Miracles News

July-September, 2015

Trusting My Own Experience

by Rev. Larry Glenz, O.M.C.

Rev. Larry Glenz There are still some ACIM concepts to which I have resistance. Lesson 128 was my Workbook lesson of the day: The world I see holds nothing that I want. I would be embarrassed to tell any of my non-Course friends about this lesson. I feel like they would say, “Who would want to devote themselves to such a depressing concept?”

I have studied the Workbook many times over the last 20 years using different methods. This year I decided to do it with James Twyman and his Chorus of Miracles.

He and his talented musicians sing the title of each lesson for a few minutes. James then reads the lesson before they sing the chorus again. He finishes with a “reflection” on the lesson interpreting the meaning it has for him. It is a new way for me to study the Workbook and usually takes less than 15 minutes. I am enjoying the process almost every morning.

So why does Lesson 128 cause me to wince each time I see it? It says that if I believe in this thought — The world I see holds nothing that I want — I will be “saved from years of misery.” It says that everything I value in the world is a chain that binds me.

It makes me look carefully at the things I think I value. I say to myself, “Holy Spirit cannot be including my granddaughters in this, can He?” The special relationships in our lives are very tough for us to release — to let go and let God.

The next lesson (129) states, “Beyond this world there is a world I want.” It describes that world in glorious, heavenly terms. It encourages me to make the exchange of the physical world for the metaphysical world. Lesson 130 says there can be no compromise in this. In fact it states, It is impossible to see two worlds.

This is the challenge of ACIM as I see it. I am being asked to look at this world differently — to let go of all I think it is. I don’t need validation from others. But I do need a personal experience of the truth. I have received that experience since the passing of my son, Kevin, five years ago.

I can look at his story of drug addiction as if it was a movie or a play and I am playing the role of the father in this bizarre fantasy I made up with my thoughts. The Course encourages me not to take anything in this world too seriously. It is possible to apply this to all areas of my life.

After all, none of it is real except the reflections of Love that come into it. Accepting this is true liberation from the world’s grip. I can keep the Love — the only part that is real — and let go of the rest. When I accept this, I feel more Love and peace in my life.

I facilitate an ACIM study group at my home on Tuesday nights. Every so often some people new to A Course in Miracles show up to see what it is all about. I see the look on their faces when the Text explains that the world we see through the body’s eyes is not real. Sometimes they actually get upset with what they read and hear in our discussions. Without the consistent mind training offered by ACIM, a new student is not ready to hear these seemingly radical concepts.

Although the study group has grown, students come and go with regularity. It is not my function to convince others of the truth of ACIM. With practice, I am ready to listen to Holy Spirit. ACIM has given me confidence that I can hear Holy Spirit’s voice — the Voice for God. My experience tells me this is true.

I don’t need agreement from new students for them to be welcomed to the study group. I just need to accept that some are not ready for it. I try not to be defensive when they reject some of the core concepts. I try to remember that I only have to accept the Atonement (the correction in my own thinking) for myself.

Sometimes my ego still bristles at the concept that the world I see holds nothing that I want. I still miss out on a lot of opportunities to forgive — to let go. My devotion to practicing, however, helps me to loose the world from all I thought it was. (Lesson 132)

I’ll just keep practicing. My experience tells me that it works.

Rev. Larry Glenz, O.M.C., is a Pathways of Light minister living in Long Beach, New York. Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

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