Everybody's In Hell Until You Stop It---A Course In Miracles 20.4

acim.org/acim/chapter-20/entering-the-ark/en/s/245
Earth's in a world of hurt and each of us needs do our small part to fix it. Washing the tomato paste out of the can before recycling, using water-saver fittings, or dropping coin on Santa ringing his bell are ways. It might even be sighing an occasional prayer like, “Lord, put the pain off for another minute or two.” The National Institute of Cumulative Effort (N.I.C.E.) calculates that every problem on this suffering planet can be brought to ‘net zero’ if 7.5 billion people do at least 2 NICE things an hour for the next 2 billion years, or 2 billion people doing 12 NICE things an hour for 10 billion years to make up for the unaware bozos not doing NICE things and instead doing unaware things that only serve to hurt everybody. In a stroke of counterintuitive genius the president of the Institute recently decided to punish every person doing things the NICE way--the logic being that the most aware among us will eventually develop enough animus to force compliance on the laggards.
‘Net zero’ will make us all as happy as can be expected whether we feel it or not. Envision this: the idyllic pace and ambience of classic Hollywood as depicted in the first half of John Schlesinger's movie, 'Day of the Locust.' It had much of what most people anywhere would want as a basic experience---Mediterranean-style bungalows, tree lined streets, beautiful people aspiring for a better life, a decent pay-scale, and gala grand openings where hundreds could push for a view of the stars. Forget the second half where it takes a dark turn--as they say in L.A., 'Every fabulous opening night has its zombie apocalypse.' Realistically, every Hoover Dam has a few bodies thrown into the mix.
kzbin.info/www/bejne/pGrRlINnm9x_f9U [Warning to those who have not done their 20 minutes of formless absorption yet--this trailer has sex, violence, passion, blood, burning buildings, terrified and lonely people, cruelty, well-acted 'longing for love,' and HOMER SIMPSON!]
On the other hand there is A Course in Miracles. If I understand Him correctly, Jesus suggests we assume the whole movie ‘Day of the Locust’ is the same throughout-the nice bungalows, the glitter and glam of Hollywood, the kid hitting Homer with a rock, Homer jumping up and down on the kid, and then the resulting mob violence is all the same bolt of cloth. Let’s slow walk this-'sugar cube' dwellings on tree-lined avenues, perfect teeth, and star-maker machinery is the same as Homer Simpson (Yes, believe it or not...) throwing down the ‘Hollywood brat,' inciting crowd-madness among random crowds on a festive opening night, and they end up burning down that part of town in a Saturnalia of death and destruction. It's all the same. Another way to look at it is, “Caught with your pants down” is no different than "Having your pants exactly where they are supposed to be." If we go full circle, Jesus would say there is no difference between washing tomato cans or hurling them, lined in 'Heinz 57,' to breed flies and enrage the separation warden. So, don’t do anything-or rather go ahead and knock yourself out to be a NICE-guy, but it is all zero sum. There is no kind of number crunching possible to save the planet. The kid, Homer, and the thousands of L.A. denizens in ski masks and pitchforks, torching the bungalows are all okay, or not okay-no diff. This attitude is a wet blanket on a lot of worthy causes.
There have been some newsworthy items lately, like a 400 mile wide, 140 mile per hour, 5 hundred mile long wet weed whacker storms that decimated dozens of cities, thousands of towns and millions upon millions of lives faster than you can say ‘Next Generation Weather Radar’ (NEXRAD). This is where the student of ACIM stops and reflects. “I understand the ‘Locust-movie’ situation but this other film seems very 3-D, especially if you live on Tampa Bay or Black Mountain. This is an amazing conundrum, how to be harmless and open-hearted at the same time saying that somebody’s grandma floating off the roof and into some tree roots is a ‘foolish illusion.’
Right Now, my tragedy is second hand-or is it? No-the true tragedy is my distance from these events, my ideas of safety, and the undeniable secret-joy I have at not being there. That is 'guilt-in-action. It's one thing to talk about 'the separation' and another to celebrate it as an undeniable benefit, for now. [Speaking personally] I am trapped inside the happy experience of not being where the damage is and I see a vast difference between a terrifying night resulting in obliteration of everything I know---and watching it from far away. You tell me. My task is to collapse the apparent distance down to zero through immersing in 'the connective tissue of Spirit.' That thing over there is my savior from the hell breeding just below the surface of 'me' and 'mine.' When distance is zero, I will know it...working.

