I’ve been reading A Course in Miracles (ACIM) recently and at times am quite overcome by its profundity. Yesterday I was on Chapter 4 of the Urtext (the original, unedited version) and came across this:
“…unless you take part in the creation, His (God’s) joy is not complete because yours is incomplete…The constant going out of His love is blocked when His channels are closed and He is lonely when the minds He created do not communicate fully with Him.
The idea that I might have some effect on God never occurred to me before. As I read that passage, it really startled me to think that anything I might do in the way of not being present to who God is, in not allowing that connection to be uppermost in my mind and heart, could mean that I in some way cause God to feel that distance between us.
I’ve said many times that we’re all connected, because it’s what I truly believe and know in my soul, but it never once dawned on me that anything I might do could be felt by God and cause Him to feel anything other than peace and love. I’m not sure how, but that one passage in a rather large tome of deeply profound passages, has changed my entire outlook.
I first heard about ACIM in the ’80’s and had no desire to even open the book to explore what was in it. Over the years, I heard mention of it occasionally and knew people who were very affected by what was written there, but still I wasn’t really interested. A year ago or so I even borrowed a friend’s book which took quotes from ACIM and culled the teaching from certain passages the authors felt especially meaningful. I just couldn’t relate.
Then a few weeks ago the Unity Church I attend began an introduction to the Course and I thought I’d go see what all the fuss is about. After the first week I thought, Nah, not for me, but then something told me to go again and that second time, something stirred in me. Now that I’m actually reading the text itself, a whole new way of thinking is opening up. And to my great delight, I feel the spirit of Jesus, of Jeshua with me as I read, filling me with a beautiful feeling of connection.
Everything comes in divine time, it’s often said, and this is my time for ACIM. I feel a certain responsibility now to be more consistently joyful and to trust that I, one individual, can help God feel a little less lonely. And of course in the process, so do I.
©Maria K. Benning, M.Ed.
