The Cosmic Joke: Our Fear of God’s Love

I recently came across a book, actually it seemed to fall off a shelf in a bookstore during the holidays, entitled, The Universe in Black and White:  A Plain and Simple Illustrated Guide to Time, Space and the Meaning of Life by Terry Favour.

Thank God, it is Plain and Simple because it enabled me to catch a glimpse, for the first time, of the meaning of quantum physics. 

Here we go:  God is.  God is the energy pouring through the universe, infinitely,   a wave of energy, eternal. 

A wave becomes a particle when we observe it, when our sense apparatus gives it temporary form.  It becomes particular, an object fleshed out with our particular associations.

From the book:

But NOW we know that even a table is not solid.  What actually makes up the table is what I have been calling particles:  waves that have become particles upon observation, particles that have interacted with sense perception and then become the table.  (p. 159)
This book proposes that there cannot be form as we know it without human observation, since the manifested and the unmanifested  are different aspect of the same thing. (p. 169)

This provides an invaluable context for understanding A Course in Miracles.

I am not a body.  I am free.
For I am still as God created me.
Lesson 199

When I am free in my consciousness, experiencing peace and joy and harmony, I am experiencing being a wave; and when I experience myself as a body, I shift from wholeness to particularization.  In my particle consciousness, I am unable to experience my Self as God created me.

Now, here is where the abstraction comes home to me.  In my direct experience, the analogy that God is to the wave as the particle is to my ego consciousness manifests as the cosmic joke; I fear God’s Love to such an extent that I build a world of particles  to defend myself against it.  I make up an entire world with my senses, defending myself by holding onto the idea that seeing is believing.

I am so rigidly holding onto my belief system as a defense against God.
This is where the wave/particle analogy is helpful because it is a vivid reminder of my defensiveness.

One way for me to be less defensive and experience the wave in the midst of particles is to stop, breathe in and breathe out,  letting go of all thoughts making up my particle world, and experiencing the wave of the peace of God.

Jesus leads us to the wave consciousness of His Love in this paragraph.

Simply do this: Be still, and lay aside
all thoughts of what you are and what God is;
all concepts you have learned about the world;
all images you hold about yourself.
Empty your mind of everything it thinks
is either true or false, or good or bad,
of every thought it judges worthy, and
all the ideas of which it is ashamed.
Hold onto nothing. Do not bring with you
one thought the past has taught, nor one belief
you ever learned before from anything.
Forget this world, forget this course, and come
with wholly empty hands unto your God.
Lesson 189. 7

From The Christ Mind: A Book Jesus Scribed Through Darrell Price

Recently, I received a call from a friend of mind, Darrell Price.  We became friends several years ago at Endeavor Academy, and after he left, I lost track of him.  He wanted me to know that he had just published a book, From The Christ Mind. 

Now, I am so grateful, so inspired because Jesus selected Darrell to scribe His book.  Darrell began scribing in January, 2012, and the book was published in December, 2012.

Here is Darrell speaking in one paragraph from his Foreward.

Then in January of this year, 2012, I began to experience a deepening and continuous communication with the Mind of Jesus.  Much to my surprise, He asked me to take dictation, to write down a teaching He would give me that was to be published in book form.  In addition to providing the material for this book, Jesus has guided me through every step of the process, from start to finish.  Everything necessary for the publication of this book was miraculously provided when and as needed.  This whole project has been a miracle, every step of the way.  To have been part of it has been a great blessing.  For that I thank Jesus, the Holy Spirit, my Heavenly Father, and all my brothers who have helped me along the way.  (p.14)


Here is just one paragraph from this magnificent book.

There is no place for Truth in the ego’s world.  Yet even here Truth cannot be completely obscured, for It waits for you in the present, underneath the loud and incessant chatter of the ego mind, resting in deepest peace.  A quiet mind is an invitation to Truth to enter and claim its Home once again.  You who have worked so hard to maintain illusion and protect yourself from Truth, need only lay down your defenses and the Self will return to your awareness.  Only defenselessness will bring you to a true state of safety.  In this condition of harmlessness, you will again know God.  (p. 26)

I am finding that I have to read this book very slowly, savoring every word. After  reading just one Section, I am completely taken out and have to stop.

To order this magnificent gift to the world, please call Darrell in Chico, CA. at:  (707) 888-3215

Making Explicit the True Meaning of Forgiveness: December FB Statuses

Some time ago, I set up a Facebook account, but I never really did much with it, until Sunday 8 April, Easter Sunday, auspiciously, when it occurred to me that I could post a Status statement on Facebook, daily.  These are my mini-essays for December.

12/1
The other day, Christine and I went to a restaurant in Baraboo for breakfast, and while waiting to be served, she looked at her Smartphone and said, smiling, “There’s Wi-Fi here;” at that moment, I glanced at a newspaper on the table and read this title of an article, “Baffling WW11 code found on carrier pigeon.”

Britain’s code-breakers acknowledged that they found an encrypted handwritten message from World War 11 on the leg of a long-dead carrier pigeon in a household chimney in southern England.  They believed it may have been flying home from British units in France at around the time of the D-Day Normandy Landing in 1944.

Now, what struck me was the incredible development of communication technology over the past 60 years, and at the same time, I realized that the development of our awareness had hardly changed at all, i.e., most people still live in a dream of their own making, unaware that they are the holy sons of God.  Or, in Thoreau’s words, “Most men live lives of quiet desperation.”

Of course, what’s 60 years compared to the 2000 since Jesus walked the earth?  And as a friend of mine often says, "Nothing’s changed in 40,000 years."

Thank God for A Course in Miracles.

12/2

The first sentence of Lesson 333, Forgiveness ends the dream of conflict here, struck me powerfully:

Conflict must be resolved.

My conflicting thoughts, coming from a part of my mind having no source in reality, can be likened unto dirt and grime, and they can simply be washed away.  The root of the word, resolve, is the Latin, resolvere, meaning to loosen, undo.  One way to loosen my conflicting thoughts is to recognize that, “This is not so.”  Forgiveness can be likened unto a solvent, removing the greasy grime of conflicting thoughts.  No big deal.  They can be simply washed away.

Thus is the real world’s purpose gently brought into awareness to replace the goal of sin and guilt.  And all that stood between your image of yourself and what you are, forgiveness washes joyfully away.  (Chapter 30.V.6:1,2)

12/3

While reading the Course, I find it very helpful to pay close attention to the reference for each pronoun Jesus uses, e.g., “you.”  Here are three possible reference points:

1)     Allied  with the ego, separation
2)     Joined with the Self, union
3)    Deciding between the ego, or the Self, mechanism of decision

In the following passage, YOU represents 3, the mechanism of decision.

A Voice will answer every question YOU ask, and a vision will correct the perception of everything YOU see.  For what YOU have made invisible is the only truth and what YOU have not heard is the only Answer.  God would reunite YOU with your Self, and did not abandon you in your distress.  (Chapter 12.Vlll.4:3-5)

And, Thank God, Jesus is holding our hands:

If you will accept the fact that I am with you, you are denying the world and accepting God.  My will is His, and your decision to hear me is the decision to hear His Voice and abide in His Will.  (Chapter 8.lV.3:8-10)

12/4

The concept of "sin" has taken on a meaning quite different from its true meaning.  Originally, "sin" simly meant "off the mark," an archery term, indicating that the archer missed the bull's eye.

To be "on the mark" means to be in alignment with your Source, to be one with your Self, to be at one, accepting Atonement for yourself.

My sinlessness ensures me perfect peace,
eternal safety, everlasting love,
freedom forever from all thought of loss;
complete deliverance from suffering.
And only happiness can be my state,
for only happiness is given me.
What must I do to know all this is mine?
I must accept Atonement for myself,
and nothing more. God has already done
all things that need be done. And I must learn
I need do nothing of myself, for I
need but accept my Self, my sinlessness,
created for me, now already mine,
to feel God's Love protecting me from harm,
to understand my Father loves His Son;
to know I am the Son my Father loves.
Lesson 337



12/5

Finally, after all these years, I know the true meaning of the word “wait.”  First, these phrases and questions come to mind containing the word “wait.”

What are you waiting for?
Just wait ‘til your father gets home.
Wait just a minute, Mister.
Just wait ‘til you’re my age.
Why wait for Heaven?
“Waiting for Godot.”

It all started to come together for me the other day in Session at Endeavor Academy when a brother said, “I am waiting for me to give up.”

And I was also reminded of Jesus gives us an incredible example in John 8.  The scribes and Pharisees brought to him a woman caught in the act of adultery, and they asked him what should be done, tempting him that they may accuse him.  And look at what Jesus does:

But Jesus stooped down and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.”
After waiting a sufficient amount of time, Jesus said, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.”
And a gain he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
And they which heard it, b eing convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

Jesus reminds me that in the middle of a difficult situation, I need to step back, be still, wait to be guided.

Yes, there it is.  My only problem is holding on to my illusory thoughts and dreams, and yet, they seem to present to me a real world of time and space.  I am simply waiting for me to give up my false perceptions, so that I am receptive to the treasures that God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit are offering me in every moment.

I will not wait another day to find
the treasures that my Father offers me.
Illusions are all vain, and dreams are gone
even while they are woven out of thoughts
that rest on false perceptions.
(Lesson 334)

12/6

Dr. Even Alexander 111, the Harvard-trained neurosurgeon who had a near-death experience, has now published a book, Proof of Heaven.  One reason his story is so compelling is his scientific training.

During my coma my brain wasn’t working improperly, it wasn’t working at all.

