Today we begin the second review section in A Course in Miracles. We'll be revisiting two previous lessons each day for the next ten days, starting with lessons 61 and 62. Below are the links to my original blog postings for days 61 and 62:
Day 61: I am the light of the world.
Day 62: Forgiveness is my function as the light of the world.
These particular lessons were a good reminder for me today, as I awoke to some slightly upsetting news. Months ago I had entered a short film I'd written into a screenplay competition. I woke up with an email waiting, announcing the winners of the contest. I was not one of them.
Now, I realize that this is quite insignificant compared to all the tragedies befalling others in the world right now. All the same, it was a disappointment to me, and it dampened my spirits a bit. Meditating on today's lessons helped, and some insight came to me in the process.
If outside circumstances are preventing us from seeing our light within, one thing we may do is adopt the glow in others. I'd spoken before in Day 61 about joy, and how we all seem to glow when we are feeling joyous. Well, if we are feeling down, one sure way to pick our spirits up is to surround ourselves with happy people. Or, if everyone around us is also in a muck, we can find something to do that makes us happy. Of course, this is easier said than done, as the old saying "misery loves company" tends to hold true when we're feeling down. This is because our egos have already begun to take hold, and they want to make sure they retain control over our minds.
This is not to say that we should just "perk up" immediately in the presence of an unsettling situation. Feeling sad, hurt or angry is okay. We are human, and to deny our emotions only buries them deeper, turning them into something far darker in the long run. Marianne Williamson tells us that we are all "crucified" (or in other words, we all experience difficult times). We must acknowledge this to move on, but we also must not dwell on it. Otherwise, we would never experience the "resurrection" (or the lifting of our spirits).
So the solution? Acknowledge how we feel, and once we've done so, give it up to God. Then we are in a position to adopt the glow in others. Doing this will remind us of our own light, which will, in turn, bring us peace.
Another saying that came to mind during my meditation was "Look on the bright side." As I thought about this, I considered the joy that the winners of the writing competition must be feeling. Then I thought, if we are all one, I have won the contest. I also thought about how happy I'd be for those writers if I were one of their friends (rather than their competitor). Immediately, I began to feel my spirits lift. I began to feel the light inside of me shine brighter. So looking on the bright side literally means to look on the bright side. I'd never put that together until today.
Let us not forget the subject of forgiveness in the review of Lesson 62: Forgiveness is my function as the light of the world. To "adopt the glow" or "look on the bright side" is all well and good, but what if someone or something seems to make a direct attack upon us? Well, as I've mentioned before (and what A Course in Miracles would tell us) is that when someone attacks another, it is actually a cry for help. It is a calling for love. Though our ego-minded reaction would be to defend ourselves, what we must re-train our minds to do is extend love to the other. This is the only way to remain at peace. As we have heard before, "They know not what they do." That is exactly what has occurred when someone (including ourselves) lashes out in anger. At that moment, we are experiencing what we perceive to be a lack of love. We simply need to be reminded that it's still there. That is the gift we can offer someone who seems to be attacking us. That is what forgiveness is.
But what if the circumstance itself is what we have trouble forgiving? One thing we can remember is that if it's situational, it isn't personal. In reality, nothing is personal (only we can perceive it as such), but this concept is easier to grasp when no one in particular is initiating the attack. Take the subject of death, for instance. Oftentimes people take the death of a loved one personally. With nobody to blame, they blame God. In doing so, they are unable to forgive the situation. Yet if we look on the bright side, if we realize that our loved one has moved out of the physical realm and into the peaceful arms of God, we could find our ability to forgive. Again, this is far easier said than done, but the more we remind ourselves that there is a bright side, that nothing is personal, and that there is a light within us all that is inextinguishable, the easier it will become.
Let us pray, then, to be lifted out of our miseries, however trivial or serious they may appear to be. Let us ask how we may forgive, how we may learn to look on the bright side and surround ourselves with those whose glow we may borrow. And let us be reminded of the beautiful and peaceful Light that resides in the core of our being - indestructible by the sheer fact that we are all God's Children.
Until tomorrow,
Journeyman
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