Showing posts with label ACIM workbook. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ACIM workbook. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 22, 2021

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #364 - This holy instant would I give to you. Be You in charge. For I would follow You, certain that Your direction gives me peace.


 Lesson #364

This holy instant would I give to you. Be You in charge. For I would follow You, certain that Your direction gives me peace.


Having been raised Roman Catholic back in the 1950s and 60s I remember the Latin mass prior to the decision of Vatican II which made it possible for the mass to be said in the vernacular. Many of the Latin phrases I remember, a favorite being “Pax vobiscum”, Peace be with you, and the response was “Et cum spiritu tuo” and with your spirit as well. Today’s lesson: one of the last five of the year-long study of the workbook of A Course In Miracles reminds us that the peace of God is always with us should we choose to recognize it.


In Alcoholic Anonymous, it is suggested that we improve our conscious contact with God as we understand God in step eleven. We do this through prayer, meditation, and mindfulness and extending the peace of God to others..


In Unitarian Universalism we join together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning which is pursued when we say to one another “Pax vobiscum.” UUs also accept one another and encourage each others’ spiritual growth as stated in principle three of seven.


Today is a day of peace when we put God in charge and shed the illusionary concerns of our egos. Pax vobiscum everybody.


A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #363 - This holy instant would I give to You. Be You in charge. For I would follow You, certain that Your direction gives me peace.


 Lesson #363

This holy instant would I give to You. Be You in charge. For I would follow You, certain that Your direction gives me peace.


The lesson today is the same as yesterday and the day before that. We are drawing to within two days of the end of the year long ACIM workbook lessons. This lesson is repeated five days in a row because it is so important. What is more important to our salvation than shedding our ego born out of separation and rejoining the Oneness from whence we came and which is the Ground Of Our Being?


In Alcoholic Anonymous the eleventh step encourages us to improve our conscious contact with God as we understand God. This is the purpose of life and what deep down we yearn for although we go off on many other wild goose chases after worldly things we think will make us happy.


In Unitarian Universalism we join together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning which can take us hither and yon until we realize that what we seek is within and not without and we begin to become aware of and experience our inherent worth and dignity which comes from the Divine Spark within.


Today, as we have in the two previous days and as we will do tomorrow, it is suggested that we rest in the present with our Transcendent Source and experience the rising of peace and bliss.


Monday, September 20, 2021

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #362 - This holy instant would I give to You. Be You in charge. For I would follow You, certain that Your direction gives me peace,


 Lesson #362

This holy instant would I give to You. Be You in charge. For I would follow You, certain that Your direction gives me peace.


St. Paul says in his letter to the Corinthians, “If God is with you who can be against you?” It can be added that you and God are a dynamic duo. The power of the universe is realized when your will is brought into alignment with God’s will for you.


In Alcoholic Anonymous it is suggested, in step eleven, that we improve our conscious contact with God. The lessons of the last five days of the ACIM workbook are all the same because they are so important. In working on these last five lessons we practice step three of AA which is turning our willfulness over to God’s will for us which, simply put in one word, is love.


In Unitarian Universalism we join together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person. When we become attuned to this inherent worth and dignity peace and bliss arises.


Today, lesson #362 suggests that we align our will with God’s will for us. This takes discernment of what God’s will for us is. This discernment is the answer to the question, “What would love have me do.”


Sunday, September 19, 2021

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #361 - This holy instant would I give to You. Be you in charge. For I would follow You, certain that your direction gives me peace.

 


Lesson #361

This holy instant would I give to You. Be you in charge. For I would follow You, certain that your direction gives me peace.


We have arrived at the last five lessons which are all the same. Basically, it is suggested that we rest in doing God’s will for us. We have given up our willfulness and turned it over. We are going with the flow, resting in the peace of the Tao.


In Alcoholic Anonymous it is suggested, in step three, that we make a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understand God.


In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. This search takes us to goodness, truth, and beauty which is found in the holy instant when we rest in the presence of our Transcendent Source.


Today, it is suggested in lesson #361 that henceforth we listen consistently to the Voice of 

God which speaks to us constantly. All we need do to experience the peace and bliss of God is to listen.


Saturday, September 18, 2021

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #360 - Peace be to me, the holy Son of God. Peace to my brother, who is one with me. Let all the world be blessed with peace through us.


 Lesson #360

Peace be to me, the holy Son of God. Peace to my brother, who is one with me. Let all the world be blessed with peace through us.