Nevertheless, he reports that he experienced a beautiful girl with high cheekbones and deep black eyes on the wings of a butterfly who took him to an immense void that is both pitch black and brimming with light coming from an orb that interprets for an all-loving God.

His message to those who deal with dying is one of relief.

Our spirit is not dependent on the brain or body.  It is eternal, and no one has one sentence worth of hard evidence that it isn’t.  (New York Times, November 26, 2012, C1)

Our Father, bless our eyes today. We are
Your messengers, and we would look upon
the glorious reflection of Your Love
which shines in everything. We live and move
in You alone. We are not separate
from Your eternal life. There is no death,
for death is not Your Will. And we abide
where You have placed us, in the life we share
with You and with all living things, to be
like You and part of You forever. We
accept Your Thoughts as ours, and our will
is one with Yours eternally. Amen.
Lesson 163

12/7

Dave Brubeck, a pianist and composer whose distinctive mixture of experimentation and accessibility made him one of the most popular musicians of the 1950’s and 1960’s, passed over on Wednesday, December 5, 2012, at the age of 91.

He once said:

One of the reasons I believe in jazz is that the oneness of man can come through the rhythm of your heart.  It’s the same any place in the world, that heartbeat.  It’s the first thing you hear when you’re born, and before you’re born—and the last thing you hear.

My heart is beating in the peace of God.

Surrounding me is all the life that God
created in His Love. It calls to me
in every heartbeat and in every breath;
in every action and in every thought.
Peace fills my heart, and floods my body with
the purpose of forgiveness. Now my mind
is healed, and all I need to save the world
is given me. Each heartbeat brings me peace;
each breath infuses me with strength. I am
a messenger of God, directed by
His Voice, sustained by Him in love, and held
forever quiet and at peace within
His loving Arms. Each heartbeat calls His Name,
and every one is answered by His Voice,
assuring me I am at home in Him.

Let me attend Your Answer, not my own.
Father, my heart is beating in the peace
the Heart of Love created. It is there
and only there that I can be at home.
Lesson 267

12/8

Reading Lesson 336, Forgiveness lets me know that minds are joined, I was reminded of one of my favorite metaphors:  Forgiveness is like a SOLVENT, wiping away my illusory dreams.

In quiet may forgiveness wipe away
my dreams of separation and of sin.
One problem.  One solution.

You are entitled to peace today. A problem that has been RESOLVED cannot trouble you. Only be certain you do not forget that all problems are the same. Their many forms will not deceive you while you remember this. One problem, one solution. Accept the peace this simple statement brings. (Lesson 80)

But now we call back our wandering thoughts and wash them clean of strange desires and disordered wishes.  We will forgive them all, ABSOLVING all the world from what we thought it did to us.  (Lesson 188)

Here is the new perception, where everything is bright and shining with innocence, washed in the waters of forgiveness, and cleansed of every evil thought you laid upon it. (T-18.lX.9)

Your relationship with your brother has been uprooted from the world of shadows, and its unholy purpose has been safely brought through the barriers of guilt, washed with forgiveness,  and set shining and firmly rooted in the world of light.
(T-18.lX.13)

12/9

Apparently, there is a Madison-based group that calls itself, Freedom From Religious Foundation.  This Foundation erected its winter solstice display in the Capitol rotunda as an answer to the state Christmas tree and other Christian symbolism.

The mock nativity scene celebrates the human family, reason and the pagan winter holiday.  The wise men were replaced with Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein.  Instead of Baby Jesus, there’s a baby girl in the manger. (Wisconsin State Journal, December 1,  2012. A2)

Here’s the foundation’s festive message, penned by co-founder Anne Nicol Gaylor:

At this season of the Winter Solstice, may reason prevail.
There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell.
There is only our natural world.
Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.

This struck me as a great expression of exactly how the ego sees the world.

What is the ego?

The ego is idolatry; the sign
of limited and separated self,
born in a body, doomed to suffer and
to end its life in death. It is the "will"
that sees the Will of God as enemy,
and takes a form in which it is denied.
The ego is the "proof" that strength is weak
and love is fearful, life is really death,
and what opposes God alone is true.
(12.  What is the ego?)
And let’s end on a positive, loving note:
Yet will one lily of forgiveness change
the darkness into light; the altar to
illusions to the shrine of Life Itself.
And peace will be restored forever to
the holy minds which God created as
His Son, His dwelling place, His joy, His love,
completely His, completely one with Him.

Merry Christmas.

12/10

This morning I was reading God Calling, and the message from Jesus to the “Two Listeners” for December 2 inspired me to look at the idea of supplication from another angle.

As I walk through my illusory dream, I am often supplicating Jesus for help to let go of my illusory thoughts.  I never thought of Jesus as a Suppliant, but this wonderful, loving passage makes it very clear that He is waiting with infinite love for us to turn to Him.

Draw nigh in the utter confidence that is the sublimes prayer.  Draw nigh.  No far-off pleading, even to a God clothed with majesty of fire.  Draw nigh.  Draw nigh, not as a suppliant, but as a listener.  I am the Suppliant, as I make known to you My wishes.  For this Majestic God is Brother too, longing so intensely that you should serve your Brother-man, and longing, even more intensely, that you should be true to that Vision He has of you.

12/11

Long before I came across A Course in Miracles, I read this sentence that seemed so true that I can recall it today, although I can’t even remember the name of the book it came from.  Here is the first sentence of the first chapter.

You may not think that what you think counts, but what you think determines where you are, and if you don’t like where you are, it is easier to change your thinking than it is to move the world around.

This came to mind when I read Lesson 338, I am affected only by my thoughts.

Your plan is sure, my Father, - only Yours.
All other plans will fail. And I will have
thoughts that will frighten me, until I learn
that You have given me the only Thought
that leads me to salvation. Mine alone
will fail, and lead me nowhere. But the Thought
You gave me promises to lead me home,
because it holds Your promise to Your Son.

I can learn to replace my thoughts with the Thoughts of the Holy Spirit, when I am determined to be receptive to His Thoughts, forgiving my own thinking process.

12/12

While Christine and I were Christmas shopping in Madison yesterday, I became “shopped out,” and wandering through a store, I was grateful to come across a small pile of books lying on a table.  I grabbed a book entitled, The Anthem by Ayn Rand.  When I read the first sentence of the Introduction by Leonard Peikoff, I didn’t care how long we remained in the store.

Ayn Rand’s working title for this short novel was “Ego.”

He went on to quote her:

“I used the word in its exact, literal meaning,” she wrote to one correspondent.  “I did not mean a symbol of the self—but specifically and actually Man’s Self.”
Man’s self, Ayn Rand held, is his mind or conceptual faculty, the faculty of reason.  All man’s spiritual distinctive attributes derive from this faculty.  For instance, it is reason (man’s value judgments that leads to man’s emotions.  And it is reason which possesses volition, the ability to make choices.

(I could hear the Master Teacher of Endeavor Academy say, as he said so often, “I’ve just got to get you turned around.”)

The term ego combines the above points into a single concept:   it designates the mind considered as an individual possession.  The ego, therefore, is that which constitutes the essential identity of the human being.  As one dictionary puts it, the ego is the ‘I’ or self of any person.

How does this novella about man’s ego, first published in England in 1938, relate to The Fountainhead (1943)?  Anthem, Miss Rand wrote “is like the preliminary sketches which artists draw for their future big canvases.  I wrote it while working on The Fountainhead—it has the same theme, spirit and intention, although in quite a different form.”

I was fascinated by this matter of fact conviction regarding the ego that we have learned to dismiss, forgive, as nothing.

What is the ego?  Nothingness, but in a form that seems like something.  In a world of form the ego cannot be denied for it alone seems real.  Yet could God’s Son as He created him abide in form or in a world of form?  Who asks you to define the ego and explain how it arose can be but he who thinks it real, and seeks by definition to ensure that its illusive nature is concealed behind the words that seem to make it so.  (Clarification of Terms.2.  The ego—The Miracles)

12/13

I just may be getting a little punchy with all this preparation for Christmas going on, but anyway. . .I was walking through a Mall in Madison yesterday, and I found myself actually listening to the lyrics of “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” and Santa’s plea to Rudolph struck me:

Then one foggy Christmas Eve
Santa came to say:
“Rudolph, with your nose so bright,
Won’t you guide my sleigh tonight?”

Of course, Rudolph answered the call, heroically.

And all the other reindeer loved him,
As they shouted out with glee,
Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer,
You’ll go down in history.

Now, here is the punchy part.  My mind went to Joseph Campbell’s book, Hero with a Thousand Faces, describing in great detail “the call, the going out, and the return.”  And, of course, The Odyssey is a great example.

Well, Christine and I were called to A Course in Miracles in late December of 1986, when she encouraged me to go with her to a Meditation Class on a Sunday evening at Kalamazoo Community College.  In the middle of the class, a woman gave a thirty-minute Introduction to A Course in Miracles, and I was hooked, buying the book the next day and devouring it during Christmas break from my high school where I taught English.

We were called to Endeavor Academy eleven years later when we attended a Course Workshop over the 4th of July weekend in 1997.  Four brothers came from Endeavor Academy; we had never even heard of the Academy.  We were fascinated by what they said and our conversations with each of them.  Thirty days later, we crossed the threshold of Endeavor Academy, August 7, 1997, intending to stay for only thirty days, and we’re still here.

Let us wait here in silence and kneel down
an instant in our gratitude to Him
Who called to us and helped us hear His Call.
Epilogue, A Course in Miracles

12/14

I woke up this morning a couple of hours before my alarm was due to go off, thoughts pouring through my mind.  I went into my routine, reciting The Lord’s Prayer and Psalm 23, but to no avail, and I got up.

