Thursday, November 5, 2015
Lesson 309: “What is the Second Coming?” “I will not fear to look within today.”
The Course In Miracles teaches us how to be fearless in our relationships with ourselves. One part of this is that we must begin looking within and not hesitate to do so. This is so important than we don’t deny or forget about all the intricate workings of our inner hearts and souls. We need to learn to honor this and gently and respectfully inquire about it. We are given the opportunity to get to know the inner workings of ourselves.
We are taught to stop pretending there is no depth that needs to be attended to. Sometimes we can feel guilty if we are feeling like we behave emotionally as on a dollar coaster. Then to try to manage this guilt, our egos sometimes put a happy face on the outside when the inside is a tumultuous mess. What we need to do is respect that we may need to explore how to process that emotional up and down until it starts to be less rocky and harsh. We need to listen to it and let it be heard so it feels appreciated and acknowledged. We don’t have to spend our whole lives devoted to that whiny part of us that is needy but we are asked instead to just give it some time and attention. It will relax and stop being what seems unruly when we give it space to be heard.
When we listen to it, it no longer gets to an urgent need to express. Then it can gently be heard so it won’t be such an extreme high or low. As a human, we do have the need to be listened to sometimes. This is part of our social upbringing. Just accept that this is a natural part of life, so we don’t judge it like it’s bad or unwanted. What we are learning to do is make peace with this life need and we can develop practices to live harmoniously with our own emotional inner workings. Further, we are learning to accept that it has purpose because it helps us get to know who we are and what our needs are.
This is why we absolutely must get into the relationship of listening to ourselves. When we listen within then we are closer to God. When we are listening to that inner voice within us through which we can hear when we quiet our minds we listen to our inner selves. That inner discovery is another way to remember that we are always in the state of unity with God. When we quiet our ego voice and listen to our authentic center, this is the one voice of God that includes us and unites all with our brothers and sisters. We are learning to wake up to this voice; we can hear of our true nature which resides there.
The Course teaches us also to be mindful about the energy we make in this search for our insides. We want to notice what is our state of mind as we partake on this search. We often feel blocked when our egos are starting to look for what the ego thinks is lacking. Our egos panic because they put up a wall of fear to stop us in our tracks and prevent us from moving forward. Our egos put a lock on our hearts because the ego would rather dither around in fear.
The egos naturally turn to fear because this is the usual response to anything. When we come with that sense of inner panic we will be miserable because we are constricted on every level of our beings. We feel no open sense of influx of God’s energy because we are constrained deeply. The Course is teaching us to live in the peace and certainty and comfort of our constant identification of God’s Love and energy. This is why we want to practice this. When we release that attachment to fear, we allow ourselves to instead show ourselves how to participate in life’s tasks like self discovery with a heart of abundant love and blessing. The difference is our quality of life. This is priceless.