Trust Builds From Everyday, Ordinary Miracles

Occasionally I hear from students or readers their discouragement that they have not experienced direct Revelation or "higher” miracles. Sometimes they think that without those experiences they will never attain peace. But it was not those experiences that helped me to build trust in Truth. What was helpful in building trust was the simple practice of being open, or willing, for Truth to come into my awareness in whatever form I needed. The simple, everyday miracles that were the result of this practice led to my trusting Truth and finding peace.

A Revelation, as A Course in Miracles uses the term, refers to a direct experience of Truth. It is beyond perception and is Knowledge Itself. In this experience there is no world; the world is not even a thought There. A Revelation reveals the end goal of a spiritual path. If a revelatory state was sustained the world would be over for you. So it is rare to find a spiritual seeker who has experienced Revelation and even for those of us who have they occur very rarely.

I coined the term “higher” miracle to refer to those more dramatic miracles where you have a shift in awareness where you know Truth to be true and the universe of form to be not-True. Sometimes the focus of a higher miracle is on the Truth as true and sometimes it is on the universe of form being not-True. A higher miracle is at the level of perception, thus it is what ACIM calls a “miracle” rather than a Revelation. It is just this side of Knowledge; just this side of Revelation. It is the highest level of perception, or consciousness, that one can attain. It is the consciousness of the Holy Spirit or Christ. These are a fairly common experience among spiritual seekers and you will experience them more often as you undo your obstacles to Truth. It can eventually be your state of mind, but the world would not last long in your mind once it was.

Both of these experiences fall under what ACIM calls a “Holy Instant”. Revelation would be the ultimate Holy Instant. But as ACIM points out, time can close over an instant. So while these experiences show you that the Truth is true, their effect on your conscious mind does fade.

What I call an “everyday, ordinary” miracle would be getting an answer from the Holy Spirit, a new way of looking at something that shifts you toward peace, a needed insight, peace that seems to descend on you out of nowhere, etc. These, too, are Holy Instants, but they are much more mundane and therefore more easily accepted into your day-to-day life.

The path to peace is a cumulative process so all miracles, whether “higher” or ordinary, everyday miracles, build on each other in your subconscious until one day you reach a tipping point and find that you trust Truth. This is when peace comes to stay in your awareness. But the ordinary, everyday miracles are far more consciously transformative than the more dramatic Revelation or higher miracle. They come from the simple practice of communing with Truth everyday with the only goal being to open to Truth. (This is the first habit in my book 4 Habits for Inner Peace). Nothing much may happen when you meditate and open to Truth. But later, throughout the day, the ordinary miracles will occur. It is as though you open a door while communing and Truth walks into your awareness in whatever form you need throughout the day. Allowing and recognizing these everyday miracles are how trust in Truth grows.

So don’t lament the experiences that you have not yet had. Instead, be willing for Truth to be in your awareness here and now in whatever form you need.

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