[@gabydareau]

Thank you for responding to my comment in such an open hearted way 💛 It is so refreshing to hear someone say out loud what I read as an emphatic message in the course! Anyone who studies the course knows that it’s all about going beyond the body to recognize the reality of spirit. But I feel that in the course community this concept often gets subverted by the ego into a denial of the body. Whereas Jesus is very clear (this is explored in the following sections of chapter 20) that to see the body as nothing requires release of ALL guilt and fear associated with it, including seeing it as proof of separation through either health or dysfunction. Today I happened to be reading the section in the Manual for Teachers about how to respond to magical thinking in others, and it is so relevant. I think anyone who aspires to be a teacher of God will help themselves enormously by really studying and reflecting on this section. The temptation to correct each other through judgement, even when we intend to help, instead of releasing each other (and ourselves) through forgiveness is so strong! But the power of seeing truth in someone is bound to ripple out into the world that is only a projection of the mind.

[@hamiltonconstellation]

You mention 3 areas that can be stuck-points or 'bugaboos' in understanding the Course. As you said, they seem to be ego-footholds that enable a student to ardently 'do the Course' and also stay in our conventional thought-system. 1. Miracle vs magic, 2. forgiveness vs. virtuousness, and 3. the body as a focal-object vs. the body as a 'window.' These are ongoing areas of awareness for me--they remain subtle, elusive and demand the Primary Relationship emphasized throughout the Course. Thanks! This issue of 'physical healing' sort of gets into all three of those areas....

[@gabydareau]

Yes that’s a good summary. It’s easy to get stuck in the weeds of these differences, which is why the course is so masterful in the way it always brings us back to the simplicity of the Truth. I enjoy the process of making sense of complexity, but I try to keep reminding myself that what matters is: am I feeling and seeing love right now or not?! 😊 This sounds so anodyne in a way, but at least it’s the choice to turn in the right direction, and full realization of that direction, as described by Jesus, is a powerful thing indeed. For example, and relevant to the conversation on healing, I was contemplating this section in the manual for teachers today: 6 The offer of Atonement is universal. ²It is equally applicable to all individuals in all circumstances. ³And in it is the power to heal all individuals of all forms of sickness. ⁴Not to believe this is to be unfair to God, and thus unfaithful to Him. ⁵A sick person perceives himself as separate from God. ⁶Would you see him as separate from you? ⁷It is your task to heal the sense of separation that has made him sick. ⁸It is your function to recognize for him that what he believes about himself is not the truth. ⁹It is your forgiveness that must show him this. ¹⁰Healing is very simple. ¹¹Atonement is received and offered. ¹²Having been received, it must be offered and accepted. ¹³It is in the receiving, then, that healing lies. ¹⁴All else must follow from this single purpose. 7 Who can limit the power of God Himself? ²Who then can say who can be healed of what, and what must remain beyond God’s power to forgive? ³This is insanity indeed. ⁴It is not up to God’s teachers to set limits upon Him, because it is not up to them to judge His Son, and to judge His Son is to limit his Father. ⁵Both are equally meaningless. ⁶Yet this will not be understood until God’s teacher recognizes that they are the same mistake. ⁷Herein does he receive Atonement, for he withdraws his judgment from the Son of God, accepting him as God created him. ⁸No longer does he stand apart from God, determining where healing should be given and where it should be withheld. ⁹Now can he say with God, “This is my beloved Son, created perfect and forever so.” [CE M-22.6-7] acimce.app/:M-22.6-7

[@brucedragoo]

24views??…9 likes??… I’m not complaining but I am mystified by how few of all called to the Course participate in this stimulating project you two have configured. Please keep going 💜🙏🏻💙

[@hamiltonconstellation]

Thanks for the support! Just yesterday I picked up a commentary on The Bhagavad Gita which said, "We come here to 'do action' (karma) and not to obtain the fruits of the actions." It was the first time I heard it and appreciated what it means. J and I converse on these incredibly rich paragraphs to carve deeper into our own understanding. Getting heartfelt reactions [like this comment you posted] are a blessing on top of the nature of these studies [they are their own reward]. I do hope it catches at some point, but it's not an issue for me anymore and it never was for Joanna.

[@gabydareau]

I totally agree! There are surprisingly few podcasts, that I’ve managed to find anyway, that discuss the course on a deep level and one that relates to ‘real’ life! I listen to deep thinkers discussing theories of consciousness, philosophy and spirituality that would be so enriched and clarified by the understanding that the course brings! Especially people like Don Hoffman who are actively appealing for a more precise explanation of mind as fundamental, and how and why it gives rise to the world. It’s quite frustrating that the course is so little known to the wider world, but I suppose we should trust that all is perfect in the greater plan.

[@robinlynn6940]

❤

[@hamiltonconstellation]

Thanks! The expression of support is 'real and effective.'

[@blazemonkey4538]

Oh Happy Day!! Thanks Great Ones!! Beautiful!! ☀️ 😂👍 ⁴Once you accept His plan as the one function that you would fulfill, there will be nothing else the Holy Spirit will not arrange for you without your effort. (T-20.IV.8) ³The body disappears, because you have no need of it except the need the Holy Spirit sees. (W-199.4:3)

[@hamiltonconstellation]

Your support is greatly appreciated! The comments/ references [always] cause me to contemplate.