The Unity of Love
They all may be as one. (John 17:21)
The quote above is from Jesus’ prayers for all believers. The ultimate goal of becoming one with the Divine. Take a moment and imagine how it would feel to be One with Love. Love would guide your way, your actions, and thoughts. Imagine how different the world would be from Love’s perspective.
This Divine perspective is what A Course in Miracles (ACIM) tries to teach. The brief introduction defines the purpose of the course this way: “It does aim, however, at removing the blocks to the awareness of love’s presence, which is your natural inheritance”.(ACIM, T-in.1:7)
The meaning we give the world is often based on our feelings of fear and disharmony. This is true in mental health illness and spiritual awakening. We set objects and people aside with labels and preconceived ideas attached to those labels we created. Laying all this down can bring us peace and a great deal of joy.
The ACIM workbook begins with exercises to make this transition possible. The reader can read the text annd experience it. There are daily exercises to repeat an idea throughout the day. Following these instructions can improve their personal connection with the Divine.
It is a gradual process to help break down the barriers we have erected through the centuries of societal rules. This isn’t an easy process and it may take years for the words to erode our way of thinking, but there comes a time when the words come alive and are lived. A time where we move from thinking to feeling.
When I’m with a client and they tell me about an experience, I ask how it felt to have that experience. This internalizes the event. It transfers it from an event to an experience, from a thought to a feeling. Otherwise, we keep it at a distance and it becomes less meaningful.
The first steps in the ACIM lessons are to break down our preconceived ideas about the objects around us. It helps show the meaning we have given to all the objects with which we interact. We uncover how much emotion we put onto things.
Then, we move from objects to the most important thing in the world - our relationships with one another. Due societal norms and the introduction of social media, we have become more distant from one other.
In 2008, James Coan, Ph.D. introduced the Social Baseline Theory saying our brains are hardwired for social connection. He noticed how holding the hand of a loved one helped a person manage difficult emotions.
We do not thrive in isolation. We need the interactions of others to help us manage the emotional reactions to challenges in this world. How many times have we seen news reports of mass killers coming from a background of isolation? Often, they have been shunned by others.
We grow through supportive inclusion. We don’t have to shun someone who doesn’t think, act, or believe as we do. There is a saying in the 12-Step world that we can disagree without being disagreeable.
When I taught Peer Groups for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), the exercise I enjoyed the most was breaking people into pairs and instructing them to find what they had in common. We spend too much time looking at our differences. We can never unite in that frame of mind and Love is all about uniting.
I’ve learned in ACIM how to forgive myself and others, looking past our mistakes to behold the wonder of our True selves. It’s a wonderful feeling to look into someone’s eyes and send them love. I’d rather look for our commonalities than our differences.
Again, this doesn’t happen overnight. It takes great courage to break from the norm of blaming and objectifying others. We dare to get to know people, to share their burden, and relate person to person.
One of my favorite ideas from Stephen Covey’s book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People was number 5: “Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood.” While his work was widely used in business it applies well to personal relationships.
If you don’t already belong to one or more communities, here are some things to look for in finding or creating one:
The leader treats everyone with respect and highlights their positive traits. They are nurturing and encouraging to everyone.
The guidelines of the group reflect an atmosphere of mutual caring and respect for others.
The group is supportive of one another and encourage each other.
There are many facets to the challenges we face and it helps to have a place to share our struggles with others. My spiritual connection with Love has benefited immensely from sharing the journey with others.
It’s easier to overcome fear when we share it with others and they affirm the strength they see in us, which we don’t always see in ourselves. The point is we don’t have to do things alone. It‘s not a weakness to seek to understand, to ask for help, or confess a fear.
So often the problems we face are due to us making assumptions about others and not taking the time to see the world from their perspective. We can take a minute to ask them to help us understand the world from their point of view. This can blossom into true intimacy with one another and a wonderful experience for both.
This is how we interact in the ego world with Love. Think back to the beginning prompt to imagine being one with Love. Coming from a place of Love alters all other circumstances. No matter what others do, we respond from Love and we know there will come a day when we unite in Love.
May you be guided to your community of Love.
Namaste
Wonderful article Kitty. I was talking to High School teacher last night and in her classroom she tries to connect students with each other through their similiarities not differences along with teaching them to look at each other when speaking. Our schools could be teaching ACIM to bridge the gap and bring love to those isolated.
Kitty, thank you for sharing your beautiful mind, heart, and words. 💗