$50.00 for essay on ACIM and UU

We will pay $50.00 for an article of 400-500 words answering the question, “How does A Course In Miracles enhance my Unitarian Universalist faith?” if we choose to publish in on UU A Way Of Life. Send your submission to davidgmarkham@gmail.com.

Our essential goodness and beauty.

Let us glorify Him Whom the world denies, for over His Kingdom the world has no power. No one created by God can find joy in anything except the eternal; not because he is deprived of anything else, but because nothing else is worthy of him. What God and His Sons create is eternal, and in this and this only is Their joy. T-8.VI.3:1-3

A Course in Miracles (p. 293). Foundation for Inner Peace. Kindle Edition. 

The idea in this passage is mind blowing. In the world of Spirit, unconditional love, there is peace, bliss and glory. Anything else is less than what humans are worthy of and created for.

In Unitarian Universalism some of us join together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person. Anything else is less than what human beings are.

Today it is suggested that we recognize, acknowledge, and reflect on our  essential goodness and beauty and share it with others.

We have a choice: the things that are Caesar’s or the things that are God’s

The world can add nothing to the power and the glory of God and His holy Sons, but it can blind the Sons to the Father if they behold it. You cannot behold the world and know God. Only one is true. I am come to tell you that the choice of which is true is not yours to make. If it were, you would have destroyed yourself. Yet God did not will the destruction of His creations, having created them for eternity. His Will has saved you, not from yourself but from your illusion of yourself. He has saved you for yourself. T-8.VI.2:1-8

A Course in Miracles (p. 293). Foundation for Inner Peace. Kindle Edition. 

Jesus said “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God.” Most people don’t seem to realize that they have a choice. A Course In Miracles teaches that the things of Caesar are not real but illusions that we create that blind us to the joy and peace and glory of God.

In Unitarian Universalism some of us join together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. The passage above tells us that the glory of God is what is true and yet we continue to look for love in all the wrong places.

Today it is suggested not that we choose unless we are ready, but simply to recognize and acknowledge that we do have a choice: the things that are Caesar’s or the things that are God’s.

We need not think alike to love alike

We are the joint will of the Sonship, whose Wholeness is for all. We begin the journey back by setting out together, and gather in our brothers as we continue together. Every gain in our strength is offered for all, so they too can lay aside their weakness and add their strength to us. God’s welcome waits for us all, and He will welcome us as I am welcoming you. Forget not the Kingdom of God for anything the world has to offer. T-8.VI.1:1-5

A Course in Miracles (p. 293). Foundation for Inner Peace. Kindle Edition. 

“We begin our journey back by setting out together, and gather in our brothers as we continue together.”

In Unitarian Universalism some of us join together to affirm and promote the acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth.

Today it is suggested that we think about the idea that one is for all and all are for one. We all are in this thing called “Life” together. Francis David said that we need not think alike to love alike.

Which path do you choose: the way of the ego or the way of Spirit?

Leave all illusions behind, and reach beyond all attempts of the ego to hold you back. I go before you because I am beyond the ego. Reach, therefore, for my hand because you want to transcend the ego. My strength will never be wanting, and if you choose to share it you will do so. I give it willingly and gladly, because I need you as much as you need me. T-8.V.6:6-10

A Course in Miracles (pp. 292-293). Foundation for Inner Peace. Kindle Edition. 

Jesus said several times to people, “Come follow me.” I have, I do, I will. Many of us have. Some of us are here on UU A Way Of Life. Following Jesus is not something you just do on Sunday. Following Jesus has nothing to do with joining a church. Following Jesus beyond the ego is a way of life freely chosen not just once in life, but every day, every hour, sometimes every minute. Following Jesus takes a sense of humor about the absurdity of the things in the life of the ego. They make us laugh and with the laughter comes a lightness of being, some call peace, some call joy, some call bliss.

In Unitarian Universalism some of us join together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. Eventually it dawns on seekers that truth and meaning is not to be found in the world of the ego, conditional love, but in the world of Spirit, unconditional love.

Today it is suggested that we consider which path we choose to follow: the path of Jesus and unconditional love or the path of the ego and conditional love.

We are called to love one another unconditionally.

Would you know the Will of God for you? Ask it of me who knows it for you and you will find it. I will deny you nothing, as God denies me nothing. Ours is simply the journey back to God Who is our home. Whenever fear intrudes anywhere along the road to peace, it is because the ego has attempted to join the journey with us and cannot do so. Sensing defeat and angered by it, the ego regards itself as rejected and becomes retaliative. You are invulnerable to its retaliation because I am with you. On this journey you have chosen me as your companion instead of the ego. Do not attempt to hold on to both, or you will try to go in different directions and will lose the way. T-8.V.5:1-9

A Course in Miracles (p. 292). Foundation for Inner Peace. Kindle Edition. 

St. Paul writes in his letter to the Corintians, “If God is with you, who can be against you?” God’s will, as the Universalists teach us, is to love unconditionally. The ego tells us that unconditional love is insane and not to be trusted but to be feared. Jesus tells us that one way to love unconditionally is to join with him and ask him for his validation and support and encouragement.

In Unitarian Universalism some of us join together to accept one another and encourage spiritual growth. We do this by example in how we interact with each other not only in words.

Today it is suggested that we ask Jesus to help us love the people we come into contact with unconditionally.

Awareness of the interconnectedness of life.

Modern science is now increasingly able to demonstrate what mystics have always intuited. The relatively new discipline of ecology is one of the most obvious scientific expressions of the interconnectedness of biological life. Other sciences have also made breakthroughs that are less easy to grasp but even more extraordinary in their implications.

Wigglesworth, Cindy. SQ21: The Twenty-One Skills of Spiritual Intelligence (p. 69). SelectBooks, Inc.. Kindle Edition. 

The sixth skill of spiritual intelligence, awareness of the interconnectedness of life, is repressed in our contemporary consciousness by the ubiquitous requirements of the capitalistic system which denies, and if even aware, refuses to acknowledge what are called “externalities” which allows us to hide the true costs of things.

The hiding of the externalities contributes to living in an illusionary world which, if not in the short run, will have negative consequences for the ecosystem in which we live in the long run. Recognition is slowly beginning to dawn on homo sapiens of the interconnectedness of life  as we become consciously aware of what we have done to planet Earth’s climate.

Some people say “ignorance is bliss” while others encourage us to wake up. Unitarian Universalists join together to affirm and promote an awareness of the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

We ask ourselves to what extent, low, medium, or high, are we aware of the interconnectedness of life and make decisions about our actions accordingly?