Helen Schucman scribed A
Course in Miracles with the help of Bill Thedford. Both of these people were
psychologists, professors and co-workers at Columbia University in New York City. There
was a lot of fighting and aggressiveness among the staff at the hospital and after one
particularly bad incident, Bill remarked to Helen that he was tired of the angry and
aggressive feelings their attitudes reflected, and concluded that there "must be a
better way." His statement struck a chord in her, and Helen immediately agreed to
help find a way.
Helen was very spiritual,
but she had a strong dislike and suspicion of orthodox religions. She came from a Jewish
background but had contact with other faiths. She was very intrigued by Catholicism
but regardless, Helen considered herself an agnostic. Her skepticism followed her
throughout her life. While scribing the Course, she questioned and challenged what
she wrote, many times fighting and arguing with the words that flowed through her. Even
after she had finished writing A Course in Miracles, she still questioned and
doubted herself and her abilities.
Regardless, throughout her
life she would experience vivid dreams and visions. Periodically a loving Voice would talk
to her. She would relate these dreams and conversations to her husband and to Bill. Her
husband found her dreams to be disturbing and advised her to forget about them. But Bill
found them interesting, urging her to share them with him. Being a psychologist, not
surprisingly, her dreams and visions brought up fears of her own sanity and credibility.
And so she decided to ignore the Voice and the visions.
But a few months after their
agreement to "find a better way," Helen told Bill that the Voice had
returned. She said that the Voice was telling her, "This is a course in miracles.
Please take notes." Bill advised her to take notes, assuring her that he would
keep her confidence, and if it seemed crazy, they could just rip it up. After reading her
first transcription, Bill knew that this material was something new and important, and he
supported her in continuing. Daily he would type her notes from the night before. And so,
over a period of seven and a half years, the Course was born. Throughout this time,
Helen was vehemently opposed to showing the material to anyone. It took awhile for her to
calm her fears and realize that this was a gift that needed to be shared with the world.
The Voice of A Course in
Miracles makes no secret in letting us know that it is Jesus Christ speaking. At first
I disbelieved it. I thought it was just a bunch of hokey, New Age nonsense. In fact, it
downright scared me! But as I read more and more of the Course, I found myself no
longer caring who spoke the words, or how they came to be written. What I felt was a
stirring of Truth in my heart. These words felt vaguely familiar and true - like a
forgotten memory, trying to resurface.
I found the Course
aggravating in its persistent acknowledgment of my responsibility for the pain in
my life, but heartening as it reminded me of my innocence and Divine nature. It also
stressed the importance of becoming responsible and aware of my innermost thoughts and
fears, because it was with these thoughts and fears that I was creating my reality. My
turning point came in Chapter Six – The Lessons in Love, in which Jesus
explains the purpose of His crucifixion.
Ever since I was a child,
the thought that Jesus died for my sins made no sense to me. How could a man, 2,000
years ago somehow pay for my sins today? How could God be so cruel as to sacrifice one of
His children to die for others? Why did He have to die for my sins, anyway? Nobody could
ever answer these questions to my satisfaction. If you are interested in the answer to
these questions, or maybe an answer to your own, read Chapter Six – The Lessons in
Love.
I feel A Course in
Miracles is a furthering of the lessons Jesus attempted to teach us while He was on
Earth and a deeper explanation of His teachings. According to Him, every person we meet
can be our savior because as we see others, we see ourselves. And as we change how we see
them, we change our vision of ourselves, which, in turn, changes our world. That is the
basis of a sane relationship.
I also feel that it is an
opportunity for Jesus to correct some of the misrepresentations of what He originally was
trying to say. In the Course He actually corrects some of the statements
attributed to Him and reaffirms that His message was always about love and nothing else.
He also exposes the reader to a loving God and not the God so many of us have learned to
be afraid of.
Although the Course
emphasizes that it is only one of many paths back to Truth, I have found that A Course
in Miracles speaks to me more than any other spiritual text that I have read. It has
truly restored sanity to my life.
What the Course Teaches (Briefly!)
