Lesson 181: “I trust my brothers who are one with me.”

The Course teaches how to trust our brothers so that we can be at peace within ourselves. 

When we harbor a conflict of any sort whether overt or understated and unuttered we still maintain that experience of conflict within.  This conflict is what destroys or at least puts our peace on hold.

The Course goes to great lengths to help us understand that any little judgement is a total loss of our own peace. 

This is why the Course teaches us to be vigilant in watching our minds for judgement.  Any wee little bit- even the slightest ripple in the lake of our mind’s eye still results in our misery.

The Course says there is no little upset, it is all equally disturbing to the level of our inner quiet.  We must look at this if we are to maintain our happy place of peace.  

The Course says that our brothers and sisters are simply an occasion we get to practice being loving.  We learn how to have relationships in a way that the experience is filled with God purpose only.  The Course teaches us to love regardless of what the hassles and obstacles are.

We learn how to love in a way that makes us truly happy and peaceful, but we can still act appropriately according to our higher selves when we feel called to tell the other people we have relationships with that we may have a difference in opinion.

Or, we may want to have our needs in the connection met in a different way than they are in the current moment.

If someone pushes our buttons, we show up and extend love in the most complete way we can. 

And then we pray to the Holy Spirit and we ask for guidance about how to communicate with that person in an authentic way.

We must express how we are truly feeling but also in a way that is kind and gentle- as much as possible- and honest in the best way we know how to communicate.  And because we love the person in that relationship, we make as much effort as we can in learning the best way to communicate that feels helpful.  Also, as much as we can will set up the situation to prevent further problems in this union.

Or, we may want to modify the way we respond to create a different outcome next time so we don’t find ourselves in the same position down the line. 

The Course says that our loving others can appear any way at all.  The world may show us a whole spectrum of options of what the answer looks like.  We forgive the appearance in the world if we think it isn’t exactly as we want.  But we just remain focused on bringing as much love to this situation as we would want other people to bring us if the roles were reversed.  The Course teaches us to not limit Love.

Trust that when our hearts are soft and pliant and also warm and calm then we are in a position to bring love. 

Focus on love foremost and trust that the details of the situation may be yet unknown.  We may want to just be present with them as they come together to heal some situation.  Our task is to be present.

We want to not try to second guess God. 

If there is a situation that perplexes us, our job is to pray and ask God for guidance, then get out of the way.

This may seem tricky when we are trying to clarify how to proceed in a loving way.

It may seem counterintuitive if we are trying to be present in the moment while simultaneously trying to not let our egos plan our ego’s own solution for what appears to be a possible solution to this upset with another.  

The Course says that this may take some time and practice, just some trial and error to get to the point where we feel comfortable being in the role as listener to God while not being in control while we still stand up to act in whatever way God guides us.

We must practice as we continue letting go.