tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-135122612024-03-13T11:14:45.412-04:00Miracles Course JournalMy thoughts about <u>A Course in Miracles</u>, the Course community, and news about various Course related projects and events.Tom Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11382119491604433679noreply@blogger.comBlogger148125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13512261.post-76452961558224874132022-02-08T20:55:00.002-05:002022-02-08T20:55:18.397-05:00ACIM and the worship of God<div style="text-align: left;"><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="das6o" data-offset-key="87j4-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="87j4-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="87j4-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">I keep hearing chatter that A Course in Miracles does not promote the worship of God. </span><span data-offset-key="87j4-0-1" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">And then I read the book and laugh.</span></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="das6o" data-offset-key="4br8c-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="4br8c-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="4br8c-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="das6o" data-offset-key="5hlsm-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="5hlsm-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="5hlsm-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">"</span><span data-offset-key="5hlsm-0-1" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: bold;">I thank You, Father</span><span data-offset-key="5hlsm-0-2" style="font-family: inherit;">, for the purity of Your most holy Son"</span></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="das6o" data-offset-key="1rrkc-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1rrkc-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="1rrkc-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="das6o" data-offset-key="8ums5-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="8ums5-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="8ums5-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">"</span><span data-offset-key="8ums5-0-1" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: bold;">I thank you, Father</span><span data-offset-key="8ums5-0-2" style="font-family: inherit;">, knowing you will come to close each little gap that lies between the broken pieces of Your holy Son. Your holiness, complete and perfect, lies in every one of them."</span></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="das6o" data-offset-key="ankte-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ankte-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="ankte-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="das6o" data-offset-key="cljpt-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="cljpt-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="cljpt-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">"</span><span data-offset-key="cljpt-0-1" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: bold;">I thank you, Father</span><span data-offset-key="cljpt-0-2" style="font-family: inherit;">, for your perfect Son, And in his glory will I see my own."</span></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="das6o" data-offset-key="bi6at-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bi6at-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="bi6at-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="das6o" data-offset-key="19ug5-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="19ug5-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="19ug5-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">"</span><span data-offset-key="19ug5-0-1" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: bold;">We thank You, Father</span><span data-offset-key="19ug5-0-2" style="font-family: inherit;">, that we cannot lose the memory of You and of Your Love. We recognize our safety and give thanks for all the gifts You have bestowed on us, for all the loving help we have received, for Your eternal patience, and the Word which You have given us that we are saved."</span></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="das6o" data-offset-key="45p63-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="45p63-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="45p63-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="das6o" data-offset-key="apu3t-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="apu3t-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="apu3t-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">"</span><span data-offset-key="apu3t-0-1" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: bold;">We thank You, Father</span><span data-offset-key="apu3t-0-2" style="font-family: inherit;">, for the light that shines forever in us. And we honor it because You share it with us. We are one, united in this light, and one with You, at peace with all creation and ourselves."</span></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="das6o" data-offset-key="ebmmo-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ebmmo-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="ebmmo-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="das6o" data-offset-key="8a1a9-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="8a1a9-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="8a1a9-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">"</span><span data-offset-key="8a1a9-0-1" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: bold;">We thank You, Father</span><span data-offset-key="8a1a9-0-2" style="font-family: inherit;">, for Your guarantee of only happy outcomes in the end. 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."</span></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="das6o" data-offset-key="dc911-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="dc911-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="dc911-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="das6o" data-offset-key="c1nip-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="c1nip-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="c1nip-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">"</span><span data-offset-key="c1nip-0-1" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: bold;">I thank You, Father</span><span data-offset-key="c1nip-0-2" style="font-family: inherit;">, for the many gifts that come to me today and every day from every Son of God. My brothers are unlimited in all their gifts to me. Now may I offer them my thankfulness that gratitude to them may lead me on to my Creator and His memory"</span></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="das6o" data-offset-key="8k1t1-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="8k1t1-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="8k1t1-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="das6o" data-offset-key="dho3n-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="dho3n-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="dho3n-0-0" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: bold;">"I thank You, Father</span><span data-offset-key="dho3n-0-1" style="font-family: inherit;">, 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. 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."</span></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">- oOo -</div>
<br />
Tom Fox<br />
Somerset, Kentucky<br />Tom Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11382119491604433679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13512261.post-35654042176375701732022-02-08T20:30:00.003-05:002022-02-08T20:30:54.144-05:00Morality and A Course In Miracles<div style="text-align: left;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-3032fd7f-7fff-6949-52a6-eae6d13ed3ed"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 3pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 26pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Morality and A Course In Miracles</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 20pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Questions</span></p><br /><ol style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Although Jesus in the Gospels speaks of self-righteousness and Jesus in </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A Course In Miracles</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> speaks of fear, none of the theories or traditions of morality seem to address these issues. Modern social science has suggested, with some degree of validity, that fear in combination with self-righteousness is a predictor of violent aggressive behavior. Those who view themselves as holy are more likely to do unholy deeds simply </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">because</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> they consider themselves to be holy. As an extreme example, Christopher Scarver beat Jeffrey Dahlmer and another inmate to death with a metal bar while the three were on a prison work detail together. Scarver said that God told him to do it. How do fear and self-righteousness fit into a comprehensive framework of morality?</span></p></li></ol><br /><ol start="2" style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The morality of morality (meta morality) - How do issues of authority and control (authorship?) relate to moral traditions and systems? How are moral systems used to maintain or reform the status quo when one level of moral development conflicts with another? For example, when the post-conventional morality of social justice and civil disobedience clashes with the conventional morality of law and order? Or when cultural worlds collide?</span></p></li></ol><br /><ol start="3" style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sex is only briefly discussed in </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A Course In Miracles</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (urtext). Marriage and gender roles are not discussed at all, as such. Both sex and marriage are a large part of human life and they play a prominent part in many moral systems (both conventional secular and religious). Can ACIM’s stance on “special relationships” be viewed as an attack on the religious or secular institution of marriage?</span></p></li></ol><br /><br /><br /><h1 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 20pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 20pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Preface</span></h1><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I began the week with the belief that A Course In Miracles (ACIM) lacked any substantial discussion of morality or right conduct in the world. This, it seems, has been the consensus of opinion among both students and teachers of ACIM for the last forty-five years.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After researching the question of moral philosophy and ethics in general, I soon realized that A Course In Miracles is packed full of morality and ethics, from beginning to end, but that I had been blind to it . . . until I looked. When I focused on the issue, I discovered I had only a child's understanding of what morality and ethical persuasion looked like.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The morality of ACIM is a bigger project than I first imagined it would be. These notes are from a few days of effort.</span></p><br /><br /><h1 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 20pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 20pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Introduction</span></h1><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The idea of morality relates to the principles that distinguish between good and bad behavior [</span><span style="color: #980000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">appropriate and inappropriate behavior</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">]. A moral system is a particular collection of values, a set of rules or a way of thinking in relation to right conduct. Different forms of morality focus upon different aspects. The most basic type of morality involves controlling behavior, without regard for consequences or reasons motivating the behavior. Some forms of morality emphasize motivation rather than outcomes, and others look only to consequences.</span></p><br /><h1 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 20pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 20pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Theory of Moral Development</span></h1><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lawrence Kohlberg's theory of moral development holds that the nature of moral reasoning that forms the basis for ethical behavior, has six developmental stages. His research method used storytelling techniques to tell people stories involving moral dilemmas. In each case, he presented a choice to be considered, for example, between the rights of some authority and the needs of some deserving individual who is being unfairly treated.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By studying the answers from children of different ages to these questions, Kohlberg hoped to discover how moral reasoning changed as people grew older. The sample comprised 72 Chicago boys aged 10–16 years, 58 of whom were followed up at three-yearly intervals for 20 years. His methodology is generally seen today as being flawed by limiting his study to boys.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kohlberg identified six levels of moral development divided into three basic categories: pre-conventional, conventional, and post-conventional. The youngest children had not yet developed any internal moral compass and they simply behaved as they were instructed by the adults in their lives. As the children matured they tended to become familiar with the social and legal norms of their place in society, and their behavior was conforming to what those around them expected. At the level of conventional morality, authority is internalized but not questioned, and reasoning is based on the norms of the group to which the person belongs.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">According to Kohlberg, only a small percentage of people progress to post-conventional morality. Individual judgment is derived from self-chosen principles, and moral decisions are based on individual rights, justice, and rationality.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kohlberg believed that conventional moral thinking is as far as most people get. That is to say, most people take their moral views from those around them and only a minority think through ethical principles for themselves.</span></p><br /><h1 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 20pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 20pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Theories of morality</span></h1><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. What religion or tradition tells you (Authoritarian)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. What an individual feels is right or wrong in any situation. (Moral Subjectivism)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3. What society generally agrees is right or wrong. (Cultural Relativism or Legalism)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4. What results in the most benefit to the individual. (Ethical Egoism or Hedonism)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5. What result benefits society as a whole the most (Altruistic Utilitarianism)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6. Rational virtuous character (Phronesis - Classic Greek Idealism)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7. Emotions like love and sympathy lead to relationships of caring (Feminist Ethical Morality)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">8. Theory of Compassionate Action (Zen master </span><a href="http://plumvillage.org/about/thich-nhat-hanh/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thich Nhat Ha</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[9. </span><span style="color: #980000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Morality constitutes “the right thing to do” depending on our circumstances, not some code of conduct, a set of rules that must be upheld. (Vajrayana Buddhism</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">] </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">10. Morality of voluntary agreements and obligations. Promise Keepers. Conventional / secular</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">11. Arete (Greek: ἀρετή), in its basic sense, means "excellence of any kind". The term may also mean "moral virtue". In its earliest appearance in Greek, this notion of excellence was ultimately bound up with the notion of the fulfillment of purpose or function: the act of living up to one's full potential.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arete" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arete</span></a></p><br /><h1 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 20pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 20pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Golden Rule</span></h1><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is one of the more famous quotes from ACIM:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“You must change your mind, not your behavior.”</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> ACIM Text T-2.VI.3.4</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But, the Course also states:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"The Golden Rule asks you to behave toward others as you would have them behave toward you. This means that the perception of both must be accurate. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Golden Rule is the rule for appropriate behavior.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You cannot behave appropriately unless you perceive correctly</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">."</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> ACIM Text TT-1.III.6.2</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Golden Rule is the principle of treating others as you want to be treated. It is a maxim that is found in most religions and cultures. It can be considered an ethic of reciprocity in some religions, although other religions treat it differently. The maxim may appear as a positive or negative injunction governing conduct:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a. Treat others as you would like others to treat you (positive or directive form)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">b. Do not treat others in ways that you would not like to be treated (negative or prohibitive form)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">c. What you wish upon others, you wish upon yourself (empathic or responsive form)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the Far East the idea dates at least to the early Confucian times (551–479 BC). This concept appears prominently in Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism, and the rest of the world's major religions. The Golden Rule was first documented in the Code of Hummurabi in ancient Babylon (1770 BC).</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> A Course In Miracles clearly endorses a basic and nearly universal moral guidance. ACIM is in line with every mainstream religious tradition.</span></p><br /><h1 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 20pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 20pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Morality of Love, Forgiveness, Miracles, and Being Helpful</span></h1><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One main focus of A Course In Miracles are the instructions for Miracle Workers. A miracle, according to the Course, is any interpersonal expression of love. There are no big or small miracles, and a miraculous expression of love could be nothing more than a smile.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Perhaps the seeming strangers in the elevator will smile to one another, perhaps the adult will not scold the child for bumping into him; perhaps the students will become friends. Even at the level of the most casual encounter, it is possible for two people to lose sight of separate interests, if only for a moment. That moment will be enough. Salvation has come."</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ACIM Manual for Teachers M-3.2.5</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A few of the many principles relating to miracles in ACIM:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Miracles are healing because they supply a lack; they are performed by those who temporarily have more for those who temporarily have less."</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Through prayer love is received, and through miracles love is expressed."</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Miracles are teaching devices for demonstrating it is more blessed to give than to receive. They simultaneously increase the strength of the giver and supply strength to the receiver."</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"A miracle is a service. It is the maximal service you can render to another. It is a way of loving your neighbor as yourself. You recognize your own and your neighbor's worth simultaneously.'</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Miracles are a kind of exchange. Like all expressions of love, which are always miraculous in the true sense, the exchange reverses the physical laws. They bring more love both to the giver <and> the receiver."</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Miracles reawaken the awareness that the spirit, not the body, is the altar of truth. 2 This is the recognition that leads to the healing power of the miracle."</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Miracles are natural signs of forgiveness. Through miracles you accept God's forgiveness by extending it to others."</span></p><br /><h2 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Miracle Workers Prayer</span></h2><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am here only to be truly helpful.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am here to represent Him Who sent me.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I do not have to worry about what to say or what to do, because He Who sent me will direct me.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am content to be wherever He wishes, knowing He goes there with me.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I will be healed as I let Him teach me to heal.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"The truly helpful are God's miracle workers, whom I [Jesus] direct until we are all united in the joy of the Kingdom." ACIM Text T-4.VII.8.7</span></p><br /><h1 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 20pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 20pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Morality of Jesus and Christianity</span></h1><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I [Jesus] am your model for decision. By deciding for God I showed you that this decision can be made, and that you can make it.” ACIM Text T-5.II.9.6-7</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“For this alone I need; that you will hear the words I speak, and give them to the world. You are my voice, my eyes, my feet, my hands through which I save the world” (W-pI.rV.in.9:2-3).