So powerful. Just the heart acknowledgment that “I am doing this to myself” is a complete opening of the heart. The I, Me, Self is a powerful creator, and with great power comes great responsibility to the Self. It is no longer They, Them that created a “This” and dropped it all on the Self to suffer, battle, overcome but the I, Me, Self created the “This” and I, Me, Self CAN uncreate it. 🙏🏼
Thank you, Patricia. Yes - I experience the insight of responsibility as a heart opening as well. It's not merely an idea, not merely a mental construct. And it does call us into relationship - to participate in the undoing of what never was in order to remember, together, for all, that our minds hold only what they think with God.
For me, the hardest part about anger is finally admitting that l am doing it to myself, causing all that angst and draining my energy levels unnecessarily. l usually only admit that l'm doing it to myself, when l'm too exhausted to go on with the high drama l've made, but it's an ongoing labour of love.
Thanks, Jayney. "Labor of love" is exactly the right phrase. And I agree - I usually only reach the willingness when I've hit bottom, when the uselessness of "my way" has basically run aground. I am not always a happy learner! But I am learning to be :)
Thank you for this Sean. Very timely. We live 75 miles from Uvalde, in a state that seems to be moving toward this “separation” on a societal level, at a very rapid pace
The external manifestations of separation can be quite grim. And horrifying. I do think that coming to terms with the ways in which WE are doing it - not only in the spiritual/psychological sense but also in the collective embodied sense - can be profoundly helpful.
But I despair myself sometimes. It's not easy and it does often seem like we're in the two-steps back part of the dance WAY too often.
Thanks Sean. “Coming to terms with the ways in which WE are doing it” does make sense. Perhaps buying into what appears to be evidence of separation “out there” aligns with the experience of that same illusion within?
I just still find it challenging to believe, if I’m understanding what’s put forth by the course, that this horrific shooting didn’t happen, that it isn’t real. It seems very real for the parents of those children.
I suppose, in line with lesson 99 (my lesson for today), it’s not helpful to analyze or question, but only to remember that no matter, salvation is my only function here, and God is still love.
In a sense, the perception of the external example IS the illusion within. They don't align; they're the same thing :)
Trying to make this make sense in the physical world tends to tie us up on all kinds of semantic and cognitive knots that complicate our potential to be gently, helpfully and consistently loving. After all, if the outside IS the inside (i.e., if projection really does make perception), then our response won't change: it's still love, patience, tolerance, inquiry, et cetera.
The course does allow for the metaphysical argument that the shooting didn't happen; personally, I find this to be correct in such a narrow way that indulging it tends to violate the spirit of love that ACIM aims to reveal and nurture in us. Your inclination to push back on it reflects love and wholeness. At some level, you realize that the shooting is not the problem but rather the vast collective and subjective failure of love the shooting symbolizes (reflects, embodies, etc) IS the problem.
And it is THAT problem to which the course asks us to give attention (which necessarily cashes out in bodies in the world).
There is a juncture in our practice where the form ceases to matter as much because we understand in a deeply centered and deeply practical way that what matters is the cry for love - not the form it assumes - and that the response is always love which - like the cry - will assume whatever form is most helpful.
The Uvalde shooting is horrific. As a cry for love, it is deafening - it is more like a tortured shriek, like a thousand tortured shrieks. It is so awful we want to look away, forget it happened, blame others. Anything to spare having to open our hearts to that tremendous loneliness, guilt and fear in it.
And yet when and as we do open up to it we realize that it is OUR fear, guilt and loneliness to which we are responding - that it is OUR mess we are becoming responsible for cleaning - and then peace comes because we are no longer alone and we know what to do. The metaphysics are like a road map - we still have to get in the car and drive :)
Thanks for reading, Mark. I appreciate your thoughtfulness very much.
Your response was very helpful. I like especially what you said about how indulging the thought about the shooting not happening tends to violate the spirit of love that ACIM aims to reveal and nurture in us.
When I see the Uvalde shooting, the George Floyd murder, the Jan. 6th insurrection, and other inexplicable forms of injustice in this world, I, like many others, look for answers, look for causes, and look for blame. And then I get angry. And I can see how getting caught up in these thoughts (including whether or not these incidents really “happened”) distracts me from my only purpose - to be love, and to be helpful.
I remember many years ago questioning a minister about the story of Jonah and the whale from the Bible. I couldn’t understand how people could actually believe that a man was swallowed by a whale and then spit out alive 3 days later. His response was that when people argue and debate about whether or not it literally happened, they can miss out on the larger meaning of the story.
You're welcome, Jennifer. I hear you. I think what's helpful is just to go into it in a deliberate and care-filled way. What is behind the feeling of helplessness? Who does the helplessness serve? What is its function? Is there another way?
Everything is given so that we can heal - and the healing is never ours alone. So the work becomes a gift that we give ourselves AND others.
