Читать книгу Living Long, Living Passionately - Karen Casey - Страница 14

Any expression that is not loving is a call for healing and help that is initiated by fear.

—A Course in Miracles

More than thirty years ago, I was introduced to A Course in Miracles. Although initially resistant to it, I slowly took it in and discovered that it satisfied my yearning for an additional spiritual pathway, one that complemented my 12-step journey. One of its primary concepts astounded me: any expression, verbal or physical, that isn't loving has been triggered by fear and it's simply a call for help. More important, after allowing time to absorb the idea, one that was indeed foreign to me, it completely shifted my perspective. This, in turn, opened my heart. It felt like I was seeing for the first time. Seeing members of my family, in particular my dad, in a way I had never seen them before. To see my father as a fear-filled man, rather than a rage-filled man, made a huge difference to me. I no longer had to rage back at him. I no longer had to sit in judgment.

Accepting my dad, and other angry people too, as fearful rather than rageful meant I could quietly step aside and let them be. Simply let them be. And then, adopting another of the course's principles, I could decide to love them anyway, all of them. Meeting fear/anger with an expression of love is the shift that little by little changes the universe we share with seven billion other souls. Little by little, each expression of love roots out festering rage. Little by little, the world we'd rather live in becomes manifest, at least within our own small circle.

Let's pause here and think about our own recent past. Perhaps it would help to enumerate the times in this last week when you either felt anger, or observed someone else expressing anger, perhaps a friend or a family member. What were the circumstances and who were the players?

List them in your journal. Can you guess what caused the anger? Can you see where fear had a role to play? What did the fear look like? If you were directly involved in the experience, consider reliving the experience, except this time willingly expressing love and acceptance of the person or the situation.

How does it feel? How does love and acceptance change the tenor of the moment and impact those present? Share your observations before going on. This is a learning opportunity.

If queried by the others present, what will you tell them about the concept of love versus fear?

I have found that it simplifies my life to categorize, as either love or fear, the actions and expressions of the people I live among. When I, in turn, express only love, regardless of what I have experienced from those around me, I feel free. I feel filled with hope. I feel a contentment about the future that eases every moment of anticipation. Having the capacity and willingness to live this way has changed every moment of my life. I spent much of the first half of my life in near-constant dread of what would befall me next. Fear ruled my life. Thus I was quick to anger, just as my dad had been. But that's the past. My present is far different from my past.

What does your present look like?

Do you go into your experiences with a sense of wellbeing?

In what situations, in particular, do you wish you could “show up” differently?

There is a way to do it. Begin by taking a deep breath. Envision yourself being the better you within a particular circumstance. Play it all the way through to the end. Just rest in this arena for a spell.

What is going on within you now?

Would you like to live here permanently? It's your choice. It's always your choice. All it demands of you is a statement of purpose followed by an internal decision.

Let's cherish the new you.