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October-December, 2012

Immigrants, Aliens and Ditties from Home

by Rev. Bob Stebbins

There is a form of communication that exists between us, as strangers in a strange land of illusions, and Heaven, our true Home. Although often overlooked and seldom discussed, it is frequently mentioned in A Course In Miracles, for example:

“Listen, and see if you remember an ancient song you knew so long ago and held more dear than any melody you taught yourself to cherish since…” (T-21.I.7:5)

“...the melody that pours from God to you eternally in loving praise of what you are…” (T-24.II.4:4)

“Say His Name, and you invite the angels to… sing to you…” (W-pI.183.2:2)

It is, of course, the music or singing coming from Heaven that looms so important, for it is this that helps in bringing us Home. Still, I don’t know of anyone who has actually “heard” such music… I sure haven’t. And we haven’t for a very good reason, for according to the Course, to hear this music we need to:

“[The Holy Spirit’s] Words are born in God, and come to you with Heaven’s Love upon them. Those who hear His Words have heard the Song of Heaven.” (W-pI.198.6:4-5)

Yet, still again, I know of no one, including myself, who has actually “heard” any talking either. But it doesn’t matter, I think most of us know what God, through the Holy Spirit, is saying. He speaks to us of Love, reminding us Who We truly Are, and from Where It is that We came.

God’s caring is for our awakening from this terrifying dream that we call “reality,” and as much as we may want to think otherwise, our Father has no desire that we become more proficient in living in this dream. But as long as that is where we think we are, He wills that we be happy… although the “happiness” of which He speaks comes through our expression of love and forgiveness, with our intention being toward helping others to remember Who They truly Are, and that this world and the universe(s) is not Our Home.

But it was us who believed that there could be “someplace else” that would be more satisfying. And from such…

“…a tiny, mad idea, at which the Son of God [having taken the idea seriously] remembered not to laugh…” (T-27.VIII.6:2) and in merely…

“…a tiny interval of time, [so short] that not one note in Heaven’s Song was missed.” (T-26.V.5:4)

there was made a whole, new reality.

This venturing off to find “someplace better” sort of reminds me of the early immigrants who came to the strange new land called America. They, too, had an idea… maybe not as tiny or mad… but they definitely saw coming to this “new world” as a way of making a fresh start in a place that promised a life more to their liking.

And there were those among them who had no doubts about wanting to become “Americans,” yet just as surely were there also those who were more reticent and simply saw coming to this Country as an adventure… but not a place to which they wanted to become attached.

And with those who were not so enamored, part of the reason had to be that they experienced some rejection from those already here who saw themselves as “real Americans” and the newcomers simply as “intruders.” So it wasn’t long before some of the dissatisfied immigrants started missing their homelands, and to compensate they tended to cluster together according to their heritage, thereby forming small pockets of “similar attitudes,” which eventually became such places as German Town, Harlem, Little China, The Barrios, etc.

This type of joining together allowed them to feel “not so distant” from their previous homelands. But, for all their attempts at duplicating their previous living styles, they really weren’t able to recreate them well enough to alleviate a sense of longing that seemed always to be with these immigrants.

And so they would write back to their friends and family that were still in “the old country,” asking for information on daily happenings, and for pictures that would remind them of “home” because they wanted so much not to forget who they really were and where they came from. And they cherished the letters from home which they would read to each other as reminders of their heritage. As well, would they often sing the “old songs,” and their singing would spark a flame of yearning for memories past.

And so it was not only the letters from home, but also the music that would then be taught to the upcoming generations, inculcating a lineage that held certain stories and melodies capable of awakening in a person a sense of pride and belonging to a place not of this new world.