So powerful. Just the heart acknowledgment that “I am doing this to myself” is a complete opening of the heart. The I, Me, Self is a powerful creator, and with great power comes great responsibility to the Self. It is no longer They, Them that created a “This” and dropped it all on the Self to suffer, battle, overcome but the I, Me, Self created the “This” and I, Me, Self CAN uncreate it. 🙏🏼
Thank you, Patricia. Yes - I experience the insight of responsibility as a heart opening as well. It's not merely an idea, not merely a mental construct. And it does call us into relationship - to participate in the undoing of what never was in order to remember, together, for all, that our minds hold only what they think with God.
Thank you for being here -
Love,
Sean
Thank you Sean. 🌬♥️🙏🏼
Beautifully written.
For me, the hardest part about anger is finally admitting that l am doing it to myself, causing all that angst and draining my energy levels unnecessarily. l usually only admit that l'm doing it to myself, when l'm too exhausted to go on with the high drama l've made, but it's an ongoing labour of love.
Thank you for your thoughtful clarity.
Jayney.
Thanks, Jayney. "Labor of love" is exactly the right phrase. And I agree - I usually only reach the willingness when I've hit bottom, when the uselessness of "my way" has basically run aground. I am not always a happy learner! But I am learning to be :)
Thanks for being here, Jayney.
Love,
Sean
Thank you for this Sean. Very timely. We live 75 miles from Uvalde, in a state that seems to be moving toward this “separation” on a societal level, at a very rapid pace
The external manifestations of separation can be quite grim. And horrifying. I do think that coming to terms with the ways in which WE are doing it - not only in the spiritual/psychological sense but also in the collective embodied sense - can be profoundly helpful.
But I despair myself sometimes. It's not easy and it does often seem like we're in the two-steps back part of the dance WAY too often.
~ Sean
Thanks Sean. “Coming to terms with the ways in which WE are doing it” does make sense. Perhaps buying into what appears to be evidence of separation “out there” aligns with the experience of that same illusion within?
I just still find it challenging to believe, if I’m understanding what’s put forth by the course, that this horrific shooting didn’t happen, that it isn’t real. It seems very real for the parents of those children.
I suppose, in line with lesson 99 (my lesson for today), it’s not helpful to analyze or question, but only to remember that no matter, salvation is my only function here, and God is still love.
In a sense, the perception of the external example IS the illusion within. They don't align; they're the same thing :)
Trying to make this make sense in the physical world tends to tie us up on all kinds of semantic and cognitive knots that complicate our potential to be gently, helpfully and consistently loving. After all, if the outside IS the inside (i.e., if projection really does make perception), then our response won't change: it's still love, patience, tolerance, inquiry, et cetera.
The course does allow for the metaphysical argument that the shooting didn't happen; personally, I find this to be correct in such a narrow way that indulging it tends to violate the spirit of love that ACIM aims to reveal and nurture in us. Your inclination to push back on it reflects love and wholeness. At some level, you realize that the shooting is not the problem but rather the vast collective and subjective failure of love the shooting symbolizes (reflects, embodies, etc) IS the problem.
And it is THAT problem to which the course asks us to give attention (which necessarily cashes out in bodies in the world).
There is a juncture in our practice where the form ceases to matter as much because we understand in a deeply centered and deeply practical way that what matters is the cry for love - not the form it assumes - and that the response is always love which - like the cry - will assume whatever form is most helpful.
The Uvalde shooting is horrific. As a cry for love, it is deafening - it is more like a tortured shriek, like a thousand tortured shrieks. It is so awful we want to look away, forget it happened, blame others. Anything to spare having to open our hearts to that tremendous loneliness, guilt and fear in it.
And yet when and as we do open up to it we realize that it is OUR fear, guilt and loneliness to which we are responding - that it is OUR mess we are becoming responsible for cleaning - and then peace comes because we are no longer alone and we know what to do. The metaphysics are like a road map - we still have to get in the car and drive :)
Thanks for reading, Mark. I appreciate your thoughtfulness very much.
~ Sean
Hi Sean,
Your response was very helpful. I like especially what you said about how indulging the thought about the shooting not happening tends to violate the spirit of love that ACIM aims to reveal and nurture in us.
When I see the Uvalde shooting, the George Floyd murder, the Jan. 6th insurrection, and other inexplicable forms of injustice in this world, I, like many others, look for answers, look for causes, and look for blame. And then I get angry. And I can see how getting caught up in these thoughts (including whether or not these incidents really “happened”) distracts me from my only purpose - to be love, and to be helpful.
I remember many years ago questioning a minister about the story of Jonah and the whale from the Bible. I couldn’t understand how people could actually believe that a man was swallowed by a whale and then spit out alive 3 days later. His response was that when people argue and debate about whether or not it literally happened, they can miss out on the larger meaning of the story.
Thanks Sean.
Thank you🙏
There is a struggle in me to confront the feeling I have of helplessness, in the face of the recent Texas massacre.
You're welcome, Jennifer. I hear you. I think what's helpful is just to go into it in a deliberate and care-filled way. What is behind the feeling of helplessness? Who does the helplessness serve? What is its function? Is there another way?
Everything is given so that we can heal - and the healing is never ours alone. So the work becomes a gift that we give ourselves AND others.
Love,
Sean
Thanks, Sean