Is 2009 Your Year of Freedom?
nothing to fear!
2009
...a freeing year!
Those who are listening to the still small voice of Jesus Christ and his angels will laugh and tell you there is nothing to fear.
Those who read and take seriously the teachings of Jesus in His 21st Century revelation, A Course in Miracles, exude a joy that comes from their certainty there is nothing to fear.
Those with the vision to see the world-wide fear-release process that is going on beneath surface appearances are confident there is nothing to fear.
To be sure, it almost seems a huge hurricane of fear tore up many of the economic foundations of our world in 2008. But remember, our Holy Spirit’s job is fear-release. And no storm is so violent it cannot be tamed by our Holy Spirit. There is every assurance 2009 will be a very good year.
Much of the world-wide fear-release process depends on the American President. A Course in Miracles Discourses welcomes Barack Obama as elected President of the United States. We have total trust our Holy Spirit is working mightily with Obama and through him to further the Divine Plan for Peace and Prosperity. We pray daily that Barack Obama will be tuned in to the guidance of our Holy Spirit and will follow Divine Guidance faithfully. We visualize him courageously doing what is right for everyone, and not like some politicians spinelessly catering to ideological interests. Thank you for lending Barack Obama your strength.
Let’s suppose you send Barack Obama a copy of A Course in Miracles? Would such a gift be making a better world? If the Course would help the President of the United States deepen his dedication to listening inside to his spirit, certainly his reading it would be helpful, wouldn’t you say?
But then the question arises, does reading ACIM lead to developing any particular political tendency in general? We believe it does. We believe over time ACIM students become highly efficient creators of political liberty, peace and prosperity (sometimes without even knowing it).
Because 2008 has been an election year, we have recently published several articles having to do with the political ramifications of the Miracles teachings of Jesus. Especially important, we have discussed in separate articles how Jesus does not teach any form of government-forced (involuntary) socialism, and does not advocate government-forced taxation (a form of theft). History and logic verify that the initiation of force against those who have not themselves initiated force never leads to either prosperity or peace. But since Jesus Christ strives to lead us to both peace and prosperity, it is appropriate to compare political philosophies to the teachings of Jesus.
Dig to the depths of all political philosophies or political tendencies and you eventually find one’s view of the nature of reality.
If one believes a material world is all there is, the forced socialism of political progressives like the more leftist supporters of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton makes seeming sense. To such a mind, laws of an entirely material world should logically be discoverable by scientists, and a man-made government based on scientific laws should reasonably be able to force the creation of a Utopian society.
On the other hand if one sees reality as spiritual, with the seeming material world only a manifestation or visible form of a deeper reality, then the inner desire to be in touch with “first things first” attracts one to outer conditions with the utmost flexibility to listen inside to one’s spirit and follow the guidance of one’s spirit without being hindered ... happily, the conditions of political liberty.
Students of A Course in Miracles naturally become advocates of political liberty
Miracles students see reality as spiritual, not material. We are aware that the material world is built in ego mind, and that to the degree one enjoys the freedom of one’s spirit (freedom from ego influence) one’s visible world rearranges itself to reflect this freedom in the form of political freedom. Furthermore, ACIM students cannot but rejoice when “outer” political liberty reflects their true inner state of being. As they become like Jesus, their joy is in offering freedom to everyone. Consider the words of Jesus:
"If you want to be LIKE me, I will help you, knowing that we ARE alike. If you want to be DIFFERENT, I will wait until you change your mind. I can TEACH you, but only you can choose to LISTEN to my teaching. How else can it be, if God's Kingdom IS freedom? Freedom cannot be learned by tyranny of ANY kind, and the perfect equality of ALL God's Sons cannot be recognized through the dominion of one will over another. God's Sons are equal in will, all being the Will of their Father. This is the ONLY lesson I can teach, knowing that it is true.
