A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #214, Review of lesson #194 - I place the future in the hands of God.

 Lesson #214

I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.

Review of lesson #194 - I place the future in the hands of God.

Pam Grout, in her book, The Course In Miracles Experiment, in discussing this lesson, uses a quote from Stephen Levine as an epigraph, “Water is water, no matter what shape or form. The solidity of ice imagines itself to be its edges and density. Melting, it remembers; evaporating, it ascends.” Today, we are reminded to put our future in the hands of God for when our bodies melt, our energy which animates the body evaporates and ascends.

It is suggested in Alcoholic Anonymous that we make a decision in step three to turn our will over to God as we understand God. It is suggested in this step that we eschew our body and our ego and transcend with our consciousness to a higher plane.

In Unitarian Universalism, we covenant together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning, a search that ultimately takes us to our Transcendent Source where we can rest in peace and joy.

Today, it is suggested that we take fifteen minutes at the beginning and end of the day, and many times in between, to turn it over: turn our will over to God. If we step back, God will lead the way.

A Course In Miracles Lesson #213, Review of lesson #193 - All things are lessons God would have me learn.

Lesson #213

I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.

Review of lesson #193 - All things are lessons God would have me learn.

A Course in Miracles teaches that life is a classroom. It is written in the introduction that we don’t get to choose the curriculum only the time we choose to learn it. Have you noticed that some people are faster learners than others? Some people seem to learn the first or second time while others repeat the same mistakes over and over again and don’t seem to learn a darn thing. What makes the difference? It is our decision to turn our willfulness over to a willingness to listen to and do God’s will.

It is suggested in Alcoholic Anonymous in step three that we make a decision to turn out will over to God’s will for us. “Let go and let God” is the slogan.

In Unitarian Universalism, it is suggested that we covenant together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. When we embark on this search we become aware that our experiences are grist for the mill. Our experiences are lessons God would have us learn.

Today, it is suggested that we begin and end the day, and many times in between, take a few moments or minutes to reflect on our experience and to ask with an attitude of curiosity what am I to learn from this?

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #212, Review of lesson #192 - I have a function God would have me fill.

 Lesson #212

I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.

Review of lesson #192 - I have a function God would have me fill.

The three fundamental questions of our lives are: “Why was I born?” ”What is the purpose of my life?” “What happens when I die.” The second question of the three is the biggest because it is the one we have the most control over answering and lesson #192 states this fact that God has a purpose for us in creating us. Our mission, should we choose to accept it, is to figure out that that purpose is.

In Alcoholic Anonymous, it is suggested in step three that we make a decision to turn our will over to God. If we don’t know what our purpose is in life, God does, and will lead us if we ask for God’s help. However, we must ask first. God gives us free will and will not force anything on us because God loves us unconditionally. So it’s up to us to decide that maybe in our willfulness we don’t know everything, least of all, what’s best for us and how to manage our lives.

In Unitarian Universalism, we covenant together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. This search involves finding the purpose of our lives and we can rest assured that God has a function God would have us fill.

Today, it is suggested we take fifteen minutes at the beginning and end of the day and many times in between to consider what the function God would have me fill. As we pray in the Christian prayer, the Our Father, “...Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #211, Review of lesson #191 - I am the holy Son of God Himself.

 Lesson #211

I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.

Review of lesson #191 - I am the holy Son of God Himself.

Sometimes parents berate their children and shame them by scolding, “Who do you think you are?!” Sometimes they think, if not say, “You need to be taken down a peg or two.” And sometimes add, 'You're getting too big for your britches!’” These were common parenting attitudes in my generation known as the baby boomers born after world war II and raised in the 50s. 

When not said with contempt and disdain but rather with curiosity and respect, “Who do you think you are” is a very good question. Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?”

A Course In Miracles provides us with the proper response in lesson #191, “I am the holy Son Of God HImself.”

In Alcoholics Anonymous, it is suggested, in step eleven, that we improve our conscious contact with God through prayer and meditation. When we do that we come to realize that we are the holy Son of God Himself.

