Miracle Distribution Center - A Course in Miracles Resource Center

Forgiveness Brings Honesty

In the last issue of The Holy Encounter, I explained that whenever I am ready to write a new book I begin by asking the Holy Spirit for guidance. I am often amazed at what comes forth in this process. My books always demonstrate to me that we teach what we want to learn. My latest book, with a release date of December, 2004 is an eight week course in spiritual development, entitled Walking Through Walls: Practical Spirituality for an Impractical World. I would like to exclusively share some the book with readers of The Holy Encounter prior to publication. Much of the book is inspired by the Manual for Teachers of A Course in Miracles. I hope the excerpts I share over the next few issues move you to take some time to devote to the Teacher's Manual. In the last issue I discussed honesty. Below please find a lesson you can practice as often as you wish to help bring this about.

Forgiveness brings honesty and ends all conflict.

Today's lesson will emphasize forgiveness. In order to have honesty in your daily life, begin to address the elements of conflict, which I define broadly as any state of mind other than experiencing the serenity of the present moment. The first important realization within this lesson is that the conflicted mind cannot be truly honest. Remember this simple spiritual truth: The peace of God is your natural state; an absence of it indicates a form of internalized conflict and Fear-Based Thinking.
Fear-Based Thinking tells you that when you are in conflict with someone or yourself, the way out is by asking a lot of questions. If you look closely, the motivating force behind these questions is usually judgment, not understanding. If you are trying to be honest and resolve conflict from a God-Centered approach, you will want to direct your mind to understand, not judge. In order to understand and empathize, which always is the honest and God-Centered way out of conflict, you actually need to ask very few questions. It is helpful to remember in the pure honesty of God, He does not ask a lot of questions, or ask much of us other than to be willing to accept His love and to in turn empathize, understand, and love. A dear friend of mine, Maria, sent me the simple words, God asks less and forgives more. If you do this with yourself and in your relationships you will actually be creating the deepest kind of honesty. Remember, then, your path to success and peace can be said in five words. Even if you were to do nothing other than this on your spiritual path you would live a full and loving life. The five words are:

Ask less and forgive more.

This being said, your mind will still want to ask questions, especially when you are in conflict with somebody or within yourself. Until your mind is disciplined enough to not ask a lot of questions and simply accept and extend empathy, understanding, and love, the following questions will help you explore how you have dealt with conflict in the past. Paradoxically, these questions are designed to lead to not asking more questions. It is the beginning of the process of forgiving.

1. Have you at any time in your life experienced conflict between another person and yourself but were afraid to address it?
2. Do you ever do things you don't believe in to avoid conflict?
3. Have you ever internalized a conflict instead of addressing it, or blamed another person for it, or both at the same time?
4. Do you ever "gloss over" a conflict in order to "keep the peace," but over time become resentful, if not bitter?
5. Are you ever deceitful or manipulative with yourself or others in order to avoid conflict?

If you want honesty and all the benefits in your life it will bring, conflict cannot be disguised, denied, evaded, hidden, or seen somewhere else. Rather, you need to have a new way of dealing with conflict, one that is God-Centered and one that you can trust. Forgiveness is this gift.

Honesty implies resolving conflict, because to be authentically and fully honest is to accept your true and natural state, which is the peace of God. To resolve conflict in your life you must be willing to recognize conflict of any kind when it presents itself. Then you need to be willing to examine those thoughts of yours that created the conflict, which will always be a form of Fear-Based Thinking. Don't point your finger, rather get in the habit of looking at your own thoughts.

Becoming defensive is a good indicator that you are not God-Centered in your thinking. God-Centered Thinking needs no defending. Only when you are able to lift all of the defenses that you have had will you find empathy, understanding, and love. Remember that these are the marks of honesty and your defensiveness does not allow for honesty.

Today's lesson asks you to commit to changing the way you have dealt with conflict. It is devoted to identifying the conflicts in your life today, and to heal them through the power of forgiveness. This is the path to honesty. Your conflicts may be old beliefs and feelings from childhood, or they could be a situation taking place right now. Regardless, approach them in the same way.

Begin making a list of things that you feel unforgiving about or have guilt about. Look at conflicts that involve both yourself and others. Spend a fair amount of time with this. You may want to leave it and come back to it throughout the day.

Your first task will be to recognize issues that are unresolved in your life. An example of a partial list might be:

1. I am angry about my father leaving home.
2. I don't like my job, but I stay there because it is secure.
3. There is tension between my spouse and me, though I pretend that everything is all right.

When you have completed your list, ask yourself if you are truthfully willing to deal with these issues differently than you have in the past. Doing so will mean committing yourself to resolving conflict rather than avoiding it or continue to do the same things even though you are still in conflict.

Begin by closing your eyes. Then, one by one, picture the person or people involved in each of the predicaments that you wrote down. Don't forget to include yourself. Say to yourself:

Forgiveness is the way I choose to heal all conflict and all doubt.

Holding onto anger is not going to help me.

I forgive this by asking my Higher Power to help me let go all that gets in the way of His awareness, and I trust this will occur.

Remember that if you hold onto blame, the conflict cannot be resolved. Commit yourself today to directly resolving any conflict, new or old, that arises with another person. Do this by saying:

I will ask less and forgive more.

Remember and practice these seven words and you will always be on a spiritual path. With forgiveness as your base, you no longer have to be afraid to address the issues that so deeply affect your daily living. Without fear, honesty happens.

Click here to receive a current copy of The Holy Encounter.

How to Overcome Feeling Separate and Helpless: Part One

When I wrote the book Healing Together: How to Create Peace in Your Life and the World, I had no idea we would be at war with Iraq, or that any of the other conflicts on the global level would be unfolding. However, I believe that I did know that we would each be faced with challenges, both personally and globally, of a large magnitude. I am frequently asked how we can approach our lives with a spiritual foundation given all that is happening in the world today. I believe this is an essential question for each of us to ask, and to also include asking how we might each contribute to both personal and global healing. Over the course of four articles I address this. To do so, I have edited a chapter from Healing Together for inclusion in The Holy Encounter. For more excerpts from Healing Together, or to sign up to be emailed daily words of wisdom, please visit my web site at www.MotivationalWorks.com.

* * *

My primary goal in writing this series of articles is to offer practical ways we can heal, but I also want to provide an intellectual understanding of the psychology of peace. This work is based upon my earlier doctoral research, largely on A Course in Miracles, existential-humanistic psychology, and the pioneering work of philosopher Ken Wilber, whom I occasionally will paraphrase.