"Join then with me in praise of Him AND you who He created. This is our gift of gratitude to Him, which He will share with ALL His Creations, to whom He gives equally whatever is acceptable to Him. BECAUSE it is acceptable to Him, it is the gift of freedom, which IS His Will for all His Sons. By OFFERING freedom you will be free, because freedom is the only gift which you can offer to God's Sons, being an acknowledgment of what they are and what HE is." (ACIM Text Chap. 8)
Advocates of political liberty exponentially help their cause with A Course in Miracles
Libertarians and lovers of liberty of all stripes need to come to the realization that the freedom they really, really, really crave is facilitated by A Course in Miracles. As Jesus Himself states it in his Introduction to the Course:
“It is crucial to say first that this is a required course. Only the time you take it is voluntary. Free will does not mean that you establish the curriculum. It means only that you can elect what to take when.” (ACIM Introduction – unedited version)
Lovers of political liberty supposedly value an open mind. An open mind might ask: “What if I am far more spiritually attuned than I believe?" Many libertarians (at least when they are young) call themselves atheists. Their professed atheism arises from their “free spiritedness.” They know their spirit is free. They feel the desire of their spirit to stay free of preconceived ideas and previously formed structures. They may not know it yet, but they are more open spiritually than many hard-core religionists who have fallen into preconceived ideas and structures. In the spirit of open-mindedness libertarians need to at least withhold judgment regarding A Course in Miracles and not dismiss it with an automatic knee jerk reaction.
A Course in Miracles prepares one for a vastly expanded experience of freedom. The Course also makes clear the little-understood but earth-moving creative powers of mind, so it becomes very easy to see that by first opening to an overwhelming inner experience of freedom one ultimately solidifies conditions of political freedom in one’s world. The principle is “first things first.” The old saying “as above, so below” might just as well have been stated “as inside one’s self, so outside one’s self,” for in truth “inside” and “outside” are illusions. The Course student’s deep desire and hymn is: “There will be freedom on earth … and it will begin with me.”
Recognition that it must start “inside oneself” does not imply worshipping the human ego (identification of oneself as a limited individualized body and mind). Unfortunately the philosophy of political liberty took a wrong turn when it adopted without checking deeper premises Ayn Rand’s glorification of the ego. By identifying oneself with a little helpless (in the grand scheme of things) human body and human consciousness, one has begun the process of self imprisonment, which can only lead to the outer “imprisonment” of political tyranny. The creation of political freedom requires being in tune with the source of freedom. Ponder again the words of Jesus:
"The belief in EGO autonomy is costing you the knowledge of your dependence on God, IN WHICH YOUR FREEDOM LIES. The ego sees ALL dependency as threatening, and has twisted even your longing for God into a means of establishing ITSELF. But do not be deceived by ITS interpretation of your conflict. The ego ALWAYS attacks on behalf of separation. Believing it HAS the power to do this, it does nothing else, because its goal of autonomy IS nothing else. The ego is totally confused about reality, BUT IT DOES NOT LOSE SIGHT OF ITS GOAL. It is much more vigilant than YOU are, BECAUSE it is perfectly certain of its purpose. YOU are confused, because you do NOT know YOURS.
"Would you be hostage to the ego or host to God? You will accept only who YOU invite. You are free to determine who shall be your guest, and how long he shall remain with you. But this is not REAL freedom, for it depends on how you see it. For the Holy Spirit is THERE, although He cannot help you without your invitation; and the ego is nothing, whether you invite it or not. Real freedom depends on welcoming REALITY, and of your guests only He IS real. Know, then, Who abides with you, merely by recognizing WHAT IS ALREADY THERE, and do not be satisfied with imaginary comforters, for the Comforter of God is in you." (ACIM Text Chap. 11)
The inevitable "end time"
With this article, we have hoped to encourage students of A Course in Miracles to recognize their inherent dedication to political liberty, as well as interest advocates of political liberty to consider the possibility that A Course in Miracles might prove to be the single most valuable tool for reaching their goal. We have not sought to prove, but can only state our certainty, that in the end there will be a world of political freedom, and that such a world will arise out of the consciousness of men and women experiencing the joy of out-of-this-world spiritual freedom.
But the "end time" starts in 2009, doesn’t it? Knowing that human events course corrections are being influenced constantly by our Holy Spirit, we have total confidence that 2009 will be a fabulous year in the service of freedom for all mankind. And at the dawn of this great year we do well to remember the words of Jesus:
“I did not understand what made me free,
nor what my freedom is,
nor where to look to find it.
Father, I have searched in vain until I heard Your Voice directing me.
Now I would guide myself no more.
For I have neither made nor understood the way to find my freedom.
But I trust in You.
You Who endowed me with my freedom as Your holy Son will not be lost to me.
Your Voice directs me."
(Prayer from A Course in Miracles)
"...nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21)
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