One of the basic
concepts the Course teaches is that we are constantly choosing to live our lives
based on either love or fear. When we choose not to confront our partner for their abuse,
we are choosing fear. When we decide not to tell our lover the truth about an issue
because his/her love may go away or because they may get upset, we are choosing fear. When
we hide who we are – our dreams, desires and our goals – because the world may
judge us, we are choosing fear.
When we choose fear, we
contract, we get small (after all, a smaller target is harder to hit). We look at
everything we ever did wrong and expect to be punished. We look at the world with guilty,
fearful eyes and perceive only fearful images. And since our egos don’t want to take
responsibility for our own fears, judgments and guilt, we then project our internal
insanity out onto the world that we see. We begin to blame others for all of our
problems. We judge others for the same things that we judge ourselves. And in doing this,
we create our reality – a reality based on fear, lack, guilt and judgment. A
real hell!
On the other hand, when we
take a risk and express our truth and our feelings, knowing our partner may get upset and
may even leave, we are facing our fears and now choosing love. When we face our
unconscious prejudices, our doubts and our past mistakes, and correct them, that is
choosing love. As the barriers we have erected begin to fall, miracles occur. We feel
lighter, we experience more peace and harmony in our lives and in our relationships. We
begin to realize that that there was love around us all the time.
A note of warning: If this is the first time that you are being
introduced to these concepts, you may be feeling overwhelmed, anxious or even a little
angry. I too felt angry and defensive at the thought that I was responsible for my life.
But take heart! The rest of this book is devoted to explaining how these ideas work in
more bite-sized pieces.
The Course
emphasizes application of spiritual principles rather than theory, experience
rather than theology. It states,
"A universal theology is
impossible, but a universal experience
is not only possible but necessary."
Teachers Manual pg. 73 / 77
Where the world would tell
us that you can only attain God through a certain religion or ritual, the Course
emphasizes that it is everyone’s right to experience God no matter how they
get there. And once one experiences God, the method of getting there no longer matters. A
Hindu’s experience of God is no different than a Christian’s. They may have
gotten to that experience through different methods, but they can definitely appreciate,
honor and accept the depth of each other’s experience, and honor each other’s
essence.
Where the world would tell
us that its perceptions are true, the Course says that the world you perceive is
the world you believe you will perceive. And a miracle is a change in our
perception. As we change our perceptions of who we think we are, our world
miraculously changes with it. Where once there was hate, there is now love. Where once
there was pain and revenge, there is now transcendent forgiveness. Where once there was
unrelenting fear, now there is unlimited peace.
When I finally faced my
fears and judgments about women and began to see them as loving, caring, dynamic people,
instead of the secretive, mean, incomprehensible creatures I thought they were,
that was a miracle! And miraculously my relationships with them have gotten better ever
since.
Of course, this miracle did
not happen all at once. It was many, many miracles, many mini-changes of my perceptions
that, over time, gave me a better understanding of myself and others. Actually, being
willing to change your mind about anything is essentially the first miracle.
When we let go of our guilt,
we find our lives working more smoothly and with less self-sabotage. When we face our fear
and demonstrate the Truth about ourselves, our world begins to change. When we are willing
to see the love in our partner’s eyes instead of the hate and judgment we think
is there, our relationships become more harmonious. When we see with the Vision of Christ,
instead of the body’s eyes, we see possibilities, we see love, we see heaven. What
the Course is teaching us is how to have an experience of Heaven here on earth.
At one point it states,
"Heaven has come because it found
a home in your relationship on earth."
Text pg. 424 / 455
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Class
Schedule and Other ACIM Sites
Jerome teaches classes
in A Course in Miracles every Monday night at the Unity Church of Christianity
in
Houston, Texas. The classes start at 7:30 pm and ends at 9:00 pm. There are
not special requirements to attend these classes. There are new people attending
every meeting and Jerome structures the lesson in such a way that people who are new to
the concepts, as well as veteran students, can all benefit.
Classes are held in Grace Hall (the white
building between the Unity Sanctuary and the Jack in the Box restaurant) at 2929 Unity
Drive. The phone number of the church is (713) 782-4050. Click here for map.
Some recommended sites to
learn more about A Course in Miracles are:
www.acim.org
www.facim.org
www.miraclecenter.org
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What Is A Course in Miracles?