Commentary on ACIM Lesson 83
©2010 Rev. David Seacord
Reviewing Lesson 65 (My only function is the one God gave me.)
and Lesson 66 (My happiness and my function are one.)
Have you noticed how often it 'happens' that the lesson of the day is just exactly what you 'need to hear'. I truly love these reviews because they 'land so lightly' and remind me of my own natural happiness arising within me, like music of the Beloved.
Lets talk about that a minute. 'Natural happiness' is the opposite of 'original sin'. Natural happiness is simply the joy of being being naturally expressed. Unfortunately, our cultural/religious conditioning usually acts to condition 'a lot' of our natural happiness out of us, and when we recognize that, and what we have lost, it can take a lot of inner work to unlearn that conditioning. But that is what most spiritual work is: Unlearning. Or, de-programming.
Here's a starter list of a few subjects it is worth while to unlearn.
1. Who I am is what other people think of me.
2. I am unloveable (any version, especially, 'a sinner').
3. I can't make it on my own (or, without you).
4. I'm not a successful human being if I don't have.....______, or ______, or _______.
5. 'Looking good' to others is very (or supremely) important.
6. My ego isn't a problem. My life is fine. It's them that is the problem....
As I said, this is a starter list. I suggest you simply start writing down yours in some known place as they arise. We could compare lists down the road a ways. My money in on that our lists will look pretty similar.
'Specialness' will argue otherwise. It's message is that we are not essentially similar, but unique, separate, and special. (Add in also, isolated, alone, lonely, unconnected, and in the extreme, suicidal/homicidal.) But ask for the testimony of anyone who masterfully works selflessly with large numbers of people and they will tell you that most people are pretty similar (within a few common variations), and especially similar in that the biggest thing most people have to 'get over' is themselves. And this is exactly what the Course teaches too.
It teaches: Get over yourself, so that you can give up holding grievances. Get over yourself, so that you can forgive 'others' for what you are not willing to forgive yourself for but haven't yet seen as your own creation, until you can see that. Get over yourself so that you can fulfill your function of being a teacher of God. Get over yourself so that you can receive the happiness that you are swimming in but which is totally unavailable to you because you think you are actually a real 'thing'.
Personally, I testify you are not-- a real thing (not in the way you think you are) because I know I am not either. I trust that moment in my own life years ago after a Gangaji satsang, taking a shower, and suddenly realizing I was not anything but a thought. I trust it because my body also got it, instantly and molecularly. Like high voltage amperage suddenly reversing polarity, like being lightning struck. Yes, as an experience it didn't last. But it changed everything. Because I now know I am a thought, I also know that is who you are, and beyond that, that is who and what everyone/everything is.
We are as unlimited as our thinking, or, as limited as our thinking. While it may appear that the Course is a mind-training course that places limits upon our thoughts, actually the opposite is true. Because, once aligned with actual reality (to which there is no limit or end) our thinking is capable of receiving direct guidance from universal all-emcompassing intelligence. We normally call this 'intuition', and think of it as a 'special gift'. But it is not. It is simply what the Course calls 'sight'.
It is your function to have this sight, to use this sight, to interact with 'others' from this sight, to see yourself with this sight. God would have us be not blind, but rather living powerfully with the simple transformative ability to see, especially ALL others, as ourselves.
Yes, it's a big bite to chew. But like drinking from a fountain of living water, every sip becomes a miracle.
I wrote a song a few days ago, and sang it in a church last Sunday. Here's the lyrics.
I Know I Will Receive
©2010 Rev. David Seacord
___________________________________
God is giving me this moment
and everything I need.
This is true,
it's nothing you need to believe.
I am here to be God's Healer,
and I know I will succeed.
For nothing is impossible
when it's God who has planted the seed.
I am here to be a Miracle (worker),
here to Shine, Be Bright,
Living in God's Holy Power,
Standing upright, to my full height.
God is giving me in this moment
everything I need.
This is true,
it's nothing you need to believe.
I am here to live in Freedom,
and I know I will receive,
everything I may need for whatever
God and I conceive.
God is giving me in this moment
everything I need.
This is true,
Ask in 'the Name' ye shall receive!
Nothing is impossible
Ask in 'the Name' ye shall receive!
Living in God's Holy Power,
it's nothing you need to believe.
Living in God's Holy Power,
Ask in 'the Name' ye shall receive!
