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April-June, 2011

The Power of Joining

by Rev. Ken Gorman

I have recently been contemplating what an important part all of the opportunities for ‘joining’ have played in my journey of healing in this lifetime. As with many of us, A Course in Miracles and related texts have been the foundation of my healing process along with my dedication and indescribable connection to our brother Jeshua.

However, I have also noticed that on a day to day basis the joining with my brothers who are sharing a similar path seems to have also played a vital role in my journey (despite the fact the ACIM is meant to be a self study course . This sharing of experiences, insights and hope related to our journey with the Course has taken many forms such as in my weekly Study Groups, the interactions enabled by the POL Ministerial program, individual conversations with other students, participating in outreach committees, conferences/seminars, online discussion groups, etc. However, despite the form, they all seem to have a common theme, which is ‘joining’ with my brothers.

The interesting thing is that the concept that the power of ‘joining’ is critical on the spiritual path is not without precedent. For example, another great teacher, Buddha, said that three things were necessary for waking up… Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. My understanding is that the Buddha in our ACIM language would be Christ or the very fact of our inherit Christ nature. The Dharma is the ‘teaching’ about it which in our case would be the Course and related materials such as POL Ministerial and 900 series Courses. These two are straightforward. But the interesting third element is ‘Sanhga’.

Sangha basically means the ‘community’ of people that support each other throughout the awakening process. This is a well understood concept in Buddhism and in fact many Buddhist practitioners will take refuge in the Buddha, Dhamra and Sangha before doing any practice. It is also well understood that there are many varieties of Sangha, such as close Sangha, which for me would be the POL community and particularly people in my study groups or facilitation situations. Then there is the extended Sangha, which for me is many of the other people/groups/authors/speakers in the ACIM community and the Buddhist community, which my wife and I interact with on a regular basis. There is also the greater Sangha, which for me would be the many followers of Jeshua and Buddha for example, which leads into the ultimate Sangha, which of course is the whole Sonship in the end!

It also occurs to me that there is another example of the power of ‘joining,’ which in fact is one of the most successful spiritual support organizations in the world… Alcoholics Anonymous. Most of the people that attend their regular weekly groups have not used whatever substance got them there in quite some time but continue to go weekly or even more often to stay connected to their program, which has become in integral part of their lives.

In a way, I feel like my path is similar as it required a point of surrender to a Higher Power (i.e. Holy Spirit) and to a program (i.e. ACIM, the Atonement and my path as guided by Holy Spirit) and regular ‘joining’ with my community (Sangha) for support. I could even say sometimes I feel like I am an ‘Egoholic’ (addicted to fear) and my weekly study groups and conversations with my spiritual friends, for which I am so grateful, offer me the support and encouragement to stay on my path and choose Love instead of fear more and more often…

This has been of such benefit to me that I am very pleased to be part of the POL Study Group and Events Committees which have been recently initiated to help ministers who are guided to set up opportunities for regular ‘joining’ in their own communities as part of their ministries.

© 2011, Pathways of Light. http://pathwaysoflight.org
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