Commentary on ACIM Lesson 85
©2010 Rev. David Seacord
Reviewing Lesson 69 (My grievances hide the light of the world in me.) and Lesson 70 (My salvation comes from me.)
Once again I see that nothing is accidental. As I assume is happening with you (who are doing the Course) (which is NOT a requirement for receiving these Commentaries, BTW) my today's adventures gave me the perfect experiences to humbly digest todays new material. And just like the stats that say auto accidents are much more likely within a few miles of your home, so it is that familiar situations and people are the ones 'we' forget to apply Course wisdom/training to. (When I say 'we', of course, I really mean 'I'.) So neighbors, parents, siblings, ex-whatevers.... they all fall into the category of deeply habituated and familiar relating patterns, and are therefore the ones 'we' discover 'we' still need to work on 'seeing newly', even after 'an embarrassingly long time' as a student of awareness.
Hummmm....this was going to be 'about grievances' (to tie it into the Lesson), but I guess there is something else 'my truth author' is choosing to express.....
Anyway (shifting gears), excepting the exceptions, 'the norm' in terms of response to these Commentaries is silence. This is a great teaching, yes? It is the 'mirror of emptiness' that the 'nothingness of the ego's fantasies' gets 'no response' from. I've been recognizing how much my growth as a 'writing teacher of God' is being aided by this, as I am seeing that what is most valid about what I am writing is when I am simply telling my truth, like 'to a wall'. Explaining that, think of me as in a solitary confinement for a long time. The walls of my cell are all I have to talk to. But they don't answer back. They just listen (allow me that one, OK?) It doesn't matter to them (the walls) if I tell the truth, or I lie. They still only 'listen'. So why not keep up the pretenses, and lie to the wall? Only because, in that condition (completely minus 'other ego company'), what keeps me sane is the simple practice of being straight with myself, and telling the truth. How does that keep me sane? It allows me to know myself as who I actually am, egolessly. That is utterly profound, especially when compared to who/how I would know myself to be as an ego caught-up in pretense and looking good.
So, in being silent, you are like my cell wall. Except, every once in a while, you break silence, and say something like "Thank you, I really needed to hear that". And I feel a quiet empowering validness and soft gladness, for, even though I now understand that I am actually doing these writings as a sadhana (spiritual practice) primarily 'for myself', since the truth is my Self is all of you too, 'my walls' are listening for the difference I make for them too. That listening you give blesses me, and calls continually for my best to be given.
Inside of this, in my life, I have seen I am only really alive when I am giving my best. Sometimes I am caught by surprise by this Joy, as when the tiny little painting that will never be able to sell 'for much' becomes a masterpiece. Or as it was today, when the 'chore' of fertilizing the citrus with manure quietly opens into a deeply satisfying day of pruning, digging, watering, and finding 'a teaching of love' in the form of the desert dove in the lemon tree, sitting committedly in her nest upon her eggs, tolerating my peacefully pruning presence under her, who does not fly away. She does not even flap a wing. Nor does she eye me with any fear. I sensed somehow she too 'knew' me, like my silent walls.
She also simply held no grievances.
Namaste,
David
©2010 Rev. David Seacord
Reviewing Lesson 69 (My grievances hide the light of the world in me.) and Lesson 70 (My salvation comes from me.)
Once again I see that nothing is accidental. As I assume is happening with you (who are doing the Course) (which is NOT a requirement for receiving these Commentaries, BTW) my today's adventures gave me the perfect experiences to humbly digest todays new material. And just like the stats that say auto accidents are much more likely within a few miles of your home, so it is that familiar situations and people are the ones 'we' forget to apply Course wisdom/training to. (When I say 'we', of course, I really mean 'I'.) So neighbors, parents, siblings, ex-whatevers.... they all fall into the category of deeply habituated and familiar relating patterns, and are therefore the ones 'we' discover 'we' still need to work on 'seeing newly', even after 'an embarrassingly long time' as a student of awareness.
Hummmm....this was going to be 'about grievances' (to tie it into the Lesson), but I guess there is something else 'my truth author' is choosing to express.....
Anyway (shifting gears), excepting the exceptions, 'the norm' in terms of response to these Commentaries is silence. This is a great teaching, yes? It is the 'mirror of emptiness' that the 'nothingness of the ego's fantasies' gets 'no response' from. I've been recognizing how much my growth as a 'writing teacher of God' is being aided by this, as I am seeing that what is most valid about what I am writing is when I am simply telling my truth, like 'to a wall'. Explaining that, think of me as in a solitary confinement for a long time. The walls of my cell are all I have to talk to. But they don't answer back. They just listen (allow me that one, OK?) It doesn't matter to them (the walls) if I tell the truth, or I lie. They still only 'listen'. So why not keep up the pretenses, and lie to the wall? Only because, in that condition (completely minus 'other ego company'), what keeps me sane is the simple practice of being straight with myself, and telling the truth. How does that keep me sane? It allows me to know myself as who I actually am, egolessly. That is utterly profound, especially when compared to who/how I would know myself to be as an ego caught-up in pretense and looking good.
So, in being silent, you are like my cell wall. Except, every once in a while, you break silence, and say something like "Thank you, I really needed to hear that". And I feel a quiet empowering validness and soft gladness, for, even though I now understand that I am actually doing these writings as a sadhana (spiritual practice) primarily 'for myself', since the truth is my Self is all of you too, 'my walls' are listening for the difference I make for them too. That listening you give blesses me, and calls continually for my best to be given.
Inside of this, in my life, I have seen I am only really alive when I am giving my best. Sometimes I am caught by surprise by this Joy, as when the tiny little painting that will never be able to sell 'for much' becomes a masterpiece. Or as it was today, when the 'chore' of fertilizing the citrus with manure quietly opens into a deeply satisfying day of pruning, digging, watering, and finding 'a teaching of love' in the form of the desert dove in the lemon tree, sitting committedly in her nest upon her eggs, tolerating my peacefully pruning presence under her, who does not fly away. She does not even flap a wing. Nor does she eye me with any fear. I sensed somehow she too 'knew' me, like my silent walls.
She also simply held no grievances.
Namaste,
David
posted by Rev. David Seacord at
7:36 AM
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