Yesterday I began my daily writing with these words: Everything we do, say, and think, plants us firmly in either the world of fear or the realm of Love. Today I fell into a fearful reaction without even giving a thought to the other choice. I was doing laundry in a neighboring town. A man came in to use the restroom, smiled at me and said hello, then left with a cherry greeting. He went to the far end of the building and sat on a wall, where he proceeded to shout out various angry-sounding things. I went out to my car to get something and suddenly felt very fearful. I went back in, listened to him for a while, and called the police, asking them to check on him. They arrived in a few minutes, spoke with him, and then came in to tell me he was harmless, they knew him, and he has Tourette’s Syndrome. I have never, not once in my entire life, called the police about anything, and I am most disappointed in myself for doing it today. Usually in such a situation, I would have spoken to the man and asked if everything was all right. But for some reason, probably the collective consciousness of our shell-shocked nation, I was afraid. This has been a good lesson for me. If a genie gave me three wishes, one would be to have a redo of today’s fearful choice. Namaste to the man to whom I could have extended kindness …
“The first corrective step in undoing the error is to know first that the conflict is an expression of fear. Say to yourself that you must somehow have chosen not to love, or the fear could not have arisen. Then the whole process of correction becomes nothing more than a series of pragmatic steps in the larger process of accepting the Atonement as the remedy. These steps may be summarized in this way:
Know first that this is fear.
Fear arises from lack of love.
The only remedy for lack of love is perfect love.
Perfect love is the Atonement.” A Course in Miracles T-2.VI.7:1-8
“Wise sayings and garrulous talk may fall to the ground, rather than on the ear or heart of the hearer; but a tender sentiment felt, or a kind word spoken, at the right moment, is never wasted.” Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896 Page 127:27
No comments:
Post a Comment