As we arrive in the last days of the end of the 365 day A Course In Miracles workbook we can appreciate the non dualistic metaphysics of the teaching. The Son and the Father are one. I and my brothers are One. Christians call this Oneness of the Son, “Body of Christ.” It is in this growing awareness of the non duality of the Transcendent that peace arises.


In alcoholic Anonymous, we are encouraged, in step eleven, to improve our conscious contact with God as we understand God through prayer and meditation. In this conscious contact, we find peace and serenity.


In Unitarian Universalism we join together to affirm and promote the love of the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.


Today, it is suggested in lesson #360 that we bless the world with the peace we have experienced through the awareness of the non dualistic Oneness of all existence.


Friday, September 17, 2021

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #359 - God's answer is some form of peace. All pain is healed; all misery replace with joy. All prison doors are opened. And all sin is understood as merely a mistake.

 Lesson #359

God’s answer is some form of peace. All pain is healed; all misery replaced with joy. All prison doors are opened. And all sin is understood as merely a mistake.



Universalists teach that God loves us unconditionally and would never consign any of God’s creations to hell. In the world of the ego, mistakes are made due to the separation which the ego condemns as sin to ignite guilt, suffering, fear, and anger. If we call on God to heal our separation, God’s answer is some form of peace.


In Alcoholic Anonymous we are encouraged to improve our conscious contact with God which is done through forgiveness. We first forgive ourselves with God’s love and then others.


In Unitarian Universalism we join together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person. Mistakes are recognized, acknowledged, and forgiven as we perceive and focus on the Divine Spark in every person.


Today, in lesson #359, we experience the peace of God when we forgive, which is the willingness to give up making other people and circumstances responsible for our unhappiness. We recognize that we are not victims except by our own choosing. We are responsible for the choice we make between Love and fear.


Thursday, September 16, 2021

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #358 - No call to God can be unheard nor left unanswered. And of this I can be sure; His answer is the one I really want.


 Lesson #358

No call to God can be unheard nor left unanswered. And of this I can be sure; His answer is the one I really want.


Jesus teaches, “Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened for you.” What the heck is Jesus talking about? The spiritual yearning we all feel to become One with the All once again. We all yearn to go home.


In Alcoholic Anonymous it is encouraged in step eleven to improve our conscious contact with God as we understand God. All we have to do is ask, surrender our egos, and accept the peace and bliss that arises.


In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning and what is this truth and meaning we all are searching for? It is the peace and bliss of the Oneness with God.


Today, lesson #358 reminds us that no call to God can be unheard or unanswered because God is the Ground of Our Being, our Transcendent Source and what we really want deep down is to go home again and belong to that from which we have separated ourselves.


Wednesday, September 15, 2021

A Course in Miracles workbook lesson #357 - Truth answers every call we make to God, responding first with miracles, and then returning unto us to be itself.


 Lesson #357

Truth answers every call we make to God, responding first with miracles, and then returning unto us to be itself.


What is truth? In Unitarian Universalism the fourth principle of seven is to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. What is this “truth” that we are searching for?


In Alcoholic Anonymous it is suggested, in step eleven, that the truth we are searching for is the improved conscious contact with God as we understand God.


In Unitarian Universalism it is suggested in the first principle that we affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person.


Today, in lesson #357 it is suggested that the truth we call for is found in the miracle of forgiveness which frees our brothers and sisters and ourselves.


Tuesday, September 14, 2021

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #356 - Sickness is but another name for sin. Healing is but another name for God. The miracle is thus a call to Him.

 

Lesson #356

Sickness is but another name for sin. Healing is but another name for God. The miracle is thus a call to HIm.


As we near the end of the workbook, the terms used in the A Course In Miracles workbook become more understandable. Sin is separation from the Love of God. Healing is a return to the Oneness, the non duality of the Ground of Our Being, our Transcendent Source. The miracle is the shift in perception from the world of the ego based on separation and division to the world of God which is the Oneness, the Wholeness, holiness, get it? And so the miracle is a remembering from Whence we have come and the healing of the separation.


In Alcoholic Anonymous it is suggested, in step eleven, that we improve our conscious contact with God through prayer and meditation, what today we call “mindfulness.”


In Unitarian Universalism we join together to affirm and promote the responsible search for truth and meaning which takes us to the place of miracles.


It is suggested in today’s lesson, #356. that we drop the ego and call to the Oneness of God and work a miracle.


Monday, September 13, 2021

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #355 - There is no end to all the peace and joy, and all the miracles that I will give, when I accept God's Word. Why not today?


