The Voice of peace.

The Voice of the Holy Spirit does not command, because It is incapable of arrogance. It does not demand, because It does not seek control. It does not overcome, because It does not attack. It merely reminds. It is compelling only because of what It reminds you of. It brings to your mind the other way, remaining quiet even in the midst of the turmoil you may make. The Voice for God is always quiet, because It speaks of peace. T-5.II.7: 1 - 7

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

The Holy Spirit speaks to us quietly, so quietly it is easy to overlook, ignore, deny, be oblivious. Most of us think the ego world which is an illusion is all there is. This belief contributes to depression, anxiety, resentment, grievance, and guilt. If a person wants peace, it would help to listen for the soft voice of Spirit.

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the search for truth and meaning and we can add, peace. Where is truth and meaning and peace to be found? It is not in the world of the ego but rather in Spirit. The world of ego is the world of conditional love while the world of Spirit is unconditional love. 

Today, it is suggested that we consider that we have a choice to listen to the temptations of the ego or the voice of Spirit. We can know the difference because ego will bring distress and Spirit will bring peace.

We have the freedom to choose the ego or Spirit.

The Holy Spirit calls you both to remember and to forget. You have chosen to be in a state of opposition in which opposites are possible. As a result, there are choices you must make. In the holy state the will is free, so that its creative power is unlimited and choice is meaningless. Freedom to choose is the same power as freedom to create, but its application is different. Choosing depends on a split mind. The Holy Spirit is one way of choosing. God did not leave His children comfortless, even though they chose to leave Him. The voice they put in their minds was not the Voice for His Will, for which the Holy Spirit speaks. T-5.II.6: 1 - 9

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

After the separation we became aware of the power to choose. We can choose the world of the ego or the world of Spirit. The choice is our willfulness or God’s will. We can choose between conditional love and unconditional love. The ego constantly tempts us to choose conditional love.

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. Is truth and meaning to be found in the world of the ego or the world of Spirit? It is our choice.

Today, be aware of our freedom to choose where we will look for love, in the conditional world of the ego, or the unconditional world of Spirit. We have simply to ask ourselves, “What would love have me do?”

We are part of something tremendously bigger than our single self.

God is not in you in a literal sense; you are part of Him. When you chose to leave Him He gave you a Voice to speak for Him because He could no longer share His knowledge with you without hindrance. Direct communication was broken because you had made another voice. T-5.II.5: 5 - 7

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

God is not in us, but rather we are part of God. We are a drop of the ocean. When we separated ourselves from the ocean it became harder to be aware of the All from which we separated. We had made what we think is another voice, the voice of the ego. The voice of the ego is lonely and feels its deficiency, its inadequacy. We yearn to return to the All from which we have separated ourselves. If we call upon the Holy Spirit, the Spirit will help us find our way back home.

In Unitarian Universalism we know the inherent worth and digntiy of every drop of the ocean and we engage in a search for the truth and meaning of the All of which we are a part.

Today, rest quietly and know that we are part of something temendously bigger than our single self and pray for the Holy Spirit’s comforting guidence. Turn our willfulness over to the will of God.

The choice between conditional love and unconditional love.

God does not guide, because He can share only perfect knowledge. Guidance is evaluative, because it implies there is a right way and also a wrong way, one to be chosen and the other to be avoided. By choosing one you give up the other. The choice for the Holy Spirit is the choice for God. T-5.II.5: 1 - 4

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

Most people don’t realize they have a choice: to follow the way of the ego or to follow the way of the Holy Spirit. The way of the ego is about conditional love and the way of the Holy Spirit is about unconditional love. If we choose unconditional love we have chosen the way of the Holy Spirit which leads us to the Atonement which is the healing of the separation. If we choose the way of the ego, we remain in the hell of separation and divisiveness..

In Unitarian Universalism we join together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. This search requires choices between conditional love and unconditional love, between the ego and the Holy Spirit. One choice brings us pain and distress, and the other brings us peace and joy.

Today, knowing that we have a choice between conditional love and unconditional love, we can choose what love would have us do or follow our own willfulness.

