When I was in the thick of debilitating anxiety, I’d tearfully wail, “I’m failing A Course in Miracles!”
My loving family would remind me, “You’re not failing A Course in Miracles, you’re DOING A Course in Miracles.”
It can be very tempting to think that if everything is running smoothly that we must be nailing our Course lessons. But this can be a big ego trap. When we are tempted to judge our own spiritual progress, I’m always reminded of this quote:
“…you cannot distinguish between advance and retreat. Some of your greatest advances you have judged as failures, and some of your deepest retreats you have evaluated as success.” (ACIM, T-18.V.1:5-6)
The fact of the matter is that we know nothing. Rather than beat myself up for struggling or praise myself for how great I’m doing (can you hear the ego in both those things?), staying in a space of open receptivity and refraining from judgment is much more helpful for the Holy Spirit. Side note: A humble acknowledgement of your progress and your strengths can be a great way of supporting yourself! This is quite different than judging external circumstances as a means of identifying spiritual progress.
It also always helps me to think of the stages in the Development of Trust in the Manual for Teachers (ACIM, M-4.I-A). The various periods we go through (periods of undoing, sorting out, relinquishment, settling down, unsettling, and achievement) show us that healing is a process!
In this A Course in Miracles study group snippet, I speak about the ego trap that occurs when we base our spiritual progress on how our external lives look. As a reminder, whatever it is you are going through is simply a layer that is coming up for healing. It does NOT mean you’re failing the Course, it means you’re DOING the Course.
Enjoy – and let me know what you think by leaving a comment below!
Corinne, thank you for making me aware and all of us that judgments are actually blocking our way home to truth of who we really are as an extension of God‘s love. It takes a load off of us that we do not have to rate our selves either way. 🙏😍😇
Hi Marty, I totally agree that it takes a load off that we don’t have to judge our own progress. Whew! Thanks for your note. 🙂
☺️🙏🔵👍💫
Perfectly put Corinne, my external experience since becoming a Teacher Of God, has been anything but picture perfect.
I am a part time cleaner in a gymnasium in the UK🇬🇧, i see brothers and sisters with flash cars and money come in, i am the opposite, but they are drawn to me, they are deeply unhappy, they enjoy my company and want to know why I am always Peaceful and Happy, Holy Spirit guides me what to say. Inner
Peace and Joy are the Real Markers of progress, and a humble acknowledgement of this state of being with gratitude is enough to know your choosing your Teacher Wisely.
As Jesus Counsels in the Urtext “A Teacher Of God Must Learn To Remain Calm(stay in the right mind), When All Around Them Is Chaos”.
So these negative times are essential for practicing Forgiveness, and most importantly so are the positives, they deceive us more.
I want to Thank You Corinne, i was drawn to your study group, about 6 months ago, a rarity for me, for all the years I’ve been A Teacher of God, ive been to only a few ACIM events, ive always seen the whole world as The Christ Community, and seen them as like minded, as opposed to a smaller ACIM community, anyways Corinne I Loved It, You Are A Bright Shining Light My Holy Sister, Thank You for your Presence and Joining, may the rest of your Journey without a distance be Full of Love and Blessings. ❤️🙏
Eric! Thank you so much for sharing this with me, Teacher of God. I am not surprised that so many people would be drawn to your light and love! I love how you see the whole world as The Christ Community (that’s so true!). Your contributions to the study group have been so helpful for so many of us, and have I truly loved everything you shared. Thank you for bringing your wisdom and your light to the group. I’m so grateful to be connected with you! Stay in touch please! 🙂
Thank you for the reminder of the periods of unsettling in the Manual for Teachers . Thank you for sharing the ego attempts to
cause us to judge our progress & the reassurance that all is well when we are doing the course .