Good morning Sean, upon reading your article the question arose for me,“do you know how to BE the light?”.
As I awoke this morning my mind was filled with negative thinking. The negativity was about the tiniest thing in my world to the largest of world problems, it seemed to be all the same. The sameness was the negative thinking of how the “me” will be affected. Not concern for how others, only “ me”, and if the concern is for others it is in relation to me.
This need to find safety for the “me” is a bottomless pit. It is only in moments of gratefulness that I find relief, joy, and what feels like real love.
Thank you for remaining me that “holiness” is always here, it is our birthright, it is the Light.
I just pulled out ACIM lesson 195 “Love is the way I walk in Gratitude”, it will be my companion today.
Thank you as always for sharing your gift and shining Light. 🙏
You're welcome, Glenda. Thank you for being here and for sharing. I identify with that bottomless pit - and the pull of negative thinking. It can be so intense sometimes! And just realizing that the answer is to let go - become empty-handed, open-minded - is so hard. I SO want to save the world and be a hero :)
And salvation is so much simpler than that - no heroes necessary - just a quiet commitment to being as gentle, quiet and calm as possible, help others and when I can't manage that at least don't hurt them, etc cetera.
I couldn't do it without traveling companions - I am so grateful that you're here and helping me remember and hold up the light - we are in this together 🙏🙏
Thank you, Sean. This is the perfect balm to cure my habit of reading the news and dividing everyone into good and bad guys. But the bad guys are so obvious! And they're in control! My own inner teacher tells me that the news is propaganda for the ego, at least in the way that I perceive it. I look to it to reinforce my judgment against my brothers and to unconsciously wash my hands of the whole thing. It leaves me anything but grateful. I'm reminded of a song by Elvis Costello, that I used to play on repeat, with the lyric "...diving for dear life, when we could be diving for pearls." I can waste hours doom scrolling, disguised as the virtue of being informed, when I could be diving for pearls.
Gratitude as cause…healing as effect…a state of being, a way loving…thank you for this. It’s a concept I won’t forget. A hidden chamber in my heart opened, and I walked through.🌸💕
Thanks, Kimberley . . . those chambers are always sweet and nourishing, like discovering an interior palace that opens up into the cosmos where everybody waits joyfully on everybody else 🙏🙏
Thank you for sharing, Shawna - I really appreciate these words. The news is propaganda for the ego is a FANTASTIC frame - thank you for sharing. I may borrow that :)
That impulse to divide the world into good/bad, black/white, yes/no is so deeply entrenched in us it can seem impossible to ever truly be free. But it's possible, and part of how it becomes possible, is that we show up with and for one another and keep reminding ourselves and one another there's another way, let's find it together, walk it together, and help others find and walk it together.
Also, thanks for evoking Elvis Costello. I remember many years ago in a store hearing his cover of "what's so funny 'bout peace love and understanding" and it literally stopped me in my tracks. I was just ready to hear it; it made so much sense and validated so much of what longed for validation in me. He is a brilliant artist and those lines you shared are right on.
Thank you again for being here and sharing, Shawna 🙏🙏
Hi Sean, for another message that hits me right where I'm living. I am such a believer--or profess-or of the power and value of gratefulness (which I also see as distinct from gratitude--the former being an approach to living, the latter being a response to getting something I like). Someone else here mentioned that there is no order of difficulty in miracles, which I know is what the Course teaches. But damned if it doesn't seem the hardest thing in the world to remember to do or practice or turn toward. I've experienced the power of gratefulness and I still as often as not, relapse to my default mode of 'any way the wind blows' and basically being at the mercy of whatever weather front has moved in at any given time. I wish I understood better why it feels like such a struggle so much of the time. On the face of it, seems like it's the simplest and most sensible thing I could possibly choose to do. But even after valiantly trying to make it a practiced approach, I still feel like I'm needing a new chip every other day (12 Step lingo). And the bigger the gap between my professed valuing of gratefulness and the conscious application of it, the more ammo I give my ego.
