A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #235 - God in His mercy wills that I be saved.

 Lesson #235

God in His mercy wills that I be saved.

The Universalists preached in the 18th century, in opposition to the Calvinists, that God loves human beings unconditionally and wouldn’t send any of God’s creations to hell. At the time, and still today, many people believe this teaching is heresy. Humans who are taught and believe the Calvinist theology say than human beings are damned because of Adam and Eve’s sin and can only be redeemed by the blood sacrfice of a human being on a cross through torture and exectuion to appease a condemning, wrathful, revengeful God. What kind of a religion is this that teaches such things? Today’s lesson in A Course Of Miracles flips the Calvinist theology on its head and teaches that God in His mercy wills that I be saved.

In Alcoholic Anonymous it is suggested in step three that we turn our will and lives over to the care of an Unconditionally loving God as we understand God.

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person which emanates from the unconditional love of their creator.

Today, it is suggested that we begin and end the day, and hourly in between, to reflect on the fact that we are loved unconditionally by our Transcendent Source. Amen! Alleluia! Let it be so!

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #234 - Father, today I am Your Son again.

 Lesson #234

Father, today I am Your Son again.

According to the meta narrative of A Course In Miracles, we humans had the mad idea that we could separate ourselves from the Oneness of our Transcendent Source. Today, we are reminded that this is insanity, or as some might more vulgarly call it, bull shit. We therefore come to the awareness that we are children of our creative Source 

In Alcoholics Anonymous, it is suggested, in step eleven, that we improve our conscious contact with our Higher Power through prayer and meditation or whatever else facilitates this cosmic consciousness.

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

Today, it is suggested that we begin and end the day, and at least hourly in between, reminding ourselves that we are the children of the Universe and in our essence One with the All.

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #233 - I give my life to God to guide today.

 Lesson #233

I give my life to God to guide today.

In Alcoholics Anonymous it is suggested in the first step that we admit that we are powerless over alcohol and the other stupid things we decide in our lives, and our lives have become unmanageable. In other words, our willfulness has caused a lot of trouble. In step three it is suggested that we turn our will and our lives over to God. Goodness gracious, that's the same thing as today’s lesson, “I give my life to God to guide today.”   “Let go and let God” as they say in the rooms.

In Unitarian Universalism, we covenant together to affirm and promote a free and responsible search for truth and meaning and where is that search to take us and where is truth and meaning to be found? Today’s lesson teaches that the search will take us to God’s will which will guide us if we let It.

Today, it is suggested that we begin and end the day and many times in between reminding ourselves to step back and let God lead the way. We find that when we do this our day goes better and we experience more joy and peace.

Is sharing photos a holy encounter? The third principle of UU

 People want to show me their photos on their smartphones and sometimes Tik Tok videos. I get invited to join Instagram, SnapChat, and other image platforms. The challenge is to turn being an audience for performance, "look at me," into validating mirroring that empowers and contributes to enhanced awareness, well being, resonance, and mutuality. It should be said, “I’ll look at yours if you will look at mine.". What would such an exchange mean for us?

The third principle of Unitarian Universalism is to affirm and promote the acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth.

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #232, Be in my mind, my Father, through the day.

 Lesson #232

Be in my mind, my Father, through the day.

We forget that God is with us always. We get distracted and engaged with things in the world. Jesus teaches, “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.” We often get so caught up in the things of Caesar’s that we forget all about God.

In Alcoholic Anonymous, it is suggested, in step eleven, that we seek through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God. When we do, we relax, and might think to ourselves, “Isn’t this nice?”

In Unitarian Universalism, we covenant together to affirm and promote the love for the interdependent web of which we are a part. How can we ever lose awareness of this fact?

Today, we begin and end the day, and many times in between, hourly it is suggested, to remind ourselves that God is with us and we, too, can be with God.

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #231 - Father, I will but to remember you.

 Lesson #231

Father, I will but to remember you.

Sometimes the sentence structures of A Course In Miracles are off putting. It gets cute. Today’s lesson could be stated, “God, I want to remember you.” 