 Lesson #355

There is no end to all the peace and joy, and all the miracles that I will give, when I accept God’s Word. Why not today?


The question that can guide our thoughts, intentions, and actions is “What would Love have me do?” When we operate at this level we perform miracles and peace and joy arises.


In Alcoholic Anonymous it is suggested, in step twelve, that we share our spiritual awakening with others.


In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote justice, equity, and compassion in human relations.


Today, it is suggested in Lesson #355 that we perform miracles when we accept God’s Word of unconditional love and share it bringing peace and joy to ourselves and others around the world.


Sunday, September 12, 2021

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #354 - We stand together, Christ and I, in peace and certainly of purpose. And in Him is His Creator, as He is in me.


 Lesson #354

We stand together, Christ and I, in peace and certainty of purpose. And in Him is His Creator, as He is in me.


The Christian church has taught for centuries that all people have been born in original sin and fallen short of the glory of God. The Universalists and A Course In Miracles teach the opposite that all people are born into an original blessing of inherent worth and dignity.


It is suggested in Alcoholic Anonymous, in step 12, that we share this spiritual awakening, that God loves us unconditionally, with others.


In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person.


Today, in lesson #354, we are reminded that the Body of Christ is God’s Son of which each of us is a part.


Saturday, September 11, 2021

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #353 - My eyes, my tongue, my hands, my feet today have but one purpose: to be given Christ to use to bless the world with miracles.



 Lesson #353

My eyes, my tongue, my hands, my feet today have but one purpose; to be given Christ to use to bless the world with miracles.


The classic song sung by Dionne Warwick originally back in 1967 is “What’s it all about, Alfie?” Today’s lesson, #353, teaches us that it’s about blessing the world with the Love of God.


In Alcoholic Anonymous, it is suggested, in step twelve, that we share with others what we have learned from the program about spiritual awakening.


In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth.


Today it is suggested that we use our physical bodies to bless the world with the Love of God. A kind word, a compliment, and expression of gratitude, forgiveness, initiates a ripple effect sanctifying the world.


Friday, September 10, 2021

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #352 - Judgment and love are opposites. From one comes all the sorrows of the world. But from the other comes the peace of God Himself.

 

Lesson #352

Judgment and love are opposites. From one come all the sorrows of the world. But from the other comes the peace of God Himself.


My classmates and I were taught in our graduate program for a Master’s degree in Social Work that to be a good Social Worker one must have a “nonjudgmental attitude.” Carl Rogers, the humanistic psychologist, and the father of client centered therapy or “Rogerian therapy,” called it “unconditional positive regard,” and here in lesson #352 the idea arises once again that “judgment and love are opposites”.


In Alcoholic Anonymous it is suggested that we drop our judgment and in step three turn our will and lives over to the care of God as we understand God. In lesson #352 we are told that it is in this turning over that peace arises.


In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning and where is this “truth and meaning” to be found? In lesson #352 it is taught that truth and meaning is found in a nonjudgmental attitude and in unconditional positive regard.


Today, it is suggested that we drop our judgmental attitudes and recognize and acknowledge that peace arises when we turn our willfulness over to God’s will.


Thursday, September 9, 2021

What do you think about the UU A Way Of Life ACIM workbook commentaries?

 A person asked about A Course In Miracles and how it might relate to the twelve step program of Alcoholics Anonymous. The question also was raised about how ACIM might be incorporated into Unitarian Universalism. In attempting to relate the ACIM workbook lessons to AA and UU has resulted in this year's study of the workbook of ACIM which we are coming to an end of in the next two weeks after one year.

The ACIM workbook lessons relate to people at different stages of spiritual development. However, the lessons are easier to understand and apply if the student understands the underlying metaphysical model of the Course which is based on the nonduality of the Divine.

The Course uses a post integral world view based on the idea that the Course was channeled to Helen Schuman by Jesus. The post integral world view is a stage or level of development which only a small percentage of the population have attained so far at this point in human evolution. Therefore, the number of students using this material is very small.

If you have been studying this material, the usefulness of it is found in the application of the daily lessons in one's own life and in sharing the ideas and applications with others.

It would be helpful to improve our understanding of this material if you would comment on how the material has been useful in your life and in the lives of those you have shared it with.

Thank you for your attention and assistance.

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #351 - My sinless brother is my guide to peace. My sinful brother is my guide to pain. And which I choose to see I will behold.



