Articles by Our 2010 Conference Presenters
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A Course in Miracles for the Purpose Driven Life
by Beverly Hutchinson McNeff
A few years ago, Rick Warren, an evangelical pastor at one of the nation's largest mega-churches, wrote a book that has been on the non-fiction best sellers list ever since. His book, The Purpose Driven Life, has been a phenomenal success. I have read his book and, even though it does not necessarily "feed" my soul, I think the book speaks to a deep need and desire in each of us; we all want to know our purpose. We want to know how we fit in -- how we can make a difference. We want to feel our contribution is valuable.
We often call our purpose our profession -- what we do for a living. Our profession can be what we get paid for or what we do without pay, which can be just as important, like being parents.
This last Mother's Day, our son told me how important I was in the card he gave me. It said:
Mom, I can't imagine what life would be like without you. I'd probably be eating candy I got from a stranger, talking with my mouth full and waving around sharp objects while I sit too close to the TV in yesterday's underwear.
Our work is part of our purpose, but it is not all. Things will always change. Our jobs get downsized at work and even at home -- as our children grow up and no longer need us reminding them about yesterday's underwear. And, that makes us feel uncertain and purposeless in this world.
I think the plethora of reality television shows is a symptom of a deeper societal desire. Reality shows propel the everyday Joe and Jane into stardom. And we live vicariously through their experiences. It seems to give our lives purpose as we call in and vote for our favorite American Idol. I used to be so irritated with the overwhelming amount of reality shows, until I realized the deeper purpose of their appeal. These shows speak to our longing to make a difference in the world . . . to be purposeful. But we need a purpose that is eternal. Otherwise, when the reality show is over, we feel empty until the next installment.
That is why it is so important for us to have a spiritual path. A spiritual path gives us purpose and direction that is "in the world but not of it." It has been said that we are mind, body and spirit. As we start our day, we may plan our schedules and set our goals. We make sure our hair is right, our clothes are on and everything is zipped, but we will walk around with little thought of our soul's spiritual yearning. We would never leave the house looking a mess, but we don't think twice about leaving our minds a mess. We think no one will see that, but the world we experience is the direct result of our unmade, purposeless minds.
In the Bible we are told a very important truth: "Seek ye first the kingdom of Heaven and everything else will be given unto you." This thought answers the struggles of the world and sets us in line with our real purpose. When we start inviting God's presence into everything we do, making that our purpose, we will see the world, as we know it, begin to transform.
In the sci-fi movie thriller The Matrix, our world has been taken over by computers and now humanity is at the verge of extinction. Mankind is looking for the "One" who will be their "messiah." Well, the actor Keanu Reeves comes along as Neo (clever how if you move the letters around it spells "one") and he ends up being the "One" they are looking for. But for him to become the "One", HE must realize that he is the "One." In the final scene, when he realizes his true identity and purpose, the Matrix (the thing that holds the computer world of control together) begins to dismantle itself. Neo doesn't have to necessarily destroy it (although we do have the big movie fight scene for the sake of ratings); it falls apart all by itself.
So it is with our experience of this world. A Course in Miracles reminds us over and over again that we are not here to change the world but to change our minds about the purpose of the world. Once we do that, the world, as we know it, will be no more. It will be transformed by the power of God. The Course tells us what the purpose of the world is:
"Forget not that the healing of God's Son is all the world is for. That is the only purpose the Holy Spirit sees in it, and thus the only one it has. Until you see the healing of the Son as all you wish to be accomplished by the world, by time and all appearances, you will not know the Father nor yourself. For you will use the world for what is not its purpose, and will not escape its laws of violence and death. Yet it is given you to be beyond its laws in all respects, in every way and every circumstance, in all temptation to perceive what is not there, and all belief God's Son can suffer pain because he sees himself as he is not." (T512)
I truly believe this is one of the most powerful, straightforward and practical passages in the Course. If we do not use the world for the purpose that the Holy Spirit sees in it, which is to heal ourselves and those we think of or come in contact with, then we will be misusing the world and will suffer under its laws of violence and death. Where are we living right now? Do we see violence and death all around us? Or, have we changed our purpose about the world? We have the ability to escape the world's laws entirely, but we must change our minds about the purpose of the world and how we fit in.
