What attracted people to Jesus? Compassion

But when people followed Jesus, they were drawn by his compassion as much as anything else. He possessed what Frederick Buechner describes as the “fatal capacity for feeling what it’s like to live inside someone else’s skin.”

For more click here.

In which realm do we wish to put our faith?

The Last Judgment might be called a process of right evaluation. It simply means that everyone will finally come to understand what is worthy and what is not. After this, the ability to choose can be directed rationally. Until this distinction is made, however, the vacillations between free and imprisoned will cannot but continue. T-2.VIII.3: 5-8

A Course in Miracles . Foundation for Inner Peace. Kindle Edition. 

The passages of A Course In Miracles can be so dense that they take a lot of unpacking to understand. The Course teaches that there are two realms of understanding: the realm of the ego which is based on illusions and the realm of the spiritual which is based on truth, goodness, and beauty. We are conditioned by society to believe that the realm of the ego is true while the realm of the spiritual is illusionary when it is really the other way around. When we come to realize this it is the “right evaluation” and after this judgment “ judgment” no longer has any meaning, so in the realm of the ego, it is the “last judgment.”

In Alcoholics Anonymous, it is suggested, in step eleven, that we improve our conscious contact with God, and God being Unconditional Love, judgment no longer has any meaning.

In Unitarian Universalism we join together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning which takes us from the realm of the ego and the illusionary to the realm of the Spiritual and the True which provides us with all the meaning that is needed and desired.

Today, we are asked to consider which realm we wish to inhabit. Jesus said to be in the world but not of the world. This last evaluation is what He was talking about. We need but decide which world we believe to be true, good, and beautiful and in which we wish to put our faith.

There is no last judgment.

Your will to create was given you by your Creator, Who was expressing the same Will in His creation. Since creative ability rests in the mind, everything you create is necessarily a matter of will. It also follows that whatever you alone make is real in your own sight, though not in the Mind of God. This basic distinction leads directly into the real meaning of the Last Judgment. T-2.VIII.1:3-6

The Last Judgment is one of the most threatening ideas in your thinking. This is because you do not understand it. Judgment is not an attribute of God. It was brought into being only after the separation, when it became one of the many learning devices to be built into the overall plan. Just as the separation occurred over millions of years, the Last Judgment will extend over a similarly long period, and perhaps an even longer one. Its length can, however, be greatly shortened by miracles, the device for shortening but not abolishing time. If a sufficient number become truly miracle-minded, this shortening process can be virtually immeasurable. It is essential, however, that you free yourself from fear quickly, because you must emerge from the conflict if you are to bring peace to other minds. T-2.VIII.2: 1-8

A Course in Miracles . Foundation for Inner Peace. Kindle Edition.

The “last judgment” is a perversion  in Christian theology that does not exist in the spiritual realm because God, being Unconditional Love, does not judge. It is human beings who have separated themselves from the Unconditional Love of God by engaging in conditional love that judge. The antidote to the last judgment is the miracle which sees and accepts God’s Unconditional love as the major tool of the Atonement which is the healing of the separation. 

In Alcoholics Anonymous it is suggested, in step eleven, that we improve our conscious contact with God through prayer and meditation. In this improved conscious contact with God there is no judgment let alone a “last” judgment.

In Unitarian Universalism, we join together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person. In this affirmation and promotion there is no judgment because the perception of inherent worth and dignity is the perception of the Divine Spark which is perfect as it is.

Today, it is suggested that we give up our belief and practice of conditional love and replace it, as the Universalists taught us, with unconditional love.

Belief in rugged individualism is the ultimate sin.

One of the ways in which you can correct the magic-miracle confusion is to remember that you did not create yourself. You are apt to forget this when you become egocentric, and this puts you in a position where a belief in magic is virtually inevitable. T-2. VIII. 1:1-2 A Course In Miracles

As Galen Guengerich has taught we are radically dependent on each other and life, and our primary spiritual attitude should be gratitude. 

In our arrogance and conditioning by our American culture we forget our radical dependence and worship the self made person. There is no such thing except in our vain ego.

In Alcoholics Anonymous it is suggested in the very first of twelve steps that we recognize, acknowledge, and admit that our lives are unmanageable all by ourselves.

In Unitarian Universalism we join together to affirm and promote a love for the interdependent web of existence of which we are a part.

Today, it is suggested that we remember who we really are and give up our egocentric claim that we are self made. Is there any belief more insane?

Are we ready to love?

I have already briefly spoken about readiness, but some additional points might be helpful here. Readiness is only the prerequisite for accomplishment. The two should not be confused. As soon as a state of readiness occurs, there is usually some degree of desire to accomplish, but it is by no means necessarily undivided. The state does not imply more than a potential for a change of mind. Confidence cannot develop fully until mastery has been accomplished. We have already attempted to correct the fundamental error that fear can be mastered, and have emphasized that the only real mastery is through love. Readiness is only the beginning of confidence. You may think this implies that an enormous amount of time is necessary between readiness and mastery, but let me remind you that time and space are under my control.T-2.VII.7: 1-9

A Course in Miracles . Foundation for Inner Peace. Kindle Edition. 

The love being described here is unconditional love. Most people are not ready for it. They have the potential and sometimes the desire but they aren’t ready. To be ready  the student must be willing to give up their ego. This scares people and so they withdraw, postpone, deny, project.

In Alcoholics Anonymous it is suggested, in step three, that we make a decision to  turn our willfulness over to the will of God. It is this decision that indicates our readiness for the miracle.

In Unitarian Universalism, we join together to affirm and promote the acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth. Acceptance can be challenging when we cling to our attachments and this clinging to attachments makes the ability to encourage spiritual growth  very rare if possible at all.

Today, it is suggested that we reflect on a fundamental question: Are we ready to give up our egos so we can engage in unconditional loving?

NDE and the Emerging Science of Consciousness

 

What happens when we die?

Dr. Eben Alexander III discusses his NDE in a lecture at the Bowen Center which is well worth watching. It lasts about 96 minutes.

Dr. Eben Alexander wrote about his NDE in his book, The Proof of Heaven.

One for all and all for one.

It should especially be noted that God has only one Son. If all His creations are His Sons, every one must be an integral part of the whole Sonship. The Sonship in its Oneness transcends the sum of its parts. However, this is obscured as long as any of its parts is missing. That is why the conflict cannot ultimately be resolved until all the parts of the Sonship have returned. Only then can the meaning of wholeness in the true sense be understood. Any part of the Sonship can believe in error or incompleteness if he so chooses. However, if he does so, he is believing in the existence of nothingness. The correction of this error is the Atonement. T-2.VII.6:1-9

A Course in Miracles . Foundation for Inner Peace. Kindle Edition. 

There is an expression, “One for all and all for one.” This is a description of the Sonship as the term is used in a Course In Miracles.

In Alcoholics Anonymous, it is suggested that as a result of our spiritual awakening we carry the message to others.

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual development.

Today, it is suggested that we consider that we are not drops of the ocean but the ocean.