A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #320 - My Father gives all power unto me.

 Lesson #320

My Father gives all power unto me.

The power that the Father gives to me is the control over my own mind. While I can’t control external circumstances I can control my response and management of them. My Father has given all that power to me if I choose to use it.

In Alcoholic Anonymous it is suggested in step three that we make a decision to turn our will over to God and in doing so we gain the whole world.

In Unitarian Universalism we join together to affirm and promote seven principles which, if applied, facilitate a spiritual journey characterized by salvation which is when everybody loves everybody all the time. Our Father has given us each the power to do this. All we need do is forgive our resentments, our grievances, our fears, our guilt and ask ourselves “What would Love have me do?” In discerning the answer to this question, my Father gives all power unto me.

Today, it is suggested that we invite and welcome the power that God gives to us to make the world a Loving place and in doing so it is sanctified and becomes holy.

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #319 - I came for the salvation of the world.

 Lesson #319

I came for the salvation of the world.

The three big existential questions that all human beings are challenged by are: Why was I born? What is the purpose of my life? What happens when I die? Today’s lesson gives us some answers. The lesson teaches us that we came to facilitate the salvation of the world. How do we do that? By forgiveness and miracles.

In Alcoholic Anonymous it is suggested, in step twelve, that we share our spiritual awakening with others and thereby strengthen our own.

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to accept one another and encourage each other’s spiritual growth through implementing the seven principles.

Today it is suggested that we remind ourselves several times why we were born and what our purpose is here. Like the Blues Brothers we are on a mission from God to save the world.

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #318 - In me salvation's means and ends are one.

 Lesson #318

In me salvation’s means and end are one.

There are many quizzical ideas in a A Course In Miracles such as you learn what you teach, you can be right or be happy, salvation’s means and end are one.

A Course in Miracles teaches that a “miracle” is a shift in perception from separation and division to unity and wholeness (holiness). Being a part of the whole we recognize that our individuality is also a part of a whole and in this recognition and acknowledgment we are saved.

In Alcoholic Anonymous it is suggested, in step twelve, that we strengthen our recovery by sharing it. As we as individuals become healthier and we share our health with others, the collective becomes healthier. As the collective becomes healthier our individual health is enhanced. There is a mutual resonance between the part and whole and the whole and the part.

In Unitarian Universalism we join together to accept one another and encourage each other’s spiritual growth. The same dynamic occurs  in AA or any group where the parts are aware of the whole and the whole supports and nurtures the parts.

Today it is suggested that we remind ourselves several times that the means of our salvation and the end are the same. Our destination is the journey. We are not trying to do something or achieve something, we are intent on becoming aware of our consciousness here and now. We come to realize that all our striving is for naught as we are already perfect in our essence, our natural inheritance.

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #317 - I follow in the way appointed to me.

 Lesson #317

I follow in the way appointed to me.

“...Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Isn't it time to get around to doing God’s will instead of your ego’s? Haven’t you wasted enough time and made enough mistakes to learn that your life, run by the ego, is unmanageable? Isn’t it time to find and use a new compass? 

The new compass is simple, simply reconnoiter with what Love would have you do?

In Alcoholics Anonymous it is suggested, in step three, that we make a decision to turn our will and lives over to the care of God and follow the way appointed for me.

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning which can be found when we give up the suggestions and enticements of our egos and instead discern and follow the way appointed us.

Today, we start living our lives differently. Instead of asking what does my ego want me to do, we ask what would Love have me do? The first way is the path to anxiety and depression, and the second way is the path to peace and joy.

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #316 - All gifts I give my brothers are my own.

 Lesson #316

All gifts I give my brothers are my own.

It is one thing to sing in the shower and another to sing in a chorus. It is one thing to laugh at a joke alone and another thing to laugh when you tell a joke to another person.

There are things that are much more enjoyed when we do them with others such as forgiveness, kindness, understanding, mercy, and of course, love. We can’t give what we don’t have. We can’t share what we don’t possess. So one of the paradoxes in life is that we receive more when we give it away. Therefore, we can say, “All gifts I give my brothers are my own.”

Today’s lesson is well exemplified in the twelfth step of Alcoholics Anonymous where it is suggested that we reinforce our own program by sharing it with others. We learn what we teach.

In Unitarian Universalism, in the third principle, we covenant together to affirm and promote the acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth. In other words, we practice what we preach and it becomes clear that all the gifts I give my brothers and my sisters are my own. We are not mimicking or parroting or saying do as I say not as I do. We try to walk the talk and teach by example and in this way the gifts we give are something we, ourselves, own.

Today, I strive to be authentic, and genuine and realize that the gifts I give my brothers and sisters are deep down not only my own but increase as I give them away.

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #315 - All gifts my brothers give belong to me.

 Lesson #315

All gifts my brothers give belong to me.

We stand on the shoulders of millions of people who have come before us and no person is an island. Our lives are daily supported by the work, effort, and energy of others. Don’t forget that all gifts my brothers and sisters give belong to me. Without them, I could not exist on this planet for long.

In Alcoholics Anonymous it is suggested that we carry the message of our spiritual awakening to others in step twelve as many of them carry theirs to us. Meetings would not exist and hope could not be offered without the work of many people in the rooms.

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm seven principles because without our brothers and sisters there would be no covenant and no way to practice our principles. All the gifts given by my brothers and sisters belong to me.

Today, it is suggested that we reflect on our many blessings, many of which come from the thousands of supply chains which nourish and support our lives.

A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson #314 - I seek a future different from the past.

 Lesson #314

I seek a future different from the past.

We have been socialized and conditioned to live in the past world of the ego. Like the person in Plato’s cave, we have freed ourselves from shackles forcing us to watch the dancing shadows on the wall of the cave and gone to the mouth of the cave to look outside and see what a wondrous world awaits us.

In Alcoholic Anonymous, it is suggested in step one that we admit that our lives in the world of the ego have become unmanageable and in step two that a power greater than ourselves can restore our awareness to sanity. Alleluia, Blessed be!

In Unitarian Universalism we join together to affirm and promote a free and responsible search for truth and meaning which takes us from the world of the ego to the world of the spirit. We seek a future different from the past.

Today, we let the past go and shed our conditioning and socialization and move toward freedom and enlightenment which is our natural inheritance. We seek a future different from what we have been experiencing.