When helping people who have suffered significant tragedy, or with people viewing the war on T.V., the first question I hear most often is, "How could this happen?" This is a natural response to our world being turned upside down. A personal story illustrates this.

For many years, I worked with young people who were members of gangs, and came to know most of them very well. Many were lost souls looking for a sense of belonging. Today, I heard about two drive-by shootings of young men, and I found myself feeling different emotions: horror at the act, pain for the loss to the victims' families, and the deep wounds of the perpetrator. I became numb, I felt sad, I experienced the saw-tooth edge of anger ripping in my gut. Finally, I felt tears of humanity welling in my eyes. "What," I wondered, "can I do? How can I change this? Does it have to be this way?"

In a natural desire to make sense out of a situation that we just can't comprehend, most people want to either know why such a thing could happen to them or their loved one or, in the case of a violent tragedy or war, how someone could carry out such an act. The deeper question that we are well served to ask is, "What is the root cause of this, and is there anything I can do about it?" I believe this is what the Course seeks to answer, and does an excellent job of it.

In order to heal from tragedy, including our post war situation, we need to understand what optimum mental and spiritual health is. How else would we know where to put our efforts? If, for example, we believe that anger and bitterness will resolve a particular situation, then continuing to provide fuel for that anger would make sense. If, however, we determine that health is something quite different, it would behoove us to move in that direction. Remember, the Course basically suggests that health is inner peace.

On a personal level, a psychologist or physician identifies an ideal state of health, determines what constitutes imbalance or sickness, and then finds ways to restore wholeness. Applying this same approach to the larger body and mind of humanity will give us a stable foundation upon which to build global healing.

Decide that Unity and Love Are What Define Your Health

Many philosophers and most Western and Eastern spiritual traditions speak in some way of dualistic thought (i.e., seeing the world through the lens of division where we see ourselves as isolated and separate from God, humanity, and nature), and suggest that true reality is a state of wholeness, unity, and oneness. These spiritual traditions, of which I include A Course in Miracles, tell us that in truth there is nothing but Mind, a state of non-dual awareness, which is our natural and healthy core.

In fact, we can look at any system and find that its natural and underlying state of optimum health is a condition where the fundamental connection with God, humanity, and nature is recognized. For example, our bodies are a complex whole where all systems miraculously work together. When one organ is injured or attacked by disease, the entire system experiences the effect and responds. Nature is a similarly complex system of interdependence where there is a natural but delicate state of balance. Astronomers explain the amazing inter-reliance that characterizes the "heavenly bodies" of the universe, while particle physicists point to the fact that what appears to be a chaotic pattern of unrelated events is actually a dance of congruity and predictability.

As we consider the above examples, it isn't difficult to imagine that nothing lives in isolation. Neither animate nor inanimate objects exist unaffected by other aspects of their individual system or the larger system that contains them. It seems apparent, then, that many things are deeply intertwined in our day-to-day consciousness that we are unaware of, including consciousness itself. If we follow this line of thinking from a spiritual perspective, we come to realize that the natural and highest state of who we are is awareness of our oneness with God. As we experience this oneness we deepen our understanding and experience of love. This, I believe, is the fundamental teaching of the Course.

It makes sense that anything we can do to facilitate love -- the state of oneness with God -- is positive. This is especially true when recovering from a tragedy, including war. We can mistakenly think that tragedy is a time for quick decisions and crisis-oriented reactions. But if we speak with those who have gone through such events and who became better and stronger people, they will tell us that tragedy is a time to surrender to God, a time for prayer and action based upon prayer. In this act of surrender is the discovery of unconditional love. There is a simple saying that I like to repeat to myself during times of crisis: "The more urgent I think a situation is, the more important the need to take the time to pray."

Though it's easy to identify where the many religious and spiritual traditions of the world differ, it's also possible to find the places where they merge in agreement. The common thread running through them reflects the underlying unity of the universe and points us in the direction of true health: seeing our delicate and profound interconnectedness with our fellow human beings, all of life, and God. To summarize this holistic view, I paraphrase Alan Watts, who I think speaks in alignment with the Course:

When we realize that no one thing of this universe is separable from the whole,
the only "real you," or self, is the whole.

Make the Most Important Choice

Though the above discussion is important, by itself it does little to bring healing or prevent tragedy. What is needed to more consistently live a spiritual life are discipline and practical guidelines. All of the lessons in the Course are geared toward this, but it is sometimes helpful to put things as succinctly as possible. The following six points can be thought of as basic guidelines for healing from, preventing, and preparing for tragedy. Though they are not direct teachings from the Course, I believe they are consistent with it.

Exercise: Heal from Tragedy

1. Breathe deeply and think of God often during each day. During crisis this will help you avoid panic.
2. Listen to what concerns you, take the time to settle personal problems and conflicts, and live simply.
3. Build relationships based on love, respect, and the desire to understand.
4. Try to shape your actions, your words, and even your thoughts with a compassionate spirit.
5. Practice patience, extend kindness, share good fortune, and be joyful of and grateful for God's Love.
6. Live gently upon the earth and don't purposely harm any living being.

None of us will be perfect in putting the above into practice, but these six guidelines will help us to consistently and consciously choose the power of God's Love rather than fear and anger during times of trauma and misfortune. It is the most important one we can make. Our lives, our happiness, our success, and even our survival depend on it.

Click here to receive a current copy of The Holy Encounter.

How to Overcome Feeling Separate and Helpless: Part Two

The Course beautifully suggests in many ways that during life's most difficult moments, even a single second of recognizing and experiencing God's Love and guidance can be enough to transform our direction and completely change our attitude and outlook. Tragedy, especially global unrest and war, brings one to a crossroads that calls for a compassionate response. When we choose to find love in the midst of turmoil, that moment will be no less than a miracle.

Since love and compassion are always available to us, it seems paradoxical that we would have to work to discover them. Yet in our complicated, busy, and over-stimulated lives -- and especially when our lives have been turned upside down by suffering -- disciplined work is what we must do. Developing a spiritual approach to life in today's world requires significant commitment. The guidelines in the last issue of The Holy Encounter will hopefully serve as a gentle hand gesturing in the direction of peace, purpose, and meaning. Practicing them, and the teachings of the Course, will help to remind us that we have a choice in all circumstances, and a chance to bring about positive and lasting change.