Thanks, Dan . . . I hear all of this. It IS hard work - it is in a lot of ways the hardest work we can do. Ego is entrenched - we've been training ourselves - and others have been training us - to listen ONLY to ego, value ONLY ego, obey ONLY ego . . . Finding another way, accepting it, practicing it . . . those are revolutionary acts, truly. Jesus wasn't executed because he WASN'T a threat. We are trying to do something really challenging - open up our minds, liberate our hearts, empty our hands and join with our brothers and sisters in a love that does not impose conditions or qualifications. The world minimizes this, mocks this and - when minimization and mockery don't work - it comes in hot with guilt, hatred, high-stakes zero sum thinking, etc cetera. A chip every other day could be a chip every fifteen minutes some days :)
But I think the showing up and the companionship is the answer. The work itself is simple if not easy and just being present to one another on the way - asking questions, answering questions, offering up supportive words, allowing ourselves to be authentic when we're scared or lonely . . . all of that strengthens the spirit in us, which is the tendency to be a collective, a family, a tribe, a gathering. Together we are the answer, together we are the light which no darkness (to evoke and paraphrase John's Gospel 🙏) can overcome.
Thanks again for being here, Dan. I'm very grateful 🙏🙏
Thank you Sean, an appropriate theme given the current state of affairs in America, and elsewhere around the world.
I appreciate and know firsthand, the power of gratitude and gratefulness. To me, this is the bedrock foundation of what to do and where to go next when managing the struggle of life.
What also helps me through these times is a faith in Divine order, that all things happen for reasons we may or may not understand or see right in front of us at the time. If one knows and has faith that “love is all there is“, then I derive a level of hope and patience that ultimately the fever will break, and humanity will be re-awakened to some level of sense and sensibility. This does not eliminate my anxiety during any particularly anxious times, but it does help me cope more than I might otherwise.
Thank you, Tom. This is really clear and helpful. I share that sense that faith in divine order - as opposed to chaos and meaninglessness - is vital. I really do need community - broadly defined - to help me remember that. I do think the fever will break - as I said earlier to Dan, paraphrasing John's Gospel, there is a light in us that the darkness cannot overcome. But man is it a trying time right now.
Thanks again for being here and sharing. I'm very grateful 🙏🙏
Thanks for this Sean! I loved the line you said, "this Love is ours to give". True, very true. I just have to remember it when I picture the 'bad' guys.
Amen! I forget all the time that this Love is for everyone in all situations and places. Ego LOVES being selective and controlling. Thanks for being here - I truly believe that one of the ways we undo ego's influence and effects is just to join with one another in honest and non-dramatic ways. Knowing we're not alone but share the trail with brothers and sisters just like us . . . that is such a gift 🙏🙏
I feel like Shawna. The news here is relentlessly awful. (US). Fear-inducing if I allow it. This essay I'll be reading and rereading. (I think I say this after each of your posts.)
"The suggestion is, gratitude is a state of being that does not depend on our personal assessment of what happens - this is "good," this is "bad." Assessment takes place of course (welcome to the human body) but it doesn't matter the same way. It doesn’t pressure us into reaction. It's just another thing we notice, like leaves falling or the need to sneeze."
It is such a challenging time for so many people - and it doesn't land on us all equally either. And I hear you - it reinforces fear, it reestablishes guilt. Truly, it disempowers me - I forget love, I forget god, I forget my brothers and sisters . . . It takes intention and practice to look away, or only look with care and gentleness. And it also takes good traveling companions. I could not figure this out alone, nor remember the other way, if it weren't for all of us showing up, beginning again, helping each other remember . . .
Thank you for being here - we are in this together and I am deeply grateful 🙏🙏
Thank you, Sean, for your beautiful post. It is good to be reminded that ‘there is no order of difficulty in miracles’ and ‘that all expressions of love are maximal’. We are all Children of God and have not left the Mind of our Creator. I am reminded that when I perceive darkness (and, my goodness, it seems to be abundant), I am making a choice and that I can choose differently. Not only that, I must choose differently. I am going to carry your loving words with me: holiness, healing and gratitude. With love and light.
You're welcome, Joanne - thank you for being here and for sharing. I hear all of this - and am grateful that we can share the path. We are in this together - no matter how apparently hard or dark it becomes, we are not alone. Thank you 🙏🙏
Ram Dass said, "Where you don't see the beloved is where your work is." That's my work in the present time. Bad, good, bigger, smaller - how can I judge? When I remember my home in creation, I feel relieved of the need to assess. I can just relax. Thank you for the reminder that there is no order of difficulty in miracles. For this I'm grateful, as well as the "situations" that offer me this work. I CAN see peace instead of this. Amen.
