"literally stops at nothing". So true. Being stopped by no thing is laughable now with Course companions like you, Sean. Together we have the little willingness to to no longer allow nothing to stop us from union and let go of the nothing of separation.
Aloneness within my journey is something I have found a challenge. Wearing my heart on my sleeve is not something that comes easily to me, so sharing a deeply intimate and sensitive development of spirituality is a challenge for me. More recently I am grateful to be able to share at least some thoughts both in person with a trusted friend and online with yourself.
As I work through the lessons for the first time I sense a growing connection with that part of me that speaks of something else. That depth of quietude is indeed very comforting and speaks to me louder and comforts me more in quiet, silent places. To the extent that the most benign of situations can be shifted to something immense. The work meeting, the busy high street, the 'pressurised situation' all more challenging, but that space of awareness is growing with each contact.
Thank you, Martin. It's interesting because while I think the Course does call for honesty, and this includes emotional honesty, it's also about drawing down the drama, the high stakes, the sense that something is always at risk. I have come to think of the state of quiet and calm as "intentional vulnerability," a kind of living right at the edge of challenge, right at the edge of discomfort without precisely crossing over. Being open - in mind, in heart, in practice - matters but it can be easily be co-opted by ego. Our work is to be attentive and authentic but without the investment and attachment that ego uses to rile us up in fear and discord.
You hit a nerve for me with this, Sean. I realized as I read it that all the years I spent studying ACIM alone--save for a couple of Circle of Atonement phone classes--I felt alone because I chose to be so. I realize that I kept Jesus at a purposeful distance during that time, not quite sure that I was ready to believe in him after having shown him the door when I was 14. I remember saying to someone years ago that, "Some day I'm going to have to have a reckoning with Jesus." A "Come to Jesus" moment, in other words. And this was long before I surrendered to the Course. Although I loved acim instantly when it finally attracted me, I still didn't open the door to Jesus. He still didn't feel real to me. Helen did, Bill did, the dictation they took down felt true and real to me and its affects on my life were real, but Jesus? "I dunno," I kept thinking. I started chatting with the Holy Spirit, instead, rather than with Jesus or God. That seemed enough, given that the HS's job is "Voice for God." But that has changed now, thanks in great part to three acim groups I have belonged to in the last five years, one fine group after another, not all at one time. I no longer feel alone with the Course. A good acim group is worth its weight in companionship and reassurance! I can talk easily to Jesus now, and I feel him close to me, just as he promises in acim. I feel him right now, reading over my shoulder. "It was your ego," he reminds me, "still trying to run the show."
Thank you, Nancy. I am always grateful when you share. My own experience has been somewhat opposite - I've always been intrigued by and willing to be in relationship, one way or the other. And I do think that practically speaking, in ACIM, Jesus and the Holy Spirit can be more or less interchangeable. Though for me, the differention between them is meaningful, at least for the time being.
Glad the week is off to a good start! It's gloomy here in western Massachusetts. But the coffee's hot so I can't complain.
Thank you for this today Sean, I found it so helpful at reinforcing where I am right now. I have been struggling all of my life when praying to God as seeing Him as a being, as person that I am actually talking to, almost like the man with the white beard. And, although I know this is not reality, and I may even break the habit for a few days, I find myself continually returning to this place.
So a while back I stopped praying to God as such and worked throughout my day with Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I use them as the bridge to God as it allows me to see God as simply an energy of Love, an all-encompassing love that includes all of us and everything we see.
I have found that this is slowly helping me to release the image of the man with a white beard and see God as the universal love for everything instead. Now my day is walking this world of the ego whilst holding the hands of our mighty companions as my guides, in my not knowing what anything is for and asking them for guidance. My life is now a path of turning to them in every moment knowing that they are my bridge to the love that is always present, that is the only truth and where I am coming to terms with the understanding that God is simply love and that this is the only true reality.
"literally stops at nothing". So true. Being stopped by no thing is laughable now with Course companions like you, Sean. Together we have the little willingness to to no longer allow nothing to stop us from union and let go of the nothing of separation.