Use Science to Discover Unity

For those of you who may want to look elsewhere than the world's spiritual traditions for signs of our essential unity, you'll discover them by reading any of the sciences. This can also be helpful when discussing spirituality with someone who may not share our views. All sciences ultimately point to a basic shared reality within and among the systems and sub-systems they explore. As an example, let's look at the world through the eyes of modern physics. I think you will see a remarkable support for the teachings of the Course.

Although science has historically been a process that separates and isolates in order to understand, some contemporary approaches have used an "integrate and synthesize" model. And some of the more recent findings offer an empirical framework for demonstrating unity and the interconnectedness of all things.

Einstein saw such phenomena as the law of gravity and the theory of relativity of space and time as explaining certain situations previously incomprehensible. He looked for inter-relatedness and found it. The concept of the unified field of energy provided a framework within which different, seemingly separate, laws of physics could be related to a more fundamental and unifying law.

Science has finally discovered what we know to be true in the Course: that we can no longer make a division between mind and matter, mind and body, wave and particle, space and time, you and I. Peace Psychology expands this to say that we can no longer divide the world into separate and distinct nations, cultures, and individuals, and pretend that they have no impact upon one another. Such a realization directly impacts our approach to preventing and/or recovering from tragedy because it becomes clear that we cannot survive, thrive, or fully heal while living in isolation and opposition. This is consistent with the Course, and this is true in our homes, in the workplace, and among nations. Science has taught us, like it or not, that we are all intimately related. A poem I wrote elaborates:

Like the newness of a pale green plant
emerging from the decay of a fallen tree,
hope, connection, and belonging
can be born from the despair of tragedy.
Healing comes from the discovery of love deep within,
and then allowing this love to direct our lives.

How to Develop the Courage to Overcome Any Obstacle

When we divide that which is whole into parts, we fall into a state of "dis-ease." Complete healing is impossible when we believe that we are separate and isolated from each other and God. Just as cancer attacks our bodies, so, too, does dualism (i.e. the ego) attack our individual and collective consciousness, creating imbalance and conflict.

Dualistic logic (the ego) is based on the mistake of identifying and substituting an idea for the reality it attempts to describe. The entire concept of separation, for example, can be illustrated by the analogy of a fun house mirror, which appears to distort whatever is placed before it. In dualism we see the contorted image as real, rather than as a distorted reflection of ourselves. To awaken means that we stop believing in the distorted image that we've created and start believing in the whole image that God created.

Non-dualistic awareness (the ego) uncovers the essence of reality itself (i.e., oneness and love) and realizes that it lies beyond ideas, beliefs, and rhetoric. What is born out of dualistic thought (which is usually at its height after a tragedy such as war) is an attitude and a way of being that is aggressive, exclusive, defensive, and militant. On the other hand, non-dualistic thought gives birth to a mind that is all-encompassing and all-reconciling, and extends a peaceful and loving attitude to others.

Although a non-dualistic approach to life as presented in the Course makes sense when we look at it intellectually, in the turmoil of tragedy it takes courage to adopt such a view. This is because our fear -- not to mention the fears of others -- loudly asserts that a dualistic model is much safer. The following story illustrates the need for courage in overcoming dualism when recovering from tragedy. This story also reveals that it is never too late to heal.

The Courage to Heal

Barbara, now forty-two, lost both of her parents in an accident when she was ten. Since that time she'd been living in fear, though she didn't really recognize that she was. She had a successful career, a supportive husband, and many friends. Yet she was never able to experience any real happiness or security in her life, and peace of mind escaped her. It was as though she lived in a small box, with walls constructed of her unconscious fear of losing the important people in her life.

She was controlling and uncomfortable with anything unplanned in both her work and in her personal relationships. In her own words, "I'm afraid a great deal of the time but I never let on, not even to myself. When I was a kid my life was pretty normal, and then everything changed forever in a single day. Now as an adult, I find I usually flee from emotional closeness with another human being. Sometimes I have even resorted to alcohol. With most people, I converse, laugh, and act perfectly normal, but inside I feel distant and alone. As I say this I realize that I'm still afraid of what I want most: honest and intimate relationships. I'm afraid if I have them, one day they will all be taken away. I couldn't bear that happening again."

In my work with Barbara, we focused on a number of specific actions and insights as part of her healing process. They are listed below. As you read each one, try to apply it to your own situation.

Exercise: Take Courageous Actions

1. No matter how painful your feelings are, don't run from them.
2. Make every attempt to own your fear and anger, and decide to turn it over to God. Resist trying to control the world and the people in it, and don't blame yourself or other people for your feelings.
3. Ask yourself if you are coming from love or from fear. Instead of feeling victimized, choose to take positive action in your life no matter how grave the circumstances appear.
4. Seek to understand your fears.
5. Communicate your feelings, both "positive" and "negative" ones. If no one is there to listen, write them down. Find some way to express yourself.
6. Ask yourself, "How do I want to feel about my life and my relationships five years from now?" Start that process today.
7. Know that healing is possible at anytime, and that it has little to do with the situation and everything to do with your outlook (i.e., dualistic vs. non-dualistic thinking). Healing comes from working with your own attitudes, wounds, and perceptions.
8. Recognize that it's never too late to heal, and that the opportunity to amend childhood or previous trauma and pain is always there. Know that your present and future happiness depend only on changing your own mind.
9. Release blame, guilt, and anger, both for yourself and for the benefit of others.

I remember Barbara's last visit at the end of our time together. When I pointed out how courageous she had been, she said,

"For many years I certainly wouldn't have considered myself courageous. I wasn't sure what courage was, but it appeared difficult, something to be avoided. There were never any messages or stories when I was a kid about what it was like for a girl to be courageous, and certainly nothing about overcoming my fears following Mom and Dad's death. It was always the prince who saved the damsel in distress, and so I thought that a husband would be the answer to my lack of happiness."

"When I was a teenager, the Vietnam War was brought into my living room, and it seemed that courageous people were dying for a cause I couldn't understand -- a lousy idea to me. As an adult in the business world, the word 'courageous' seemed to characterize egotistical people who did meaningless things for attention." Barbara took a long breath, fighting back tears, and continued. "I now see that the most courageous act we can do is to open our hearts to love, even when our fears are telling us to be suspicious and closed down."

Click here to receive a current copy of The Holy Encounter.

