work, the self we show up as in all sorts of relationships, be they intimate, casual or just in passing, the self we take to events, the self we take to religious communities. The ego insists that we need many masks, many personas, because, it direly whispers to us, “no one will like you if they saw the real you.”

Fact is, the ego won’t like you if you saw the real You – that one Self that is united with your creator. That Self is kryptonite to the ego and it’s fully invested in making you believe that you would face rejection and hatred if the world ever saw your true Self.

So, we play the game – we put on our different faces depending on the people, places and things we expect to encounter. We laugh at the jokes to keep coworkers happy, we nod and smile when the boss says something that deeply conflicts with our values, we argue politics with those who basically agree with us to avoid offending others, and on and on it goes.

Continue reading “AYoMW: April 22, 2020 — Can you see the real me?”

Lesson 112: Review of
Lesson 93: Light and joy and peace abide in me, and
Lesson 94: I am as God created me.

I had a Monday all day yesterday, and it actually started on Sunday night when I made a poor decision that will dog me for weeks to come – but will pass, as all things do.

The reason I had a bad day was simple: I listened to my ego. It told me that I was a terrible person, a crappy leader, someone whom people should never be trusting to make a good decision. It told me that no matter what I do people will be mad at me, dismiss me and worst of all, not love me anymore.

Like I said, Monday all day …

One of the things the introduction to these review lessons asks us to do is to return to these words – these wonderful words of life that each lesson offers us on the hour and the half-hour and especially whenever we find ourselves tuning in to the lying voice of our ego. It speaks first and it speaks loudest so it grabs our attention before we can take that nanosecond to remember who we truly are and which Voice we should truly be listening to.

Continue reading “AYoMW: April 21, 2020 — Stamp my ticket to paradise”

Lesson 111: Review of lessons
91: Miracles are seen in light, and
92: Miracles are seen in light, and light and strength are one.

The reason Buddhist teacher Jack Kornfield advises students to pick a spiritual practice and stay with it, instead of succumbing to the buffet of spiritual vehicles, is that in time, that practice will become not just a habit, but something that we are. If we practice taking the “one seat” in as many moments of our lives as possible, remaining in that Divine center when all around us is chaotic, will become not just a habit, but a way of life.

Continue reading “AYoMW: April 20, 2020 — Dying to grow within”

Lesson 110: I am as God created me.

Buddhist teacher Jack Kornfield writes in his book, A Path with Heart, about his teacher Achaan Chah who taught that all students must choose one way to practice to reach enlightenment. Chah called his practice “taking the one seat.”

Chah explains:  “Just go into the room and put one chair in the center. Take the seat in the center of the room, open the doors and the windows, and see who comes to visit. You will witness all kinds of scenes and actors, all kinds of temptations and stories, everything imaginable. Your only job is to stay in your seat. You will see it all arise and pass, and out of this, wisdom and understanding will come.”

Today’s lesson provides that kind of “one seat” experience. If we can get it through our thick skull, and equally thick ego, that we are as God created us, then we are taking the “one seat,” we are situating ourselves in the only form of Reality that exists – our creation as innocent children of God who remain with God even as we seek to create illusory worlds of separation and division.

Continue reading “AYoMW: April 19, 2020 — Taking the “one seat””

Lesson 109: I rest in God.

Here in America, we are a society of doers. We do so much that when we take vacations, we come back exhausted and in need of another vacation to recover from the one we just took. We don’t know how to rest. We don’t know how to take a break and do nothing.

This is why the current coronavirus pandemic is so hard for so many people. They are being forced not just to slow down, but often to stop completely. Some are stopping because they lost their jobs, some are going stir crazy because they thrive on the hustle and bustle of their offices and others are going nuts because they enjoy traveling and moving and abhor sitting still.

And here we are – in enforced stillness. It’s no wonder some are losing their minds right now.

It was Blaise Pascal who once keenly noted: “All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.”

Continue reading “AYoMW: April 18, 2020 — You’re under a-rest”

Lesson 108: To give and receive are one in truth

As I began reading today’s lesson I marveled at its beauty. The words were just flowing over me, making me feel warm and comforted. “True light makes true vision possible,” it says. How wonderful! I can see the world, this lesson tells me, through a unified vision – through Christ’s vision that sees nothing but love. It doesn’t take notice of anything that is not love because only love is real and nothing unreal can pull us from this state of true joy and bliss.

I was flying pretty high until I hit this bit: “to forgive one brother wholly is enough to bring salvation to all minds.”

Well, shit.

Continue reading “AYoMW: April 17, 2020 — Enlightenment, or some shit like that”

Lesson 107: Truth will correct all errors in my mind

I have to admit that I am pretty bad at meditating. Honestly, I spend half of my meditation time just trying to stay awake – even during guided meditations. I once read a comment from Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hahn that it’s okay to fall asleep now and then during meditation, but I’m not sure how he’d feel about me napping away all of my meditation time.

In an effort, then, to achieve some sort of spiritual practice, I have turned to chanting, specifically kirtan since it blends my favorite pastime of music with spirituality. Chanting Sanskrit words that I don’t know allows me to enter a meditative state quicker than using other practices such as Taize and the varied voices of kirtan chanters such as Krishna Das and Snatam Kaur keep the practice lively and interesting for me.

Continue reading “AYoMW: April 16, 2020 — There is another world”

Lesson 106: Let me be still and listen to the truth

A Course in Miracles tells us that the voice of our ego speaks first and it speaks the loudest. Tune in to cable news, or read a few Facebook entries, and you can be sure you’re hearing the loud voices of the ego, blaring its message of fear, loathing, blame, shame and greed. If any message you hear unsettles you or jars you from any sense of peace or joy – that’s the voice of the ego. It has no other purpose but to shake us from our joy.

“Be not deceived by voices of the dead,” today’s lesson says, “which tell you they have found the source of life and offer it to you for your belief. Attend them not, but listen to the truth.”

The truth is this: We are God’s channels for love, peace and joy in the world and our only choice is whether we will understand the truth of that and open ourselves wide to be used by God, or if we will deny our function in this world and follow the “dead” voice of the ego.

“Be not afraid today to circumvent the voices of the world,” this lesson continues. “Walk lightly past their meaningless persuasion. Hear them not.”

Continue reading “AYoMW: April 15, 2020 — That still, small voice”

Lesson 105: God’s peace and joy are mine.

A friend came by yesterday with a gift – a cloth face mask with a little pouch to add a coffee filter or some other type of filter to protect myself from the coronavirus whenever I have to be out in public. There is, of course, a debate about how effective any of these homemade masks may be, but the gesture was huge. She drove across town with her special-needs daughter to make this delivery.

We socially distanced as we chatted about our lives under lockdown. This is the same person who, after I jokingly commented on Facebook about opening up my last package of toilet paper, made that same drive to deliver a fresh pack to my door. My friend deeply understands the message of today’s lesson – we cannot truly give unless we understand it is the same as receiving. My friend lost nothing by giving me the things I need. She has plenty of masks, plenty of toilet paper and plenty of other supplies she needs because she gives them away.

Continue reading “AYoMW: April 14, 2020 — The gift that keeps on giving”