A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #164 - Now we are one with Him Who is our Source

Lesson #164

Now are we one with Him Who is our Source

Most of us live in the past and then we worry about the future and so we overlook the now what the Course calls the Holy Instant. If we stop, look within, take three deep breaths, relax, we sink into being with our Transcendent Source.

It is suggested in step eleven of Alcoholics Anonymous that we seek to improve our conscious contact with our Transcendent Source through prayer and meditation. Is this a good idea or what? Is it just a coincidence that Lesson #164 in A Course In Miracles suggests the same thing? Is this synchronicity just a coincidence or is there something more going on here?

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote a love for the interdependent web of existence of which we are a part. One of all and all for one where there is no past and no future, just the eternal present.

It is suggested that we begin and end the day, and many times in between, by taking time to remember that we are one with Him Who is our Source. When we do this, we can tell by the peace and joy that wells up with us.

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #163, There is no death. The Son of God is free.

 Lesson #163

There is no death. The Son of God is free.

Understanding the metaphysics of the Course is necessary if we will be able and want to stick with the lessons in the workbook. The physical body in the world of the ego dies. It has a shelf life, but the soul which inhabited the body lives forever. With what do you identify, your body or your soul?

In Alcoholic Anonymous, it is suggested in the third step that we turn our will and our lives over to God. Actually, we have no choice. It is simply a matter of when. How long will it take?

In Unitarian Universalism we affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person and this worth and dignity does not arise from the body but from the soul and lives forever.

It is suggested that today, we begin and end the day, and many times in between, consider that there is no death, and being a part of the Sonship of God, we are free. Death does not reign over us because it is an illusion that the ego has convinced us is real. Jesus was resurrected from the dead when, as the Romans, executed Him, He said, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” The Romans could kill his body but His Spirit is alive and well and continues to animate the world over 2,000 years later. What do you make of that?

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #162, I am as God created me.

 Lesson #162

I am as God created me.

Two major existential questions all humans are challenged by is “Who am I? What am I?” Am I the product of the ego manufactured by social conditioning and socialization?

People are like onions with layer upon layer which can be thought of as circles of privacy. Deep down, at the heart of the onion, what resides? A brilliant diamond sparkling with lustrous beauty.

In Alcoholic Anonymous it is suggested in step eleven that we seek to improve our conscious contact with our Transcendent Source through prayer and meditation and when we do, looking within, what do we find there?

In Unitarian Universalism it is suggested that we affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person and from where does this inherent worth and dignity arise?

Today, it is suggested that we begin and end the day, and many times in between, consider the idea that I am as God created me: perfect, unconditionally loved, a blessed part of the whole. With this awareness we rest in joy and peace.

My Kind Of Church Music

Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, The Beatles

Spiritual Book Discussion - Scripture Unbound - The finger pointing at the moon is not the moon.

The finger pointing at the moon is not the moon.

Yet, the work goes on. Particular texts have been analyzed with historical-critical tools, and arguments among specialized scholars fill journals and the web. What’s more, as actual practitioners of the various religious traditions become versed with historical-critical tools and scholars outside the traditions improve their understandings of the cultural milieu, the study is bound to deepen and yield richer insights.

Johnstone, Jonalu. Scripture Unbound: A Unitarian Universalist Approach (p. 54). Skinner House Books. Kindle Edition. 

Plenty of fingers pointing at the moon and far fewer actually experiencing it.

Don’t make the same mistake.

Francis David said, “We need not think alike to love alike.”

1. To what extent has the study of religious texts helped you become more loving?
2. To what extent have you observed people who are experts on religious texts being of higher consciousness and exuding more loving attitudes towards themselves and others.
3. To what extent have you found the study of religious texts as being helpful and nourishing in the development of your interior spiritual life?

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #161, Give me your blessing, holy Son of God

Lesson #161

Give me your blessing, holy Son of God

In the Christian tradition, I was taught to say, “The Father, The Son, and The Holy Ghost.” More than say it, as a Catholic, I was taught to make the sign of the cross, touching first my forehead, then my heart, and then each shoulder. The “Son” I always thought of as Jesus. In the metaphysics of the Course, the Son refers to all of humanity, all of the Father’s sons and daughters, even the ones that are hated, despised, attacked, vilified, maybe even killed as enemies.