How to Overcome Feeling Separate and Helpless: Part Three

It always takes courage to heal from tragedy, and our current world situation is no exception. Although such acts are often difficult to undertake and complete, eventually they will lead to increased peace of mind. Eventually, because at the start of any healing process, one's fears are likely to increase before finally settling down. I have heard this from so many Course students in the first months of their practice. We must remember, acts of true courage are always acts of the heart, and acts of the heart are guided by God.

I think it is consistent with the Course to define courage as choices and actions that move us toward love by confronting and healing the fears that stem from the dualistic thinking of the ego. With this definition, our most courageous act becomes the singular pursuit of experiencing the peace of God, or more simply put, to practice the Course.

Before moving on, I would like to share with you a trauma that happened to me, and how taking the actions listed in the previous two articles (based on the Course) assisted me in my healing. As many of you know, about ten years ago, my hearing began to deteriorate due to a difficult illness, and eventually chemotherapy was prescribed. Within a short time I became severely deaf, and could no longer practice clinical psychology in the way that I always had. As a result, I needed to refer my patients and resign from the medical staff of the local hospital, something that took me years of work to obtain. Concurrently, my marriage hit a rocky stretch. If someone had asked me a year earlier what was most important to me, I would have said my family and my work.

I share these struggles with you because I learned a great deal about courage during that time. I had to find the courage to face my overwhelming fears of losing my health, my hearing, and my partner who I had known since our teenage years. Courage was needed to envision a positive life without them. Sometimes out of fear I acted out of anger. Sometimes I felt like a victim. I finally had to dig deep inside myself to see that all of these challenges were ultimately opportunities to learn more about trust and love. By practicing the lessons presented in the Course, I was able, over time, to create a happy and fulfilling life. Ironically, I would not be writing this today if that period of tragedy hadn't occurred, for part of my healing included a decision to share what I've learned with others through the written word.

In the throes of my despair, I wrote the following prayer for myself:

During this most challenging time, may I be given the strength and courage not to judge, criticize, gossip, manipulate, control, rage, or give up. Instead, may I be given the courage to forgive, trust, and support, to be honest and available, and to be guided by Your Wisdom.

Know That Whatever the Problem, Forgiveness Is Part of the Solution

I recall the wisdom of Haridas Chaudhuri, a former professor of mine. To paraphrase: "Inherent in non-dualism, our natural state is the power of reconciliation of a multiplicity of ideologies and thought systems. As we see our unity within all that is, we recognize the validity of all cultures and spiritual traditions."

If the fundamental reality of being is a state of oneness, wholeness, or non-dual awareness, yet our experience in the modern world is quite different from that, it follows that some kind of split has occurred. It is important to look at the pattern of dualistic thought through which the experience of "us vs. them," in all its varied forms, has been formed.

Let us use the term "large self" to describe the spiritual self that experiences unity with all that is, and the term "small self" to denote the self that experiences its world as separate and isolated. The small self (which is often manifested in response to tragedy) forms the split by identifying itself as a distinct and separate individual. This in turn initiates a belief that the suffering of others, the domination of the environment, and acts of violence have little to do with it. In contrast, the large self experiences itself as both individual and universal.

Our current personal and international situation is one where we have created many worlds from one humanity, and in the process we have failed to remember our common bond and shared destiny. As long as we continue to deny this underlying unity, especially following any tragedy, we will remain unhealed. In the worst of cases we will continue to use violence as medicine, which will lead to further illness. To use the system of the body as a metaphor: If a physician fails to consider the interdependence of each organ, a well-intentioned treatment to heal one of them could cause unseen complications in others, and sometimes even death. And so if we fail to acknowledge the interdependence of all humans and all cultures when a tragedy of global proportions occurs, we will inevitably take actions that lead to additional and unnecessary hardship and suffering.

When we impose a split upon the unity of consciousness, we cause the birth of dualism. It is akin to holding a grid up to the sky, looking through it, and believing that the sky is not a single image but many "separate skies." When humans repress their awareness of life's underlying unity, a feeling of separateness is sure to follow. As we then observe all the separate skies around us, we forget that we are looking at the world through a grid. No longer aware of our essential oneness, we then project this false "reality grid" onto the various relationships around us. This is how the separation-denial-projection process keeps recycling.

If our natural state is oneness with God, nature, and other human beings, then it follows that a very strong part of the human mind is able to override this awareness with the thought "let there be distinction." The sense of oneness, love, or unity, which ultimately is experienced as inner peace, succumbs to the guidance of this misguided voice and becomes repressed. The mind thus programmed projects this illusion of separateness as God vs. self, environment vs. organism, life vs. death, body vs. mind, us vs. them, you vs. me.

A history of avoidable tragedy has been caused by fights over ideology. When we see ourselves as separate we must also guard our beliefs, for they are the life-vest that keeps our self-identity afloat. We fear their loss in such an intense way that we are willing to fight and kill to protect them. We react with rigid adherence to our principles: we judge, feel threatened by, and ultimately attack those who don't share the same views or who seek to make us change them.

Some people think that healing this separation would eliminate the beliefs that make us unique, but this isn't the case at all; unity and sameness are not synonymous, as any long time Course student knows. By seeing and recognizing humanity's interconnectedness, people become open-minded enough to allow the full breadth of humanness to come forth without feeling the need to defend one way as the right way. A key part of the personal and global solution to tragedy caused by violence and/or hatred is to transcend the dichotomies that we so often see in the world.

It is important to ask what the outcomes are from living "as if" these illusions of dualism are true. The Course, in many ways, teaches us this. In the most extreme cases, we see the level of justification needed to carry out and defend senseless violence such as terrorist acts. We also see the short-sighted thinking that leads to ravaging the environment to fill immediate needs while denying the fact that our children will pay for it later.

On a personal scale, we project the disowned or disintegrated parts of ourselves onto other people in our lives, especially during challenging times: We yell at our kids when we are angry at something else. We find fault in our spouse when there is something within our self we don't want to look at. We make God distant because we feel guilty for our actions or angry about something that has happened.

So instead of casting stones at groups and individuals that we feel are doing wrong, let's focus our energies on uncovering the projections in our own lives. By doing so we begin the process of forgiveness and will learn to love more fully. Someone once told me that if there is any purpose to tragedy, it is to deepen our inner strength and help us to learn the power of forgiveness. This is necessary if our personal lives and the world situation are going to heal and change.

The following prayer was written by Howard Wills as part of a daily devotional practice entitled, The Gift of Life. I have found its words and its use of repetition enormously valuable in overcoming the damage that results when projection and tragedy intersect. As I wrote in the beginning of this book, should any of the terminology not fit with your beliefs, simply delete or change words or phrases in order to accommodate your own spiritual perspective.

