Friday, October 15, 2021

If you see someone without a smile, give them one of yours.



A miracle is a service. It is the maximal service you can render to another. It is a way of loving your neighbor as yourself. You recognize your own and your neighbor’s worth simultaneously. T-1.1.18:1-4

The miracle is a shift in perception from the world of the ego to the world of the Spirit. In the world of the ego we are separate, alone, divided. In the world of the Spirit we are all One together in love. Salvation is when everybody loves everybody all the time. So when we engage in miracles we are engaging in love where no one is excluded and we recognize that while in the world of the ego we see ourselves as droplets we are, in fact, all part of the ocean.


In Alcoholic Anonymous, it is suggested in step eleven that we improve our conscious contact with God, our Higher Power as we understand our Higher Power, and in step twelve that we share this spiritual awakening with others. This sharing is a miraculous service.


In Unitarian Universalism we join together to affirm and promote the acceptance of one another and the encouragement to spiritual growth. This acceptance and encouragement is the work of miracles.


Today, when you see someone without a smile give them one of yours. Sharing your optimistic joy engenders hope and comfort to those who temporarily are without any.


Thursday, October 14, 2021

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.




Miracles transcend the body. They are sudden shifts into invisibility, away from the bodily level. That is why they heal. T-1.1.17:1-3


A miracle is the shift in perception from the world of the ego to the world of the Spirit. The body is the creation of the ego. The body is constantly changing. It is not a permanent thing and in that sense it isn’t real. The miracle shifts our perception into the realm of the felt but unseen. Miracles are not concerned with bodily and physical things. Miracles are about Love which puts faith in the unseen, the intangible.


In Alcoholic Anonymous it is suggested, in step eleven, that we improve our conscious contact with God through prayer and meditation. This conscious contact has to do more with the heart than the head.


In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. This respect is an appreciation of the systemic whole which is greater than the sum of its parts. This respect for the systemic whole takes our awareness from the physicality of the parts to an awareness and appreciation of something greater that imbues the parts with connection and disregards their separation and division. This wholeness, holiness, heals what was divided and broken.


Today, it is suggested that we stop separating and dividing and instead apprehend the healing wholes of which things are apart. This understanding of ever ascending wholeness takes us to our Transcendent Source and is immensely healing. Some call this awareness a “miracle.”


Wednesday, October 13, 2021

Sharing is a miracle.



Miracles are teaching devices for demonstrating it is as blessed to give as to receive. They simultaneously increase the strength of the giver and supply strength to the receiver. 

T-1.1.16:1-2


A Course In Miracles teaches that we learn what we teach, we get what we give, we experience more vibrantly what we do with others such as sing in a chorus and tell a joke to an appreciative listener who laughs with us.


In Alcoholic Anonymous it is suggested, in step twelve, that we share the spiritual awakening we have experienced in the program with others. Sharing our spiritual awakening, we strengthen it in ourselves and demonstrate the blessings it can imbue in others.


In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to accept one another and and encourage spiritual growth. We are encouraged to share what we have gained from our faith.


Today, as the Holy Spirit inspires us, we can share what we know for ourselves and for others. The key word for the day is “share.” Sharing is a miracle.


Tuesday, October 12, 2021

Are you devoted to miracles?



Are you devoted to miracles?


Each day should be devoted to miracles. The purpose of time is to enable you to learn how to use time constructively. It is thus a teaching device and a means to an end. Time will cease when it is no longer useful in facilitating learning. T-1.1.15:1-4


A miracle is a shift in perception from the world of the ego to the world of the spirit (love.) Each day we should devote ourselves to paying attention to love. Paying attention to love is a constructive use of our time which, here in the body, is limited. The time here in the body is to be used to learn, to become consciously aware of Love’s presence and to eliminate the barriers and obstacles which prevent us from doing so. Once we have done this, time has no meaning because our awareness will have become one with our Transcendent Source, the Infinite Presence.