We think we are the ugly duckling when we are actually the beautiful swan. If you remember the children's story, the baby swan is accidentally left with the duck family to be raised. The poor little swan never fits in. His feet look funny and his neck is too long. His life is one of suffering and sadness because he is trying to be what he is not. It is only when he finally sees the other swans that he realizes that he is not a duck after all.
We are trying to be ducks when we are actually swans. We are trying to fit into the world and make it work. But it will never work, since the world was made to exclude God and the awareness of our spiritual purpose.
So you might be wondering, "Does that mean that if I function in this world, i.e., have a job, have a relationship, make money, etc. that I am excluding God?" No, not at all. We must be "in this world but not of it" to truly make a difference. We can do everything in this world, but with a new and revitalized purpose.
It is time for us to live like secret agents. We do everything that everyone else does -- get up every morning, make meals, take care of our kids, go to work, put money away in a savings account, pay our bills, etc., but we do it with a deeper purpose. Knowing that we are nowhere by accident and that our "secret" purpose is to heal the Son of God (which is everyone we come in contact with), gives us great purpose to get out of bed everyday! The world may tell you this is a "mission impossible," but to God it is a very possible mission. Actually it is a "mission inevitable," because it is God's Will that we heal.
A Course in Miracles reminds us of the purpose of our learning:
"The purpose of your learning is to enable you to bring the quiet with you, and to heal distress and turmoil. This is not done by avoiding them and seeking a haven of isolation for yourself.
You will yet learn that peace is part of you, and requires only that you be there to embrace any situation in which you are." (W80)
So we must not deny the world or our place in it, but walk through this world bringing the peace of God into every situation where we find ourselves. How do we do that? By embracing every situation in which we find ourselves, realizing our deeper purpose and remembering that we are not alone.
Therefore, as God's Presence leads the way in our lives, "every relationship becomes a lesson in love." (T312) And, He "sees the world as a teaching device for bringing you home." (T80)
It is time for us to reevaluate the world and the things of the world. In the midst of tragedies, we see opportunities to express God's healing love instead of a reason to sit in feelings of pity and powerlessness. It is time for us to accept our true purpose and ask God what he would have us do for His beloved Child.
The other day, Bob, a member of the Center's study group, was sharing that he had finally asked his adult son to move out. His son had been out for quite a while, but needed a little help during a tough time and Bob offered him a place. After a few months, Bob felt it was time for his son to be on his own again. There were hard feelings. When the son moved out he did some things that were not very kind -- in fact, very nasty. Bob found, that in his son's haste to leave, he left his laundry in the dryer. It was important laundry since it included a lot of his work clothes. Bob's first thought was "payback," so he put the clothes in a trash bag and put them in the trashcan. But that night, he could not sleep. It didn't feel right. The next morning before work, Bob took the trash bag out of the trash and put it on the front porch with a note saying, "You left these in the dryer. I thought you might need them. Love, Dad."
The world would say Bob needed to teach his son a lesson, and quite frankly he did: He taught him a lesson in love. That lesson will transform the world because Bob joined with the Presence of God and sought a deeper purpose.
There is a wonderful poem that has been attributed to Mother Teresa because it was found on the wall of her children's home in Calcutta, India. But, she did not write the poem. Kent Keith wrote it in 1968, but do you think it would have had much influence were it not attributed to Mother Teresa? And, for some reason, Kent Keith didn't seem to mind "anyway." The message is what is important.
Do it Anyway
People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered. . .
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives...
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies...
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you...
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight...
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous...
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow...
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough...
Give the world the best that you've got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God...
It was never between you and them anyway.
