Good Questions 
Questions & Answers

There is nothing I like more than a good question about the Course.  And by "good question", I mean a thought provoking one - a question that makes me reassess what I currently believe and perhaps come to see it in a new light. As a result, we have a very interactive study group of Course students here in Louisville where everyone is encouraged to share their insights and questions. It isalso a very diverse group with people from widely varying religious backgrounds so we get a lot of very insightful questions and I've been making a note of them for the last 15 years.

 

Question: One of the hardest things for me to deal with in the Course is its seeming rejection of everything of the world. I'm really into nature and seem to be closest to God in my garden. That seems to be a conflict for me. Any thoughts that might help me?

Answer: This was a very big deal for me, too, in my resistance to getting the Course. I, too, feel closest to God in nature and I can't imagine joy without the spectrum of color or the diversity of textures and forms we see there, especially at this time of year when everything around us is coming into a new budding of life. And I found an answer that works for me only just recently on a discussion board online.

And that answer was that it wasn't really the colors of the flowers or the smells of the growing plants or even the beauty of the sky and water that I really loved. It was the FEELINGS that that they draw from me I cherish!

Also I would like to say that, unlike what seems to be the prevailing sentiment in the Course community, I do not dismiss the world entirely as "just a mere illusion". How can it be only that when the Course itself says:

"How holy is the smallest grain of sand, when it is recognized as being part of the completed picture of God’s Son!" T-28.IV.9.4

And the Course only uses some form of the word, "recognize", when it is referring to truth and KNOWLEDGE! The Course says - repeatedly - the world AS WE SEE IT is an illusion, yes. But it is also, in my belief, our collective CREATION, albeit, a very imperfect one. And I believe that, as such, we are to USE the horrors in it as an outer reflection of our inner state of mind, finding the source of that pain and lack within our minds and giving it over to the Holy Spirit for total healing. In other words, forgiveness:

"Forgiveness turns the world of sin into a world of glory, wonderful to see. Each flower shines in light, and every bird sings of the joy of Heaven. There is no sadness and there is no parting here, for everything is TOTALLY forgiven. And what has been forgiven MUST join, for nothing stands BETWEEN, to keep them separate and apart. " T-26.IV.2

And, once the sources of pain in our minds have been identified - all the ways separation and lack have manifested before our eyes - and rejected, then the earth will be TRANSLATED into a perfect creation and continue on in reality in some way or manner beyond my ability to imagine but that is, as the Course says, "totally satisfying". For it is not the forms of the world that you and I are actually so attached to. Rather it is the FEELINGS of love and joining we experience here. And those are real. Eternal. Heaven.

"Fantasies become totally unnecessary as the wholly satisfying nature of reality becomes apparent." T-1.VII.3.11

And I rest in that.

Here are some of my other favorite Course quotes that you, too, might find of comfort:

"...the Kingdom is attained through the Atonement, which creates it in you. The word “create” is appropriate here, because once what YOU have made is undone by the Holy Spirit, the blessed residue IS restored, and therefore continues in creation. " from
T-5.V.2.1-2

"Not even what the Son of God made in insanity could be without a hidden spark of beauty which gentleness could release. All this beauty will rise to bless your sight as you look upon the world with forgiving eyes." T-17.II.5.5 -6.1

And my favorite quote of all:

"In YOU is all of Heaven; every leaf that falls is given life in you. Each bird that ever sang will sing again in you. And every flower that ever bloomed has saved its perfume and its loveliness for you." T-25.IV.5

Enjoy your Spring!

─ ─

* Carmen Cameron, who is a founding member of Course in Miracles Society, has been teaching classes in A Course in Miracles since 1994.  She was a presenter at the 2009 Miracles Conference in San Francisco and is scheduled to present again at the 2011 Conference. Carmen's website is:  http://peaceful-path.blogspot.com/