Prayer of Complete Personal Forgiveness

I bless this day and give thanks for my life.
Lord in heaven, I am your child, Your humble child.
I give You my love, and I thank You for Your constant love and blessings.
For all people who have hurt me, mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, sexually, financially, or in any other way, Lord, I ask that You help me to forgive and release completely and totally.
Please Lord, please Lord, thank you Lord, thank you Lord, thank you.
And with God's help I do forgive and release completely and totally all people who have hurt me.
Thank you Lord in Heaven.
For all people I have hurt, mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, sexually, financially, or in any other way I apologize to all of you and ask that you please forgive me.
Lord in Heaven, please help all people I have hurt to forgive and release me completely and totally.
Please Lord, please Lord, thank you Lord, thank you Lord, thank you.
And I thank all people for forgiving and re leasing me completely and totally, with God's help.
Thank you Lord in Heaven.
For all the times I hurt myself, mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, sexually, financially, or in any other way I apologize to myself for all my hurts and wrongs to myself, and I ask to be forgiven.
Lord in Heaven, I ask that You help me to forgive and release myself completely and totally.
Please Lord, please Lord, thank you Lord, thank you Lord, thank you.
And with God's help I do forgive and release myself completely and totally.
Thank You Lord in Heaven.
For all life forms I have hurt in any way, at any time I apologize for my hurts or wrongs to all life forms and I ask to be forgiven.
Lord in Heaven, I ask that you help me to be forgiven for my hurts or wrongs to all life forms.
Thank you Lord in Heaven.
Lord, I ask that you bless all these relationships, fill us with Your Love, and grant us all complete peace.
Please Lord, please Lord, thank you Lord, thank you Lord, thank you.
Thank you Lord in Heaven.

Click here to receive a current copy of The Holy Encounter.

How to Overcome Feeling Separate and Helpless: Part Four

Learn from the Mistakes You Make During Periods of Despair

Opportunities to love more deeply come to us every day, and they often follow a mistake. For example, I had been very concerned with the terrorist attacks on September 11 and our global response to it. I was working quite hard on this book and was exhausted by the end of the day. The night before I was short with my oldest daughter during a time when patience was the far better response. I realized, paradoxically, that here I was, working like crazy on a book for overcoming tragedy and creating peace in the world, and peace in my own home was diminishing. I immediately decided to pay more attention to what was happening inside me so I could be more loving, not just with my daughter, but with everyone in my family.

Clearly, during periods of tragedy and loss, the tension in our homes can run high and it's easy to run out of patience. This is the time that our children are likely to push our limits because of a deep need to feel reassured and connected. The good news is that children are quick to forgive when they know that we're truly sorry, and the depth of connection that grows after such a storm is often richer and deeper than before. Our children are true teachers of peace. (At the end of Part One, you will find a brief section on how to talk with children about tragedy. A recommended reading list for parents and children appears at the end of the book.) Whatever you do when dealing with a personal or global crisis, be sure to include family members and loved ones in any healing process you undertake.

Wake from the Dream of Separation

Following any tragedy, the gloom of anger, despair, blame, and hate can create a blackness so deep that we believe there is no connection between us and anyone at all. Certainly in war we don't see any connections between ourselves and the enemy. And while these layers of darkness can hide our true relationship with others in this world, it cannot put out the light that, however faint, is shared among us all through God.

When one lives in the dream of darkness, it is difficult to imagine any response other than meeting hatred with hatred, violence with violence, anger with anger, attack with attack, sickness with despair. Yet the world needs us to awaken, and during those brief moments when we experience our large self, we are gently nudged to open our eyes. If we pay attention to this "gentle nudging," it can become the foundation for inner and global peace. It can be the greater response to any tragedy we may suffer.

The alternative to awakening to our oneness is to continue seeing the world as made up of disjointed fragments separated from each other and from their Source. With this view, we keep fooling ourselves into thinking that we achieve safety and security only when we dominate, eliminate, and/or control our environment and the people in it. This is most easily seen on the international level. We remain caught in the undertow of the illusion that we are disunited, and bring more misery to ourselves and others.

It is of course difficult to awaken from a dream if you don't know that you are asleep. Tragedy can be that alarm clock, the call to spiritual awakening, or a heavy gate that keeps us locked in our nightmare. Because we've become addicted to dualistic thinking and don't realize it, there is an obvious problem getting started on the path to individual and global peace. Further, we become defensive at the threat of losing that duality. A story I heard some time ago illustrates this:

There once was a boy who was born cross-eyed and with double vision. He had a kind father who decided to wait until the boy was older to tell him that he saw the world quite differently than it actually was. When the boy turned thirteen, the father took him on a walk one night and gently told him of his handicap. The boy, quite shocked, said, "No, Father, you are mistaken! If I saw double I would see four moons instead of two!"

The most common response to the suggestion that we shift to a personal and global view of unity is that it's a dangerous and naive way of being in today's complicated world. In actuality, it is dualistic thought that jeopardizes us, for it is this way of thinking that not only keeps us from personal happiness but one day could launch an unparalleled war.

Know That Giving is Always a Part of the Answer

Following a tragedy, the quickest way to set upon a path of healing is through service and giving of self. The magic about giving is that it helps us to see things more clearly. When the mind is fearful, it is clouded in ignorance; when we give to others, our hearts and minds open up, and we see our connection not only to whom we are giving but also to all of life. Hope springs forth!

In ignorance, we believe that what we see exists in isolation. By comparison, freedom and true intelligence come from seeing things in their wholeness and inter-relatedness. Such a recognition, along with a commitment to creating inner and global peace, will accelerate recovery from a tragedy or trauma and help prevent them in the first place. Prayer, contemplation, and compassionate giving are the keys.

When we pray, the veil of ignorance is lifted, the walls of separation that we have built begin to crumble, and the borders we have drawn begin to fade. Try repeating the following simple prayer throughout the day, and observe if anything changes:

Prayer to Awaken and See

Dear God, help me to awaken to all you would have me see.

What Does All This Mean about Atrocities Such as War and Terrorism?

The world is a rapidly changing place. By the time you read this, the stories on the daily news will be different from what they are as I write these words today. Right now we are involved in a war on terrorism, a fight that will likely continue for some time, and a fight that holds many similarities to any battle of "good vs. evil." It therefore seems appropriate to consider terrorism in a spirit of learning and healing.

