A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #240 - Fear is not justified in any form.

 Lesson #240

Fear is not justified in any form.

We are the children of God who have come from Transcendent Love. What could we possibly, in our right minds, be afraid of? Nothing. God is here. There is nothing to fear.

In Alcoholic Anonymous, it is suggested in step eleven that we improve our conscious contact with God through prayer and meditation, what nowadays is called “mindfulness.” When we are mindful, fear evaporates, anxiety is dispelled, and worries vanish.

In Unitarian Universalism, we affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person which springs from our inner being, our Oneness with our Creator, the Source of our Being. Anything else is bull shit. Remember that.

Today, we begin and end the day, and many times in between reminding ourselves that fear is not justified in any form in our right mind. If we are experiencing fear at any point we need to switch focus from our wrong mindedness to our right mindedness, form the world of the ego to the world of Spirit (Love). We can tell the difference when our feelings change from anxiety and dread to peace and joy.

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #239 - The glory of my Father is my own.

 

Lesson #239

The glory of my Father is my own

From whence does the Divine Spark in each of us come? Why, from our Higher Power, of course. All we have to do is eliminate the barriers to our awareness of Love’s presence. It has been there all along.

In Alcoholic Anonymous, it is suggested, in step eleven, that we seek to improve our conscious contact with our Higher Power through prayer and meditation. Nowadays it’s called mindfulness.

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning and the inherent worth and dignity of every person. That inherent worth and dignity that we search for is the glory of my Father who, being our creator as an extension of His own being, we share,

And so, today, it is suggested that we begin and end the day and several times in between remembering from whence we have come and that the glory of my Father is my own. The glory is in our spiritual DNA.

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #238 - On my decision all salvation rests.

 Lesson #238

On my decision all salvation rests.

It is explicitly stated in the introduction to A Course In Miracles that we don’t get to choose the curriculum. We do get to choose when we want to take it. So, lesson #238 states, “On my decision all salvation rests.” What do we choose: the world of the ego or the world of the Spirit? We have the power to choose whenever we wish. For some it takes a long time. For others, the decision is made early in their lives.

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 other words, it is suggested we give up our willfulness and turn to willingness to engage with God’s Love.

In Unitarian Universalism, we covenant together and to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. This search entails decisions of where to search, when, how, and what to do with what we find. Again the curriculum is not ours to design for we are not in charge, but whether we learn and what we learn from the curriculum is up to us. Do we choose the things of the ego or the things of the Spirit? Upon this decision salvation rests.

Today, it is suggested that we begin and end the day, and many times in between, being mindful of our decisions. Would we choose the path of the ego or the path of the Spirit? Upon this decision our salvation rests.

And So It Goes - Week of April 25 - May 1, 2021

I am a long time subscriber of The Sun magazine.I am not a big fan of poetry. It's too hard for me to understand most of it to enjoy it. I love most song lyrics but most poetry leaves me stumped and confused. I don't see what people see in a lot of it. Maybe that's part of my brain that never developed.At any rate, I loved a poem in this month's Sun Magazine entitled, "My Late Breast." I understood it, enjoyed it, it made me sad and laugh. It seemed worth mentioning.

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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?

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She said she was ready to die at age 54. She was asked “What is your psychological legacy? What is it that you have learned about life that you would want people to know? You can’t die until you teach them what you've learned.” “Okay,” is what she said, “For next time?” I said, “Right.” She said, “Okay.”

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Sometimes all people need in life is an enlightened supportive witness. It’s like sunlight on plants. With that attention they grow and thrive.

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He said life seemed overwhelming. I agreed and said it would be alright in the end. He said, “Really?” with a skeptical look. I said, “Absolutely!” not being sure myself but apparently having more faith. In the end, what do we have, really, but faith? There sure aren’t any guarantees.

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I was reminded again this week multiple times how important it is in life to accentuate the positive and minimize the negative. Forgiveness and gratitude is so much more effective in enhancing well being than judgment and grievance.

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A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #237 - Now would I be as God created me.

 

Lesson #237

Now would I be as God created me.

In the heart we are brilliant diamonds shining in our lustrous glory. The trick to this awareness is to get past all the socialization and conditioning which has encrusted this precious gem.

In Alcoholics Anonymous it is suggested in step eleven that we seek to improve our conscious contact with God as we understand God. In taking this step we come to realize our Oneness with our Creative Source. As St. Paul writes in his letter to the Corinthians, “If God is with you, who can be against you?”

