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Word Gems
exploring self-realization, sacred personhood, and full humanity
A Course In Miracles
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Some people believe that if we could all just hold hands and sing and chant and feel good and lift our spirits like this a whole lot more, we could change society and ourselves, and create harmony and well-being for everyone. But the “Course In Miracles” would not agree with this formula for world peace.
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we are sailing stormy waters...
Rod Stewart’s presentation of “We Are Sailing” at the Royal Albert Hall is a knock-out performance. It’s one of my favorite music videos...
Everyone there, it was pretty obvious, was on fire, and the whole auditorium was "doing the wave.” However…
Some people believe that if we could all just hold hands and sing and chant and feel good and lift our spirits like this a whole lot more, we could change society and ourselves, and create harmony and well-being for everyone. But the “Course In Miracles” would not agree with this formula for world peace.
The song asks an implied question: How can we be free in an unfree world? moreover, how can we navigate the roiling and churning waters of this world’s chaos and make it home to the beloved?
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There are many who preach a gospel of “let’s all sit around the campfire, hold hands, sing kumbaya, and the world will be saved if enough of us come together this way.”
Many churches preach this philosophy; many of the New Age persuasion subscribe to it; and even many in the afterlife-research movement believe in this.
However, the “Course” will have none of it.
Why is this? Is there anything wrong with people coming together to experience an elation generated by good music and good thoughts?
No, there’s nothing wrong with any of this; it’s just that, it won’t take us to where we want to go.
In the article, “the 500 tape-recorded testimonies from the other side,” I offered extensive discussion on this topic. I did so because, I would say, more than 90% of those “coming through” with a message were egoically unbalanced, suffering in various degrees from spiritual insanity. My assessment here is not a private opinion. A very few of the reporters, some on the other side for thousands of years, were appalled by the shallowness and materialistic spirit of the many who fancied themselves evolved and advanced. These immature ones all believed in forms of “let’s hold hands and sing kumbaya.” I would strongly encourage you to read “the 500” article for a full treatment of this subject.
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frightened people can be vicious
On the “Morality” page, you’ll find an article featuring a saying from the apostle Paul, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” He spoke these words in the context of warning the church against “wolves,” as he called them, vicious money-grubbing ministers/priests who would “fleece the flock.”
This famous verse actually means the exact opposite of how it’s usually explained, an attempt to make you feel guilty for not shelling out money. They will tell you of their latest charitable work, some grand scheme to save the world, via “kumbaya” effort. And, they will presume to lead this parade, at full salary, of course.
It is dangerous to clear thinking to use the word “all,” and yet I think we can safely say that all Dear Leaders of cultish organizations, whether of the religious, political, corporate, or academic flavor, will try to cloak their “wolfish” hearts with some appeal to “kumbaya” altruism. It’s such a great place to hide. I mean, who could fault you for promoting this or that charitable work? It's a sacred cow.
I will tell you this, however -- in my life, the very worst, the most vicious people I’ve had the misfortune of encountering, have been the “choir leaders of kumbaya.” I say vicious because, while their public persona is one of “biting the lower lip” of compassion for humanity, in your private dealings with them you'll soon discover that it's people they can’t stand. They will quickly assume a posture of a bully and brown-shirt toward anyone who stands in their way to glory and stardom as the Grand Poobah of some charitable pageantry.
In the Course we find Jesus asserting, “frightened people can be vicious.” He ought to know; it got him killed. How does it happen? Why are the “kumbaya choir leaders” so easily set to viciousness? It’s like this: Altruism is a mask they wear; as Elizabeth used the phrase, one “held up with two hands”; it so easily slips, you know.
We all have dysfunctional egos to deal with, but some of us have allowed ourselves to sink more deeply into insanity than others. Those thus afflicted and burdened are led by a voracious and rapacious inner neediness to find enhancement for their spiritual malady of “I am not enough.”
In this mayhem, “the worst try to get on top,” as Nobel laureate F.A. Hayek, put it. And these mad-cap diseased ones will easily find their masks slipping if you attempt to suggest that their political movement, their church, their scientific theory, their sports team, is not quite number one after all.
This is too much for them, resulting in immediate viciousness, as they become frightened at the prospect of being exposed, of not finding their value, in the eyes of adoring others.
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It would be a lot of fun to attend a Rod Steward concert. I don’t think I’d be one of those “doing the wave,” but it would be a great time. Also, sitting around a campfire and singing and laughing together can be very pleasant. However, as we do these things, if we are so blessed as to have opportunity, let us not deceive ourselves to think that these activities will move the “dial of spirituality” one particle.
The “Course In Miracles” would say the same. Instead of a joint or mass effort of “kumbaya,” the “Course” will be encouraging us to travel alone to the epicenter of the heart of darkness. It will instruct us concerning diminishing the “ego” in our lives, the false self. None of this could be categorized as a fun night out at a concert, but this process of “the long dark night of the soul” is the only way to become a truly spiritual person. See the four articles on spirituality.
Why should we want to do this?
The answer is hinted at in the “Sailing” song. Unless and until we dislodge the "stormy waters," the insanity of the ego, from our persons, we will never make our way home to the Sacred Beloved; which means we will never be near her, and we will never be free.
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