On Miracles and Moving Mountains

. . . remembering the cause of joy and peace

At a different stage of my life and spiritual practice, this promise of Jesus really mattered to me.

Whoever says to this mountain be lifted up and thrown into the sea and does not doubt but believes in his heart it will be done for him, so it will be done for him.

It's from Mark, the oldest canonical gospel, and no doubt a close expression of the faith that Jesus himself manifested and taught, this man whose serene confidence in the reality of God's Love is still like oxygen, some two thousand years after a handful of bored Roman soldiers followed orders and crucified him.

The promised supernatural results are hyperbole. Every teacher knows a dramatic example proves the point better than the alternative. Jesus was not inviting his listeners to rearrange the landscape through the power of prayer. He was telling them that whatever befell them, communion with God was the answer.

We read something similar in A Course in Miracles.

[The miracle's] generalization is demonstrated as you use it in more and more situations. You will recognize that you have learned there is no order of difficulty in miracles when you apply them to all situations. There is no situation to which miracles do not apply and by applying them to all situations you will gain the real world (T-12.VII.1:2-4).

This develops and extends the first principle of miracles, which emphasizes that miracles are all the same because "all expressions of love are maximal" (T-1.I.1:4).

This is - as it was then - practical advice. It isn't given so we can be distracted by metaphysics or divided by theology. If we want peace and happiness, this is the way. There are others, yes, but this one is given to us now. Are we ready to say stop fighting?

Miracles are natural shifts in our perception of the other, and thus they are shifts in our perception of relationship. When we are miracle-minded, we see only Christ in the other and we respond accordingly. Our responsiveness makes clear that Christ is in us as well. We remember that God has one Child, not an unruly family at war over their inheritance. Nothing real can be threatened and nothing unreal exists (T-in.2:2-3).

What does this look like in practice?

For me it looks like nurturing a space of stillness in which to remember what ego would have me forget. I am not apart from my Creator, nor from Creation. I have one function, which is to create as my Creator creates. And what my Creator creates is the abstract perfection of Love which gently envelops all it encounters, transforming it from a cause for fear to a cause for joy and peace.

One brother is all brothers. Every mind contains all minds, for every mind is one. Such is the truth (W-pI.161.4:1-3).

That's the morning prayer space. Throughout the day, my practice is basically to "stay out of the way." I give attention to what is given, and ask for guidance as to right response. I ask for help in remembering that my will and God's Will are not alien to each other but one. I ask for the courage to be humble and of service.

This is not an easy practice. I get caught up in drama at work or family. I think writing about the Course substitutes for living it. I fall for the lie that "God's Will and my will are one" means I get what I want, even if it’s just a sandwich. I believe I'm a body. I take the world's call to compete with you seriously. Et cetera.

This happens to all of us. If it was easy, we wouldn't need the Course.

Back in the day, Jesus's followers weren't looking to move mountains. They wanted to be liberated from the grim brutality of the Roman empire, and from poverty and poverty's effects. It must have seemed impossible. Hope must have have seemed like a bad joke.

Our context is different, but the principle hasn't changed. We are hurt and lonely. We are confused and discouraged. The world is a hot mess and it breaks our heart. We feel powerless about all of it. We want to give up.

A Course in Miracles teaches us that there is a way to be happy, and the way is already given to us. It has to do with relationship, broadly defined. We are in relationship with other people, yes, but also with black bears and whales, with the sun and the moon. In the end, there is only one relationship. And it is holy because it is one.

. . . in this holy perception you will be made whole, and the Atonement will radiate from your acceptance of it for yourself to everyone the Holy Spirit sends you for your blessing. In every child of God His blessing lies, and in your blessing of the children of God is His blessing to you (T-12.VII.1:5-6).

The miracle will undo every conflict that occurs in our lives today. It will clarify our thinking and allow us to be gentle and helpful by freeing us from the responsibility to decide what gentle and helpful mean. No matter how confused we are, no matter how discouraged, the miracle will restore to our awareness the cause for joy and peace.

We remember this together, and together make it so. Thank you, always, for sharing the way with me.

Love,
Sean