Closing the Gap Between You and God

Lately, a lot of students have brought up how difficult it is for them to accept that God is within them. Sometimes the issue is that they so believe the ego’s misperception of them that they feel too imperfect or unworthy of God. Sometimes they are so used to God as a parental or authority figure that they have a hard time changing their conception of God. I wrote before about how your concept of God will change over time (http://acimmentor.blogspot.com/2007/03/evolving-concepts-of-god.html). But if you want to close the gap between yourself and God faster here is an idea you can contemplate in quiet moments to help you do so:

I am Part of God.

When I want to really get a concept in A Course in Miracles I set aside time to contemplate it. This means I think about it deeper. I’ve done this often with ideas in the Course and this leads to “a-ha” moments where I know I really get the idea. I’ve learned that I need to have this experience several times before it sinks in. This is how to think about the idea you are Part of God in a deeper way:

God is everywhere. Think of God as a Being Which encompasses you and fills you rather than a Being “out there”. God is the Whole of Which you are Part.

How is this different from a concept of God as “other”? What does this imply about you?

Where do concepts like “sin”, separation from God and guilt fit if you are Part of God? What happens to unworthiness and imperfection if you are Part of God? How can you “sacrifice” and who could you “serve”?

How do you see others if you are Part of God and so are they?

How do you reach God if you are Part of God? As Part of God, what happens to ideas like “attaining” or “achieving” God? How do you remember you are Part of God? Since you are Part of God, what do you do with that which isn’t God?

When you read the Course and translate God/Father into Whole and Christ/Son into Part how does that change the meaning of what you are reading?

Repeat the idea that you are Part of God often and allow the idea to sink in.

Here are some quotes to contemplate from the Course which may help as well:

No one can be beyond the limitless, because what has no limits must be everywhere. There are no beginnings and no endings in God, Whose universe is Himself. Can you exclude yourself from the universe, or from God Who is the universe? I and my Father are one with you, for you are part of Us. Do you really believe that part of God can be missing or lost to Him? (T-11.I.2)

If you were not part of God, His Will would not be unified. Is this conceivable? Can part of His Mind contain nothing? If your place in His Mind cannot be filled by anyone except you, and your filling it was your creation, without you there would be an empty place in God's Mind. (T-11.I.3)

Could any part of God be without His Love, and could any part of His Love be contained? God is your heritage, because His one gift is Himself. (T-11.I.7)

Yet you can learn the truth about yourself from the Holy Spirit, Who will teach you that, as part of God, deceit in you is impossible. (T-11.VIII.15)

The beautiful relationship you have with all your brothers is a part of you because it is a part of God Himself. (T-28.VII.2)

My mind is part of God’s. I am very holy. (W-35)

There is one life, and that I share with God. (W-167)

My true Identity abides in You. (W-283)

>>>>
Receive this bi-weekly blog directly in your email by contacting Liz@acimmentor.com.Now available at www.acimmentor.com: Understanding A Course in Miracles: A Quick Reference for Students.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ask: What is meant by "extend Love"?

I wonder exactly what is meant by "extend love" or how one extends love. Is it a loving intention toward the person, or a wish for them, or what? Can you give an example? – JO “Extending love” means replacing unloving thoughts in your mind with the awareness of Love in your mind. For example, your peace of mind is disturbed while watching something on television. Your peace is gone because you believe that what you see is reality. You extend Love in this situation by turning inward to Truth (God), feeling Love’s Presence within you, and remembering that It, not the images appearing, is What is Real. It may take you a while to accept that only your own thoughts cause you pain. So at first you may feel that you need to extend Love “out there” to the images that seem to be causing you pain. Or you may extend Love to another who is sharing their painful story with you. You can do this by imagining the situation or the person in a Loving Light. Or you may use some other image to
Read more

Committed to the Spiritual Process

If you’ve been reading my blog/newsletter for the past few weeks then you know significant things have occurred in the life of this mind. Four years ago the ego (personal thought system) fell away. I didn’t realize it fully and I spent three and a half years personally in a rather barren place in this mind, though there was peace in the rest of my mind. I did feel done with the world, but I didn’t know what that meant. I just stayed with the feeling, wondering what would come next. The next thing arrived in this mind last summer with a subtle shift from emptiness to a delicious Spaciousness. This was followed by beautiful Golden Light, Love, and Joy filling the Space. Bewilderingly, an effect of this was a romance novel! From there, the Light and the shifts continued. During this time a client in Australia whom I have called Zelda in these articles, but whose real name is Hannah, became a friend as well. We grew closer over several months and began to experience a lot of sync
Read more

Evolving Practice with ACIM

           The Course was dictated to two who had a sense of Spirit working in their lives. After all, they were taking down the Course itself! The Universal Christ Mind sought to develop and grow their awareness of Spirit through the lessons in the Workbook as well as simply in discussion with them, privately and through the Course . And for those who find the Course and already have an awareness of Spirit, even if only dimly, the Course functions in the same way. Through the practice suggested, they develop their trust in Spirit. But for many who come to the Course , the discernment of Spirit within has not yet occurred. For them, practice is the means of opening to the awareness and experience of Spirit. Those who do not understand this often feel frustrated and even angry with the Course for suggesting that they should be having experiences that they do not yet have. They feel that they fall short when they read the instructions and descriptions in the lessons, when the appr
Read more