</span></p><br /><h2 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Seven Cardinal Sins</span></h2><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The seven deadly sins, also known as the capital vices, or cardinal sins, is a grouping and classification of vices within Christian teachings, although it does not appear explicitly in the Bible. Behaviors or habits are classified under this category if they directly give birth to other immoralities. According to the standard list, they are:</span></p><br /><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. Pride</span></h3><br /><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. Greed</span></h3><br /><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3. Lust</span></h3><br /><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4. Envy</span></h3><br /><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5. Gluttony</span></h3><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6. Wrath (Anger)</span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment.” Matthew 5:21</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Anger is never justified.” ACIM Text T-30.VI.1.1</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“If you respond with anger, you must be equating yourself with the destructible, and are therefore regarding yourself insanely.” ACIM Text T-6.I.4.7</span></p><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7. Sloth</span></h3><br /><h2 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Seven Cardinal Virtues</span></h2><br /><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. Prudence</span></h3><br /><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. Justice</span></h3><br /><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3. Temperance</span></h3><br /><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4. Courage (or fortitude)</span></h3><br /><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5. Faith</span></h3><br /><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6. Hope</span></h3><br /><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7. Charity</span></h3><br /><h2 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Ten Commandments</span></h2><br /><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. You shall have no other gods before me.</span></h3><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In this world you can become a spotless mirror, in which the Holiness of your Creator shines forth from you to all around you. You can reflect Heaven here. Yet no reflections of the images of other gods must dim the mirror that would hold God's reflection in it. Earth can reflect Heaven or hell; God or the ego.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ACIM Text T-14.IX.5. 1</span></p><br /><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. No graven images or likenesses.</span></h3><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">God is no image, and His creations, as part of Him, hold Him in them in truth. They do not merely reflect truth, for they are truth. T-14.IX.8.6</span></p><br /><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain .</span></h3><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Many are afraid of blasphemy, but they do not understand what it means. They do not realize that to deny God is to deny their own Identity, and in this sense the wages of sin is death. ACIM Text T-10.V.1.4</span></p><br /><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4. Remember the sabbath day.</span></h3><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This day is God's. It is my gift to Him.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I will not lead my life alone today. I do not understand the world, and so to try to lead my life alone must be but foolishness. But there is One Who knows all that is best for me. And He is glad to make no choices for me but the ones that lead to God. I give this day to Him, for I would not delay my coming home, and it is He Who knows the way to God.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And so we give today to You. We come with wholly open minds. We do not ask for anything that we may think we want. Give us what You would have received by us. You know all our desires and our wants. And You will give us everything we need in helping us to find the way to You.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ACIM Workbook Lesson 242</span></p><br /><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5. Honor thy father and thy mother.</span></h3><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">honor is the natural greeting of the truly loved to others who are like</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">them. T-3.I.6.3</span></p><br /><br /><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6. Thou shalt not kill.</span></h3><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">M-27.7. Teacher of God, your one assignment could be stated thus: Accept no compromise</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">in which death plays a part. 2 Do not believe in cruelty, nor let attack conceal the</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">truth from you.</span></p><br /><br /><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.</span></h3><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The body does appear to be the symbol of sin while you believe that it can get you what you want. While you believe that it can give you pleasure, you will also believe that it can bring you pain. To think you could be satisfied and happy with so little is to hurt yourself, T-19.IV.A.17.10</span></p><br /><br /><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">8. Thou shalt not steal</span></h3><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"It [the ego] literally believes that every time it deprives someone of something, it has increased." ACIM Text T-7.V.9.8</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“The inheritance of the Kingdom is the right of God's Son, given him in his creation. Do not try to steal it from him, or you will ask for guilt and will experience it. Protect his purity from every thought that would steal it away and keep it from his sight.” ACIM Text T-14.V.4.1</span></p><br /><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor</span></h3><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">T-5.VI.10. You need not fear the Higher Court will condemn you. 2 It will merely</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">dismiss the case against you. 3 There can be no case against a child of God, and every witness</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">to guilt in God's creations is bearing false witness to God Himself. 4</span></p><br /><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">10. Thou shalt not covet</span></h3><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“ . . . . reviewing some of the external places where you have looked for salvation in the past;--in other people, in possessions, in various situations and events, and in self-concepts that you sought to make real. Recognize that it is not there, and tell yourself: My salvation cannot come from any of these things.” W-pI.70.7.5</span></p><br /><h1 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 20pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 20pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Morality of Teachers of God</span></h1><br /><h2 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Classic Greek Idealism</span></h2><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The thinking about morality and ethics which originated with Plato and Aristotle focused upon excellence of character. This is to say that morality is fundamentally related to what kind of persons we are. Thus, virtuous behavior is what a virtuous person does. It may seem circular to express it this way, but the various specific virtues are identified in order to establish the identity of the character In the abstract, an honest man tends to consistently speak honestly, and by so doing in actual practice is what establishes an identity as an honest man., for whom honest speech is a character habit.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the ancient world, courage, moderation, and justice were prime species of moral virtue.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A virtue is a settled disposition to act in a certain way. Gentleness, for instance, is the settled disposition to act so that physical affront is out of the question and psychological shock or insult is minimized. Gentleness includes both words and deeds. This settled disposition includes a practical knowledge about how to be gentle in every situation, and that each is treated according to their individual sensitivity. It also includes a strong positive attitude toward learning how each individual is likely to respond to any apparent lack of civility. Gentle people, then, are not ones who occasionally act gently, or even who regularly act gently but who do so out of some other motive; rather they are people who reliably act that way because they place a high intrinsic value on manifesting gentleness, and they are good at it. Mr. Rogers is prime example of a genuinely gentle character.</span></p><br /><h2 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ACIM - Characteristics of God's Teachers</span></h2><br /><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. Trust</span></h3><br /><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. Honesty</span></h3><br /><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3. Tolerance</span></h3><br /><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4. Gentleness</span></h3><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Harm is impossible for God's teachers. They can neither harm nor be harmed. Harm is the outcome of judgment. It is the dishonest act that follows a dishonest thought. It is a verdict of guilt upon a brother, and therefore on oneself. It is the end of peace and the denial of learning. It demonstrates the absence of God's curriculum, and its replacement by insanity. No teacher of God but must learn,--and fairly early in his training,--that harmfulness completely obliterates his function from his awareness. It will make him confused, fearful, angry and suspicious. It will make the Holy Spirit's lessons impossible to learn. Nor can God's Teacher be heard at all, except by those who realize that harm can actually achieve nothing. 12 No gain can come of it.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Therefore, God's teachers are wholly gentle. They need the strength of gentleness, for it is in this that the function of salvation becomes easy. To those who would do harm, it is impossible. To those to whom harm has no meaning, it is merely natural. What choice but this has meaning to the sane? Who chooses hell when he perceives a way to Heaven? And who would choose the weakness that must come from harm in place of the unfailing, all-encompassing and limitless strength of gentleness? The might of God's teachers lies in their gentleness, for they have understood their evil thoughts came neither from God's Son nor his Creator. Thus did they join their thoughts with Him Who is their Source. And so their will, which always was His Own, is free to be itself. M-4.IV.1.</span></p><br /><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5. Joy</span></h3><br /><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6. Defenselessness</span></h3><br /><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7. Generosity</span></h3><br /><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">8. Patience</span></h3><br /><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">9. Faithfulness</span></h3><br /><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">10. Open-Mindedness</span></h3><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span></p><h1 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 20pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 20pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Random ACIM references and comments</span></h1><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fear is always a sign of strain, arising whenever what you want conflicts with what you do. This situation arises in two ways: First, you can choose to do conflicting things, either simultaneously or successively. This produces conflicted behavior, which is intolerable to you because the part of the mind that wants to do something else is outraged. Second, you can behave as you think you should, but without entirely wanting to do so. This produces consistent behavior, but entails great strain. In both cases, the mind and the behavior are out of accord, resulting in a situation in which you are doing what you do not wholly want to do. This arouses a sense of coercion that usually produces rage, and projection is likely to follow. Whenever there is fear, it is because you have not made up your mind. Your mind is therefore split, and your behavior inevitably becomes erratic. Correcting at the behavioral level can shift the error from the first to the second type, but will not obliterate the fear. T-2.VI.5.1</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> It is possible to reach a state in which you bring your mind under my guidance without conscious effort, but this implies a willingness that you have not developed as yet. T-2.VI.6.1</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yet we have learned that behavior is not the level for either teaching or learning, since you can act in accordance with what you do not believe. To do this, however, will weaken you as a teacher and a learner because, as has been repeatedly emphasized, you teach what you <do> believe. An inconsistent lesson will be poorly taught and poorly learned. T-7.V.2.4 .4-6</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I do not perceive my own best interests. In no situation that arises do you realize the outcome that would make you happy. Therefore, you have no guide to appropriate action and no way of judging the result. W-pI.24.1.1-2</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As the teacher of God advances in his training, he learns one lesson with increasing thoroughness. He does not make his own decisions; he asks his Teacher for His answer, and it is this he follows as his guide for action. This becomes easier and easier, as the teacher of God learns to give up his own judgment. M-9.2.1-3</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Judgment, like other devices by which the world of illusions is maintained, is totally misunderstood by the world. It is actually confused with wisdom, and substitutes for truth. As the world uses the term, an individual is capable of "good" and "bad" judgment, and his education aims at strengthening the former and minimizing the latter. There is, however, considerable confusion about what these categories mean. What is "good" judgment to one is "bad" judgment to another. Further, even the same person classifies the same action as showing "good" judgment at one time and "bad" judgment at another time. Nor can any consistent criteria for determining what these categories are be really taught. M-10.1.1-7</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">RE: Marriage and special relationships - </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/dedem1111" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Weber-Caspers Martin</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Not in my opinion,</span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/tomwfox?hc_location=ufi" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tom Fox</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Early in the text we are told "planning ahead is good advice" in areas in which 'we have taken responsibility'. A marriage is constituted by the commitment of two or more people taking responsibility, as in taking care of each other. I also think that mentioning parents and their responsibilities for children as well as the teaching on a special savior for everyone hint in that direction. I do recall that nowhere is a special relationship of any kind just brushed off as merely inappropriate. In the end, it is the raw material for the holy relationship under the workings of the atonement. ...."The Love of God must for a while be communicated from one body to another" (paraphr? Txt). Possessivenes and jealousy are traits of the ego's version of love and partnership, which is mostly to barter, idolize and exclude, IMO.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[some more relevant quotations:</span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Behavior </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">response, so that the question “response to what?”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">becomes crucial. Since stimuli are identified through perception,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">you first perceive the stimulus and then behave accordingly. It</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">follows, then, that:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 6pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">63 </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As ye perceive,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So shall ye behave.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 6pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">64 </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Golden Rule asks you to behave toward others as you</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">would have them behave toward you. This means that the perception</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">of </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">both </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">must be accurate. The Golden Rule is the rule for</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">appropriate behavior. You cannot behave appropriately unless you</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">perceive accurately, because appropriate behavior </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">depends </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">on lack</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">of level confusion. The presence of level confusion </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">always </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">results</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">in variable reality testing and therefore in variability in behavioral</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">appropriateness. Since you and your neighbor are equal members</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">of the same family, as you perceive both, so you will behave toward</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">both. The way to perceive for Golden Rule behavior is to look out</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">from the perception of your </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">own </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">holiness and perceive the holiness</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">of others.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1.70 All </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shallow roots must be uprooted</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">because they are not deep enough to sustain you. The illusion that</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shallow roots can be </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">deepened </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and thus made to hold is one of the</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">distortions on which the </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">reversal </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">of the Golden Rule rests. As these</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">false underpinnings are given up, the equilibrium is temporarily experienced</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">as unstable. However, the fact is that </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">nothing </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is less stable</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">than an orientation that is upside down. Nor can anything which</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">holds it that way be really conducive to greater stability.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2.25 Denial should be directed only to error, and projection should</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">be reserved only for truth. You should truly give as you have truly</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">received. The Golden Rule can work effectively only on this basis.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">T 1 B 36f. </span><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Consider the Golden Rule again. You are asked to behave</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">toward others as you would have them behave toward you.</span><span style="font-size: 6pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">57 </span><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">means that the perception of both must be accurate, since the Golden</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rule is the Order for appropriate behavior. You can’t behave appropriately</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">unless you perceive accurately, because appropriate behavior</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">DEPENDS on lack of level confusion. The presence of level confusion</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ALWAYS results in variable reality testing, and hence variability in</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">behavioral appropriateness.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">T 1 B 36h. </span><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Since you and your neighbor are equal members of the</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">same family, as you perceive both, so will you behave toward both.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The way to perceive for Golden Rule behavior is to look out from the</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">perception of your own holiness and perceive the holiness of others</span><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">GOLDEN RULE in 14 Traditions of the world (scripture)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">0. The Global Course (ACIM)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When you meet anyone,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">remember it is a holy encounter.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As you see him, you will see yourself.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Never forget this, for in him you will find yourself</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">or lose sight of yourself.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Course, urtext, par 1376.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. Zoroastrianism</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do not do unto others whatever</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is injurious to yourself.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Shayast-na-Shayast 13.29</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. Jainism</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One should treat all creatures in the world</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">as one would like to be treated.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mahavira, Sutrakritanga</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3. Buddhism</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Treat not others in ways</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">that you yourself would find hurtful.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Udana-Varga 5:18</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4. Judaism</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is the whole Torah; all the rest is commentary.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hillel, Talmud, Shabbat 31a</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5. Christianity</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In everything, do to others</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">as you would have them do to you;</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">for this is the law and the prophets.