Of course, by now I’m sure that you’re sensing the parallel I’m drawing with the Sonship and those immigrants… even to the point that just as poorly as did the immigrants fail in duplicating the “old ways,” so too does the Sonship make a mockery in trying to replicate Heaven here on Earth. Interestingly, the Course very seldom uses the word “foreigner, and even less often the term “immigrant” to describe us overall, preferring instead to call us “aliens,” as in this example:

“This world you seem to live in is not home to you. And somewhere in your mind you know that this is true. A memory of home keeps haunting you… you are an alien here, from somewhere all unknown. (W-pI.182.1:1-4)

And from this same passage, who is to say that the “haunting memory of Home” isn’t coming to us in the form of Music… even though, if it were, we would doubtful recognize, or even acknowledge Its presence. Nevertheless, it seems to be Music that is capable of rousing within us the memory of Home, just as it did for those early immigrants. But, unlike those immigrants who loved singing the “old songs,” we hardly even accept that there is any such “Heavenly Music” coming to us at all.

What all of this means, obviously, is that it’s not to us that God is talking or singing, but to the Self within our Mind. It is to this Self that God, through the Holy Spirit, keeps reminding us of our Home in Heaven, for our Self is truly but an alien here. This communication that is between God and His Son most surely is why our body’s ears cannot hear any of our Father’s Words, or the Music continuously coming to us from Heaven.

The Course tells us:

“Accept the vision that can show you [are the Christ] and not a body. You know the ancient song, and know it well. Nothing will ever be as dear to you as is this ancient hymn of Love the Son of God sings to His Father still.” (T-21.I.9:4-6)

Yet, do I wonder if another part… perhaps even a larger part… of the reason we do not hear the Song of Heaven may be due to our own inattentiveness… so very seldom do most of us ever think about God or Heaven. We have too many other things going on in our lives… centered as they are, certainly, on our living in this crazy, imaginary world. And, quite frankly, we’ve become rather adroit at keeping ourselves occupied with enough other things to think about, maybe not to intentionally put off listening to, or even recognizing, those Calls to come Home, but nonetheless is that the outcome.

Unlike those immigrants who took pride in their ancestry, the vast majority of us “aliens” try to hush or discount those memories of our Home with God, to the point that we truly have no recollection of ever having lived (and still live) in Heaven. Out of a deep sense of guilt and fear for believing that we have left our Father, we have kept the memory of our mutual Love buried away within our unconscious, giving now only lip-service to our connection with God.

Jesus, in giving his Course to the world, was not naive regarding how we try to cover our feelings about returning awakening to our Father.

Some try to put by their thoughts of God with jobs and games, hobbies and pastimes, or just watching TV, that they do to occupy their time, and keep this fearful recollection from them. Others do not recognize their fears at all. “We speak today for everyone who walks this world, for he is not at home.” (W-pI.182.3:1)
And this…

“He hears the sounds the senseless, busy world engenders, yet he hears them faintly. For beyond them all he hears the Song of Heaven, and the Voice for God more clear, more meaningful, more near.” (W-pI.164.1:5-6)

But I also want to believe that in that Part of our Right Mind where our Self abides It hears continually, not only what God is saying, but also the music and singing that comes from Heaven. How beautiful it is to realize that our Self has not missed any of It. Thus, have we no cause for fear, for we have never really been separated from our Father.

“…a melody is heard that everyone remembers, though he has not heard it since before all time began. Forgiveness, once complete, brings timelessness so close the song of Heaven can be heard, not with the ears, but with the holiness that never left the altar that abides forever deep within the Son of God.” (T-29.IX.8:4-5)

As well, does Jesus tell us in one of the Course’s lovely prayers,

“Father, let not Your Holy World escape my sight today [our Self’s awareness]. Nor let [our Self] be deaf to all the hymns of gratitude the world is singing underneath the sounds of fear.” (W-pII.293.2:1-2)

And so, whether we speak of those immigrants, or of ourselves as aliens, when, at last, we hear the Song of Heaven, if only but a ditty…

“…[we know that we] have never heard It not.” (T-29.IX.8:6)

© 2012, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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