Namaste,
David
©2010 Rev. David Seacord
Reviewing Lesson 65 (My only function is the one God gave me.)
and Lesson 66 (My happiness and my function are one.)
Have you noticed how often it 'happens' that the lesson of the day is just exactly what you 'need to hear'. I truly love these reviews because they 'land so lightly' and remind me of my own natural happiness arising within me, like music of the Beloved.
Lets talk about that a minute. 'Natural happiness' is the opposite of 'original sin'. Natural happiness is simply the joy of being being naturally expressed. Unfortunately, our cultural/religious conditioning usually acts to condition 'a lot' of our natural happiness out of us, and when we recognize that, and what we have lost, it can take a lot of inner work to unlearn that conditioning. But that is what most spiritual work is: Unlearning. Or, de-programming.
Here's a starter list of a few subjects it is worth while to unlearn.
1. Who I am is what other people think of me.
2. I am unloveable (any version, especially, 'a sinner').
3. I can't make it on my own (or, without you).
4. I'm not a successful human being if I don't have.....______, or ______, or _______.
5. 'Looking good' to others is very (or supremely) important.
6. My ego isn't a problem. My life is fine. It's them that is the problem....
As I said, this is a starter list. I suggest you simply start writing down yours in some known place as they arise. We could compare lists down the road a ways. My money in on that our lists will look pretty similar.
'Specialness' will argue otherwise. It's message is that we are not essentially similar, but unique, separate, and special. (Add in also, isolated, alone, lonely, unconnected, and in the extreme, suicidal/homicidal.) But ask for the testimony of anyone who masterfully works selflessly with large numbers of people and they will tell you that most people are pretty similar (within a few common variations), and especially similar in that the biggest thing most people have to 'get over' is themselves. And this is exactly what the Course teaches too.
It teaches: Get over yourself, so that you can give up holding grievances. Get over yourself, so that you can forgive 'others' for what you are not willing to forgive yourself for but haven't yet seen as your own creation, until you can see that. Get over yourself so that you can fulfill your function of being a teacher of God. Get over yourself so that you can receive the happiness that you are swimming in but which is totally unavailable to you because you think you are actually a real 'thing'.
Personally, I testify you are not-- a real thing (not in the way you think you are) because I know I am not either. I trust that moment in my own life years ago after a Gangaji satsang, taking a shower, and suddenly realizing I was not anything but a thought. I trust it because my body also got it, instantly and molecularly. Like high voltage amperage suddenly reversing polarity, like being lightning struck. Yes, as an experience it didn't last. But it changed everything. Because I now know I am a thought, I also know that is who you are, and beyond that, that is who and what everyone/everything is.
We are as unlimited as our thinking, or, as limited as our thinking. While it may appear that the Course is a mind-training course that places limits upon our thoughts, actually the opposite is true. Because, once aligned with actual reality (to which there is no limit or end) our thinking is capable of receiving direct guidance from universal all-emcompassing intelligence. We normally call this 'intuition', and think of it as a 'special gift'. But it is not. It is simply what the Course calls 'sight'.
It is your function to have this sight, to use this sight, to interact with 'others' from this sight, to see yourself with this sight. God would have us be not blind, but rather living powerfully with the simple transformative ability to see, especially ALL others, as ourselves.
Yes, it's a big bite to chew. But like drinking from a fountain of living water, every sip becomes a miracle.
I wrote a song a few days ago, and sang it in a church last Sunday. Here's the lyrics.
I Know I Will Receive
©2010 Rev. David Seacord
___________________________________
God is giving me this moment
and everything I need.
This is true,
it's nothing you need to believe.
I am here to be God's Healer,
and I know I will succeed.
For nothing is impossible
when it's God who has planted the seed.
I am here to be a Miracle (worker),
here to Shine, Be Bright,
Living in God's Holy Power,
Standing upright, to my full height.
God is giving me in this moment
everything I need.
This is true,
it's nothing you need to believe.
I am here to live in Freedom,
and I know I will receive,
everything I may need for whatever
God and I conceive.
God is giving me in this moment
everything I need.
This is true,
Ask in 'the Name' ye shall receive!
Nothing is impossible
Ask in 'the Name' ye shall receive!
Living in God's Holy Power,
it's nothing you need to believe.
Living in God's Holy Power,
Ask in 'the Name' ye shall receive!
Namaste,
David
posted by Rev. David Seacord at
2:08 AM
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