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person. Amen! Alleluia! Let your light shine!

Today, it is suggested that we begin and end the day, and many times in between, realize the light that shines within us and manifest it to ourselves and to the world.

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #236 - I rule my mind which I alone must rule.

 Lesson #236

I rule my mind which I alone must rule.

The mind is a terrible thing to waste and a waist is a terrible thing to mind. Ha, ha, ha. We are the Kings and Queens of our minds. Who else to blame if our mind is a junk yard?

In Alcoholic Anonymous, it is suggested in step four that we do a searching and fearless moral inventory. Socrates said that an unexamined life is not worth living. It is part of the perennial wisdom that a person should mind their mind and in modern times we call this “mindfulness.”

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote a free and responsible search for truth and meaning and this search sooner or later will take us to our own mind if, in fact, it is responsible.

Today, it is suggested that we begin and end the day, and many times in between, deliberately and intentionally being mindful. The lesson for today reminds us that “I rule my mind, which I alone must rule.”

Here’s a limerick to consider as we reflect on today’s lesson;

My mind is mine to rule,

It is a fantastic tool,

To bring suffering and pain,

Or joy, peace, and sane,

One makes me wise, the other a fool.

Religion in the public square - Donald Trump's presidency.

Dear Dave:

Did you read Rebecca Solnit's essay on Literary Hub on April 29, 2021 about Donald Trump's presidency? If so what did you think of the essay?

Curious,

Cora

Dear Cora: 

Rebecca Solnit is one of those essayists that I want to like but I always find her work a little disappointing. She kind of makes a good point but then she skitters off into the bushes and winds up disappointing.

She started off strong with "The most valuable real estate Donald J. Trump ever acquired in his shady, shoddy career as a developer was the terrain inside our heads. And like so much else he got hold of, he wrecked it." I can resonate with that as can the cable companies who saw their ratings go way up and their advertising dollars soar. Solnit didn't make that point though although it has been brought to the public's attention many times - the idea that Trump is an entertainer not a good business man or a good politician, and we, the American people elected such an incompetent unqualified person to be our chief executive. 

Solnit writes "When the Biden inauguration happened, I was surprised to find that I was not uplifted or relieved, but freed to feel how hideous the whole thing had been, how damaged I felt—and I heard from many others who had the same experience. " Most mature people knew it was going to be a shit show when he announced coming down the opulent elevator and participated in the primaries. Who in their right mind thought this guy was qualified? The most surprising thing is that the Republican Party let him take them over. Who would have thunk that? I was surprised about it and hardly a peep from the pundits. From the grabbing pussy to the bullying nicknames to the bankruptcies and the scam foundation and bogus Trump University who didn't know the guy was a huge asshole? "Hideous" is hardly the word for it.

"There may be one salutary consequence of those four ugly years: the blithe confidence that “it can’t happen here” is gone, and people are more aware that rights and truth and justice need defending and are more willing to do the work " Becky, Becky, Becky, what makes you think that? Wishing for it, hoping for it, wanting it is one thing, Evidence that it is happening is something else. I don't see any evidence that the Republican establishment is growing up. They still defend Trumpism and not only double down, triple down, quadruple down, quintuple down. Lindsay, Mitch, Matt, Devin, Mark haven't changed a bit and they have given birth to more insanity like Marjorie Tayler Green.

Solnit ends her essay with this plum "Dread is a sense of wanting time to stand still, lest worse things come; and loathing is a desire to get away from the monstrosity already present. Those were the bookends to the Trump era and in between them was this turmoil in the White House, and the government more broadly, but also in the nation and in our own heads." And...............Becky...................... what?

I was once again disappointed. Solnit seems to be a whiner, a sophisticated "Karen" and she has her following, but beyond whining and pointing out problems I guess I am disappointed at her lack of solutions. Remember the old saying, "Don't come complaining unless you have suggestions for a solution."?

Solnit does do us a service by describing a phenomenon of embarrassment and shame of this period in American History but beyond that I am once again disappointed.

What will it take for Americans to recover from the disaster of the Trump presidency and get back on the evolutionary track of creating a better world for all people on the planet?

As Unitarian Universalists we covenant together to affirm and promote the goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all. This principle is further advanced than the majority of people in the United States. If people affirmed and promoted this principle they could have never voted for Donald Trump and the Republican Party that supports him. It is up to UUs to be the yeast in the dough to help our country rise again to lead the evolutionary development of a world where peace, liberty, and justice exists for all inhabitants of the planet/