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Inspirational Articles
This is a talk Linda gave at the Community Miracles Center in December 2006. Laughing Your Way to Heaven by Linda Chappo I like to start my talks with some humor. I looked on the internet and there are no A Course in Miracles jokes, so I had to use some that were available. I also want to apologize in advance if these offend anyone. I know we practice forgiveness, and have a sense of humor. Jim Baker and Jimmy Swaggert (you remember them?) are collaborating on a new book together. It’s called “Ministers Do More Than Laypeople.” What does this have to do with ACIM? Nothing Mother Superior called all the nuns into the conference room. She announced that there was a problem, that a case of gonorrhea had been discovered in the convent. An elderly nun in the back of the room exclaimed, “oh, thank God, I was getting so tired of drinking Chardonnay.” What does this have to do with ACIM? Absolutely Nothing It doesn’t have anything to do with the words of ACIM or anything that it says, but it has everything to do with the vision or goals of the Course. The Course wants us to be peaceful, happy, joyous and full of laughter. I feel happy when I hear you are laughing. And when you laugh, it raises your endorphins, and yes, laughter is good medicine. I do know one thing, that when you are laughing it takes you outside of yourself. It changes your state. You cannot laugh and be sad at the same time. You cannot laugh and be in fear, conflict or turmoil. It’s not possible. The words laugh or laughter is mentioned about 45 times in ACIM. There are two instances that are important to what I have to say. The first is from the Text and the title The Hero of the Dream. “Into eternity, where all is one, there crept a tiny mad idea, at which the Son of God remembered not to laugh. In his forgetting did the thought become a serious idea and possible of both accomplishment and real effects.” This is how we went into this detour into fear, and so here we are. The other important quote is from the Manual for Teachers in the section How Will the World End? “The world will end in laughter, because it is a place of tears.” So it is our destiny to be peaceful, to be happy and to laugh a lot. So how does this come about? ACIM is a guidebook for happiness and peace. Even on the front cover we have the words “Foundation for Inner Peace.” It offers us a foundation for correcting our perceptions and being in relationships more peacefully. One of the first passages we come across is “Nothing real can be threatened, Nothing unreal exists. Therein lies the peace of God. It’s telling us not to let anything threaten us. Because we are miracle-minded people it is our responsibility to be an example or role model for joyful living. My message to you today is to “let go of negative thoughts, and your life will change in amazing ways. We can then change the world through keeping a light heartedness, enjoy your life and share laughter whenever you can. You laughter and peace will inspire others. Laughing is contagious, so please pass it on.
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This is an article Linda wrote for the Community Miracles Center (San Francisco) newsletter "Miracles Monthly." It was published in July 2002.
Choosing Independence By Linda Chappo
One of my favorite rituals at this time of the year is watching the fireworks and participating in the 4th of July celebrations. It reminds me to be thankful and appreciative of freedom in America: Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I’ve often wondered if we know what independence really is, what it entails and how to incorporate it into our lives. Ideas on independence and freedom may vary from you to me to the Holy Spirit’s idea. I’m suggesting that we be open to the Holy Spirit’s interpretation of independence and let the spirit within us guide us in our endeavors. I cherish the idea of independence and whit it means to me to have persona freedom. I see physical independence as a stepping stone to something much more powerful. The teachings of A Course In Miracles are very much in alignment with the idea of independence. The course teaches us how to free our minds from the illusion of separation. The Course gives us the spiritual and mental tools by which to maintain a peaceful resolve. If we follow the workbook lessons in part 1, they take us from a rigid perception of the world to one that is more mindfully liberating. The early lessons help us to look at people, places and things in a different light. We move from a preoccupation with our past ideas of what the world is all about to an awareness of our unity with our brothers and God. Independence is really an inside job. When we look within we have and inner dependence on our own innate wisdom, or on guidance from the Holy Spirit. It’s the kind of total dependence that’s freeing rather than binding. “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” (T-11.V.6.). ACIM also says “Except ye become as little children” means that unless you fully recognize your complete dependence on God, you cannot know the real power of the Son in his true relationship with the Father. (T-1.V.3.) Whenever we change our mind or perception about anything at any given time, we are exercising our independence. This brief story illustrates my point. I recently started working in San Francisco’s Chinatown district. Nearby is a swank hotel on Nob Hill where I once worked. I heard it was redecorated so I went in to see the changes. Fond memories returned from the last time I visited the restaurant, so I decided to re-experience the buffet. Shortly after ordering the bill arrived and I was astonished at the exorbitant price. It seemed unfair since the buffet had previously been free. In my mind I immediately started building a case against the restaurant. Instead of focusing on the beautiful environment and delicious food, I was creating a drama around the charges. After a few minutes I became aware of what I was doing and reminded myself that I chose to be there and my negative thoughts were ruining my experience. I then finished my meal in peace. This story shows how easily the insane ego can build a mountain out of a molehill. We experience the essence of independence when we recognize the insanity and choose a more peaceful approach. According to the New World Dictionary, independence means “to be free from the influence, control or determination of another.” There are so many influences that try to control our thoughts and actions. Media advertising is always a big one, but the strongest and most