A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #172, Review of lessons 153 and 154

 

Lesson #172

Review of lessons 153 and 154

God is but love, and therefore so am I.

153 - In my defenselessness my safety lies.

154 - I am among the ministers of God.

Our soul needs no defending. Knowing this I radiate God’s confidence and love into and across the world.

In Alcoholic Anonymous, it is suggested in step three that we turn our will and lives over to the care of our Transcendent Source. Having done that, there is nothing to fear. People sense this about us.

In Unitarian Universalism, we covenant together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person. Knowing about each person’s inherent worth and dignity changes the way we view ourselves and the world.

Today, it is suggested that we begin and end the day, and many times in between. By taking a minute or two and just remember that the safety of my soul lies in its defenselessness and that we are on a mission from God to imbue the world with holiness.

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #171, Review of lessons 151 and 152

 Lesson #171

Review of lessons 151 and 152

God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

151 - All things are echoes of the Voice for God.

152 - The power of decision is my own.

Unitarian Universalists covenant together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning and this search ultimately will take them to the experience of God as Love a Love that is shared by God with all of God’s creations.

In Alcoholics Anonymous, it is suggested in step eleven that the person seek to improve this conscious contact with this Source of Love through prayer and meditation.

In both these organizations, UU, and AA, participants come to recognize the Voice of God in all of God’s creations and this recognition is instigated by a choice to leave the world of socialization and social conditioning and enter into the world of Truth based in Ultimate Reality which is the Ground of Our Being.

Today it is suggested that we begin the day and end the day, and many times in between, we wait and listen for God’s Voice to lead us to the peace and joy which is our natural inheritance.

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #170, There is not cruelty in God and none in me.

 Lesson #170

There is no cruelty in God and none in me.

Cruelty comes from being defensive because we feel threatened. We are afraid and when we are afraid we often attack. Today’s lesson teaches that God does not attack but loves unconditionally and if we are an extension of God’s love then we should not attack either or we are acting on a belief in a false god.

In Alcoholics Anonymous it is suggested that we recognize, and admit that our lives our unmanageable. It is further suggested that we turn our will and our lives over to the care of God. Today’s lesson in the Course reassures us that God has not cruelty. God is not defensive of anything but only expansive, all encompassing, all loving.

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person and in this inherent worth and dignity there is no cruelty, no defensiveness, no vengeance, no attack, only honor and glory.

Today, it is suggested that we begin and end the day, and many times in between, remind ourselves that there is no cruelty in God and therefore none in ourselves.

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #169, By grace I live. By grace I am released.

 Lesson #169

By grace I live. By grace I am released.

“Grace” as defined in A Course In Miracles is a free gift of God. It is not something earned or learned. It is the final stage in returning to the Oneness.

In Alcoholic Anonymous, it is suggested in step eleven that we seek to improve our conscious contact with God through prayer and meditation, but grace is not something sought but something received from God. It is beyond the final step of the ladder of atonement. It is when God lifts us up into God’s loving embrace.

In Unitarian Universalism, we covenant together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning which is to be found in the inherent worth and dignity of every person which is shared among humanity with our Transcendent Source. When we experience this unification with our Transcendent Source it is a moment of grace.

Today, it is suggested that we begin and end the day, and many times in between, remind ourselves that it is by grace that we live and by grace that we are released.

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #167, There is one life, and that I share with God.

Lesson #167

There is one life, and that I share with God.

Once again the metaphysical philosophy of the Course leads to a teaching which is so counter-intuitive we might want to reject it immediately. The Course teaches that there is no death because we share Life with God.

Neale Donald Walsch, the author of the Conversations with God series suggests that if people don’t like the word “God” substitute “Life.” Instead of saying, “I don’t believe in God, say I don’t believe in Life.”

In Alcoholics Anonymous is it suggested in step eleven that through prayer and meditation we seek to improve our conscious contact with God.

In Unitarian Universalism, we covenant together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person which comes from the Life we share with God. We UUs can say, “There is one life, and that I share with God.”

Today, begin and end the day and many times in between remind yourself that there is one Life and that Life you share with God.

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #166, I am entrusted with the gifts of God

Lesson #166

I am entrusted with the gifts of God.

We are told by the Universalists that God loves us unconditionally. We may find this very hard to believe given what the world constantly tells us that we are not good enough, not happy enough, not loved enough, and are victims of other people and circumstances who have the power to make us happy if only they would, but they won’t, and so our unhappiness is all their fault. We play the victim in a blame game. This role and game has become our life and we are miserable. This misery leads us, sometimes in desperation, to exclaim, “There must be a better way!” And the good news is that there is. We can turn to the gifts from God and give up the illusory gifts of the world.

In Alcoholic Anonymous it is suggested in the first three steps that we admit that our lives in the world are unmanageable, and that there is a Power greater than ourselves that can restore us to sanity, and that we make a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understand God. Could it really be that simple?

In Unitarian Universalism, we covenant together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning which is to be found in the inherent worth and dignity of every person and a respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. Could it really be that simple?

In the lesson today, it is suggested that we take some time in the morning and the evening and many times in between to remind ourselves that if we decide to give up the idols of the ego an awareness of  the gifts of God will be entrusted to us bringing peace and joy which we can share throughout the world of the Spirit. Could it really be that simple?

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #165, Let not my mind deny the Thought Of God

 

Lesson #165

Let not my mind deny the Thought Of God

Neale Donald Walsch tells us in his first Conversations with God book that is talking to us all the time. If we aren’t aware of it, it’s because we aren’t listening. God gives us free will, so God whispers not wanting to overpower our willfulness or coerce us. As the sign board in front of our local Methodist church posted at Christmas time, “You, too, can hear the Angel’s song if you tune in on the right frequency.”

In Alcoholics Anonymous, in step eleven, it is suggested that we seek to improve our conscious contact with God. It’s a good idea if we would be happy and experience peace and joy.

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning and where does this search take us? The experience of our Transcendent Source where peace and joy abide.

Today, it is suggested that we begin and end the day, and a minute every hour, thinking of our Transcendent Source. If we step back, and let TS lead the way, a whole new world is opened to us which is holy and the world is sanctified.