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jesus, Matthew 7:12</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6. Sikhism</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am a stranger to no one;</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and no one is a stranger to me.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Indeed, I am a friend to all.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Guru Grant Sahib, pg.1299</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7. Confucianism</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One word which sums up the</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">basis of all good conduct...</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">loving kindness.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do not do to others</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">what you do not want</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">done to yourself.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Confucius, Analects 15.23</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">8. Baha'i Faith</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lay not on any soul a load that you</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">would not wish to be laid upon you,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and desire not for anyone the things</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">you would not desire for yourself.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Balra 'u' llah, Gleanings</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">9. Unitarianism</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We affirm and promote respect</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">for the interdependent web of all existence</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">of which we are a part.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Unitarian principle</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">10. Hinduism</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is the sum of duty:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">do not do to others what would cause</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">pain if done to you.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mahabharata 5:1517</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">11. Islam</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Not one of you truly believes</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">until you wish for others</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">what you wish for yourself.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Prophet Mohammed, Hadith</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">12. Taoism</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Regard your neighbor's gain</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">as your own gain, and your neighbor's loss</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">as your own loss.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tái Shang Kan Ying Píen, 213-218</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">13. Native Spirituality</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We are as much alive</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">as we keep the earth alive.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chief Dan George</span></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">- oOo -</div>
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Tom Fox<br />
Somerset, Kentucky<br />Tom Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11382119491604433679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13512261.post-22866400543858225492022-01-02T12:50:00.003-05:002022-01-02T12:50:34.410-05:00ACIM - False projection and true projection - editing changes<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><h1 style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">False projection and true projection - editing changes</h1></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">In the Original Edition of A Course In Miracles Chapter 2, Jesus makes a clear distinction between false projection and true projection. </div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><blockquote>"My use of projection, which can also be yours, is not based on faulty denial. It does involve, however, the very powerful use of the denial of errors. The miracle worker is one who accepts my kind of denial and projection, unites his own inherent abilities to deny and project with mine, and imposes them back on himself and others. This establishes the total lack of threat anywhere. Together we can then work for the real time of peace, which is eternal."</blockquote></div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">This passage, along with the entire concept of true and false projection, was edited out of the FIP edition.</div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">It was re-introduced and preserved, however, in Lesson 30.</div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><blockquote>"Today we are trying to use a new kind of “projection.” We are not attempting to get rid of what we do not like by seeing it outside. ³Instead, we are trying to see in the world what is in our minds, and what we want to recognize is there. ⁴Thus, we are trying to join with what we see, rather than keeping it apart from us. That is the fundamental difference between vision and the way you see."</blockquote></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">- oOo -</div>
<br />
Tom Fox<br />
Somerset, Kentucky<br />Tom Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11382119491604433679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13512261.post-46345747131642273272022-01-02T11:47:00.003-05:002022-01-02T11:54:03.758-05:00ACIM - Orders of Reality<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Orders of Reality</span></h1><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">ACIM (Original Edition) uses the phrase "order(s) of reality" ten times. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Summary:</span></h3><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Orders of reality are not symbolic.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">An order of reality is a system of thought</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">The two basic orders of reality are (1) In time, and (2) In eternity</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Orders of reality intersect where time and eternity meet in the present instant.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Healing the mind and physical healing are two different orders of reality.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Thought alone cannot make physical reality, but thought combined with belief can.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Opposing orders of reality make reality meaningless.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Different orders of reality is a perspective without understanding.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Reserving one idea apart from truth is to establish an order of reality which must imprison you.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">There are no orders of reality. There is no order of difficulty of miracles.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Time awareness is an order of reality.</span></li></ul><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">ACIM Quotes - from the Original Edition </span></h3></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The separation is not symbolic. It is an <b>ORDER OF REALITY</b> or a system of thought that is real enough in time, though not in eternity. All beliefs are real to the believer.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Those who speak of “a miracle of healing” are combining two <b>ORDERS OF REALITY</b> inappropriately. Healing is not a miracle. The Atonement or the final miracle is a remedy, while any type of healing is a result. The kind of error to which Atonement is applied is irrelevant.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Remember that the Bible says, “The Word (or thought) was made flesh.” Strictly speaking this is impossible, since it seems to involve the translation of one <b>ORDER OF REALITY</b> into another. Different <b>ORDERS OF REALITY</b> merely appear to exist, just as different orders of miracles do. Thought cannot be made into flesh except by belief, since thought is not physical.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">As long as you believe that fear is possible, you will not create. Opposing <b>ORDERS OF REALITY</b> make reality meaningless, and reality is meaning.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>ORDERS OF REALITY</b> is a perspective without understanding, a frame of reference for reality to which it cannot really be compared at all.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Think you that you can bring truth to fantasy and learn what truth means from the perspective of illusions? Truth has no meaning in illusion. The frame of reference for its meaning must be itself. When you try to bring truth to illusions, you are trying to make illusions real and keep them by justifying your belief in them. But to give illusions to truth is to enable truth to teach that the illusions are unreal and thus enable you to escape from them. Reserve not one idea aside from truth, or you establish <b>ORDERS OF REALITY</b> which must imprison you. There is no order in reality because everything there is true. Be willing, then, to give all you have held outside the truth to Him who knows the truth and in Whom all is brought to truth.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">There is no barrier between God and His Son, nor can His Son be separated from himself except in illusions. This is not his reality, though he believes it is. Yet this could only be if God were wrong. God would have had to create differently and to have separated Himself from His Son to make this possible. He would have had to create different things and to establish different <b>ORDERS OF REALITY</b>, only some of which were love. Yet love must be forever like itself, changeless forever and forever without alternative. And so it is. You cannot put a barrier around yourself because God placed none between Himself and you.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">All that is ever cherished as a hidden belief, to be defended though unrecognized, is faith in specialness. This takes many forms but always clashes with the reality of God’s creation and with the grandeur which He gave His Son. What else could justify attack? For who could hate someone whose Self is his and whom He knows? Only the special could have enemies, for they are different and not the same. And difference of any kind imposes <b>ORDERS OF REALITY</b> and a need to judge that cannot be escaped. 6 What God created cannot be attacked, for there is nothing in the universe unlike itself.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The biblical injunction, “Be of one mind” is the statement for revelation readiness. My own injunction, “Do this in remembrance of me” is the request for cooperation from miracle workers. It should be noted that the two statements are not in the same <b>ORDER OF REALITY.</b> The latter involves a time awareness since to remember implies recalling the past in the present. Time is under my direction, but Timelessness belongs to God alone. In time we exist for and with each other. In Timelessness we coexist with God.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">- oOo -</span></div>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><br />
Tom Fox<br />
Somerset, Kentucky</span><br />Tom Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11382119491604433679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13512261.post-66626275455300677282021-10-09T16:58:00.003-04:002021-10-09T16:58:30.324-04:00The Question of Karma - from Helen Schucman's unpublished notes - ACIM<div style="text-align: center;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">A Course In Miracles (ACIM)</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Helen Schucman's unpublished notes</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The Question of Karma</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">About the question of karma: Most theories of reincarnation are essentially magical, and the whole question is not really necessary to religion at all. The chief value of the concept lies in its helpfulness in counteracting the idea of hell, a belief that is hard for the ego to relinquish. As the symbol of separation, the ego cannot escape guilt feelings, and fear of punishment is inevitable. Do not dwell on these fearful thoughts. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> One of the main dangers of karmic theories is the tendency they induce to engage in the genetic fallacy, overlooking the truly religious fact that now is the only time. They look to the past for an explanation of the present, but do not succeed in separating the past from the present. They recognize that mind is the builder, but do not realize that it is only what it is building now that really generates the future. The past, in itself, does not have the ability to do this. Whenever we move from one instant to the next, the previous one no longer exists.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">This course will lead to something quite different than past-life readings, because it points only to the future. It leads to a future that you will know. There was a past, but it does not matter. It does not explain the present or account for the future. Patients in psychotherapy frequently go over their childhoods in some detail and at considerable expense, and it merely encourages their egos to become more tolerable to them. I would hardly want you to repeat that same error.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">You may be curious to know about your past. Knowledge is not won through curiosity, which is an ego attribute. Knowledge can be found only if it is sought to give it to someone else. This means that you are ready to appreciate its real value and have already accepted its worth for yourself. Even when you cannot go to God with someone, you can go for him and bring knowledge back to him.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">If this is in the future, why would you care at all about the past, except to the extent that your ego objects to your rightful destiny? Are you interested in healing insanity or in studying its past? That is of concern only if you believe that something that could remedy it happened in the past. Even my personal history is of no value to you except as it teaches you that I can help you now. But no history of irreconcilable viewpoints is helpful in establishing truth. The soul has no history, being the same yesterday, today, and always. The history of a split mind is not a constructive focus for those who are being trained in an integrated and true concept of themselves.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I am quite willing to tell you about your past when it no longer is of any interest to your ego, and if it is of help to someone else. Otherwise, it would be much better to devote yourself to knowing God. I once told you that the Atonement will not be complete until all the children of God have come home. We do not care about where they have been or what they have done. We would not want to evaluate their past any more than we want to evaluate them.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">It is almost impossible for the mind to look at some past-life readings totally without judgment of any kind. For instance, they often relate a bodily condition to the past even when they affirm that mind is the builder. Their emphasis on gains and losses is not to be yours. These terms are evaluative, and are therefore in variance with the goals of your course.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">We have discussed the separation in some detail, as we have also done with its healing. The interim is of no importance. Your judgment is a real defense, without any attack on truth, only when it evaluates the separation and its symbols as what they are, and enjoins the withdrawal of your belief in them. I would indeed be a poor teacher if I allowed any interference in the development of a skill which you have by no means mastered.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p></p></div>Tom Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11382119491604433679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13512261.post-29317383810373904402021-06-02T17:09:00.001-04:002021-06-02T17:30:14.985-04:00ACIM Rules for Decision
<div style="text-align: left;"><i><blockquote> "Prove your thoughts have creative power by consciously imaging constantly, and walk on the water. No matter what happens in the course of a day, revise it. Make the day conform to what you want it to be, and you are walking on the water." Neville Goddar</blockquote></i><i></i><br /><h1 style="text-align: left;">Rules for Decision</h1><br />Decisions are continuous. You do not always know when you are making them. But with a little practice with the ones you recognize, a set begins to form which sees you through the rest.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">It is not wise to let yourself become preoccupied with every step you take.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">The proper set, adopted consciously each time you wake, will put you well ahead. And if you find resistance strong and dedication weak, you are not ready. DO NOT FIGHT YOURSELF. <br /><br /><b>Begin your day by thinking about the kind of day you want.</b><br /><br />Tell yourself there IS a way in which this very day can happen just the way you want it to. <br /><br />Try to have the day you want.<br /><br />The process starts with this.<br /><br /><b>First</b>: Say to yourself:<br /><br /><span style="color: #990000;"><i>“Today I will make no decisions by myself.”</i></span><br /><br />This means that you are choosing <b>not to be the judge of what to do</b>. But it must also mean you will not judge the situations where you will be called upon to make response. For if you judge them, you have set the rules for how you should react to them. And then another answer cannot but produce confusion and uncertainty and fear.<br /><br />This is your major problem now. You still make up your mind, and THEN decide to ask what you should do. And what you hear may not resolve the problem as YOU saw it first. This leads to fear because it contradicts what you perceive, and so you feel attacked. And therefore angry. There are rules by which this will not happen. But it does occur at first, while you are learning how to hear.<br /><br /><b>Next</b>: Throughout the day, at any time you think of it, and have a quiet moment for reflection:<br /><br />Tell yourself again the kind of day you want; <br />the feelings you would have, <br />the things you want to happen to you, <br />and the things you would experience<br /><br />Say to yourself:<br /><br /><span style="color: #990000;"><i>“If I make no decisions by myself,<br />This is the day that will be GIVEN me.”</i></span><br /><br />These two procedures, practiced well, will serve to let you be directed without fear, for opposition will not first arise and then become a problem in itself.<br /><br />But there will still be times when you have judged already. Now the answer will provoke attack, unless you quickly straighten out your mind to want an answer that will work. Be certain this has happened if you feel yourself unwilling to sit by, and ask to have the answer given you. This means you HAVE decided by yourself, and cannot see the QUESTION. Now you need a quick restorative before you ask.<br /><br />Third: Remember once again the day you want, and recognize that something has occurred which is not part of it. Then realize that you have asked a question by yourself, and must have set an answer in your terms. Then say,<br /><br />“I have no question. I forgot what to decide.”<br /><br />This cancels out the terms which you have set, and lets the ANSWER show you what the question must have really been. Try to observe this rule without delay, despite your opposition. For you have ALREADY gotten angry, and your fear of being answered in a different way from what your version of the question259 asks will gain momentum, until you believe the day you want is one in which you get YOUR answer to YOUR question. And you will not get it, for it would destroy the day by robbing you of what you REALLY want. This can be very hard to realize, when once you have decided by yourself the rules which promise you a happy day. Yet this decision still can be undone, by simple methods which you can accept.<br /><br />Fourth: If you are so unwilling to receive you cannot even let your question go, you can begin to change your mind with this:<br /><br />“At least I can decide I do not LIKE what I feel now.”<br /><br />This much is obvious, and paves the way for the next easy step.<br /><br />Fifth: Having decided that you do not like the way you feel, what could be easier than to continue with,<br /><br />“And so I HOPE I have been wrong.”<br /><br />This works against the sense of opposition, and reminds you that help is not being thrust upon you, but is something that you want and that you need, because you do not like the way you feel. This tiny opening will be enough to let you go ahead with just a few more steps you need to let yourself be helped. Now you have reached the turning-point, because it has occurred to you that YOU will gain if what you have decided is not so. Until this point is reached, you will believe your happiness depends on being RIGHT. But this much reason have you now attained; you would be better off if you were WRONG.<br /><br />Sixth: This tiny grain of wisdom will suffice to take you further. You are not coerced, but merely hope to get a thing you want. And you can say in perfect honesty,<br /><br />“I WANT another way to look at this.”<br /><br />Now you have changed your mind about the day, and have remembered what you REALLY want. Its purpose has no longer been obscured by the insane belief you want it for the goal of being right when you are wrong. Thus is the readiness for asking brought to your awareness, for you cannot be in conflict when you ask for what you want, and see that it IS this for which you ask.<br /><br />Seventh: This final step is but acknowledgment of lack of opposition to be helped. It is a statement of an open mind, not certain yet, but willing to be shown:<br /><br />“Perhaps there IS another way to look at this.<br />What can I LOSE by asking?”<br /><br />Thus you now can ask a question that makes sense, and so the answer will make sense as well. Nor will you fight against it, for you see that it is YOU who will be helped by it. It must be clear that it is easier to have a happy day if you prevent unhappiness from entering at all. But this takes practice in the rules which will protect you from the ravages of fear. When this has been achieved, the sorry dream of judgment has forever been undone. But meanwhile, you have need for practicing the rules for its undoing. Let us, then, consider once again the very first of the decisions which are offered here.<br /><br />We said you can begin a happy day with the determination not to make decisions by yourself. This seems to be a real decision in itself. And yet, you CANNOT make decisions by yourself. The only question really is with WHAT you choose to make them. That is really all. The first rule, then, is not coercion, but a simple statement of a simple fact. You will not make decisions by yourself WHATEVER you decide. For they are made with idols or with God. And you ask help of Christ or anti-Christ, and which you choose will join with you, and tell you what to do.<br /><br />Your day is not at random. It is set by what you choose to live it with, and how the friend whose counsel you have sought perceives your happiness. You always ask advice before you can decide on anything. Let THIS be understood, and you can see there cannot be coercion here, nor grounds for opposition that you may be free. There IS no freedom from what must occur. And if you think there is, you must be wrong.<br /><br />The second rule as well is but a fact. For you and your adviser must agree on what you want before it can occur. It is but this AGREEMENT which permits all things to happen. Nothing can be caused without some form of union, be it with a dream of judgment or the Voice for God. Decisions causeresults BECAUSE they are not made in isolation. They are made by you and your adviser, for yourself, and for the world as well. The day you want you offer to the world, for it will be what you have asked for, and will reinforce the rule of your adviser in the world. Whose kingdom is the world for you today? What kind of day will you decide to have?<br /><br />It needs but two who would have happiness this day to promise it to all the world. It needs but two to understand that they cannot decide alone, to guarantee the joy they asked for will be wholly shared. For they have understood the basic law that makes decision powerful, and gives it all effects that it will ever have. It needs but two. These two are joined before there CAN be a decision. Let this be the one reminder that you keep in mind, and you will have the day you want, and give it to the world by having it yourself. Your judgment has been lifted from the world by your decision for a happy day. <br /><br />And as you have received, so must you give.<br /><br />Do you not understand that to oppose the Holy Spirit is to fight YOURSELF? <br /><br />He tells you but YOUR will; He speaks for YOU. In His Divinity is but your own. And all He knows is but your knowledge, saved for you that you may do your will through Him. God ASKS you do your will. He joins with YOU. He did not set His kingdom up alone. And Heaven itself but represents your will, where everything created is for you. No spark of life but was created with your glad consent, as you would have it be. And not one Thought that God has ever had but waited for your blessing to be born. God is no enemy to you. He asks no more than that He hear you call Him “Friend.”<br /><br />How wonderful it is to do your will! For that is freedom. There is nothing else that ever should be called by freedom's name. Unless you do your will you are not free. And would God leave His Son without what he has chosen for himself? God but ensured that you would never lose your will when He gave you His perfect answer. Hear it now, that you may be reminded of His love, and learn your will. God would not have His Son made prisoner to what he does not want. He JOINS with you in willing you be free. And to oppose Him is to make a choice against YOURSELF, and choose that YOU be bound.<br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">- oOo -</div>