Yes, thank you. "Relieved of the need to assess" - that's it. I reflect often on the course suggestion that we CAN'T judge - we don't have all the information, can't be aware of all the connections and effects. It's not a moral thing but a practical one. We are trying really really hard to do something that we just can't. Letting it go IS a relief - and in the subsequent relaxation (for me) I seem to find my way to relationship and other spaces where it's possible to become quiet and attentive. Lots of learning in that space, lots of helpful remembering.
Thanks for being here and sharing, Susan. I'm always grateful for what you share 🙏🙏
Hello Sean - I have been reading your piece every day since you published it. Today I woke up very dark. It has been an incredibly difficult week. My heart is broken. I feel crushed by all the ways I have hurt others and not "been good". And I can, in little bits, also see the unhelpful story in this assessment and the separation it causes. And I can hear the call to find the Face of Christ right now, today. What calls to me is this: So long as one brother or sister walks the earth in fear and trembling then we are all bereft (e.g., T-1.VII.3:13). I don't have a lot of structure right now in my life and that's hurting and my work is to keep open, grateful and trust there's something here if that makes sense.
Thank you for sharing, Alison. I think one thing the course does invites us to do is practice feeling the difficulty, darkness and brokenness of our human experience without rushing to fix or change it. And, in a nontrivial way, that sucks! We are hurt, we are maybe hurting others, and it just feels hopeless. We HAVE to do something.
Paradoxically, doing nothing is often the most helpful thing to "do."
You said two interesting things here, two very ACIMish things. You said that you can "see" the unhelpful story and its negative effects and that you can "hear" the call to find the Face of Christ in the present moment.
It's "ACIMish" because you're using verbs we associate with a body but you're translating them into a spiritual and psychological context. That can be a very helpful and empowering way of going deeper into the so-called problem in order to find the healing that always underlies our experience.
In ACIM terms, when we see a little light and hear a faint call, that's the Holy Spirit. You're in the midst of an ego attack, Alison - the hot mess of ego - and the Holy Spirit is calling you from behind the storm, beyond the attack, reminding you that the negativity is a lie and that you - you, Alison - can right now remember Christ and be free of suffering and loss.
Be comforted by that! Allow yourself to be grateful to your own self, to others who share the road with you, and to God for not abandoning you. Celebrate the faint thread of grace you can right now perceive is alive in you. As hard as things get - and we don't want to diminish how hard things can get - there is also this hint of grace, this sip of peace. Turn towards it; see if you can share it; see if it calls you to someone with whom to share.
You are bearing witness to pain but also to healing - I think it's really important to notice that.
I will tell you something that's true for me: when ego is especially vicious it is because, at levels I don't always recognize or understand, divine healing is already underway and even accelerating and ego is desperate. DESPERATE. It's fighting for its life; it knows that you're already starting to let go and turn away. It, too, hears the Holy Spirit's gentle invitation to remember what you are in truth, and although it cannot make heads or tails of that message, it DOES know that it's not good news for ego.
You are a child of God remembering you are a child of God, and the Voice for God is speaking to you. Can you take a few minutes and listen? Even if you don't hear it, or aren't sure, can you take a few minutes and be thankful it was there earlier? You so clearly named and recognized it! Can you invite it back?
The Holy Spirit is often very practical. Hey Sean, call your mother. Hey Sean, bake cookies and take them to the Senior Center. Hey Sean, take a nap, you're too damn tired to function. The Holy Spirit has a lot of common sense and nondramatic ideas about wellness. It's very good at creating life circumstances that allow me to take deep breaths, give attention to relationship, and continue to do the work of emptying my hands and opening my mind and heart to the Love of God.
Remember that the Holy Spirit is simply the part of your mind that remembers its wholeness and unbreakable connection to God; it's the part of your mind that recognizes Creation as holy and perfect and also understands deeply how integral you are to Creation; it's the part of your mind that believes in its own innocence and refuses to be distracted by fantasies of guilt.
Finally, thank you for sharing, Alison. I appreciate your honesty and willingness to be vulnerable. It is a holy space! And it helps me, and others who might read it, remember that we are not alone, which is such a fundamental part of our shared innocence and relationship in God-as-Love.
