The Circle of Atonement - Dedicated to A Course in Miracles
Today's Inspiration
But exempt no one from your love, or you will be hiding a dark place in your mind where the Holy Spirit is not welcome. (T-13.III.9:2).
Circle Course Community
We're excited to offer the latest addition to our work, a
growing new online community and membership program called the Circle
Course Community (CCC). Members of the CCC are gaining new insights,
realizations, and tools for their ACIM journey by participating in the
wealth of activities available throughout the community. They are
contributing to the latest discussion about living the Course in the
blog,
they are deepening their journey
with the Course by traversing our unique study aid, the
PathMap, and they are developing
new relationships through the
Members Directory. Members can
also participate in regular live tele-classes, post announcements,
and check out the latest entries in The Meeting Place, a more informal
way of getting to know each other. CCC participants also benefit from
discounts on materials in the Circle store, which include books, CDs,
Mp3's, commentaries, and more!
Click here for details about how you can join with us in "living A Course in Miracles and anchoring a tradition that will carry its light to the world."
Here is what is currently happening in the Community...
- In The Meeting Place: members are telling us about the forms extension takes in their lives.
- In our blog: members are telling us about
their journey with the Workbook by answering the questions:
What has been your experience of going through the Workbook? What were the benefits you derived? Has it made a lasting impact on your life? How hard or easy did you find doing the practice as instructed? How successful do you feel you were? What were the most beneficial aspects of the practice for you? Have you gone through it once? Many times? Did you stall at a certain lesson?
- Our most recent class: "He Really Means It" Course students often wonder if Jesus really wants us to literally follow all those practice instructions he gives us in the Workbook. The title of this class is our answer to that question: The Workbook leaves no doubt that when he says to follow the instructions, he really means it. In this class, we discuss the importance of following the practice instructions if we really want to achieve the lofty goals the Workbook promises us.
- Our most recent article: Is Following the Practice Instructions Ritualistic? by Robert Perry. It is conventional wisdom among Course students that we shouldn't try too hard to follow the practice instructions in the Workbook, because that just turns Workbook practice into a ritual. But what is the Workbook's own attitude about this? The introduction to Review III, in which Jesus talks both about the ways we engage in ritual and about the importance of following the practice instructions, provides an answer to this question.
To join the Circle Course Community on a Student or Teacher level, click here.
A Better Way Newsletter
August Issue of A Better Way #80 by Robert Perry. As Course in Miracles students, we have an ambivalent relationship with words. This is a truly unfortunate state of affairs, for repeating words is the Course's main practice, a practice on which it is resting the achievement of its goals for us. In this article, Robert explores the "why," "how," and "when" of the Course's practice of repeating words, drawing extensively from the Workbook's voluminous instructions on this practice. He hopes this will be the beginning of an ongoing discussion on this crucial topic. The goal the Course has set for us depends on it.Click here to read A Better Way.
Course Meets World
"Deep Down, We Can't Fool Even Ourselves" by Greg Mackie. Abraham Lincoln famously said that you can fool all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time. But a recent New York Times article describing psychological research on moral hypocrisy suggests that there's at least one person we can never really fool: ourselves. While on the surface we live by double standards, telling ourselves that our selfish actions are justified while condemning the same actions in others, deep down we know better. Underneath our rationalizations, we know what we're doing is wrong, and judge ourselves by the same standards we apply to everyone else. I believe this research provides a revealing window into the workings of the ego as depicted in A Course in Miracles. Read more
Questions & Answers
How would the Course look at the miracles of the historical Jesus? How would A Course in Miracles look at the "miracles" that Jesus performed as reported in the New Testament: healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, raising the dead, etc.? My impression is that his ability to "perform miracles" was what drew many people to him.. Read more
Articles
God's Blessing Shines upon Me from Within My Heart by Robert Perry. This is a guided meditation for Lesson 207 from our 2008 Workbook recordings. Many thanks to Mary Anne Buchowski of Course Oasis in Ottawa, Canada for transcribing this.
Does God Have a Plan? by Robert Perry. Does God have a specific plan for our lives? Robert answers this universal question by telling the story of when he first received the Course and how he became aware of his calling to teach the Course. He concludes that there is a specific plan, but it may not match our plan for our lives.
This Is as Every Day Should Be: How to Have the Ideal Day by Robert Perry. We all long to have a happy day. Surprisingly, the Course contains a massive amount of instruction on how we can have a perfectly happy day.
My Journey with the Workbook by Robert Perry. This article chronicles Robert’s relationship with the Workbook from 1981 to 1996, showing how initially empty and yet how ultimately life-changing the Workbook can be.
"The Ego Does Want to Kill You": An Experience of the Murderer Within by Greg Mackie. Greg shares a harrowing but ultimately rewarding encounter with his ego unmasked. This article describes this experience of the "murderer within" and relates the many positive lessons that came from that experience.