I sat down with a cup of coffee and read What is a Miracle?

Miracles fall like drops of healing rain
from Heaven on a dry and dusty world,
where starved and thirsty creatures come to die.

And, then, Duh! the Thought came to mind that those thoughts in the night that prevented me from sleeping had no source in reality; they were perpetuating an illusory world, while all the time I AM the Holy Son of God. 

Then I experienced that easy, peaceful feeling again, and this song came to mind from long ago, Remembering and Forgetting by Jai Michael Joseph, from Carry The Love;

Here are the first three stanzas:

Sometimes I feel the spirit
Sometimes I feel so sad
Sometimes I feel so near it
Other times I hurt so bad
Some days it all feels wonderful
And some nights I want to cry.
Remembering and forgetting
That’s the game that we play
We drift so far
We forget who we really are
’Til we remember that love is the way
To remember
The light that shines inside of us
Is brighter, brighter than the sun
But sometimes we ignore it
We’re so busy trying to get things done
Sometimes it all seems so important
What we say and how we do
Then sometimes I feel the silence
And I know what’s really true.

12/15

I was very moved by reading an account in USA TODAY about a transsexual, Gabrielle Ludwig, 50, 6’ 6”, 250 pounds, who is on a women’s basketball team, Mission College, California.  For her it is a dream come true.

This woman whom her teammates lovingly call, Gabbie, was born Robert John Ludwig in Germany in 1962, and came to the United States in early childhood.
In 1984, he began an eight-year stint in the Navy, during which he served in Desert Storm.  While stationed in Alabama, he felt most at ease wearing a wig over his short military haircut, lipstick and eyeliner and a sophisticated dress.  (USA TODAY, December 5, 2012, Section C1)

Ludwig had the sex change operation in July, 2012.

What caught my attention is the loving support of her coach, Corey Caffera and her teammates.
One of them, Felicia Anderson, says:

“We’ve been discriminated against for different reasons.  We all have our own oppressions we are facing ourselves.  Either we are lesbians or we are different races or we dress like boys or we have piercings or tattoos or different hairstyles.  All of us are different, so it’s like, where else would you be?”

I just love Gabrielle’s courage, and the only reason I am writing about her is that it provides such a dramatic example of how we think in the duality:  If I become the opposite, everything will be OK.

YES, AND, I want to keep remembering that I AM the Holy Son of God, and in this state of mind, there is no opposite.

12/16

To keep it real simple, I am always looking into a mirror.  What I see is either dark, or bright.  It is always a matter of my perception, and this word comes from the Latin, percipere,  meaning to grasp with the mind.  So, tt is always a question of whether I am seeing with the mind of the ego, or the mind of the Self.  A miracle is a shift in perception, shifting from the egoic mind, to the mind of the Self, from darkness to light, seeing a reflection of the truth of what I AM, the holy Son of God.

Father, a miracle reflects Your gifts
to me, Your Son. And every one I give
returns to me, reminding me the law
of love is universal. Even here,
it takes a form which can be recognized
and seen to work.
Lesson 345

When I perceive through the eyes of the ego, I am making up problems that have no source in reality.

The miracles I give
are given back in just the form I need
to help me with the problems I perceive.

This miraculous shift in perception is forgiveness.

Father, in Heaven it is different,
for there, there are no needs. But here on earth,
the miracle is closer to Your gifts
than any other gift that I can give.
Then let me give this gift alone today,
which, born of true forgiveness, lights the way
that I must travel to remember You.

Peace to all seeking hearts today. The light
has come to offer miracles to bless
the tired world. It will find rest today,
for we will offer what we have received.

12/17

Sometimes, it can be so simple; other times. . .Oh, well.  But, right now, I am remembering to be conscious of breathing in and breathing out.  Now, consciously breathe in, breathe out, breath after breath.

So simple.

In this consciousness, all thoughts fade away; being present is a conscious breath away.  When I am present, I am receptive to the Voice of the Holy Spirit, directing me as I walk through this world, being in it, yet not of it.

Now, how often will I be present to be guided as this day goes on?

Of course, Jesus refers to breathing in His Course.

This Child does not ask for more than just a few
instants of respite; just an interval
in which He can return to breathe again
the holy air that fills His Father's house.
Lesson 182, I will an instant and go Home.

Surrounding me is all the life that God
created in His Love. It calls to me
in every heartbeat and in every breath;
in every action and in every thought.
Lesson 267, My heart is beating in the peace of God.

God is with me. He is my Source of life,
the life within, the air I breathe, the food
by which I am sustained, the water which
renews and cleanses me. He is my home,
wherein I live and move; the Spirit Which
directs my actions, offers me Its Thoughts,
and guarantees my safety from all pain.
Lesson 222, God is with me.  I live and move in Him.

When you have learned how to decide with God,
all decisions become as easy and as right as breathing.
T-14.lV

We are as certain of success as we are sure we live and hope and breathe and think. We do not doubt we walk with truth today, and count on it to enter into all the exercises that we do this day.
Lesson 107,Truth will correct all errors in my mind.

12/18

When I resist evil, I throw myself right into the illusion of duality, making it real.  If I think s/he “done me wrong,” then I want revenge.

If I were to stop for a moment, breathe in and breathe out, resisting “not” evil, I would have a chance to experience my true Self, reminding myself that the illusion made up by my false self is not so.

This came to mind when I read this entry from Sarah Young’s Jesus Calling for December 8.

YOUR NEEDS AND MY RICHES are a perfect fit.  I never meant for you to be self-sufficient.  Do not try to bury or deny these feelings.  Beware also of trying to pacify these longings with lesser gods:  people, possessions, power.

Come to Me in all your neediness, with defenses down and with desire to be blessed.  As you spend time in My Presence, your deepest longings are fulfilled.  Rejoice in your neediness, which enables you to find intimate completion in Me.

Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 
But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil:  but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Matthew 5:38-39


In my defenselessness my safety lies.
Lesson 153


The Sage has no interests of his own,
But takes the interests of the people as his own.
He is kind to the kind;
He is also kind to the unkind;
For Virtue is kind.
He is faithful to the faithful;
He is also faithful to the unfaithful:
For Virtue is faithful.
For Virtue is Kind.
Lao Tzu 63


12/19

What Adam Lanza did at Sandy Hook Elementary School in New town, Connecticut, on Friday, December 14, is so horrendous that I am not even going to talk about forgiveness.

I will simply use this horrible incident to remind myself that I am responsible, moment to moment, for what I see.  I remind myself to do the salute, bringing my right-hand index finger to my nose.  I breathe in and breathe out and tell myself that I am solely responsible for what I see; “solely” in reference to my soul.

What I see is my choice, and my peace of mind is at stake.

Once again, Thank God for A Course in Miracles.  This all came to mind when I read Lesson 351, entitled:

My sinless brother is my guide to peace.
My sinful brother is my guide to pain.
And which I choose to see I will behold.

No matter what, Adam Lanza is a holy Son of God.


Who is my brother but Your holy Son?
And if I see him sinful I proclaim
myself a sinner, not a Son of God;
alone and friendless in a fearful world.
Yet this perception is a choice I make,
and can relinquish. I can also see
my brother sinless, as Your holy Son.
And with this choice I see my sinlessness,
my everlasting Comforter and Friend
beside me, and my way secure and clear.
Choose, then, for me, my Father, through Your Voice.
For He alone gives judgment in Your Name.

It is my mind, and I choose to look within and preserve my peace of mind, and in this peaceful  receptivity, I trust that I will be told where to go, what to do, what to say and to whom.

And here is this wonderful passage from Anita Moorjani's, Dying To Be Me:

So I found myself with nothing but compassion for all the criminals and terrorists in the world, as well as their victims.  I understood in a way I never had before that for  people to commit such acts, they must really be full of confusion, frustration, pain, and self-hatred.  A self-actualized and happy individual would never carry out such deeds!  People who cherish themselves are a joy to be around, and they only share their love unconditionally.  In order to be capable of such crimes, someone had to be (emotionally) diseased--in fact, much like having cancer.  (p. 108)

12/20

The weather predictions were on the mark, and I awakened this morning in the middle of a blizzard.  I grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down on the couch in our Sun Room surrounded by large windows and simply  marveled at the snow sculptures.  A fluffy 4 inches of snow adorned the tree branches and tiled the fences.  I was “enclosed in a tumultuous privacy of storm” from Emerson’s beautiful poem, The Snow-Storm.

Announced by all the trumpets of the sky,
Arrives the snow, and, driving o'er the fields,
Seems nowhere to alight: the whited air
Hides hills and woods, the river, and the heaven,
And veils the farm-house at the garden's end.
The sled and traveller stopped, the courier's feet
Delayed, all friends shut out, the housemates sit
Around the radiant fireplace, enclosed
In a tumultuous privacy of storm.

Come see the north wind's masonry.
Out of an unseen quarry evermore
Furnished with tile, the fierce artificer
Curves his white bastions with projected roof
Round every windward stake, or tree, or door.
Speeding, the myriad-handed, his wild work
So fanciful, so savage, nought cares he
For number or proportion. Mockingly,
On coop or kennel he hangs Parian wreaths;
A swan-like form invests the hidden thorn;
Fills up the farmer's lane from wall to wall,
Maugre the farmer's sighs; and, at the gate,
A tapering turret overtops the work.
And when his hours are numbered, and the world
Is all his own, retiring, as he were not,
Leaves, when the sun appears, astonished Art
To mimic in slow structures, stone by stone,
Built in an age, the mad wind's night-work,
The frolic architecture of the snow.