It's all good and you're closer to remembering than than you know 🙏🙏
I first saw this comment in the cold in my car before a doctor's appointment about which I was feeling some stress. I cried. I didn't read it all on that first reading.
Each time I have come back to it tears have returned. I've shared with a couple friends and yesterday printed it off to join me on the day-long silent retreat I was going to. There is so much gold in here - so much help.
The tears are tears of relief and hope. They are also tears at the surprise of such material help generously offered from someone I do not know. This flies in the face of so much that I am dealing with. And your generosity inspires me to also be as generous in my own very broken way.
Sean, this is indeed the rub: "But here's the thing. Only when we perceive God in all of it - including our brothers who harm us or who want to harm us - will we learn how to respond in Love to their fear and thus transform it." I have been thinking about a daily practice that could consciously extend love to "them" -- perceive God in them, at least in the abstract -- and perhaps it would cash out when they harm others on this level, in very practical ways. Your essay nudged me, and I shall try. Thank you very much.
You're welcome, Margaret. Thank you for being here and sharing. It's such a central aspect of my practice and understanding of the course - as I see my brother or sister, so I see myself. If I can't perceive the Love of God out there, then it can't show up in here.
For me there is often a real desert feeling when I see just how far I am from being able to extend and know God/Love without qualification or condition. Even the idea of enemies indicates a willingness to be separate. So a big part of my ongoing prayer is asking for the humility to learn to love as God loves which the course suggests is the only actual love of which we are truly capable (e.g., T-13.X.11:4). It can be a long road, for sure.
Thank you Jack - service and gratitude are one and the same, absolutely. The hard part for me sometimes is remembering - thanks for being one of the ones who helps me with that. I appreciate you, Jack.
Good morning Sean, upon reading your article the question arose for me,“do you know how to BE the light?”.
As I awoke this morning my mind was filled with negative thinking. The negativity was about the tiniest thing in my world to the largest of world problems, it seemed to be all the same. The sameness was the negative thinking of how the “me” will be affected. Not concern for how others, only “ me”, and if the concern is for others it is in relation to me.
This need to find safety for the “me” is a bottomless pit. It is only in moments of gratefulness that I find relief, joy, and what feels like real love.
Thank you for remaining me that “holiness” is always here, it is our birthright, it is the Light.
I just pulled out ACIM lesson 195 “Love is the way I walk in Gratitude”, it will be my companion today.
Thank you as always for sharing your gift and shining Light. 🙏
You're welcome, Glenda. Thank you for being here and for sharing. I identify with that bottomless pit - and the pull of negative thinking. It can be so intense sometimes! And just realizing that the answer is to let go - become empty-handed, open-minded - is so hard. I SO want to save the world and be a hero :)
And salvation is so much simpler than that - no heroes necessary - just a quiet commitment to being as gentle, quiet and calm as possible, help others and when I can't manage that at least don't hurt them, etc cetera.
I couldn't do it without traveling companions - I am so grateful that you're here and helping me remember and hold up the light - we are in this together 🙏🙏
~ Sean
Thank you, Sean. This is the perfect balm to cure my habit of reading the news and dividing everyone into good and bad guys. But the bad guys are so obvious! And they're in control! My own inner teacher tells me that the news is propaganda for the ego, at least in the way that I perceive it. I look to it to reinforce my judgment against my brothers and to unconsciously wash my hands of the whole thing. It leaves me anything but grateful. I'm reminded of a song by Elvis Costello, that I used to play on repeat, with the lyric "...diving for dear life, when we could be diving for pearls." I can waste hours doom scrolling, disguised as the virtue of being informed, when I could be diving for pearls.
You do bring out the poet in me, Sean. Amazing!
Shawna
Gratitude as cause…healing as effect…a state of being, a way loving…thank you for this. It’s a concept I won’t forget. A hidden chamber in my heart opened, and I walked through.🌸💕
Thanks, Kimberley . . . those chambers are always sweet and nourishing, like discovering an interior palace that opens up into the cosmos where everybody waits joyfully on everybody else 🙏🙏
~ Sean
Thank you for sharing, Shawna - I really appreciate these words. The news is propaganda for the ego is a FANTASTIC frame - thank you for sharing. I may borrow that :)
That impulse to divide the world into good/bad, black/white, yes/no is so deeply entrenched in us it can seem impossible to ever truly be free. But it's possible, and part of how it becomes possible, is that we show up with and for one another and keep reminding ourselves and one another there's another way, let's find it together, walk it together, and help others find and walk it together.