I recently received a letter from my dear friend Beverly Hutchinson. The candor and wisdom of her thoughts moved me to more fully recognize the deeper human condition. I have incorporated many of her words and insights into the following discussion.

Terrorist acts are born out of a belief in separation, and are done in secret and darkness to promote fear and wreak havoc. Their intent is to disrupt the status quo, make us feel alone, vulnerable, and separate, and throw us off our feet. Terrorism is an act of cowardice. It assumes no responsibility. It thinks its attacks are an act of strength but they really are acts of weakness, because it believes another person's suffering can contribute to a higher cause.

Though none of us are terrorists, a part of our mind can think in similar ways. As this country was awakened by terrorist attacks, so, too, can we be awakened by our own "terrorist" thoughts. It is time to expose those thoughts to the light to see the real purpose that God would have us learn. The unforgiving thought, anger toward an irritating co-worker, the irreconcilable family situation, are all like missiles of hate launched at our or another's heart, because all such hurtful intentions deeply affect one's happiness. It is time to take responsibility for them so they can be healed; not out of guilt but out of love, because we want to be healed, we want peace, and we want the same for others.

Many spiritual disciplines tell us, "You will see things differently as you forgive." This is now our prayer. We can make a difference in the world as we heal our minds and come to see the unity we have denied. Don't let the fearful or angry parts of your mind divert you from looking within. It may be easier to blame those in other countries or even those in your own town, but now is not a time to be distracted. We must be vigilant for God and His Kingdom, and that Kingdom is within. Find peace this day within your heart. Take a moment to turn to God, to remember the Love that is your essence, to allow forgiveness to be your function, and to let the healing of your mind be your goal

Click here to receive a current copy of The Holy Encounter.

Basic Truths for Crazy Times

A helpful undertaking during crazy times is to get back to basics. I find that simple notes to myself on applying spiritual principles to my life can be very helpful. The following are a few basic spiritual ideas that come to mind as I look at our world today. Many are certainly not new, especially to students of the Course, yet I believe it is helpful to return to a rudimentary foundation once in a while.

Know where to find the truth.

We have all had the experience of losing something, such as our car keys, and looking all over for them. No doubt at such moments we vow to always put them in a certain place so we will know where they are. Think of the present moment as the place where God has placed the truth. It is safe for us to find, waiting patiently all the time, even when we are looking elsewhere. The past and the future are where the ego leads you on a wild goose chase for your happiness. In reality, the past is filled with opinions of other people about yourself, judgments that have been brewing in anger, resentments that you believe are justified, and guilt that you think is so real you cannot see past it. These poisonous attitudes, thoughts, and emotions become a part of your belief system and keep happiness away from you and the people you love. The only way that you can escape this is to come to the present moment with an open mind. Here you find the truth, and the truth always has the power to release you into freedom.

Become a love finder instead of a fault finder

Think of the quality of your life and relationships as always being an extension of what thoughts you hold in your mind. If you fill your mind with judgmental, angry, and resentful thoughts you will have relationships that are filled with conflict and devoid of love. Finding faults in others and then holding onto them is a sure guarantee for experiencing suffering and pain. Being a fault finder is a habit that needs to be broken if you want peace. Conversely, whenever you decide to see people in your life as God would have you see them, peace is immediately yours.

Release negative judgment towards yourself

Your mind has accumulated many thoughts, perceptions, and beliefs about yourself. Of these, a small percentage are actually true. My daughter's seventh grade teacher recently disallowed the use of most Internet material in research. His reasoning was that so much of the information on the Internet is not accurate and the students believe it is true for no other reason than it is on the Internet. Similarly, you tend to believe what is in your mind simply because it is in your mind. Much of it is not true. As different as it may sound to you, learn to not take all of what is in your mind as being truths about yourself.

The most honest thing that you can do is to not think you know all about yourself or somebody else. The true nature of who you are is beyond your grasp. Once you recognize this you can be free of the judgments that you cannot really make. In doing this you begin to look upon yourself, your partner, and all others and see the peace in which God created you.

Prayer for Release

Father, guide me to allow Your creation to be itself. Let me not see my judgments toward myself or others as the truth. Instead, lead me to loving and respecting myself as you do, so that I may extend the same.

Don't make other people's negative opinions your own

On any given day we are surrounded by many different viewpoints and opinions. You will be well served to remember that little, if any, of this is reflective of spiritual truth. What other people say and how they act is reflective of their own history and their own reality. At night we all dream, but we typically don't take other people's nighttime dreams personally. We know they are their dreams, not ours. Waking life, in regard to opinions, is much the same. When you stop taking on the negative opinions and actions of others as your own you will not be a victim any longer. A key to ending personal suffering is to turn to God, not negative opinions and actions of others, to find truth.

Know what the body is for

Many Course students get confused about what is said about the body. This is how I look at it. The ego (i.e. the part of your mind that is fearful and believes it is separate from God and all else) will use the body quite differently than God. The ego creates everything for one purpose: To construct a fence to separate yourself from other people and from God. From fear the ego believes that living behind a fence is how security and refuge are achieved. The ego uses the body in exactly this manner and irrationally convinces you that you're safe, even as the body becomes sick and eventually dies.

After having experienced loss and pain in relationships, it is common to believe that you can remain safe behind the fence of the body, keeping the pain you identify with love outside of yourself. Within the fence which the body has become, you believe you are safe from what you fear love will bring.

At some level you know the body will not last forever. Paradoxically, though this can bring anxiety to the ego because it does not want to look at death, it also adds to the irrationality of what the ego believes is safety. To the ego the impermanence of the body gives you an out. Sickness and death become an escape from the fearful world you created and believe is real. In this crazy world the impermanence of the body becomes both feared and relied upon to end suffering.

The body is nothing more than a dream -- sometimes a happy dream and other times a terrifying nightmare. In any relationship the body can bring you fear and separation or it can bring you closer to other people and God. The outcome is dependent upon the purpose that you assign to the body.

Though the ego's purpose of the body is a fence, your body can be directed to become a way in which you return to real health. Real health is defined as inner peace, and healing as the letting go of fear. In healing, the body is used to extend your hand in love. In real healing the purpose of your body is to be a vehicle of joining so that you may walk with others on the path to God. In utilizing the body for healing (i.e. the letting go of fear) the body now communicates the love of God that the ego had intended to sever from in fear.