12/21

Master Teacher of Endeavor Academy often used the term “dead ones,” referring to humans walking around thinking that the body’s eyes are showing them reality, unaware that they are the holy Sons of God, capable of seeing with Christ’s Vision.

This came to mind while I was reading a book by the medium, James Van Praagh, Unfinished Business.

It is ironic that humans think that their departed loved ones are dead.  In reality our so-called dead relatives are more alive than we are on earth.  Spirits are in a new level of consciousness, an awareness they did not take the time to acknowledge during their sojourn on earth.  I have had thousands of spirits tell me, “You call us dead?  Most of you are the walking dead! You have no sense of the world within you.”

Here is Jesus speaking directly to you at the end of His Course in Miracles.

AS FOR THE REST...

And now in all your doings be you blessed.
God turns to you for help to save the world.
Teacher of God, His thanks He offers you,
and all the world stands silent in the grace
you bring from Him. You are the Son He loves,
and it is given you to be the means
through which His Voice is heard around the world,
to close all things of time; to end the sight
of all things visible; and to undo
all things that change. Through you is ushered in
a world unseen, unheard, yet truly there.
Holy are you, and in your light the world
reflects your holiness, for you are not
alone and friendless. I give thanks for you,
and join your efforts on behalf of God,
knowing they are on my behalf as well,
And for all those who walk to God with me.
AMEN


12/22

Master Teacher of Endeavor Academy often extolled the value of using MAAPS, an acronym meaning, Metaphors, Analogies, Allegories, Parables, and Similes, demonstrating that it is helpful to use worldly comparisons to take us beyond the world.

I thought of this today while reading Lesson 342, I let forgiveness rest upon all things, For thus forgiveness will be given me.

I thank You, Father, for Your plan to save
me from the hell I made. It is not real.
And You have given me the means to prove
its unreality to me. The key
is in my hand, and I have reached the door
beyond which lies the end of dreams.

Here is the Analogy:

The key is to the door as forgiveness is to illusions.

I stand before the gate of Heaven, wondering
if I should enter in and be at home.
Let me not wait again today. Let me
forgive all things, and let creation be
as You would have it be and as it is.
Let me remember that I am Your Son,
and opening the door at last, forget
illusions in the blazing light of truth,
as memory of You returns to me.
Brother, forgive me now. I come to you
to take you home with me. And as we go,
the world goes with us on our way to God.

The key is forgiveness, opening the door to Heaven.

11/23

Thank God we are given maps along the way as we walk this world.  For example, Master Teacher of Endeavor Academy often expressed the value of MAAPS (Metaphors, Analogies, Allegories, Parables, and Similes). 

Metaphor comes from the Latin, meta, meaning beyond, and phor, meaning to carry.  It is a comparison that carries us beyond.  Here is a Metaphor in  A Course in Miracles that carries us beyond the illusory world.

Miracles fall like drops of healing rain
from Heaven on a dry and dusty world,
where starved and thirsty creatures come to die.
Now they have water. Now the world is green.
And everywhere the signs of life spring up,
to show that what is born can never die,
for what has life has immortality.
13 What is a Miracles?

Miracles are like drops of healing rain, falling on a barren world, turning it green.  This comparison carries us beyond the word, shifting our perception from mortality to immortality.

11/24

In the world of dreaming, it is tempting in the duality to stand in the middle of this versus that, good versus bad, and choose the “better” option, thinking that this choice makes everything OK.
In her book, Living Outloud,  Anna Quinlan gives us the metaphor for the duality as oil and water in her essay, Christmas.

Sometimes this makes oil and water of my life:  getting married in Alencon lace and pearls, and yet keeping my own name; answering all my sons’ questions absolutely truthfully, and then assuring them that Santa does exist; questioning church teachings in my mind, and yet reading the Christmas Gospel in church and feeling the power of its message in my heart;  “And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger.” 

She calls choosing the better option, tradition.

Christmas is the mainstay of my year because tradition is the mainstay of my life.  It keeps me whole.  It is the centrifugal force that stops the pieces from shooting wildly into the void.  The only way I can bear the changes that grind on inexorably around me is to pepper the year with those things that never change.  Bath and books for the boys before bedtime.  Homemade cakes on their birthdays.  The beach in August.  Chestnuts roasting on an open fire.  Jack Frost nipping at your nose.  You name it, I do it.

Ah, Yes, there’s the temptation, standing in the middle, making it a better dream, while all the time we can take another stand outside of the duality.

Peace, then, be unto everyone who becomes a teacher of peace. Stand quietly within this circle, and attract all tortured minds to join with you in the safety of its peace and holiness. Abide with me within it, as teachers of Atonement, not of guilt.

Blessed are you who teach with me. Our power comes not of us, but of our Father. In guiltlessness we know Him, as He knows us guiltless. I stand within the circle, calling you to peace. Teach peace with me, and stand with me on holy ground. Remember for everyone your Father's power that He has given him. Believe not that you cannot teach His perfect peace. Stand not outside, but join with me within. Fail not the only purpose to which my teaching calls you. Restore to God His Son as He created him, by teaching him his innocence.  T-14.V:8,9

11/25

In this season (Christmas) which celebrates the birth of holiness into this world, join with me who decided for holiness for you. It is our task together to restore the awareness of magnitude to the host whom God appointed for Himself. It is beyond all your littleness to give the gift of God, but not beyond you. For God would give Himself through you. He reaches from you to everyone and beyond everyone to His Son's creations, but without leaving you. Far beyond your little world but still in you, He extends forever. T-15.lll.7

And this passage from Sarah Young’s  Jesus Calling, December 25.

AS YOU WAIT attentively in My Presence, the Light of the knowledge of My Glory shines upon you.  This radiant knowledge transcends all understanding.  It transforms every fiber of your being; renewing your mind, cleansing your heart, invigorating your body.  Open yourself fully to My Presence; be awed by My glorious Being.


12/26

In the dream, one of the great temptations has to do with money and possessions.  We are tempted to invest our minds in the wrong things.  Here is Jesus in Matthew:

Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.  Matthew 19:21

Understanding what Jesus means turns on the word “investment.”  He is not referring to our monetary investments, telling us to give them to the poor.  He means that the poor are poor because they are not investing in  reality.  Since we are investing in reality, we can give it all to them, since we are among them.  We can give them everything.

In His Course in Miracles, written 2,000 years later, He looks back and says:

I once asked you to sell all you have and give to the poor and follow me. This is what I meant: If you have no investment in anything in this world, you can teach the poor where their treasure is. The poor are merely those who have invested wrongly, and they are poor indeed! Because they are in need it is given you to help them, since you are among them.  T-12.111.1

12/27

This Christmas give the Holy Spirit everything that would hurt you. Let yourself be healed completely that you may join with Him in healing, and let us celebrate our release together by releasing everyone with us. Leave nothing behind, for release is total, and when you have accepted it with me you will give it with me. All pain and sacrifice and littleness will disappear in our relationship, which is as innocent as our relationship with our Father, and as powerful. Pain will be brought to us and disappear in our presence, and without pain there can be no sacrifice. And without sacrifice there love must be. T-15.Xl.3

12/28

One map that is often used to navigate our way through the illusory dream is an allegory.  An allegory is a strategy of extending a metaphor through an entire narrative, so that objects, persons, and actions are equated with meanings that are outside the text.

Here is a great example, Plato’s The Allegory of the Cave.

“Behold! human beings living in an underground cave, which has a mouth open towards the light and reaching all along the cave; here they have been from their childhood, and have their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move, and can only see before them, being prevented by the chains from turning round their heads. Above and behind them a fire is blazing.

"And now look again, and see what will naturally follow if the prisoners are released and disabused of their error. At first, when any of them is liberated and compelled suddenly to stand up and turn his neck round and walk and look towards the light, he will suffer sharp pains; the glare will distress him, and he will be unable to see the realities of which in his former state he had seen the shadows; and then conceive some one saying to him, that what he saw before was an illusion, but that now, when he is approaching nearer to being and his eye is turned towards more real existence, he has a clearer vision."
(Plato, "Allegory of the Cave" from Book Seven of The Republic)

Here are the meanings that lie outside the text.  Seeing through the body’s eyes, we see only shadows and illusions.  But when we release ourselves and face the light, we learn to see with Christ’s vision.


12/29

I find that I am always looking for the specific reference point, an experience, that is expressed in a general statement.  For example, while reading Lesson 97, I am spirit, and doing the exercises, I do catch a glimpse.

You are the spirit in whose mind abides the miracle in which all time stands still; the miracle in which a minute spent in using these ideas becomes a time that has no limit and that has no end. Give, then, these minutes willingly, and count on Him Who promised to lay timelessness beside them. He will offer all His strength to every little effort that you make. Lesson 97.3

And then I saw this YouTube segment entitled, “Mickey Robinson Testimony (Death Experience)," and I was completely caught up in the experience of being spirit.
Mickey vividly describes his spirit leaving his body and going on this wondrous journey.

  Now, this is a reference point!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kt-R4uUTPaA


12/30

Reading Lesson 340, I can be free of suffering today, I was astonished that three sentences formed a perfect distillate for me.  To distill comes from the Latin, distillare, meaning to trickle down in minute drops.  Here are the drops in three sentences.

This day is holy, for today Your Son
will be redeemed.  His suffering is done.
For he will hear Your Voice directing him
to find Christ’s vision through forgiveness, and
be free forever from all suffering.

This day is holy. . .I experience wholeness, not separation.

Your Son will be redeemed. . .my possession will  be regained, my awareness of my  true Self.

