Eschew the ego.

I will substitute for your ego if you wish, but never for your spirit. A father can safely leave a child with an elder brother who has shown himself responsible, but this involves no confusion about the child’s origin. T-4.I.13:1-2

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

Jesus, in A Course In Miracles, compares himself to an older brother and denies that he is God. Jesus says that we will help, protect, and serve. He says that he has provided an example of how the ego can be overcome and living in the spirit can be achieved. He says that his example puts an end to tribulation and allows his younger brothers and sisters to live in good cheer.

In Alcoholics Anonymous it is suggested in step three that we make a decision to turn our ego over to the will of God. If we would like, Jesus’ example can help us, or perhaps we have another way. Older brothers can be disregarded as younger siblings prefer to search and find their own way.

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. We need not use the teaching of Jesus as an example if we prefer another way.

Today, it is suggested that we reflect on the many paths to God. No matter which path we choose, it will involve the eschewing of the ego.

What does it mean that the meek shall inherit the earth?

Humility is a lesson for the ego, not for the spirit. Spirit is beyond humility, because it recognizes its radiance and gladly sheds its light everywhere. The meek shall inherit the earth because their egos are humble, and this gives them truer perception. The Kingdom of Heaven is the spirit’s right, whose beauty and dignity are far beyond doubt, beyond perception, and stand forever as the mark of the Love of God for His creations, who are wholly worthy of Him and only of Him. Nothing else is sufficiently worthy to be a gift for a creation of God Himself. T-4.I.12:2 - 6

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

What does it mean in the beatitudes when Jesus says that the meek shall inherit the earth? It is taught in A Course In Miracles that this saying means that the person has eschewed their ego in favor of Spirit.

In Alcoholics Anonymous it is suggested, in step three, that we give up our willfulness in favor of the will of God. This means being humble and setting our egos aside.

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the inherit worth and dignity of every person. This inherent worth and dignity does not arise from the person’s ego, but rather from the Divine Spark within.

Today, it is suggested that we become meek and choose the Spirit over the ego in all our dealings and activities.

The definition of spiritual intelligence.

What is “spiritual intelligence”? Spiritual Intelligence, SQ, is a category of intelligence similar to intellectual intelligence, IQ, and Emotional intelligence, EQ. 

The working definition of SQ we will be using here is “The level of awareness of one’s relationship with their Transcendent Source.”

The purpose of religion is the nurturing of the development of spiritual intelligence over the span of the human life cycle. This level of development of spiritual intelligence can be applied to individuals, families, organizations and societies. 

The levels, stages, of spiritual intelligence can be thought of in many ways and each stage may be called different names depending on the model of spiritual development being used.

Michael Beckwith’s model of spiritual intelligence development is relatively simple with four stages: Victim, Manifester, Channeler, and Being. We will describe these stages more fully in coming articles.

The main concern of this article is that most churches do not understand their function in our post postmodern world. The function of the church in our current world is the nurturance of the development of spiritual intelligence. How can this function be performed? What are the church’s goals in carrying out this function? What are the activities which will achieve these goals? What are the resources necessary to carry out these activities? How can the degree of goal achievement be measured? How are the results of goal achievement measurements to be used in the further functioning of the church?

For now consider and answer this question: What is the function of the church in our contemporary world?

Most people are afraid of love.

The ego is afraid of the spirit’s joy, because once you have experienced it you will withdraw all protection from the ego, and become totally without investment in fear. Your investment is great now because fear is a witness to the separation, and your ego rejoices when you witness to it. Leave it behind! Do not listen to it and do not preserve it. Listen only to God, Who is as incapable of deception as is the spirit He created. Release yourself and release others. Do not present a false and unworthy picture of yourself to others, and do not accept such a picture of them yourself. T-4.I.10: 1-7

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

I have heard it said that we are afraid of love and never understood what that statement means until I realized that the fear of love is the fear of unconditional love which requires the abandonment of the ego.

In Alcoholics Anonymous it is suggested, in step three, that we make a decision to turn our willfulness over to the will of God. This suggestion is that we love God unconditionally. To love God in this way is to set our attachment to our ego aside.

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person. This inherent worth and dignity arises from the unconditional love of the Divine Spark in every person.

Today, it is suggested that we eschew our ego’s desires and attachments and just love life unconditionally starting with the first person that crosses our path.

Going with the flow

God is not the author of fear. You are. You have chosen to create unlike Him, and have therefore made fear for yourself. You are not at peace because you are not fulfilling your function. God gave you a very lofty function that you are not meeting. Your ego has chosen to be afraid instead of meeting it. When you awaken you will not be able to understand this, because it is literally incredible. Do not believe the incredible now. Any attempt to increase its believableness is merely to postpone the inevitable. The word “inevitable” is fearful to the ego, but joyous to the spirit. God is inevitable, and you cannot avoid Him any more than He can avoid you. T-4.I.9: 1-11

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

Anxiety disorders are the most frequently diagnosed psychiatric diagnosis in the United States. Why would that be? What is it that people are so afraid of? The answer is that they are afraid of their ego attachments and desires being lost. As the paragraph above states, God did not cause these fears, we bring them upon ourselves.

In Alcoholics Anonymous it is suggested in step three that we make a decision to turn our willfulness over to the will of God? This decision is easy. It is a choice between continued sanity and peace.

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. This truth and meaning is to be found in the world of Spirit not in the world of the ego.

Today, it is suggested that we stop blaming God and playing the victim. We have inflicted our own suffering upon ourselves because, as the Buddhists teach, of our attachments. We have to be willing to recognize that attachments are the source of suffering and peace is found in going with the flow.

Dwell in peace of Spirit.

You are part of reality, which stands unchanged beyond the reach of your ego but within easy reach of spirit. When you are afraid, be still and know that God is real, and you are His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. Do not let your ego dispute this, because the ego cannot know what is as far beyond its reach as you are. T-4.1.8:5-7

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

You are a child of the universe which is beyond any ego which wants you to forget this fact and therefore engenders fear about what would happen with the ego’s loss. How attached to the ego are you?

In Alcoholics Anonymous it is suggested, in step three, that we make a decision to turn our willfulness over to the will of God. In other words, step three is suggesting that we eschew our ego in favor of Spirit thereby giving up fear for the peace of God.

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person which arises not from our ego but from our natural inheritance which is the unconditional love of God.

Today, it is suggested that we get real and give up our ego. To do this we simply need to be quiet and dwell in the peace of Spirit.

Clean away the things of the ego so we can become aware of the peace of God.

The ego tries to exploit all situations into forms of praise for itself in order to overcome its doubts. It will remain doubtful as long as you believe in its existence. You who made it cannot trust it, because in your right mind you realize it is not real. T-4.I.8:1-3

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

The ego loves praise, what psychologists call “stroking,” because it reinforces the ego’s belief that it is real. And yet no amount of stroking no matter how flattering is ever enough because the ego only craves more. When is enough, enough? There is never enough praise because the illusion of the ego is insatiable as long as one chooses to believe in it.

In Alcoholics Anonymous it is suggested, in step three, that we turn our willfulness over to the will of God. We come to realize that the willfulness of our ego leads to suffering. We come to understand that we have a choice between the suffering of the ego or the peace of God. We can choose.

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person. A person’s inherent worth and dignity does not arise from their ego but from their Transcendent Source of which they are a manifestation.

Today, it is suggested that we recognize and acknowledge our choice between the suffering of the ego and the peace of God. We can clean away the things of the ego so that the peace of God can arise which is our natural inheritance.