A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #147, Review of lessons 133 and 134, Recovering our agency.

 Lesson #147

Review of lessons 133 and 134

My mind holds only what I think with God.

133- I will not value what is valueless.

134 - Let me perceive forgiveness as it is.

The metaphysics of A Course In Miracles provides a whole new orientation to one’s existence in this thing we call “life.” We decide that we will no longer value the idols of the ego world which we have come to learn are valueless. We learned further that the way to give up valuing the idols of the world of the ego is through, what the Course calls, forgiveness.

In Alcoholic Anonymous, it is suggested, in step three, that we decide to turn our will and our lives over to the care of our Transcendent Power. With this decision, it is suggested in step four that we do a fearless moral inventory of ourselves to recognize what idols of the ego we have been holding dear. In step six, we are ready to give up our attachment to these idols and let our understanding of the will of our Transcendent  power take over our lives.

In Unitarian Universalism, we affirm and promote seven principles which guide us to what has value from that which is valueless. To summarize the common theme of the principles, we call it Love. Love is that which the principles all have in common. This love is arrived at by giving up what is valueless and deciding to no longer make other people and circumstances responsible for our unhappiness. We go within and realize our agency which comes from an acknowledgment of the Transcendent power which is the source of our being.

Today it is suggested that we begin and end the day, and many times in between, reminding ourselves that we no longer want to value the valueless and that the practice which brings this realization into reality in our lives is forgiveness.

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #146, Review of lessons 131 and 132, Cracks are where the light gets in.

 Lesson #146

Review of lessons 131 and 132

My mind holds only what I think with God.

131- No one can fail who seeks to reach the truth.

132 - I loose the world from all that I thought it was.

The mystics teach that most human beings are sleepwalking through life in a dream with its many illusions. For some, they come to a point in their life where it becomes apparent that what they have thought was true isn’t true and that there must be a better way. This revelation is what is called “the dawning.” The dawning initiates a search for the Truth but before the Truth can be found a purification is necessary, a purging of all the misperception, faulty generalizations, and mistaken beliefs.

In Alcoholics Anonymous, this dawning occurs in the first three steps when we recognized that our lives, as we have lived them in the ego world,  are unmanageable and that there is a power greater than our ego and that we would be better off if we would turn our will and our lives over to that Transcendent power. Let go and let God the slogan says.

In Unitarian Universalism, we affirm and promote the free and responsible search for Truth and meaning which we come to understand does not reside in the world of the ego but is to be found within and between. In the cracks, as Leonard Cohen sings, is where the light gets in.

Today, it is suggested that we begin and end our day, and several times in between, to take a few minutes or maybe just a moment or two and remind ourselves that no one can fail who seeks the Truth if we are willing to give up the idols of the world of the ego.

My Kind Of Church Music

Anthem by Leonard Cohen

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #145, Review of lessons 129 and 130, What is the world I want?

 Lesson #145

Review of lessons 129 and 130

My mind holds only what I think with God.

129 - Beyond this world there is a world I want.

130 - It is impossible to see two worlds.

Once again we are reminded of the metaphysics of the Course that teaches that the only thing that is real is the non dualistic Oneness from which we have separated ourselves at our incarnation. The other world that we came from and to which we are returning is eternal, has no loss of any kind, nourishes the soul but not the body, and is a place of no guilt.

In Alcoholic Anonymous, in step eleven, we are encouraged, through prayer and meditation, to improve our conscious contact with God as we understand God. That is another way of saying that beyond this world of the ego where there is anguish and suffering, there is a world that we want and that we can’t have our cake and eat it too. We have to choose one or the other: the world of the ego or the world of the Spirit.

In Unitarian Universalism, we covenant together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person which arises from our non dualistic Oneness, and the interdependent web of which we all are a part. It is the awareness of these two things, our inherent worth and dignity and the interdependent web, which gives rise to the eternal wholeness which leaves no place for loss and guilt.

Today, we will begin and end our day, and many times in between, remind ourselves that there is a world we want beyond the current world of the ego which is made up of illusions which are not permanent but figments of a dream. We laugh because we realize that we can’t have both, the world of the ego and the world of the Spirit. Today, we will choose Spirit and claim the peace and joy which is ours.

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #144, Review of lessons 127 and 128 - There is no love but God's and that love is all I want.

Lesson #144

Review of lessons 127 and 128

My mind holds only what I think with God

127 - There is no love but God’s

128 - The world I see holds nothing I want.

The key concept in the metaphysics of A Course In Miracles is the non dualistic Oneness of our Transcendent Source. With this understanding we can say “There is no love but God’s” and “The word I see holds nothing want,” because the world I see, the world of the ego is made up of illusions.