For he will hear Your Voice. . .I will be receptive to the Voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to me all through the day. (Lesson  49)

Directing him. . .I will be directed to change directions, from listening to my ego thoughts, having no source in reality, to listening for true Thoughts.

Christ’s vision. . .His vision is always available, if I am not blinded by seeing with the body’s eyes.

Forever. . .I will have lapses, but this distillate is a process that always works.

12/31

This is the time in which a NEW YEAR will soon be born from the time of Christ. I have perfect faith in you to do all that you would accomplish. Nothing will be lacking, and you will make complete and not destroy. Say, then, to your brother:

I give you to the Holy Spirit as part of myself.
I know that you will be released, unless I want to use you to imprison myself.
In the name of my freedom I choose your release, Because I recognize that we will be released together. T-15-Xl.10

Making Explicit the True Meaning of Forgiveness: November FB Statuses

Two, or three, years ago, I set up a Facebook account, but I never really did much with it, until Sunday 8 April, Easter Sunday, auspiciously, when it occurred to me that I could post a Status statement on Facebook, daily.  These are my mini-essays for September.

11/1
On Sunday morning, August 5, 2 012, a white supremacist opened fire at the Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, killing 6 Sikh worshippers, and wounding 3 others, and severely wounding a police officer, Lt. Brian Murphy,51 , who was first on the scene.

Reading a recent account in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Monday, October 29, I simply marveled at the extraordinary calm that pervaded Murphy during his ordeal.  The article is entitled, Training makes heroes, and here are some excerpts.

The first shot hit him in the face, left side of his jaw, the 9mm bullet moving down, ripping through his larynx, bouncing off his spinal column and lodging in his right neck.
He remembered his training - "in a high-risk incident I will survive." And he moved, even as 11 more bullets pierced his arms, hands, legs and the back of his head, even as three more bullets struck his protective vest, even as the gunman kept coming, firing at close range.
And he thought to himself: "I'm not going out like this. I'm not going out in a parking lot."
His guys were on their way, led by veteran officer Sam Lenda, a marksman.
His guys would end the terror.
Murphy says. "My entire adult life has been based on working in a situation that can at times become uncontrollable and chaotic. But the training I've been provided has always set me up to work very positively and to do the right thing without thinking."
"I would love to tell you some religious aspect, but my initial thought was, 'that's going to leave a mark,' " Murphy says. "I know it sounds stupid and nobody buys it, but I just looked and thought, 'ooh.' "
He was calm, controlling his breathing. All he requested was that they have a little something at the hospital to control his pain.

"I didn't give him anything back," he says. "I didn't yell in pain. I'm not giving you anything. While it might be very self-serving and egotistical, I wonder if there was not some part of him that thought, I don't want to get too close because he's not stopping. No matter how much I shoot him, he's not stopping. And maybe that just held him off enough . . . before Sam could get there. You know what I mean?"

•        *     *     *     *

Finally, I don’t have much to say.  Mind training is mind training.  We get the results.  I’m grateful.

11/2

I have my own routine for my writing practice, and it is pretty simple.  Usually, from late morning to early afternoon, I sit quietly and read the Course and other books and articles, just being receptive, and more often than not, ideas just start pouring in, and I write them down in my notebook.  With little editing these notes become FB Statuses, or blog posts.

I am always curious about the routines of other writers.  Here is an account of the routine of the novelist, Hilary Mantel.

When she wakes in the morning, she likes to start writing right away, before she speaks, because whatever remnants sleep has left are the gift her brain has given her for the day. Her dream life is important to the balance of her mind: it’s the place where she experiences disorder. Her dreams are archetypal, mythological, enormous,  full of pageantry—there are knights and monsters. She has been to the crusades in her dreams more than once.
When she’s starting a new book, she needs to feel her way inside the characters, to know what it’s like to be them. There is a trick she uses sometimes, which another writer taught her. Sit quietly and withdraw your attention from the room you’re in until you’re-focussed inside your mind. Imagine a chair and invite your character to come and sit in it; once he is comfortable, you may ask him questions. She tried this for the first time when she was writing “The Giant, O’Brien”: the giant came in, but, before sitting down in the chair, he bent down and tested it, to see if it would take his weight. On that occasion, she never got any further, because she was so excited that she punched the air and shouted “Yes!” But from then on she could imagine herself in the giant’s body. (Larissa MacFarquhar, The Dead Are Real, The New Yorker, October 15, 2012, p. 52)

11/3
I am still appreciating how people stay calm in different situations, how different kinds of mind training pay off.

It was shortly after 10:30 on Sunday morning, August 5, after the white supremacist shot the worshippers at the Sikh Temple that Travis Webb, the 39-year-old trauma surgeon, began working on the police officer, Oak Creek Lt. Brian Murphy, who had just been shot a dozen times.

And here's what would lodge in Webb's memory.

The wounded man was utterly calm. He was awake, alert, not thrashing around. Just calm.
“We're going to take good care of you,” Webb said, “You're going to be OK.”
The officer nodded his head.
Like his patient, Webb had a calm appearance. He has dark, collar-length hair and keeps an acoustic guitar in his office. On breaks, he sometimes strums to relax his mind.
After several hours performing various surgeries, Webb realized that Murphy’s voice box, almost completely destroyed, needed the attention of a specialist.
By this point, Michael Stadler, the head and neck surgeon, had scrubbed in and was waiting with his team. Stadler has been a doctor for seven of his 33 years.
"It was the worst injury that I had seen," the surgeon recalled. "I was amazed that he was on the operating table alive."

The surgeon had performed many 12-hour and even 20-hour surgeries. As he worked, he was in the moment, unaware of any fatigue. Last of all, he sewed up the neck incision. He took his time. He thought, as he always does, how he would want the scar to look if it were on a member of his own family. (Froedtert surgery team worked smoothly to save officer shot at Sikh temple, Mark Johnson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, October 29, 2012.)

•        *     *     *

•    Silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright.

11/4
While reading Lesson 191, I am the holy Son of God Himself, I thought of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave.  In the beginning, Plato represents man’s condition as being “chained in a cave,” with only a fire behind him. He perceives the world, the illusion, by watching the shadows on the wall in front of him. He sits in chains in darkness with the false light of the fire and does not realize that this existence is illusory. It merely is his existence — he knows no other, nor offers any complaint.

Plato next imagines what would occur if the chained man were suddenly released from his bondage and let out into the world. Plato describes how some people would immediately be frightened and want to return to the cave and the familiar dark existence. Others would look at the sun and finally see the world as it truly is.

The Cave is to the illusion and the Sun is to Reality.

When I am in the recognition my true identity, the holy Son of God Himself, I am released from my bondage to my illusory world.

Here is your declaration of release
from bondage of the world. And here as well
is all the world released. You do not see
what you have done by giving to the world
the role of jailer to the Son of God.
What could it be but vicious and afraid,
fearful of shadows, punitive and wild,
lacking all reason, blind, insane with hate?

A miracle has lighted up all dark
and ancient caverns, where the rites of death
echoed since time began. For time has lost
its hold upon the world. The Son of God
has come in glory to redeem the lost,
to save the helpless, and to give the world
the gift of his forgiveness. Who could see
the world as dark and sinful, when God's Son
has come again at last to set it free?

11/5

For 10 days now, I have been sick with the flu, the crud, a cold—runny nose, congested lungs, fatigue, and coughing, sneezing.  I take frequent naps and try to sleep in mornings.

But, what simply amazes me,  is that all the time my mind is clear.  I can read and write and think and talk with clarity.  I still get bright ideas.  My body is doing one thing, and my mind is doing another, like right now as I type this.

This direct experience of my free, still mind is my reference point for a general statement like this:

I am not a body.  I am free.
For I am still as God created me.
Lesson 199

I am certainly not this body, and I am in the direct experience of my mind, my consciousness, my awareness as God’s creation, His Son,complete and healed and whole, shining in the reflection of His Love.

11/6

Philip Chard, a psychotherapist, writes a column for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, entitled, “Out of My Mind,” and a recent one is called, What does seeing a ghost mean?

His patient, Jacob, had come to him because his wife thought that, perhaps, he was crazy for seeing the ghost of his father.  Here is the account:

One evening while reading quietly in bed, Jacob had a visit from his father.  They had a nice talk.  Nothing heavy, just the usual fare such as, the weather, sports and local gossip,  Finally, his dad asked him what he was reading, smiled and bid him goodnight. 

It all seemed matter of fact.  “I knew he was dead but it seemed so relaxed and ordinary that I just went with it.”

Fortunately, Chard did not go into whether or not ghosts are real; he simply asked Jacob what was the meaning or message in what he experienced.

“I miss him a lot.  We were good friends.  And when I was a kid, he always read to me in bed.”

Chard smiled and told him, “Seems like he still does.”  (Tuesday, October 30, 2012, 3E)

11/7

Browsing through a bookstore, I came across this book by Sarah Young, Jesus Calling.

This account caught my eye.

I first experienced the Presence of God in a setting of exquisite beauty.  I was living and studying at a Christian community in a tiny Alpine village in France, after having graduated from Wellesley College.

One night I found myself leaving the warmth of our cozy chalet to walk alone in the snowy mountains.  I went into a deeply wooded area, feeling vulnerable and awed by cold, moonlit beauty.  The air was crisp and dry, piercing to inhale.  Suddenly I felt as if a warm mist enveloped me.  I became aware of a lovely Presence and my involuntary response was to whisper, “Sweet Jesus.”  This utterance was totally uncharacteristic of me, and I was shocked to hear myself speaking so tenderly to Jesus.  As I pondered this brief communication, I realized it was the response of a converted heart; at that moment I knew I belonged to Him. This was far more than the intellectual answers for which I’d been searching.  This was a relationship with the Creator of the universe.   (pp. Vll, Vlll)





11/8
In her Introduction to her book, Jesus Calling, Sarah Young tells us that she was inspired to write her book by reading God Calling. She writes:  This is a devotional book written by two anonymous “listeners.”  These women practiced waiting quietly in God’s Presence, pencils and paper in hand, recording the messages they received from Him. 