We are here for a deeper purpose. We need to move past the pettiness of the world and hold on to the truth. We are here to heal the Son of God and we are given a chance every day in every holy encounter to do just that. And, when we do, we will experience a purpose driven life.
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We Are the World
by Marianne Williamson
Particularly as we get older, our spirits as well as our bodies need more quiet time, more reflection, more immersion in the magic of just being. That doesn't mean we're retreating from the world, so much as we're moving into a deeper experience of it. For the world is in fact a whole lot bigger than what we see with our physical eyes. Part of the value of the aging process — and I did say that, yes: the value of the aging process — is that it delivers us naturally to realms in which we're not quite so tethered to the realities of the material world. It's not so much that we're "losing it" as that we're finding it! I find it utterly liberating to have forgotten certain things; thank God I forgot them! And that's not to minimize scary monsters such as the fear of Alzheimer's. It's just to keep some of our changes in perspective.
I don't think as quickly as I used to, I'm sure of it. Nor do I speak as quickly, or move as quickly. But it seems that I think more deeply. It's like I understand things in the round.
I woke up once to a late-night epiphany that shone like a neon pronouncement: that the key to human salvation lies in our living for each other. I know, I know. Hardly new. But at the moment it came to me, it seemed big and profound.
Obviously we've all heard the concept before, but aren't we stymied by what it actually means? Does it mean that we're supposed to give all of our possessions to the poor? How does that work in terms of our worldly responsibilities? Are we not supposed to have a home for our children? Aren't we supposed to provide for them? And is it bad to enjoy nice things?
In A Course in Miracles, it says, "To have, give all to all." But sometimes you look at the material world and think, "Well, surely it can't mean that..."
The line I heard in my head that night was not, "Give away everything you own." It was, "Live for others." And I'm wondering what the world would look like if we did.
We've been so thoroughly programmed to look out for number one, as though "me" is so much more important than "we." But the shift from living for ourselves to living for others is clearly the spiritual imperative calling humanity back to the garden.
What, then, about healthy boundaries? Does living for others mean I'm to give everyone everything—as in my time, my energy, my money, my heart? I've tried to do that... be the paragon of self-sacrifice . . . never having time for myself, making myself wrong for wanting to take care of me, always running around trying to please or do for others. And it got me nowhere. If anything, it left me angry, resentful, vulnerable to thieves, feeling much more stuck in a rut on my spiritual path as opposed to sped up on it. Wrecked half the time, I rarely showed up as my best for anyone.
Healthy boundaries are loving; they show respect both to the person who sets them and to the person who's asked to honor them. I think it's best to seek a balanced life, at peace within ourselves and with our own loved ones; then when we do turn our attention to the world, we can bring so much more to it. We bring a higher version of ourselves.
According to A Course in Miracles, sacrifice has no place in God's universe. Taking care of ourselves in a righteous way is meaningful service to a greater task because we cannot give what we cannot be. From that space of peace, and the moderate behavior it produces, comes more than enough money and time and energy to give to the world. Service is very serious work; but codependency it is not.
So how, then, do we live for others? The best I can come up with is that service is a way of being. It means I can make the person who just carried my bags into the hotel room feel how much I truly appreciate what he did for me. Tip him generously as well, of course, but match the tip with an attitude of honor for what he does. Both are important. It means that in any moment, as part of my spiritual practice, I can do what I can to show love and respect for the person in front of me, or on the phone with me, or whatever.
Most of us have more contact with other human beings each day than we might realize, and with every encounter, there's a chance for a miracle. There's the person behind the counter when you bought your coffee. The person on the phone when you made that call about getting your dryer serviced. The person who washes the windows in your office building. It might not seem like much, this tiny little droplet of compassion added to the universe when we show up more kindly, but the important point is not what it did for the universe. The point is what it did for us — it changed us — and that is how it shifts our world.
Holiness is determined by a shift in purpose. Anything we do that honors only ourselves is simply a dead end. There's no cosmic blessing supporting it. But anything done with others in mind — even if it involves caring for ourselves so we can be more prepared and available for service to others — carries the blessing of a loving universe.