<br />
Tom Fox<br />
Somerset, Kentucky<br />Tom Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11382119491604433679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13512261.post-59641464602135868912021-03-02T20:01:00.001-05:002021-03-02T20:10:22.550-05:00A Course In Miracles and Self Awareness<div style="text-align: left;"><div class="buofh1pr j83agx80 cbu4d94t gs1a9yip k4urcfbm qv66sw1b" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; align-items: stretch; background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; widows: 2; width: 700px; word-break: break-word; word-spacing: 0px;"><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql rrkovp55 a8c37x1j keod5gw0 nxhoafnm aigsh9s9 d3f4x2em fe6kdd0r mau55g9w c8b282yb mdeji52x a5q79mjw g1cxx5fr knj5qynh oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" dir="auto" style="display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.1765; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><div class="_8emu" style="color: var(--primary-text); font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><p dir="auto" style="color: var(--primary-text); font-family: inherit; font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: -0.41px; line-height: 24px; margin: 16px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You’d think that being aware of what we think would be easy, but it isn’t. Modern life is noisy, busy and distracting. A deliberate method must be intentionally adopted to silence all the outer distractions and to focus upon what is happening within. </span></p><p dir="auto" style="color: var(--primary-text); font-family: inherit; font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: -0.41px; line-height: 24px; margin: 16px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Although many prefer to focus upon the theoretical metaphysics of A Course In Miracles, and the nature of reality, or imagining what God thinks, the more practical minded seekers tend to focus upon the day to day practices that lead to the ultimate goal . . . accepting the Atonement and a realization, </span><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">“I and the Father are one.”</span></i></p><p dir="auto" style="color: var(--primary-text); font-family: inherit; font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: -0.41px; line-height: 24px; margin: 16px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Knowing thyself,” or remembering one’s true self, and becoming aware of Love’s presence, is the same. “Teach only love, for that is what you are,” the Course enjoins. If you remember who you are, you remember love. If you become aware of love, then you know who you are.</span></p><p dir="auto" style="color: var(--primary-text); font-family: inherit; font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: -0.41px; line-height: 24px; margin: 16px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Every thought that is not love acts as a barrier to the awareness of Love. Every idea of who I am that is not true acts to hide me from myself. Removing the barriers to awareness of Love is a process of becoming aware of who I am. </span></p><p dir="auto" style="color: var(--primary-text); font-family: inherit; font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: -0.41px; line-height: 24px; margin: 16px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Consider how much vigilance you have been willing to exert to protect your ego, and how little to protect your right mind.”</span></i></p><p dir="auto" style="color: var(--primary-text); font-family: inherit; font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: -0.41px; line-height: 24px; margin: 16px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It begins and ends with what we think. What we think leads us toward sanity and truth, or it leads us away. Our thoughts are what either hide our true self, or which reveal it. Becoming aware of what we think is a necessary part of any process of sorting out the true from the false</span></p><p dir="auto" style="color: var(--primary-text); font-family: inherit; font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: -0.41px; line-height: 24px; margin: 16px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You’d think that being aware of what we think would be easy, but it isn’t. Modern life is noisy, busy and distracting. A deliberate method must be intentionally adopted to silence all the outer distractions and to focus upon what is happening within. </span></p><p dir="auto" style="color: var(--primary-text); font-family: inherit; font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: -0.41px; line-height: 24px; margin: 16px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>"The goal of the curriculum, regardless of the teacher you choose, is "Know thyself." There is nothing else to seek."</i> ACIM Text (FIP) T-8.III.5.1 - 2</span></p></span><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><p style="color: var(--primary-text); font-family: inherit; font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: -0.41px; line-height: 24px; margin: 16px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"<i>Truth cannot deal with errors that you want. I was a man who remembered spirit and its knowledge. As a man I did not attempt to counteract error with knowledge, but to correct error from the bottom up. I demonstrated both the powerlessness of the body and the power of the mind. By uniting my will with that of my Creator, I naturally remembered spirit and its real purpose. I cannot unite your will with God's for you, but I can erase all misperceptions from your mind if you will bring it under my guidance. Only your misperceptions stand in your way.</i>" ACIM Text (FIP) T-3.IV.7.2 - 8</span></p></span></div></div></span></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">- oOo -</div>
<br />
Tom Fox<br />
Somerset, Kentucky<br />Tom Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11382119491604433679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13512261.post-53706581433879425822021-02-04T06:28:00.002-05:002021-02-04T06:28:22.890-05:00Gene Smith (1947 - 2021)<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: start;">It is with sadness that I learn of the passing of my friend Gene Smith last month in Southern California. I first met Gene online in 1999 during the height of the ACIM copyright wars. Gene became involved in the struggle as a founding member and President of the Course In Miracles Society, which was the first publisher of A Course In Miracles Original Edition. For those who do not know about it, the Original Edition is the first version of ACIM to see the light of day in 1972 after Bill Thetford edited the raw ACIM transcript.</div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; orphans: 2; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: start;">Gene was perhaps the most well educated person I ever encountered, with multiple PhDs in mathematics and the philosophy of science. Gene was definitely the most sophisticated and well trained intellect of any I know to have taken ACIM seriously. Gene took ACIM very seriously, and he knew it well.</div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; orphans: 2; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: start;">I will miss Gene, but I will not forget him</div></div> </div><div style="text-align: center;">- oOo -</div>
<br />
Tom Fox<br />
Somerset, Kentucky<br />Tom Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11382119491604433679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13512261.post-60948331530413425402019-05-27T11:43:00.000-04:002019-05-27T11:44:51.172-04:00More about Pauline Christianity <h2>
More about Pauline Christianity</h2>
by: <b>Rich Rev</b> on Facebook - <a href="https://www.facebook.com/richardrevelstoke" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/richardrevelstoke </a><br />
<br />
OK I have to start this post
with the disclaimer. I have nothing against the person of Paul portrayed
in the New Testament. My posts are about Pauline Christian theology not
about any particular person. I have stated very clearly that I consider
Paul the greatest human teacher of his time and a wonderful writer I
admire.<br />
<br />
Having said all that I’d like to point out a few problems with the religion of Paul.<br />
First of all Paul was not one of the original 12 apostles and did not
spend three years being personally trained by Jesus. Paul claims in his
letters that he received his gospel by direct revelation from Jesus. <br />
Jesus made three predictions: the first that the Temple of Jerusalem
would be destroyed. This happened in 70 A.D. when Titus destroyed the
temple. Done.<br />
<br />
The second prediction was that the spirit of truth would be sent and that happened on Pentecost. Done.<br />
<br />
The third prediction was that he would return one day and that has yet to be fulfilled.<br />
He made no prediction about a future apostle arriving on the scene to
explain his entire mission. Was Jesus not clever enough to explain the
meaning of his death on the cross while he was still here on earth?<br />
<br />
The apostle Paul who is supposedly a student of Jesus rarely quotes
Jesus or even mentions any of the events of Jesus life. Did the other
apostles not teach Paul? Paul never mentions any of the 25 parables or
any of the discussion of the sermon on the mount for example. Did Paul
not receive instructions from the other apostles about these teachings
of Jesus?<br />
<br />
The book of James on the other hand is the only book in
the new testament that makes any reference to the teachings of Jesus.
James paraphrases Jesus about 35 times mostly from the sermon on the
mount. Another interesting aspect of the book of James is it mentions
nothing about the atonement and redemption.<br />
<br />
The book called by
scholars Q which most scholars agree was the first gospel makes no
mention of atonement and redemption either. It is a collection of the
sayings of Jesus of which the three synoptic Gospels borrow heavily
from.<br />
<br />
Another very interesting thing to consider is that Jesus
and the 12 apostles were teaching for three years. It is not possible
that they were teaching the gospel of atonement and redemption for the
very simple fact that Jesus had not died yet.<br />
<br />
So why has
Christianity focused on the teachings of Paul above the teachings of
it’s supposed founder and leader? Why has Paul‘s gospel superseded Jesus
gospel? These are fair questions to ask and the truth has never
suffered from careful examination so I hope you will take these
questions into consideration in the spirit they are intended.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
- - - o O o - - - </div>
Tom Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11382119491604433679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13512261.post-61895623019178936412019-04-07T14:18:00.000-04:002019-04-07T14:18:11.001-04:00Personalized awakening is possible mug <div style="text-align:center;line-height:150%"><a href="https://www.zazzle.com/z/lxd8m?rf=238769370457645507"> <img src="https://rlv.zcache.com/personalized_awakening_is_possible_mug-r564c890326814dd29ac669d1033197ab_kz9aa_1024.jpg?rlvnet=1&max_dim=325" alt="Personalized awakening is possible mug" style="border:0;" /> </a> <br /> <a href="https://www.zazzle.com/z/lxd8m?rf=238769370457645507">Personalized awakening is possible mug</a> <br />by <a href="https://www.zazzle.com/miracles_and_angels?rf=238769370457645507">Miracles and Angels</a> </div>Tom Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11382119491604433679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13512261.post-28483038393502164952019-04-04T18:18:00.000-04:002019-04-04T21:11:34.192-04:00The invisible world <h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name">
The invisible world </h3>
<div class="post-header">
<div class="post-header-line-1">
</div>
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 20px;">
Your world is invisible, the world of your spiritual life within; but invisible also is the world of rumor, ethnic fears, ignorance, the greed of multitudes, public opinion and human passions. All these are invisible. So are creative inspiration, honest endeavor and integrity. Invisible also is the intent which makes the true servant of medicine, that which is behind the long hours and personal sacrifice; all this is faith invisible. Many who see a sword see but a blade of sharpened steel; but it is a symbol of anger, pain, annihilation and woe. Those who look and are held captive out there by what they see are amazed and bewildered when invisible forces suddenly focus into an event. They are startled and disturbed when the hidden forces the mind has qualified are manifested in action.</div>
<br />
from: <a href="http://miraclescourse.blogspot.com/2005/06/letters-from-scattered-brotherhood.html">Letters of the Scattered Brotherhood</a><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
-------------------------------------------------</div>
<br />
<h4>
Transform a son of man Miracle men's t-shirt ACIM</h4>
<br />
<br />
"For the redeemed SON OF MAN is the guiltless Son of God, and to recognize him *is* your redemption."<br />
<br />
T-13.II.9.7<br />
<br />
He has accepted Christ, and he is saved. Thus does the SON OF MAN become the Son of God. It is not really a change; it is a change of mind.<br />
<br />
M-12.1.10<br />
<br />
What this says is that the "Son of man" is redeemed and transformed into the "Son of God".<br />
<br />
A<u> Course In Miracles</u> ACIM<br />
<br />
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.zazzle.com/transform_a_son_of_man_miracles_t_shirt-235209928738394629?CMPN=share_dplpt&lang=en&rf=238769370457645507&social=true">Transform a son of man miracles t-shirt</a><br />
<br />
by <a href="https://www.zazzle.com/miracles_and_angels?rf=238769370457645507">Miracles_and_Angels</a></div>
Tom Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11382119491604433679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13512261.post-29610051364763504332019-03-11T08:25:00.000-04:002019-03-11T10:29:12.465-04:00Jesus speaks poetry<h2>
Jesus speaks poetry</h2>
<br />
An interesting observation about the probable rhythmic and rhymed style of Jesus' original sayings, from the article entitled, <a href="http://www.historian.net/lp-pap2.html" title="The Lord's Prayer by Jack Kilmon"><i>The Lord's Prayer</i></a>, by Jack Kilmon:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
"This author [Jack Kilmon] believes that one of Jesus’ disciples, probably Levi Mattathia ben Alfai (Matthew), wrote down notable sayings of Jesus both during and after his sermons. Written in Aramaic, this collection of sayings would be referred to as the "Oracles of the Lord" by Eusebius in his Church History written in the 4th century. Some scholars, capable of isolating these sayings in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, would call the source "Q." The Lord’s Prayer may have been contained, in it’s original form, in this collection of sayings. A "fingerprint" of Jesus’ sayings seems to be a two-four beat rhythm and rhyming. This was a device of good oratory of the time that assisted listeners in remembering what was said . . . Scholars learned to identify much of the "Q Source" material as genuine Yeshuine sayings by this meter and rhyme when the Greek of the New Testament record was "retroverted" to the Aramaic of Jesus."<!--<blockquote--></blockquote>
<br />
One cannot help but see a parallel with the extensive use of iambic pentameter (blank verse) in the Course.<br />
<br />
--------------------------------------<br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>THE LORD’S PRAYER</b></span></div>
<div align="center">
<b><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">by</span></b></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Jack Kilmon</b></span></div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;"><b>1,968 years ago, on a hillside
overlooking the Sea of Galilee, Jesus of Nazareth was asked by his followers for
instructions on how to pray. In response, Jesus recited a short prayer. This prayer is
recorded in the Gospel of Luke (Ch. 11:2-4), written in a final form about 80CE, and the
Gospel of Matthew (Ch. 6:9-13), which was completed approximately in 85CE. The longer
version of this prayer from the Book of Matthew has become the standard in the liturgy and
daily prayers of over one billion Christians worldwide. Most Christians are taught the
"Lord’s Prayer" at a very early age and continue to recite it throughout
their lives either privately, at churches, schools, or social events. The recital is
automatic and flows from the mind and tongue with robotic familiarity. The authors of Luke
and Matthew were writing over a half century after the prayer was composed and delivered
by Jesus. What was their source? How accurate are their renditions to the words actually
spoken by Jesus (Ipsissima vox Jesu). Was the prayer unique within 1st century Judaism? I
hope a closer look at the linguistic, cultural, spiritual and historical aspects of the
Prayer will give Christians a higher awareness of the power of those few short sentences
all too often spoken robotically.</b></span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>The Language of the Lord’s Prayer</b></span></div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<b><span style="font-size: small;">We cannot tackle the more difficult issue of what Jesus’ exact
words were without a better understanding of the language in which it was rendered. The
Gospels and Books of the New Testament were set down in Greek between 20 and 80 years <i>after</i>
they were spoken. Greek was the vernacular of the West and the language of commerce. The
vernacular of the East, and Jesus’ language, was Aramaic. </span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> <b>The Hebrew language, in 1st century Palestine, was used for
scriptural and scholarly writings. The weekly synagogue readings (the <i>Sidra, Parashah,
and Haphtarah</i>) were always accompanied with an Aramaic translation. These oral
translations of the Hebrew lections to Aramaic would eventually be written down in the <i>Targumim.
</i>The <i>Gemara </i>of the <i>Jerusalem Talmud</i> and the <i>Babylonian Talmud</i> were
written in Eastern (Babylonian) Aramaic. Why did the Jewish people speak Aramaic and not
Hebrew? Aramaic was the language of commerce of the Persian Empire and was used widely
from the Indus Valley to Egypt. It became the language of the Jewish people by conquest,
first when the Israelites were deported by Tiglath-Pileser III in 732 BCE in the first
Assyrian invasion. The northern tribes were deported in 721 BCE when Sargon II made Israel
an Assyrian province and finally the Judeans in 587 BCE by Nebuchadnezzar. There is, in a
sense, some irony to this since these Mesopotamian conquerors came from the land that gave
birth to Abraham. Aramaic was the language of the ancestor of the Jewish people. What is
known as the <i>Hebrew Language </i>in the New Testament was called the <i>Lip of Canaan </i>in
the Old Testament. Abraham and the Patriarchs adopted the language and script of the
Phoenicians. The aftermath of the "Babylonian Captivity" resulted in a
readoption of the Aramaic ancestral language of Abraham. The "Hebrew" script
used today is actually the Aramaic Square Script which replaced the Phoenician script
known as "Old Hebrew" about 200 BCE. Old Hebrew is exemplified by the Moabite
stone inscription, the Lachish letters, and the Siloam inscription. Most Christians are
surprised to learn that until the adoption of Hebrew as the official language of the State
of Israel in 1948, it had not been the vernacular of the Jewish people for over 2500
years.</b></span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>The recording of the Lord’s Prayer from the mouth
of Jesus</b></span></div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<b><span style="font-size: small;"><i>This</i> author believes that one of Jesus’ disciples,
probably Levi Mattathia ben Alfai (Matthew), wrote down notable sayings of Jesus both
during and after his sermons. Written in Aramaic, this collection of sayings would be
referred to as the "Oracles of the Lord" by Eusebius in his Church History
written in the 4th century. Some scholars, capable of isolating these sayings in the
Gospels of Matthew and Luke, would call the source "Q." The Lord’s Prayer
may have been contained, in it’s original form, in this collection of sayings. A
"fingerprint" of Jesus’ sayings seems to be a two-four beat rhythm and
rhyming. This was a device of good oratory of the time that assisted listeners in
remembering what was said. After all, tape recorders were not available and if they were,
there was no place to plug them in. Scholars learned to identify much of the "Q
Source" material as genuine Yeshuine sayings by this meter and rhyme when the Greek
of the New Testament record was "retroverted" to the Aramaic of Jesus. A good
example are the sayings known to Christians as the <i>Beatitudes</i> in Matthew 3:5-10.