Also, thanks for evoking Elvis Costello. I remember many years ago in a store hearing his cover of "what's so funny 'bout peace love and understanding" and it literally stopped me in my tracks. I was just ready to hear it; it made so much sense and validated so much of what longed for validation in me. He is a brilliant artist and those lines you shared are right on.
Thank you again for being here and sharing, Shawna 🙏🙏
~ Sean
Hi Sean, for another message that hits me right where I'm living. I am such a believer--or profess-or of the power and value of gratefulness (which I also see as distinct from gratitude--the former being an approach to living, the latter being a response to getting something I like). Someone else here mentioned that there is no order of difficulty in miracles, which I know is what the Course teaches. But damned if it doesn't seem the hardest thing in the world to remember to do or practice or turn toward. I've experienced the power of gratefulness and I still as often as not, relapse to my default mode of 'any way the wind blows' and basically being at the mercy of whatever weather front has moved in at any given time. I wish I understood better why it feels like such a struggle so much of the time. On the face of it, seems like it's the simplest and most sensible thing I could possibly choose to do. But even after valiantly trying to make it a practiced approach, I still feel like I'm needing a new chip every other day (12 Step lingo). And the bigger the gap between my professed valuing of gratefulness and the conscious application of it, the more ammo I give my ego.
Thanks, Dan . . . I hear all of this. It IS hard work - it is in a lot of ways the hardest work we can do. Ego is entrenched - we've been training ourselves - and others have been training us - to listen ONLY to ego, value ONLY ego, obey ONLY ego . . . Finding another way, accepting it, practicing it . . . those are revolutionary acts, truly. Jesus wasn't executed because he WASN'T a threat. We are trying to do something really challenging - open up our minds, liberate our hearts, empty our hands and join with our brothers and sisters in a love that does not impose conditions or qualifications. The world minimizes this, mocks this and - when minimization and mockery don't work - it comes in hot with guilt, hatred, high-stakes zero sum thinking, etc cetera. A chip every other day could be a chip every fifteen minutes some days :)
But I think the showing up and the companionship is the answer. The work itself is simple if not easy and just being present to one another on the way - asking questions, answering questions, offering up supportive words, allowing ourselves to be authentic when we're scared or lonely . . . all of that strengthens the spirit in us, which is the tendency to be a collective, a family, a tribe, a gathering. Together we are the answer, together we are the light which no darkness (to evoke and paraphrase John's Gospel 🙏) can overcome.
Thanks again for being here, Dan. I'm very grateful 🙏🙏
~ Sean
Thanks, Sean. I guess in a real sense, we 'are' the chip--every day, every 15 minutes, every moment :-). And in this moment, I too, am very grateful.
Thank you Sean, an appropriate theme given the current state of affairs in America, and elsewhere around the world.
I appreciate and know firsthand, the power of gratitude and gratefulness. To me, this is the bedrock foundation of what to do and where to go next when managing the struggle of life.
What also helps me through these times is a faith in Divine order, that all things happen for reasons we may or may not understand or see right in front of us at the time. If one knows and has faith that “love is all there is“, then I derive a level of hope and patience that ultimately the fever will break, and humanity will be re-awakened to some level of sense and sensibility. This does not eliminate my anxiety during any particularly anxious times, but it does help me cope more than I might otherwise.
Thank you, Tom. This is really clear and helpful. I share that sense that faith in divine order - as opposed to chaos and meaninglessness - is vital. I really do need community - broadly defined - to help me remember that. I do think the fever will break - as I said earlier to Dan, paraphrasing John's Gospel, there is a light in us that the darkness cannot overcome. But man is it a trying time right now.
Thanks again for being here and sharing. I'm very grateful 🙏🙏
~ Sean
Thanks for this Sean! I loved the line you said, "this Love is ours to give". True, very true. I just have to remember it when I picture the 'bad' guys.