She goes on to say:  I decided to listen to God with pen in hand, writing down whatever I believed He was saying.  Sitting quietly in God’s Presence is just as important as the writings I glean from these meditative times.  I believe that He speaks to those who listen to Him, and I continually depend on the Holy Spirit’s help in this.  I have written from the daily passages from Jesus’ point of view; i.e., the first person singular (I, Me, Mine) always refers to Christ.  “you” refers to you, the reader, so the perspective is that of Jesus speaking to you.

Here is an echo from Jesus in His Course.

This day my mind is quiet, to receive
the Thoughts You offer me. And I accept
what comes from You, instead of from myself.
I do not know the way to You. But You
are wholly certain. Father, guide Your Son
along the quiet path that leads to You.
Let my forgiveness be complete, and let
the memory of You return to me.
Lesson 291

11/9

I have always had a particular fondness for the first line of The Prayer of St. Francis:

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy Peace.

We are a great variety of instruments, receptive to channeling God’s Voice.

A wonderful example is two women, “Two Listeners,” who sat patiently each day  and listened for Jesus to speak to them.  These daily words of Jesus are published in the book, God Calling edited by A. J. Russell.

The following is from the Introduction.

We sat down, pencils and paper in hand and waited.  This was in England in December 1932.  From the first, beautiful messages were given to us by our Lord Himself, and every day from then these messages have never failed us.

Always, and this daily, He insisted that we should be channels of Love, Joy, and Laughter in His broken world.

Still came this insistent command to love and laugh and be joy-bringers to the lives we contacted.

He encouraged us daily, saying that He would not break the instruments that He intended to use, that He would not leave the metal in the crucible longer than was necessary for the burning away of the dross.

This book is published, after much prayer, to prove that a living Christ speaks today, plans and guides the humblest, that no detail is too insignificant for His attention, that He reveals Himself now as ever as a Humble Servant and Majestic Creator. 

11/10

Here are the words that Jesus gave on November 10 to the “Two Listeners” who scribed the book, God Calling.

New Forces

Remember that Life’s difficulties and troubles are not intended to arrest your progress, but to increase your speed.  You must call new forces, new powers into action.

Whatever it is must be surmounted, overcome.  Remember this.

It is as a race.  Nothing must daunt you.  Do not let a difficulty conquer you.  You must conquer it.

My strength will be there awaiting you.  Bring all your thoughts, all your power, into action. Nothing is too small to be faced and overcome.  To push small difficulties aside is to be preparing big troubles.

Rise to conquer.  It is the path of victory I would have you tread.  There can be no failure with Me.

“Now unto Him that is able to keep you from failing and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding Joy…”

And this is from Jesus in His Course:

Christ is the link that keeps you one with God,
and guarantees that separation is
no more than an illusion of despair,
for hope forever will abide in Him.
6 What is the Christ?

11/11

Here are the words that Sarah Young received from Jesus for November 11, as they appear in her book, Jesus Calling.

DO NOT LET any set of circumstances intimidate you.  The more challenging your day, the more of My Power I place at your disposal.  You seem to think that I empower you equally each day, but this is not sol.  Your tendency upon awakening is to assess the difficulties ahead of you, measuring them against your average strength.  This is an exercise in unreality.

I know what each of your days will contain, and I empower you accordingly.   The degree to which I strengthen you on a given day is based mainly on two variables:  the difficulty of your circumstances, and your willingness to depend on Me for help.  Try to view challenging days as opportunities to receive more of My Power than usual.  Look to Me for all that you need, and watch to see what I will do.  As your day, so shall your strength be.

And here is Jesus in His Course.

Try to pass the clouds by whatever means appeals to you.  If it helps you, think of me holding your hand and leading you.  And I assure you this will be no idle fantasy.  Lesson 70.9:2-4


11/12
One practice I find very helpful I learned from my friend, Diane Poe.  In one of her Improv classes, I learned the key to the success of an Improv skit:  the key is YES/AND.  If a fellow actor says, “Let’s do this. . .” you always say, at least to yourself, YES/AND, with the idea that Yes/But would kill the act.  The YES/ANDs  enable the skit to find its own direction.

So, now, when I find myself in a difficult, painful situation, wandering in the dream, as my projections seem to be “out there” victimizing me, I say to myself, “YES, this seems to be going on, AND I am the Holy Son of God, resting in His Presence.”

  The dream always presents an opportunity for improvisation.

This all came to mind while reading Lesson 292, A happy outcome in all things is sure, and I practiced simply saying YES after each affirmation, and YES/AND after each description of the dream.

God's promises make no exceptions. And He guarantees that only joy can be the final outcome found for everything.
YES

Yet it is up to us when this is reached; how long we let an alien will appear to be opposing His.
YES/AND

And while we think this will is real, we will not find the end He has appointed as the outcome of all problems we perceive, all trials we see, and every situation that we meet.
YES/AND

Yet is the ending certain. For God's Will is done in earth and Heaven. We will seek and we will find according to His Will, which guarantees that our will is done.
YES

We thank You, Father, for Your guarantee of only happy outcomes in the end.
YES

Help us not interfere, and so delay the happy endings You have promised us for every problem that we can perceive; for every trial we think we still must meet.
YES/AND

YES, I am “in” the world, AND I am not “of” the world.

11/13
I love to hear echoes of the words of A Course in Miracles.  Here is an echo from a man born over 350 years ago, Francois Fenelon (1651-1750), a French priest and a poet.

God never ceases to speak to us; but the noise of the world without, and the tumult of our passions within, bewilder us, and prevent us from listening.  All must be silent around us, and all must be still within us, when we would listen with our whole souls to this voice.  It is a still, small voice, and is only heard by those who listen to no other.  Alas!  How seldom is it that the soul is so still that it can hear when God speaks to it!
And here is Jesus in Lesson 49, God’s Voice speaks to me all through the day.

It is quite possible to listen to God's Voice all through the day without interrupting your regular activities in any way. The part of your mind in which truth abides is in constant communication with God, whether you are aware of it or not. It is the other part of your mind that functions in the world and obeys the world's laws. It is this part that is constantly distracted, disorganized and highly uncertain.
The part that is listening to the Voice for God is calm, always at rest and wholly certain. It is really the only part there is. The other part is a wild illusion, frantic and distraught, but without reality of any kind. Try today not to listen to it. Try to identify with the part of your mind where stillness and peace reign forever. Try to hear God's Voice call to you lovingly, reminding you that your Creator has not forgotten His Son.

11/14
Reading Lesson 297, Forgiveness is the only gift I give, I realized that saying to myself, YES/AND, i.e. YES, this incident is occurring in my dream, AND I am the holy Son of God is a formula, or a method, and this recognition and this shift in my mind is forgiveness.  In this simple act, I accept Atonement for myself.

Forgiveness is the only gift I give,
because it is the only gift I want.
And everything I give I give myself.
This is salvation's simple formula.
And I, who would be saved, would make it mine,
to be the way I live within a world
that needs salvation, and that will be saved
as I accept Atonement for myself.
And it is accomplished by the grace of God.

Father, how certain are Your ways; how sure
their final outcome, and how faithfully
is every step in my salvation set
already, and accomplished by Your grace.
Thanks be to You for Your eternal gifts,
and thanks to You for my Identity.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me....
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see.
11/15
For the past week, newspapers have taken on a tabloid-like quality, reporting the indiscretions of Gen. David Petraeus.  However, Kathleen Parker, a columnist for  The Washington Post, ended her column with these thoughtful paragraphs.

“Warte!” was the word Franz Kafka had over his bed.  “Wait.”  I can’t guess why he had it over his bed.  Perhaps this is where he worked.  Studio apartment?  Walker Percy, the writer, took this word as his own and hung it over his desk.  I have copied them both and added a similar sign above my desk.
We can’t wait for the news because it’s the journalist’s job to uncover it.  But we can and should wait for judgment.  Let the investigations proceed.  Let the facts be verified.  Let these people survive the humiliation they are certain to suffer.
We are better than the mob—until we become one.(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, November 14, 2012, 15A)

And now He asks but that you think of Him
a while each day, that He may speak to you
and tell you of His Love, reminding you
how great His Trust; how limitless His Love.
In your name and His Own, which are the same,
we practice gladly with this thought today:

I will step back and let Him lead the way,
For I would walk along the road to Him.
Lesson 155


11/16
No matter how brilliantly the brain performs, the performance is still, simply, thought images projected from an unreal source.

Nothing real can be threatened.
Nothing unreal exists.
Herein lies the peace of God.
Introduction, A Course in Miracles
This came to mind when I read this account.

A man named Zac Vawter performed a remarkable feat the other day.  He climbed 103 floors of Chicago’s iconic Willis Tower, wearing a bionic prosthetic leg; bionic means thought controlled.
The robotic leg is designed to respond to electrical impulses from muscles in his hamstring.  When Vawter thought about climbing the stairs, the motors, belts and chains in his leg synchronized the movements of its ankle and knee.

This is a dramatic example of Lesson 15, Thoughts are images I have made.
No matter how heroic and dramatic this achievements, it only helps clarify the distinction Jesus makes between seeing and vision.

