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Showing posts from November, 2015

Ask: I fear that if I continue with my Course studies I will lose the memory of my husband...

“…I contacted you almost 4 years ago when my husband of 20 years, and the kindest, most supportive and best friend I've ever had, died suddenly and unexpectedly in his sleep at the age of 43. I contacted you soon after and asked your thoughts about seeing a world famous medium and you said I should do whatever might help. I have received many messages of support from him since then in the form of readings from various mediums, a host of coincidences and even sightings in my daily life. These have been a great help in my embracing our eventually being reunited when I die. That said, I can't apply the Course teachings to everything else and not this. If everything I experience here is what I've asked for that means all of my husband’s messages are coming from me and not him and that is crushing me. Literally. And now, the personal thought system is constantly telling me that if I continue with my Course studies, my husband will disappear from my memory because he was nothi

Ask: Does the Holy Spirit speak quickly and first?

“… My question is…does the holy spirit speak quickly and first with lightning speed?  I find I feel this voice may be the correct voice since it sounds definite and inspired. The answer almost seems to come out of nowhere and not even have thinking involved, just a kind of knowing…” – AB The two voices speak for different interpretations of the same thing simultaneously; or almost simultaneously, for the ego always speaks first . – T-5.VI.3 The ego always speaks first…The Holy Spirit does not speak first, but He always answers. – T-6.IV.1,3 As a rule, it is the ego that speaks with lightning speed. This is especially true when you look on a person or situation or you are seeking an answer. But sometimes when your mind is quiet and relaxed you may hear the Holy Spirit spontaneously. You may hear words or you may have unformed thoughts that seem to rise up into your conscious awareness and take form there. It takes a while to sort out the Holy Spirit and the ego (perso

Ask: Can you clarify the term "magic thoughts"?

“….  Could you please clarify the use of the term 'magic thoughts'?...” – TB (November 13, 2015) A Course in Miracles uses the concept of “magical thinking” in two ways. One form of magical thinking is the belief that anything outside of you can make you whole and at peace. For example, the belief that if you just had perfect health or the right partner or enough money or if that person would change or if everyone just believed as you do, etc. then you would be at peace. ACIM includes in this form of magical thinking the idea that sickness is a form of problem solving. For example, using illness as a way to get attention, to be a victim, to avoid a situation, or as self-punishment to mitigate God’s punishment of you, etc. The belief that the things that illness would get you “saves” you is a form of magical thinking. The other form of magical thinking in ACIM is the belief that change at the level of form is caused at the level of form. For example, the use of medica

Ask: Does Lesson 68 have it wrong?

“During our discussion (in the study group) of Lesson 68:’Love does not hold on to resentment’, you made it abundantly clear that you personally could not follow the part about seeing everyone as your friend because trying to do so made resentment even stronger. What mattered, you said, was being in Truth, so regardless how others showed up you would be at peace. And in the event that someone was so dysfunctional, you could set up a boundary and still be at peace. This made total sense to me and suited my own personality. What I can now take out of that lesson is to think how resentment disturbs my peace; how it reinforces my guilt and belief in a false god. What hangs me up however, is that lesson 68 is quite clear when it tells us to see these others ‘as my friend’, when I know that doing so will be counterproductive. So I choose to ignore it. Is the Course wrong here? Where else does it give ‘bad’ advice? Are we free to pick and choose how to interpret it based on what feels com