Question: Hi David,
I have been a student of ACIM for almost two years, but I have been curious about one thing: Do you watch the news or read newspapers or stay in touch with the world of illusion on a daily basis?
David Hoffmeister: Beloved One,
Thanks for writing. What you are speaking about is very common for sincere A Course in Miracles students, and it is natural to seem to lose interest in news and newspapers as you progress with the goal of ACIM: forgiveness. The seeming emotional concerns and/or personal dramas with your daughters and those in your immediate proximity are offering you many opportunities to forgive. It is helpful to be reminded that the degree and direction of error does not matter, so misperception cannot be placed on a scale or a continuum. There is no degree or comparison to fear, for all fear is appropriately and Helpfully Interpreted as a call for Love. Be grateful and glad that you are allowing the unconscious fear into awareness for healing. You are definitely on the right track, and even though you may feel distant at times from your family and friends and partner, this is just fear coming to the surface for release.
I am sometimes Guided to watch the TV briefly or glance at a newspaper when I am traveling, and at times these bits and pieces of “world events” are used by the Holy Spirit in the context of teaching examples during gatherings. I actually do not read much of anything anymore, with the exceptions of mail and e-mail. If you find that you still have an aversion to words about political interest and local drama, or news and newspapers, it may be helpful to watch and read them occasionally as Guided or to rent some movies that deal with these topics and issues and use the movie watching as a mind watching experience. For years I have used movie watching (and many years ago, TV watching as well) as a mind training exercise. Allow the feelings to surface without censoring them, and then recognize that the feelings are coming from the desires and beliefs and thoughts held in consciousness.
This kind of mind exercise can help you to question what is believed and also help in exposing and releasing faulty assumptions. With willingness the mind becomes open to the Holy Spirit’s reinterpretation of perception, which is the goal of all mind training.
The first of the 50 Principles of Miracles at the beginning of the Text says that there is no order of difficulty in miracles, and this comes from a deeper understanding that there is no hierarchy of illusions. It is helpful to use the ACIM Workbook in daily practice and apply the lessons without exceptions. This mind training leads to a truly loving and detached Observation of perception that is the Holy Spirit’s “real world” instead of the sleeping mind’s version of “the real world.”
This is an excerpt from Unwind Your Mind ~ Back to God: Experiencing A Course in Miracles.
A Course in Miracles is freely available online.
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