Consider a vacation, for instance. It betters you to give your body and mind a rest every once in a while. A holiday increases the healthy bonds among partners, mates, friends, and family. The principle of service doesn't require you to avoid joyous opportunities; if anything, joyous people are more productive. The more you care for the world around you, the more the universe is likely to provide the rest that feeds your soul and keeps you going.
There's time for fun, and there's time for work. The relationship between the two seems to be a pattern within all natural systems; you can feel it in your gut whether you're on or off track. When your life is all fun and no work, you feel unclean somehow. When it's all work and no fun you're out of balance and hardly of use to anyone. In fact, it's because the problems of the world are so serious that we need to do whatever it takes to lighten up sometimes. One of the ways you know you're in the flow is if you're seriously of service and seriously enjoying yourself at the same time. It feels right because it is right. Our needs in fact aren't separate from anyone else's, and in that balanced place, we know it.
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Your Light Is All That I See and Is But a Reflection of the Light in Me
As many of you know, A Course in Miracles is our heartbeat and we do our very best to practice the principles of the Course every moment of the day. Much of our writing has been based on the Course. We are still works in process. About a year ago, Jerry received this thought in his meditation: “Your light is all that I see and is but a reflection of the light in me.” Together we began putting this statement into action by playing it as background music throughout the day and night. It has become like a forever mantra for us. It helps make every moment a holy encounter.
Miracles continue to occur in our lives and we are beginning to understand on a whole new level that miracles are a natural occurrence. We continue to hear Bill Thetford’s voice say to us, "A miracle is a shift in perception that removes the blocks to the awareness of love's presence in our lives."
We make every effort to focus on each person we meet as our spiritual teacher and as a holy encounter. We have found that spiritual teachers come in many different shapes and many different ages. I, Jerry, for example, remember a kid about five years old coming up to me and asking the question of a lifetime. He said, “Hey, Mister. What were you like when you were new?”
I figured this kid had to be some Master Spiritual Teacher who knew that I needed to remind myself of who and what I was. I replied, “I like to think that I was full of life and energy with a heart full of love, wonderment and glee. I like to think that my eyes were as big as the sun." And then I said, “And when I really grow up I hope I will be just like you.” That seemed to satisfy him and as he smiled and we went on to talk about other things.
As we parted company I noticed that I continued to ponder the question. I began to think about the Course and questions began to pop into my mind. Do I really believe I am the innocent child of God? And my answer to myself was, “Well, most of the time …. but not all the time.” The next question was “What about this very instant …. do you believe you are the innocent child of God?" And my immediate and enthusiastic answer was “YES” and this is the only moment there is -- the moment of now.”
I then thought of the statement, “And a little child shall lead them.” So the relevance of this kid who was my spiritual master that day was to remind me that being new is what I am when I accept my identity of being an innocent child of God.
That began to mean to me that I can keep that innocent child within my soul --active and playful-- in each eternal instant. I began to discover I could look at a flower as a flower I had never seen before. I could be fully alive with wonderment and curiosity and full of love.
I began to stop paying attention to the lines in my face and to focus on the inner light and playful child within me. I like to play with clay and so I made a sculpture of a baby that was an angel with wings with a very happy smile. It is by our fire place and I tell people who come to visit us with a twinkle in my eye that the sculpture is of me. We all have that child within us and it is our job to nourish that child with our love and to let the light shine through us to everyone.
One of the songs that we love very much and almost every child and adult like to sing is “This Little Light of Mine.” This song seems to keep the little kid in us active and alive. It goes like this:
This little light of mine
I’m gonna let it shine
This little light of mine
I’m gonna let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we all decided to make this song the song of our hearts?
We begin laughing and giggling more and not taking ourselves so seriously when we live our lives according to the Course’s statement, “Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the Peace of God.” We begin to take on our identity of being that innocent new child of God by letting go of guilt, fear and judgments so that we can experience the oneness that we all are. It is about a life filled with simplicity, balance, love and forgiveness.