The first beatitude by the Greek-speaking author of Matthew was rendered thusly:</span></b><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><i>BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT FOR THEIRS IS THE
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN</i></b></span></span></b><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><i> </i></b></span></span></b><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><i><span style="font-size: medium;">In retroversion to the Aramaic of Jesus, however, it becomes
(transliterated):</span></i></b></span></span></b><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><i><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><i>BLESSED
ARE THEY THAT MOURN FOR THEY SHALL BE COMFORTED</i></b></span></span></i></b></span></span></b><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><i><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><i> </i></b></span> </span></i></b></span></span></b><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>The reader need not know Aramaic to read these transliterations and
get a sense of the beautiful rhyming oratorical style of our Lord and feel the impact of
his true voice.</b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> <b>Do the Gospels record the original rendition of the Lord’s
Prayer?</b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b> </b><b>There are two renditions of the Lord’s Prayer in
the Gospels. One is recorded in Matthew 6:9-13 and a shorter version in Luke 11:2-4. Since
both are different, which one records the exact words of Jesus? In fact, the logical
conclusion is that no ONE form of the two versions records the original <i>ipsissima vox
Jesu </i>(exact words of Jesus). Jesus also could have repeated the words at different
times in sermons using variations. Both versions reflect editorial modifications by the
authors of the Gospels to reflect the liturgical traditions of the separate groups of
Greek speaking Christians to which the authors subscribed. The Gospel writers were not as
concerned about the EXACT words of Jesus as much as conveying the sense of their
liturgical tradition as the INTENT of Jesus’ words. Let us first look at these two
renderings in the Greek of the Gospel writers (taken from the Codex Sinaiticus, c. 325CE
and other ancient texts), English and an Aramaic retroversion.</b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><a href="http://www.historian.net/lp-pap2.html" target="_blank">http://www.historian.net/lp-pap2.html </a></b></span>Tom Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11382119491604433679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13512261.post-49908532283657584382019-03-11T08:19:00.003-04:002019-03-11T08:19:43.978-04:00God Calling - Daily Christian Devotional<h2>
God Calling - Daily Christian Devotional</h2>
<br />
During the early 1930's, two anonymous English ladies known only as the "two listeners" undertook an experiment to see if they could listen for and hear their inner teacher. Readers familiar with the origin of "A Course in Miracles" will recognize the similarity with Helen Schucman's and Bill Thetford's joint undertaking that resulted in the transmission of the Course.<br />
<br />
In their own words, this is what happened.<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
"In December 1932 my friend and I sat down, pencils and paper in hand and waiting.<br />
<br />
"From the first, beautiful messages were given to her by our Lord Himself, and every day from then these messages have never failed us.<br />
<br />
"We felt all unworthy and overwhelmed by the wonder of it, and could hardly realize that we were being taught, trained and encouraged day by day by HIM personally, when millions of souls, far worthier, had to be content with guidance from the Bible, sermons, their Churches, books and other sources. Certainly we were not advanced in spiritual growth, but just very ordinary human beings, who had had more suffering and worry than the majority and who had known tragedy after tragedy.<br />
<br />
"The tender understanding of Our Lord's messages was at times almost heart-breaking. But He always insisted that we should be channels of Love, Joy and Laughter in His broken world."</blockquote>
The results of this undertaking were published in book form titled "God Calling," along with a companion volume, "God at Eventide." "God Calling" consisted of 366 daily devotional messages, most of which Course students will be quite comfortable with and inspired by.<br />
<br />
<br />Tom Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11382119491604433679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13512261.post-32448476337241837282019-03-11T07:12:00.001-04:002019-03-11T07:12:46.164-04:00Carl Rogers' theory of happinessCarl Rogers' theory of happiness<br />
<br />
Carl Rogers was one of the most famous American psychologists and therapists of the 20th Century, and he was Bill Thetford's mentor at the University of Chicago. Carl Rogers' theory of optimal development, or the fully functioning person:<br />
<br />
"He describes this as the good life where the organism continually aims to fulfil their full potential. He listed characteristics of a fully functioning person (Rogers 1961[4]):<br />
<br />
"1. A growing openness to experience – they move away from defensiveness and have no need for subception (a perceptual defense that involves unconsciously applying strategies to prevent a troubling stimulus from entering consciousness).<br />
<br />
"2. An increasingly existential lifestyle – living each moment fully – not distorting the moment to fit personality or self concept but allowing personality and self concept to emanate from the experience. This results in excitement, daring, adaptability, tolerance, spontaneity, and a lack of rigidity and suggests a foundation of trust.<br />
<br />
"To open one's spirit to what is going on now, and discover in that present process whatever structure it appears to have . . . (Rogers 1961[4])<br />
<br />
"3. Increasing organismic trust – they trust their own judgment and their ability to choose behavior that is appropriate for each moment. They do not rely on existing codes and social norms but trust that as they are open to experiences they will be able to trust their own sense of right and wrong.<br />
<br />
"4. Freedom of choice – not being shackled by the restrictions that influence an incongruent individual, they are able to make a wider range of choices more freely. They believe that they play a role in determining their own behavior and so feel responsible for their own behavior.<br />
<br />
" 5. Creativity – it follows that they will feel more free to be creative. They will also be more creative in the way they adapt to their own circumstances without feeling a need to conform.<br />
<br />
"6. Reliability and constructiveness – they can be trusted to act constructively. An individual who is open to all their needs will be able to maintain a balance between them. Even aggressive needs will be matched and balanced by intrinsic goodness in congruent individuals.<br />
<br />
"7. A rich full life – he describes the life of the fully functioning individual as rich, full and exciting and suggests that they experience joy and pain, love and heartbreak, fear and courage more intensely. Rogers' description of the good life:<br />
<br />
" This process of the good life is not, I am convinced, a life for the faint-hearted. It involves the stretching and growing of becoming more and more of one's potentialities. It involves the courage to be. It means launching oneself fully into the stream of life. (Rogers 1961[4])"<br />
<br />
From:<br />
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Rogers<br />
Tom Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11382119491604433679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13512261.post-64201198103893767272019-03-11T06:04:00.001-04:002019-03-11T06:04:29.114-04:00The pool at Bethesda - revised for some ACIM studentsImagine if Jesus had been an ACIM student, this might have been what miracles of healing looked like.<br />
<br />
<h2>
The pool at Bethesda </h2>
<br />
Once during the high holy days when all the Jews were gathered in Jerusalem, Jesus went out shopping for a new pair of sandals. As he wandered aimlessly looking at the various shops and chatting with different sandal makers, he realized that he was quite close to the famous pool of Bethesda.<br />
<br />
Healing miracles happened at the pool of Bethesda during the high holy days, and there was sure to be a crowd gathered there. Sometimes the people were so excited after being healed that they ran straight out of the pool and danced shouting down the street in their bare feet. With any luck, Jesus thought, he might find an abandoned pair of sandals in just his right size.<br />
<br />
As he walked toward the pool, Jesus saw an old man laying on a woven mat not far from the edge of the pool. The man held his face in his hands, and he was weeping softly. Jesus approached. "Nice pair of sandals you have there, grandfather," he spoke cheerfully, "What ails thee?"<br />
<br />
The old man looked up and turned his tear-streaked face toward Jesus, and met his gaze. Without hesitation, the old man told his story. "My parents committed great sins against the Lord," he explained, "and I have been lame since birth these many years in punishment for their transgressions. Every year I come to this pool during the high holy days in search of a healing miracle, but because I am poor I have no manservant to help me into the pool when the angel of the Lord troubles the water. Each time, some other is the first to reach the pool before me, to receive the blessing."<br />
<br />
Jesus knelt down at the old man's side and looked intently into his eyes. A single tear slid down Jesus' face and splashed upon the paving stones. "You are wrong, friend." Jesus admonished. "You have not been cursed by God as punishment for your parent's sins, you have cursed yourself. It's your mind that needs healing, not your legs. You are not a body, and your legs are not real. Although I feel the intensity of your pain and I grieve with you, it would seem that you still want to punish yourself more for your imaginary guilt and fear of God. But, keep your faith. There is always next year."<br />
<br />
With that, Jesus straightened up, and taking one last wistful glance at the man's sandals, he walked off into the crowd.Tom Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11382119491604433679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13512261.post-19338664910626971892019-03-11T05:59:00.000-04:002019-03-11T05:59:03.558-04:00Affirming unity and the realization of onenessAffirming unity and the realization of oneness<br />
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Years ago I created a graphic simulacrum of a stained glass window, based upon one symbolic theme commonly used by Unity churches in various forms. As you can see, this simple graphic has three major elements: The word "Unity" at the bottom, a soaring dove in flight, and the unobstructed shining sun above.</div>
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<img src="https://lh6.ggpht.com/_2YJ5t71DnSY/STg7_vMnfDI/AAAAAAAAAqc/91TBPblZM0c/s144/unity_stained_glass-web.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 5px 0 0;" /><br />
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As I revisited this artwork last night and this morning for other purposes (see: <a href="http://www.cafepress.com/angelicvisions/3396505">Inspirations from <i>A Course in Miracles</i></a>), I was struck by the perfection of the symbolism as it relates to the teaching of A Course in Miracles.</div>
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For us, lost in the confusing labyrinth dream of separation, the starting point may come to us through words. With A Course in Miracles it is more than 500,000 words. With this piece of art, it is the single word "unity." Something in the meaning of the words connects with a hidden yearning within us, and by sharing the thought the idea grows in strength within.</div>
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The ACIM Workbook lessons leads us, with words, through a series of contemplations and affirmations that, with repetition and a little willingness, plants the seedling ideas firmly in our minds. After a period of germination and with a proper attitude, the seed-ideas may sprout. As they push above the surface of our befuddled minds, we get a first taste of the reality behind the words, and the mind is given wings to fly.</div>
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The dove generally symbolizes both the Holy Spirit reaching down, and the desire for peace reaching up. Inner peace, as the Course teaches, is the one condition necessary for knowledge. The Holy Spirit represents the vast array of help and support that is available to us for the asking. The minute we desire peace, peace is offered, and it is this that which gives wings and the ability to ascend in the here and now below, to the here and now above.</div>
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The shining sun is a symbol both for God, the giver of life and light, and also our own soul or essential God-created self. When we reconnect to God, we reconnect to our eternal self. When we reconnect to our eternal self, we reconnect with God.</div>
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So, the words carry the idea. The idea plants a seed within. Affirming and practicing the idea from within a fog of doubt and fear nurtures the seed planted within. When the seed sprouts, it gives us a glimpse of the truth. This glimpse of the truth inspires the will to proceed in trust in the face of apparent adversity. The ideas gather strength and the dove takes flight.</div>
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<div style="margin: 0 0 3px 0;">
All this, from a simple word "unity" to the ascending reaffirmation of spirit through experience, in a simple picture.</div>
<blockquote>
"You have received all this. No one who walks the world but has received it. It is not this knowledge which you give, for that is what creation gave. All this cannot be learned. What, then, are you to learn to give today? Our lesson yesterday evoked a theme found early in the text. Experience cannot be shared directly, in the way that vision can. The revelation that the Father and the Son are one will come in time to every mind. Yet is that time determined by the mind itself, not taught. . The time is set already. It appears to be quite arbitrary. Yet there is no step along the road that anyone takes but by chance. It has already been taken by him, although he has not yet embarked on it. For time but seems to go in one direction. We but undertake a journey that is over. Yet it seems to have a future still unknown to us."</blockquote>
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<div style="margin: 0 0 3px 0;">
<a href="http://acim.home.att.net/workbook158.html">ACIM Workbook Lesson 158</a></div>
<br />Tom Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11382119491604433679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13512261.post-41023693917319003312019-02-27T12:18:00.000-05:002019-02-27T14:56:58.281-05:00Christ Mind Expressions - Pathworks<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://pathwork.org/lectures/what-is-the-path/" target="_blank"> International Pathworks Foundation</a></span></b><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Eva Pierrakos (1915-1979), was a trance channel who developed a system of spiritual development called Pathwork®. As a young woman, she began to do automatic writing and developed her relationship to an entity known only as The Guide. The Guide never identified itself, and pushed away inquiries of its identity.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"> </span> <br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Eva came to feel that she was called to help people with their spiritual development. Pierrakos’ teachings are contained in the 258 Guide Lectures channeled during the years from 1957 to 1979. Through Eva, the Guide taught that humans have problems from a distorted picture of reality that separates us from the flow of life energy and our true feelings and prevent insights into the nature of the world. The Pathwork offers techniques for dissolving misconceptions about the world.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">The thirty-one sessions contained in this volume are all those covering the period from March 11, 1957 to June 6, 1958, without change or deletion.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">The Pathwork® lectures cover the wide spectrum of our human journey, from our struggles with self-doubt, self-hatred and fear of inadequacy to the barriers we put up to relating with others, and ultimately with what we each know as God. The lectures teach that vital life energy, feelings and insight are often buried under misconceptions about the nature of reality. We are all familiar with some of these wrong conclusions. For example, “It’s weak to need and accept help; I don’t deserve love and kindness; responsibility means a loss of freedom.”</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">When such misconceptions are carried into adult life, particularly when they are unconscious, we surrender our physical, spiritual and emotional freedom to forces beyond our awareness. The effect of this loss of freedom are devastating-deep-seated unhappiness and a profound poverty of spirit.</span></b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br />
</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">The Pathwork lectures offer specific, practical tools for dissolving misconceptions, for making the unconscious conscious, and for activating the greater consciousness dwelling within every human soul.</span></b><br />
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Tom Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11382119491604433679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13512261.post-8252607205120027142019-02-26T17:45:00.001-05:002019-02-26T21:32:34.353-05:00Miracles Course Journal: Bringing light to darkness<br />
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<blockquote>
<i>"As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being." </i></blockquote>
<blockquote>
from <a href="http://astore.amazon.com/miracles-20/detail/0679723951" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: none;">Memories, Dreams, Reflections</span></span></a> by Carl Jung</blockquote>
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-oOo-</div>
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<h3>
Bringing light to darkness</h3>
<br />
The Course outlines a two-step
process of first becoming a miracle worker and then being a miracle
worker in the world. The first step of self-healing involves bringing
the darkness to light . . . looking within without denial and offering
our sense of sin, guilt and fear to spirit's judgment of innocence.