You will always go to what you believe will make you safe. Even when in reality this "safety" is actually dangerous, you will still go to it. Part of seeing the bigger picture is knowing what is true safety and what is not. Only love holds safety for you. Choose then to make the body a vehicle for love and come to know true safety and security. Know that love is your home and the fearful world the ego created with its use of the body will cease to exist

Click here to receive a current copy of The Holy Encounter.

Spiritually Based Communication

Though A Course in Miracles does not directly say such, I believe a basic teaching is that every interaction that you have holds the opportunity for spiritual practice and advancement.

Suppose you landed a new job doing something you had always dreamed of, but had little real training for. On the first day of work your boss instructs you to watch the person whom you are replacing and do as they do -- even though they have failed miserably at the task. Further, you are instructed that if you have any questions, keep them to yourself, or ask someone who pretends to know the answers. Finally, you are told that rather than putting time into learning what is necessary for your success, you should spend most of your time doing something that you don't like as much and holds little importance to you.

This scenario would obviously be a setup for failure. How can we be successful at something we have no positive training for, have lousy role models for, and have little time that we invest in it? We can't, and this is precisely why so many human interactions fall short of what they are capable of. Think for a moment of four questions:

1. Do you typically feel increased peace and happiness following all of your communications with people?
2. Who were your role models for communication while you were growing up (usually our parents)?
3. How much real training have you had in developing effective and compassionate communication where everybody involved wins?
4. How much more time do you put into things in your life that are less important to you than creating happiness and spiritual strength?

In answering these questions for myself I had to admit that I did not have the depth of spirituality and compassionate communication in my life that I wanted. My early role models were disastrous in their interactions. I had no practical training in how to have positive exchanges that bring one closer to God, and I invested a good deal of time in areas that were not as important to me as spirituality and communication. There was no way I was going to be happy and with consistent peace unless I changed. I realized that in regard to communication I was not all that much different than the example of the new job. I needed help. For me, the Course has given me this help over the last twenty plus years. Below I discuss what I consider to be the first of four pillars of spiritually based communication. I think you will find it to be consistent with the teachings of the Course.

The First Pillar of Spiritually Based Communication: Be Mindful of Your Use of Time

Someplace other than the now does not exist.

Imagine that you have three lenses which you can choose to look through whenever you interact with someone. The first lens is clouded with past memories, resentments, and guilt. When you hold it up to your eye it is most difficult to see what is happening now. The second lens is occluded with worries and fears about what will happen in the future. This too greatly reduces your ability to see clearly what is happening right now. The third lens is of the present moment. It is clean and clear, allowing you to see the truth and react to it.

Time in its linear sequence of past and future is an illusion. Though at first it may seem abstract to think in this way, the direct practicality of this truth can save you great suffering. The truth is that the past and future do not exist except in your mind.

Quite simply and literally, time is a concept, not a fact based in reality. Most would agree that we have the ability to look at the same situation from a variety of angles or mindsets, and that this determines our experience. These "angles" are really based on how we perceive time.

From where you are right now you can create the life of your dreams

Your use of time can create the life of your dreams, or it can demolish all that you hold dear. Being mindful of your use of time in your interactions can create beauty, compassion, and paradise on earth. Conversely, focusing on the fearful past or worrying about the future as you speak can make your life and the world a living hell.

Realize and utilize the power of your thoughts in every interaction

Your thoughts are the force behind your successes and your failures. A first step in any communication is to determine what you want to be thinking while you are having it. Most people never even think about this, yet it is the key to any successful interaction. Your thoughts are the most powerful tool that you have at your disposal in directing a conversation to a spiritually positive outcome. This is a gift that God has given you and is available to you each and every moment of your life, no matter what the circumstances may be.

Happiness comes from knowing that now is the only time there is and each instant is for giving

If you want to live a life full of happiness, it is important to know where happiness comes from. When you are "in happiness," you are being in the moment and seeing things clearly. When you are not in happiness you are projecting a negative past into the present, and anticipating more of the same in the future. When you speak from seeing the world, yourself, and whom you are speaking with as they are in the moment, you will be creating happiness. This is because the present moment will always set you in the direction of love, happiness, and truth.

Don't allow your mind to be filled with thoughts of the past in the form of gossip or sharp judgments. Instead, be willing to bring forth the truth of who a person is (including yourself) by seeing them clearly in the present. Then your thoughts, actions, and words will be coming from integrity, and happiness will be a natural outcome.

Giving and receiving are the same

Perhaps more than any other spiritual truth, this one can offer you immediate release from the bondage of the past. If you want freedom, offer it. If you want love, extend it. If you want happiness, give with a smile. In modern psychology, including some of my previous books, there has been much discussion on co-dependency. In co-dependency, giving can become problematic because it is giving from a sense of lack and low self-worth. In contrast, spiritually based communication begins from recognizing your connection with God and extends from there.

Refuse the poisonous potions of the past and drink the sweet truths of the present

In the course of your life and interactions with people, you will be offered many different emotions to ingest into your system, into your being. If you take from others the sharp judgments and guilt of the past and ingest them, you are making yourself a victim and more predators will seek you out. Nourishment for your soul is always available to you through the perceptions of yourself that reside in the present moment, under God's direction.

Like all spiritual truths, when two join in this realization even more power is created. In your communications, have the goal of offering the other person the sweet nectars of the present. When able, mutually commit to stop wanting anyone, including yourself, to ever drink from a cup containing toxic resentments, irrational fears, and poisonous judgments.

Recognize the heart of spirituality

Being mindful of your use of time holds the key to success, boundless abundance, and infinite freedom. If all of the world's spiritual teachings could be summed up in four words it may well be, "Love from the moment." It is this one action that can promise to deliver us to the Kingdom of Heaven. When this is the goal of all of your interactions, the power of healing is beyond comprehension.

Be willing to let go

I can remember many times in my life when somebody did something that I did not like or approve of. I became like a dog with a bone in his mouth, endlessly gnawing on what happened and unwilling to let go of anger and judgment. Peace seemed nowhere to be found.

Over the years I have found a central part of my spiritual path is developing a general willingness to let go. I have come to the following recognition: "Endlessly holding onto what happened in the past will limit my ability to communicate effectively and will greatly reduce my experience of peace of mind."

Complete old relationships before you start new ones

For much of my life I had a difficult time with knowing how to change or end a relationship. I had a hard time placing a period after a relationship, even when it was clearly over and the other person had moved on. One of the primary reasons for any kind of failed communication is carrying your unhealed history into the present.

