A Course in Miracles Lesson 176

God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

One of the tricks to practicing A Course in Miracles is accepting that it cannot be practiced in isolation but requires relationship. This means that we need each other – like, literally need each other.

In the same way that I have a gift to give you, you have a gift to give to me. And just as you are not complete without my gift, I am not complete without yours.

This review period emphasizes our total dependence on each other and also contextualizes it as a fundamental aspect of Creation.

In previous lessons we focused on how we see the other – we focused on our need to hold in mind the Love of God, and to seek the holiness that is IN the other as a consequence of their Creation and contingency on God.

Now we ask the other – in recognition of their holiness, in recognition of their integrity, in recognition of the Creator they cannot help but witness unto – to bless us.

I invite you to take this request literally! To recognize your need, to recognize that you cannot complete yourself, that you cannot dictate to the other but only ask and be open.

I invite you to go without expectation to your brother or sister and ask them to bless you.

This is hard to do! It is hard not to have an expectation of the form the blessing will take. It is not hard not to project onto the other – they will reject us, they aren’t as spiritually advanced as we are, we are doing them a favor, we blessed them so what are they waiting for, et cetera.

It is hard because our days are not easy. Work is hard, family is hard. The world is scary and dangerous. Sometimes just remembering that we want to be better – let alone actually being better – is almost impossible.

Together, these are nontrivial aspects of our living that we should not ignore.

What heals them – and what allows us to go to our brothers and sisters in vulnerability and honesty and openness – is the second part of the review, which is the context for all healing: we are as God created us. We – and the other – cannot be otherwise.

When we declare that we are as God created us, we should give careful attention to how it makes us feel. Do we feel proud? Do we feel indifferent to others?

Or do we feel humbled and grateful? Do we feel a deep sense of obligation and responsibility?

I want to gently suggest that it is the latter we want to feel – humility, gratitude and responsibility. It is not a crime against God or nature to not feel this! There is a reason we are students!

But A Course in Miracles is an invitation to relationship with our brothers and sisters without exception. We are not healed until all minds are healed. This should appear to be an impossible task to us, which is why we need God’s Teacher to teach us.

These review lessons are opportunities to not only understand the Course, but to bring it into application in the very circumstances of our living.

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