Commentary inspired by ACIM Lesson 18
©2010 Rev. David Seacord
I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my seeing.
What is our greatest fear? Is it not always some form of being alone? That is my experience so far. To be rejected is to be made outcast, alone. To be humiliated is to be exposed, alone. The fear of being killed, raped, robbed, ridiculed is the fear of experiencing incredibly painful isolation, alienation, aloneness.
What is todays lesson then? The first four words are foundational: I am not alone. To actually know this is to know God. The Presence of God is in the direct experience of 'I am NEVER alone'. The Peace of God is in the consistent undisturbable awareness of this Presence. All our practice is for the purpose of discovering this is true always. That is why the emphasis is on not making exceptions as we apply the instructions for each lesson....that we may 'get' (profoundly and deeply) that what is true is true always, and under all conditions, no matter what.
The lesson extends...."in experiencing the effects of my seeing". Although we can never actually be alone (as we exist, move, and breathe within the being of God), we can nevertheless believe we can be. This belief denies all true reality, and thus throws us into a dream-world of illusional separation, from which we struggle to escape, via a huge number of forms, including spirituality. As with drugs, spirituality often functions additively, attempting to mitigate the horror of our separateness with the comfort of community. What the plant knows as it yields to the plow is something we must learn to find the true peace: There is no death. There is only the embrace of existence turning the page, creating newly.
When we realize that our thinking is creative, with the power to call to us either heaven or hell, we begin to understand why freedom 'from the effects of our seeing' requires only authentic, honest, FULL ATTENTION. If we give Full Attention to life, each and every moment delivers The Great Teaching: All is One. As it is impossible to exclude ANYTHING from this Oneness, where is our aloneness? It is where it always is--- only in our mind, and made from fear. Let us cease to dream the dreams of the insane. Give Attention to entering the quiet mind. The Way is then self-obvious. It is lit by Love.
Namaste,
David
©2010 Rev. David Seacord
I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my seeing.
What is our greatest fear? Is it not always some form of being alone? That is my experience so far. To be rejected is to be made outcast, alone. To be humiliated is to be exposed, alone. The fear of being killed, raped, robbed, ridiculed is the fear of experiencing incredibly painful isolation, alienation, aloneness.
What is todays lesson then? The first four words are foundational: I am not alone. To actually know this is to know God. The Presence of God is in the direct experience of 'I am NEVER alone'. The Peace of God is in the consistent undisturbable awareness of this Presence. All our practice is for the purpose of discovering this is true always. That is why the emphasis is on not making exceptions as we apply the instructions for each lesson....that we may 'get' (profoundly and deeply) that what is true is true always, and under all conditions, no matter what.
The lesson extends...."in experiencing the effects of my seeing". Although we can never actually be alone (as we exist, move, and breathe within the being of God), we can nevertheless believe we can be. This belief denies all true reality, and thus throws us into a dream-world of illusional separation, from which we struggle to escape, via a huge number of forms, including spirituality. As with drugs, spirituality often functions additively, attempting to mitigate the horror of our separateness with the comfort of community. What the plant knows as it yields to the plow is something we must learn to find the true peace: There is no death. There is only the embrace of existence turning the page, creating newly.
When we realize that our thinking is creative, with the power to call to us either heaven or hell, we begin to understand why freedom 'from the effects of our seeing' requires only authentic, honest, FULL ATTENTION. If we give Full Attention to life, each and every moment delivers The Great Teaching: All is One. As it is impossible to exclude ANYTHING from this Oneness, where is our aloneness? It is where it always is--- only in our mind, and made from fear. Let us cease to dream the dreams of the insane. Give Attention to entering the quiet mind. The Way is then self-obvious. It is lit by Love.
Namaste,
David
posted by Rev. David Seacord at
3:52 PM
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