Today, in this lesson, it is suggested that we ask everybody, even our enemies, for their blessing. What do you make of that?

In Alcoholic Anonymous, in steps eight and nine, we are asked to consider all the people we have harmed and where it would do no further harm make amends. In other words, we give them our blessing instead of our enmity. 

In Unitarian Universalism, we covenant together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person, even those we despise. No small action.

Today, it is suggested and we picture in our mind someone that we particularly dislike and despise and ask them for their blessing. It is suggested that we say this prayer, “Give me your blessing holy Son of God. I would behold you with the eyes of Christ, and see my perfect sinlessness in you.”

The Spiritual Child - The Two Developmental Tasks Of Adolescence

The two developmental tasks of adolescence

We’ve talked about the principle work of adolescence as spiritual awakening, individuation, and integration into all realms of living. This involves two major developmental tasks. One, the teen must connect head and heart knowing in order for their spiritual and analytical faculties to inform one another. Two, they must integrate all parts of their being—their varied selves as social, emotional, intellectual, and sexual beings—into a whole self, with spirituality at the developmental hub of command central.

Miller, Dr. Lisa. The Spiritual Child (p. 298). St. Martin's Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. 

Oh wow! Teens must learn how to connect their head and heart, and they must get their shit together. That’s a tall order.

What are the factors that facilitate, nurture, and acknowledge these processes?

Parents/family.

Peers

Media

School

Church

How good a job do any of them do in our current society?

Rate each of them on a scale of 0 - 10 with 10 = being spot on 100% of the time, 5 = do the job 50% of the time, and 0 = missing in action. Not at all. Once you have rated the five factors add them up. 25 would be a perfect score. Anything 10 or below the teen is in serious trouble. Unfortunately, I encounter, as a mental health professional, many young people with scores of 10 or below. The most glaring absences are church, school, and parents/family, with peers and media often being very problematic.

If people of good will were interested in bolstering the positive presence of these factors in a teens life where would you start? Often it is in the mental health and the criminal justice system because these are the default positions in our society. The primary targets of these systems are to address the needs of adolescents through parents/family, and school.

What about church? 

Church is often an afterthought in our post religious society. Is that something that could be remedied? It would be helpful if there was the vision and the will. The most significant intervention would be a 1-2 year volunteer service corps for 16 - 20 year olds. Could/would a church institution fund it and run it? If so, that institution would have dedicated members for life.

Stories about UU mystic, Harry Hollywood - Don't do stupid shit but if you do learn from your mistakes.

 

Don’t do stupid shit but if you do learn from your mistakes.

Harry was in a bar with his buddies having a couple of beers and brought up the story where the Pharisees bring the adulterous woman to Jesus and ask Him if it’s okay to stone her which is the punishment for the crime at the time.

Harry says, “Now Jesus was a funny guy. Nobody can say He didn’t have a sense of humor. The way the story is told, Jesus squatted down  started drawing in the dust. I guess He was buying time while He thought about what to say. So, Jesus finally says, ‘I’ll tell you boys what you should do.’ 

They wait with anticipation and excitement for a stoning and Jesus says to them. ‘Whichever one of you is without sin can cast the first stone.’

The air went out of their lungs and they groaned in disappointment and the story says that they started walking away beginning with the eldest. Now why would that be? Why the eldest first? The answer to that question can wait for another time. Suffice it to say now that they walked away one by one.

The woman looks at Jesus and says meekly thinking that her goose was cooked, ‘Where did they all go?’ and Jesus says, grinning, ‘I’ll be damned if I know.’

So the woman says to Him. ‘What should I do now?’

He says, ‘I guess you’re free to go.’

She says to Him, ‘Gee, thanks!’

He says, ‘you’re welcome. Take care. Oh, and don’t do the same shit again.’

She laughs with Him and says, ‘Not in your life.’”

“And so,” says Harry,  “There’s a moral to that story.”

The folks listening say, “Oh yeah, what is it?”

Harry says, “Don’t do stupid shit, but if you do, learn from your mistakes and don’t repeat them.”

Everyone laughed and one of the guys bought everyone another round of beers.