About a year ago we received guidance to write a book entitled, A Mini Course for Life
We use the writings in this small book ourselves because we need all the reminders we can get in a practical and simple form. This book, with lesson cards, is a modification and expansion of our previous booklet, “To Give is to Receive." It was our intention to create a small book that would have a simplicity and clarity in it that would allow us to rediscover that innocent child that is in each of us. A Mini Course for Life offers concepts in Attitudinal Healing that present new choices for solving problems; provides resolutions for any unhealed relationships; and presents an amazingly adaptable approach for dealing with whatever life sends our way.
Hopefully, A Mini Course for Life will inspire you to be better at living who you are and more at peace with every part of your life. More importantly, it will help enable you to demonstrate more love, forgiveness, happiness, kindness, gentleness, and compassion. We have been humbled by the many people whose lives have been changed by our previous writings. We have also been honored by having Carlos Santana, the great guitarist and musician, write the following foreword to our new book:
I can recommend with all of my heart A Mini Course for Life because I have experienced the lessons in this small book myself and found them life-changing. I can think of nothing more important that waking up to the truth that there is nothing, absolutely nothing more important than the flame of love. This mini course helps us to see value in letting go of the obstacles to love like our judgments, grievances, guilt and unforgiving thoughts. I believe that we are all here to make a difference and that we can do this by letting go of fear. I also believe that we make a difference when we become passionate at being of service and helping others. We all have a part to play in bringing peace, love, joy and harmony to the world by finding peace within ourselves and then giving that inner peace and love to everyone we meet or even think about.
This book can ignite your heart so that you can experience a sense of Oneness with all of life. I have been blessed by being a vehicle of love through my music. There is a special talent in each of us to be a vehicle of unconditional love and to be Light in a world that is suffering from darkness.
It is a time for love, for dancing in the streets, to have loving eyes and to dissolve all our anger and hate. May you find A Mini Course for Life as helpful for you as I have found it to be for me.
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Tending My Resignation
by Jacob Glass
Hello there. I’m Jacob Glass, A Course in Miracles lecturer and international super-model. It’s so nice to meet you. Oh and by the way, this may be the last time I will be writing for The Holy Encounter. In fact, it may be the last article of any kind that I will be writing. I am turning in my resignation . . . again.
I am looking forward to speaking at the annual conference again this year because it is one of my favorite things to do – such great audiences and it’s always a treat to be with Beverly and the gang. But what a surprise! The last time I spoke at the conference I told myself it was the last time I would be speaking there and now here I am back again! You see, I’m a quitter. I quit all the time. It’s the only way I can keep any amount of real joy in my life. It’s the only way I can stay in the present. So, every time I give a lecture I tell myself, “This may be the very last lecture I ever give so I better suck the juice out of it – no sense in behaving myself since I may never get another chance up at the mic. What is God doing sending me out into the world like this anyhow? I am totally unqualified. Just the same, here I am and I intend to ride this thing ‘til the wheels fall off.”
I try to do this with everything; last date, last meal, last hike, last kiss, last trip to Palm Springs, last time in a hotel, last sunrise, last cup of coffee. It is both a way of savoring the present experience, and also of releasing any attachment to future outcomes. It keeps my ego from thinking that it can “get” something later on, since there is no later on. It’s one of the little ways I trick myself into peace. I wish I could say I remembered to do it all the time because that would mean I had a lot more peaceful days and nights than I do but nevertheless it is a nice little tool to have in my problem-solving repertoire.
I once heard a spiritual teacher say, “If you want stress and suffering on purpose, get a future.” To me, that is the miraculous benefit of saying “I place the future in the hands of God” because it’s a way of resigning from a non-existent illusory future. Just think about that for a minute - what would life be like if you were never trying to get invited back? Not hoping this might lead to something? Not trying to hold onto your house or job or spouse? Not trying to get your child to turn out a certain way? Not trying to influence someone? Not trying to stave off the aging process or get your body to look or feel the way you think it should? How different might each experience be?