This, along with the mental discipline of not justifying our anger and
relinquishing the desire to attack, can be said to be the process of
purif<span class="text_exposed_show">ication.</span><br />
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<div class="text_exposed_show">
"The Holy Spirit asks of you but this; bring to Him every secret you have locked away from Him."<br />
But, after the darkness is brought to the light, the next phase after
is the time for bringing the light to darkness. In the first phase of
purifying your own mind, the Holy Spirit brings the light to the
darkness made open to him.<br />
<br />
"Open every door to Him, and bid
Him enter the darkness and lighten it away. At your request He enters
gladly. He brings the light to darkness if you make the darkness open to
Him. But what you hide He cannot look upon."<br />
<br />
By the time we reach Chapter 18 in the Text, you become the bringer of light to the world.<br />
<br />
<i>"You who are now the bringer of salvation have the function of
bringing light to darkness. The darkness in you has been brought to
light. Carry it back to darkness, from the holy instant to which you
brought it. We are made whole in our desire to make whole."</i></div>
Tom Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11382119491604433679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13512261.post-66595063518907401662019-02-26T15:23:00.000-05:002019-02-26T15:30:05.213-05:00Characteristics of Attention and Observation - Idries Shah<div style="text-align: center;">
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<b>Characteristics of Attention and Observation</b><br />
from Learning How to Learn<br />
by: Idries Shah<br />
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<b>Question:</b> Can you define characteristics of attention and observation as of importance in Sufic studies?<br />
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<b>Answer:</b> Study the attracting, extending and reception, as well as the interchange, of attention. One of the keys to human behaviour is the attention-factor. Anyone can verify that many instances, generally supposed to be important or useful human transactions on any subject (social, commercial, etc.,) are in fact disguised attention-situations.<br />
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It is contended that if a person does not know what he is doing (in this case that he is basically demanding, extending or exchanging attention) and as a consequence thinks that he is doing something else (contributing to human knowledge, learning, buying, selling, informing, etc.) he will:<br />
<br />
(a) be more inefficient at both the overt and the covert activity;<br />
(b) have less capacity of planning his behaviour and will make mistakes of emotion and intellect because he considers attention to be other than it is.<br />
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If this is true, it is most important that individuals realize:<br />
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1. That this attention-factor is operating in virtually all transactions;<br />
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2. That the apparent motivation of transactions may be other than it really is. And that it is often generated by the need or desire for attention-activity (giving, receiving, exchanging).<br />
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3. That attention-activity, like any other demand for food, warmth, etc., when placed under volitional control, must result in increased scope for the human being who would then not be at the mercy of random sources of attention, or even more confused than usual if things do not pan out as they expect.<br />
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<b>Certain principles may be enunciated.</b><br />
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They include the following:<br />
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1. Too much attention can be bad, (inefficient).<br />
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2. Too little attention can be bad.<br />
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3. Attention may be `hostile' or `friendly' and still fulfil the appetite for attention. This is confused by the moral aspect.<br />
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4. When people need a great deal of attention they are vulnerable to the message which too often accompanies the exercise of attention towards them. E.g., someone wanting attention might be able to get it only from some person or organisation which might thereafter exercise (as 'its price') an undue influence upon the attention-starved individual's mind.<br />
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5. Present beliefs have often been inculcated at a time and under circumstances connected with attention-demand, and not arrived at by the method attributed to them.<br />
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6. Many paradoxical reversals of opinion, or of associates and commitments may be seen as due to the change in a source of attention.<br />
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7. People are almost always stimulated by an offer of attention, since most people are frequently attention-deprived. This is one reason why new friends, or circumstances, for instance, may be preferred to old ones.<br />
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8. If people could learn to assuage attention-hunger, they would be in a better position than most present cultures allow them, to attend to other things. They could extend the effectiveness of their learning capacity.<br />
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9. Among the things which unstarved people (in the sense of attention) could investigate, is the comparative attraction of ideas, individuals, etc., apart from their purely attention-supplying function.<br />
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10. The desire for attention starts at an early stage of infancy. It is, of course, at that point linked with feeding and protection. This is not to say that this desire has no further nor future development value. But it can be adapted beyond its ordinary adult usage of mere satisfaction.<br />
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11. Even a cursory survey of human communities shows that, while the random eating tendency, possessiveness and other undifferentiated characteristics are very early trained or diverted and weaned - the attention-factor does not get the same treatment. The consequence is that the adult human being, deprived of any method of handling her desire for attention, continues to be confused by it: as it usually remains primitive throughout life.<br />
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12. Very numerous individual observations of human transactions have been made. They show that an interchange between two people always has an attention-factor.<br />
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13. Observation shows that people's desires for attention ebb and flow. When in an ebb or flow of attention-desire, the human being not realising that this is his condition, attributes his actions and feelings to other factors, e.g., the hostility or pleasantness of others. He may even say that it is a `lucky day', when his attentionneeds have been quickly and adequately met. Re-examination of such situations has shown that such experiences are best accounted for by the attention-theory.<br />
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14. Objections based upon the supposed pleasure of attention being strongest when it is randomly achieved do not stand up when carefully examined. `I prefer to be surprised by attention' can be paraphrased by saying, `I prefer not to know where my next meal is coming from'. It simply underlines a primitive stage of feeling and thinking on this subject.<br />
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15. Situations which seem different when viewed from an oversimplified perspective (which is the usual one) are seen to be the same by the application of attention-theory. E.g.: People following an authority-figure may be exercising the desire for attention or the desire to give it. The interchange between people and their authority-figure may be explained by mutual-attention behaviour. Some gain only attention from this interchange. Some can gain more.<br />
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16. Another confusion is caused by the fact that the object of attention :nay be a person, a cult, an object, an idea, interest, etc. Because the foci of attention can be so diverse, people in general have not yet identified the common factor-the desire for attention.<br />
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17. One of the advantages of this thecry is that it allows the human mind to link in a coherent and easily-understood way many things which it has always (wrongly) been taught are very different, not susceptible to comparison, etc. This incorrect training has, of course, impaired the possible efficiency in functioning of the brain, though only culturally, not permanently.<br />
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18. The inability to feel when attention is extended, and also to encourage or to prevent its being called forth, makes man almost uniquely vulnerable to being influenced, especially in having ideas implanted in his brain, and being indoctrinated.<br />
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19. Raising the emotional pitch is the most primitive method of increasing attention towards the instrument which increased the emotion. It is the prelude to, or accompaniment of, almost every form of indoctrination.<br />
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20. Traditional philosophical and other teachings have been used to prescribe exercises in the control and focussing of attention. Their value, however, has been to a great measure lost because the individual exercises, prescribed for people in need of exercise, have been written down and repeated as unique truths and practised in a manner, with people and at a rate and under circumstances which, by their very randomness, have not been able to effect any change in the attention-training. This treatment has, however, produced obsession. It continues to do so.<br />
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21. Here and there proverbs and other pieces of literary material indicate that there has been at one time a widespread knowledge of attention on the lines now being described. Deprived, however, of context, these indications survive as fossil indicators rather than being a useful guide to attention-exercise for contemporary man.<br />
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Attention upon oneself, or upon a teacher, without the exercise of securing what is being offered from beyond the immediate surroundings, is a sort of short-circuit.<br />
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As Rumi said: `Do not look at me, but take what is in my hand'.<br />
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Tom Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11382119491604433679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13512261.post-37609185292516242672019-02-26T11:07:00.001-05:002019-02-26T12:08:02.975-05:00Miracles Course : How real is real?<div style="text-align: center;">
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When it comes to the phenomenal world, the phrase "This too shall pass" fairly sums it up from the perspective of <u>A Course in Miracles</u>. All is alive, in motion, and changing. Form comes into being, adapts, grows, changes, and passes away. It is a world of the ephemeral in flux. This is the world we know. This is the world where the consequences are gauged in probabilities and not in certainty. It is the world we have created to satisfy a desire for impermanence.</div>
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What we experience and perceive with senses is not the world that God created, which is eternal. "<i>Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by turning.</i>" James 1:17 This, on the other hand, is an adequate description of reality. No variation without any shadows cast by turning. The world of reality moves in one direction only, toward creation and extension of that which is already real, and with no blockages of the light that might cast a shadow. The world of illusions and deceptive appearances that obscure the reality beyond is the world of maya, the ephemeral.<br />
<br />
In Hinduism and Sikhism, maya is the principal concept which manifests, perpetuates and governs the illusion and dream of duality in the phenomenal universe. It is not real, as that word is used within <u>A Course in Miracles</u>. What is real is eternal, meaning that it exists outside of space-time, and it is unchanging, which is even more difficult to understand. But, to dismiss the phenomenal world as "just illusion" is to wholly miss the point, in <u>Course</u> terms. Perhaps in other traditions the world is viewed as a trap to be escaped, in the <u>Course</u> the world is to be forgiven, healed, and transformed into Heaven.<br />
<br />
A close analogy is provided by the Hebrew word 'Tikkun,' which means to heal, repair, and transform the world. This is the duty and responsibility of humankind because the creative powers we share is what sustains the world of illusion. We cannot simply turn our back upon it, for it is impossible to escape our own creations. The mind is the cutting edge of creation and until we learn to heal our mis-creations and stop casting shadows across the land, illusions and the deception of separation will persist. The first law of God can be expressed as "You broke it, you bought it." What the mind has created wrongly shall continue laboriously and painfully through time, until that mind is returned to the service of light. The world we know is not real in the ultimate sense, but it is real enough in time because it is sustained by the hidden power of the universe, the creative power of God, wrongly applied. In this, the teachings of <u>A Course in Miracles</u> are fairly unique. I am not aware of any other like it. <br />
<blockquote>
"Fantasies and projection ... both attempt to control external reality according to false internal needs... Twist reality in any way, and you are perceiving destructively. Reality was lost through usurpation, which in turn produced tyranny. I told you you were now restored to your former role in the Plan of Atonement. But you must still choose freely to devote your heritage to the greater Restoration. As long as a single slave remains to walk the earth, your release is not complete. Complete restoration of the Sonship is the only true goal of the miracle-minded." <u>A Course In Miracles</u></blockquote>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
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- oOo -</div>
Tom Fox <br />
Louisville, Kentucky <br />
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<br />Tom Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11382119491604433679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13512261.post-49784247637042969212019-02-25T21:35:00.000-05:002019-02-26T12:38:19.972-05:00Stages of community<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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<div><h2>Stages of community</h2></div><blockquote>Over the past fifty years, psychotherapists, management consultants, and other students of group behavior have come to discern that when groups evolve, they tend to do so in certain somewhat predictable stages. This is not to say that all groups evolve in wisdom, maturity, effectiveness, or civility. Most, in fact, do not. But when they do, there is an order and lawfulness to the process. These stages have been given various names. My preferred ones are pseudocommunity, chaos, emptiness, and community.<br />
<br />
For many groups or organizations the most common initial stage, pseudocommunity, is the only one. It is a stage of pretense. The group pretends it already is a community, that the participants have only superficial individual differences and no cause for conflict. The primary means it uses to maintain this pretense is through a set of unspoken common norms we call manners: you should try your best not to say anything that might antagonize or upset anyone else; if someone else says something that offends you or evokes a painful feeling or memory, you should pretend it hasn't bothered you in the least; and if disagreement or other unpleasantness emerges, you should immediately change the subject. These are rules that any good hostess knows. They may create a smoothly functioning dinner party but nothing more significant. The communication in a pseudocommunity is filled with generalizations. It is polite, inauthentic, boring, sterile, and unproductive.<br />
<br />
Over time profound individual differences may gradually emerge so<br />
that the group enters the stage of chaos and not infrequently self destructs. The theme of pseudocommunity is the covering up of individual differences; the predominant theme of the stage of chaos is the attempt to obliterate such differences. This is done as the group members try to convert, heal, or fix each other or else argue for simplistic organizational norms. It is an irritable and irritating, thoughtless, rapid-fire, and often noisy win/lose type of process that gets nowhere.<br />
<br />
If the group can hang in together through this unpleasantness without self-destructing or retreating into pseudocommunity, then it begins to enter "emptiness." This is a stage of hard, hard work, a time when the members work to empty themselves of everything that stands between them and community. And that is a lot. Many of the things that must be relinquished or sacrificed with integrity are virtual human universals: prejudices, snap judgments, fixed expectations, the desire to convert, heal, or fix, the urge to win, the fear of looking like a fool, the need to control. Other things may be exquisitely personal: hidden griefs, hatreds, or terrors that must be confessed, made public, before the individual can be fully "present" to the group. It is a time of risk and courage, and while it often feels relieving, it also often feels like dying.<br />
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The transition from chaos to emptiness is seldom dramatic and often agonizingly prolonged. One or two group members may risk baring their souls, only to have another, who cannot bear the pain, suddenly switch the subject to something inane. The group as a whole has still not become empty enough to truly listen. It bounces back into temporary chaos. Eventually, however, it becomes sufficiently empty for a kind of miracle to occur.<br />
<br />
At this point a member will speak of something particularly poignant and authentic. Instead of retreating from it, the group now sits in silence, absorbing it. Then a second member will quietly say something equally authentic. She may not even respond to the first member, but one does not get the feeling he has been ignored; rather, it feels as if the second member has gone up and laid herself on the altar alongside the first. The silence returns, and out of it, a third member will speak with eloquent appropriateness. Community has been born.<br />
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The shift into community is often quite sudden and dramatic. The change is palpable. A spirit of peace pervades the room. There is more silence, yet more of worth gets said. It is like music. The people work together with an exquisite sense of timing, as if they were a finely tuned orchestra under the direction of an invisible celestial conductor. Many actually sense the presence of God in the room. If the group is a public workshop of previous strangers who soon must part, then there is little for it to do beyond enjoying the gift. If it an organization, however, now that it is a community it is ready to go to work - making decisions, planning, negotiating, and so on - often with phenomenal efficiency and effectiveness.<br />
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from: M. Scott Peck, <a href="http://astore.amazon.com/soulgroup-20/detail/055337317X">A World Waiting to Be Born</a></blockquote></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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- oOo -</div><br />
Tom Fox<br />
Louisville, Kentucky<br />
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Tom Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11382119491604433679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13512261.post-80572816379672648232019-02-25T20:34:00.001-05:002019-02-26T12:38:53.718-05:00The first law of chaos<div style="text-align: center;"><i></i><i>"The <b>first</b> chaotic law is that the truth is different for everyone."</i></div><div style="text-align: center;">ACIM Text, Chapter 23</div>The first law of chaos states that the truth is different for everyone. This is the foundation upon which chaos is established and maintained. To be in a state of chaos is to be in a state of rebellion against God. The state of God is well ordered and harmonious. The state of God is not chaos. The first law of chaos is based upon limited selective perception, and it is best illustrated by the story of the three blind men and the elephant. Each of the three had only a limited experience of a much larger creature, and mistook his separate limited perceptions as being exclusively representative of the whole creature. Each of the three were both partially right and wholly wrong. The fable accurately describes the problem, but it also contains within it the seed of a solution. As the story ends being a provocation, the three blind men are arguing, insisting that each alone is right and all the others wrong and misguided. The obvious solution presents itself to combine the three sets of separate perceptions into a greater and more expansive view, and thereby reach a more harmonious understanding of the whole. It would be a closer approximation of the truth. It would also have the virtue of reducing strife. <div style="text-align: center;">- oOo -</div>Tom Fox <br />
