Early on in A Course of Love, Jesus assures us that we are not alone in our experience of shock and dismay at what the world we see seems to offer.  He says, “There is not a soul that walks this earth that does not weep at what it sees.”  (CoL, 2.10)  Recognizing that we might be reluctant to accept this sweeping statement at face value, he also says, “Think not that those who seem to add to the world’s misery are any exception.”

(Even the “bad guys” hurt.)

One of the things I love about A Course of Love is that Jesus has an undeniably solid grasp of what it means to be a human being still harboring the residue of a fundamental decision for separation, and about what it takes to make the journey back from isolation to Love, from uncertainty to Knowledge.  He spends a fair amount of time pointing us out to ourselves- both as we are (in our misperceptions), and as we Are (in Truth)- and I find that nearly every time, when I look inside myself, I can see what he is getting at.  He is also willing to acknowledge the viewpoint we’re hard-pressed to shake off: something is not quite right about this place.

We weep at what we see in this world, and yet the promise this Course offers- the idea that genuine world transformation is not only possible, but upon us- is staggering.  This is what we have so long sought…  And we wonder what, exactly, will bring it about?  How could this really be possible… now?  Jesus understands our questions, and he says, “Belief of another kind can foster the creation of form of another kind. A wholehearted belief in the truth about your Self is what is required to cause this to be so. It is what is necessary now. It will change the world.” (CoL, 23.13)

This answer, however, is in the same genus of answers as your basic let-down.  It is the seemingly unsatisfactory Truth we’ve heard countless times in countless forms that strikes our separated selves in the face like a wet blanket: the what for which Jesus asks is simply the inner acceptance of who we are.  Number one, how the hell could that result in any world transformation?  The other numbered points- of which there are many- simply don’t matter, because we can’t get past this first one.

Jesus knows we can’t see what is really possible, or what is really happening, or who we really are, while we’re on the near side of Ever After.  (Ever After WHAT!?)  We keep forgetting that despite being the self-proclaimed products of billions of years of biological evolution, the one thing we’ve neglected to keep front and center is Reality itself.  He says, “The transformation from a state of separation to a state of unity is a miracle indeed, for this transformation requires recognition of a state that you cannot recognize in separation.” (CoL, 18.19)

We’re flying blind, hoping beyond hope we’ll crash into something worthwhile.

We’re back to miracles…

How hard is it to simply accept who we are?  For me sometimes… hard.  Why can’t we just do it?  Or be handed a simple punch list of the outstanding concerns we are harboring, and get this thing done?  Wouldn’t that be more efficient???

What I think I’m learning about miracles is this: that maximally efficient process is exactly what is happening…  There is this pretty amazing thing called life taking place all around us and, more importantly, within us every day.  We think it has a mind of its own- you know, because we think we’re separate- but all day long, life is right there with us, effortlessly arranging the precise string of moments that will best reveal to us our own unique punch list of obstacles.  We can’t believe life could be this precise, this helpful, this perfect, this eager to satisfy and heal the most desperate needs that we have, and so we see it as a random process.  We see fate and circumstance.  We see uncertainty and something dark looming on the horizon.

We’re just seeing echoes of our deepest obstacles to self-acceptance.

I think one of the most beautiful messages that Jesus brought with A Course of Love is the notion that we really can’t see what life is offering us with just our minds.  We have to engage our hearts as well.  Only then, with both our heart and mind unified in pursuit of self-acceptance, can we accept and experience the miracle of transformation.  We don’t get to name this process or its stages.  We don’t get to measure its progress.  We don’t get to manage this fall.  Bringing our hearts into the equation is like dropping an infinity on the other side of the equal sign somewhere.  When our hearts and minds align, within ourselves, we become epicenters of peace and transformation, and every aspect of life is made plain as the movement of Creation.  Then the world’s tumblers just might click into place, and, as Jesus warns us, anything could happen…

Hard to believe, but nevertheless True.  Just ask Him.