Of course what we’re really talking about here is giving up the illusion of control. The ego hates that. It says that if we let go of trying to control the future that we’ll be out of control and reveal ourselves as the horribly wretched and undisciplined selfish and insignificant little beings that we are afraid we are – or that without our incredibly wise guidance that others would fall apart and the world would end. It counsels us that if we are not rigidly motivating ourselves with terror that our whole world will fall apart and we’ll end up alone and depressed. It tells us that we’d eat everything in sight, tell everyone off, lose everything and be despised by the world almost overnight.
In reality the opposite is true. It is so deeply depressing to miss the present while focusing on “getting” somewhere later on. Faith is not about holding on until the miracle happens later. Faith is about a radical letting go in this moment, knowing that even now all things are held perfectly in the hands of God.
“You are afraid of this because you believe that without the ego, all would be chaos. Yet I assure you that without the ego, all would be love.” (T312)
I never had any lasting happiness in my own life until I stopped running it. I had to ruthlessly admit that I had failed at everything I ever attempted to do and that there was no reason to think that the future was going to be any different. I had to resign as my own teacher for I did not like what I was learning and it was not making me happy. Any success that I’ve had in my life is something I can take no personal credit for and that galls my ego. The only small credit I can take is for my willingness to say “yes” to whatever His plan was for me.
This “little willingness” makes a big difference. Small things are often big things in disguise. In the later version of the Course, Workbook Lesson 233 reads: “I give my life to God to guide today” but in the original it is: “I give my life to God to run today.” I much prefer the original version in which God runs the show. For me it is a much more soothing and peaceful way to live.
If God guides my life that seems to still leave “me” in the equation and that leaves quite a margin of error. I’d much rather abandon my life to Him altogether and let him just run the whole damn thing. “Call me if You need anything, You know where to find me” is my attitude. And for me, it’s worked. That’s because I recognize that I am completely insane. I don’t mind admitting it. It’s what drew me to the Course so strongly to begin with because it uses the words sane and insanity over two hundred times. I don’t think in terms of love and fear anymore. I relate more to the concept of sane and insane.
“This is an insane world, and do not underestimate the extent of its insanity. There is no area of your perception that it has not touched, and your dream is sacred to you.” (T271)
Love and fear are such heavily loaded words. Often what people call love is sentimental egoic attachment and they think of fear as a visceral physical sensation of fight or flight. It can be confusing because sometimes I don’t even realize that fear has crept in and taken the reins. It’s an easier gauge for me to see “Oh yeah, I’m insane again. I thought I could control the Universe and make stuff happen. I thought I knew what should and shouldn’t be happening here, and now I’m miserable. I thought I was right about my version of reality. What a relief to be able to resign again and let Him lead the way back to sanity.”
And since resigning, I find that many days I’ve unexpectedly “gone sane.” Isn’t that a wonderful miracle?
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Click here to see The Crabby Angels Chronicles by Jacob Glass
Getting Acquainted with Bill Thetford
by Carol Howe
Bill Thetford’s star is on the rise; from every quarter, there is growing interest in him. Those fortunate enough to have known him can attest that he was brilliant, sophisticated, gracious, and charismatic. He was also a shy and private man and revealing himself publicly was the last thing he cared to do. Now it seems that without the constraints imposed by association with the body and “personal mind” — his conditioning — he is desirous of being fully available even now to all who turn to him for help. As I pressed the send button to announce the imminent arrival of Never Forget to Laugh, I felt a noticeable shift occur as if Bill’s consciousness had become more perceptibly omnipresent; our dear friend Bill has more to say!
