Workbook and Practice Articles

The prayer for Lesson 248 is a favorite of mine, so I thought I would write a little commentary on it, drawing out the meaning I see in it. It is a brief prayer which is deceptively simple-looking, such that we can very easily pass it right by. Father, my ancient love...

I am often asked how we should deal with major upsets. How do we heal them? In response, I share the thing that has worked the best for me. These are the “response to temptation” practices in Review 2 of the Workbook (Lessons 81-90). In this review, we are given three...

In meditation, the fine points can make all the difference. One of those fine points is how we conceptualize the peace we are aiming for. Another is what we do when our meditation goes off track. In Workbook Lesson 74, paragraphs 5 and 6, Jesus deals with both of...

This visualization is based on the prayer for Workbook Lesson 342 ("I let forgiveness rest upon all things, for thus forgiveness will be given me"): I thank You, Father, for Your plan to save me from the hell I made. It is not real. And You have given me the means to...

I have long had a special fondness for Lesson 323, "I gladly make the sacrifice of fear." I especially love the prayer in that lesson, which I have memorized and used often. In this article, I want to share what I have come to see in that prayer. Here is the only...

In a couple of past articles for A Better Way, I have shared my love for the prayers in Part II of the Workbook. They are a wonderful way to prepare one's mind to enter into quiet communion with God, which is exactly what the Workbook says they are for (I make this...

Why is it that we so often miss the practice periods the Workbook asks us to do? In my experience, many of us will answer this question with spiritual-sounding answers, such as "I am staying in the present with the Holy Spirit rather than chaining myself to a clock."...

In Allen’s article, “Tips on Practice,” he mentions the value of really praying the prayers in Part II of the Workbook. I have found this to be one of the most rewarding elements of Workbook practice. I highly recommend doing this, speaking these prayers (silently or...

In yesterday’s class, I asked how can God be in everything we see without that this implying that the forms we see are real, either as God-stuff taking form or as real houses for God’s Spirit. The answer I gave was two-fold. I’ll summarize both sides here. The first...

For many students of the Course, turning it over to the Holy Spirit is the single answer to every difficulty, the single way to apply the Course and make it practical. While giving things over to the Holy Spirit is an extremely important part of the Course, we do not...

The other day I spent time using the commentary paragraph in Lesson 222 ("God is with me. I live and move in Him.) as a prayer, by changing the words so that I said them directly to God (and put some extra sentence-breaks in). It's something I've done many times...

I recently posted about a remarkable paragraph at the end of "Shadows of the Past" (T-17.III), in which Jesus says, "I would enter into all your relationships, and step between you and your fantasies." This reminded me of a strikingly similar practice, perhaps the...