If you would have Love you must let go of the things of the ego.

 Topic Ten

If you would have Love you must let go of the things of the ego.

Miracles are everyone’s right, but purification is necessary first.” T-1.1.7:1

The miracle is a shift in perception from the world of the ego to the world of the Spirit. This shift is everyone’s right, but for it to occur two things have to happen; First the person has to know that there is a choice between ego and Love and secondly, a person can’t have both. If the person would have Love they must purify their mind by letting go of the ego.

In Alcoholic Anonymous it is suggested, in step three, that we make a decision to turn our willfulness over to the care of God as we understand God.

In Unitarian Universalism we join together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. This search requires a letting go as much as a curiosity about our Transcendent Source. All the major world religions teach that we can’t have both. It is this letting go of the things of the ego which the Course names “purification.”

Today, it is suggested that we purify our minds by forgiving all the people and circumstances that we hold responsible for our unhappiness. It is time for us to experience miracles.

Love is natural.

Miracles are natural. When they do not occur something has gone wrong. T-1.1.6:1-2

The shift in perception from the world of the ego to the world of Spirit is natural. As the Beatles sang, “Love is all there is.” Many other people with mystic vision have said this as well, and yet the ego world is very tantalizing, distracting, and would have us believe that the world of the ego is all there is. Wrong! There is so much more, and all we have to do is shift our perception by asking the question, “What would Love have me do?”

In Alcoholic Anonymous it is suggested, in step three, that we make a decision to turn our willfulness over to the will and care of God as we understand God.

In Unitarian Universalism we join together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person which is a manifestation of miracle thinking, right mindedness. This first principle teaches that the inherent worth and dignity of every person is what is natural and when we think otherwise something has gone wrong.

Today, it is suggested that we recognize and acknowledge that miracles, the healing power of Love, are natural. When we experience things otherwise something has gone wrong. Recognizing this fact we can choose otherwise.

We are encouraged to work miracles habitually.

Miracles are habits, and should be involuntary. They should not be under conscious control. Consciously selected miracles can be misguided. T-1.1.5:1-3

Salvation is when everybody loves everybody all the time. We are a long way from that evolutionary goal of humanity. A miracle is right mindedness when we are tuned into the world of Spirit (Love) and not the world of the ego. When we are tuned into the world of the Spirit miracles are habitual. They are a way of living which encompasses everyone. Miracles do not distinguish for distinguishing requires judgment, separation, and exclusion. Because of this discrimination, consciously selected miracles are misguided.

In Alcoholic Anonymous it is suggested, in step eleven, that we improve our conscious contact with God through prayer and meditation. When we do this we are placing ourselves in the realm of miracles.

In Unitarian Universalism we join together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person. Notice the word “every” in this principle? This affirmation and promotion is habitual and with practice becomes involuntary and is no longer under conscious control. When we become selective about whose inherent worth and dignity we promote and affirm, we become misguided. Who are we to judge and exclude?

Today, it is suggested that we give up our judgment and bless people habitually. When we become selective we become misguided and tools of the world of the ego rather than facilitators of the world of Spirit.

Knock and it will be opened for you.

Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened for you.

All miracles mean life, and God is the Giver of life. His Voice will direct you very specifically. You will be told all you need to know. T-1.1.4:1-3

Remember “miracle” in A Course In Miracles means a shift in perception from the world of the ego to the world of the Spirit. When we shift our focus to the world of the Spirit we experience everlasting life, the infinite. When we apprehend the big picture of Love, of Oneness, of wholeness (holiness) we experience peace and joy and realize we are on the right track. It becomes clear what our role is in this experience on earth and we gain a clearer understanding of God’s will for us. In this sense, God’s Voice directs us and we are told all we need to know about our meaning and purpose in this incarnation.

In Alcoholic Anonymous it is suggested, in step eleven, that we improve our conscious contact with God through prayer and meditation. Nowadays we call this “mindfulness” and we continually ask “What would love have me do?” When we ask we get an inkling of what God is suggesting to us.

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. This search, whether we are conscious of it or not, is a search for miracles and what the Course calls “right mindedness.” We are searching for the holy which is the good, the true and the beautiful. With so much ugliness in the world of the ego accompanied by suffering with guilt, anger, fear, resentment and grievance it is such a blessing when we are graced by what feels like a miracle.

Today, it is suggested that we shift our focus from the world of the ego to the world of the Spirit and ask continually when we have important decisions to make, “What would Love have me do?” The Course teaches that God will direct us specifically when we ask.

Miracles occur naturally as expressions of love.

Miracles occur naturally as expressions of love. The real miracle is the love that inspires them. In this sense everything that comes from love is a miracle. T-1.1.3:1-3

Remember a miracle is a shift in perception from the world of the ego to the world of Spirit, our Transcendent Source. The Universalists have taught that God is unconditional love. This is a unique theology in the history of Christianity which has taught that Jesus died for our sins to appease a judgmental and punishing God. In A Course In Miracles it is taught that Jesus died on a cross to demonstrate that the body doesn’t matter but Spirit, Love, is everything.

In Alcoholic Anonymous, it is suggested that we carry what we have learned from the program to others. The best part of the program is sharing love.

In Unitarian Universalism we join together to accept and encourage each other’s spiritual growth which is best done with the miracle of love. Spiritual growth is facilitated by the experience of love not creeds and doctrines. Francis David, the Unitarian pioneer, taught that we need not think alike to love alike.

Today, principle three of fifty miracle principles suggests that everything that comes from love is a miracle. Indeed it is. You know when you have experienced it.

Miracles do not matter. The Divine Spark does.

Miracles do not matter. The Divine Spark does.

Miracles as such do not matter. The only thing that matters is their Source, which is far beyond evaluation. T-1.1.2:1-2

It is interesting that in the text named “A Course In Miracles” the second miracle principle teaches that miracles do not matter.

Miracles are the shift in perception from the world of the ego to the world of the spirit. What matters is not the shift but Spirit which is Love.

In Alcoholic Anonymous it is suggested in step three that we make a decision to turn our willfulness over to God as we understand God. What is important is not the turning over but the God of our understanding which is beyond our understanding.

In Unitarian Universalism we join together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person. What is important is not the ego of the person but the Source of their inherent worth and dignity.

Today, as yesterday, look for that Divine Spark. While the looking is instrumental it is not as important as the Divine Spark Itself.

There is no order of difficulty in miracles.

There is no order of difficulty in miracles. One is not “harder” of “bigger” than another. They are all the same. All expressions of love are maximal. T-1.1.1:1-4

A “miracle” as defined in A Course In Miracles is a shift in perception from the external world to the internal world of the mind. A miracle is the result of a choice to focus on the love within rather than on the events in the external world. Using this definition it makes sense that there is no order of difficulty in miracles. Miracles are all the same: expressions of love.

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person. This inherent worth and dignity is within a person and has nothing to do with external appearances.

In Alcoholic Anonymous it is suggested, in step three, that we turn our will and lives over to our Higher Power and in doing so we experience a miracle.

Peace Pilgrim said that when she met people she looked for the Divine Spark in every person and focused on that. Peace Pilgrim was continually working miracles when she focused on that Divine Spark. Try it today.