You are the Kingdom Of Heaven

You are the Kingdom of Heaven, but you have let the belief in darkness enter your mind and so you need a new light. The Holy Spirit is the radiance that you must let banish the idea of darkness. His is the glory before which dissociation falls away, and the Kingdom of Heaven breaks through into its own. Before the separation you did not need guidance. You knew as you will know again, but as you do not know now. T-5.II.4: 1 - 5

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

Before we were separated from the non dual Oneness of God, we were not aware of our separateness. Many, at lower levels of consciousness, still do not know that they are separate from the non dual Oneness of God and they think that the shadows they see on the cave walls are real. Every now and then, though, we get an inkling that there must be more to life than just that which we have created. When we act on this inkling, and begin our search for something more, the Holy Spirit enters our heart and the Holy Spirit having come, we can, if we wish, ask for guidance. We can simply ask, “What would Love have me do?”

In Unitarian Universalism we join together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. This search is best done in meditation, a going inward, to become one with that from which we emerged at our separation.

Today, we quiet ourselves in silence, slow our breathing, and just watch with amusement the chatter of our monkey mind without judgment. Slowly the chatter diminishes in volume and intensity and peace and well being arises. In these moments we are not just in the kingdom of heaven, we are the Kingdom of Heaven..

The world of the ego or the Call to joy?

The principle of Atonement and the separation began at the same time. When the ego was made, God placed in the mind the Call to joy. This Call is so strong that the ego always dissolves at Its sound. That is why you must choose to hear one of two voices within you. One you made yourself, and that one is not of God. But the other is given you by God, Who asks you only to listen to it. T-5.II.3: 1-6

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

Jesus says in Matthew 7:7 ““Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” In the Course, Jesus tells us further that God has given us the Holy Spirit which He calls here “The Call to joy.”

Jesus tells us that we have a choice. Do we want to listen to the ego or to Call to joy?

Today, be mindful that there is a choice between the world of the ego or the world of peace and joy. Which will be chosen?

Article Notes - Blaming ‘evil’: a philosophical paradox, unpacked by Elise Springer

 Article Notes - Blaming ‘evil’: a philosophical paradox, unpacked by Elise Springer

https://theconversation.com/blaming-evil-a-philosophical-paradox-unpacked-184289?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Politics%20Weekly%20%20June%209%202022%20-%202316123074&utm_content=Politics%20Weekly%20%20June%209%202022%20-%202316123074+CID_c4b3db6fab40c7edbd5132b6f15ca448&utm_source=campaign_monitor_us&utm_term=Blaming%20evil%20a%20philosophical%20paradox%20unpacked

Days later, at the National Rifle Association’s convention in Texas, CEO Wayne LaPierre acknowledged the Uvalde victims before arguing against gun control legislation. His reasoning pivoted on the concept of evil: “If we as a nation were capable of legislating evil out of the hearts and minds of criminals who commit these heinous acts, we would have done it long ago.”

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First, there’s still some confusion about whether to locate evil out in the world, or within the human heart. 

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The 18th-century German philosopher Immanuel Kant, for example, defines evil as an inner moral failure, which might lurk behind even the most acceptable-looking acts.

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Philosopher Gary Watson helps illuminate this paradox in his essay “Responsibility and the Limits of Evil.” Blame involves attempting to hold people responsible as members of a shared “moral community” – a network of social relations in which people share basic norms and push one another to repair moral expectations after they are violated. Taking responsibility, in Watson’s view, involves a kind of competence, an ability to work with others in community.

Evil, however, implies being beyond redemption, “beyond the pale” of this community. Calling someone evil signals a total lack of hope that they could take up the responsibility being assigned to them. And some people do seem to lack the social bonds, skills and attitudes required for responsibility. Examining the life story of a notorious school shooter, Watson reveals how his potential for belonging to a moral community had been brutally dismantled by chaotic abuse throughout his 

 

If evil implies such a complete absence of the skills and attitudes required for moral responsibility, then calling people evil – while still holding them morally responsible – is paradoxical.

For the complete article click here.