I am a reluctant Catholic, and have always been since I was a child. I loved the ritual and praying in unison with a congregation. I also loved the singing. Yet, there were so many messages from the church that didn’t make sense to me so I felt distanced from a personal connection with the church. It all felt so large, adult and beyond me. I am however grateful for the experience of having been a church go-er when I am at a wedding or a funeral mass. I enjoy having a sense of being in the flow- knowing what to do next. The ritual is comforting at those times. It is a wonderful way to come together to celebrate and to mourn.
Difficulties in my life did not cause me to be more drawn to formal religion, but they did draw me into deeper spirituality. About ten years ago I bought my first copy of the course. I am currently working with a client who has been reading “A Course In Miracles” along with me. We discuss each chapter. I am so excited by his enthusiasm as he discovers insights that help him to find his truth. I found a lot of comfort in this book when I needed something to make sense to me at a time of chaos in my life. It allowed me to drop a great deal of junk that I was thinking which was causing pain for me, and it has helped to sculpt for me a much freer, kinder and loving way to be in the world.
I had known that I would circle back to the course one day and it feels so right to be working on it with this client. I am learning so much from him as we do this work together. He has become much steadier in himself since we first met and I know this course will give him a solid base of belief to move forward in his life.
We all need a way to reframe things when we are suffering, especially when we are hard on ourselves, and “A Course In Miracles” does that work with us. If you could use some inspiration and guidance I highly recommend it. If you are curious about it, give it a look and read the description. The back-story of how it came to be is amazing in itself.
As I read the chapter I will go over with my client this week, I notice the scraps of paper with many notes, and even a family picture tucked inside it. I also had several pressed leaves imbedded in its chapters from a few autumns ago. This is evidence of me tucking my hope into its pages. This book has all of the answers we need, and as I read it, I am told we have all of the answers within ourselves. I do believe that this is true. We simply need to come from the loving part of ourselves to discover these answers.