Louisville, Kentucky<br />
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Tom Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11382119491604433679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13512261.post-12837001508545980492019-02-25T15:41:00.000-05:002019-06-13T16:15:18.518-04:00Teaching Oblivion - ACIM failures<b>Oblivion</b>: The condition or state of being forgotten or unknown. ~ Merriam-Webster<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
- - oOo - - </div>
<br />
The definition of reality is God's, not yours. He created it, and He knows what it is. You who knew have forgotten, and unless He had given you a way to remember <b>you would have condemned yourselves to oblivion</b>. God would reunite you with yourself, and did not abandon you in your seeming distress.<br />
<br />
The ego teaches that your function on earth is destruction, and that you have no function at all in Heaven. It would thus destroy you here and bury you here, leaving you no inheritance except the dust out of which it thinks you were made. As long as it is reasonably satisfied with you, as its reasoning goes, <b>it offers you oblivion</b>. When it becomes overtly savage, it offers you hell. Yet neither oblivion nor hell is as unacceptable to you as Heaven. For your definition of Heaven IS hell and oblivion, and the REAL Heaven is the greatest threat you think you could experience.<br />
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<b> Hell and oblivion are ideas which YOU made up</b>, and you are bent on demonstrating their reality to establish YOURS. If THEIR reality is questioned, you believe that YOURS is. For you believe that ATTACK is your reality, and that your destruction is the final proof that you were RIGHT.<br />
<b><br />
If you decide to have and give and BE nothing except a dream, you MUST direct your thoughts unto oblivion.</b><br />
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The ego teaches that hell is HERE, and bids you <b>leap from hell into oblivion</b>.<br />
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This world is but the dream that you can BE alone, and think without affecting those apart from you. To be alone must mean you are apart, and if you are, you cannot BUT be sick.<br />
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When you made visible what is not true, what <is> true became invisible to you. Yet it cannot be invisible in itself, for the Holy Spirit sees it with perfect clarity. It is invisible to you because you are looking at something else. Yet it is no more up to you to decide what is visible and what is invisible, than it is up to you to decide what reality is. What can be seen is what the Holy Spirit sees. The definition of reality is God's, not yours. He created it, and He knows what it is. You who knew have forgotten, and unless He had given you a way to remember you would have condemned yourself to oblivion.</is><br />
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Because of your Father's Love you can never forget Him, for no one can forget what God Himself placed in his memory. You can deny it, but you cannot lose it 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 yourself, and did not abandon you in your distress. You are waiting only for Him, and do not know it. Yet His memory shines in your mind and cannot be obliterated. It is no more past than future, being forever always.<br />
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You have but to ask for this memory, and you will remember.<br />
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T-12.VIII.3. 1 - T-12.VIII.51 <br />
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- oOo -</div>
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<br />
Tom Fox<br />
Louisville, Kentucky<br />
<br />
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<br />Tom Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11382119491604433679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13512261.post-37247552028137688302019-02-25T12:18:00.003-05:002019-02-26T12:41:11.008-05:00 Extension, expression and miracles - ACIM topics<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://miraclemugs.blogspot.com/search/label/angel%20gift">angel baby gift</a> | <a href="https://miraclemugs.blogspot.com/2018/11/alphabet-miracle-mugs-through-g.html">miracle baby gift</a> | <a href="https://miraclemugs.blogspot.com/search/label/unique%20baby%20gift">unique baby gift</a></span></div><br />
<h2> Extension, expression and miracles</h2><h3> Expressions of love</h3><br />
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I. Principles of Miracles<br />
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Principle 1: There is no order of difficulty in miracles. One is not "harder" or "bigger" than another. They are all the same. All <u>expressions of love</u> are maximal.<br />
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Principle 3: Miracles occur naturally as <u>expressions of love</u>.<br />
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Principle 9: Like all <u>expressions of love</u>, which are always miraculous in the true sense, the exchange reverses the physical laws.<br />
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Principle 11: Through prayer love is received, and <u>through miracles love is expressed</u>.<br />
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Principle 35: Miracles are <u>expressions of love</u><br />
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T-4.IV.11.11 I understand that miracles are natural, because they are <u><u>expressions of love.</u> </u><br />
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<h3>Expressing awareness of Christ<u> </u></h3><br />
Principle 44: The miracle is an <u>expression of an inner awareness of Christ</u> and the acceptance of His Atonement.<br />
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<h3>The proof of Atonement </h3><br />
T-1.III.1.7 The power to work miracles belongs to you. I will provide the opportunities to do them, but you must be ready and willing. Doing them will bring conviction in the ability, because conviction comes through accomplishment. The ability is the potential, the <u>achievement is its expression</u>, and the Atonement, which is the natural profession of the children of God, is the purpose.<br />
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T-1.III.7.4 As<u> an expression of what you truly are</u>, the miracle places the mind in a state of grace. The mind then naturally welcomes the Host within and the stranger without. When you bring in the stranger, he becomes your brother.<br />
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T-1.III.8.1 That the miracle may have effects on your brothers that you may not recognize is not your concern. The miracle will always bless *you*. Miracles you are not asked to perform have not lost their value. They are still <u>expressions of your own state of grace</u>, but the action aspect of the miracle should be controlled by me because of my complete awareness of the whole plan.<br />
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T-1.IV.4.6 I assure you that I will witness for anyone who lets me, and to whatever extent he permits it. Your witnessing demonstrates your belief, and thus strengthens it. Those who witness for me are <u>expressing, through their miracles, that they have abandoned the belief in deprivation in favor of the abundance they have learned belongs to them.</u><br />
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T-2.IV.5. The value of the Atonement does not lie in <u>the manner in which it is expressed</u>. In fact, if it is used truly, <u>it will inevitably be expressed in whatever way is most helpful to the receiver.</u> This means that a miracle, to attain its full efficacy, <u>must be expressed in a language that the recipient can understand without fear. </u>This does not necessarily mean that this is the highest level of communication of which he is capable. It does mean, however, that it is the highest level of communication of which he is capable The whole aim of the miracle is to raise the level of communication, not to lower it by increasing fear.<br />
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<h3>Other expressions</h3><br />
T-1.V.1.3 While you believe you are in a body, however, you can choose between <u>loveless and miraculous channels of expression</u>. You can make an empty shell, but you cannot express nothing at all.<br />
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T-2.I.5.6 In reality you are perfectly unaffected by <u>all expressions of lack of love</u>. These can be from yourself and others, from yourself to others, or from others to you.Peace is an attribute *in* you.<br />
<h3>The body as a means of expression</h3><br />
T-1.VII.2.1 Child of God, you were created to create the good, the beautiful and the holy. Do not forget this. The Love of God, for a little while, must still be <u>expressed through one body to another</u>, because vision is still so dim. You can use your body best to help you enlarge your perception so you can achieve real vision, of which the physical eye is incapable. Learning to do his is the body's only true usefulness<br />
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<h3>Expressions of miracle-mindedness</h3><br />
T-2.V.3. I have already said that miracles are <u>expressions of miracle-mindedness</u>, and miracle-mindedness means right-mindedness. The right-minded neither exalt nor depreciate the mind of the miracle worker or the miracle receiver. However, as a correction, the miracle need not await the right-mindedness of the receiver. In fact, its purpose is to restore him *to* his right mind. It is essential, however, that the miracle worker be in his right mind, however briefly, or he will be unable to re-establish right-mindedness in someone else.<br />
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<h3>An expression of charity</h3><br />
T-2.V.10.5 I said before that only revelation transcends time. The miracle, as<u> an expression of charity</u>, can only shorten it. It must be understood, however, that whenever you offer a miracle to another, you are shortening the suffering of both of you. This corrects retroactively as well as progressively.<br />
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<h3>Special Principles of Miracle Workers</h3>(1) The miracle abolishes the need for lower-order concerns.<br />
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(2) A clear distinction between what is created and what is made is essential. All forms of healing rest on this fundamental correction in level perception.<br />
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(3) Never confuse right- and wrong-mindedness. Responding to any form of error with anything except a desire to heal is an expression of this confusion.<br />
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(4) The miracle is always a denial of this error and an affirmation of the truth. Only right-mindedness can correct in a way that has any real effect. Pragmatically, what has no real effect has no real existence. Its effect, then, is emptiness. Being without substantial content, it lends itself to projection.<br />
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(5) The level-adjustment power of the miracle induces the right perception for healing. Until this has occurred healing cannot be understood. Forgiveness is an empty gesture unless it entails correction. Without this it is essentially judgmental, rather than healing.<br />
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(6) Miracle-minded forgiveness is <only> correction. It has no element of judgment at all. The statement "Father forgive them for they know not what they do" in no way evaluates <what> they do. It is an appeal to God to heal their minds There is no reference to the outcome of the error. That does not matter.<br />
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(7) The injunction "Be of one mind" is the statement for revelation-readiness. My request "Do this in remembrance of me" is the appeal for cooperation from miracle workers. The two statements are not in the same order of reality. Only the latter involves an awareness of time, since to remember is to recall the past in the present. Time is under my direction, but timelessness belongs to God. In time we exist for and with each other. In timelessness we coexist with God.<br />
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(8) You can do much on behalf of your own healing and that of others if, in a situation calling for help, you think of it this way:<br />
<br />
</what></only><br />
<ul><li> I am here only to be truly helpful.</li>
<li> I am here to represent Him Who sent me.</li>
<li> I do not have to worry about what to say or what to do, because He Who sent me will direct me.</li>
<li> I am content to be wherever He wishes, knowing He goes there with me.</li>
</ul><br />
<h3>An expression of fear</h3>T-2.VI.7. The first corrective step in undoing the error is to know first that the conflict is an <u>expression of fear</u>. Say to yourself that you must somehow have chosen not to love, or the fear could not have arisen. Then the whole process of correction becomes nothing more than a series of pragmatic steps in the larger process of accepting the Atonement as the remedy. These steps may be summarized in this way:<br />
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Know first that this is fear.<br />
Fear arises from lack of love.<br />
The only remedy for lack of love is perfect love.<br />
Perfect love is the Atonement<br />
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<h3>An expression of will and power</h3><br />
T-2.VIII.1.3 Your will to create was given you by your Creator, Who was <u>expressing the same Will</u> in His creation. Since creative ability rests in the mind, everything you create is necessarily a matter of will. It also follows that whatever you alone make is real in your own sight, though not in the Mind of God.<br />
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T-4.IV.8.2 There is no limit to the power of a Son of God, but he can limit the <u>expression of his power </u>as much as he chooses. Your mind and mine can unite in shining your ego away, releasing the strength of God into everything you think and do. Do not settle for anything less than this, and refuse to accept anything but this as your goal. Watch your mind carefully for any beliefs that hinder its accomplishment, and step away from them. 6 Judge how well you have done this<br />
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<h3>Revelation cannot be expressed</h3><br />
T-4.VII.7.2 Revelation is not enough, because it is only communication <from> God. God does not need revelation returned to Him, which would clearly be impossible, but He does want it brought to others. This cannot be done with the actual revelation;<u> its content cannot be expressed</u>, because it is intensely personal to the mind that receives it. It can, however, be returned by that mind to other minds, through the attitudes the knowledge from the revelation brings.</from><br />
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<h3>Full power of creation cannot be expressed</h3>T-5.IV.7.3 The full power of creation <u>cannot be expressed</u> as long as any of God's ideas is withheld from the Kingdom. The joint will of the Sonship is the only creator that can create like the Father, because only the complete can think completely, and the thinking of God lacks nothing. Everything you think that is not through the Holy Spirit <is> lacking.</is><br />
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<h3>An expression of confidence</h3>T-7.IX.7.1 Be confident that you have never lost your Identity and the extensions which maintain It in wholeness and peace. <u>Miracles are an expression of this confidence</u>. They are reflections of both your proper identification with your brothers, and of your awareness that your identification is maintained by extension. The miracle is a lesson in total perception. By including any part of totality in the lesson, you have included the whole.<br />
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<h3>Normal expressions of mind</h3><br />
T-8.VII.11.1 The removal of blocks, then, is the only way to guarantee help and healing. Help and healing are<u> the normal expressions of a mind that is working through the body, but not *in* it.</u><br />
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<h3>Physical expressions of the fear of awakening</h3><br />
T-8.IX.3. Wholeness heals because it is of the mind. All forms of sickness, even unto death, are <u>physical expressions of the fear</u> of awakening.<br />
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T-9.II.2.4 An individual may ask for physical healing because he is fearful of bodily harm. At the same time, if he were healed physically, the threat to his thought system might be considerably more fearful to him than its <u>physical expression</u>. In this case he is not really asking for release from fear, but for the removal of a symptom that he himself selected. This request is, therefore, not for healing at all.<br />
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<h3>Desire to kill</h3><br />
T-12.VII.13. Remember, then, that whenever you look without and react unfavorably to what you see, you have judged yourself unworthy and have condemned yourself to death. The death penalty is the ego's ultimate goal, for it fully believes that you are a criminal, as deserving of death as God knows you are deserving of life. The death penalty never leaves the ego's mind, for that is what it always reserves for you in the end. Wanting to kill you as the <u>final expression</u> of its feeling for you, it lets you live but to await death. It will torment you while you live, but its hatred is not satisfied until you die. For your destruction is the one end toward which it works, and the only end with which it will be satisfied.<br />
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<h3>Indirect expressions of the will to live</h3><br />
T-14.I.4. Any direction that would lead you where the Holy Spirit leads you not, goes nowhere. Anything you deny that He knows to be true you have denied yourself, and He must therefore teach you not to deny it. Undoing <is> indirect, as doing is. You were created only to create, neither to see nor do. These are but <u>indirect expressions of the will to live</u>, which has been blocked by the capricious and unholy whim of death and murder that your Father does not share with you. You have set yourself the task of sharing what cannot be shared. And while you think it possible to learn to do this, you will not believe all that <is> possible to learn to do.<br />
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</is></is><br />
<h3>Expressing conflict</h3><br />
T-14.VI.6. You who speak in dark and devious symbols do not understand the language you have made. It has no meaning, for its purpose is not communication, but rather the disruption of communication. If the purpose of language is communication, how can this tongue mean anything? Yet even this strange and twisted effort to communicate through not communicating holds enough of love to make it meaningful if its Interpreter is not its maker. You who made it are but <u>expressing conflict</u>, from which the Holy Spirit would release you. Leave what you would communicate to Him. He will interpret it to you with perfect clarity, for He knows with Whom you are in perfect communication.<br />
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<h3>Expression of the holy instant</h3><br />
T-17.V.1. The holy relationship is the <u>expression of the holy instant</u> in living in this world. Like everything about salvation, the holy instant is a practical device, witnessed to by its results. The holy instant never fails. The experience of it is always felt. Yet without expression it is not remembered.<br />
<br />
T-17.V.11.10 And by this lack of thanks and gratitude you make yourself unable to <u>express the holy instant</u>, <b>and thus lose sight of it.</b><br />
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T-17.V.13. You *have* received the holy instant, but you may have established a condition in which you cannot use it. As a result, you do not realize that it is with you still. And by <u>cutting yourself off from its expression</u>, you have denied yourself its benefit. You reinforce this every time you attack your brother, for the attack must blind you to yourself. And it is impossible to deny yourself, and to recognize what has been given and received by you.<br />
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<h3>The expression of what you made yourself to be</h3><br />