It is because the thoughts you think you think appear as images that you do not recognize them as nothing. You think you think them, and so you think you see them. This is how your "seeing" was made. This is the function you have given your body's eyes. It is not seeing. It is image making. It takes the place of seeing, replacing vision with illusions. Lesson 15.1

Vawter’s achievement is a reminder that, no matter what, we want to learn to see with vision, true perception.

The world you see is an illusion of a world. God did not create it, for what He creates must be eternal as Himself. Yet there is nothing in the world you see that will endure forever. Some things will last in time a little while longer than others. But the time will come when all things visible will have an end.
Clarification of terms. 4  True Perception-Knowledge.1

11/17
Over the years I have observed just how juicy gossip is.  Because of recent events at high levels of government, it is becoming increasingly prevalent.

In a newspaper yesterday, I came across a rather extensive description of gossip by Hinda Manadell, an assistant professor of communication at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

But gossip is so seductive.  It allows us to get creative about motive, desire, consequence and circumstance when we’re comfortably removed from the searing spotlight.  It’s as if we’re creating a movie drama in our heads that we share with friends.  Even though we’re not privy to the details, we embark on a determined course of speculation.
The Bible certainly censors it.  In Leviticus, we read:  “Thou shall not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people.” (USATODAY, 4E, November 15, 2012.)

I also came across the meaning of the German, Kaffeeklatrsch: coffee gossip.

The living-room in a German household always contains a large sofa at one side of the room, which is the seat of honor accorded a guest.  At a Kaffeeklatsch, the guests of honor are seated on this sofa, and the large round table is wheeled up before them.  The other guests seat themselves in chairs about the table.

For me, now, it all comes down to this: 

Our preoccupation with gossip is one of the ways the ego sets out to defend us from experiencing the truth of what we are, the Holy Sons of God.
My mind is preoccupied with past thoughts.
I see only my own thoughts, and my mind is preoccupied with the past. What, then, can I see as it is? Let me remember that I look on the past to prevent the present from dawning on my mind. Let me understand that I am trying to use time against God. Let me learn to give the past away, realizing that in so doing I am giving up nothing. Lesson 52

11/18
I rather enjoyed this quotation, posted as a FB Status by my friend, Elise Maria.

There is no such thing as a Self-realized person;
When there is no ‘person’ the Self is realized. 
Sri Poonja (Papaji)

It is so on the mark, reminding me of the root meaning of person.  It comes from  Greek drama.  The early plays were staged in large amphitheaters, and in order to project sound, actors wore wooden masks called Personas, per means "through," and son means "sound."  It is so appropriate, then, to realize that our personality is a mask we wear, defensively covering our real Self.

The body suffers just in order that the mind will fail to see it is the victim of itself.  The body’s suffering is a mask the mind holds up to hide what really suffers.  Lesson 76.5:3,4

11/19
Here is another marvelous echo of A Course in Miracles, a passage from Jacob Boehme (1575-1624).

When thou art gone forth wholly from the creature, and from that which is visible, and art become nothing to all that is nature and creature, then thou art in that Eternal One which is God himself:  And then thou shalt perceive and feel in thy interior the highest virtue of love. . .Whosoever finds it, finds all things.

And from Jesus in His Course.

The world stands like a block before Christ’s face. But true perception looks on it as nothing more than just a fragile veil, so easily dispelled that it can last no longer than an instant. It is seen at last for only what it is. And now it cannot fail to disappear, for now there is an empty place made clean and ready. Where destruction was perceived the face of Christ appears, and in that instant is the world forgot, with time forever ended as the world spins into nothingness from where it came.
Clarification of Terms. 4True Perception-Knowledge. 4

11/20
After coming across an inspiring passage by Jacob Boehme (1575-1624), the Teutonic Theosopher, I became curious about his awakening experience, and this is what I found.

Born of poor, but pious, Lutheran parents, from childhood, Jacob Boehme was concerned about "the salvation of his soul." Although daily occupied, first as a shepherd, and afterward as a shoemaker, he was always an earnest student of the Holy Scriptures; but he could not understand "the ways of God," and he became "perplexed, even to melancholy, — pressed out of measure.
“Then, after some farther hard fights with the powers of darkness, my spirit broke through the doors of hell, and penetrated even unto the innermost essence of its newly- born divinity where it was received with great love, as a bridegroom welcomes his beloved bride.”
"No word can express the great joy and triumph I experienced, as of a life out of death, as of a resurrection from the dead! . . . While in this state, as I was walking through a field of flowers, in fifteen minutes, I saw through the mystery of creation, the original of this world and of all creatures. . . . Then for seven days I was in a continual state of ecstasy, surrounded by the light of the Spirit, which immersed me in contemplation and happiness. I learned what God is, and what is His Will. . . . I knew not how this happened to me, but my heart admired and praised the Lord for it!"
At the age of twenty-five, Boehme was given another great illumination, in which the Lord let him see farther into "the heart of things . . . the true nature of God and man, and the relationship existing between them." Ten years later "the divine order of nature" was opened up to him, and he was inspired to write what the Lord had revealed to him.
From 1612 to 1624, he wrote thirty books.

Source:  Jacob Boehme On line Manuscripts

11/21
Jim Self, the founder of Mastering Alchemy, in his book, The Shift, makes it clear that we are now making a transition from the Third to the Fourth Dimension.  Dimensions are not places.  Rather, they are levels of consciousness, each with its own characteristics and ways of thinking, feeling and experiencing.


(At the end of his book, I came across two sentences that gave it great credibility:
Since childhood, Jim has retained a conscious awareness and ability to recall his experiences within the sleep state.  Over the last ten years, this awareness has expanded into relationships with the Archangels, Ascended Masters and Teachers of Light.)

Here are three aspects of the Third Dimension.

Time:  To keep it simple, we take our past experiences and project them into our future and then step into that experience in a future present-time moment to feel it all over again in a different size, shape or color.
Duality:  Duality is a predominant structure of perception.  In duality are the concepts of right and wrong, good and bad, and should and should not.  In this rigid belief system of heavy thought-form, fear and pain are anchored.


The rational mind:  While the rational mind is a wonderful tool for measuring, comparing and making decisions, it only knows what it knows and has lost access to what it does not know.  For thousands of years the rational mind has kept humanity tightly focused in the Third Dimension. 
Here is a strong parallel from A Course in Miracles.
The world was made as an attack on God.
It symbolizes fear. And what is fear
except love's absence? Thus the world was meant
to be a place where God could enter not,
and where His Son could be apart from Him.
Here was perception born, for knowledge could
not cause such insane thoughts. But eyes deceive,
and ears hear falsely. Now mistakes become
quite possible, for certainty has gone.

The mechanisms of illusion have
been born instead. And now they go to find
what has been given them to seek. Their aim
is to fulfill the purpose which the world
was made to witness and make real. They see
in its illusions but a solid base
where truth exists, upheld apart from lies.
Yet everything that they report is but
illusion which is kept apart from truth.
3.  What is the World?

11/22
Jim Self, the founder of Mastering Alchemy, in his book, The Shift, describes aspects of the Fourth Dimension.  Dimensions are not places.  Rather, they are levels of consciousness, each with its own characteristics and ways of thinking, feeling and experiencing.

The Fourth Dimension provides us with an opportunity to re-frame our reference points, review our beliefs and attain a new understanding of what is possible.  It allows us to be “in” the world, and not “of” the Third Dimensional world.

Here are two aspects of the Fourth Dimension.

Present Time:  This is a quiet NOW moment.  We only exist in the Now, but most of us hold very little of our attention here.  The present is all there is.
Choice:  In this Dimensions, reaction is replaced by choice, providing flexibility and new possibilities.  With choice you have an opportunity to observe, and to  experience, and to choose without judgment, right or wrong, good or bad, or the fear of being punished.  Conscious choice invites a wider range of possibilities, allowing for well-being, happiness and realignment with the Heart.  Choice  creates  opportunity.  Opportunity allows for well-being. Well-being awakens happiness, openness and the inner smile within the Heart.  From your open Heart, your purpose and the fulfillment of all your dreams are within your grasp.

Here is a strong parallel from A Course in Miracles.
The real world holds a counterpart for each
unhappy thought reflected in your world;
a sure correction for the sights of fear
and sounds of battle which your world contains.
The real world shows a world seen differently,
through quiet eyes and with a mind at peace.
Nothing but rest is there. There are no cries
of pain and sorrow heard, for nothing there
remains outside forgiveness. And the sights
are gentle. Only happy sights and sounds
can reach the mind that has forgiven itself.
8.  What is the Real World?

11/23
Jim Self, the founder of Mastering Alchemy, in his book, The Shift, makes clear the aspects of the Fifth Dimension. 

When you enter this consciousness, you experience a full reintegration with your Higher Self and merge with your Soul.  This reconnection with your higher aspects allows you to once again know yourself at a Soul level.  You begin to think from Heart and act from the wisdom of your Soul.  Your innate intuitive spiritual abilities now become fully available to you again.
This dimension vibrates at a very high, brilliant and fast frequency range of Light, Love and great  beauty.  Heavy, dense thoughts and emotional vibrations, such as, reaction, anger, judgment, and fear cannot be held in this realm for long.  In  this  frequency  range  of Light there are no limitations, all possibilities are available for creation.

Here is a strong parallel from A Course in Miracles.
I am God's Son, complete and healed and whole,
shining in the reflection of His Love.
In me is His creation sanctified
and guaranteed eternal life. In me
is love perfected, fear impossible,
and joy established without opposite.
I am the holy home of God Himself.
I am the Heaven where His Love resides.
I am His holy Sinlessness Itself,
for in my purity abides His Own.
14.  What am I?

