Are you a mirror or a window?

 

"Most people are mirrors, reflecting the moods and emotions of the times; few are windows, bringing light to bear on the dark corners where troubles fester.  The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows."

—S. J. Harris (1917-1986)

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #157, Into His Presence would I enter now.

 Lesson #157

Into His Presence would I enter now.

There comes a point at which words fail us. We just experience our Oneness with Love which is indescribable. The lesson today teaches that this lesson is a turning point in the curriculum. We are invited to enter into a mystical experience which the Course calls “revelation.”  Carl Jung said one time that he didn’t believe in God, he knows God. At this point, belief and knowledge become superfluous.

In Alcoholic Anonymous, it is suggested in step eleven, that through prayer and mediation we  seek to enhance our conscious contact with God. This experience of Unconditional Love is mood altering beyond anything we have previously experienced.

In Unitarian Universalism, we are taught that one of the Unitarian pioneers of the sixteenth century, Francis David, said that we need not think alike to love alike. It is this Love that the Course encourages to enter into today.

Today, it is suggested that we stop what we are doing and just sink into the Presence Of God. This is the place where time stands still. There is no future, no past, just, what the Course calls, a “Holy Instant.”

The Spiritual Child - The parent as spiritual ambassador.

 The parent as a spiritual ambassador

A parent’s role as spiritual ambassador—the embodied guide on the ground introducing a child to the spiritually attuned life—is especially important for the teen who struggles with developmental depression. As we saw earlier, research has found that from early childhood, a child’s relationship with God or a universal spirit is imbued with the attributes of their parents. Through adolescence, as well, to the degree that parents are unconditionally loving and accepting, teens perceive God or their higher power to be so. Studies show that parents’ unconditional love supports their teen’s sense of a higher power that “I can turn to in times of difficulty,” one who gives direction and offers guidance.

Miller, Dr. Lisa. The Spiritual Child (p. 290). St. Martin's Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. 

The idea that the parent is a spiritual ambassador for a child is a powerful one. The parent is the conduit of God’s unconditional love. This does not mean that the parent does not correct, discipline, and guide but that this correction and discipline is done in a loving way, what can be called “tough love” which gets translated into the words, “I care enough about you to help you behave yourself.”

Sin and guilt are not helpful concepts but mistakes and learning are.

In Unitarian Universalism, people covenant together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. The parent becomes the model for this search for the child and gently asks the child to reflect on their own functioning by saying in so many words, “How is that working for you?” God wants what is best for us and gives us free will, but sometimes our willfulness causes problems for us and the ability to reflect on the consequences of our choices leads to greater self awareness and is a path to an increased sense of what is holy.

Who should know the child better than the parent? Who should better have the child’s best interests at heart? Who best to be the ambassador and conduit of God’s love for the child?

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #156, I walk with God in perfect holiness.

 Lesson #156

I walk with God in perfect holiness.

The lesson today seems to be an unbelievable statement and yet here I am alive on planet Earth breathing oxygen and taking up space. The big existential questions are “Why was I born?”, “What is the meaning and purpose of my life?”, “What happens when my body dies?”

In Alcoholic Anonymous, in step eleven, it is suggested that we seek through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with our Higher Power. The purpose of this seeking is to become more aware. “Who am I really?” “What am I really?” I come to realize I am not the ego. The Divine Spark is what I am. I am imbued with the Transcendent Source which  is the Ground of my Being.

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person. In other words, UUs affirm and promote every person’s inherent holiness.

Today, it is suggested that every minute we remind ourselves and reflect on the idea that we walk with God in perfect holiness. In other words, we become aware of our holiness and maintain this awareness throughout the day.

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #155, I will step back and let Him lead the way.

 Lesson #155

I will step back and let Him lead the way.

The bumper sticker says, “If God is your co-pilot you’re in the wrong seat.” Today’s lesson teaches the same thing “I will step back and let Him lead the way.”

In Alcoholic Anonymous, the slogan says, “Let go and let God.” AA encourages us to give up our willfulness and replace it with willingness. The ego is a tenacious devil that finds it tremendously difficult to surrender to Something greater than itself and yet we are encouraged in step three to make a decision to turn our will over to the care of God as we understand God.

In Unitarian Universalism, we covenant together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning and we are challenged by the questions “What is the truth?” and “Where is it to be found?” and “What will give my life meaning?” UU identifies six sources of spiritual wisdom to explore. This exploration takes a lifetime and it is a lifetime well spent.

Today, it is suggested that we take several moments to remind ourselves to step back and let our Transcendent Source  lead the way. A way to do this is simply to ask “What would Love have me do?”

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #154, I am among the ministers of God.

 Lesson #154

I am among the ministers of God.

Is it hard to believe that God works through us if we are open to being God’s conduit of grace into the world. And, the Course teaches that when we function in this way we receive what we convey, we learn what we teach, we get what we give. Some call this the law of Karma.

In Alcoholic Anonymous, it is suggested in the twelfth step that we strengthen our recovery by giving away what we have received. It’s like singing in a chorus or telling a joke to a group which sparks laughter all around. Singing together creates harmony and laughing together promotes shared recognition of the absurdity and incongruity of the world of the ego and an appreciation of what is holy.

In Unitarian Universalism, we focus on the covenant, the sharing together, and in the third step we affirm and promote the acceptance of one another and the encouragement to spiritual growth. In the covenanting process we recognize that we all are ministers of God.

Today, we asked to take some time at the beginning and the end of the day and many times in between to remind ourselves that we are ministers of God and that we receive what we give, we get what we share, we learn what we teach.

Stories about UU mystic, Harry Hollywood, Mindfulness instead of mindlessness

Harry was asked to give a talk about habits. He started the talk with this story.

There once was a fishmonger named Johnny who had been scaling, gutting, and fileting fish on the docks since he was eight years old. At the time of Harry meeting him Johnny was 37 and had been fishmongering for 29 years. Harry complimented him on his knife skills by saying, “The knife almost seems like a sixth digit on your right hand.”

“Yes, indeed, says Johnny, “it’s like I came out of my mother’s womb with it attached to my right hand.”

“What happened to the pinkie finger on your left hand, “asked Harry?

“In my youth, I was going too fast, and whoops along with the fish head off it goes, clean as a whistle, and nothing to be done at that point, but stop the bleeding,” says Johnny.

‘And what about that scar on your left forearm,” asks Harry?

“The floors they get slippery,” says Johnny, “and with my rubber boots and fish guts I lost my footing and slashed myself pretty good in the arm.”

Harry, pointing to the patch over Johnny’s left eye, “And what about your eye?

“It was a windy day,” said Johnny, “ and a bunch of gulls flew overhead and one of them crapped right in my eye. I forgot all about the knife.”

Harry said to his audience, “We can laugh but we all are creatures of habit behaving like automatons, sleepwalking through life, reacting mindlessly to all kinds of triggers. The goal is to become mindful and not mindless, otherwise, we all can maim ourselves as we go through life.”