My heart clutched with horror and grief when I heard about
the Connecticut
school shooting. I ached for the parents who lost their children, but, unable
to tolerate that level of pain, I immediately surged forth with rage at
political and societal factors I believed caused this tragic incident. I had
plans to attend a Christmas gathering the next day and many of the attendees were
of a different political persuasion than me. I found myself attacking them in
my head. I hope one of your kids gets killed. Then maybe you won’t be
so smug in your beliefs.
Appalled, I saw in myself the murderous thought system that A Course in Miracles says abides in all
of us. I was no different than the shooter or the people I blamed for their “wrong”
beliefs. Rage, boiling from within me, led me to wish death on loved ones! My
rage was not caused by what appeared
to happen in Connecticut.
My rage was not caused by other
people’s political agendas. My rage is my own,
and I am the one who has to take responsibility for it.
A Course in Miracles tells
us to pray to see things differently, so I did. The first words I heard were,
“Lorri, there is no world! There is no
world! There is no world! (W-132.6:2) (The miracle) looks on devastation and
reminds the mind that what it sees is false.” (W-p.II.13.1:3) This calmed
me down. Emotions are an ego device, designed
to make the world seem real. They work well, for how can the world not be real when it feels so intense? The ego voice argued with the Holy Spirit. But if I don’t feel for the parents, if I
don’t take political action to stop escalating gun violence, aren’t I being
callous and complacent?
The Holy Spirit reminded me that action in the world, if we are
guided to take such action, must be taken from a standpoint of love, not rage.
Rage is a cover for fear and fear always stems from the ego thought system. My
desire to point out my friends’ political insanity was clearly not coming from
love. Our task as students of A Course in
Miracles is to choose love over fear consistently.
We have to choose Truth over illusion and not waver, because the second we
believe in the false world we perceive, we’re in hell. Forgiveness is not
callously denying the pain a brother thinks he is experiencing—it’s a blessing
of sanity on an insane world. “(Forgiveness)
looks on them with quiet eyes, and merely says to them, ‘My brother, what you
think is not the truth.’” (W-134.7:5)
A Course in Miracles says
there is no cause for the Connecticut shooting,
because it is a dream of death being projected from our sick minds. A dream is
an illusion. ACIM says the entire world is in our minds. It’s not out there!
The only way violence, disease, poverty and injustice are going to stop is by
healing our minds, for the mind is
the source of the belief in separation. We have invented a world of chaos, murder and suffering because we think
we’re separate from God. We think we’re shameful and guilty, but because facing
that shame is unbearable, we project it onto others. “Do not forget, however, to deny God will inevitably result in
projection, and you will believe that others and not yourself have done this to
you.” (T-10.V.2:1)
When we remember God, we know we are the holy Son of God who
cannot suffer. I thought I had faced my belief in separation, but there were
deeper levels I was still defended against. My rage at the shooting was
evidence that I continued to believe I was a body, vulnerable and capable of
being attacked. The random shootings in public places left me frightened and
feeling bereft without God in this terrible, cruel world. As the Course says, “The world provides no safety. It is rooted in attack.” (W-153.1:2-3) Our
only safety is in our relationship with God. Our only peace is in not returning
attack for attack, but choosing to forgive. Then we will wake up from our
nightmare and be restored to our oneness with each other and God.
As I forgave those who held different opinions, forgave myself,
and forgave the entire Connecticut
tragedy, the sense of separation lifted. As I continued to pray for guidance
and healed perception, I was reminded that the body’s eyes see only the past.
(Lesson 7) What appears to be happening in the world is over and done. Every
single person that appeared to be killed or peripherally hurt in the Connecticut tragedy is
an eternal, holy Child of God. If you want to give a true gift to them, pray in
a manner such as: “I see the Christ in You. You are a holy Child of God. You
cannot suffer. You are as God created You. You are safe at home in Heaven now.”
This is the Truth of their Being, and of your own. To join
in suffering perpetuates the illusion, but to join in Truth is to make whole.
Merry Christ-mass! May the Christ Self be born in your awareness
this season.
Love, Lorri
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