forward

forward
A year or so after the Course of Love series was complete, “Learning in the Time of Christ” was provided as an aid to those questioning how to work with the material of this Course. It has been edited here to serve as an introduction to the Treatises. The full text is available from the Course of Love website: www.acourseoflove.com.


The Treatises bring the same situation you encountered in receiving the Course of Love, but you will now encounter these situations in life. You are no longer only a reader. Your experience of this Course has extended beyond reading and beyond the classroom situation. Now a time may come when studying truly seems to be in order. The guidance provided by your reading may seem to come and go and your desire to rely on what you have “learned” will grow. You may desire to backtrack, review, or begin to highlight passages to return to again and again. New questions may arise and a desire for feedback or discussion grow stronger. This may also be precisely the time when you are so caught up in experience and learning “in life” that return to a group or classroom situation feels next to impossible.

Now you are experiencing life in a new way and will be attempting to reinforce what you already know and have already accepted. The “language” is returned to as a helpful friend would be turned to for judgment-free advice. What those who begin to experience life in a new way begin to discover are the patterns of thoughts and behavior that are most deeply entrenched. You feel in need of assistance!

You may need to become more flexible, meet in groups less frequently, and favor more casual and spontaneous encounters. Yet what is being gained through experience is still in need of being shared. This sharing can offer a rich and rewarding opportunity for differences to be revealed and for the welcome realization that differences do not make separate.

The forward motion is one away from learning and toward acceptance of what is. While differences may be highlighted in this time, what will be revealed through sharing is that while experiences may differ greatly and seem to be offering diverse “learning” situations, you, and those with whom you share, will actually be coming to many very similar new insights and truths.

The impatience of the earlier level may seem to have increased as your experiences will be moving you along at your own pace. Comparisons may arise and some may feel they are not advancing as quickly as others, while those moving quickly may feel in need of time to catch their breath!

Inclinations may be strong during this time, to “figure things out.” Problem solving is discouraged. Trust is encouraged. Question: “How might I be able to look at a situation in a new way?” Remembering the gentleness of the Art of Thought over the relentless stridency of the thinking mind is helpful. Obsessive thinking is always ruthless, judgmental, and wearing on you.

The entrenched patterns of the past are difficult to dislodge even when they have been recognized. “Watch the parade go by” as what has gone unhealed is brought forward for acceptance, forgiveness, and letting go. With the letting go of each old pattern or situation that seems fraught with peril, a cloud of despair will lift, a little more of darkness recede, and a little more light be available to show the way.

Here you may meet individual assessment and self-doubt. You may wonder if you are missing something. You may feel as if you have not experienced unity or as if you are no closer to knowing yourself or God. You may feel as if this course of study that seemed to be working so well for a while, now is letting you down. You may wonder where and when the peace, ease, and abundance promised by this course will arrive. Stay grounded in the present and remember that you are no longer seeking. This time of engagement with life is just what is needed to integrate what has been learned. A return to the simple words that begin the Treatise on Unity would be appropriate: “A treasure that you do not as yet recognize is going to be recognized. Once recognized it will begin to be regarded as an ability. And finally, through experience it will become your identity.”

The achievements of the past, achievements that awarded credentials, certificates, and degrees, admiration, respect, and status, are now a thing of the past. What you may well be looking for is your reward for the investment you have made in this coursework. While you are looking for it to show up in an old way you will miss the new ways that are being revealed. The achievements of the past were not lasting and they are not what you would truly want now. The goal is reached in being who you are at last. It is present—not in the future. It is with you—not beyond you. The treasure is you.