An Obsession with Fearful Things

We have all experienced times when we feel worried, anxious, afraid. It may be about something we think may happen in a few minutes or hours or days. Or it may be about something we don’t have a timeframe for, like an earthquake or a terrorist attack. It might be something we feel there is no way to avoid, or it may be something we rationally know should never happen, but could.

New Book Release - Practicing Forgiveness

I have just released a new book called Practicing Forgiveness. It's available at Amazon and all other ebook retailers and in print. Here is the description,

“To err is human; to forgive, divine.” Though it may be divine, forgiveness is seldom easy. When we look out into the world, our first reaction is often anger and resentment toward those we believe are guilty. Even when given time to understand the facts better, it seems almost impossible to release all this anger and resentment. Wouldn’t we be letting the guilty get away with something?

Finding the Holy Spirit

One of the implications of the idea of separation is the illusion of a split mind. We believe, imagine, dream that there is a part of our mind that is separate from God. This part is the ego, and as we live in this imagined world, we listen to the ego as we make our day-to-day decisions. We believe the ego has our best interest at heart, and we believe that without the ego, we would not be able to survive in this world.

The Four Aspects of God

As we look out on our familiar everyday world, God can seem to be a little hazy at times, like a far off distant memory or a vague image of a possible future. There doesn’t appear to be much of God in this world we believe is our home. Though we hear of others who say they have experienced God directly, most of us rarely, if ever, have this experience. What should we think of this God that seems so far away from our everyday life?

Loving Everyone

How does one go about loving everyone? In most cases it seems as if we must force ourselves somehow to express this love. We need to repress all the anger and fear and guilt we feel toward others, and then turn love on when the occasion arises. It’s a small wonder that people have to work so hard at this. We tend to view the ones who really seem able to completely express this selfless love as saints or great people, not like us ordinary people who must struggle with it.

Why Did God Put Us Here?

For most of us, life seems to follow a simple trajectory. We were born some years ago, an event we don’t remember very well. We inhabit a body through which we interact with the world, a world of other bodies all living within the confines of this planet earth. At some time off in the future, at a time unknown to us, we are fairly sure we are going to die. What happened to us before we were born and what happens after we die are both a bit hazy. What purpose there is to all of this is hazy as well. Lost in this haziness, we ask, Where can we find answers to our purpose on this earth?

The Ego and the Monkey Mind

(This essay is an excerpt from my new book, Miraculous Ideas: Thoughts on A Course in Miracles, which contains expanded versions of some of these blog essays, as well as several new essays, in a convenient book format.)

The ‘monkey mind’ is a popular term that refers to the seemingly endless monologues going on inside our heads. It’s called the monkey mind, because like the activity of a monkey jumping from one thing to another, our thoughts seem to randomly jump around no matter how much we try to concentrate and control them.

Justifiable Anger

You’re walking down a quiet street minding your own business when someone jumps out in front of you, points a gun at you, and demands all your valuables. You give up your ring, your phone and your wallet, and the robber takes off. Your first emotion is one of raw fear at the sight of a gun pointed at you. Once that begins to subside, there’s a sense of relief that it was only objects that you lost. But finally there's a feeling of deep anger at the audacity of this person to do that to you. You know you are completely justified in this anger.

Can We Really Be Guiltless?

When we look at the world outside our eyes, we see guilt in every direction. We see those who are guilty of inflicting pain on us and those who inflict pain on others. We know some people are more guilty than others. We identify with the ones we perceive as the victims in the world, and feel triumph when the guilty are finally punished.

It Used to Be Nice to Feel Special

As a young child, I remember times when my Mom or Grandma would come up to me and give me a big hug, and say, “You’re really special.” It felt great being special. Later in elementary school, I received some awards for ‘special achievement’. These were for doing something above and beyond what was expected. I was very proud of those awards as were my parents.

There Is Only One Mind - And Only One Ego

It is fundamental in the Course that God is Pure Oneness and God is Mind and only Mind. Any thoughts of duality or of any kind of reality outside of God is an illusion, a wayward thought. It is through the idea of separation that we have become enmeshed in what seems to be a haphazard, sometimes insane reality. And it is the ego that keeps the separation illusion going.

Nothing Is Unforgivable

There are some things in the world that are just too terrible. Things that make us cringe and feel sick. Things that fill us with anger and maybe even hatred. Sometimes we hear about them from the news and sometimes they are very personal. When it’s personal, we may want to hide it so no one knows about it. It’s just too terrible.

Original Guilt and Original Fear

There is a concept in Christianity called original sin. The idea varies depending on what branch of the faith you belong to, but in essence it says that Adam and Eve sinned by disobeying God in the Garden of Eden, and that sin is passed down to one’s offspring so everyone enters the world already in a state of sin, the original sin.

New Book Release! - The End of Guilt

I have just released a new book, The End of Guilt: Realizing Your Innocence through A Course in Miracles. It’s available at Amazon and other major retailers.

“The End of Guilt is a very well-written, thorough treatment of one of the most important concepts in A Course in Miracles. The end of guilt opens the doors of Heaven.” - Jon Mundy

Here is the description,

Getting What You Deserve

What do we deserve? We often talk about people deserving what they get in life, which can be seen either positively or negatively. We believe that someone who behaves a certain way and follows certain rules deserves to be rewarded. We believe someone who hurts others and goes against those rules deserves to be punished. In either case there is a sense that we should receive something, positive or negative, based on what we do and how we behave.

On the Death of Children

Somewhere in the world, children die every day. It may be through illnesses like dysentery, cancer or a failed heart. It may be from the conflicts of men in Syria, the Congo, or on the streets of an American city. It may simply come from an everyday accident like the intersection of a car and a bicycle or a pedestrian. Somewhere a child dies every day.

Or so it seems.

"He's A God-Fearin' Man"

Growing up in West Virginia in the heart of America’s Bible Belt, I frequently heard statements like “He’s a God-fearin’ man” and “That’ll put the fear of God in him”. Though my upbringing was middle-class and my church was middle-of-the-road Protestant, most of the kids I went to school with and people on the local TV shows we watched used such phrases when talking about their fundamental religion.

Looking for Love

At its core, A Course in Miracles is about love. It’s about a state of peace where all you feel is love toward everything and everyone, and all you see in the eyes around you are feelings of love. One of the things that draws so many people to the Course is this message of love and that this love is our essence and our right and our destiny.

A Course in Miracles and the Borg

Ok, for all you Trekkies and former Trekkies out there, I know you’ve been looking for that fundamental link between A Course in Miracles and the voyage of the Starship Enterprise. At long last I believe I’ve found it in, of all places, the Borg. I know, I know, the Borg seems to be the true opposite of anything spiritual, but give me a minute to explain.

The Practice of Forgiveness

“Practice?!” To most of us, the word practice elicits thoughts of drudgery and repetition, images from childhood of sitting for hours practicing scales on the piano, or standing at the foul line shooting hundreds of free throws, or yet one more plié at the ballet barre. We are taught that through practice we’ll get better at something, and once we’re good at it, it will ultimately be fun and rewarding.