Amen! I forget all the time that this Love is for everyone in all situations and places. Ego LOVES being selective and controlling. Thanks for being here - I truly believe that one of the ways we undo ego's influence and effects is just to join with one another in honest and non-dramatic ways. Knowing we're not alone but share the trail with brothers and sisters just like us . . . that is such a gift 🙏🙏
Thanks again, Robyn. I hope all is well.
~ Sean
I feel like Shawna. The news here is relentlessly awful. (US). Fear-inducing if I allow it. This essay I'll be reading and rereading. (I think I say this after each of your posts.)
"The suggestion is, gratitude is a state of being that does not depend on our personal assessment of what happens - this is "good," this is "bad." Assessment takes place of course (welcome to the human body) but it doesn't matter the same way. It doesn’t pressure us into reaction. It's just another thing we notice, like leaves falling or the need to sneeze."
Thanks Jenine - I'm glad you're here.
It is such a challenging time for so many people - and it doesn't land on us all equally either. And I hear you - it reinforces fear, it reestablishes guilt. Truly, it disempowers me - I forget love, I forget god, I forget my brothers and sisters . . . It takes intention and practice to look away, or only look with care and gentleness. And it also takes good traveling companions. I could not figure this out alone, nor remember the other way, if it weren't for all of us showing up, beginning again, helping each other remember . . .
Thank you for being here - we are in this together and I am deeply grateful 🙏🙏
~ Sean
Thank you, Sean, for your beautiful post. It is good to be reminded that ‘there is no order of difficulty in miracles’ and ‘that all expressions of love are maximal’. We are all Children of God and have not left the Mind of our Creator. I am reminded that when I perceive darkness (and, my goodness, it seems to be abundant), I am making a choice and that I can choose differently. Not only that, I must choose differently. I am going to carry your loving words with me: holiness, healing and gratitude. With love and light.
You're welcome, Joanne - thank you for being here and for sharing. I hear all of this - and am grateful that we can share the path. We are in this together - no matter how apparently hard or dark it becomes, we are not alone. Thank you 🙏🙏
~ Sean
Ram Dass said, "Where you don't see the beloved is where your work is." That's my work in the present time. Bad, good, bigger, smaller - how can I judge? When I remember my home in creation, I feel relieved of the need to assess. I can just relax. Thank you for the reminder that there is no order of difficulty in miracles. For this I'm grateful, as well as the "situations" that offer me this work. I CAN see peace instead of this. Amen.
Yes, thank you. "Relieved of the need to assess" - that's it. I reflect often on the course suggestion that we CAN'T judge - we don't have all the information, can't be aware of all the connections and effects. It's not a moral thing but a practical one. We are trying really really hard to do something that we just can't. Letting it go IS a relief - and in the subsequent relaxation (for me) I seem to find my way to relationship and other spaces where it's possible to become quiet and attentive. Lots of learning in that space, lots of helpful remembering.
Thanks for being here and sharing, Susan. I'm always grateful for what you share 🙏🙏
~ Sean
Hello Sean - I have been reading your piece every day since you published it. Today I woke up very dark. It has been an incredibly difficult week. My heart is broken. I feel crushed by all the ways I have hurt others and not "been good". And I can, in little bits, also see the unhelpful story in this assessment and the separation it causes. And I can hear the call to find the Face of Christ right now, today. What calls to me is this: So long as one brother or sister walks the earth in fear and trembling then we are all bereft (e.g., T-1.VII.3:13). I don't have a lot of structure right now in my life and that's hurting and my work is to keep open, grateful and trust there's something here if that makes sense.
Thank you for sharing, Alison. I think one thing the course does invites us to do is practice feeling the difficulty, darkness and brokenness of our human experience without rushing to fix or change it. And, in a nontrivial way, that sucks! We are hurt, we are maybe hurting others, and it just feels hopeless. We HAVE to do something.
Paradoxically, doing nothing is often the most helpful thing to "do."
You said two interesting things here, two very ACIMish things. You said that you can "see" the unhelpful story and its negative effects and that you can "hear" the call to find the Face of Christ in the present moment.
It's "ACIMish" because you're using verbs we associate with a body but you're translating them into a spiritual and psychological context. That can be a very helpful and empowering way of going deeper into the so-called problem in order to find the healing that always underlies our experience.
