Living the Course Articles

The “Correction of Error” section in the Text (T-9.III) is a section that con-founds many Course students. It is often taken to say that you should never correct a brother’s error at any time for any reason. Certainly there are lines in the section that seem to...

Have you ever wondered if this world is hell? I think that deep down, underneath all of our paeans to Mother Earth and popular songs proclaiming “what a wonderful world,” we all suspect that this is so. It is a truism that the world is crazy. We joke about Murphy’s...

“Seek not to change the world, but choose to change your mind about the world” (T-21.In.1:7). This well-known line is frequently used by Course students to say that trying to change things in the external world is not part of the Course’s path. The implications of...

This article was written by Sally McKirgan I have a true story, a beautiful experience really, about the greatest gifts I ever received. It was Christmas 1987. Earlier that year, in April, I had started studying A Course In Miracles, and I had made the commitment to...

The following article is derived from my study of A Course in Miracles. This is what I hear the Course saying to me. I have put this in my own words, without direct reference to passages in the Course, but everything you read here is derived from the Course, processed...

“Don’t ‘should’ on yourself.” How many times have you heard someone say this when you mention that you really should do something? Perhaps you have used some version of these words yourself. The word “should” (along with its counterpart “shouldn’t”) has become a kind...

This past week, four words have brought me a lot of peace: “I do not know.” On the face of it, the idea of finding peace in not knowing may sound strange. It may sound like a head-in-the-sand stance that recalls George Orwell’s intentionally absurd slogan from 1984,...

The Holy Encounter between Ashley Smith and Brian Nichols On March 11, 2005, Brian Nichols was being escorted to a courthouse in Atlanta, Georgia to stand trial for rape. He stole a gun from the deputy taking him to the courtroom and killed the presiding judge, a...

One of the sweetest thoughts in the Course, for me, is this: All your past except its beauty is gone, and nothing is left but a blessing. I have saved all your kindnesses and every loving thought you ever had. (T-5.IV.8:2–3) Lately I’ve been seeing that filtering of...

An Experience of the Murderer Within A couple of newsletters ago (A Better Way#41), I shared a remarkable spiritual experience of mine, an experience of universal love. Recently, I had another remarkable experience, this one of the opposite end of the spectrum—what...

Does the Course Really Say This? At the Circle, we have long stressed that actively helping other people in the world is an essential part of the Course’s path. We believe that the Course intends to produce “graduates” along the lines of Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and...

An Experience of Universal Love Powerful inner experiences of illumination have been an integral part of the spiritual journey from time immemorial. While I don’t think that such experiences are necessarily the strongest evidence of spiritual progress—the ability to...