In Alcoholic Anonymous it is suggested, in step eleven, that we improve our conscious contact with the God of our understanding through prayer and meditation, what we call today, mindfulness. When miracle principle 15 suggests that we devote ourselves each day to miracles it is this mindfulness it is speaking of.


In Unitarian Universalism we join together to affirm and promote a respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. This respect takes devotion. Miracle principle 15 suggests that each day we devote ourselves to miracles which involve an awareness of the interdependent web of existence.


Today, it is suggested that we be mindful and continually ask ourselves, “What would Love have me do?”


Monday, October 11, 2021

Will you bear witness to the true, the good, and the beautiful?




Miracles bear witness to truth. They are convincing because they arise from conviction. Without conviction they deteriorate into magic, which is mindless and therefore destructive; or rather, the uncreative use of the mind. T-1.1.14:1-3


Miracles, remember, in A Course In Miracles is the shift of perception from the world of the ego to the world of the spirit. When we perceive the world of the spirit, love, we are witnessing truth. Jesus taught that the way to the kingdom is “to love as I have loved.” The love that Jesus is talking about is unconditional. We love just because we choose to. It does not depend on other factors. When love is conditional it descends into magic and can be destructive. Conditional love is transactional and as such is subject to multiple distortions and deceptive machinations.


In Alcoholic Anonymous it is suggested, in step eleven, that we improve our conscious contact with God through prayer and meditation and this conscious contact is a miracle.


In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning and this search eventually brings us to the realm of miracles which is based on conviction about what is the true, good and beautiful. Magic is counterfeit and leads to anger and sorrow. Unconditional love, as the Universalists taught, is the real deal and brings us to truth.


Today, it is encouraged that we bear witness to the existence of love which is often hidden by the idols of the ego. We are encouraged to look behind the veil of magic to the true, the good, and the beautiful which is infinite and permanent.


Sunday, October 10, 2021

Should the seven principles be considered sacrosanct?


The statement of the seven principles of Unitarian Universalism was adopted by the Unitarian Universalism General Assembly in 1985 and has served the association of UU congregations well.

Now there is talk of messing with it by adding new principles. As Rev. Denise D Tracy has written the seven principles should be considered immutable and unchangeable. Amendments can be added but the original seven principles which were developed over 9 years of study and discernment should be considered sacrosanct.

Unitarian Universalists do not like authority which is considered sacred. They would rather question, complain, discuss, reason, and argue. This tendency to be skeptical, curious, and rebellious is a good up to a point, but is nothing holy, is nothing true, can nothing be counted on?

Unitarian Universalists either believe in nothing permanent or they believe in something true. In the post modern world, sometimes called the "post truth world", there is no truth according to the adherents of this worldview. But this is false belief and leads one eventually to pessimistic nihilism. If you believe in nothing, you will fall for anything.

There is an infinite presence, whatever you want to call it, "Higher Power," "God," "Mother Nature," "The Force," and it fuels the good, the true, and the beautiful. The Seven Principles are good, true, and beautiful and they should be not only allowed to stand, but lifted up as a beacon of faith not to be tampered with.


Suspending the temporal order is when miracles occur.



Miracles are both beginnings and endings, and so they alter the temporal order. They are always affirmations of rebirth, which seem to go back but really go forward. They undo the past in the present, and thus release the future. T-1.1.13:1-3


We have expressions like “Time stood still,” “Where did the time go?” “I lost track of the time.” In A Course In Miracles the experience of the eternal present is what is called “The holy instant.” In these experiences the temporal order has been suspended and there is no past or future we are simply in what psychologists call a “flow state.” When we experience these states it feels like a miracle.


In Alcoholic Anonymous it is suggested in step eleven that we improve our conscious contact with God. A way of improving this contact is to enter into flow which is as pleasantly mood altering as any chemical and with no hangover.


In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the love for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. When we experience this love we feel as if we are one with everything and time stands still.


Today, it is suggested that we become aware of and welcome the suspension of the temporal order. It is in that space that miracles occur.


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