We yearn for something we can’t name. We recognize that we are deficient in some way, inadequate. We want to feel whole again, complete. What we are yearning for is the healing of the separation. It is this healing of the separation that the Course names “salvation.” Salvation is the returning to the Oneness of God. But to do this we must forego our egos. They must be left behind like a butterfly leaves the cocoon where it transformed from the caterpillar. The body has been an incubator of our Spirit and when its work is done we move on.

It is suggested in Alcoholics Anonymous, in the eleventh step, that we seek to improve our conscious contact with God through prayer and meditation. AA encourages us to remember from whence we have come and to where we yearn to return.

In Unitarian Universalism, we covenant together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning which ultimately is to be found by rejoining our Transcendent Source. This is done through meditation, prayer, and mindfulness.

Today, it is suggested that we begin and end the day, and at least hourly in between, to take a few moments and remember the Oneness from whence we have come. We know we are on the right path when we experience peace and joy.

And So It Goes April 18 - April 24, 2001

 When it comes to their marriage she asked me in front of her husband after talking with the two of them about their relationship for an hour, “Is there any hope?” What do you say to a question like that? I had an opinion but like a good counselor said, “What do you think?” She seemed to deflate and her husband looked anxious. I wanted to say, “Hope is my business. I sell several different varieties. What kind of hope do you have a hankering for?” Of course, I didn’t say that. I am a professional after all. So I said, “Yes, there is. Do you want to meet again and talk more about it? They both agreed and we set up a time. We’ll see.

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Philosophers and theologians have long emphasized the value of gratitude, and this is now buttressed by research. When we ask people to think about a time in their life when they have felt grateful, it diminishes unconscious thoughts of death. There’s a lot more work that needs to be done in this domain, but I find it to be one of the most uplifting directions of our research. Be humble. Be grateful. It’s good for you. It’s good for the world. 

Sheldon Solomon, The Sun Magazine, April 2021

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The father said about his developmentally disabled overweight 32 year old son, “He has trouble emptying his bladder.” Frank asked, “Does he pee standing up or sitting down?” The father said, “Sitting down.” Frank said, “Have him stand up.” The father said, “He often misses the mark.” Frank said, “What about the bushes?”

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A simple observation for the Trumpists and others, “Just because you want to believe it doesn’t make it true.”

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A guy told me that his biggest fear about retirement is running out of money before he dies. I said, “Well, sorry to hear that. I’m set for life as long as I die next week.”

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Jesus said that unless we become like little children we can’t enter the Kingdom of heaven. What Jesus meant was curiosity, reverence, an enchantment with the mystery of life is the doorway to heaven.

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I was wrong, always, about everything. Nothing was ever good enough. Tolerance was the most I could hope for I now realize in retrospect. Finally, I said, “If you’re that unhappy. Maybe you should get a divorce.” And she did after 35 years. And that was that.

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There is also an urgent need to root out extremism in law enforcement and the armed forces. Among the first 150 people arrested and charged with federal crimes after the attack on the Capitol, 21 were current or former members of the U.S. military, according to CNN. Some were affiliated with the Proud Boys. Last year police officers in North Carolina were fired after posting racist videos, and an FBI threat-assessment report dating back to 2006 expressed alarm about supremacist infiltration of law-enforcement ranks. Scientific America, April 2021, p.8

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What do you do when  most of the reporting on fake news is fake news?

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I had the thought all day today that something is seriously wrong. I was in my office on Saturday doing my billing to get the money I need to pay my taxes this year in three weeks on May 15th  for 2020.. I am very aware that the money I am making to pay my taxes for 2020 will be income that I must pay taxes on for 2021. Tennessee Ernie Ford’s song, “!6 Tons” comes to mind. “Sixteen tons and what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt. St. Peter, don't you call me for I can’t go. I owe my soul to the company store.”

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The title of the book was “The Death Of Truth: Notes On Falsehoods In The Age Of Trump.” In referring to the book in a post I miswrote the title as “The Death of Trump,” I followed up the post with an apology for the Freudian Slip and someone commented, “No apology needed. I wish he were dead too.” I replied to that comment that I do not wish Donald Trump dead, but wish him well and feel sorry for what he is facing in his post-presidency life. I stated that I would not want to trade places with him for all the tea in China, would the commenter? The commenter replied, “No. They certainly wouldn’t want to trade places with him either.” As Jesus said, “What good is it for a person to gain the whole world and to lose their soul?”