A statement on the most recent violence in the United States

In the wake of a particularly tragic weekend, all of us at the Circle wish to send our love to the communities and people of El Paso, Dayton, and Chicago. We also understand that when faced with such horrific and repeated acts of violence, a common concern – a criticism in fact – is that love cannot possibly be enough to override such intensely troubled times.

Our path, A Course in Miracles, states that miracles occur naturally as expressions of love. We believe miracles, by nature, have the power to heal through the act of seeing another as oneself. This is love as the Course defines it and love heals because love connects. Indeed, the very center of the Course’s message is that we become miracle workers when we understand that, at the deepest level, no form of separation even exists at all. It is only when we make strangers of one another through our misperceptions that we give rise to fear and division that all too often lead to violence.

Accordingly, we believe the Course when it says there are no strangers in God’s creation. We are all His children, without exception, and each deserve the respect, honor, and acceptance that implies.

The Course states that all difficulties ultimately stem from the fact that we do not recognize, or know, ourselves, each other, or God (T-3.V.3:1) and goes on to define “recognize” as “know again” (T-3.V.3:2). In moments such as these, we are reminded that we must become people who know one another again. It is the call of our time to know the eternal truth of each other that lives equally in all beings beyond our own ever-changing perceptions. This knowledge is enough to allow a new world to emerge from the old, and we are each the hands, feet, and hearts that make it so.