I came across a piece of writing from a year ago which I want to share.
My Course practice today, based on the review of Chapter 12, is: Let me give my undivided attention to the Holy Spirit’s curriculum and become an excellent learner and teacher of love.
What is the Holy Spirit’s curriculum? For us for whom A Course in Miracles is our chosen path, it means taking this course. We need to approach it the way we would any course, which is to study the Text diligently, do the Workbook exercises, and listen to our Teacher. Jesus promises us that if we do that, we will become an excellent learner of love and an excellent teacher of love. (12:4) Currently we have a learning disability that prevents us from learning. One has to look around the world only briefly to agree with Jesus that the learning situation as we set it up is not working and that we are far from learning how to truly love. If we don’t know what love is how can we teach ourselves?
What have I learnt in the seven years that I have been studying the Course? We are thoughts in God’s mind. He created us with love and in Heaven we also became creators like Him. But we couldn’t be creators of God. We were unhappy about this, and we wanted to be special to Him, not equal to our brothers. A mad thought entered our minds and we decided to separate from God and we made this world, where we can be special and be separate. Or so we thought. In reality, we can never be separate from our Creator. The world we made has ridiculous rules. We are ruled by our egos, which we made and which we think we are trapped in. The ego is the epitome of separateness. It encourages us to think of ourselves as special and to put others down so we can be above them. There is hatred and anger in us when we cannot get what we want. We pretend to love but are mostly not capable of true love. We connect with others to get what we can from them. We belong to groups that oppose or look down on other groups. We pledge allegiance to a country, to a religion and oppose those who don’t believe what we believe, don’t look like us or who we think are inferior to us. Wars are fought on the basis of very flimsy notions such as these.
We are constantly longing for what we gave up: our connection to God and our presence in Heaven with our brothers, equally loved by God and loving each other. This longing is recognised as a need for peace of mind, which we crave and search for constantly. We are not aware consciously of why we feel this lack, this yearning for something to make our lives complete. We look for fulfilment in our relationships, in particular in our love and intimate relationships, thinking that once we meet that special someone, we will have what we want: intimate connection and true love. We soon find out that this isn’t the case. We can have loving relationships that fulfil us in some respects but we never lose the craving for meaning. Hence the drive for success in our careers. Hence the descent into alcoholism and drug abuse, which is often the path for very sensitive people. Hence the search for meaning in religion, philosophy and spiritual pursuits.
Here is where the Holy Spirit’s curriculum comes in. When we separated God gave us the Holy Spirit, as the link between Him and us, the Voice for God. The Holy Spirit is a constant presence in our lives. Because God gave us free will when He created us, the Holy Spirit cannot come in and take over and fix our lives, much as some of us might want Him to. Once we learn of His presence, we can choose to follow His guidance. We “must learn only from the Holy Spirit and teach only by Him.” (T-6.IV.4:2) and ““Teach only love, for that is what you are.” (T-6.IV.4:4) Love is the key, not just to happiness, but to eventually leaving this madness behind and returning to our true Home. We were created in love and that is what we truly are. The Holy Spirit’s curriculum teaches us how to return to that love. It teaches us how our perception can gradually be turned around so that it so closely resembles knowledge, that we will be able to transition back to our true home with God.
My aim as a Course student is to become a master of love. It is to be vigilant every second of every hour of every day, for anything that would lead me away from this goal. It is to constantly ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance, about what to do each day, direction when I am unsure, which course of action is better, or whether no action at all would be appropriate for a particular circumstance. I can seek this guidance from the Holy Spirit or Jesus, as the guidance comes from the same source. I am to give miracles and healing when guided.
In short, I am to stop seeing myself as the director of my life movie. I am to stop thinking I am in control, that I am the master of my destiny. I am to stop seeing myself as special. I am to recognise every single person I come across, both near and dear and total strangers, as my brothers, as equal Sons of God. I am to give love and be love. I am to understand that I cannot return to the Father on my own, all my brothers are to go with me. I have been given tools, in the form of the Course, to change my thinking when it is disturbing or destructive. The Course repeats its message in myriad ways. I am to also stop thinking of myself as lowly. I am the light of the world. My magnificence is not something to shy away from or act humble about. It is also not something to use to inflate my ego, but rather to recognise that my brothers are equally magnificent.
At any time, in any situation, I can ask the Holy Spirit to show me how He sees a situation. Often, I will feel unhappy or upset about something and I will tell the Holy Spirit this is how I see this situation, and ask Him how He sees it, as I am willing to see it differently. It is the Holy Spirit’s curriculum I want to pursue, not my own.
Because “The Holy Spirit’s love is your strength“, (T-12.VIII.4:1), I am willing to relinquish control and be guided by Him. Is this easy? No! The ego is stealthy and doesn’t miss a chance to trip me up. Just when I think I am doing well and start patting myself on the back, something will spark resentment, anger, defensiveness or attack. Instead of feeling shame or becoming disheartened, I can recognise that in that instance I could choose better, and do so next time. Sometimes I ignore the Holy Spirit’s guidance or forget to ask before I make a decision or take an action. But ever so slowly, minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day, I am getting better: better at asking, better at listening, better at following guidance.