Bill was secretive and deliberately compartmentalized, often keeping various aspects of his life unknown to other friends and colleagues. In his earlier days, he joked, “Keep your life a muddle and no one will ever know what’s going on,” as if “being known” was unacceptable. The Course addresses our fear of being true to who we are, and Bill was no exception. He was exceptional, however, in his dedication to practicing forgiveness and changing his mind about his long-held belief in the need to hide. By life’s end, Bill’s inclination toward secrecy had loosened greatly, though he remained an introvert despite his high-profile career and affiliation with the Course.
Although he was inclined toward secrecy, people most often described him as open, authentic, warm, friendly, unassuming, gentle, and intensely sincere. Almost everyone was disarmed by Bill’s transparency, which was profoundly effective. One might ask how transparency squares with being secretive, and there is an easy answer. He felt the need for privacy at the human level and to keep secret his thoughts and actions, but he could never hide his energetic presence. The unalterable truth of him, his loving reality, was always apparent. From Chapter Fifteen:
The word Bill’s friends most often used to describe him was presence. Although inadequate, it is the closest available. Something happened around him; one felt lighter, more expansive. Some expressed it as a calming and radiant quality; others said it was like the room became electrified or filled with an exuberant energy. In any case, it was a great influence in people’s lives and left an indelible mark.
A transmission happened on an energy level and gradually filtered through form in whatever way was most appropriate. This was not done with conscious intent and people were often at a loss to describe their experience. They simply wanted to be near him, to be close to him.
Another characteristic universally known was Bill’s unrivaled sense of humor. He could be simply hilarious; his ability to pun, to play on words, was legendary. No matter his devotion to the Course and its message, he could still see it from a larger, and very funny, perspective. He laughed at the absurdity of life and found nothing too sacred for his lighthearted touch. To him, it was all amusing — his work, the science of psychology, people, situations, or sex. He closed many a conversation with a smile, saying, “I know it’s hopeless, just not serious.” During the time the Course was being scribed, Bill was co-editor of the Journal of Abnormal Psychology and periodically rejected articles on the grounds that they were “not sufficiently scientific.” Of course, he found this situation ridiculous and very humorous. Though he laughed at situations, he never laughed at people, and always gave any person who asked for help his heartfelt and undivided attention.
Out of the array of notable qualities ascribed to Bill, one of the most remarkable was his genuine humility. He avoided the limelight and never flaunted his brilliance or vast store of knowledge. Rarely did he give unsolicited advice and, when he did, it was always kindly given and uplifting to the individual.
Along with presence, his marvelous sense of humor, and his humility, Bill was always accepting and supportive.
Within the light of Bill’s acceptance, frantic or mindless thought could settle down, accompanied by a deep sense of relief. Imagine no need to defend, impress, convince, or dominate. People relaxed in his presence. Bill’s acceptance had the instantaneous effect of orienting people to their own innate value, and the expansion was automatic.
Not only was presence Bill’s most oft-noted characteristic followed closely by his unparalleled sense of humor, he was present during the writing process. Periodically, we carried on a dialogue. Often I would “check in” with him about what should be revealed in the book and what would remain private – privacy not for him, but in consideration of others still living. I was dedicated to being truthful, yet respectful of everyone mentioned in the book. As I neared completion of this work, I somewhat facetiously asked, “What’s the name of your book, anyway?” and distinctly felt the answer, “You’ll know when you get to the end.” I countered that I was almost at the end and immediately got, “But you’re not at the very end, and when you get there, you’ll know what it is.” Acknowledging that “almost at the end” is not the same as “the end,” I continued. With no forethought on my part, the last sentence of the book concluded with, “and never again will we forget to laugh.” Instantly the words jumped off the page and I knew that was the title of the book. This was definitely a collaborative effort, and Bill had been coaching throughout.
Just as Bill gathered a “family” to himself to support the last ten transformational years of his life, he is now gathering his “flock” from far and wide -- from those dissatisfied with their lives, looking for a better way to live, to Course students willing to re-dedicate themselves to walking his path of forgiveness. And, as he made abundantly clear, it’s definitely a path worth walking!
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