T-19.II.7. There is no stone in all the ego's embattled citadel that is more heavily defended than the idea that sin is real; <u>the natural expression of what the Son of God has made himself to be</u>, and what he is. To the ego, this is no mistake. For this is its reality; this is the "truth" from which escape will always be impossible. This is his past, his present and his future.For he has somehow managed to corrupt his Father, and change His Mind completely. Mourn, then, the death of God, Whom sin has killed! And this would be the ego's wish, which in its madness it believes it has accomplished.<br />
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<h3>Expression of forgiveness</h3><br />
T-19.IV.A.14. The Holy Spirit has given you love's messengers to send instead of those you trained through fear. They are as eager to return to you what they hold dear as are the others. If you send them forth, they will see only the blameless and the beautiful, the gentle and the kind. They will be as careful to let no little act of charity, no tiny<u> expression of forgiveness</u>, no little breath of love escape their notice. And they will return with all the happy things they found, to share them lovingly with you. Be not afraid of them. They offer you salvation. Theirs are the messages of safety, for they see the world as kind.<br />
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<h3>Truth and its expression</h3><br />
T-20.I.2. This week begins with palms and ends with lilies, the white and holy sign the Son of God is innocent. Let no dark sign of crucifixion intervene between the journey and its purpose; between the acceptance of the <u>truth and its expression</u>. This week we celebrate life, not death.<br />
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<h3>The expression of a wish to see a little part of him and sacrifice the rest</h3><br />
T-26.I.1.6 To see a brother in another body, separate from yours, is <u>the expression of a wish to see a little part of him and sacrifice the rest</u>. Look at the world, and you will see nothing attached to anything beyond itself. All seeming entities can come a little nearer, or go a little farther off, but cannot join.<br />
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<h3>Expression in the terms of form</h3><br />
T-30.III.1.1 Idols are quite specific. But your will is universal, being limitless. And so it has no form, nor is content for its <u>expression in the terms of form</u>. Idols are limits. They are the belief that there are forms that will bring happiness, and that, by limiting, is all attained.<br />
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<h3>LESSON 27.</h3><br />
<b>Above all else I want to see.</b><br />
<br />
W-pI.27.1.1 Today's idea expresses something stronger than mere determination.<br />
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<h3>LESSON 74.</h3><br />
W-pI.74.1.5 Peace has replaced the strange idea that you are torn by conflicting goals. As an <u>expression of the Will of God</u>, you have no goal but His.<br />
<h3>LESSON 78.</h3><br />
W-pI.78.6.4 The body's eyes are closed, and as you think of him who grieved you, let your mind be shown the light in him beyond your grievances.<br />
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W-pI.78.8.1 What you have asked for cannot be denied. Your savior has been waiting long for this. He would be free, and make his freedom yours. The Holy Spirit leans from him to you, seeing no separation in God's Son. And what you see through Him will free you both. Be very quiet now, and look upon your shining savior. No dark grievances obscure the sight of him. <b><u>You have allowed the Holy Spirit to express through him the role God gave Him that you might be saved.</u></b><br />
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<h3>LESSON 82.</h3>W-pI.82.1.2 My forgiveness is the means by which<u> the light of the world finds expression through me.</u><br />
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<h3>LESSON 89.</h3><br />
W-pI.89.3. (78) Let miracles replace all grievances. By this idea do I unite my will with the Holy Spirit's, and perceive them as one. By this idea do I accept my release from hell.<u> By this idea do I express my willingness</u> to have all my illusions be replaced with truth, according to God's plan for my salvation. I would make no exceptions and no substitutes.<br />
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<h3>LESSON 94.</h3><br />
W-pI.96.4.1 Spirit makes use of mind as means to find <u>its Self expression</u>. And the mind which serves the spirit is at peace and filled with joy.<br />
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3 <u>Expressed through you</u>, the Holy Spirit will accept this gift that you received of Him, increase its power and give it back to you.<br />
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<h3>LESSON 130.</h3><br />
W-pI.130.9. God will be there. For you have called upon the great unfailing power which will take this giant step with you in gratitude. Nor will you fail to see His thanks <b><u>expressed in tangible perception and in truth.</u></b> You will not doubt what you will look upon, for though it is perception, it is not the kind of seeing that your eyes alone have ever seen before.<br />
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<h3>LESSON 185.</h3><br />
W-pI.185.2.1 No one can mean these words and not be healed. He cannot play with dreams, nor think he is himself a dream. He cannot make a hell and think it real. He wants the peace of God, and it is given him. For that is all he wants, and that is all he will receive. Many have said these words. But few indeed have meant them. You have but to look upon the world you see around you to be sure how very few they are. <b><u>The world would be completely changed, should any two agree these words express the only thing they want.</u></b><br />
<br />
C-in.3.1 This course remains within the ego framework, where it is needed. It is not concerned with what is beyond all error because it is planned only to set the direction towards it. Therefore it uses words, which are symbolic, <u>and cannot express what lies beyond symbols.</u><br />
<br />
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Tom Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11382119491604433679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13512261.post-87240093124879397822019-02-25T08:33:00.002-05:002019-02-26T12:47:18.234-05:00A Course in Miracles and ChristianityA Course in Miracles is a modern, in-depth, commentary on the message of the Christian Gospels. Jesus of Nazareth's message is the essential foundation of the Course. The primary means for us to explore this connection is through an understanding the New Testament, even if some of the Course's symbolism is purely contemporary. The Course itself assumes that its readers are familiar with the stories and characters in the Gospels. There are a thousand, or more, direct and indirect biblical references embedded in the Course. These give the Course a rich and multi-layered texture to those familiar with the Scriptures. Likewise, the writings in the New Testament take on an entirely new significance when revisited in the light of the Course's message. <br />
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One function of a miracle is to shake up stagnant and erroneous perceptions, as an aid to learning. The Course begins by challenging our basic understanding of what a miracle is, by expanding the definition of a miracle and by elaborating basic principles. It then proceeds to shake up the basic theological dogmas of Christianity. The Course firmly looks away from sacrifice and suffering as the basis for salvation, and toward the eternal life of spirit present now. Ultimately, it catalyzes our conceptions about the reality of the world and separate individual identity, by focusing upon the possibility of a direct mystical perception of the essential unity of God and creation. It does all this while simultaneously affirming the life, miracles, teachings, and resurrection of Jesus 2000 years ago, and presenting him as a practical role model for everyone today. "What would Jesus do?" is transformed into, "What would this look like if seen through the eyes of Christ?" To learn from the Holy Spirit and to use Jesus as a role model, according to the Course, one must be willing to question every pre-existing belief and value. This prospect is bound to be unattractive for those who are satisfied with the status quo of established church traditions, and it is unsettling to even those who are not. This is as it should be. One of the basic principles of miracles is that they are unsettling.<br />
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<b>The Birth of Holiness</b><br />
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The Course does not place any special significance upon Jesus' physical birth. In fact, it doesn't even mention it at all. To understand why, it is useful to have some idea of the way in which the Course views bodies in the physical world. All that is needed is to look around and simply observe that everything you see is in a state of constant flux. There is nothing you can look at, with a few exceptions (like the largest geologic features), that existed 500 years ago. Likewise, if we could fast-forward 500 years into the future, most everything you see now would not exist then. This includes your own body.<br />
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What we think of as the physical world is generally not radically different from day to day, but given enough time even the mountains will slide into the sea and the sun will grow cold. Thus, the physical world is a temporary thing, and human bodies have even less permanence then most of the other things of the world. <br />
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The Course suggests that God does not create temporary things that have beginnings and endings. This is not all that different from the ideas expressed by Jesus in the Gospels when he cautioned, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal." Matthew 6:19 Throughout the New Testament and throughout the Course, there is a distinction drawn between the dual nature of humankind - one physical and ephemeral, and the other spiritual and eternal. This is even alluded to in the Book of Genesis with its dual creation stories. In the first chapter of Genesis, on the sixth day of creation, God created humankind "in his own image." But, in the second chapter of Genesis, after the seventh day of creation, Jehovah "formed man from the dust of the ground." Many students of the Bible have interpreted this as an acknowledgement of the dual nature of humanity.<br />
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Although some, but not all, of the Gospels attempt to make Jesus' body into something unique and divine from birth, there is nothing in the New Testament to indicate that Jesus though of himself that way, and A Course in Miracles certainly does not do so. If Jesus' body was a unique instance of divine creation, there is no good explanation offered in the Gospels why that body suffered and was destroyed as easily as any other body. <br />
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The Course mentions Christmas as the time to celebrate the birth of holiness into the world, which could be any time, or ideally, all the time. It is generally accepted today that December 25th does not correspond to the date of Jesus' actual birthday, which is unknown. The December date was selected by the early church fathers to correspond with and to supplant pre-existing pagan festivals. In the Course, Christmas is viewed as a state of mind embracing joy, for "the time of Christ is meaningless apart from joy."<br />
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<i>The sign of Christmas is a star, a light in darkness. See it not outside yourself, but shining in the heaven within, and accept it as the sign the time of Christ has come. He comes demanding nothing. No sacrifice of any kind, of anyone, is asked by him. In his presence, the whole idea of sacrifice loses all meaning. For he is host to God. And you need but invite him in who is there already, by recognizing that his host is one, and no thought alien to his oneness can abide with him there. Love must be total to give him welcome, for the presence of holiness creates the holiness which surrounds it. No fear can touch the host who cradles God in the time of Christ, for the host is as holy as the perfect innocence which he protects, and whose power protects him.</i> A Course in Miracles, Chapter 15<br />
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<b>Jesus, the Man and Role Model for Humanity</b><br />
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A Course in Miracles does not offer a historical narrative of Jesus' walk on earth 2000 years ago. Instead, the Course deals mainly with his ideas, interpretations, and meanings, although it does offer corrections for several statements that the Gospel accounts have put into Jesus' mouth. Specifically, the Course denies that Jesus ever actually said, "Think not that I came to send peace on the earth; I came not to send peace, but a sword," Matthew 10:34, or that he felt betrayed by Judas. Rather, the Course takes the Gospel stories as givens, and assumes that the reader is familiar with them. <br />
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Jesus states in the Course, "I was a man who remembered the soul and its knowledge," he acknowledges his disciples, and he mentions several by name.<br />
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<i>My brothers slept during the so-called "agony" in the garden, but I could not be angry with them because I had learned I could not be abandoned. Peter swore he would never deny me, but he did so three times. He did offer to defend me with the sword, which I naturally refused, not being at all in need of bodily protection.</i> A Course in Miracles, Chapter 6<br />
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Naturally enough, the Course focuses mainly on miracles, but leaves it to the reader to apply the general principles of miracles to the specific examples given in the Gospels. The Course states that miracles enable man to heal the sick and raise the dead, and asks, "Why is it strange to you that faith can move mountains? This is indeed a little feat for such a power."<br />
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The Course gives an extensive and detained discussion of the healing power of miracles, a rational explanation of how they work, and also why they frequently do not work. According to the Course, miracles are natural, but the basis of miracles cannot be briefly summarized except to say that the barrier to the miraculous is fear. According to the Course, we are afraid of miracles, afraid of love, afraid of each other, and afraid of God. Fear is the essential existential problem that keeps us alienated. <br />
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<b>The Meaning of the Crucifixion</b><br />
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If Jesus' crucifixion and physical death are the pivotal facts of Christianity, as many believe, then the Course and Christianity have very little in common. <br />
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<i>"The crucifixion did NOT establish the atonement. The resurrection did. This is a point which many very sincere Christians have misunderstood . . . If the crucifixion is seen from an upside-down point of view, it DOES appear as if God permitted, and even encouraged, one of his sons to suffer BECAUSE he was good. Many ministers preach this every day."</i> A Course in Miracles, Chapter 3<br />
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Many believe that Jesus' death on the cross atoned for all sin for all time in the same way that the Jewish practice of ceremonial animal sacrifice on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, made good for the annual accumulation of sins by the people of Israel. This is the theory of Jesus as a divine scapegoat. In fact, the word "scapegoat" derives from the Yom Kippur temple sacrifice practice, and not the Passover lamb.<br />
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The actual circumstances of the crucifixion during the Jewish holy days of Passover forced the early Christian church to use the analogy of the sacrificial lamb whose blood was use to mark the lintels and doorposts to protect the Israelites from the angel of death during the final plague of Egypt, the killing of the first-born. The logic, it seems, is that sacrificing the life of God in human form would be a lot more powerful than sacrificing the life of an animal, and Jesus' spilt blood would provide more potent protection. The fundamental problem is the idea that we need an intermediary to protect us from God, and it contradicts Jesus' statement in the Gospels, quoting Hosea 6:6, "But go ye and learn what this means, I desire mercy, and not sacrifice." Matthew 9:13<br />
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The Course offers another interpretation of the Gospels that fit the facts more appropriately. Jesus' physical body was crucified and died, not to protect us from God's wrath, but to demonstrate through his resurrections that we are, in fact, safe from the angel of death.<br />
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<b>Mystery of the Resurrection</b><br />
<br />
In the Gospel accounts of the resurrection we have four slightly different versions of the events on the first Easter Sunday. In the Gospels of Mark, Luke, and John, the women arrived in the morning to discover the stone already had been rolled away from the empty tomb prior to their arrival. One might get the impression from this sequence of events that Jesus' dead body was re-vitalized in the same manner that Lazarus was raised from the dead, and that rolling away the stone was a physical necessity for Jesus to walk out of the tomb. In the Gospel of Matthew, however, the stone is moved in the women's presence after they arrived, for the purpose of showing them that the tomb was vacant.<br />
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Messages related to A Course in Miracles indicate that Jesus' body dematerialized in the tomb sometime before that Sunday morning. "The body disappears, and no longer hides what lies beyond. It merely ceases to interfere with vision." The mysterious image on the Shroud of Turin, if it is the actual burial cloth Peter found in the empty tomb (John 20:6), may be the tangible trace evidence of that unprecedented event. <br />
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Course materials specifically relate that the resurrected Jesus "came in the flesh." See 1st John 4:2.<br />
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<i>I did assume a human form with human attributes afterwards, to speak to those who were to prove the body’s worthlessness to the world. This has been much misunderstood. I came to tell them that death is illusion, and the mind that made the body can make another since form itself is an illusion. They did not understand. But now I talk to you and give you the same message. The death of an illusion means nothing. It disappears when you awaken and decide to dream no more. And you still do have the power to make this decision as I did.</i> A Course in Miracles, Special Messages<br />
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The decision that Jesus of the Course speaks of here is the decision to look past the glittering unreal temptations of the ephemeral world, and to find joy in the unwavering beauty of God's true creation. It is a decision to embrace God's will as our own, not out of any onerous sense of obedience, compulsion, or fear of painful consequences, but in recognition that doing God's will is the only source of true happiness. <br />
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<i>God holds out his hand to his Son to help him rise and return to him. I [Jesus] can help because the world is illusion, and I have overcome the world. Look past the tomb, the body, the illusion. Have faith in nothing but the spirit and the guidance God gives you.</i> A Course in Miracles, Special Messages<br />
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<b>Conclusion</b><br />
<br />
If the miracles of Jesus, his teachings, and his resurrection are what define Christianity, then A Course in Miracles is not only compatible with the Christian faith, it is a welcome complement and amplification of its teachings. The Course makes rational sense of the Gospels in ways that mainstream Christian discourse has not been able to approximate, while at the same time it provides specific instructions to a direct and personal mystical experience of spirit. The Course, therefore, is in essence a practical guide to the miraculous.<br />
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<i>"Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also, and greater works than these shall he do."</i> John 14:12 <br />
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The Course affirms that Jesus of Nazareth walked the earth as a man; that he had disciples; that he was crucified and died in the flesh; that he was resurrected in the flesh; that he is always with us as a living spirit and available to each of us when we turn to him; and that his on-going purpose is the salvation of the world and everyone in it. His message is unchanged in A Course in Miracles: Love God, love your brother as yourself, and judge not. "For many are called, but few are chosen," of Matthew 22:14 is revised in the Course to read, "ALL are called but few choose to listen."<br />
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