 Lesson #351

My sinless brother is my guide to peace. My sinful brother is my guide to pain. And which I choose to see I will behold.


As comedian, Flip Wilson, would say in his Geraldine routine, “What you see, honey, is what you get!” When we look at our brothers and sisters what do we see: sin or sinlessness? Do we look at the ego stuff or the spark of the Divine? Today’s lesson teaches that what we focus on is what we get.


In Alcoholic Anonymous it suggests, in step nine, that we make amends in cases where it would do no harm. Step nine involves repairing the ruptures in relationships seeking to heal rather than to harm.


In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person and a world community of peace, liberty, and justice for all.


Today, it is suggested that we seek to behold the sinlessness in our brothers and sisters and in doing so we see the sinlessness in ourselves and experience heavenly peace and joy.


Wednesday, September 8, 2021

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #350 - Miracles mirror God's eternal Love. To offer them is to remember Him, and through His memory to save the world.


 Lesson #350

Miracles mirror God’s eternal Love. To offer them is to remember Him, and through His memory to save the world.


It’s hard for us as mortals to realize that we were born to save the world. And yet when we forgive, we join with others in Love. Salvation is when everybody loves everybody all the time. We’re on our way. Keep the faith as we move forward.


In Alcoholic Anonymous it is suggested in step eleven that we improve our conscious contact with God through prayer and meditation, what today we call “mindfulness.”


In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote a respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.


Today, it is suggested that we offer miracles, that is Love, to everyone and thereby save the world.


Sunday, September 5, 2021

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #349 - Today I let Christ's vision look upon all things for me and judge them not, but give each one a miracle of love instead.


 Lesson #349

Today I let Christ’s vision look upon all things for me and judge them not, but give each one a miracle of love instead.


There is a recurring theme in these daily lessons. The point is being driven home as we come upon the last two weeks of the year of lessons. The point is that God is love and if we see anything else we could choose a better way of seeing which would be the miracle of love.


In Alcoholic Anonymous it is suggested, in step eleven, that we share what we have learned from working the ten previous steps and that is that our ego is not in charge, and turning our willfulness over to our Higher Power is the path to serenity.


In Unitarian Universalism it has been taught for a couple of centuries that God loves us unconditionally and would not condemn any of God’s creations to hell.


Today, it is suggested that we look upon the world with Christ’s vision of love instead of the ego and this form of vision is miraculous.


Saturday, September 4, 2021

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #348 - I have no cause of fear, for You surround me. And in every need that I perceive, Your grace suffices me.


 Lesson #348

I have no cause for anger of fear, for You surround me. And in every need that I perceive, Your grace suffices me.


“Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”


Whose will is to be done: mine or my Transcendent Source? That is the question. Today’s lesson is that the question has been answered as I decide that “Your grace suffices me.”


In Alcoholic Anonymous it is suggested, in step three, that we decide to turn our willfulness over to the care of God as we understand God.


In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the search for truth and meaning that will finally take us to understanding and choosing God’s will for us.


Today we remind ourselves that we have no cause for anger and fear because we are in God’s hands and God’s grace suffices us.


Friday, September 3, 2021

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #347 - Anger must come from judgment. Judgment is the weapon I would use against myself, to keep the miracle away from me.

 

Lesson #347

Anger must come from judgment. Judgment is the weapon I would use against myself, to keep the miracle away from me.


I get angry when things are not the way I want them to be. I like to think I am the boss and in control. The miracle is a shift in perception from want to love. What would Love want me to want?


In Alcoholic Anonymous it is suggested in step three that we turn our willfulness over to God’s will for us. “Let go and let God,” reads the bumper sticker.


In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the inherent worth of every person. We drop our judgment and acknowledge the Transcendent Source in ourselves and others.


Today we trade judgment for the miracle, anger for love, distress for peace, anguish for joy.


Thursday, September 2, 2021

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #346 - Today the peace of God envelopes me, and I forget all things except God's Love.

 


Lesson #346

Today the peace of God envelopes me, and I forget all things except God’s Love.


In A Course In Miracles when time stands still and we become aware of experience outside of time, it is called a “Holy Instant.” Today’s lesson suggests that we get into a flow state which is outside of time where we become one with the experience of whatever we are doing in the ego world and transcend it to a place of peace and love.


In Alcoholic Anonymous it is suggested in step eleven that we improve our conscious contact with God.


In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote a love for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.


Today, we set all the things of the world of the ego aside and abide in the peace and love that we call “God,” our Transcendent Source.


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