Many people think that all they need to do in regard to past relationships -- be it with lovers, parents, friends, or business associates-- is practice "out with the old, in with the new." When a relationship goes sour many think that all that is needed is to move on to something "new and improved." Many people use the phrase "being over it" as synonymous with being so angry that they would never think about returning.

In order to have spiritually based communication take four consecutive actions: 1) Decide to heal old wounds. 2 ) Don't throw salt on other people's wounds when you see them. 3) Don't deny your wounds when they arise. 4) Ask the Holy Spirit for guidance.

Click here to receive a current copy of The Holy Encounter.

The Holy Instant Is Every Moment

The upcoming conference in Anaheim this August is themed around the holy instant. Seems like a topic that is perfect for our times. In this article I begin to whet your appetite for what will surely be a wonderful gathering, as it always is. I hope to see you all there!

Each summer my family spends an extended time in Hawaii. Upon my first step into the tropical air, I can feel the peace of the holy instant. No doubt it is pretty easy to feel the peace of the holy instant while sitting upon a white sand beach in Hawaii, waves lapping upon the shore, my daughters playing or reading with me as the day drifts by.

Other times it is not so easy to experience the peace of the holy instant. As some of you know from reading my books, I have had quite a lot of physical challenges throughout my life. I thought that they were pretty much over, until recently a new challenge arose. As I write this article, I am recovering from double pneumonia that landed me in the hospital in serious condition. I became ill with high fevers to 105 degrees and profound chills and rigors. I was treated with intramuscular injections and I.V. antibiotics, but my condition continued to deteriorate. The fever persisted to be a problem, and other complications arose, including internal bleeding, and a neurologist was called for a spinal tap (lumbar puncture). The pneumonia was progressing poorly, and an Infectious Disease specialist and Pulmonologist (lung specialist) were contacted for assistance in the treatment of atypical pneumonia. I finally responded to the new antibiotics and pulmonary therapy, and began to recover.

I would like to tell you that all during this time I was prayerful and peaceful. Truth is that most of the time I was pretty out of it with fevers while my body fought for life. Yet, I truly believe that nothing happens where there is not an opportunity to experience the holy instant, and the lessons God would have us learn. Looking back and listening to the doctors now, I see how sick I was and how physical death can be very quickly at our door. Yet this is not what the holy instant offers me right now. As I write I am aware of other things about my illness that are huge gifts. I am aware of the gentility and unconditional love of those dear to me: Robin, my father and Diane, my brother, my kids. I am aware of just how precious each moment is with my children and friends. I am aware of the value of each person who crosses my path, that we are all children of God. All of these are the gifts that were, and are, in the holy instant -- if I choose to see that there is another way to look at all challenges, including illness.

When we say, "There is another way of seeing this situation," we are beginning to indirectly ask a part of our mind to be exercised that has long been dormant: the part that is our direct connection to God through the holy instant. The core of the Course, I believe, is not all that difficult to grasp once we see that, essentially, there are two aspects of our mind that we always choose between. One is the "Fear-Based Thinking." The other is the "God-Centered Thinking." (These terms help make some concepts in the Course easier for me to understand.) Each of these can be thought of as its own complete mind set, with its own distinct logic and view of cause and effect. One leads to the awareness of the holy instant, the other away from it.

Fear-Based Thinking, as the name implies, is based on all of our fears. This mind set constantly searches for past experiences to reinforce its beliefs that we are something other than whole and created by the love of God, thus taking us away from the awareness of the holy instant. Simply put, the ten commandants of Fear-Based Thinking are:

1. Fear is real.
2. Guilt is a good motivator.
3. The negative past will likely repeat itself and is the basis of reality.
4. The future should be worried about and controlled.
5. I am fundamentally alone.
6. Defense and attack create safety.
7. Negative judgment leads to change.
8. Comparison is helpful.
9. Always being right is important.
10. Blame makes me feel better.

God-Centered Thinking, or our "inner guidance," is based on love and compassion, and brings us to the awareness of the holy instant. God-Centered Thinking recognizes the interconnectedness of life. It is the source of kindness, empathy, and understanding. The ten commandments of God-Centered Thinking that lead to the awareness of the holy instant are:

1. Love is the core of who you are.
2. Forgiveness is the path to happiness.
3. The present moment brings freedom and is the basis of reality.
4. Choice is always with you.
5. You are a part of all life.
6. Extending compassion always results in something positive.
7. Acceptance of God-Centered Thinking leads to change.
8. Seeing commonalities creates positive relationships with others.
9. Being happy and peaceful is important. The peace of God is the only goal that is important.
10. We are each responsible for how we feel and react.

No matter how much we may believe it to be true, it is never external circumstances that determine what our inner experience is, and we are well served do our best to not lose awareness of the holy instant, no matter what is going on. For example, when you come home and say to your spouse, "Boy, did I ever have a bad day," the automatic response is usually "What happened?" Though this may be helpful, because listening is always useful, it is asking the wrong question. In asking "What happened?" you are reinforcing the belief that circumstances are responsible for how you each feel and respond. The more appropriate response--even though it sounds awkward--would be, "What were you believing today?" or, "Let's take a moment right now to apply God-Centered Thinking to the day and return our awareness to the holy instant."

No matter what the circumstances, we are still responsible for our peace of mind, and it is in the holy instant that we find it. I try and remember that I, nobody else, am responsible for each and every thought that I have. None of us are a robotic computer that has no choice but to react as programmed. Our reactions and what we experience is dependent upon which aspect of our mind we are utilizing. This is at the source of the old saying, "If life gives you lemons, make lemonade."

When you are having a challenging time with a particular person or situation and decide to say, "I can choose to ask God for a different perception of this, and a different way to respond," you are directing your mind to shift from Fear-Based Thinking and to God-Centered Thinking and the holy instant. However, the voice of Fear-Based Thinking does not give up without a fight. Nonetheless, over time as you begin to quiet your thoughts and ask for help from the Holy Spirit, God-Centered Thinking begins to guide you in your affairs, and the awareness of the holy instant is increasingly present.

It is often difficult after years of trusting the loud voice of fear to begin to trust the gentle voice of God. Committing to making this shift can truly be seen as the core of a spiritual path.

"This holy instant would I give to You.
Be You in charge. For I would follow You,
Certain that Your direction gives me peace."
(WB361 - 365)

Click here to receive a current copy of The Holy Encounter.