Commentary on ACIM Lesson 73
©2010 Rev. David Seacord
I will there be light.
One of the events of my day yesterday was to destroy (by painting over) the painting you are looking at. (Note: This refers to the image included in the original emailed edition of these Commentaries.) Therefore, I am sharing what no longer exists, except as a photographic file in my computer. I'd sat with the choice for a while now (a couple months or so), because in a lot of ways, I loved a lot about it. But in the end, I knew I had to let it go, because to try to 'fix the errors' (that you can't see at such a small size) would only make them worse. Better to release, and move on. So, letting it go was a celebration of creative freedom, knowing 'something else wonderful' would take it's place.
Thousands of years ago in China, the sage Lao Tzu did the same thing.... he'd throw his poems into the river, and just let them go. Some survived (by grace, you might say) so we know about him. But I am sure there have been many great lives lived on this earth that remain unknown to us. Yet they were counted by God, and by those lives they touched. This is therefore possible for us also. And this is enough.
If we live our lives to attain grandeur in the eyes of the world and that is all, we miss the opportunity to know ourselves and to know God. That is what I am now understanding. Although it can seem a fine line to walk (being in the world but not being of it), it is possible, and it is especially possible if we let Love lead the way, because the nature of Love is 'the nowness and enoughness of God', not the 'not present/never enoughness of the world' or 'the ego'.
In the Manual for Teachers, we are taught that a teacher of God is anyone who has recognized that his interests are not apart from someone else's, ie, a teacher is anyone who has seen another as himself. This is impossible to do if we are holding a grievance against that other, which is why we are encouraged in the continual practice of forgiveness. And which is why we need God's light also....to take with us on our journey into our shadows and to help us find our carefully disguised spiritual garbage cans full of our hidden grievances, shames, deceptions, and other bogey men we are sure we must never let anyone else see or know about. This is, of course exactly what we must (appropriately) do, as such exposure frees us from the arrogance of our ego.
Our ego wishes to be great in the eyes of the world, for that is the only world it knows. This is not 'greatness of being' however. Greatness of Being is actually selflessness. Selflessness is being the atonement personified. No grievances held, no self-serving striving, no doubts remaining, and nothing hidden. The Course says all religions, if properly interpreted, will take us here. This is good, as we absolutely do wish to be 'here', as this 'here' is where 'heaven' is. The 'if properly interpreted' caveat provides a very important key of discernment. Basically it is saying: any belief that does not bring us into the 'Nowness of Love' is not useful. The spiritual beliefs of the ego are rampant with such foolishness, which provides us with Great Drama, but none of God's Peace.
Better to look upon ourselves with 'the light within', and release whatever we find that is not 'of Love'. That is a celebration worth having with each other 0:-)
Namaste,
David
©2010 Rev. David Seacord
I will there be light.
One of the events of my day yesterday was to destroy (by painting over) the painting you are looking at. (Note: This refers to the image included in the original emailed edition of these Commentaries.) Therefore, I am sharing what no longer exists, except as a photographic file in my computer. I'd sat with the choice for a while now (a couple months or so), because in a lot of ways, I loved a lot about it. But in the end, I knew I had to let it go, because to try to 'fix the errors' (that you can't see at such a small size) would only make them worse. Better to release, and move on. So, letting it go was a celebration of creative freedom, knowing 'something else wonderful' would take it's place.
Thousands of years ago in China, the sage Lao Tzu did the same thing.... he'd throw his poems into the river, and just let them go. Some survived (by grace, you might say) so we know about him. But I am sure there have been many great lives lived on this earth that remain unknown to us. Yet they were counted by God, and by those lives they touched. This is therefore possible for us also. And this is enough.
If we live our lives to attain grandeur in the eyes of the world and that is all, we miss the opportunity to know ourselves and to know God. That is what I am now understanding. Although it can seem a fine line to walk (being in the world but not being of it), it is possible, and it is especially possible if we let Love lead the way, because the nature of Love is 'the nowness and enoughness of God', not the 'not present/never enoughness of the world' or 'the ego'.
In the Manual for Teachers, we are taught that a teacher of God is anyone who has recognized that his interests are not apart from someone else's, ie, a teacher is anyone who has seen another as himself. This is impossible to do if we are holding a grievance against that other, which is why we are encouraged in the continual practice of forgiveness. And which is why we need God's light also....to take with us on our journey into our shadows and to help us find our carefully disguised spiritual garbage cans full of our hidden grievances, shames, deceptions, and other bogey men we are sure we must never let anyone else see or know about. This is, of course exactly what we must (appropriately) do, as such exposure frees us from the arrogance of our ego.
Our ego wishes to be great in the eyes of the world, for that is the only world it knows. This is not 'greatness of being' however. Greatness of Being is actually selflessness. Selflessness is being the atonement personified. No grievances held, no self-serving striving, no doubts remaining, and nothing hidden. The Course says all religions, if properly interpreted, will take us here. This is good, as we absolutely do wish to be 'here', as this 'here' is where 'heaven' is. The 'if properly interpreted' caveat provides a very important key of discernment. Basically it is saying: any belief that does not bring us into the 'Nowness of Love' is not useful. The spiritual beliefs of the ego are rampant with such foolishness, which provides us with Great Drama, but none of God's Peace.
Better to look upon ourselves with 'the light within', and release whatever we find that is not 'of Love'. That is a celebration worth having with each other 0:-)
Namaste,
David
posted by Rev. David Seacord at
9:03 AM
<< Home