11/24
A few years ago, I wrote an essay that became a booklet entitled:

THERE MUST BE A BETTER WAY:
THE WISDOM OF LISTENING TO THE VOICE FOR GOD

Of all the things I have written, this is one that people most often mention to me.  In fact, it has been translated into 4 other languages:  German, Italian, Spanish, and Dutch.   You can find them on my web site:  www.throughamirrorbrightly.com  

Here is the beginning:

Part 1: Awareness

This paper begins with what may appear to be a startling declaration:
“By changing your mind, you can change the world.”
All that is required to demonstrate that this is true is your commitment to shift your awareness, and that is everything. If you choose, by the time you finish reading this paper, you will clearly experience the steps you can take to train your mind, systematically, to a new way of seeing and listening.
This transformation of your mind will change the world.
Let’s begin. Notice that this paper is addressing you. There is only you. Even in reading this sentence you are listening to a voice in your mind. This voice is so familiar, that you may not have noticed it. It is your perceptual mind; a familiar narrator, a story teller, telling you a story.
Now, look up from this paper and look slowly around you. . .
Observe how this story teller says to you, automatically, “table” or “cup” or “hand.” Whatever you see has been given a name. In fact, it is not there without having been named. The objects that appear to make up your world spring from within. They are not imposed from without. There is only your subjective reality. There is not really a world, there is only your world.
A little reflection on what you “see” shows you that you are simply unable to see objects without a flood of associations. Your narrative voice tells you stories about the table, cup, and hand. After doing this simple exercise, you can realize that seeing is completely subjective, that your voice does not really describe any thing as it is, only as you would have it be, based on associations from your past.
So, right now, what are you making of this realization?
“I don’t get it” “How could it be different?” “I’m confused.”. . .
Please click on the link to my web site.

11/25
The other morning, I found myself thinking about some future events, saying to myself, “What will I do, what will I say?” And then the Thought came in, “Let it go, you will be guided then as you are guided now, just stay focused on the present.”

Later, I decided to read the day’s passage from Sarah Young’s, Jesus Calling, and I was astonished at its contents.

AS YOU LOOK at the day before you, you see a twisted, complicated path, with branches going off in all directions.  You wonder how you can possibly find your way through that maze.  Then you remember the One who is with you always, holding you by your right hand.  You recall My promise to guide you with My counsel, and you begin to relax.  As you look again at the path ahead, you notice that a peaceful fog has settled over it, obscuring your view.  You can see only a few steps in front of you, so you turn your attention more fully to Me and begin to enjoy My Presence.
The fog is a protection for you, calling you back into the present moment.  You can communicate with Me only here and now.   Someday the fog will no longer be necessary, for you will have learned to keep your focus on Me and on the path just ahead of you.  (November 16)

11/26
It is mid-morning, and I am sitting on our couch in our Sun Room, drinking a cup of coffee and reading the Course.  The room is well-named because the sun is pouring in; in fact, I grabbed my prescription sunglasses to make it easier to read.  Large windows, 4’ X 6’ grace the room, 2 to my left, facing east, 3 to my front, facing south, and 2 to my right, facing west.

I am reading Lesson 299, Eternal holiness abides in me, and I am astonished at the synchronicity of reading these lines in bright sunlight.

Father, my holiness is not of me.
It is not mine to be destroyed by sin.
It is not mine to suffer from attack.
Illusions can obscure it, but can not
put out its radiance, nor dim its light.

The implied metaphor is that the sun is to my holiness as clouds are to my illusions.  The root meaning of metaphor is meta, meaning "beyond," and phor, meaning "to carry."  Recognizing that the sun is always shining, even though it may be obscured by clouds, I am remembering that my holiness is always as radiant as the sun, even when my illusions are obscuring my awareness of it; I am being carried beyond them.

And just look at this sentence from Lesson 300, Only an instant does this world endure.

Yet this is also the idea that lets
no false perception keep us in its hold,
nor represent more than a passing cloud
upon a sky eternally serene.

11/27
Several years ago, not long after enrolling in Endeavor Academy, I went to a class taught by a brother who had been here for some time.  At the end, he said, “All I know is this:  “When I am in conflict, I ask for Help, and when I experience Peace, I say Thank You.”  That was very helpful for me, undergoing my transformation.

Conflict is sleep, and peace awakening. 
(Lesson 331)

This came back to me when I read a brief interview with the best-selling author, Anne Lamott who has just published a book entitled, Help, Thanks, Wow!  She said, “Everyone knows that feeling of being in a situation that can go either way.  It could be a huge mess, or it could turn out OK.  When you realize that ending will be a good one, you are so relieved and amazed that you didn’t screw it up.”

I am happy for Anne that she has learned to ask for Help.  However, if I had an opportunity to attend her class, or one offered by the brother, I would be inclined to attend his because he has learned to ask for Help, standing outside of the duality, outside of the illusory world, praying to let it go, while Lamott seems to stand in the middle of the duality of the world, asking for Help to be OK as opposed to experiencing the “huge mess” of the opposite.

Anne Lamott will be just fine because her gratitude will enable her to be receptive to the Voice of the Holy Spirit, talking to her in a small, still Voice all through the day.
Here is the last stanza of Lesson 300, Only an instant does this world endure.

We seek Your holy world today. For we,
Your loving Sons, have lost our way a while.
But we have listened to Your Voice, and learned
exactly what to do to be restored
to Heaven and our true Identity.
And we give thanks today the world endures
but for an instant. We would go beyond
that tiny instant to eternity.

11/28

Yitta Halberstam and Judith Leventhal talk about catching glimpses of God in their Introduction to their book, Small Miracles:  Extraordinary Coincidences from Everyday Life.

There are moments in life when we catch our breath and glimpse God’s presence.  Sometimes it is when we see the radiant face of a sleeping child, sometimes it is when we hear a fragment of melody that stirs awake an unfamiliar yearning. These moments—which flicker for a tantalizing instant and then vanish in a flash—convey to us a sense of the Divine.  Every leaf, every blade of grass bears God’s imprint.

A story is told of a holy man who radiated an unusual aura of inner peace and joy.  An unearthly, almost celestial glow shone from his body.

“Blessed one,” he was asked, “are you God?”  “No,” he answered.  “Are you an angel?”  “No.”  “Are you a prophet/” “No, I am simply awake.”

This reminds me of a brief passage from The End of Your World by Adyashanti.

In my own case, I had my first glimpse beyond the veil when I was twenty-five.  Something about that realization never left me.  Somewhere inside I always knew that everything as one—that I was eternal, unborn, undying, and uncreated.  I understood that my essential nature was not limited by or confined to my personality structure or the body I seemed to be inhabiting.  (p. 24)

And from A Course in Miracles:

Listen—perhaps you catch a hint of an ancient state not quite forgotten; dim, perhaps, and yet not altogether unfamiliar, like a song whose name is long forgotten, and the circumstances in which you heard completely unremembered.  (T-21.1:6)

11/29
Reading  Lesson 296, The Holy Spirit speaks  through  me  today, I heard the echoes of two poems, one by Robert Frost (1874-1963),  and the other by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892).

First, here is the passage from the Lesson, relating to Frost.

We teach today what we would learn, and that
alone. And so our learning goal becomes
an unconflicted one, and possible
of easy reach and quick accomplishment.

And here is the third stanza of Frost’s poem, Stopping  by Woods on a Snowy Evening:

He gives his harness bells a shake  
To ask if there is some mistake.  
The only other sound’s the sweep  
Of easy wind and downy flake.  

Frost’s narrator is in the woods in his sleight, still, and instead of taking the opportunity to be receptive to the Voice of the Holy Spirit, he listens to his ego voice telling him of his worldly promises, and he hurries off.

Here is the passage from the Lesson, relating to Tennyson:

How gladly does the Holy Spirit come
to rescue us from hell, when we allow
His teaching to persuade the world, through us,
to seek and find the easy path to God.

Here is the last phrase of Tennyson’s Ulysses:

Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

In Ulysses, the Roman name for Odysseus, Ulysses is becoming restless sitting idly, after 20 years of adventures, traveling to and from Troy, battling with his might companions, and now he summons them one more time to journey forth, seeking more adventures.

Jesus, the master poet, writes the poetry of His Course, layered with meanings that are so evocative for the reader.  The root meaning of evocative is the Latin, evoare, meaning, "to summon, to rouse,  to call."  We are being called to our transformation by sheer poetry, learning to turn within and letting go our worldly desires.

To read the two poems in their entirety, please go to my blog post for November 29,  2012, and read “Echoes of Poems in A Course in Miracles.
www.throughamirrorbrightly.blogspot.com

11/30

The other day, I was idly walking through the mall, Christmas shopping, and I heard these lyrics.

When I'm worried and I can't sleep
I count my blessings instead of sheep
And I fall asleep counting my blessings
When my bankroll is getting small
I think of when I had none at all
And I fall asleep counting my blessings.

The next day, first thing in the morning, I picked up Sarah Young’s book, Jesus Calling, and I came across her first paragraph for November 27, marveling at the synchronicity.

LET THANKFULNESS RULE in your heart.  As you thank Me for blessings in your life, a marvelous thing happens.  It is as if scales fall off your eyes, enabling you to see more and more of My glorious riches.  With your eyes thus opened, you can help yourself to whatever you need from My treasure house.  Each time you receive one of My golden gifts, let your thankfulness sing out praises to My Name.  “Hallelujahs” are the language of heaven, and they can become the language of your heart.

And I, Ray, know full well that a grateful heart enables me to be receptive to God’s Voice speaking to me all through the day.