difficult is our own ego thoughts which try to sabotage our desire to be at peace. One of Aim’s highest goals for us is freedom from the tyranny of fearful ego thoughts. “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 mind over another. God’s Sons are equal in will, all being the Will of their Father. This is the only lesson I can to teach”. (T-8.IV.6.).” The insidious ego voice is a form of internal terrorism that says you’re not worthy of that career promotion, or you’re not good enough to have a romance with that person. ACIM discourages us from succumbing to fear, passing judgment or condemning people or situations. Or unnecessarily holding grievances. Those kinds of thoughts limit who we are, and what we are capable of doing and becoming. They stop us from expressing God’s love and joy to those around us. One of the biggest ego traps is believing that something outside of us will set us free. There are plenty of promises of independence through the use and abuse of recreational and prescription drugs. Television commercials are full of prescription advice for whatever ails us. There’s a wide array of pills that offer freedom from worry, headache pain, insomnia, hot flashes, impotence, and more. Social drugs like cocaine, marijuana, alcohol, ecstasy and others promise to offer us relief from stress or boredom. I created an acronym for D.R.U.G.S.: Destructive Relationship Undermining God’s Son. It’s a negative relationship that undermines our pursuit of happiness, destroys our values and everything we hold dear. This destructive relationship is remarkably similar to the Course’s description of a special relationship. “Yet one thing the ego never allows to reach awareness is that the special relationship is the acting out of vengeance on yourself. Yet what else could it be? In seeking the special relationship, you look not for glory in yourself. You have denied that it is there, and the relationship becomes your substitute for it” (T-16.VII.5.). Special relationships don’t just apply to people with who we sleep. It may also apply to an abusive or unhealthy relationship with anything outside of ourselves that we are dependent on as our sole source of happiness. This might include certain foods, sugar, alcohol, sex, drugs, money, cigarettes, or material objects. The destructive relationship often adds to our dilemma by also jeopardizing our health. At the time I was writing this article I received an email from a friend who lives across the country. Her only child recently passed away. She sadly informed me that her son literally ‘drank himself to death.’ He was around thirty years old. Dependence on D.R.U.G.S. maintains the separation because it’s a relationship that tries to replace God rather than include God. The ego’s voice assures us that a cigar will make us powerful, a cigarette will make us popular or sexy, and alcohol will give us confidence or courage. Unless we are high invsome way we can’t relax or cope with this world. D.R.U.G.S. claim to give us pleasure and release form daily pressures. They subconsciously and temporarily set us free from the guilt we may be experiencing over something we did or didn’t do. It’s a destructive cycle where no one wins. I recently read a report which stated that teenager in Marin County, CA choose to smoke marijuana versus cigarettes “because at least you don’t die from it.” People who have experience with marijuana know it kills in other ways by distorting one’s perceptions, and the danger lies in losing touch with what is real. Although one of the most subtle message of ACIM is that we have all lost touch with what is real. “The children of God are entitled to the perfect comfort that comes from perfect trust. Until they achieve this, they waste themselves and their true creative powers on useless attempts to make themselves more comfortable by inappropriate means. But the real means are already provided, and do not involve any effort at all on their part.” (T-2.III.5.). As long as we identify with external pressures or circumstances rather than internal knowing, we will continue this detour into fear and delay our remembrance of love. My theory is that many of us are seeking love through D.R.U.G.S. I’m convinced that every time we reach for D.R.U.G.S., we are indirectly reaching for God’s love and acceptance. That’s the illusion and we can choose not to be spiritually deprived. ACIM says, “Sooner or later must everyone bridge the gap he imagines exists between his selves. Each one builds this bridge, which carries him across the gap as soon as he is willing to expend some little effort on behalf of bridging it. His little efforts are powerfully supplemented by the strength of Heaven, and by the united will of all who make Heaven what it is, being joined with it.” (T-16.III.8.) When we give our power away to the addiction, we become dependent rather than independent. We will never find the love we are seeing in D.R.U.G.S., because it doesn’t exist there. People who are addicted and seek love and acceptance through D.R.U.G.S. have a stronger need for God’s love. They’ve forgotten more than other people. For those of us who remember, it’s our function to express forgiveness to those who are hurting. This opens the door to the experience of love. Recreational drugs won’t recreate real love or the awareness of Home. “Would you know the Will of God for you? Ask it of me who knows it for you and you will find it. I will deny you nothing. Ours is simply the journey back to God Who is hour home.” (T-8.V.5.) Putting ourselves in a mental state where home is possible to experience will re-create the feeling, the pleasure, the oneness we are seeking. We can honor what our spirit’s are really striving for by spending time going within and building up our personal and spiritual resources. The closest encounter with love that we can experience, other than a revelation from God, is the love we give to each other. That’s why it’s so important that we constantly choose the thoughts of love and become the love we are seeking. Sometimes I think uncertainties are inevitable, or that there will always be terrorism or tyranny on some level. But I don’t believe that’s true. I believe in the goodness and the magnificence of God’s Son. I trust that we are going to eventually ‘get it’ and wake up to the reality emphasized by the Course. It may not happen overnight, but if we each choose peace and love one moment at a time, one day at a time, them we will certainly experience the kind of independence that leads to real happiness.
Heart To Heart Living©2007 lchappo@aol.com |
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