In ACIM terms, when we see a little light and hear a faint call, that's the Holy Spirit. You're in the midst of an ego attack, Alison - the hot mess of ego - and the Holy Spirit is calling you from behind the storm, beyond the attack, reminding you that the negativity is a lie and that you - you, Alison - can right now remember Christ and be free of suffering and loss.
Be comforted by that! Allow yourself to be grateful to your own self, to others who share the road with you, and to God for not abandoning you. Celebrate the faint thread of grace you can right now perceive is alive in you. As hard as things get - and we don't want to diminish how hard things can get - there is also this hint of grace, this sip of peace. Turn towards it; see if you can share it; see if it calls you to someone with whom to share.
You are bearing witness to pain but also to healing - I think it's really important to notice that.
I will tell you something that's true for me: when ego is especially vicious it is because, at levels I don't always recognize or understand, divine healing is already underway and even accelerating and ego is desperate. DESPERATE. It's fighting for its life; it knows that you're already starting to let go and turn away. It, too, hears the Holy Spirit's gentle invitation to remember what you are in truth, and although it cannot make heads or tails of that message, it DOES know that it's not good news for ego.
You are a child of God remembering you are a child of God, and the Voice for God is speaking to you. Can you take a few minutes and listen? Even if you don't hear it, or aren't sure, can you take a few minutes and be thankful it was there earlier? You so clearly named and recognized it! Can you invite it back?
The Holy Spirit is often very practical. Hey Sean, call your mother. Hey Sean, bake cookies and take them to the Senior Center. Hey Sean, take a nap, you're too damn tired to function. The Holy Spirit has a lot of common sense and nondramatic ideas about wellness. It's very good at creating life circumstances that allow me to take deep breaths, give attention to relationship, and continue to do the work of emptying my hands and opening my mind and heart to the Love of God.
Remember that the Holy Spirit is simply the part of your mind that remembers its wholeness and unbreakable connection to God; it's the part of your mind that recognizes Creation as holy and perfect and also understands deeply how integral you are to Creation; it's the part of your mind that believes in its own innocence and refuses to be distracted by fantasies of guilt.
Finally, thank you for sharing, Alison. I appreciate your honesty and willingness to be vulnerable. It is a holy space! And it helps me, and others who might read it, remember that we are not alone, which is such a fundamental part of our shared innocence and relationship in God-as-Love.
It's all good and you're closer to remembering than than you know 🙏🙏
Love,
Sean
I first saw this comment in the cold in my car before a doctor's appointment about which I was feeling some stress. I cried. I didn't read it all on that first reading.
Each time I have come back to it tears have returned. I've shared with a couple friends and yesterday printed it off to join me on the day-long silent retreat I was going to. There is so much gold in here - so much help.
The tears are tears of relief and hope. They are also tears at the surprise of such material help generously offered from someone I do not know. This flies in the face of so much that I am dealing with. And your generosity inspires me to also be as generous in my own very broken way.
Thank you Sean.
🙏🙏
Sean, this is indeed the rub: "But here's the thing. Only when we perceive God in all of it - including our brothers who harm us or who want to harm us - will we learn how to respond in Love to their fear and thus transform it." I have been thinking about a daily practice that could consciously extend love to "them" -- perceive God in them, at least in the abstract -- and perhaps it would cash out when they harm others on this level, in very practical ways. Your essay nudged me, and I shall try. Thank you very much.
You're welcome, Margaret. Thank you for being here and sharing. It's such a central aspect of my practice and understanding of the course - as I see my brother or sister, so I see myself. If I can't perceive the Love of God out there, then it can't show up in here.
For me there is often a real desert feeling when I see just how far I am from being able to extend and know God/Love without qualification or condition. Even the idea of enemies indicates a willingness to be separate. So a big part of my ongoing prayer is asking for the humility to learn to love as God loves which the course suggests is the only actual love of which we are truly capable (e.g., T-13.X.11:4). It can be a long road, for sure.
Thanks again for being here, Margaret.
~ Sean
A m e n 🙏🏻
🙏🙏
Sean
I remember a cliché I’ve heard many times I help others to get gratitude
Thank you Jack - service and gratitude are one and the same, absolutely. The hard part for me sometimes is remembering - thanks for being one of the ones who helps me with that. I appreciate you, Jack.
~ Sean