Thanks, Jim. I am deeply grateful 🙏🙏
~ Sean
Beautiful words, Sean. Thank you.
Aloneness within my journey is something I have found a challenge. Wearing my heart on my sleeve is not something that comes easily to me, so sharing a deeply intimate and sensitive development of spirituality is a challenge for me. More recently I am grateful to be able to share at least some thoughts both in person with a trusted friend and online with yourself.
As I work through the lessons for the first time I sense a growing connection with that part of me that speaks of something else. That depth of quietude is indeed very comforting and speaks to me louder and comforts me more in quiet, silent places. To the extent that the most benign of situations can be shifted to something immense. The work meeting, the busy high street, the 'pressurised situation' all more challenging, but that space of awareness is growing with each contact.
Thank you, Martin. It's interesting because while I think the Course does call for honesty, and this includes emotional honesty, it's also about drawing down the drama, the high stakes, the sense that something is always at risk. I have come to think of the state of quiet and calm as "intentional vulnerability," a kind of living right at the edge of challenge, right at the edge of discomfort without precisely crossing over. Being open - in mind, in heart, in practice - matters but it can be easily be co-opted by ego. Our work is to be attentive and authentic but without the investment and attachment that ego uses to rile us up in fear and discord.
Thanks for being here 🙏🙏
Love,
Sean
You hit a nerve for me with this, Sean. I realized as I read it that all the years I spent studying ACIM alone--save for a couple of Circle of Atonement phone classes--I felt alone because I chose to be so. I realize that I kept Jesus at a purposeful distance during that time, not quite sure that I was ready to believe in him after having shown him the door when I was 14. I remember saying to someone years ago that, "Some day I'm going to have to have a reckoning with Jesus." A "Come to Jesus" moment, in other words. And this was long before I surrendered to the Course. Although I loved acim instantly when it finally attracted me, I still didn't open the door to Jesus. He still didn't feel real to me. Helen did, Bill did, the dictation they took down felt true and real to me and its affects on my life were real, but Jesus? "I dunno," I kept thinking. I started chatting with the Holy Spirit, instead, rather than with Jesus or God. That seemed enough, given that the HS's job is "Voice for God." But that has changed now, thanks in great part to three acim groups I have belonged to in the last five years, one fine group after another, not all at one time. I no longer feel alone with the Course. A good acim group is worth its weight in companionship and reassurance! I can talk easily to Jesus now, and I feel him close to me, just as he promises in acim. I feel him right now, reading over my shoulder. "It was your ego," he reminds me, "still trying to run the show."
Thanks for starting my week right, Sean.
Thank you, Nancy. I am always grateful when you share. My own experience has been somewhat opposite - I've always been intrigued by and willing to be in relationship, one way or the other. And I do think that practically speaking, in ACIM, Jesus and the Holy Spirit can be more or less interchangeable. Though for me, the differention between them is meaningful, at least for the time being.
Glad the week is off to a good start! It's gloomy here in western Massachusetts. But the coffee's hot so I can't complain.
Love,
Sean
You have excellent standards and hot coffee is not the least of them!
Thank you for this today Sean, I found it so helpful at reinforcing where I am right now. I have been struggling all of my life when praying to God as seeing Him as a being, as person that I am actually talking to, almost like the man with the white beard. And, although I know this is not reality, and I may even break the habit for a few days, I find myself continually returning to this place.
So a while back I stopped praying to God as such and worked throughout my day with Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I use them as the bridge to God as it allows me to see God as simply an energy of Love, an all-encompassing love that includes all of us and everything we see.
I have found that this is slowly helping me to release the image of the man with a white beard and see God as the universal love for everything instead. Now my day is walking this world of the ego whilst holding the hands of our mighty companions as my guides, in my not knowing what anything is for and asking them for guidance. My life is now a path of turning to them in every moment knowing that they are my bridge to the love that is always present, that is the only truth and where I am coming to terms with the understanding that God is simply love and that this is the only true reality.
Love and Blessings as Always Suzy. xxx
Thank you, Suzy. This is very clear and beautiful. I appreciate you and your practice very much. Thank you for being here 🙏🙏
Love,
Sean