Everyday Spirit

In A Course in Miracles (ACIM) is offered an important message: we have forgotten who we really are and, in so doing, have distorted and misdirected our mind’s creative power.

A Course in Miracles reminds us that in the Bible it is written “Adam fell asleep,” and there was never any mention of his “awakening,” From the perspective of the teachings of ACIM, as a humanity we are “sleeping,” we are Adam, and we are now entering the period of awakening.

A Course in Miracles states that although we have fallen asleep to our identification as the Christ, the Son of God, we are still as we were created but we do not either know or believe this to be true. A goal of ACIM is to remind us who we are and reintroduce us to the real laws that govern us – the laws of Love or Spirit.

Through the application of the 50 miracle principles identified by A Course in Miracles, which are based on Love’s guiding principles, we are able to relearn a single truth and have a common experience. In spite of differing values, ideals, ideologies and religious or spiritual affiliations, we can in fact have a common experience, based upon the miracle principles. When we experience miracles, regardless of our differing backgrounds we build conviction on what is real, without defending or attacking another’s beliefs.

A Course in Miracles is based upon a single truth: only Love is real. A Course in Miracles identifies reality by that which is changeless, constant and eternal. ACIM says we are Spirit; it says we are Love. A Course in Miracles clarifies that the mind and the identification we share is our Real Self, called Christ.

In A Course in Miracles we are told that we as the collective of all souls are the Christ and that Jesus is an awakened member within the whole Sonship – of which you and I are also part. In ACIM, humanity is identified as the Sonship, the Son of God.

Because Jesus lived in accordance with the laws of Love and was therefore only subject to Love’s laws, He transcended the belief of separation as well as the laws of time and space. In so doing, Jesus and any of us who overcome the belief of separation from God become “stewards” of the awakening of humanity.

Jesus is identified as the author of A Course in Miracles because He claims his stewardship role. A Course in Miracles offers support to us in the remembrance of who we are; through our daily application of its teachings, it begins to eliminate the desire and belief of separation and rebuilds conviction in the unassailability of Love (God).

A Course in Miracles identifies that the Sonship is one and includes you and me. It clarifies that the Christ is the Mind, which is shared by us all and is – even at this very moment – still as it was originally created by God.

Further, A Course in Miracles teaches us that the part of the mind that we feel is our own, private and separate from another is the part of the mind that is “asleep” and delusional. It is delusional because it is asleep to its authentic identification as Christ and, being “divorced” from its source (God), is afraid of its power.

The sleeping and confused mind then seeks counsel and turns to something to govern it. Because it believes it is separate from God, it turns instead to the ego, the false self, for guidance. The mind then becomes subject to the laws of time and space because it believes it is trapped in a body in time and space, and the ego becomes its new “god.”
The sleeping part of the mind that is “dreaming of exile” is consequently subject to the laws of time and space and is totally unaware that it has dreamt up the idea of both.
 

The belief that we are bodies trapped in a lifetime within time and space with minds that are separate and filled with thoughts of fear, lack, judgment, envy, anger, criticism and hate is exactly what the ego has convinced us is our just due for “leaving” God. And sadly, we believe it!

The ego is born from within our own tormented mind and is the result of a displaced self-identity that is desperately seeking to remember what (or rather, who) it is. A Course in Miracles reminds us that in reality the ego does not exist and that until we remember our reality as Spirit, it will have as much power as we lend it.

In A Course in Miracles we are not only instructed about who we really are as Spirit, but we are also offered the directions on how to experience this Identity. Through acceptance of who we really are, miracles (which are actually a natural expression of the truth) occur as proof of our reality.

Through the daily application of the 50 miracle principles, we have direct and personal experience of being Spirit, we no longer respond to the ego’s desires, and our life begins to reflect more appreciation and less judgment.

Incredibly, it is through experience, rather than theology or ideology, that we begin to remember who we really are. Further, when we invoke miraculous experiences for humanity as well as ourselves through our little willingness, we build conviction in the power of love to undo fear.

Ultimately, it is only through remembering who we are as Spirit that we will permanently wake up. And it is through reclaiming our power as Christ that we can in fact expedite both our individual and collective awakening, and steward a new and more loving humanity.

So, how do we apply this to everyday living?

Simply! You begin your day by reconnecting with who you are, and throughout the day when people are responding to you from their ego rather than from their Spirit, you pardon them.

Remember, love is always the answer. Love wants what is best for all, while the ego wants what is only good for you.

When you stay focused on who you really are and who others really are, love and joy issue from you. When, on the other hand, you forget who you and they really are, then turmoil, judgment, criticism, stress and defensiveness arise. How you are feeling is your barometer!