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth which is born from the awareness that we all are the holy sons and daughters of God.

Today, it is suggested that we take fifteen minutes at the beginning and end of the day, and many times in between, to remind ourselves who we are. We are in fact the sons and daughters of  God. Knowing this generates great peace and joy.

Spiritual Question Of The Month, "Am I a body with a soul or a soul with a body?" - The answer changes over the life cycle.

The answer changes over the life cycle

The answer to the question, “Am I a body with a soul or a soul with a body” changes over the course of the human life cycle. When a human being is first born it is innocent and has yet to be socialized and conditioned in the ways of the world. This socialization and conditioning emphasizes the body as new skills are learned to walk, to talk, to feed oneself, to toilet appropriately, and gradually learn further developmental skills. 

In the twenties and thirties, the body has become pre-eminent in mating and procreating to insure the continuation of the species. The sexual peak for most people occurs  between 25 and 40.

As the sexual drive diminishes, the human being begins to become more introspective and in the 50s begin to recognize and acknowledge their mortality.  At this stage of development, in the fifth and sixth decade, people become more spiritual and start to realize that they are not just a body but also a soul and that perhaps the soul is more important. This realization is an important developmental task of the second adulthood, the period of 50 - 80 +. Osho teaches that there is a difference between growing old and growing up. Everyone grows older, but not everyone grows up. Growing up involves a choice. Some people are faster learners than others.

As the body becomes less vital and more fragile, the human being identifies more strongly with the soul and eventually comes to realize that they are soul with a body and not a body with a soul. 

If this brief analysis is accurate, it might lead one to wonder who religion services the function of spiritual maturation.

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #210, Review of lesson #190, I choose the joy of God instead of pain.

 Lesson #210

I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.

Review of lesson #190 - I choose the joy of God instead of pain.

A Course In Miracles teaches that the spiritual life is very simple. It requires only one choice. Do you want the world of the ego or the world of the Spirit (Love)? We are socialized and conditioned to choose the world of the ego and even led to believe that this is the only world there is. At some point, we are confronted with the fact that there is a better way. This dawning that there is a better way motivates us to search because we choose joy of God instead of pain.

The search is challenging because it requires us to overcome all the barriers and obstacles to our awareness of Love’s presence which is our natural inheritance. There is a period of purification, letting go,liberation that engenders great peace and joy.

In Alcoholic Anonymous, in the first three steps it is suggested that we turn our willfulness over to a willingness to do the Will Of God. “Let go and let God” they say in the rooms. In A Course In Miracles, in lesson 155, it is suggested that we say, “I will step back and let Him lead the way.” When we step back and let HIm lead the way,  we are choosing joy instead of pain.

In Unitarian Universalism, we covenant together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning which inevitably takes the seeker from the world of the ego to the world of the Spirit for the seeker will choose joy instead of pain.

Today, it is suggested that we begin and end the day, and several times in between, reminding ourselves that we choose the joy of God instead of pain. Simple, yes? It is simple but resisting temptation sometimes is not.

The message of Easter: Love wins! Alleluia!

 

Today, April 4, 2021 is Easter Sunday and we here at UU A Way Of Life wish you, your family, your friends, you co-workers, your neighbors, your fellow countrymen, and fellow travelers on Planet Earth a Blessed Easter when we celebrate the fact that Love wins.

Jesus of Nazareth demonstrated that  the body can be killed but the Spirit lives on in the minds and hearts of those who witness and come after.

Jesus did not see Himself as a victim even though He was tempted. He ultimately rose above His torture and execution, One of His last sentences was "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do," Would that we all could rise above the attacks we endure with such a presence of mind. Jesus rose above His attackers and didn't allow their actions to define His presence of mind or damage the Love in His heart.

For this demonstration of the power of Love we can sing with gusto "Alleluia, He has risen above it, alleluia!!!"

Jesus encourages us in A Course In Miracles in Chapter 6, section 1, paragraph 13, verse 2, "Teach only love, for that is what you are." This verse is the message of Easter.