In Alcoholics Anonymous, we come to this realization in the third step when, after admitting we are powerless, and came to see there is a Power greater than ourselves, we make a decision to turn our lives over to our Transcendent Source. We came to see that there is no love but God’s. This insight is a miracle.

In Unitarian Universalism, we covenant together to affirm and promote a free and responsible search for truth and meaning, and this search takes us to the place where we realize that there is no love but God’s, and that the world of the ego doesn’t hold anything that I really want.

Today, it is suggested that we begin and end the day, and many times in between, take a few minutes and ponder the ideas that there is, in the last analysis, after it’s all said and done, when all else has failed, that there is no love but God’s and that the world of the ego really doesn’t hold anything that I want.

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #143, Review of 125 and 126, It is in giving that we receive

 Lesson #143

Review of lessons #125 and #126

My mind holds only what I think with God.

125 - In quiet I receive God’s Word today.

126 - All that I give I give to myself.

In A Course In Miracles there are two key concepts, the small self of the ego, and the huge Self which encompasses everyone in what Emerson called the “oversoul” and Christains call the “Body of Christ” and sometimes refer to as the “communion of saints. I think of it as all for One and One for all.

In Alcoholics Anonymous, in the twelfth  step it is suggested that what we have learned from working the twelve steps be carried to others. This activity is often referred to as “twelve stepping.” When you have achieved so much peace and joy in your life that you can’t contain it all, it is time to let it overflow by sharing it with others.

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth. We learn what we teach, we receive what we give, when we love unconditionally we are loving Ourself.

Today we begin and end the day, and many times in between, we remind ourselves and reflect that in quiet I receive God’s word and in receiving God’s word when I share it, I share it with mySelf.

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #142, Review of lessons 123 and 124 - I am one with God.

 Lesson #142

Review of lessons 123 and 124

My mind holds only what I think with God

123 - I thank my Father for His gifts to me.

124 - Let me remember I am one with God.

Is the glass half full or half empty. Today we are reminded that it is not only half full but completely full when we remember from whence we came which is from the abundant love of God.

In Alcoholic Anonymous, it is suggested, in the eleventh step, to improve our conscious contact with God through prayer and meditation. And the same thing is suggested to us today in our review of lessons 123 and 124.

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person and we reflect on where that inherent worth and dignity came from and of what it is made from.

The Universalists, in contrast at the time to the Calvinists, preached that God is Unconditional and Universal Love. It was a radical notion in the religious world at that time in the eighteenth century and today it is still a foreign idea but more visible around the planet Earth.

It is suggested today that we take five minutes at the beginning and end of the day to reflect on these two lessons. It is beneficial to remind ourselves every hour throughout the day that, if I choose to be, I can be aware that I am one with God, and if God is with you, who can be against you?

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #141 - Review about forgiveness

 Lesson #141

Review of lessons 121 and 122

My mind holds only what I think with God.

121- Forgiveness is the key to happiness.

122 - Forgiveness offers everything I want.

Forgiveness, being willing to give up making other people and circumstances responsible for our unhappiness, is the undoing of the ego which sets us free. With forgiveness we give up our willfulness for willingness, and we recognize, acknowledge, choose, and accept that it is following what I discern is God’s will that will liberate me from the chains of the ego and provide me with peace and joy.

In Alcoholic Anonymous in step four we do our fearless moral inventory, in step five we share the results of our inventory with another human being, in step six we turned our willfulness over to God as we understand God, in step eight we, when it would do not further harm, we made attempts to repair the harm we have done, in step eleven we meditate and pray to enhance our conscious contact with God’s will, and in step twelve we shared this spiritual program with others. What we learned from working these steps is that forgiveness is the key to happiness and that forgiveness offers everything we want.

In Unitarian Universalism, we covenant together to affirm and promote seven principles. In this affirmation and promotion we come to realize that the principles are not just nice slogans but actually suggestions for how one might lead their life.

Unitarian Universalists do not have an explicit priniple on forgiveness, but they do affirm and promote a free and responsible search for truth and meaning, and if one is to apply this principle daily in one’s life, it does ultimately take the search within and it is here that we begin to appreciate that the Truth we are seeking is found by forgiveness. The seeker comes to realize that the key to happiness is forgiveness and it is in forgiveness that everything we are seeking  is to be found.

Today, it is suggested that we take five minutes at the beginning and the end of the day and reflect on the two lessons we are reviewing, “Forgiveness is the key to happiness,” and “Forgiveness offers everything I want.” It is in applying these lessons and practicing them that we find the peace of God.